I’m on a bus…

A word from some of our friends

I will run * I will run * I WILL RUN * I WILL RUN

The Outpouring!

Here are some clips from Thursday Night as our students sought God whole heartedly and in community!

Thursday Ministry Report

Here is some ministry clips from the group that went to the Carpenter’s house.  Due to confidentiality of the clients in the ministry settings we are not able to video our students with them.   This limits the kinds of clips we can post here but you can get a little idea of the environment we are in.

Wednesday Ministry update

Tuesday Ministry Wrap Up

  Sorry for the delay on this.  We had to search and find out why we couldn’t post video on the blog.  There is a new policy that we need the 60 buck upgrade.  So we want you to know that you are worth the extra cha-ching to be updated and current on our mission.

Praise tonight for many students being engaged with God.

Pray that our students will be careful not to become emotionally driven in their worship but rather making decisions of the will to surrender to God.  (honestly this can’t help but show up emotionally in some way, but the emotions aren’t driving but following.)

Pray for our bodies as they are getting fatigued.  The Spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.

Please pray for our first picnic in the park at one of the ministry sites.  We will hold an Open Air Evangelism meeting in one of the parks near Safehouse tomorrow in the early afternoon.  There are two chapels every morning and one evangelism meeting in the afternoon everyday.  Pray for the harvest of souls as there is good discussion going on everyday with the people.

Pray for our families at home as they go without moms and dads to run the household.

Thanks so much for your prayers.  You are a blessing to us and your comments are amazing!  Keep them coming.

Beloved – Our identity is Christ’s beloved

Today we had a great day of activities around the campus.  We had students play basketball, ultimate frisbee, beach volleyball, climb the climbing wall and swim in the pool.  Dave Fast and Sandy Kimbrel put together an absolutely amazing dinner – seriously excellent cuisine.  Tonight was an amazing night of worship and teaching.  Our theme was Beloved – which is our identity in Christ.  Tomorrow, we will minister from our identity in Christ.  Satan showed up during the service but was defeated as we saw Jesus win through prayer.

Tomorrow, we launch into four groups that will be at four locations throughout the day.  Please pray for the following requests.

• Homeless for a day – Students will learn about the life of Atlanta’s homeless individuals and develop a heart to see them be freed from this life.
• Shepherd’s house – Students will lead a chapel, then work alongside homeless people fixing/cleaning facilities.  Pray for great conversations and ministry.
• Sandwich and Sock – Students will make sandwiches for homeless people.  They will minister to homeless.  Pray for the students to be bold and great listeners as they interact with homeless people.
• Carpenter’s house – Students will lead a chapel, and then work alongside homeless people fixing and cleaning facilities.  Pray for our students to be an encouragement to the people who are in long term recovery from addictions.
• Pray for weather and for energy as we minister.  Pray 1 Peter 4:10 – 11 over our students as we seek to have His energy as we are used by Him to serve.

Thanks for your prayers!  We are exhausted but so pleased to be available to God in this ministry.

Keith

We have arrived – Safely

Dear friends thanks for checking out our blog.  We want you to know that we are all here and are enjoying our first day at Georgia Tech.  We had a delicious lunch provided by Chick-fila at 92 and Alpharetta Hwy.  (When you go to eat there next time, be sure to thank them for their generous support. Jim Waddle is the manager and they were extremely generous with us.)  

It was great having such a short bus trip to our destination.  It beats the 7 hour trip to Daytona.  Today we are enjoying getting to know each other better through recreation activities and small group time.  

• Please pray for our students to connect with one another.  This is a time for a lot of students who are new to the group to begin to feel at home with other students.  
• Pray for our heart preparation tonight as we first must be filled to overflowing with Christ’s love so that we can fill the hearts of God’s other beloved children.  
• Pray for our response time.  We will be doing cardboard testimonies.  Take some time to watch this youtube link so that you can pray our students will be moved by what God wants to teach us about the power of the Gospel to change our lives!  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvDDc5RB6FQ 
• We have a few students who are sick and will hopefully join us in a few days.  Pray for their recovery.
• Pray for our rest to be truly restful as we are up and ministering by 7:30 in the morning.

Thanks so much for joining us on this journey! – Keith for the Student Min. team.

We Repent of Small Thinking!

BLVD is right around the corner and God is pressing in at what He wants to do.  We have a tendancy to think small about what God can accomplish and to expect too little from His answers.  This explains why we are so surprised when God does answer our prayers miraculously.  We are shocked.  “Prayer actually works,” we say.  The reason prayer works is because God hears our prayers and graciously wants to meet our needs.  It’s not because of the glamorous words we spoke, but because of the precious heart of the One who heard.  So God meets us and we are speechless, surprised that He listens; that He cares; that He is so personal.  But He is!

As we lauch into BLVD it is easy for us to say, what possible difference can we make.  We are just going downtown for a week.  We will see people and have conversations and then likely never see them again.  We feel so small, so futile and so insignificant in the little contribution we can make.  To be true, we will not be able to end homelessness next week at BLVD.  We won’t win the war on drugs or eradicate all addictions in the Atlanta area.  Humanly, it does feel like we will be dropping a few buckets on a fire as big as the ocean.  At least this is what the enemy wants us to think.  He wants us to feel small, insignificant, to act out as though we are defeated and our effort is ridiculously small.

But is it?  Imagine if Jesus was coming to Atlanta next week?  Would He make a difference?  If the Savior was going to be downtown would there be people set free from addictions?  Would there be encouragement to the broken hearted?  Would there be freedom and joy given to the oppressed?  We know there would be.  It may not be on the front page of the Atlanta Journal Constitution even, but there would be rejoicing in the heavens over the small, yet significant victories that would occur on a life by life basis.

Now, imagine that the same Spirit that indwelled the Son of God was going to be in 180 students and adults as they ministered on the streets of Atlanta next week.  Imagine, that if we were to let Him overtake us, lead us from the inside out, that we could truly resemble Jesus 180 times over.  Imagine the people set free from addictions, the encouragement to the broken hearted and the freedom and joy given to the oppressed.  Imagine if our students actually witnessed God answering prayer miraculously.  His Spirit completely present and leading us into what He wants to do.  Imagine their faith growing.  Imagine the belief that would overcome their prayers then.  What could God do with an entire youth ministry that knows He loves people because they have witnessed His love for them and for others first hand.  Nothing could stop them… for nothing can stop the love of God!

What we do at BLVD is extremely significant.  For we will not just be making a difference of food or no food, caring or not caring.   We won’t just be making a difference of life or death.  We will be making a difference of ETERNAL LIFE and ETERNAL DEATH.  In Luke 10:16 (NLT) Jesus said to the disciples sent out on a mission like BLVD, ‘Anyone who accepts your message is also accepting me. And anyone who rejects you is rejecting me. And anyone who rejects me is rejecting God who sent me.‘”  The stakes couldn’t be any higher!  PRAY!  PRAY! PRAY!  Pray like someone’s eternal life depends upon this, because it does!  I know we can theologically argue that God’s elect will all come home and they will.  But to us on earth, life is lived out as a battle for each soul with intensity in our hearts as was in God’s heart when He did not spare His own Son for us.  Please Pray in Earnest for all that God will do!