All done! So much to say, but too tired to type...and a 13 hour drive tomorrow. Please pray for safe travel and supernatural energy and alertness! We had a day full of intensity today as we discussed getting ready to come back home. The tagline from the sermon hit hard: "Everyone wants to shine bright, but nobody wants to burn." Basically, God wants to light us up with His fire in this dark world...but that requires some pain and sacrifice. We also opened the "kingdom worker cards" that have different challenges, and it was so awesome to see the students open them and accept the challenges to work on this year. Some examples of the cards are:
- Committing to send an encouraging note to a friend every single day on facebook for a year
- Committing to speak up and lead a devo at youth group this fall
- Committing to "adopt" a single mom or widow and invite them to holidays and family get-togethers
They are inspired, and make sure to ask them to tell all of their stories and things they learned this week! I can't wait to share more stories with you, but I'm gonna get some shut-eye. Take the time to look through the pictures above--it was a great trip, and God will be moving in the lives of these students for a long time!!
CIY Pics!
Friday, July 8, 2011
Thursday, July 7, 2011
MOVE Day 4
Another great day at Move here in Michigan. It was a unique day for a few reasons.
1. We watched the film "Love Costs Everything" during the morning session. It is a full-length documentary (hour and a half) about the persecuted church around the world. I have seen documentaries of all shapes and sizes, but the stories presented in this film are heart wrenching and inspiring at the same time. Some students responded with sadness, some with anger, and still some just needing time to process what they had seen. The students were challenged to pray for the persecuted church--not that the persecution will stop, but that they will have the strength to endure! We look forward to getting to share the film at Carterville this fall hopefully.
- Daniel 1 and 3 (Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego) was the topic of the day, and how these boys started with simple disciplines (sticking to the right diet), and how that led to the ability to stand strong even in the face of death (fiery furnace).
2. Extended Rec time at the beach! The water temp was about 73 degrees, but it was awesome, and we had a blast. There were baptisms in Lake Michigan, people buried in the sand, ultimate frisbee, and more.
3. Ahbijeet Lall (sp?) was our speaker tonight (son of Ahjai Lall--pastor in India). He told incredible stories of his encounters with persecution in the Hindu and Muslim communities. He powerfully challenged the students to not be idle, and to stand up for Christ even and especially when it's hard. And then our youth group had the privilege of having Ahbijeet come and have a question/answer time just with our students after the main session tonight. He is only 21 years old, but has so much wisdom and maturity!
Lots of great things going on. I absolutely know and believe that your prayers are being heard and answered. Thank you so much - one more full day of Move until we get up and head home on Saturday!
...and pray for Shayla and me if ya would - tomorrow (Friday) is our 5th anniversary!!
1. We watched the film "Love Costs Everything" during the morning session. It is a full-length documentary (hour and a half) about the persecuted church around the world. I have seen documentaries of all shapes and sizes, but the stories presented in this film are heart wrenching and inspiring at the same time. Some students responded with sadness, some with anger, and still some just needing time to process what they had seen. The students were challenged to pray for the persecuted church--not that the persecution will stop, but that they will have the strength to endure! We look forward to getting to share the film at Carterville this fall hopefully.
- Daniel 1 and 3 (Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego) was the topic of the day, and how these boys started with simple disciplines (sticking to the right diet), and how that led to the ability to stand strong even in the face of death (fiery furnace).
2. Extended Rec time at the beach! The water temp was about 73 degrees, but it was awesome, and we had a blast. There were baptisms in Lake Michigan, people buried in the sand, ultimate frisbee, and more.
3. Ahbijeet Lall (sp?) was our speaker tonight (son of Ahjai Lall--pastor in India). He told incredible stories of his encounters with persecution in the Hindu and Muslim communities. He powerfully challenged the students to not be idle, and to stand up for Christ even and especially when it's hard. And then our youth group had the privilege of having Ahbijeet come and have a question/answer time just with our students after the main session tonight. He is only 21 years old, but has so much wisdom and maturity!
Lots of great things going on. I absolutely know and believe that your prayers are being heard and answered. Thank you so much - one more full day of Move until we get up and head home on Saturday!
...and pray for Shayla and me if ya would - tomorrow (Friday) is our 5th anniversary!!
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
MOVE Day 3
Today was intense. The story of the day we focused on was that of King Josiah from 2 Kings 22 and 23, and how despite his past and horrible father figures, he walked in the ways of the Lord. There was a very intentional focus on the importance, power, and need for God's Word in our lives, especially because it was when Josiah metaphorically "ate" the scroll that he turned the nation of Israel around.
