Sustaining Joy in the Field
Written by Jenny Silva, for distribution on The Vital Fam.
Walking home across the city is my moment to process the day. Some evenings, I feel like I
almost bound across the city, filled with joy after an evening of sharing the Word with people
who have never heard it. Other times my feet feel heavy walking up the hill to my house,
discouraged by conflict or lack of growth. Sometimes I’m repenting, asking God to use my inadequacies to shine a light on his glory and mercy.
These moments reveal what motivates me, what nourishes and sustains me as I serve in
gospel ministry. What keeps me on the field? What gives me joy and a reason to continue in
ministry through discouragement? There could be many motivators: Love for the Albanian people, serving with a team of like-minded believers, seeing people come to faith, or full Bible studies and services. These are all beautiful, joy-giving things— but none of them can be relied on for sustaining power. Teams change, teammates hurt and disappoint, people reject the gospel, attendance fluctuates, and some days I just don’t like Albanian culture.
Even in a motivation as pure as a longing for people to know their Creator, my labor does not equal results. The longer I serve in gospel ministry, the more I can attest that salvation does not come by human effort. Jesus prepared us for this reality when he said:
Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my
saying, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you
cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.
John 3:6-8
So what is my sustaining joy in ministry? It is a humble one: I am fully satisfied and filled with
peace when I know that I spent my day with God. When I know that I am joining him in his
work. The results and the measures of success are in his hands. But oh, how wonderful that I
can with him in his work on earth!
Paul beautifully describes this partnership:
Everything is from God, who has reconciled us to himself through Christ and has given us the
ministry of reconciliation. That is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting
their trespasses against them, and he has committed the message of reconciliation to us.
1 Corinthians 5:18-19
The ministry of the gospel is the ministry of God through Christ. It is something He is doing—
reconciling the world to himself. By trusting the message of reconciliation to us, we become
coworkers with him, joining him in his work. When we speak this message of reconciliation, we
are with him.
My sustaining joy on mission comes in daily uniting with God’s work. Every day, that work
looks different. Our team has a pattern of starting each day in prayer at the coffee shop. One
morning, as I finished praying in the morning with some teammates, I saw a teenage girl in
tears on the other side of the coffee shop. I knew with total confidence that the place to be
with God was to sit down with her, love her, and ask her if I could pray to the living God with
her. That introduction created a door for continuing gospel relationship with her, where she
knew without a doubt that she was loved.
Another time, that joy was experienced in repentance and honesty with a friend I have been
sharing the gospel with. She had been coming to Bible study, but wasn’t feeling up for it that
night. In my enthusiasm to continue through the word with her, I failed to show her care and
love and made her feel pressured to join the Bible study. Being with God meant humbling
myself and repenting for how I hurt her, and communicating transparently about God’s heart for
followers who worship him without compulsion, in spirit and truth.
This joy of uniting with God’s work is an unshakeable foundation for missions. It doesn’t
change based on circumstances, success, or failure. It is a deep and satisfying purpose,
because our God is infinitely deep and beautifully satisfying. There is no better way to spend
my life than being with him, joining him in his heart and his mission
Jenny Silva is serving the Lord Jesus in Kosovo alongside her husband and kids. They operate a coffee shop ministry called Newborn Brew. Newborn Brew is a community center and coffee shop that’s sharing the gospel in Pristina, Kosovo.
If you’d like to read more about their work and partner with them, you can do that here.
If you’d like to contact Jenny and the team directly, you can reach out via email at churchatnewborn@gmail.com
Comentarios