First of all, I am so thankful for God counting me faithful to be involved in any service inc His church with His people. Even as a young person, before my salvation, I was afforded opportunities by my church family to serve God! Super church, church for elementary kids, was a favorite time for me as a young teen to get to share God's Word with younger people than I. I was blessed with a love for music (this came from my mother!) and as a teen was allowed to sing in choir and sing specials for the church services. All along the way, we were involved as a family in the visitation programs at our church. I was privileged to go to a christian school in three of my four high school years and this brought me into contact with Heartland Baptist Bible College. This story is probably a blog post in itself that I will share at a later date.
At college I continued to work at my local church but was afforded another great opportunity, to represent the college on the singing team. I developed a great burden for teens at this time. Life circumstances did not allow me to finish my college education, but I continued to serve God in my local church. A few months after marrying my wife, the love of my life, we got a call from her home church to come and work for fifty dollars a week to work in super church! I know that it makes you laugh to think that a man would move his wife to another state for fifty dollars a week, but we really felt that God would supply our needs if He provided an open door.
So we went, and God did provide! We worked in super church for several years, took over a bus route, sang in the churches music program, went on soul winning and visitation, etc. We soon moved onto the church property and began working full time in our christian school. I worked as the basketball coach for three years, worked in the study room for 2 years, my wife taught kindergarten for 2 years, and she coached volleyball for a year. I also took several classes from our fledgling bible college. Before too long, we started working with the teen Sunday school class with our assistant pastor and his wife. It was at this time that we experienced the greatest joys and the greatest trials in our volunteer ministry.
At this time, our pastor of 14 years resigned and the church began looking for a pastor. The associate that we were working with turned the youth over to my wife and I and we hit the ground running! Working outside of the church at this time, we worked hard to provide the teens with the best youth department that they could experience. God was good to us and we saw Him mature many of those young people and saw many go on to serve the Lord. This time period without a pastor, though, would prove to be a great test of our faith and patience. Our associate was not voted into the pastorate and another vote split the church in half. At this time, our church had a need for leadership in the music department. I had been a faithful backup to our song leader, but still did not feel fully adequate to take on this position. We took the challenge anyway and saw the Lord work in me! The church also was hurting at this time. We were left with confusion, turmoil, and lack of leadership.
God used many people at this time to help the church and I was certainly glad to do my part. God finally brought us a pastor, and the healing process began. Through all of this I was allowed to continue in the youth and music departments and to work again in our christian school. I have been excited to lead young people in following Christ with their life by word and example. It has also been a great joy to serve with our music staff at our church. I'm sure that future posts will go into detail about many of these ministry opportunities.
Thanks for reading!
At college I continued to work at my local church but was afforded another great opportunity, to represent the college on the singing team. I developed a great burden for teens at this time. Life circumstances did not allow me to finish my college education, but I continued to serve God in my local church. A few months after marrying my wife, the love of my life, we got a call from her home church to come and work for fifty dollars a week to work in super church! I know that it makes you laugh to think that a man would move his wife to another state for fifty dollars a week, but we really felt that God would supply our needs if He provided an open door.
So we went, and God did provide! We worked in super church for several years, took over a bus route, sang in the churches music program, went on soul winning and visitation, etc. We soon moved onto the church property and began working full time in our christian school. I worked as the basketball coach for three years, worked in the study room for 2 years, my wife taught kindergarten for 2 years, and she coached volleyball for a year. I also took several classes from our fledgling bible college. Before too long, we started working with the teen Sunday school class with our assistant pastor and his wife. It was at this time that we experienced the greatest joys and the greatest trials in our volunteer ministry.
At this time, our pastor of 14 years resigned and the church began looking for a pastor. The associate that we were working with turned the youth over to my wife and I and we hit the ground running! Working outside of the church at this time, we worked hard to provide the teens with the best youth department that they could experience. God was good to us and we saw Him mature many of those young people and saw many go on to serve the Lord. This time period without a pastor, though, would prove to be a great test of our faith and patience. Our associate was not voted into the pastorate and another vote split the church in half. At this time, our church had a need for leadership in the music department. I had been a faithful backup to our song leader, but still did not feel fully adequate to take on this position. We took the challenge anyway and saw the Lord work in me! The church also was hurting at this time. We were left with confusion, turmoil, and lack of leadership.
God used many people at this time to help the church and I was certainly glad to do my part. God finally brought us a pastor, and the healing process began. Through all of this I was allowed to continue in the youth and music departments and to work again in our christian school. I have been excited to lead young people in following Christ with their life by word and example. It has also been a great joy to serve with our music staff at our church. I'm sure that future posts will go into detail about many of these ministry opportunities.
Thanks for reading!