We had some more great electives, and many of us hung out at a coffee shop called lemonjello's and had some great conversations during free time. A group of about six of us tried to play in a volleyball tournament...but they lost in the first round :(
The main session tonight was extremely powerful as Jason French preached about Josiah and our need for a passion for the Word. It ended in a call for students to go to their adult leaders and ask for prayer and Scripture over the issues in their lives. That sparked a Spirit-led time of confession and prayer like I have never experienced. There were literally lives changed and even physical healings tonight (for real). After an hour or so of this, we debriefed and discussed these things in our youth group time, and it was inspiring to see teens come together as a community for encouragement, accountability, and prayer.
While this evening was an incredible Jesus experience, He's not done. We will be watching an intense documentary on the persecuted church tomorrow, and it will be very impactful (I had a chance to preview the film, and it is incredible). Your prayers are working in amazing, supernatural ways--so please, please do not stop! We've also got extended recreation time tomorrow to go to the beach, but pray for Jesus to be in all of the conversations, lessons, worship sets, etc. Love you all!
We had some more great electives, and many of us hung out at a coffee shop called lemonjello's and had some great conversations during free time. A group of about six of us tried to play in a volleyball tournament...but they lost in the first round :(
The main session tonight was extremely powerful as Jason French preached about Josiah and our need for a passion for the Word. It ended in a call for students to go to their adult leaders and ask for prayer and Scripture over the issues in their lives. That sparked a Spirit-led time of confession and prayer like I have never experienced. There were literally lives changed and even physical healings tonight (for real). After an hour or so of this, we debriefed and discussed these things in our youth group time, and it was inspiring to see teens come together as a community for encouragement, accountability, and prayer.
While this evening was an incredible Jesus experience, He's not done. We will be watching an intense documentary on the persecuted church tomorrow, and it will be very impactful (I had a chance to preview the film, and it is incredible). Your prayers are working in amazing, supernatural ways--so please, please do not stop! We've also got extended recreation time tomorrow to go to the beach, but pray for Jesus to be in all of the conversations, lessons, worship sets, etc. Love you all!
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
MOVE Day 2
Today was our first full day of Move, and it was spectacular! Our group is already forming more solid relationships, and the work that God is doing in our hearts is beginning to become very evident. Some highlights of the day are as follows:
- Incredible food at the cafeteria
- AMAZING weather
- Great worship music (Jordan Howerton Band)
- Great learning experiences about story of Rahab the prostitute today
- Creative worship element tonight tied to Rahab's story (she put a red cord outside of her window in Jericho, as previously arranged by Israel in order for her family's lives to be spared...so all 1300 people at this conference tied red strands of fabric together to a larger red cord to symbolize asking God to use us regardless of our past!)
- Solid elective classes
- Fun Freetime
- Students already beginning to open up in youth group time!
Please continue to labor in prayer for us! Thank you!
p.s. feel free to comment and/or ask any questions--just click "comments" directly under this (or any) blog post.
- Incredible food at the cafeteria
- AMAZING weather
- Great worship music (Jordan Howerton Band)
- Great learning experiences about story of Rahab the prostitute today
- Creative worship element tonight tied to Rahab's story (she put a red cord outside of her window in Jericho, as previously arranged by Israel in order for her family's lives to be spared...so all 1300 people at this conference tied red strands of fabric together to a larger red cord to symbolize asking God to use us regardless of our past!)
- Solid elective classes
- Fun Freetime
- Students already beginning to open up in youth group time!
Please continue to labor in prayer for us! Thank you!
p.s. feel free to comment and/or ask any questions--just click "comments" directly under this (or any) blog post.
Monday, July 4, 2011
CIY MOVE 2011
Hey everyone! We made it to CIY Move in Holland, Michigan today. We left Carterville CC at about 6:30pm last night (Sunday) and traveled to Columbia, IL (just south of St. Louis) to stay at Hope Christian Church for the night. You may remember Chase Luckett, last year's intern--it is his home church. After some donuts and milk this morning we caravan'd another eight hours up to Hope College in Holland, Michigan. If church vans could talk, there are already plenty of stories and memories from the ride up to tell, but we are excited about what is to come this week!
Tonight was kicked off talking about the call of Samuel, and that God is speaking to all of us. We simply need to position ourselves in a way to hear Him and then to respond, "Speak, Lord, your servant is listening!"
After youth group time, we had an awesome experience--we all walked a couple miles down to the boardwalk (Lake Michigan) and watched an incredible fireworks show for the fourth of July!
Please pray for good rest, as we are all very tired, but pray also that God does an amazing work in the lives of each and every student and adult here! Stay tuned for some pics to be uploaded tomorrow!
Tonight was kicked off talking about the call of Samuel, and that God is speaking to all of us. We simply need to position ourselves in a way to hear Him and then to respond, "Speak, Lord, your servant is listening!"
After youth group time, we had an awesome experience--we all walked a couple miles down to the boardwalk (Lake Michigan) and watched an incredible fireworks show for the fourth of July!
Please pray for good rest, as we are all very tired, but pray also that God does an amazing work in the lives of each and every student and adult here! Stay tuned for some pics to be uploaded tomorrow!
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