United for youth ministry as the Body of Christ

By Mark Azzopardi, Helen Azzopardi & Carlos Ruiz | Ecuador in South America

Working together is something SIM Ecuador youth ministry El Sendero is continually trying to practice. We currently have a small team and several ministry strategies to reach young people with the gospel and train new leaders in the church. It can be difficult to integrate these strategies while connecting as a team.

Recently, we decided to gather all the El Sendero participants for a Christmas meal with the focus of fellowship, celebration, and thanksgiving for the past year. Realising that no single person would be able to organise such an event alone, we chose to share the responsibilities between the team.

As we collaborated, we saw God’s blessing in incredible ways. The experience impacted us so significantly that we were inspired to share a message about the importance of working together as the body of Christ during the event.

It surprised us to hear one of the students in CECE¹, our university ministry, say, "I didn’t know that El Sendero had an English club reaching young people through language study. Can I be part of it too?”

Members of REFF, our English club, said, “I didn’t know there was university ministry where students meet to read the Bible.”

This was a wakeup call that we had slipped into the habit of working too independently although we are on the same team.

When the Apostle Paul spoke to the early church in Romans 12:4–5, he shared God’s design for teamwork: “For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another.” 

Imagine a sports team where the players decided they would 'do their own thing.'  It would cause chaos on the field! It’s obvious to us that this attitude would lead to failure. As members of God’s team on the mission field, we should understand that if we take this attitude, it will yield the same result! Working as a true team allows us to recognise that people have different talents and abilities that will improve how we work and make us more effective.

One of the most significant goals for any church, ministry, or believer is to strive to be unified as members of the Body of Christ. Although people differ in many ways and have unique approaches to ministry, God’s Word tells us that we need one another. And it’s true.

Pray with us

• Give thanks to God for the opportunity to celebrate Jesus with over 60 young people from three different ministry strategies.

• Pray for the El Sendero team as God teaches us hard lessons about past attitudes and continues to transform us by the truth of his Word.

• Pray that El Sendero leads by example in our ministry to young people, striving for unity and mutual support.

1. Comunidad de Estudiantes Cristianos del Ecuador