This advent, Habitat supporter Anna Williams writes about the importance of hope and building the Kingdom.
During Advent, we pray “Your Kingdom come, Your will be done” with a fresh sense of hope and expectation. We look towards Christmas, and celebrate the Light that came into this world. But we also long for the day when Christ will come again. As we look forward to the Kingdom coming in its fullness, we hear the question of 2 Peter 11: “what kind of people ought you to be?”
Habitat for Humanity gives us the opportunity to be the hands and feet of Christ, as we long for the Kingdom to come. Habitat is all about shining the Light of Christ into the world. It is all about hope. It is all about building the Kingdom.
When I arrived on site in Malawi last summer, I was met with a sense of longing and expectation. The bricks lay on the ground, the mortar lay in piles, and the families warmly greeted us – hopeful, maybe, that we would be better builders than we looked.
We were volunteering as part of Habitat for Humanity’s Orphaned and Vulnerable Children programme in Mulanje, working alongside two families. By the end of two weeks, two homes were built and roofed; relationships had been built along the way.
Elive was nearly 70 and had four grandchildren. Hannah was 16, and cared for her two brothers and her one-year old son. Our team members represented every decade from teens to 60s. Everyone deserves a decent place to call home. Everyone has a part to play in building with Habitat, and everyone has a part to play in building the Kingdom.
What kind of people do we want to be? Imagine the difference we could make if, out of our longing for the Kingdom to come, we worked to build the Kingdom alongside Habitat for Humanity. Imagine if our Advent longing for the Kingdom moved us into action. Imagine if, this season, our hearts were stirred to seek justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God.
May we be filled with a fresh sense of hope and expectation that the Kingdom is coming. May we seek to be the hands and feet of Christ in this world, and so may we commit ourselves afresh to being part of Kingdom building work this Advent.
