"I Cried Once."
News Flash! Missionaries are real people with real emotions. We experience real highs and lows in everyday life. I wish I could tell you that missionaries are super-Christians who never get discouraged, but that would be a lie.
Although I’ve been accused of not having any, today’s newsletter is going to be about emotions. I think I might have cried once, either at my wedding or the birth of one of my boys, but I can’t remember which one. It was so strange that I went to the doctor, but he told me that the watery discharge was normal. Just kidding!
I do have emotions; I just keep them hidden like most men.
But that was not the case three weeks ago. I was just really discouraged. I wasn’t upset about the ministry with the teens; that was going great. Every day, there are more kids and more opportunities to share Christ.
Instead, I was discouraged and worried about the finances of this ministry that God started. That’s right…I was worried about the finances of God’s ministry. I’ve been a missionary for nearly 30 years, and I know that even through the the ups and downs, God has always provide for me every single step of the way.
Every week, I teach teenagers that God is faithful and will meet all our needs if we trust Him, but there I was…struggling with trust. I’ve watched God provide time and again. You would think I’d have learned by now. But I must admit that it is easier said than done.
I have been working on our inaugural Leverage Ministries golf tournament—the Roger Evans Memorial Golf Classic coming up on May 10. I started asking people and businesses to sponsor our tournament, and for one solid week, the only answer I got time and again was “no.” It was frustrating, and I told God that. I prayed, “God, I know this is your ministry, and this is what you want us to do, but this is difficult and discouraging.”
I was ready to quit when one young man at our Friday morning Breakfast Club thanked me for picking him up and said to me, “Pastor Scott, I don’t know where I would be without you.”
It was just a simple statement from the boy, but I felt like God was personally speaking to me in that moment, reminding me why I do what I do and that He is in control. I’m a part of Leverage Ministries because of these kids—the at-risk kids who need to hear about Jesus. God has provided for this ministry so far, and He will continue to provide as long as I’m doing my part.
This past weekend was our church’s annual mission’s conference. To be honest, after 30 years in ministry, I was NOT excited about another mission’s conference. After all, I had more important things to do, like raising money for the ministry.
But God had other plans. He used the conference to encourage and refocus our ministry and our efforts. The Sunday morning speaker shared how all of us need to use our time, talent and resources to further the Kingdom of God. I really believe that message was directed right at me since the Leverage Ministries mission statement states that, “Our mission is to enable individuals to leverage their time, talents and resources in order to reach people, both locally and globally, with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”
As I sat there on Sunday morning, I felt confident that we are doing exactly what God wants us to do: reach the abused, abandoned and arrested teens of Central Florida.
But even as we trust God, we are encouraged to pray for our needs. So I ask that you please continue to pray for our finances and that we would trust God to provide in His time and in His way. Also, please pray for the different funding avenues that we are developing: catering opportunities for Joe Bear’s Barbecue, golfers and sponsors for our upcoming golf tournament and individuals to join the Dean Johnson Legacy Team.
Pray that God would use each of these funds, as well as our generous supporters and donors, to grow His ministry so that we can continue to reach hurting youth.
In His Service,
Scott