My homework for christian counselling is to define what I see as ministry I have received. To be honest I really battled with what ministry means. I looked it up and this is what Wikipedia had to say:
"In Christianity, ministry is an activity carried out by Christians to express or spread their faith, the prototype being the Great Commission. ... Some ministries are identified formally as such, and some are not; some ministry is directed towards members of the church, and some towards non-members."
I guess this relates to doctrine and teaching I have been given. Until the age of 18, I was brought up Catholic. There were fundamentals like communion and the Trinity. We were taught though that our sins were forgiven when we went to confession and that you were baptised as a baby. There were things I questioned as a teenager and as a result I didn't do confirmation as I didn't feel ready. I really started rebelling against dogma when I was 19 and went to a friend's youth group, The Arena. At first I found it too happy clappy and wasn't convinced by the altar calls and found the intensity of worship off putting. I did sense something bigger and more intimate though in their relation to God and this did draw me in. Henry Olonga, the famous Zimbabwean cricketer, spoke at one service and his call to repent was compelling and I did go up for the altar call. I didn't feel any different afterwards but I did feel I needed to change things in my life. I became much more active in the youth group, painting banners and doing art work and I went on a camp where I started praying in tongues. Again I was a teeny bit skeptical about this.
After my year doing the Commercial course at Convent, when I was involved at the Arena, I went to university in Cape Town at UCT. Well I think it was slightly serendipitous that in the Orientation Week when various churches came to our residence hall I thought I was speaking to someone who was linked to a church affiliated to the church back home, but it turned out it was a different church - Church on Main, and I went to the wrong home group meeting. I made some of my best friends of all time in that church and they carried me through my time at university. I did various evening courses on theology and got quite a firm grounding in church doctrine which was biblically based. Oh I actually did feel guilty about not going to the church affiliated to the Arena in Cape Town at first and was going to two meetings on a Sunday and went to Bible school with His People for one semester but I was burning myself out with it and decided to stick with Church on Main. I'm sure His People is just as good a church but it wasn't for me at the time.
In one of Zimbabwe's worst years - 2007, I came up to Zim with Church on Main people on an outreach (it did feel weird outreaching to people in my own country). I connected then with what was Gateway to the Nations, but is now The Base Church and it opened doors for when I came back to Zim in 2009. I came home at the end of my studies in Cape Town and plugged in to The Base Church doing kids ministry, art and choir. It was initially brief as I went to Switzerland where I went to C3 Lausanne, but when I came back from Switzerland permanently I rejoined.
I think the greatest ministry I have received is not necessarily from what the pastors or priests said, but when individual members of the church reached out to me in my times of need and came along side me, encouraged me and helped me carry on with words of wisdom, encouragement and prophecy. These have been what have most meaningfully spoken to me, louder than anything ever said from a pulpit.
I will confess I drifted away from church the last couple of years. I felt my depression was seen as an overly spiritualised condition in the church and not as the biological abnormality I see it as, as a scientist. I also find the longer you are out of church, the harder it is to go back as you just feel so judged. I do know it is your own thoughts that tell you that but it can feel that way. When I was dating Matt I went to St Georges for mass. I did find the homilies a bit empty but the tradition and community was a comfort and less judgemental. Tomorrow I am going to try go to another more charismatic church with a friend who is also searching for a new church. I just hope they don't overwhelm us as new comers.
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