_Complaining about not achieving success despite working hard is like complaining about an ice cube not melting when you heated it from twenty-five to thirty-one degrees. Your work was not wasted; it is just being stored. All the action happens at thirty-two degrees… The outside world only sees the most dramatic event rather than all that preceded it. But you know that it’s the work you did long ago—when it seemed that you weren’t making any progress—that makes the jump today possible.
— James Clear, Atomic Habits_

Most of our ministry happens in those unseen degrees before the ice melts. Day after day, we walk alongside children, youth and families as they navigate pain, conflict and everyday challenges. Our goal in church planting is not only to establish new congregations but also to see local leaders grow into emotionally healthy disciples of Jesus, people connected to themselves, connected to others and connected to God, expressing their faith through love for their neighbors and communities.

Recently, during a nurture group activity we were facilitating in a local government school, one young girl shared a small but profound moment of growth. She explained how arguments at home with her mother often escalate into shouting, leaving her feeling hurt and afraid to make mistakes. She lives in constant fear that any error will provoke anger or punishment.

But this time, when her mother began to yell, the girl remembered a tool she had learned in our nurture group. Instead of shouting back, she paused, placed her finger under her nose in what the children call the “magic mustache,” took a deep breath, and slowly counted to ten to calm herself before responding. When the argument continued, she used another skill she had practiced, walking away briefly to regain her poise before returning to speak with her mother.

Moments like this remind us that transformation rarely happens all at once. It grows through steady investment, through relationships, patient mentoring, and safe spaces where children and families learn healthier ways to respond to conflict and fear. For many, past wounds have shaped reactions rooted in survival rather than security, leaving them stuck in patterns driven more by pain than by joy.

Through nurture groups and trauma-informed practices such as Trust-Based Relational Intervention, we help children and families develop practical tools to regulate emotions, repair relationships, and rediscover their God-given value. These practices may seem small, but each one raises the temperature another degree toward change.

Looking back over nearly ten years of ministry here, we see many stories like that of this young girl. A teenager chooses peace instead of violence. A parent learns to listen rather than punish. A young leader gains confidence to guide others. Each story represents another quiet degree of warmth applied to hearts that have long felt frozen.

We may not yet see the full movement we pray for. Churches are not planted overnight, and communities do not heal instantly. But just as ice holds firm until that final degree, we trust that God is working beneath the surface. Every conversation, nurture group, and act of patient love brings people closer to the moment when what seemed frozen finally begins to flow.

As Scripture reminds us, “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up” (Galatians 6:9).

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