I’ve had quite a number of conversations with peers who have been in vocational ministry for many years in which we have reflected on how much we have been humbled and taught many hard lessons by God along the way. Many of us were very hopeful at first that God would do great things through us to advance His kingdom. And mostly He has, although often not as great as we had first imagined.

But what none of us thought so much about was the great work that God would do in us to make us far more aware of our own limitations and inadequacies and so much more reliant on God’s grace and strength. Ministry is hard. John Chapman used to warn us back in bible college that “The first 50 years are the hardest!”

All this made me reflect on the help I had gained along the way that provided wonderful advice as well as encouragement to persevere. I too did a two-year traineeship similar to the Howie program. Those two years set me up to humbly learn from others, seek advice and help as well as to seek out encouragement in order to persevere in the ministry.

Since then I have listened to many people warn of the danger of burn out, and followed helpful steps so as to avoid it. When ministry got particularly difficult I sought out a mentor, an older pastor, who helped me to process things well, react well, gave me useful tools to manage various issues, and just generally encouraged me to keep being godly and keep persevering in my ministry.

There have been many people who invested in me over the years. I am so grateful to God for all of them.

The Howie program is an opportunity to invest in the next generation of gospel workers whether they go on to vocational ministry or the workforce. It provides us with the opportunity to nurture, equip encourage and multiply the workers in God’s harvest.

-By Moussa Ghazal