At the start of this year, the youth ministry director at my church gathered all of the middle school small group leaders. He wanted to check in on how we were, hear how our groups were going, and encourage us. He shared how, when he has worked at Christian camps, everything is designed to help kids experience great moments, “highs,” and you have a very focused time with each group of kids to bring those highs about. In contrast, in congregational ministry, there are many distractions, and kids often are weighed down by day-to-day concerns.
Each type of ministry has its challenges, but how do you handle all the distractions and burdens kids bring week after week and month after month? Our youth director had wise words. He said you love the kids, let them know how much God loves them, welcome them with all their challenges, and pour yourself out for them. Then, when you get home at the end of the day, you cry with hope.
Cry with hope! What a beautiful phrase to express the hardness and goodness of Christian ministry. We cry because there is so much pain even as we hope because God is good. Cry with hope is an especially fitting expression for the ministry of Inheritance of Hope.