Dealing with people is a headache.

I know that the Lord wants me to love the people around me, and we also need interaction with people, but dealing with people is a headache. What does the Lord want to teach me?

Leader of children's ministry

At my church, it's been a problem for a while that nobody wants to work. It's always the same people every two years, who sometimes take more than one department. Until 2024, I was a teacher of primary (ages 5 to 9). This year, 2025,  I'm the leader of the children's ministry.

Catch this. I only worked with kids for about 2 to 4 years, and I liked working with them, even though they tested my patience, which I don't have much of. Follow-up: Over the next two years, I will serve as the children's ministry leader. I don't really know what they saw in me, but I was convinced that the Lord wanted me to do this.

Before 2025, the problem

The known problem is that everyone at church says the kids are the future of the church, but the truth is, nobody wants to work with the kids. They said they are important, but everybody else gives more importance to other departments than the kids' ministry.

Since the beginning of this year, I told the church council that I don't have enough teachers for all four classes. They told me no; it's enough. If I need more people, I can approach others and ask if they want to help. I was like: no, nomination committee, approached everybody and failed. I also put out an announcement saying, "We are searching for more teachers." If you are interested, let me know. Nobody came, and still, after this, they want me to approach the members? No, I'm not doing that. They already said no two ways, why would I get a yes?

Schedule

I made a schedule from January to June and from July to December on OneDrive, so that everybody can come and fill in the dates when they will give a class.

January to June 2025

The year started with me being in one class for nearly a month. I don't remember if the other classes were functioning at this time. Fast forward: it started to get better, but in April, the only kindergarten teacher (0-4) stopped coming for personal reasons.

July to December 2025

It's September, and most classes are still not fully staffed. Even though the schedule has been available since May, it's still incomplete after three months. Each week, I arrive at church unsure about which teacher to contact for that Sabbath, and this uncertainty is frustrating. Despite many reminders, the situation hasn't changed, and I've realized I have to let it go.

Letting go

I like having a schedule to work; it's more organized, and I know which class I won't have this Saturday. I don't deal very well with last-minute changes, especially when I need to fix something that can't be fixed at the last minute, and people expect it to be fixed and keep pushing me to fix it. I told the people concerned about this whole schedule situation, and I planned a short reunion. To explain why it is important for me to have the schedule filled in. Of the 13 people, 4 were present, 2 had already filled it in, and the other 7 didn't. At this reunion, the pastor and... wanted to be present. I told them we would hold this short after the church program, and they went into a room to pray with a sister without telling me. So I approached everybody, one at a time, so they could leave.

It's bothering me

I'm frustrated because I prepare months in advance, but most don't show interest or even let me know if they won't come. That Saturday, there was no class because the teacher was absent, so I told all parents that their kids needed to stay with them in church. Some parents may not have liked this, but that's how things were.

let go

It's hard for me to let go and let God take control of it all. I have been doing my best, but all is in vain. Next week we will have a special prayer day. For this prayer day, we will have a program for the kids aged 4 to 14. I chose 3 stories with different aspects of how to approach prayer. First, I told my team to choose which activity they will have, and I will choose last. It has been 3 days, and only 2 people have chosen from the 5 (I'm the 5th). So, today I choose, and on that day we will do what we have. I'm tired of waiting on people till last minute, and then I need to rush because of them.

Not blaming them

I'm trying not to blame them for the problems and stress they're causing me. My approach: I tell anyone about something twice, then stop. Being kind, chill, and patient only adds to my stress. So, I do what I can for God's church, but in the end, He needs to fix what needs fixing.

Moral of the story

The main issue is that others see church problems as only my responsibility. To address this, I focus on my own assignments and make it clear that everyone shares responsibility for the church. What do you think of this approach? How would you handle it?

Remember, as you serve, focus on what you can do, trust God with the rest, and continue to encourage others to share in the responsibility. Let your faith, not frustration, guide you forward.

Be blessed, and stay blessed.