Each week Baptist Women in Ministry introduces an amazing minister, and this week we are thrilled to introduce Heather Mustain.
Heather, tell us about your current ministry.
I serve as the minister of missions at Wilshire Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas. My primary role is to help cast a mission vision for our congregation and to enter into strategic mission partnerships with enterprises that share common core values. I also spend time helping equip and mobilize our members to serve, whether that be as individuals or as the entire church.
What have been your greatest sources of joy in ministry?
My greatest source of joy in ministry is really two-fold. I love watching people invest in mutual and transformational relationships. I had a professor in seminary define missions as “people being transformed by people being transformed.” Seeing the life that enters a person’s eyes as they share about a relationship or organization that they have connected with and perhaps for the first time have understood their potential and role in God’s mission, is one of the greatest joys for me.
The other real joy of my ministry is the ability to partner with some of the best organizations in Dallas, the state, and the world. The stories of transformation that are a product of their investment in God’s redemptive work is an amazing opportunity to be involved with.
What have been your greatest sources of challenge in ministry?
There is always more that needs to be done. Recently having a baby, I have realized more than ever my limitations. God’s healing presence is needed everywhere, and I wish Wilshire could be everywhere and do everything. The amount of pain that exists in our world today is overwhelming. Recognizing that God has uniquely gifted Wilshire to be a part of the solution, not the solution, is a great challenge to me.
What is the best ministry advice you have received?
Be a lifelong learner. Being a lifelong learner keeps you humbled. As a young minister, I’m not naïve to think that I know it all. Recognizing the knowledge, gifts, skills, and talents in others allows me to not feel like I have to know it all. Together we are better and being a lifelong learner gives us the capacity to recognize this as well.