April 19th 2013
This
year in the Kaléo Program I have had more opportunities to serve in ministry
than I have ever had in my entire life. Three of these areas have been in my
church, on my mission’s trip and at the camp. At my church I was able to serve
in different areas such as the children’s programs, reading scripture during
the serves and mainly in the Wednesday night youth group. For most of the year,
working in the youth group was challenging for me, it seemed as if I was just
present during the youth group and I wasn’t connecting with the youth especially
the girls in the youth. As one of the girl leaders I was struggling with
relating to the junior high girls. But going every week eventually paid off. I
was able to make a few good connections with the girls, I think that just
showing up every week for eight months eventually showed the girls how much I
really did care for them. God taught me a lot through this ministry. He taught
me that to minister I don’t need to shove the gospel down people’s throats but
that I need to just love them by being there for them no matter what.
The
next area of ministry was the mission’s trip. During the missions trip we were
able to go to an organization called Potter’s Place. This was a place where
people off the streets would go to get a meal, but also with the meal they would
hear worship and a sermon. At Potter’s Place we were able to share testimonies
during many of the services. It was crazy to see how eager those at Potter’s
were to hear our testimonies. Many people were touched by our stories. Through this
experience God has taught me just how powerful testimonies are.
A third
area of ministry has been camp ministry. This year I have had two opportunities
to counsel during retreats. The first opportunity was the first time that I had
ever counseled, so I think that during that weekend I learned what counseling was
like. The next opportunity my eyes were opened to how broken the families are
of the kid’s that come to camp, and how open they were for the love they received
at camp. During this second retreat I was able to give some Bibles to the girls
in my cabin. I have never seen anybody so excited to receive the word of God. That
was so eye opening. I loved counseling so much.
Overall,
the ministry aspects of the program have stretched me beyond belief and have
helped me to grow in my faith immensely. Ministry has definitely been one of my
favorite aspects to the program.
Thanks so much Rachel!
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