I’ll be honest, sometimes, ok a lot of times, ministry can seem dry and dull. With the same routine day after day, it’s easy to fall into the lie that nothing is new and no impact is being made. The deceiver loves to make us feel like our work is worthless and no progress is being made. And the sad reality is that we often hear those lies and believe them.
Three weeks ago we arrived back in Manila after a good, productive and fulfilling 3 weeks of ministry in Tacloban. Ministry there was hard, but where there was tangible progress, it was easy to continue the work. My fear was coming back to Manila and falling out of progress and back into feeling like the work here wasn’t helping. I begged the Lord for strength, motivation, productivity, and perseverance in ministry for our last few weeks in the Philippines. I asked Him to do something big. I vowed to myself that I would take every opportunity to invest in the life of a teenager at the Children’s Home I had been working with since we came to the Philippines. I spent every day with her the first week back; talking, reading scripture, hanging out, ect. Day after day she opened up more and more. Overwhelmed with the way the Lord was moving in her heart, I couldn’t help but remember my prayer that God would renew my spirit in hope, showing us that our efforts here ARE making an impact.
Then again, my worries kicked in and the thought of leaving her without someone to Shepherd her scared me. I was afraid that without anyone here to continue working with her, she wouldn’t experience spiritual growth or maturity. I prayed earnestly that God would bring someone along to continue discipling and mentoring her after I leave. And again, HE IS FAITHFUL! First, He spoke such encouraging words through a dear friend and sister- that He as the Shepherd will not leave His sheep to the wolves without a sheepdog between them. Neither will He leave them without His Spirit and protection.
Not only did He (the Shepherd) give me that promise to hold onto, but secondly, He has brought along someone here (the Sheepdog) in Manila who I’ve asked and trust will continue to disciple her (the Sheep) and invest in her life and walk with Christ.
Thanks be to God who DOES answer prayers, who goes above and beyond what what we can imagine, and who supplies every bit of encouragement and strength we need to continue with faithful endurance the ministry He has set before us.
{Nicole, you will forever have a place in my heart}
Isaiah 58:10-12 (ESV)
“If you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday. And the Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water,
whose waters do not fail. And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to dwell in.”
