The hardships of ministry

For those of you who don't know - pretty much from when I first got here, I've had a Bible study on Sunday afternoons for the high school aged girls. Being that I used to have my life immersed in ministry to the high school girls in the States, I thought this would be the perfect fit and that it would honestly be just like it was in the States...boy was I wrong. The ministry to these girls has been one battle after another. I've prayed for them, written them letters of encouragement/tough love, washed their feet, taken them to the hospital, etc... yet they still choose to buck against me - but that's not the hardest part... more than that, their reputation and lifestyle is tainting the name of our church and more importantly, the name of Christ. Yesterday, I had some of my girls who are not of that persuasion at the Bible study, and they were talking in a round about way about the other girls and their reputations and what they do with their time. It used to make me angry, but honestly...God has definitely made it where now I just hurt for them. They are flat out rejecting His love, mercy, and grace. They have been involved in the church scene for years, they have heard countless teachings on the ways they should live, and yet they make the decision to go against it. They're all under 20, but they're doing things that will ruin the rest of their lives, and more importantly if they don't repent...follow them into eternity.

This being said, this morning in my quiet time, as I am now going through 2 Corinthians, I was in chapter 6 and Paul talks of all he and his comrades have gone through and how they have poured out their hearts to and for the Corinthians, yet the Corinthians were not reciprocating. As I read from vs. 1-11, I couldn't help but have the girls in my mind. I won't lie, I love reading what guys like Paul and Peter have to say because if they had to suffer the hardships of ministry, why should I be surprised that I have to as well. Paul was...well, Paul, and yet he had people turn up their nose at him, make up rumors about him, say that he lacked grace, and that he was in it for money, and so on and so forth. The thing is though, Paul never stopped loving them, never stopped trying, never stopped desiring to see them live the life God had called them to, and that's what I need to persevere in. Sometimes the fruit is overflowing in ministry, but sometimes it seems like a famine, but that never means we should stop striving and praying and persevering as we show that un-conditional love that we are called to display. Oh, if only I can remember this vital lesson in the life of ministry!