The desire for God is always required and must be the first element in human beings
The desire for God is always required and must be the first element in human beings. I personally always live my ministry in a Godly way and live as a Christian; this; is according to 1st Corinthians 9:27. I always have the best relationship to surrender to the Lord. In my personal experiences in life, I have got to learn that God is the lead and Chief Shepherd from the book of Ephesians 1:22 and Hebrews 13:20. The church’s management is all about the relationship between man and God but not only trying to maintain a social organization. The church congregation’s purpose is for worship and building of the people who are already saved and the unsaved. The fellowships by the churches are aimed at reaching out to the lost ones. That is why I am for the idea of training parents and also coming up with ministries among the youth who are from the un-churched homes.
I have been an active participant in our church activities, and there we were focusing on the problems that face the youth in our current world. There was a consensus for us to visit a rehabilitation center for the drugs and substance abusers to try and bring them back into the Lord’s ways. From Isaiah 41:10, Fear not, for I am with you, do not be dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, and I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. This was the main Bible verse that guided the church’s project at the rehabilitation center for the drugs and substance abusers. I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in the creation will be capable of separating us and the love of God Jesus our Lord.
Several verses acted as my significant support during the preparation for the ministry program. These verses were the ones that enabled me to relate to the struggles the target audience was experiencing. Bible verses from the book of Jeremiah 29:11, 1st Peter 5:7, 2nd Timothy 1:7, all these were the ones that could shed light on the congregation at the rehabilitation center. They could give them hope to not give up and see the light at the end of it all, encouragement that they can change their ways, and God never judges and can accept them back and forgive them.
On the day of the visit to the rehabilitation center, we started by words of prayer from our leading pastor. Then a mass session was performed, and later on, the congregation was given an opportunity to give their own testimonials. The testimonial session blew my mind off, and it was the best experience to listen to how the rehabs were so willing to turn a new leaf from their previous ways of life. From the testimonials, it was revealed how the youths nowadays struggle with life. They don’t care about other people, and in their self-absorption, they always end up losing interest in their education and start drinking alcohol and smoking cigarettes. Despite their moral failures at early stages in their lives, some of them ended up graduating from high school and ended up in the next level of education.
With them graduating from one point to another in their education levels, they also upgraded on using even the illegal drugs, and it led to their addiction status they were in when they sought rehabilitation assistance from the specialists in the institution. Most of them had similar stories of how they were able to fend for their drug needs by lying, stealing, and they ended up landing into legal troubles. Everyone needs little help sometimes, and no one is meant to go through life alone.
Galatians 6:2 teaches us to assist in the burdens of others, and by doing so, the law of the Lord is fulfilled. This verse proved to be quite vividly brought out by one testimony where the victim turned over a new leaf after he met his wife, who inspired him to become sober. The drug abuser victim ended up admitting himself to the addiction treatment center and sought medical assistance. The rehabilitation process wasn’t so easy on him because he did not have the will to stop. This patient was then released, and he got back to his old ways and even ended up getting involved in accidents when he was intoxicated, and his life was miraculously spared. Due to this experience, he believed that the Lord had given him a second chance in life.
According to Lamentations 3:21-23, the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, and his mercies never come to an end. The victim of the accident contemplated his life and began to seek God’s intervention. He then went to one of his friends who had problems with substance abuse, and he was referred to the Christian Rehab Centre, where the friend attained freedom from his addiction. The friend acted as the source of inspiration to him, and he applied, and he was accepted as a patient. Here he was introduced to the Bible and learned the lessons of life that he had never known before. This is where he has struggled with the addiction for at least five months, and he was recording positive results.
From the story above, I felt that in everything that you do, even if you have the will to do it, but you lack the guidance of the Lord, it will be quite difficult to attain positive results. I was moved by the fact that, so that the patient attained the positive results in the recovery process, he had to be guided by the Lord. Mark 11:3, states that ‘If anyone says to you, why are you doing this? You say, the Lord has need of it, and immediately he will send it back here.’
After the testimonials, I was given an opportunity to read a Bible verse to the congregation and give my own views as a Christian. During this process, I felt that there was a need for Bible training sessions apart from the normal preaching that takes place. The church can form small groups, either at the church or at home. The groups should be both fellowship groups and should be Bible-focused. Christ stated that the church would last forever and not an individual congregation. One person should never be in charge of all ministries but rather attain assistance from other people.
My experience during the ministry was exciting. Ministry also has its difficulties since there are times when God tests people’s faith, and during such times, people get doubt in their abilities and other people’s abilities. By learning from other people’s stories and applying the lessons from the scriptures, I was capable of growing and forming my own identity. I never saw religion as a limiting experience because God and the gospel have added meaning to my life. I now see people for what they are. I saw how much the world is rotten and how much the world needed divine intervention into a life full of direction and purpose. I experienced the freedom that people witness through the Lord’s work.
From the ministry experience, I got to understand that believing in God does not have to limit anyone. Freedom comes from the faith that believing in God and reading the scripture brings. I remember talking to the congregation and telling them how religion had instilled a sense of belonging in me. I gave them an example of a documentary I watched in the national geographic of a tiger cub, which was scared to explore the world. The cub went to its mother for assurance, and it got the confidence to move about freely. This documentary can be related to religion, whereby religion gives us the assurance and the confidence we require through faith and community so as to explore and view the world from different perspectives.
In conclusion, many people tend to feel as if religion is made to control masses and to control individuals. But in my own perspective, I don’t think that this is the case, I think that it helps people to connect in different ways with different people. Faith is the key ingredient in all this, and it gives us the strength to carry on with our life journeys even when we face hurdles in life. Through the stories of Christ, Moses, and Paul, we obtain the confidence that bad times will always come to pass.