Unlearning & relearning how to walk with God in Ministry: Hosting Events God’s Way.
Trusting God in the Small, the Simple, and the Sacred
Hello everyone, I hope your autumn is going well so far. It feels colder where we live yet winter hasn’t arrived yet. This is a lovely time for pumpkin spice lattes, hot chocolate and all those things but more than ever, this is a wonderful time to walk with God this season to see what he is doing in your life. We are living in beautiful and dark days. The Church of Jesus Christ is shining brighter and brighter, advancing the gospel — and the darkness in this world, crazy as it gets, cannot expel our light. John 1:5 says this about Jesus whom we follow: “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has never put it out.” Jesus is still on the throne and he is doing wonderful things around the world. With that said it has been a fruitful season for me and Josh in ministry, in our marriage, and in our personal lives. God has been so faithful to us that I would need another blog or podcast sharing all the wonderful healing and great blessings he has deposited in our lives.
This is the first blog I’ve written in about a year, and over the past few weeks I’ve been asking the Lord what to share and what you, the readers, might need to hear. I actually started writing a blog on singleness because that topic is also dear to my heart, but I paused to reflect and share some insights on the events we hosted this year. These gatherings, “Fellowshipping with Jesus,” took place at Liberty Church Rotherham — once in May and again in September — and they’ve shaped us deeply.
LightUK Event Poster for the September event
Walking This Out in Prayer
This blog is a celebration of everything God has done — the provision, the lessons, the stretching, and the sweetness of partnering with Him. We learned to depend on God in personal intimacy and prayer more than ever before. Of course our prayer life is more than praying about the events, we walk with God in our daily lives. However we knew that we needed to pray and gain direction on what the lord wanted us to do with these events. This involved praying about when to host the events; why He wanted us to host them; praying together often, and asking our support group to pray for us too. Honestly, we didn’t want to host “another event because there were so many happening everywhere already both locally and globally. Therefore, we needed God to provide the venue, the volunteers, the people — and He did. It felt peaceful to walk into each gathering knowing we'd sought His voice above all else. One of the biggest temptations in ministry is worrying about attendance because we are not well known. But God spoke a few things to me that I shared with Josh which completely settled our hearts to move forward. He said:
“Value what I’m asking you to do.” If we value it because He desires it, others will too.
“Don’t ask people to come to support you — ask them to come for Me (Jesus).” He said, “If you ask them to come for you, many won’t. But if you ask them to come for Me, those who come will come — and if they don’t, it’s Me they’re rejecting, not you.” In others words these events weren’t about us, they weren’t about building our brand or doing our own thing because we felt like it nor were they for showing off but they were for Jesus to be experienced and to be known. We did it because he asked us to, and we wanted to do it with excellence ( I will talk more about this later on).
“Preach with joy, no matter how many attend.” Our value is not tied to the numbers or outcomes.
“Rest. I will bring the people that need to be there. You show them Jesus.”
Numbers do not determine success or value - my presence, obedience and confirmation does.
Trusting God to Bring the Increase
These instructions reshaped everything. I am reminded of a few scriptures that a friend of mine shared with me that back up what Jesus shared with us. One of them is 1 Corinthians 3:6-8 KJV where the Apostle Paul reminding us that God brings the increase: “I planted, Apollos watered, but God [all the while] was causing the growth. 7 So neither is the one who plants nor the one who waters anything, but [only] God who causes the growth. 8 He who plants and he who waters are one [in importance and esteem, working toward the same purpose]; but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor.”
The above instructions exposed any performance mindsets and reasoning that we’ve learned along the way in ministry, and they helped us rest in God’s arms, knowing that the outcomes belong to Him. And He truly showed up. The room was absolutely filled with His presence, His voice, and His goodness. Everyone present could testify to that. We also felt God asking us not to commercialise these gatherings. He told us to spread the word — but not to beg people to attend, not to force doors open, and not to use speakers’ photos or big names to attract crowds. Those who come must come for Jesus, not for a platform or personality.
So it has become our practice moving forward as long as God says so, not to reveal the speakers until people walk into the room. I love this. It has helped purify our motives, increased our faith, and put the focus exactly where it belongs - that’s on Jesus. We wanted for everyone to be hungry for what God will do in the room not rely on the speakers even though we know full well that God uses his children to bring his message; and with it he anoints them for that work. However only the Holy Spirit can breathe life into our words and only he can bring the presence of God.
