Meet an MTS Apprentice – AJ Veale
“When I started my apprenticeship I went in thinking that I was going to be the one helping people mature in Christ and grow everyday in their knowledge of Him. Don’t get me wrong that has happened, but what I didn’t expect to learn is how much humility you must have to be in ministry; we’re all a bunch of rotten sinners and the only one that can actually instigate change in our hearts is the Holy Spirit! Not me! That has been truly eye opening and unexpected.”
Anna-June Veale is an MTS Apprentice at North Coast Church in Kingsley WA.
About AJ:
I can’t think of anything more exciting than being able to delve into God’s word and tell others about him on a full-time basis. I feel that by doing an MTS Apprenticeship I will be better equipped to share my love for Jesus with others and to better understand what he has to say to me in the Bible. I am particularly looking forward to being challenged and stretched in my faith and understanding of Jesus over the next two years. I can’t wait to see what God has got planned.
Describe your journey so far as an MTS apprentice?
I almost don’t know where to begin. I guess my journey as an MTS apprentice can be described simply as learning how to cling to my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Since day one, God has shown me through many failures and triumphs that He is in control, and that He is the one who changes peoples hearts and saves them. I definitely started MTS thinking I knew what I was doing, Jesus has graciously shown me day by day that it is only His Word that sustains and grows people – not my futile attempts at advice or correction. By experiencing full-time ministry through MTS I have personally grown so much in my love for Jesus and what he has called us to do.
What’s the best advice your trainer has given you so far?
I can’t think of a specific quote, but all the guys I have had the privilege of being trained by at North Coast Church have always encouraged me to keep my eyes focused on the goal. “Forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on towards the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” Remember, it’s all about Jesus and His mission.
Tell us a story from a day on the job?
Last year I started reading the Bible with a girl from church that wasn’t a Christian. After six months, she told me that she didn’t want to meet anymore, but she still kept coming to church and being involved in the church community. I didn’t know what else I could possibly say to her to help her see Jesus clearly and she wasn’t interested anyway. God worked out certain events in her life that brought her to the church Ministry Center 6 months later in tears and convinced that she had tried going to church and she just wasn’t going to change – she felt she had run out of options. All glory and praise be to God, that a friend and I were able to show her that day how trustworthy and dependable Jesus is and how much he loves her – so much so that He took the punishment that her sins deserved. She then decided to put her trust in Jesus – who unlike other people, never gives up on His people – that day she became a child of God. WOOHOOO!!!
What is something you didn’t expect to have learnt from being an apprentice?
When I started my apprenticeship I went in thinking that I was going to be the one helping people mature in Christ and grow ever day in their knowledge of Him. Don’t get me wrong that has happened, but what I didn’t expect to learn is how much humility you must have to be in ministry; We’re all a bunch or rotten sinners and the only one that can actually instigate change in our hearts is the Holy Spirit! Not me! That has been truly eye opening and unexpected.
What do you plan to do once you have finished your apprenticeship?
I would LOVE to keep telling people about Jesus in a full-time ministry capacity. I definitely want to keep learning more and more about God and how best to tell the Gospel to others – so perhaps Theological College is next. However, I always joke with my husband that God usually has different and better plans for me, so even though I LOVE planning, I’ll just lay my life and my goals and aspirations at the foot of the cross and see what He does with it.
You can support AJ as an MTS Apprentice here.
You can support MTS Multiply 500 EOFYA Appeal here.