In The Trellis and The Vine, authors Colin Marshall and Tony Payne advocate for a renewed approach to ministry that focuses on ministry to individuals as well as to the group. This personalized, one-on-one approach to ministry is not new, it’s as old as Christianity itself, and has found many advocates through the years of Christian History that include Jesus, the Apostle Paul, Richard Baxter, and a whole host of pastors and church leaders who have poured their lives into younger Christians.
This is my first post in a series on personalized ministry that will revolve around several people that God has brought into my life recently for me to be involved with in personal ministry.
My first appointment of every week for the past several weeks is with a boy named Steven (not his real name). Steven is a kindergartner that I meet with every Monday at 8:00 to work on his reading skills, but that’s not all we work on. Steven does not have a great home life, and was even homeless recently. At 8:00 on Monday’s, however, Steven gets the undivided attention of a man who cares for him and desires to see him succeed.
Steven’s teachers tell me that he walks in on Mondays asking if I will be there. They have even commented that his behavior has improved dramatically, and they credit the one hour per week that he and I spend together.
As far as I know, Steven is not involved in a church. I really hope that one day soon I will have the opportunity to invite Steven to Malvern Hill (my church) where he can experience rich teachings from God’s word in our children’s ministry. However, until that happens, I am working to show Steven the love of God through high fives, hugs, and encouraging words and actions (I tie his shoes almost every Monday).
The ironic thing is that, although my goal is to reach Steven, I’m having opportunities to speak to teachers. “Why,” they ask, “do you take time out of your schedule to be here?” My rehearsed response? “As a Christian, I believe that God’s word compels me to love others and to give back to the world around me. I want to share the love of Christ with kids who may not get much love anywhere else.”
I hope that you will pray for Steven and his family. I hope that you will pray for me to have more opportunities to share with Steven. But I also hope that you will find your own Steven, there are many hundreds of thousands of Stevens in the United States alone.
I am fortunate enough to pastor a wonderful, growing, and thriving congregation that requires a huge amount of my time. I also have a great family that I love dearly that gets tons of my time. However, Christ has called me (and you) to impact the world around me. Lives are changed one-at-a-time. I call on the members of Malvern Hill to be intentional about one-life changes and I’m being intentional too. You have an hour you can give….and you should.
