Why Work in a Summer Ministry?

Drew Williquette, Junior Bible Major

“Drew, I feel like I can open up more about things that I struggle with here than back home” 

“Drew, I just got my sin right with God”

​“Drew, I got saved tonight”
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Wow. Praise God. These are just a few of the things I heard this summer working with children and teens. You cannot put a price tag on moments like these. It is truly incredible when you have the privilege of seeing God change a life and Him using you to do it. I do not deserve that. I am a weak human being with little to give back to God, but yet He still wants to use me.

Over the last few summers, God has led me to work at a Christian camp. It has been through experiences that I have had there that my life has been forever changed. I cannot even begin to explain the work that God did in my heart to show me pride, change wrong motives, and to replace my selfishness with a greater love for His Word and the Gospel.

Although working at a camp was a lot of fun, it was also very hard. Ministry is people. People are messy. Ministry is messy. Some of the situations God put me in seemed nothing short of impossible.

For instance, what was I to say when a teen came to me broken over his immorality and drunkenness? I did not know how to counsel that.

What about someone who in the past had cut themselves? I had only heard about people doing that, not actually seen the effects of it on another person.

What was I supposed to tell a guy who told me that at one time he was demon-possessed? I had never talked with anyone who actually admitted that.

All of these situations were a huge burden and forced me to go back to God’s Word for wisdom because I had nothing to give on my own.

That is one of the best things about working in a summer ministry. It forces you to be uncomfortable. It makes you run to God’s Word because without it you cannot make any lasting impact for God.

So you might be asking yourself “Why should I work in a summer ministry?” By working in a summer ministry, you are not just investing in your own life to be changed. You are investing into the advancement of God’s kingdom across the world. What could be greater than that? You are giving up a summer of potential comfort to make yourself uncomfortable for the sake of the Gospel. You are investing in souls, and that reward is eternal.

So, brothers and sisters, pray about the opportunity to give your summer to ministry. You never know how God will use that to change your life for His glory.