What is YOUR Ministry?

In my summer-end review, as tears were rolling down my eyes because (yet another) summer was over, my director asked me why I came back this year. Through the tears, I had a hard time thinking and coming up with a good answer (other than ones I had previously discussed with him - ie. following God's calling, it's a place I'm comfortable in, etc). So instead, he gave me the answer that he had come to.

He said that camp is where I do ministry. I am able to minister in a variety of ways, and sometimes in ways that I don't even notice I'm ministering. He continued to give me examples, of how I'm able to minister to him and his wife, and support them through the summer months (and even off-season); I am able to minister to staff and give them the support and ability to make mistakes as they serve in a position that is not in their comfort zone and help them learn through those mistakes and not get mad/upset; to minister to the younger staff and show them compassion as they learn the ropes of having their first job; to minister to the parents as they drop off their young children for the first time and provide them with a place to put their trust as they leave them for the week. I can't remember all of them word for word, and those are a couple of the examples he listed...but as I sat there listening to them the tears just continued to flow.

I think it's hard when you're in ministry to see the effect that you are having on others. Impact on those that you are serving, on those that you are serving with, and with those that are observing. It was nice that my director pointed those things out to me so that I can be aware of what my presence has meant to some people.

I don't think I've ever consciously gone to camp to serve in order to get noticed. As much as I'm proud that I've worked there for multiple summers on end, sometimes I don't like telling people that I've been there for so long, because it doesn't matter to me how long people work at camp. One summer at camp is a huge ministry and camp appreciates people who come, whether it's one year or multiple.

For 8 summers, my ministry has been at camp. Wow. I can't believe 8 years has passed by so quickly - it honestly feels like just the other day that I started there. As much as my director talked about how I have affected others, I can't help but think about how much working at camp and ministering there has affected and changed my life, for the better. My faith journey has been majorly impacted by working at camp, as I have dealt with different situations, and have had to put my trust in God that He will provide in my life the things that I need, as I give up other things in order to serve at camp.

God is faithful, and my ministry is serving Him and following His calling. For 8 summers, He has called me back to camp and I have answered His call. As this year brings many challenges for me, I know that God is with me and will lead me on the next path of this journey called life.