And what a time it was to join in on the action and learn the ropes. Strong Church Summit, where our pastors and leaders would share with their counterparts from all over the world (25 countries, to be exact) the heart and spirit that empowered them to build a Strong Church with a Deep Bench of leaders, from one generation to the next.
I had always imagined my first time serving would be in a regular weekend service, with a slightly smaller crowd largely consisting of our own regular members. Intimidating, for sure, but at least I would be among more familiar faces. Instead, God had decided to test my mettle, throwing me straight into the mother of all fires... Social Media Ministry.
Capturing the key moments with hundreds of international delegates at a once-a-year conference, knowing that if I'd missed out on filming these moments, they'd be gone forever?
No pressure.
Armed with nothing but an outdated iPhone 11 camera and barely 2 hours of prior training, to say nothing of my downright atrocious boomer-level camera skills?
No pressure.
My introverted self having to interact and vibe with total strangers, knowing my own conduct would reflect on the church because of my lanyard and volunteer pass?
.....Okay, maybe I was in trouble. Amid this whirlwind of thoughts was the nagging question: how could someone who had gotten out of touch with social media trends in the past year possibly have fresh ideas to generate buzz and interest in what God was doing in our church?
Questions filled my head until, eventually, it hit me; I was merely the newest in a long and extensive list of cogs inside the well-oiled machine that is the Social Media Ministry. I watched in awe as everyone in the ministry collaborated to methodically plan objective after objective for the Summit, not unlike a strategic meaning amongst generals before heading out to war. Yet, for all the painstaking detail that was put into our schedules, shot lists and content, my teammates managed to stay flexible enough to adapt our posts and stories to accurately capture the actual atmosphere and encounters being experienced on the ground.
We numbered about 50, but a spirit of unity brought everyone together with a single-minded focus to produce the best content for the NUMEROUS social media accounts we were entrusted with. Content which would move people for God, minister to them, touch lives in a way that only Jesus could. Yes, self-doubt had momentarily taken a hold on me in the days of preparation leading up to the event, but by the grace of God acting through my encouraging, competent and oh-so-patient leaders (thank you Ross), my fears were eventually drowned out by the sheer joy and fulfillment that came with this new way of living for others.
I realize now what my church friends mean when they say we are so incredibly privileged to get to serve in this House. As a relatively new member, I felt especially spoiled by God for being allowed to participate in such a spiritually charged and life-changing event with global impact.
All my life, I’d been looking for community, for some sense of a higher purpose. Granted, I already received many a godly burden and a sense of belonging in my church. But serving genuinely felt like I was taking the next step into growing my faith and a heart of servitude. I’m reminded of the two verses from the church's training material about serving in the house of God:
1 Peter 4:10-11 NLT
“God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another. Do you have the gift of speaking? Then speak as though God himself were speaking through you. Do you have the gift of helping others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies. Then everything you do will bring glory to God through Jesus Christ. All glory and power to him forever and ever! Amen.”
Romans 12:6-8 NLT
“In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you. If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well. If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.”
Core memories:
- Stepping into a service and roaming around on my own for the first time. As someone who avoids crowds like the plague and is uncomfortable drawing unwanted attention, I had to adjust and get over it very quickly so that I could capture the key moments on stage and in the audience from the various angles available to me. In this way, I broke my own barriers for God, zip lining between empty seats mid-service just to get a better shot 🫣
- RUSHINGGG around the whole of level 3 of our building with two similarly new but equally willing ministry mates, trying to get enough footage of different delegate groups and their hosts taking video selfies for a collage to capture the dinnertime buzz in a story. Equal parts funny and wholesome, at one point I was just camping at the foot of the stage steps hoping people wouldn’t hit pause on what they were doing thinking I had some important announcement to make to the room, editing away furiously at whatever preliminary footage we had already to save time. All so our leaders could post the stories in a timely fashion!
All in all, I was grateful to God for supplying me with the strength and energy to keep going at 110% of
my output the whole time I was out there filling up my phone's storage space, and I only started to feel the
fatigue from the moment I stopped serving and sat down for the Leaders’
Meeting/Session in the evening (thank God for mints). It was then that I finally had time to scroll through what had been shared via the church-related Instagram accounts throughout the day. A couple of my footages and ideas had been approved and used 😮
I was humbled at how God had used my previously untapped talents to do the significant, at a much higher capacity than I ever dreamed for myself a year ago. I felt like I jumped from being one of the fingers of God straight to being a whole hand or arm 🤣🤣 not trying to overstate my own importance in the grand scheme of things, of course. When working in a ministry, you get the sense that you've become part of something bigger than yourself, a veritable army for God and His kingdom. You all share in the triumphs, the encounters, the hardships and the heartbreaks. Above all, you discover new things about your own identity in Christ, deepening your relationship with God, as well as a clearer understanding of your role in His eternity. Man, you just don’t get this kind of experience anywhere else.
