Getaway!

Ha ha.  Seeing how it has been about 15 days since my last post, my “getting back into a regular schedule” didn’t work out too well!

This weekend our ministry is taking students to the Missouri Baptist Convention collegiate “Getaway” retreat.  Getaway has a special place in my heart.  I had  a lot of fun times with friends while I was a student involved in BSU attending Getaway:  the dance/skit with Angela Herring, the Princess and the Knave skit with Mark for the talent show, jumping in the lake (shhh), our BSU showing up with everyone in overalls … and my freshman year at Getaway was the first time I can look back and remember that God spoke directly to me through reading His Word.  There is something special about being able to  get-away from all the distractions in life, to get-away from the hustle and bustle of campus life, homework, etc., to sit back and relax, have fun, and most importantly to hear from the Lord.

So, if you think about it, pray for our ministry and the students that will be traveling with me this weekend, that they would encounter the Lord in a new way, that we would bond and connect on a deeper level as a ministry, and that we would have safe travels to and from Tan-Tar-A.

Hope everyone is doing well!

-E

mentors of faith

I’m meeting a lot of people this summer who are quickly becoming mentors in the faith. Our team is getting the incredible opportunity to sit with and visit with some really great guys who are working in ministry in different areas of the Missouri Baptist Convention. So far I’ve had the opportunity to work closely with 3 guys that work in collegiate ministry in different parts of the state Gene Austin who works on the campus of Truman State, Randy Dudik who works at Missouri S & T in Rolla and Bill Victor is a regional collegiate ministry coordinator. All are men that I worked on a team with during our two weeks of Super summer, they are great men, and I’ve learned a great deal from them.
Also throughout the summer we’ll be spending days in the office with men who will come talk/teach about different things (the above men included). This week Gene came and talked with us about strengths, gifts, and leadership. It was great. It’s always crazy to me to take those sort of tests that consist of like 20 questions and then get a 25 page report back that explains me and my personality to a “T”!

The last couple of days we’ve had the opportunity to spend some time with Rick Hedger who is the Partnership Missions Specialist for the MBC. I LOVE hearing his heart! I was so challenged by him in just the short amounts of time that we were able to spend with him. The way that I pray for missions will change after our time with him this morning. Another thing that I took away from today was that Rick calls the places we serve as missionaries, “appointments,” . . . “what’s your appointment?” We blur the line a lot of times by having people say that they are “called into full time missions” . . . we are ALL called to live a misisonal life. Sure, some people are called to do mission work full time in other parts of the world, but some are called to be missionaries in our public schools, some in their offices or factories, or in their classes, etc. Another thing that stuck out to me today was Rick said, “you are either a missionary, or a mission field.”

This weekend we’ll be traveling to the St. Louis area to spend some time with another convention worker and his family for the 4th of July. I’m really excited to be getting to learn from all of these men. The crazy part is that (in the words of Jeff Carson) most of what I’m learning is being “caught” rather than “taught.” You see I’m learning a lot, and being challenged and convicted more by just watching their lives than I am by hearing them teach. Sure, they are great teachers, but just seeing them live out their faith has been incredible

Anyway, had part of the afternoon off from the office and just finished up some reading, so I thought I’d jump on here and leave a post while I had the chance! Hope you are all doing great!

-E

… another quote from this summer “a ‘radical Christian’ is likely someone who just loves Jesus a little more than you”
things that make you go hmmmm.

5 lbs. of sweat…

So, I’ve been continuing my training for the marathon this summer among our busy schedule of Super Summer’s and office work days. This morning AJ (one of the interns who I convinced to run with me this summer) and I ran a 6 mile run. It was the first 6 mile run I have done in Jefferson City, and boy was it hilly! I miss the relative flatness of Springfield! I weighed this morning before we left, and then again when we got back and I think I lost about 5 lbs. of sweat! I was really excited for AJ too . . . He had run in high school, but hadn’t run in a while, and started running with me during our Super Summer week in Hannibal, and he finished the 6 miles today only about 4 minutes behind me. Good job buddy!

