April 5, 2024 -- Mike Miosi
One Sunday evening, as a teenager, I stood in a pew with a hymnal in my hands at small country church in PA. I had been hearing Pastor Rob preach verse by verse through the Scriptures Sunday after Sunday. After growing up in stale religion, it was like fresh rain to the soul. Suddenly the congregation sang: “Jesus what a friend for sinners, Jesus lover of my soul. Friends may fail me, foes assail me, He may Savior makes me whole!” In that moment, God regenerated my heart, opened my eyes, and I joined the chorus: “Jesus! I do now receive Him, more than all in Him I find; He hath granted me forgiveness; I am His, and He is mine!”
One year later I went to college. Pastor Rob kept shepherding me. He even visited me
at college. As a clueless teenager, I didn’t have the wherewithal to offer him my bed, so
he slept on my dorm room floor. After that weekend, he encouraged me to start
attending Bible college. It wasn’t long before I felt God’s call to preach. Where was
Pastor Rob? He was giving me opportunities to teach at that little country church. My
first sermon was about equipping the saints for ministry. Where did I preach it? At that
little country church.
Fast forward 30 years. After decades of ministry in rural ministries, I now serve as a
missionary equipping rural pastors all over the world. Just the other month, Pastor Rob
stood next to me in the bush of Uganda. There I was, a spiritual son with a spiritual a
father, teaching pastors 2 Timothy 2:2, “what you have heard from me in the presence
of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.” We
were literally a living example of that text!
Rural ministries can often feel overwhelming and lonely. Many rural pastors wonder if
their efforts are worth it. Let me encourage you. Stay committed to faithfully teaching
Scripture to faithful men who will be faithful to teach others. God has not abandoned
that formula, and neither should you. If you’re wondering what to do today, reach out to
a man in whom you see God working. Text him. Take your Bible and go meet him.
Sleep in a dorm room if you must. Entrust to faithful men.
Mike Miosi is a rural Pennsylvania native who served in pastoral and camp ministry prior to his current role as Director of Spread of Grace Ministries.
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