By Mike Juday, Gathering UMD Campus Director

Work, work, work. Answer emails, make some calls, grab coffee here, grande…or venti (I still forget which is the medium cup), meet with student “A”, convince student “A” that she should do leadership. Meet with student “B”, convince student “B” that leadership is sucking every last bit of life out of him and he needs a break. Lead meeting with current leaders, study 1 John, get scared that I’m actually not a Christian (read 1 John 1, you’ll get scared too), look up the Greek and realize that the Greek language is way better then English, everyone in the room breaths a sigh of relief, prayer for I don’t know how long, talk about all the things that need to get done this semester, seesaws against slavery, baptisms, sunrise prayer, cereal party after a service, new student leaders, returning student leaders, Gathering-Wide Day o’ Fun, City Wide service, what’s our vision, what do we want our culture to be, what is a cultural right now, look at the clock, we’ve gone way over time, set up sound equipment, call all the student leaders who said they’d be there but weren’t but no one picks up, prayer before the service, meet lots of students, I have become the biggest bro ever… and I’m okay with it, make sure service runs smoothly, talk to student “C” after service, say “I can’t talk now” to student “D”, “E”, “F”, & “G”… “but I’ll call you”, tear down equipment, beg students for help in getting out of Nyumburu on time for once, watch people load the truck, say “thanks, you’re the ish” to the sound guy after he’s done loading the truck, walk to my car, it’s 11:30pm, call Katie, she’s ready to fall asleep (but sacrificially waited for my late night call) and who wouldn’t be if you had to get up at 5:30am to spend a day teaching Spanish to crazy 1st – 8th graders, sit in my car, drive 30 minutes to my amazing home which is sadly in a different state, collapse on the couch, pass out in shoes, jeans, and hoodie, wake up at 4am on the couch, walk up to my room, change into my PJs, lay in my bed and fall asleep.

This has been the most amazing job that I could ever imagine.

Jesus says in Mark 8:34-35 “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it.”

My life belongs to Christ and He has given me the strength to do this job. The only way that this is possible is because I run to God daily, I beg for His strength and for His discernment. Now, I’m not saying that we all need to work from wake up to fall asleep (which I don’t do). But I am saying that my hardest and most jam-packed day, is a blessing.

Our lives are all blessings. No matter if you work at a church or at a Chic-Fil-A. When Christ is the motivation and product of our actions and our thoughts, we are all doing ministry