First Week @Work

When I received the preaching schedule just because Christmas I realised I was in for a baptism of fire. Added that I preached last Friday and then two more sermons on the Sunday, it was a baptism of fire of sorts in my first week at work. One may think the pastors get Monday off work is a blessing but if you have to preach twice on Sunday, Monday is basically a straight out Sabbath of rest and you can’t run errands like most would do in their day off. I am feeling the tiredness even today and somewhat I have to pull myself together to start preparing for two sermons more this coming Sunday followed by a leaders’ meeting in the afternoon to plan for the preaching schedule in the 2nd quarter and seminars throughout the year.
I will spend tomorrow more in prayers to seek the Lord’s face. I am no longer in my 30s in my first pastorate 17 years ago neither did I just turn 50 in my 2nd pastorate in Ranau. I think my next pastorate I will make sure that it is only one Sunday service or else perhaps an associate pastor will do nicely. I have been searching out the land in its vicinity in the past 3 days and I think it will take me at least a couple of months to be really familiar with the surroundings. KK city has more than 1 million people (legal inhabitants) and together with undocumented immigrants, the numbers swell to at least 1.5 million or 2 million. Everywhere I go I see a sea of humanity. Every suburb is like a small town and traffic is worse by the day and week. I am glad my office hours start at 9am because from 6.30 to 8.45am it will take me 45 minutes to traverse only 9kms. But this is the kind of urban ministry one is called to be involved in. The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Pray to the Lord of the harvest that He may send workers into the harvest fields. And in our denominational context as our Bible College is in the interior, very few pastors could cope or be successful in city ministry. May the Lord grant growth in the church that I pastor for Jesus’ sake.