Let the Little Children Come
A Mid-America College student thinks small and ends up with big results
As a student at Mid-America College, my experience in Mid-America’s Practical Missions has been joyful and fulfilling.
I know I am doing the Lord’s will in my life. Additionally, attending a school that views Matthew 28:19–20 as a command and not a suggestion is a blessing in and of itself. I have seen God work in me and the lives of many others through me, as God has surrounded me with those who love and hold to this mandate our Lord Jesus Christ has given us as believers.
One of the most incredible times of ministry as a youth pastor has been preparing for Vacation Bible School. This past summer, my pastor and I purposefully pushed others (and ourselves) to go canvassing every Saturday for two months in the neighborhoods surrounding our church, inviting them to attend church and VBS and sharing the Gospel. God rewarded our work, as in our small congregation of 50, we had 32 children and youth signed up with 22 in average daily attendance for the week. But most surprisingly, nine professions of faith were made among the kids who attended. What is more encouraging is that some of those kids began regularly participating in church through our bus ministry. Parents and grandparents also started coming to church more often, some accepting the Gospel through the moving of the Holy Spirit, preaching, and the witness of their children and grandchildren.
In September, my pastor and I visited a young lady whose son attended VBS. She had given her heart to Christ, and we were doing a follow-up visit to encourage her to be baptized. We accidentally arrived at the wrong address, however, and knocked on the door. A young man answered, and as we began talking with him, he indicated that the Lord had been working in his heart as he read Scripture. After some discussion, my pastor gave a Gospel invitation and led him to Christ! We will look forward to his baptism shortly!
I hope this encourages those who work in a dead zone in ministry. When I began as a youth pastor, I had just completed my first semester at Mid-America College and did not yet know what God had called me to do. When my pastor asked me to become the youth pastor in February 2022, I hesitantly accepted, partially because we had no youth whatsoever, and our church was still recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic, so I would be building it from the ground up. Not only that, but I did not want to teach youth, and the reason for that is rather strange. I would not call myself a scholar, but I loved discussing theology and the Bible with men older and more mature in the Word than myself, so teaching youth who had almost no idea what the Gospel is was outside of my comfort zone. My pastor was convinced, however, that God had called me to this ministry, so after hours of prayer and confirmation through Scripture, friends, and professors at Mid-America, I knew this was where God wanted me.
Since then, God has humbled me repeatedly, teaching me that we, as one human race, have one problem: sin. This problem puts us all in the same boat—a sinking vessel in which those who believe reach out to grab those who do not, young or old. That is the job of not only the pastor but also every believer. This truth has encouraged me and given me the boldness to go into my community to spread the Gospel because it teaches me to love my neighbor as I love myself.
If God had not made a way for me to go to Mid-America College, I could not see myself as obedient to Scripture, much less fulfilling God’s will for my life. The godly men and women at Mid-America who stand for the complete inerrancy, infallibility, and sufficiency of Scripture have also inspired and motivated me to love and obey the commands given by our Lord Jesus Christ. At the very least, this is to say that Mid-America has helped me continue to fulfill my ministry in every respect concerning the Bible, missions, and evangelism.