the meaning of ministry

“It can be so easy to fall in love with successful ministry more than falling in love with the God we’re created to minister to.”

I heard this quote last week as I listened to a podcast (The Power of Rest by Jonathon David Helser). As I heard this statement I was stuck on it for some time. I replayed it over and over again, trying to figure out why it was hitting me so hard. 

After I spent some time meditating on it I realized something important; I have never saw myself as someone who ministered to God. I have always viewed my ministry as something I do or give to others rather than something I do or give to God. To me, it felt weird to say I minister to God, as if He is in need of my help. So I decided to go to the Word for answers. 

I was led to Isaiah 56:6. It says, “And the foreigners who bind themselves to the Lord, to minister to Him, to love the name of the Lord, and to be His servants, and all who keep the Sabbath, and who hold fast to my covenant— these I will bring to my holy mountain and give them joy in my house of prayer.”

I looked up what the word minister meant in this verse. Minister is the Hebrew word, sharath. It means to serve or to worship. Shoot. We were created for one purpose: to serve God, to worship to Him, to minister to Him. I realized, in that moment, that my first ministry is to God. As I minister to Him, He leads me to serve others, but my service must always be to Him first. 

After coming to this new understanding, it made the quote above hit even deeper. It’s so easy on the race to look at the ministry we do each month and try and gage it as successful, meaningful, or impactful. But when I look at it from the right mindset, one that focuses on serving God first, ministries success isn’t determined by results, its determined by devotion. Am I giving God my all? Are my eyes set on Him? Am I serving in obedience? Are my action ones that are giving honor and glory to God? 

This is ministry. It is all for Him. Every time. 

With that being said, our ministry to God this month has been serving Hope Church with pastor Raul and Ana in Craiova, Romania. Our entire squad has been together all month and it has been such a joy! We have been doing street evangelism, Roma (gypsy) kids ministry, Roma church ministry, passing out NT bibles, college ministry, and prayer and intercession for the city of Craiova. Here are some pictures and stories from the month! 

All 24 of us have managed to live in the mission house (pictured below) all together. Each day I wake up and thank God for this incredible group of people. Sharing space with them and growing in unity has been so fun this month! I get to be on team BAMMM this month with Brook, Allie, Megan, Maggie, and Maddie! 

 

We have gotten the chance to meet, minister to and pray for the beautiful people of Romania. Divine appointments all around! 

 

A lot of our ministry has been going to parks and meeting people. Sometimes that’s looked like balling on some young Craiova boys with my girl Katie. 

 

Each morning we wake up and we enter into a time of prayer and intercession from 9:30-11:30. We pray for one another, our hosts, the missionaries in the ministry, and the city of Craiova.

 

A big portion of our ministry has been serving the Roma population in Romania. The Roma people are what Americans would refer to as “gypsies” but the word gyspy is no longer used as it can be offensive. We have put on church services for them, brought them clothes and other necessities, put on children’s events, heard their stories and prayed for them! They are a people group who are frequently overlooked and pushed aside in society so it has been such a blessing getting the chance to express the love of Jesus to their hearts. 

 

The New Testament Bible Project has also been a big portion of our ministry this month. We have been working in the neighborhood of Rovine in order to saturate that place with the Gospel by placing Bibles in every mailbox. 

 

We had the chance to put on a fun dance party in a plaza where we got to do a flash mob, dance with the kids, play games and engage in conversation. 

Suze and I had a wonderful opportunity to meet a very kind lady on a park bench one day. Then a few days later, we got coffee with her and her daughter. They wanted to treat us to traditional Romania food called Mici. It was delicious but the company was even better! I have been so thankful to have met such amazing people this month! 

 

Romania has been filled with so many great experiences, memories, and fun! But it has also been filled with warfare and darkness. The spiritual heaviness has been felt by our entire squad, more than any other country this year. Please pray that God continues to move in the city and protects our squad from darkness that may try and leave with us when we do. 

In a few short days, we will be leaving Romania and heading to Spain. For those that do not know, we had a route change and we are no longer ending in Albania. Instead, we are going to be going to Spain and hiking the Camino de Santiago. It is a very famous pilgrimage across Spain. We will walk nearly 400 miles over the course of the month and minister to fellow travelers as well as get space and time to process the incredible year. It’s going to be very physically demanding but oh so special. 

So here we are, quickly approaching the last month on the race. Am I ready for it? No. But I have made the choice to trust, serve and minister to God above everything I am in the midst of. We serve a good God.