October Internship Report – Geoffrey and Sangmi Drew (Tristan)

Published September 28, 2017

Lighthouse Bible Church, Simi Valley, California

Geoffrey

Ministry Highlights

I was responsible for recasting vision to our church regarding family ministries, and I have received many calls into my office of people who have said they are excited to see the passion and drive our church is giving toward its families.  People are gaining passions to serve and we are slowly seeing people regain their confidence in ministry.

I had my first outreach opportunity be presented to me this month.  We will be having over 100 boy scouts from our local troops come to our church for 30 minutes as part of an event to listen to our heart for ministry and our hope to evangelize.  My wish is that I can find the greatest structure for this program and implement it to be impactful and to reach those boys who are not saved.  This is the first event I will be planning at our church.

I had my first opportunity to manage and balance a ministry budget.  I had no ideas that this would be part of the job description and it is turning out to be a fun and challenging duty.  Finding ways to utilize this for our separate ministries and benevolence is turning out to be one of the greater joys of the ministry for me, which I did not expect.

This month marked my first month of leadership training.  I found it extremely satisfying and productive to gather our teachers and leaders at church and walk them through the proper methods of teaching and showing them how best to reach people (specifically children) with the gospel.  It not only encouraged them, but gave them confidence and passion to continue working for their ministries.  Additionally, it caused me to also be passionate and encouraged about our ministries at the church.

Key Prayer Requests

Please pray that my wife and I figure out the best schedule that allows for us to manage through the new life of ministry as well as the new baby.  I have been finding it particularly hard to balance the life of ministry at work and then drop it and spend time with my family at home.  Please pray we find the proper balance and are able to love each other properly and to identify the needs of each other in proper time.

Please pray that our ministries at our church are going well in regards to the children’s ministries.  We are currently in the process of encouraging leaders who have burned out and most of them are not interested in serving again.  The duty now has fallen on those who have not served in the past in order to make them efficient ministry workers.  Hopefully, the membership will regain their vision for service and the ministries can grow.

Please pray that I have boldness in going out to the neighborhoods in evangelism toward the children in the community.  We have become very convicted as a church in regards to the surrounding neighborhoods and our previous motivation to simply reach members of our church.  Pray that we take the call to evangelism seriously and that our words will be effective and our feet quick to move with the Word of God.

Prominent Lessons

I have learned that the growth of my ministry is dependent upon my prayer life.  If I am praying, the Lord is quick to answer them and make His will known.  Only when I am not in prayer do I feel directionless and unmotivated.  I am happy to say that this realization has also motivated me to change and to move forward in prayer over my ministry.

I have learned that there are too many people that need Jesus.  There is so much work to be done and if I am not handling it properly, then I will quickly burn out and get lost in all the responsibilities to be performed.  I am glad to say that I have gained the ability to identify what is doable and what is effective in ministry while still staying productive toward the overall goal of ministry.

I have learned that production is done by volunteers in the ministry.  The more I try to do, the more I realize it would be nice if I were to train fellow members to be able to do it for me.  The blessings of this is that not only do I have a reduced work load, but I also have the joy of knowing that people are out serving for Jesus.

Key Goals for the Next Month

First, our goal is to launch our AWANA program at our church.  This will involve training all leaders, reaching out to the community for evangelism, and recasting vision to the church members regarding the effectiveness of this program.

I will hope to identify an opportunity for my first preaching opportunity and utilize it for the satisfaction of the preaching requirement for this internship.

I am hoping to begin and perhaps execute a training seminar for all church members on how to reach a child with the gospel.  We have directors for Child Evangelism Fellowship that are members of our church and they will be a great resource in reaching the church with such an effective skillset.

Sangmi

Ministry Highlights

I had a great experience when my husband went to make a presentation to our college group.  When I was there, I was able to build good relationships with them and meet people I normally wouldn’t meet.  It is wonderful to be able to have the experience and pray for new people and new friends at church.

These days, when my husband trains the Sunday School teachers and the AWANA directors, I am very happy because he later sits down with me and teaches me, also.  These days our conversation about the Bible and spiritual growth is growing every week.

Key Prayer Requests

Please pray for our baby, Tristan.  He is 10 weeks old this month and we are still not getting very much sleep.  We are happy, but we are using the opportunity of being awake to pray for our son.  Please pray with us that he grows to love the Lord with all his heart and that he is healthy and desirous of God.