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It's Not About Me

by Amanda Beattie

When my youth group was preparing to leave on our mission trip to Trinidad and Tobago, I felt relatively confident that I knew what I was doing. I had been on two other mission trips before, one of which was also to a tropical location. We were scheduled to lead a Vacation Bible School (VBS) in Trinidad, but I had been involved in children's ministry all my life and knew that I could work well with kids. Piece of cake, right? Wrong.

VBS Stands for Very Big Surprise

Three weeks before we were scheduled to leave for Trinidad, our team discovered that we weren't leading a VBS -- or rather, not one VBS, but six of them. And they were all in different villages, at the same time!

On top of that, we discovered that our children would range in age from 3 to 16 (not exactly the elementary school crowd we were planning on). The curriculum we had been considering was now out of the question. We didn't know how many children to expect, what kind of facilities we would have, or how much leadership we could count on being there.

With the curriculum gone, our lesson plans were shot, too. We had no schedule to work with, no topics to teach on, and no prewritten skits. I've never minded getting up in front of people, as long as I knew exactly what I was going to say, how I was going to say it, and when I was supposed to start and finish. But this time, I had no idea what to say.

So Much for "Plan A"

The outpost I was in charge of ended up being a concrete, one-room structure with no tables, no electricity, and no room to play games. I was at a loss for what to do. Nothing I had ever been through in my ministry experience had prepared me for how to handle a situation like this. I knew that I couldn't do it by myself, so I fired off a desperate prayer, "Lord Jesus, help me!" before I had to step up and take charge of the meeting. I ended up telling a Bible story, hoping I was getting through to the kids and trying to keep their attention.

The first day was a bit of a disaster as I and the other youth struggled to run a VBS without any of the accommodations we were used to in the United States. And although we had a bumpy start, things went smoother the rest of the week. Still, I worried that the program was failing and the kids weren't being reached.

On the last day of VBS, when my mind was racing a million miles a minute, one of the ladies from Trinidad totally caught me off-guard. She gave me a crocheted doll, telling me that it was for all the wonderful stories I told and the great job I had done on the VBS.

I could not have been more shocked. I felt like I was flying blindly the whole time, having to improvise practically everything I did. Had we really impacted the kids? But even as I wondered, I looked around and saw the changes that had, in fact, taken place.

The children could tell me about how Jesus loved them, and how He died on a cross for their sins. The same ones who had been shy or mistrustful of us on the first day were now hugging us and talking to us. But my biggest joy was to realize that, during the week, 40 children had given their lives to Jesus.

And it all happened when I felt like I had no idea what I was doing.

Back to Basics

I've been involved in children's outreaches before that were highly organized, well-rehearsed programs, and they were wonderful. The kids loved it, they learned a lot, and brought lots of friends. And as a leader, it's a blast to participate in it.

But as I worked the VBS in Trinidad, feeling as if nothing was going quite like I hoped, I was reminded of what ministry is really about. It doesn't depend on whether or not I have a script. It isn't reliant upon the latest, greatest curriculum. And it certainly isn't about me and my wonderful, savvy ideas. Ministry is about reaching people through Jesus. It's about His undying, matchless love for us. It's about the Holy Spirit doing a deep work in the heart of someone who needs Him.

I may not have known what I was doing, but God did. He was the one in charge, setting up things in those kids' hearts that I wasn't even aware of. And under His leadership, I would have to say that VBS was a complete success.

Life Applications:

How hard is it to keep in mind that ministry does not depend on your efforts alone? Why?
How do you talk to people about God?
How does God work through you to minister to others?

Copyright 2003 by Amanda Beattie
All rights reserved.