The Benefits of Continuing with Ministry Long Term
I have been doing ministry for over 20 years now. I have worked with 4 Churches and Young Life during that time. Over that time I have ministered to hundreds of students, some very closely and some not so closely. When I ministered to those students directly as middle school, high school and college students, it was really a rewarding experience. However, my ministry to them didn’t stop when they graduated “the program”. It actually just continued.
Years ago I wrote a post about what student ministry success is in my eyes (find it here). I stand in that belief that success in student ministry doesn’t always happen while they are students in your program. It often happens years later. That is why I stay in touch with them. Whether they are local or far away, I do all I can to wish them happy birthday on Facebook or via text, like and engage on their social media posts, and use other digital and online tools to keep in touch with students I had over the years. Some I am in touch with more than others, but I seek to stay in touch with so many.
The reward I get for keeping this kind of engagement is this picture below.
These are former students and leaders in the ministry God gave me over the years. I’ve known some of these former students for over 20 years now and we’ve walked through a lot together…most of it since they’ve been out of my direct ministry. We now keep in touch throughout the year and this group and I participate in an ESPN Fantasy Football league together. This was our end-of-the-year gathering to celebrate.
While I keep in touch with this group a lot, there are a lot more that I stay in touch with as well. As mentioned above, I use a ton of different online tools to stay in touch and continue to walk through life with them, the good and the bad, in hope to see lives change over time…not just over a 2-6 year time frame. This is long term ministry. I feel blessed and privileged to be able to walk through life with them and them being apart of my life as well.
The reality is being in ministry has its ups and down. You will have some amazing years and some really down years (they happen). But, my encouragement is to keep having a long term mindset in your ministry. The more you can have the view of walking through life with students, the more you will see that the effectiveness of your ministry doesn’t come in all the numbers or the size of your budget each year. It continues through the relationships you develop and nurture over time. Through that comes a ministry that not only benefits students long term but you as well.
What do you think? How have you seen having a long term view of ministry impact your ministry? Share your experiences below or on social media using #ymsidekick when you share.
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