Over the
last eight months I have had the opportunity to serve in a wonderful ministry
experience. This includes church ministry and camp ministry. These all had
wonderful parts that both stretched and challenged me a lot. These ministries
helped me grow in many ways. They also guided me and shaped me and informed me
on how in the future I would serve in these ministries in the future.
To quickly summarize my experience in the church ministry
it went like this. On Fridays, I would help the youth group in a variety of
ways. It would range from just being an extra pair of hands that would just
help the leaders, to planning and leading youth group for the leaders or
planning the devotions that would happen at the end of the night. This
experience was wonderful because it really enlightened me to the desire placed
in my heart for youth ministries. It was really great to see how the
youth would really connect with us when there was a well planned night for
them. on Sundays I would help during the church service by helping lead Sunday
school for the 2-5 year olds, this was a great experience because it showed me
how I was supposed to sacrifice my time and not expect to only be fed by the
pastor.
To quickly summarize the camp ministry would look like
this, during the year I would help during retreats hosted by camp qwanoes. Those
duties include: being an all-star for the wide games at camp, to being dish
team leader for a weekend and be placed in the dish room the entire retreat, or
to be on maintenance to clean up after the retreaters. This was an awesome experience
because it showed me how people can and choose to lead for the back ground. There
is no attached glory to dish room or maintenance but it is nice to know that if
your position was not filled that the whole retreat would fall apart.
During the church ministry there were times that were stretching
and challenging for me. One in particular time that I felt really stretched was
when I was planned to share my testimony with the youth group. This would be
the first time that I was going to be open and vulnerable to a group of
strangers because I barely knew any of the youth at this point. But by
God giving me the strength and the wisdom to know what to say, he provided me
with the right words to say about my testimony and I really saw a change in the
youth's reaction to me. They listened to me and trusted me. Through that I was
able to speak life into their lives.
For challenges during the camp ministry I would have to say
that it was a challenge to work in the dish room. On my sheet that asked me
what events and positions that I would like to be a part of during the
retreats, I definitely put that dishes was last on that list. But I was placed
as dish team lead. That was a struggle to deal with at first. And to make
matters worse, it snowed during that retreat, and I love snow. So it was really
hard to find joy in working in the dish room while I knew my friends were out
and enjoying the snow while I was slaving away in a hot and sweaty dish room. But
this also helped me grow in the way that I had to find a way to find joy in my work,
no matter how miserable it may have seemed. And by the end of the
weekend, I enjoyed the work I was doing and I really got to know some really
cool people while doing it.
Through all of this I really learned what it meant to be a
leader that was intentional. I had to be intentional with the youth kids, I had
to be intentional with the people in my team and I had to be intentional with
myself. The youth kids really need someone to pour into their lives; they
really need someone to listen to them. And if all you can offer up to them is a
listening ear and offer Godly advice when they need it. With my teams
that I was a part of and leading I needed to be intentional to give clear
expectations and to have humble spirit. If someone on my team had an idea that
they thought could benefit us all, I would listen and weigh the options that
were placed before us. This really helped the team dynamic and the morale of
the team. And to be intentional to myself mean that I had to make the conscious
effort to grow in all aspects and to find the joy in my work no matter what I
was doing or what I was leading. If I did not have my heart behind it, my team
would feel that and not want to do the work, but if I was enthusiastic and
ready to serve, then my team would work so much better.
The part of this ministry that I am going to miss the most
is definitely going to be my youth kids. Yes, sometimes they were a handful and
sometimes they did not listen so well. But they had loving hearts and were so
willing to listen to the leaders and they were not afraid to question what you
believe, which really kept me on my toes. It was an awesome year and I would
not trade it for anything.
Isaiah
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