Pastoral Ministry 8.10.13

It´s 6 am and I missed saying goodbye to Shannon Brown who had been working with us the whole summer; that was sad. It´s Saturday morning, supposed to be our Sabbath is going to be a long day. 

I´m taking a group of Pastors and some of my disciples to a workshop for pastors in Santo Domingo. Taking this group of busy men to SD can be a little overwhelming at times. But this is part of the encouragement that Pastors need, and the training that new pastors should be imparted. It´s obvious that I´m thinking about pastoral ministry a little too much.
While I was in Haiti, God spoke to me through scripture about what it means to be a pastor. I guess it includes more than I would think. Being a Pastor is more than preaching and definitely more than teaching or knowing about what the bible says.

When I got back, there was the opportunity for me to put that into practice. However; my goal is not to have a position but first to learn how you love people the way Jesus did. In the end HE is the shepherd and we are simply sheep like all others. So Patria and I focused our ministry on Guachupita, which has been a little challenging lately.

This week, our senior pastor and our associate pastor are in the States and is basically me and a bunch of other leaders in charge of the different areas in the congregation, and today I´m taking the rest of the leaders to this training in SD.

At first I was worried. Because there are some events that won´t be canceled and some things that need to happen. But how will they happen if the leaders are not there? Simple, I just had to understand that is God himself doing the work, and that we are just helping Him. That he has the power to do the impossible.

This leads me to think how there are plenty of people prepare to do his work. Nevertheless, being a pastor is not an easy thing. 
Patria and I are assisting in the youth department 

and we have experienced what taking care for the souls is. It is a sweaty work, very spiritual, intercession is the main task, and counseling is a big part of it. Let us not think that good programs or great activities or plenty of games will help our generation grow towards Christ. It is Christ himself that will help his kids grow, our goal is to let Christ work in and through us so that his growing happens. 
To know that our task is to present before God an offering consisting of saints that glorify His name is a high standard for an offering, but is God himself helping us to accomplish this.

So, we are not only sending missionaries from DR to the nations but we are helping a generation to be disciples of Jesus in every area of their lives. Please pray that we do this boldly. We´ll pray that you may do so too. 

I myself am satisfied about you, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able to instruct one another. 15 But on some points I have written to you very boldly by way of reminder, because of the grace given me by God 16 to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. 17 In Christ Jesus, then, I have reason to be proud of my work for God. 18 For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to bring the Gentiles to obedience - by word and deed, 19 by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God - so that from Jerusalem and all the way around to Illyricum I have fulfilled the ministry of the gospel of Christ; 20 and thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else’s foundation, 21 but as it is written, “Those who have never been told of him will see, and those who have never heard will understand.” Romans 15:14-21