Lessons from a Life in Ministry
Sometimes we never know what a simple action or lesson makes on others. Then there are times when we are blessed with seeing it. When I was 17, I taught three-year-olds in Sunday School. For one of their lessons, I had cut out hearts and wrote “God loves you, ___” placing the child’s name on each heart. They were learning about John 3:16 that Sunday.
When I was leading the youth at this same church 13 years later, one of these students stayed after youth group one night. In the course of sharing their struggles that night, they said they still had that heart. It had meaning to them all these years and constantly reminded them that God loved them. What a simple but profound message. And how anyone could have known that a simple construction paper heart would make a difference. Don’t underestimate the little things that God has you do!
One of my youth was having a particularly rough time. As the months rolled on, things got worse for her. It became clear she was in the middle of a spiritual attack. We were pouring into her and praying heavily over her. I was also doing one-on-one with her midweek.
The attacks came to a head one night when she had some friends over. It was pretty graphic what they experienced, but it made quite an impression on all of them. She had a Bible on her nightstand. The closer to the Bible this entity was, the weaker it grew! She grabbed the Bible, screamed for her parents, and they prayed the enemy away.
Her parents thanked me for years in helping to save their daughter from these attacks. I’m not sure what all I did, but God gave them all the courage and discernment to call on him! To God be the glory!
One Sunday morning we were teaching the kids about a missionary family. Teaching missions to the kids is a balancing act so they are both engaged and learning. There was a boy that just couldn’t sit still most of the time and loved to interrupt with questions and was a little difficult to handle. We were having the kids work on one of the papers we handed out while we talk about the country and the work the missionaries were doing there. This little guy was being his fidgety self until all of a sudden we said something that struck a chord with him. He looked up at me with crocodile tears in his eyes, commented on what I said, and was completely engaged the rest of the lesson. I have always been drawn to these types of children. You need to find what they are passionate about and channel them in that direction. Give them responsibility. They don’t try to be disobedient. They really do want to please. They just crave interaction. It was one of the sweetest moments I’ve had in ministry.
