Hurray! Yesterday I completed my 50 hours of training to become a Stephen Minister. That was a lot of Tuesday nights and sometimes Saturdays! There are twelve others in my "graduating class", too. We will begin our twice-monthly supervision meetings next month. And we'll be officially commissioned during worship service on June 1st, so that more of our church members learn what Stephen Ministry actually is. Unless your church also has this ministry, you're probably wondering, too!
Here's how my church defines it: "Stephen Ministry is a confidential, Christian care-giving ministry offering one-on-one care to individuals experiencing a variety of needs and difficulties such as separation or divorce, terminal illness, bereavement, job crisis, loneliness or depression, hospitalization, spiritual crisis, and prodigal children. Stephen Ministers are trained laypeople who are available for listening and providing support through your time of difficulty."
So, we're not counselors; we're more like friends who have been trained to do a better job of loving and caring for another. To me, it's an opportunity to serve Christ by serving someone who is going through a difficult time. I want Christ to use me to love that person through their troubles. A couple of verses come to mind. One is 1 John 4:19: "We love because He first loved us." I can't help or love anybody until I accept Christ's love for me. And 2 Corinthians 1:4, which says God "comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God." So anything I've been through, and felt God comforting me, can be used for good because I can pass on that comfort to others. What a blessing that is to me!
Here's how my church defines it: "Stephen Ministry is a confidential, Christian care-giving ministry offering one-on-one care to individuals experiencing a variety of needs and difficulties such as separation or divorce, terminal illness, bereavement, job crisis, loneliness or depression, hospitalization, spiritual crisis, and prodigal children. Stephen Ministers are trained laypeople who are available for listening and providing support through your time of difficulty."
So, we're not counselors; we're more like friends who have been trained to do a better job of loving and caring for another. To me, it's an opportunity to serve Christ by serving someone who is going through a difficult time. I want Christ to use me to love that person through their troubles. A couple of verses come to mind. One is 1 John 4:19: "We love because He first loved us." I can't help or love anybody until I accept Christ's love for me. And 2 Corinthians 1:4, which says God "comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God." So anything I've been through, and felt God comforting me, can be used for good because I can pass on that comfort to others. What a blessing that is to me!