On to other news, it has been a great week back in the office, busy with lots of projects like counting, sorting, storing all of the resources and supplies we took with us to Super Summer (I always hate having to sort thing back after a long trip, and that’s what this felt like), they “remodeled” … basically made a new hallway and closed off a door in our offices, and were getting ready to switch around some of the office arrangements, so we’ve been making some of those changes in the office too. My favorite parts of the week have been serving at the Salvation Army. Our intern team went to the Salvation Army twice this week to prepare and serve lunch for the residents there. It was cool to be able to serve them in that way, and to start to make some connections with the people. We’ll be going back next week on Wednesday to assist with a VBS that they asked for help with, and were invited to come on Thursday just to come and eat with them. We also plan to go back and serve more this summer. That was great!

In addition to all of that, I’ve had some things come up that are requiring a lot of thought and causing some mental fatigue, so I’ve been trying to handle that as well!

Anyhow, thought it was about time for another brief update! Hope everyone is doing well!
-E

Super Summer …

Well, thought it was about time to bring a brief update for the summer since I’ve been away from internet most of the last week, and have a few days off now, I thought I should bring you up to date and give you some visuals from Super Summer.

The last two weeks one of my main responsibilities was as a small group leader for the students attending Super Summer that just graduated high school and are moving into college, work, service, etc. We were the SILVER team … each age group is assigned a color to identify themselves as… we got silver, I wondered if they just thought that was the most appropriate color to signify those that were getting older … okay it was a lame joke, but I laughed when I thought about it.

I had great small groups for both weeks of Super Summer, there are always brief moments when it is hard leading a small group and it always takes a little while to “get comfortable” with each other, but both of my groups ended up being really great, and I think that God is really at work in some of those young men’s lives. It is exciting to see. Our “curriculum/teaching” was based on the ideas of movements, and joining the movement. I really just wanted to walk through the week with my groups and help them process what God was doing in their lives and encourage them along the way. It was also a goal to help them to see that God wants them to “join the movement” right where they are. They are in the positions in life that they currently find themselves for a reason, and God wants to use them right there! So, I’m really praying for them, and for God to continue to work in their lives to break strongholds, and to show them which steps to take for Him.

It’s really been a privilege to work with some of the sharpest young people in the state of Missouri the last few weeks as fellow small group leaders. There were probably close to 30 small group leaders each week, and these young men and women continually poured their lives into the lives of youth, counseled them, prayed with/for them, and had such great servant’s hearts. I was encouraged to see a generation of college students surrendering their lives for a week, two weeks, or the whole summer to serve the Lord in that capacity. Great job guys! Lives were changed for eternity, and God chose to use you in that!

This weekend, we have the weekend off, and I was home in Springfield to relax, participate in a team long run with my training team for the marathon, and to celebrate Sarah’s birthday. Happy Birthday Tomorrow, one of the interns that I’m working with for the summer is leading worship for a church in the area with his band, so I’m going to go show my support, and then head up to Green Ridge to visit my dad for a few hours on Father’s Day before heading back to Jefferson City tomorrow evening for our church worship service.

A brief update, hopefully I’ll get to do that a little more often the next few weeks. In the meantime, here are a few pictures from Super Summer:

-E

Mufa Puffa (Obstacle Course during Rec. one day … they did it all carrying a can of soda and then had to chug it at the end):

Worship/band:

Silver team:

Ho Ho’s or Swiss Cake Rolls

Today, we put to rest the age old question of which was better . . . Ho Ho’s or Swiss Cake Rolls … It had been a debated topic in the house the first few weeks. So, today on our trip to Wal-Mart we bought a box of each and had a blind taste test between 5 of us.
The results:
Only 2 of us could correctly identify which was which based on touch and taste, and the taste preference was that 4 out of 5 named Swiss Cake Rolls as the best tasting based on the blind taste test. So the debate can finally be put to rest that Swiss Cake Rolls are definitely better!

Okay, so we aren’t just spending our time on blind taste tests and the like … we actually had a great week at Bolivar for Super Summer week 1, and will leave in the morning for Super Summer week 2 in Hannibal. Our team of interns are being small group leaders in several of the different teams as well as helping out with other random responsibilities like helping sell items at the merchandise table in the evenings, etc. Tomorrow will be a busy day as we get things set up in Hannibal and prepare for the students to show up on Monday afternoon.

