This Week in Ministry (01/20/13)

It is that time of the week again, where I muse about whatever happened this past week(s) in Ministry! So here are the top 5:


1. Can I officially say that I'm burned out? I don't think I'm as young as I used to be, or something is wrong with my energy levels, because I feel like I need a 2 week vacation! I need to consider this seriously, as my leader told me "the greatest enemy for a missionary is tiredness".

2. I enrolled to a theology class! There has been a burning desire in my heart to study theology, and while I study theology on my own, I feel that the academic setting and its demand is very helpful for me. I'm super excited about this! Classes start in February.

3. The choir keeps growing! The responsibilities for it are also growing. We led our first worship session this past Thursday, and it was ok for the most part. Some mistakes on my part, as I'm still a bit nervous with this role! Please pray for me!

4. The Honduran youth started asking us for a Bible study! They keep saying to us, "we should meet to study the Bible". The team is currently reviewing a Bible study curriculum, and we are very excited about the prospect of starting out one for the youth!

5. I have missed Wednesday night Soccer with the youth for far too long. I've been really tired and I've decided to take a couple of weeks off to recover. Please pray for energy so I can get back to it!

That's it for this week, see you next!

The Ups and Downs of Youth Ministry.

It's been two interesting weeks to say the least. Life is giving me the opportunity of choices and decisions, decisions that can have serious repercussions in my life.

It hasn't been easy, but then again it never is. Without getting too much into the details, I have been offered two ministry options; I have also been rethinking my role at my current ministry, the difficulties that accompany it given my peculiar situation that I described in other posts, and whether I should continue in it.

Thanks be to God, I feel that I have been given clarity on the matter, and I hope that I am doing His will in the end, though it is impossible to completely purify our motives.

The ministry continues with its up and downs, as it always has. Last Thursday, two of our boys came drunk and made a big spectacle. It is hard to deal with these situations, and can be potentially dangerous. One of them even wanted to get in a fight with me. This was surprising because I have been ministering with this kid for quite a while now.

The meeting was almost canceled. No, let me rephrase that. We practically had no meeting. All of our energies  occupied in trying to control the situation.

In one of my visits to Juvenile Hall I saw a kid who was playing with a car that doubled as a candy dispenser. An oddity to be sure. He was so concentrated with his candy-giving toy, that I could hardly speak to him about anything, let alone God and the Bible.

"How did you get that?" I finally asked him. "In a Bible study, I gave the right answer to a question and I won". "Oh really? What was the question?"."Who was Jesus' betrayer". "Judas, right?". "Is it Judas?! I said Simon".

Sure, Peter's denial of Jesus can be portrayed as betrayal, but still, my guess is that whoever organized the Bible study just wanted to make the kid happy. We decided to play chess for the time remaining, where I lost miserably. Need to get back to chess.

I saw the guy who was drunk last Thursday and wanted to fight with me, who also happens to be Marcos. "Hey I wanted to talk to you about last Thursday". He smiled and just said "I know, estaba pedo (drunk)!", then he added, "I feel bad about it...I f***ed up man, I'm telling you man to man". That is the closest he could get to an apology, which was enough for me.

Photo Credit: KirrilyRobert.