You Came for Me! Part 1 of 2
Guest blogger, Robyn Bloem
Steve pastored a little church in the Midwest from 1991-1993. About ten years ago, a man in the church who had become Steve’s hunting buddy and friend called us in Michigan to remind us of our impact. He told us when the church was voting for us to come, he was the only one who voted “No” on our call. It turned out he was saved through Steve’s preaching and his personal discipleship. He told Steve, “Maybe you only came for me, but you sure were used to change my life.” We were so thankful to hear that from him and to be reminded that nothing is wasted when it is done for the Lord.
While we were there, one of our most exciting ministries was our Wednesday afternoon Joy Club. The church was right across the street from the elementary school, so with their parents' permission, the kids ran over after the final school bell. We had cookies and juice, sang songs, and had bible stories.
It wasn’t anything particularly innovative by today’s standards but every week thirty kids came to the little Baptist church and learned of the Lord’s love and sacrifice for them. We visited the home of every child who came and shared the gospel with their parents.We had periodic family services at the church highlighting the Joy Club kids' accomplishments. They sang their songs and received trophies for various contests. We kept praying that we were having an impact.
The adult members of the church, the deacons and other powers within, were a different story. They would be forever known as a “pastor killing” church. Any pastor knows exactly what we mean by that. We even knew at the time that there were internal problems but being in our early thirties and having experienced some substantial trials by then, we felt maybe the Lord had prepared us to pull them out of the ditch they had fallen into. Well, not so much. In 1993, we literally shook the dust off our feet outside our moving truck and went to Michigan. Lessons learned. Brokenhearted. On to God's next chapter for us.
Just three weeks ago, Steve was contacted by a young lady on Facebook who asked, “Are you the man that was the minister at a little church in...?” and she named the town. He showed me the message, we looked at her picture and remembered her as a third grader in our Joy Club. She went on to say, that one day she was thinking about what she had been learning from us about the Bible and "On the playground, I asked Jesus to save me and I don't know where I would be without Him in my life today more twenty years later.”
We both teared up,stopped and thanked the Lord for using us in her life. We wondered if there were more and hoped so.
The primary purpose of Heartfelt Counseling Ministries is to offer
comfort, support and guidance to those who suffer from mental
illness, bereavement and other disturbances of mind and mood.
Guest blogger, Robyn Bloem
Steve pastored a little church in the Midwest from 1991-1993. About ten years ago, a man in the church who had become Steve’s hunting buddy and friend called us in Michigan to remind us of our impact. He told us when the church was voting for us to come, he was the only one who voted “No” on our call. It turned out he was saved through Steve’s preaching and his personal discipleship. He told Steve, “Maybe you only came for me, but you sure were used to change my life.” We were so thankful to hear that from him and to be reminded that nothing is wasted when it is done for the Lord.
While we were there, one of our most exciting ministries was our Wednesday afternoon Joy Club. The church was right across the street from the elementary school, so with their parents' permission, the kids ran over after the final school bell. We had cookies and juice, sang songs, and had bible stories.
It wasn’t anything particularly innovative by today’s standards but every week thirty kids came to the little Baptist church and learned of the Lord’s love and sacrifice for them. We visited the home of every child who came and shared the gospel with their parents.We had periodic family services at the church highlighting the Joy Club kids' accomplishments. They sang their songs and received trophies for various contests. We kept praying that we were having an impact.
The adult members of the church, the deacons and other powers within, were a different story. They would be forever known as a “pastor killing” church. Any pastor knows exactly what we mean by that. We even knew at the time that there were internal problems but being in our early thirties and having experienced some substantial trials by then, we felt maybe the Lord had prepared us to pull them out of the ditch they had fallen into. Well, not so much. In 1993, we literally shook the dust off our feet outside our moving truck and went to Michigan. Lessons learned. Brokenhearted. On to God's next chapter for us.
Just three weeks ago, Steve was contacted by a young lady on Facebook who asked, “Are you the man that was the minister at a little church in...?” and she named the town. He showed me the message, we looked at her picture and remembered her as a third grader in our Joy Club. She went on to say, that one day she was thinking about what she had been learning from us about the Bible and "On the playground, I asked Jesus to save me and I don't know where I would be without Him in my life today more twenty years later.”
We both teared up,stopped and thanked the Lord for using us in her life. We wondered if there were more and hoped so.
The primary purpose of Heartfelt Counseling Ministries is to offer
comfort, support and guidance to those who suffer from mental
illness, bereavement and other disturbances of mind and mood.
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