Have I Failed?

That is a question we often ask ourselves in one form or another. We question whether what we are doing is effective or not and if we should continue. Yes, even I have those questions.

Those questions usually come when I begin to look at other ministries, or web sites. I often wonder if CommanderBill.net is a “success” because it doesn’t generate the same traffic as other sites and it seems when I try to do things to help it “pay for itself” (i.e. like the ad spaces), there generally is little interest.

As of this post, here are basic stats:

• 160 followers on Twitter
• 172 subscribers to the e-mail newsletter
• 310 “likes” for the CommanderBill.net FaceBook page
• 890 members of the CommanderBill.net Community
• There are about as many web site visits per month as several other children’s ministry sites receive per day.

While I look at the stats, I can evaluate them a couple of ways. First, I can compare to others and say that it is not worth the cost and time to continue, or I can say “WOW!”, there are 890 people that I am helping in their Awana ministry. I generally am in awe and humbled that people would want to follow “Commander Bill”.

I realize that I will never be a “major player” in the children’s ministry arena and that is fine. You see, I have a really hard time “self-promoting” myself, the web site, etc. The majority of the numbers that you see above are from word of mouth or web searches. The other “major players” also have staffs of paid and/or volunteers working on updates, etc, whereas I do not. I’m just trying to network people serving in Awana, and provide resources, to benefit all of our ministries. Yes, I have tried those shameless plugs, “retweet this” or “post a comment on my FB Page” for a chance to win in order to try to increase numbers, which would entice advertisers, etc. – but I’ve decided that I am not going to do that to try to inflate numbers. I did not start CommanderBill.net to make a profit, and I don’t want profit, or “market share” to become a priority – the purpose of the site is to help YOU!

Yes, I often feel as if I’m not updating the site as I should and I wish I could do more. I feel the same way in my local ministry, but there isn’t enough time to do all the things I would like to do.

So now look at your ministry… do you compare it to others and feel inadequate? Do you feel like a failure compared to others?

I encourage you to stop looking at others, and look at where God is leading you and who you are reaching. Be humbled that God has entrusted you to teach them about Him.

I always say that children’s ministry and web sites are similar in that you may never know the results of your effort unless someone takes the time to share the impact you’ve had on them personally.

Don’t grow weary in well-doing, God is there with you, guiding you as you allow.