2 questions:
1) What are you doing with your summer?
2) Which do you think is better, Ho Ho’s or Swiss Cake Rolls

life in community …

Well, it’s becoming increasingly evident that I’m not going to have a lot of “down time” this summer. I expected as much, but have come to learn it as reality over the last few days.
Our time this week has been spent primarily in the Student Ministry Offices of the Missouri Baptist Convention preparing for Super Summer, last minute details like getting room assignments squared away for all of the participants, putting together their packets of information, making phone calls to churches and youth pastors to follow up on different things. It’s been busy, but actually quite enjoyable.
The evenings are great! They look a little different, and I’m sure a lot of people would think that we were crazy to live like this, but it’s going to be an amazing summer. I’m living in a house with 11 people. Myself and three other male, college aged interns or employees of the MBC. 5 female interns or MBC employees. And our gracious hosts for the summer Matt and Julie. Each evening we sit down as a family for a home cooked meal around the dinner table, enjoy a walk in the neighborhood or a little down time before meeting together for a devotional or a discussion on a book, the Master Plan of Evangelism(I’ve read it before, its definitely worth the time), that we’re walking through together this summer. The only way to describe what we’re doing is just to say that we’re “doing life together.” We all have the common goal of growing closer to, and serving God this summer, and as we do that, we’ll work together, eat together, live together, laugh together, cry together, and be there for one another. What an awesome opportunity to get to share my life with these young men. I often feel like I don’t have a lot to offer in the way of wisdom or advice or anything, but I know that God has me here for a reason, and I hope that there is something that I can contribute that will be of value to these people that I am sharing my life with for the summer.
God is working in me in big ways, I know He is. We were challenged today to write down our expectations of the summer, and the first thing that came out on my piece of paper was: “I expect my life to change drastically”
I think it is.
I’m excited for that, scared for that, but looking with anticipation for what God is doing and will continue to do this summer.

I’m not sure how often my schedule will permit me to write large updates, especially when we start our weeks of camp on Monday, but I’ll try to at least give brief posts as I’m able. I covet your prayers this summer for me and my team.
E

my summer…

It’s been almost a month since I’ve updated, so I thought it was about time, and I thought I’d start by letting you know a little about what I’m up to for the summer.
I’ve taken a summer position with the Missouri Baptist Convention and the Student Ministry team. This summer I’ll be working closely with the full time Student Ministry team as well as living in community and working with 5 student interns that will be working here for the summer as well.
I’m not completely informed as to all that we’ll be doing, but I do know that we’ll be working at both the Super Summer’s in MIssouri, as well as the Global Encounters mission project in St. Louis. Doing office work in preparation for those events, and other various/random things I’m sure.
The part I think I am looking the most forward to is living in community with these people. There are 11 of us that are going to be living together for the summer in our Director’s house. It’s going to be great! I’m looking forward to developing relationships with these people, and getting to know them as we serve alongside each other
Anyway, I know that this information is really vague, but that’s about as much as I know for now. I’m looking forward to finding out more, and sharing with you as the summer goes!

Weekend… Live Love

Had a great weekend with my NLQ family. We led a retreat for the First Baptist Church of Sedalia youth group at a retreat center on the Lake of the Ozarks. It was a fun group of students, and we had a good time talking with them about Love and challenging them to “Live Love.”
Yesterday afternoon we headed from the retreat down to my friend Jared’s church in Tiff City, MO. They were having an annual FCA Day (Fellowship of Christian Athletes). There were a ton of students there. It seemed like a really neat event. They had been competing in a tournament all day with all sorts of events: softball, volleyball, tug-of-war, dodge ball, etc. We were leading worship for the service to cap off the evening. Worship went great, led a great new song with my good friend Bobbie. I love singing and leading with her … it’s hard to sound bad when you sing with someone as good as her! Then my friend Jared, who is the Pastor of Buffalo Creek Baptist Church there, did a GREAT job communicating a message to challenge and encourage us all from 1 Corinthians 9. Using a sports analogy to connect with the students Jared clearly communicated our opportunity and responsibility to run the race that God has put before us.

