The first ten days have flown by here in North Myrtle Beach, SC! After many staff meetings and ministry trainings, staff work days setting out picnic tables, cleaning grills and checking keys for student housing, students have arrived! We have 68 students from 33 campuses joining us this summer. Staff will stick around for another 5 weeks to help lead the students in ministry, and then after July 1, the staff head home and turn over leadership of the summer mission to students. As we have been preparing for student arrival, I'm reminded of the moments I experienced the Lord in new and exciting ways on my own Summer Missions: The Badlands in 2006 and Brazil in 2007 as a student, and in East Asia in 2012 and the Middle East in 2014 as staff. A crazy thing happens when you have a community of staff and students who love the Lord and want to grow closer to him and want to share their faith. Already we've seen the 28 person staff team bond over shared experiences we've had. There are staff that have lost parents, grew up in divorced homes, have family who walked away from the Lord, are currently dealing with anxiety and depression -- yet none of these things define us. We are defined by the love God has for us and the fact that he did an incredible thing by saving us from our sins, something we could never do. I love summer mission because it forces me to preach the gospel to myself every day as I remind students of it and share it with others. And it's a chance for us to build into our students our theme for the summer, that our lives are His. As a result of the incredible, life-changing love he has for us, he calls us to respond to him by giving him our lives. We have 4 main goals this summer as we seek to shepherd and train our students - that as a result of our lives being His, we will...
I can't wait to see how God works in the lives of our students and staff this summer at NMB 2016!
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I saw this photo the other day on my phone and was reminded of how I felt when I drove to work on this fall day.... This is where I live. Between the orange-yellow leaves that have turned, and the green leaves that have yet to. This is where we live as believers; living between the now of hardship and pain, of moments of joy that will pale in comparison to the joy that is coming as we long for what is ahead. We live between the now and the not yet. We walk the road ahead, enjoying what is before us and anticipating what is ahead. " ... I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us." - Philippians 3:13-14 It's been really fun to read stories and see photos from our Expedition team this year. This team moves to a new city every month to seek out believers, and then challenge and train them to lead a movement that could reach their campus with the gospel. There are several Expedition teams around the world, but the one sent from the Upper Midwest is focusing on eastern Europe and Russia. One element of the training and challenging is teaching students about spiritual multiplication. I remember the day I learned that concept in college. I had grown up with a desire to invest my life in something meaningful, and leave a legacy. That day, I realized how much of an impact my life could make if I was intentionally investing in others, who could then turn around and invest in others. The Expedition team writes, "Today we met with two brothers (right) who have a huge heart to share with others how they can know God. It was a blessing to be able to meet with them and encourage them in tools of how they can share the Gospel and also encourage them to invite their friends in joining them to share their faith." The crazy thing about these Expedition teams is that they so often run into students, pastors, lay people, etc who have a desire to reach others for Christ but need a little training or encouragement. Kasia is studying nanotechnology and comes from a Catholic background. She dreams of a day when her friends, classmates and professors are curious about God and wanting to read the Bible for themselves and know she is the person to ask about such things because of the life she lives reflecting Christ. It's exciting to think about the exponential growth that could come from the intentional investments of these students in the lives of others! |
Amy WellnerEncouraging others to intentionally live out their God-given identity. Archives
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