Oregon: Why it’s worth it

Have you ever stopped to ask yourself why you are doing what you’re doing? Why you continue to pursue something? What makes this so worth your while that you give up your time, your energy—sometimes even money? I have asked myself this question quite a bit.

Going into ministry because that’s where I feel called, I have lots of people ask me, “Why ministry?” It doesn’t pay well. It’s often hard to support a family in ministry. There’s so little opportunity at times. Let me share a story of why this makes it all worth it.

I’m currently serving at a church in Oregon with Go Now Missions. I’ve had different opportunities to lead worship and to invest in students. But most recently, I had the opportunity to teach some students. We just recently had our Vacation Bible School. We had spent so much time in prayer, preparation and decorating. We wrote the lessons and music. We put in late nights and early mornings. In the midst of that, we did not cease to pray about this event we planned.

We were planning for about 90 kids. We ended up with an average of 130 kids. So, God already is doing amazing things. But the story does not end there. As I mentioned, I had the opportunity to teach these kids. I’ve never taught before, and my biggest worry was whether I going to be able to teach these kids in a way so they would understand. But God made sure to give me the right words. So, I gave a gospel presentation to these 130 kids. And while on stage, I asked, “Who wants to be a part of God’s family?” What seemed like half the room raised their hands without hesitation. I was speechless and overwhelmed with joy.

We sat down with the kids and made sure they understood the gospel and asked them if they really wanted to commit their lives to Christ. In one day, we had a total of 43 kids come to salvation. As we talked about how we were going to follow up with 43 kids, my mind was still processing that God just saved 43 souls. All that could go through my head was that the best problem possible is how we make sure these kids get discipled.

This is what makes it worth it. Just one soul makes it worth it. But Jesus likes to do the unthinkable. Instead of one or 20, we had 43 saved. And now we are trying to disciple these kids, so that they understand what being a follower of Christ truly looks like. God is so good to produce fruit when we are faithful. He promises to use us. We are not the ones who save anybody; it’s God. However, I feel so blessed that he chose to use me as a tool to reach those kids.

Hugh Ells, a student at Trinity County College, is serving with Go Now Missions in Klamath Falls, Ore.