Rushing to the Bottom of the Mountain

"Most leaders today, whether in business, politics, education, nonprofit, or even in the church, define success by how quickly they can rush to the top of their mountain. In my work with refugees, we do the opposite. We rush to the bottom of the mountain, to minister and love broken people who are desperately seeking to find hope in a brutal world.”
--Kathy Giske

Most leaders jostle to the peaks, but we rush to the bottom of the mountain. When I read the quote by my good friend, Kathy who serves refugees globally, I thought, “That’s our frontline workers. They are the ones who rush to the bottom of the mountain to serve broken people desperately seeking hope in a harsh world.” Since birth, most of us are raised by families and conditioned by society to strive and scale the peak of success. Definitely, as an Asian, as a first-born, as an ambassador’s daughter, I understood the pressures of the upward trajectory probably as early as I learned to walk. I’ve also had to contend with inner ambition, a relentless drive, and mixed motives while serving our Lord. But my greatest privilege is that Jesus has called us at All Nations to serve the crowd at the bottom of the mountain.

It is congested at the bottom of the mountain: I think of our Ugandan leaders loving girls out of prostitution; of Kevin* equipping street kids with entrepreneurial and life skills in Kenya; of Albert* in a high persecution country secretly baptizing people in his refrigerator lying flat on the floor; of Liz* as a single gal trekking to the war-zone to disciple the unreached Mening people group; of our Hamburg teammates who receive refugees from Iraq, Iran, Syria, Afghanistan, and Ukraine. And I see so so many others of our leaders sacrificing to serve in the valley of the mountain.

But what do we do when God favors us with moments of applause on top of the mountain? Recently, I was praying the morning after preaching at an influential church. In prayer, I felt the Lord gather and nestle me in His arms with the words from Psalm 131: “My heart is not proud, my eyes are not haughty; I do not concern myself with great matters. . . . But I have calmed and quieted myself . . . like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child I am content.” The only place to go to on the mountain top is to run straight into the arms of our Lord in prayer.

The mountain top that Jesus climbs is the ascent of prayer. After He miraculously fed the five thousand at the grassy foothills, it says that “after he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone.” (Matthew 14:23) Aloneness in Christ, intimacy in Christ is the only mountain top to which we must aspire. Only in His embrace, can He wash away our false sense of pride and restore us to calm contentment in His arms.

So, may we all actively meet at the bottom of the mountain serving the broken. And, may we all retreat to the top of the mountain to pray and worship Jesus!

Blessings,
Mary Ho

*All names have been changed for security.

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