I’ve really been personally challenged lately with some things in my life. God seems to be doing something … calling me to some changes, etc. I guess this is where the rubber meets the road. Just like I talked with the students about this weekend, I need to start showing my love/respect for God by doing what He is calling me to. 1 John 5:3 “This is love for God: to obey his commands…” Easy to read, but somehow I find it is often difficult to make the changes in my life. I get so used to doing things the way I always have, etc. But, change is good … and obedience is even better. Time to stop saying the I love God and start living it.

EPIC “weekend” in Lee’s Summit…

Well, I was scheduled to lead worship at a youth retreat weekend in Lee’s Summit this weekend with my friends from No Longer Quiet, however they decided they needed to cancel based upon the forecast of 6-12 inches of snow that was supposed to fall today.  SO, instead of a whole weekend, we just had a Friday night service/rally.  It was SO good.  I love leading worship, I love being used by God to bring His people to His throne, and I love leading worship with these people.  They are my friends, co-ministers, and family.  It has been interesting and fun to see how the “faces of NLQ” have changed over the last few years, but it never ceases to amaze me how God takes those who are willing to serve Him and use them for His glory.  Thanks to all of you guys/gals for what you mean to me, and for allowing me the privilege of serving along side of you!

And, thanks to all the staff and students at Lee’s Summit Community Church for letting us be a part of your EPIC weekend!

What “EPIC” moments have there been in your life lately?

-E

This weekend…

So, this past weekend I was in Columbus, GA at Morningside Baptist Church leading at their Disciple Now (d-now) weekend for the youth ministry there.  I’ve had the privilege to serve there during the d-now weekend for 3-4 years now with their youth pastor, Royce, who has become a good friend of No Longer Quiet ministries.

This weekend the speaker was Ronnie Hill, a full time evangelist from Texas.  Ronnie arrived and did assemblies at two of the area high schools in Columbus on Thursday, and invited all the students to a pre-weekend rally on Thursday night.  At the rally on Thursday night, 21 students gave their lives to Christ for the first time! What a great start to the weekend!!

He did a great job communicating with the students, and gave them one of the best lessons on sharing your faith, along with a simple example of one way to do that.   This was at our Friday evening service.  He taught the kids to share their testimony clearly and concisely in 3 minutes (well, that’s how long it should take to share your story, not how long it took him to teach them!).

Then on Saturday afternoon, all of the different groups were challenged to take the teaching and apply it in the city of Columbus.  So, during the afternoon, each group got to choose where they wanted to go to share their “3 minute stories.”  I was the leader for a group of 7th-8th grade boys.  Many of the boys were involved in rec-league baseball, and they chose to go to the rec fields and share their faith there.  While we were at the baseball fields, all but 2 of my boys approached people with the intention of sharing their faith in Jesus Christ.  I was SO proud of them.  We eventually decided to go to another location to share, and we chose the mall in Columbus.  While there, we were able to share our story with many other people … can you believe that in the span for 4 hours, our group talked to over 30 people, shared our stories with most of them, and my group of 7th-8th graders led 12 people to Christ!  When we returned to the church that evening, and all groups reported back from the afternoon, the approximately 70 students that were involved in the d-now weekend had been used by the Lord to lead 94 people to Christ!!!  In all my years of traveling in ministry, and attending evangelism camps, etc.  I’ve never seen students do anything like what these kids in Columbus did this weekend!

Cool story from my group.  Blake was one of my boys this weekend, and on Friday evening he accepted the Lord.  While we were talking about sharing your testimony and telling other people about what Jesus had done in your life, Blake realized that he didn’t have a testimony, and he came to the realization that he needed Jesus.  Then, fast-forward to Saturday afternoon when we were sharing our faith.  Blake was fearless and confident and bold with his new-found faith in Christ.  He shared with anyone that would listen, and a few people that I’m not sure wanted to!  Blake led 7 of those 12 people to Christ from our group!  I learned a lot from Blake this weekend!

Fast-forward again to Sunday morning when Ronnie was speaking in the main church services at Morningside.  I’m not sure what happened in the first service, but in the second service that the students were in, another 15-20 people responded to Christ for salvation … and several of them were baptized that morning!

What a great weekend!  I couldn’t not post something about it, giving God all honor and praise for the things that He did this weekend, and the amazing work He is doing in Columbus through a group of students who decided that it is “Not about mii” and it really is “All about Jesus.”

-E