A Cost Most of Us Can Barely Imagine

Every pastor knows ministry costs you something. But Dr. Helen Roseveare’s story takes that cost to a level most of us can barely imagine.

Helen was a brilliant British doctor. She left a comfortable life to build hospitals in the Congo. But in 1964, civil war turned her mission into a nightmare. Rebel forces seized her hospital. For five agonizing months, she was held captive, beaten, and brutally assaulted.

The Question Beneath the “Why”

When she finally escaped to England, the trauma was overwhelming. She did not just ask God, “Why?” She asked the question many wounded leaders ask: “Was it worth it?”

And in the silence of recovery, she sensed God asking her a piercing question: “Can you thank me for trusting you with this experience, even if I never tell you why?” He was not giving her an explanation. He was inviting her to trust Him with her deepest wounds.

She Went Back

Most people would have stepped away from ministry right there. But Helen went back. In 1966, she returned to the Congo to help rebuild what had been destroyed. She came to see that her trauma actually deepened her compassion for a deeply wounded people.

God never uses a person greatly until He has wounded them deeply.

Dr. Helen Roseveare

Your Wounds Still Serve a Purpose

Pastor, the ministry wounds you carry are proof that God can trust you, even if you do not understand the “why” on this side of heaven. Keep standing. Those wounds still serve a profound purpose for His glory.

I’m Justin Trapp, and this is Ministry Minute.