Is God Calling You to Make an Impact?
Bob VerBurg
With the new school year, we want to remind Hillside of our Kids Hope program. Kim VanderHill is starting her second year as the director of Kids Hope. Unfortunately, like so much else in the past year, COVID has been very disruptive to this Hillside ministry. Last year, Townline School had to suspend all mentoring for the year. This year, Kim was hoping for better news. But for the time being, mentoring is being suspended again. But that doesn’t mean there will not be opportunities for serving as Kim and Townline are working on some alternative ways to serve.
I mentored the same young boy for five years when Hillside first started Kids Hope at Townline and it was one of the most rewarding experiences I’ve ever had. But also…one of the most spiritually challenging experiences which God used toward even more spiritual maturity. I put a lot of time and emotional investment into those five years. I haven’t seen or heard from that boy or his mom for almost 10 years now. This boy would now be in his 20’s and I often wonder about him.
Like many children at Townline, this boy came from a troubled, single-parent home. His dad was in and out of the picture and that generally made his home even more troubled. Every year I wondered why I was getting myself into such a distressing situation. I asked myself, “Wouldn’t it be so much easier for me to sit out a year?” But then it seemed like I would hear God’s voice reminding me I was doing this for His honor and service, not for any temporal reward.
At the beginning of the school year, this young boy and I would get reacquainted. And the beginning of the school year is when he was the most disruptive at school. And a couple of times he was suspended from school for misbehaving. I would then spend time at his home and help him stay caught up on his lessons. Those opportunities also allowed me to model Christian service to his mom.
So, did I make a difference in his life? His teachers often told me I did. But what about in the long run? Did he grow up to be the man I’d be proud of?
There is a secular and selfish feeling I sometimes get that because of the time and emotional investment I put in, I feel a little resentful that our mentoring relationship came to such an abrupt end. But then these feelings quickly prompt a caution from God. It’s as if I hear God’s voice telling me, “Remember Bob, you were doing this service for ME and only ME. I’m not asking you to change a person’s life, that’s my job. I am asking you serve only ME to bring honor to my name.”
Even today, when given an opportunity to serve God, I often need those cautions from God to prevent me from taking the easy way out by rationalizing a reason to not get involved. And to be honest, when I’m feeling particularly melancholy and discouraged, those cautions take the imagined image of God both encouraging me and chiding me, “Come on, Bob, we’ve had this discussion before: Your reward from me in heaven will be so much more meaningful than any earthly acknowledgement.” So, like the example from the apostle Paul, I press on.
I recently found a renewed encouragement and clarity from Pastor Ron’s message, “Don’t Steal.” Pastor Ron challenged me to consider how much God has blessed me and because of that, God calls me to serve Him by serving others. I found a new insight when pastor Ron challenged me to compare down, not up. That is, look for opportunities to serve God by looking for people who have less than I do. Then use the blessings God has given to me by serving others who God brings into my life.
The challenge for all of us is to ask God to show us opportunities to serve. Putting aside the politics of COVID, if you look for and ask God for an opportunity to serve, God is faithful and will bring an opportunity into your life. Kim VanderHill asks that you remember the Kids Hope program in your prayers and consider becoming a mentor. This ministry is making a real impact on God’s kingdom. And your reward will be treasures in heaven.
The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.
- Matthew 9:38