Learning to Enjoy God’s Way of Doing Ministry
These choices have brought us so much peace but even though it felt as if we were going against the things that others use to ensure their events are full. In our humanity, we want good numbers, we want people to be pleased, and we want miracles of attendance because it can be a good indicator that we did a great job— but God is far more committed to transforming us internally than growing any ministry externally or making us comfortable. We’ve also learned not to assume the frequency of these gatherings. Should they be yearly? Termly? Occasional? Maybe, Maybe not. Either way we take each one back to God in prayer asking for what is next. Momentum, praise from others and high attendance can be tempting, but that is not why we decide to host an event or continue doing one. God decides and with that heart posture we are protected and are less likely to strive to make something happen that he didn’t permit.
Value What God Did
No matter the numbers or testimonies that are reported— praise God. Did someone encounter Him? Yes. Did one person meet with Jesus in a deep way? Yes. Then rejoice! We are vessels. Jesus was comfortable with the crowds, he was comfortable with the 70 that followed him, the twelve he walked with more closely and with the one. He never chased popularity, he didn’t alter his message of the Gospel or bring in the famous religious leaders at the time to make his message popular. He trusted in what father God had tasked him to do and preached with power, conviction, love, gentleness and authority. So whether your event was full or not, whether people offer feedback both good and not so good, we realised the importance of guarding our hearts and asking the following questions:
God, were You pleased? Did we do what you wanted us to do? Did You move? Did You touch those who came? Are we valuing the testimonies You gave us?
A small gathering in a corner of a broken city that proclaims Jesus is just as precious to God as a large conference or a crusade that brings in thousands of decisions to Jesus. What matters is both parties were obedient and did what God told them to do with a pure heart. He simply wants a space where He can meet people, touch their hearts and lead them closer to himself. We are people that use our events, churches or podcasts e.t.c to point to him not to ourselves.
Guarding Your Own Heart
Therefore, beyond other people’s feedback, be aware of your own internal feedback based on what you have observed in the room. This is why intimacy with Jesus is so vital. We must go to Him first, before getting swept away by praise or disappointment. One event, people were overflowing with encouragement and we feel affirmed and appreciated. On another event, people might not encourage you, or worse the enemy can also get in that situation and bring his own discouragement to try and cripple you from doing another one. Although we experienced both extremes this year, God moved powerfully at both events and in different ways, people were touched and inspired. With that said we are reminded to anchor our worth in Him alone. And so between you and God you ask:
God have I thanked you for what you did? Have I taken the credit and the praise that belongs to you? Where is this discouragement coming from? Is this pride? Is this pressure? Is this the enemy? Is there comparison?
Another element that I especially need to be on guard about is discerning what is going on in the room or the atmosphere especially if it is negative and give it to God not to take it on myself.
Jesus is the one who called us to host the event. He’s responsible for the people who come. So we want His voice, His wisdom, and His comfort above all others. Even when He corrects, He does it with a love that reaches deep into the heart. Of course, we still welcome counsel and accountability. But our value cannot be tied to how “successful” a programme appears. Sometimes an event is powerful — lives changed, souls saved, His presence so tangible — and God can still say, move unto another location and hold an event there or another church.” There are times after an event where I feel like, I never what to another one again due to various factors such as disappointment — and that’s when He whispers, “We’ll go again. You did well.” He calls the shots and he also approves what we do next. Therefore consider this; since you heard from the Lord about doing something and now you have done it; isn’t this the time for you to ask God what he thought before we go others or observing their feedback so deeply?
Checking Motives
Don’t compare your gathering to someone else’s.
Host the event the way Jesus wants it.
Don’t measure success by someone else’s breakthrough.
Don’t seek platform or fame.
Examine your motives: Am I doing this for God or for myself? For Jesus or for my brand? I am doing this to prove something or is it purely for God.
Just because something works for someone else doesn’t mean God wants it for you. For us, God made it clear not to reveal the speakers beforehand and it was the right decision. That required trusting God to support us and bring the people he is asking us to host it for. It was challenging for me because I care deeply about doing things well and I love it when people show up for God. It protects our hearts and draws people who come for Jesus alone.
Closing Thoughts
There is so much more to say, but I’ll leave it here for now. You would be happy to know that we will host more events and discipleship events, so stay tuned for more updates.
Thank you for reading, and thank you for journeying with us. We also wanted to thank our volunteers, prayer support team who have supported us in prayer and everyone who has guided us in different ways. May we all relearn to do ministry the way Jesus wants — simple, pure, surrendered, and filled with Him. See highlights and more pictures here.
Post to be continued in a podcast or as a blog soon. Topics we hope to cover are:
Spiritually preparing for your events and your own walk with the Lord.
Host the events with excellence, faith, integrity and the fruit of the spirit
Honour your speakers and worship band well: provide for their travel, food, or accommodation if you are able
Know and make an effort to know your guests and worship band before you step onto the stage together.
Honour your leaders, church and those who you are accountable too.
Be blessed.
