Ministry Along the Road: Being Available Wherever God Leads

Some of the best ministry on this trip wasn't planned.

There wasn't always a meeting waiting for us. Sometimes there wasn't even a plan to minister.

But again and again, a conversation started, someone needed prayer, an old friend needed encouragement, or God simply put someone in front of us.

That's what Ruthie and I have been seeing as we've traveled.

Ministry doesn't always happen where you expect it.

A Question About Jesus in New York City

Acadia National Park, Maine - one of the beautiful places we experienced along the journey.

Our journey took us from Bangor, Maine, to New York City.

While there, a Jewish woman began asking me questions about my faith and why I believe Jesus is the Messiah.

A simple visit in New York City turned into a deeper question: Why do we believe Jesus is the Messiah?

Suddenly we were talking about Isaiah 7 and Jesus.

It wasn't a planned teaching. Nobody organized a meeting.

Someone simply asked a question.

I love moments like that because they remind me that you don't need a platform to talk about Jesus. You just need to be available.

Sometimes We Need to Receive Too

From New York City, we traveled through Baltimore, Maryland, and continued south to Raleigh, North Carolina.

We spent about a week there with my mentor.

Raleigh, North Carolina — sometimes ministry means receiving, learning, asking questions, and growing together.

This time, instead of always giving, I had an opportunity to receive—to attend teachings, ask questions, talk about ministry and spend time learning.

Then we traveled to Asheville, North Carolina, where we visited an old friend.

Asheville, North Carolina — no meeting, no stage. Just longtime friends, conversation, and another opportunity to share what God has been doing.

We helped with things around the house, caught up on life, and I had another opportunity to share my story and what God has been doing.

Nothing big or flashy.

But I've learned something:

Sometimes relationships are the ministry.

A Beautiful Moment at the River

From Asheville, we traveled north again to Frederick, Maryland.

Frederick, Maryland — what began as time together with friends was about to lead to one of the most memorable moments of our trip.

There we spent time with Donna.

We talked, walked through repentance and prayed concerning wounds from her past.

Then came one of the moments I'll remember from this trip.

Ruthie and I had the privilege of helping baptize Donna in the Monocacy River near Frederick.

In the Monocacy River near Frederick, Donna took another step in following Jesus as Ruthie and I had the privilege of helping baptize her.

About 14 people gathered around to witness it.

About 14 people gathered by the river to witness Donna's baptism — and one baptism opened the door to more conversations about Jesus.

One person's baptism opened another opportunity to talk with others about baptism and share testimonies about Jesus.

All glory to Jesus!

Our time in Maryland continued with more personal conversations.

We shared our testimony with a young man who had experienced circumstances similar to things we had gone through ourselves.

Another evening, we spent hours with a couple walking through a difficult season—listening, talking, praying, and discussing the lies we sometimes believe and the truth of God's Word.

No stage.

No crowd.

Just people needing people.

That is ministry too.

Old Friends in Luray

Luray, Virginia — reunited with our longtime friend Julz at the campground. Nathan missed the picture, but not the fellowship.

Our next stop was Luray, Virginia.

We stayed at a campground and spent time with our longtime friends and fellow disciples, Nathan and Julz.

We've known them since around the time I was first baptized, so there is a lot of history between us.

We shared testimonies, talked about what has been happening in ministry, prayed for our families and enjoyed being together again.

Looking back over these past weeks, something keeps coming back to me:

Ministry doesn't have to look big to matter.

It can happen during a conversation about Jesus in New York City.

It can happen while helping a friend around the house.

It can happen late at night with someone who is struggling.

And it can happen beside a river when someone decides to take another step in following Jesus.

But our journey wasn't finished.

After saying goodbye to Nathan and Julz, we left Luray and started the long drive toward Ohio.

Ohio is personal for me.

It's where I was born, where part of my family's story began, and a place filled with memories from my past.

I wanted Ruthie to see some of it for herself.

I didn't know exactly what those next few days would bring.

But after everything that had already happened along the road, I was curious:

What would be waiting for us in Ohio?

That's where the next story begins.

God is good. All glory to Jesus!