This is one of my favorite pictures for a variety of reasons. Over the years I have viewed more picturesque, moving photos of ministry throughout the globe; however, this simple image of me, as an Empowering Action Team member, walking alongside Pastor Salvador through his community of Los Brujanes, has a special place in my heart for two reasons. First, it is a visual representation of the mission of Empowering Action to walk alongside local pastors in order to encourage them in ministry to their communities.

Paul writes to Timothy,

“Get Mark and bring him with you, because he is helpful to me in my ministry.”
– 2 Timothy 4:11

Our ambition as Empowering Action is that the pastors we serve in our networks might say the same thing: We are helpful to them in their ministry.

The second reason I love this photo is that it inspires me with the faithfulness of Salvador to shepherd his flock, having left Santo Domingo, with its comforts and conveniences, to live amongst the people he feels compelled to reach, love and serve for Christ.

Paul wrote to the church in Thessalonica,

“…You know how we lived among you for your sake.” – 1 Thessalonians 1:5

Thabiti Anyabwile writes in Desiring God’s Still Not Professionals,

“Shepherds should smell like sheep. The sheep’s wool should be lint on our clothes. Our boots should be caked with their mud and their mess. Our skin ought to bear teeth marks and the weather-beaten look of exposure to wind, sun, and rain in the fields. We belong among the people to such an extent that they can be called on to honestly testify that our lives as messengers commend the message. We should be so frequently among them that we smell like them, that we smell like their real lives, sometimes fragrant but more often sweaty, musty, offensive, begrimed from battle with the world, the flesh, and the devil.”