Some people think that ministry is holding a microphone and speaking. Some people think ministry is solely preaching the gospel and baptizing people. Some people think it’s only for behind the pulpit or prayer calls and while ministry is definitely these things, ministry is so much more than that.
Ministry is messy. Sometimes it can be bloody. Sometimes it can be dirty. It’s not always a bougee outfit like a suit and tie or heels and a dress.
The work of the ministry isn't building buildings but building people which sometimes requires picking up the broken pieces of those people.
Ministry can look different for different people. For us, sometimes it is in fact preaching or discipling folks in the Word of God, and yes, baptizing people. Other times it's taking someone to detox and/or rehab.
Sometimes it’s sitting with someone and listening, perhaps even talking someone off the ledge of suicide. Sometimes it’s sticking with someone after a relapse.
Sometimes it's making hard decisions concerning the person's life. Sometimes it’s loving someone through their drug use when they have no desire to quit.
The work of the ministry isn’t always easy.
“Our goal in life is to bring the Kingdom of God to people and help change their lives”
― Sunday Adelaja
Ministry isn’t always in front of crowd. Sometimes the work of the ministry is when you’re alone with someone and tending to their needs when nobody is looking. Sometimes ministry is simply being with someone while they freak out instead of trying to stop them from freaking out. It's not always "fixing people" but sitting with people. Sometimes it's to sit in the presence of grief and other times laughter. Ministry is listening to people cry and listening to them sing.
Sometimes ministry is a fight. It can be intercessory prayer through the whole night. Sometimes it’s a battlefield and sometimes you accumulate scars. Ministry is sometimes like war. If you survive, you will be changed from it.
Ministry is tending to people in all kinds of different ways but at the center of it all...ministry is just loving people...especially loving the person in front of you. And that, my friend, is what we do!
“Ministry, however, is simply loving the person in front of you. It’s about stopping for the one and being the very fragrance of Jesus to a lost and dying world.”
— Heidi Baker