By: Shannon Marshall, New York Assistant City Director

One of my favorite moments of the summer happened during one of our debriefs. This week I happened to be leading a small debrief group of students with one of their leaders. Our first couple of debriefs were fruitful conversations that prepared us well for our next day of ministry, but I hadn’t begun to feel like I was truly getting to know each student’s personality well. The next day we had one of the most difficult days of ministry. We were serving at a childcare center doing some particularly dirty, grueling work. As a leader, I wanted to keep spirits high and continue to instill the importance of doing all work as service unto the Lord, even if it may not be considered “fun” by most standards.

When it came to our last debrief of the week, the student who had been the most reserved and quiet seemed different. He was smiling and talking excitedly about how much he had been enjoying the week of service here in Brooklyn. As we dug into the ways God had been shaping us throughout the week, this seemingly reserved kid became animated as he passionately recalled the ways God had given him joy in service to Him. I remember him saying, “This was some of the grossest work I have ever done, but I was so filled with joy to be doing it. I knew that we were representing Christ and showing love to this neighborhood through our work. I feel like God could use me to do stuff like this all the time.”

I was so encouraged to see how God had used this week to strengthen the faith of this student and show Him that in service to Christ is fullness of joy. We cannot minimize the importance of leading well. God is able to use our obedience to further his mission and grow the faith of not only each one of us personally but also those who are serving alongside us.