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Genevieve Hamer
CHMN 201- B05 LUO
March 10, 2014
The Part I Play in the Kingdom Paper
PART ONE: My Fit in Ministry (Before):
When I enrolled for this Church Ministry Class, my life was actually pretty full of many different
ministries. I actively volunteer in prison ministry. Currently, I am serving with Kairos
International Prison Ministry as an Observing Leader of a Kairos Outside Weekend and will be
the upcoming leader of an weekend in the Fall of 2014. Kairos Outside is one part of this
ministry. In this part of the ministry, we specifically minister to women over the age of 20 whose
lives have been impacted by incarceration. Our guests may have a friend, family member or
loved one that is currently or has been incarcerate or the guest may have been incarcerated and
not have been selected to participate in a Kairos Inside Weekend. There is a two and a half day
weekend event that these women are invited to as guests in which a team of about 54 men and
women come together simply to shower them with the love of Jesus. I also devote time to
Kairos Inside which brings a similar weekend inside correctional facilities and I ministers to
female inmates one to one as a community volunteer and their sponsor by bringing inmates with
privilieges out into the community and helping them get ready to be released into society. And I
serve on the board of directors for the North Carolina Baptists Men and Women on Missions -
Correctional Ministries Team. In my home church, I work with our Special Needs Ministry. I
am a regular team member on Church Renewal weekend’s with the North American Mission’s
Board Team. My ministry path may sound pretty wide. However, I see myself as pursuing a life
that is one where I am seeking out those that are hurting and broken that others would overlook
or discard.
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PART TWO: Spiritual Gifts:
Based on the spiritual gifts assessment that we took, my strengths were pastoring and
evangelizing. I found these two strengths rather revealing. I think I always just considered
mysef as a ‘worker’. Kind of an encourager and not a person that would be charged to care for a
group of people. However as I read the details of the pastoral gift, I could see that it was more
than I initially thought. I would say that most people would automatically think that the gift of
‘pastoring’ would connotate that a person would be called to the pulpit to deliver the Gospel. I
do not think that is a gift that I have. But I do feel that I do have a strong desire to care for the
sheep and to serve others. If you take a look at the ministries I am already involved in, you will
find that everything I do is some sort of service to others. Evangelism to me is more than just
going out and preaching a sermon. It is ‘doing something’. I am all about doing. This is why I
would have to say that I do belive that my gifts will help me. I know that I still have a long way
to go in developing those gifts and learning how to use them effectively to glorify God. I feel
that in order for me to grow into a position of leadership in ministry, I will need to surround
myself with people that possess all of the other spiritual gifts in other to help balance me out and
to keep me grounded. In the past, I have had a tendancy to want to give up or to quit whenever
things become difficult for me. As I mature as a Christian and in my relationship with Christ, I
find that listening to other ministers and to people that have served in ministry work and seeking
out wise counsel has helped me to stay more level headed and to not to jump to conclusion or to
throw in the towel as quickly. I also think that my decision to go back to school has been a major
stepping stone in assisting me to develop a wider base of knowledge and to gird me up with the
wisdom I will require in order to make good choices regarding the direction that my ministry
service life will take in the future. I have found myself learning more to focus on what God
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wants me to do and not what I think other people want me to do and also where I think my gifts
can be best used.
PART THREE: Church Evaluations
During the church evaluation week, I noticed that the churches that drew me in the most were the
ones that were really seeking to serve others. There were some churches that I reviewed that
were focused on their own church body and the prayer needs of their body. Others were about
teaching their body or plugging the members in to a small group. All of these things, I do find
exteremely valuable and a necessity. Then when I take a look at my spiritual gifts, the ministries I
already serve in and the ones I am drawn to when I reviewed the church websites, I almost have
to laugh inside. All of them come back to the commonality of the inner desire to reach the most
broken, lost and hurting people. Last semester in a class I was enrolled in, I was challenged to
develop a ‘mission statement’ for my family. I had never really thought about this. What does my
family stand for? I discussed this with my husband and we decided that our mission statement
revolved around the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats, especially verse 36; “
I
needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and
you came to visit me.’
