Ministry Team

Ministry Team Updates

(Compliments of Jared Lewis)

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Weeks 8 & 9 - "Endurance!" [July 11 - 27]

Well, the time has come for us to be done, and boy! We are tired out. We spent the last two weeks in Minnesota. We arrived Monday the 12th and went all over the state from Detroit Lakes to Minneapolis/St. Paul. The first week that we spent here was very nice travelling from church to church, and even being able to see some of our friends from college who live up here. Coming into Minnesota we were already very tired, but God gave us the strength to endure through the end! We ended week 8 at Wes's church retreat at Camp Clearwaters in Wisconsin. We were able to help get things set up and ready to go before everyone arrived on Friday and got to participate in the activities Friday evening and all day Saturday. While at the retreat we sang a couple songs and really got to get to know some of Wes's church family! It was great! I also learned two things while I was there. (1) Don't leave your stuff (i.e. phone, wallet, gum, etc.) on a game table and forget about it when you go to play ultimate Frisbee. And (2) You can't trust Wesley's mom…When she realized that it was my stuff, she took them and hid them in her purse while I began asking people if they had seen it. So, after an hour of Mr. Andrews looking for my stuff, she then revealed that she had had it the entire time! Anyways, I now know why Wesley is the way he is! It was a lot of fun getting to know Wes's family a little while we had the chance.

On a more serious note, it was really great to just set aside our weekend for refreshment in God's Word. On Friday night, I had the opportunity to go with Wes and his youth group on a midnight walk. We all walked to a place where there was plenty of room to sit down; once we sat down, we just talked about what we've been learning in our devotions and how their recent mission trip had gone. It was an amazing night with the stars shining bright and so many of them too! I was just sitting there looking at the stars, and it really reminded me of how small and insignificant I really am in comparison to God's creation! And these are just the stars in the Milky Way Galaxy! Let alone the rest of them! And God, Who created all of that, loves me enough to send His only Son to pay the penalty of my sins! He, Who breathed that into existence and holds it all in His hands, holds ME in His hands and loves me more than I can even imagine! Oh! It was amazing! After testimonies and challenges, we sang songs together, and it was just a great experience!

This last week, we were at Bass Lake Camp in Winnebago, MN. So, coming off of weekend of little rest, we were a little bit concerned about whether we could make it through the week. But, God works in mysterious ways! The Senior High camp had about 45 campers of which only about 15 were boys; so, each of us were with a counselor which made the guy camper to counselor ratio about 4:2! That was a huge blessing! On top of that, the first night, the schedule was 10:15 lights out, so we got to go to bed early as well! It was amazing to see how God always works things out! Camp went well; we were very well-accepted and made several new friends while we were there. Mack lead the singing in all of the services and the rest of us sang about 2 songs in each evening service. Pastor Wiita (and yes, it is two "i's") was the speaker for the week, and he was truly a blessing to the campers as well as to us. His messages were very well fitted for camp progressing Creation on Monday night and Salvation on Tuesday night to The Bema Seat of Christ and living a Christ imitating life beyond camp at the end of the week! It was great to see God work in the lives of the teens throughout the week. There was a time after the morning chapel that was called Team Building Time where all the cabins would meet by themselves and do some kind of activity that required cooperation with each other. It was really neat to watch my cabin grow together throughout the week through these activities. It was to the point where we would just sit and talk with each other by the end of the week which was the goal, so it was really exciting! The mud pit was gross, but I had a good time with it and got all muddy which was the goal!: So, that was our last camp for the year!

On Saturday, we had a little bit of time, so we were able to relax for a couple of hours at Wes's house which, coming off of a week of camp, was very nice! That night, Ryan and I stayed at the same house and were able to help our host work on his gravel driveway; we were trying to level out all the lumps that were in it and make it slant away from the house (all with garden rakes and a couple of other tools). But, while we were doing that, the neighbor across the street came out, and he was a quadriplegic. So, come to find out, he works with the Jani Erickson Tada Wheels for Christ Ministry! He broke his neck in a motorcycle accident years ago, and through that accident, he heard the Gospel and came to know Christ! And now, he is serving Christ and has an amazing testimony for the Lord! While I was talking to him, he told me that a verse that has helped him to be able to continue on is Jeremiah 29:11, "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope" (ESV). It was so encouraging for me to see this man who has no ability to use anything below his neck serving the Lord and encouraging me to keep on serving the Lord! It was amazing! It was definitely something that I needed to hear before our last services to keep me going; it was super encouraging! So, we went to Fourth Baptist Church in the morning and had a good service there. Then, we went to Wes's house and had lunch and went to his church for the evening. We had the entire service, and, for me at least, it was one of the hardest services to do because it was the last one of the summer and, most likely, the team will never be together all at the same time again! Thankfully, I made it through the service and waited until the closing prayer to get my tears in!

I have grown to love all of the guys very much. I started the summer with two brothers, but I am ending the summer with four more! Being the youngest on the team, I have learned to admire and respect these four guys very much! They have been great examples for me to follow and a great encouragement to me throughout the summer. I am so glad that I had the opportunity not only to travel with these guys but also to serve the Lord this summer! I would do it again in a heartbeat! One thing that Ryan always says is that just because we get a piece of paper doesn't mean that we are somehow going to magically serve the Lord; we have to start practicing now and serve Him now, so that when we do graduate, we will be even more fit and ready to serve Him in our churches. I have learned so much this summer! Thank you all for your prayer support this summer!We couldn't have done it without you, especially these last two weeks! This last week, I was reminded of Philippians 4:13 "I can do all things through Him who strengthens me" (ESV). This summer, especially the last two weeks, this held true! He pulled us through sickness, exhaustion, and crabbiness! And He used us! It was an awesome way to spend my summer and the other guys would say the same! Thank you again for your faithful prayers! Tomorrow (Monday, July 26, 2010) we are heading all the way to Atlanta where I will be dropped off; it's about a 15 hour drive from where we are right now. And Tuesday, Ryan, Mack, and the Champions will head the rest of the way back down to Florida, so it is going to be a long drive. Wes is already home, and Matt flies home on Tuesday from Minneapolis. God bless you all! Have a great rest of the summer!

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Week 7 - "Camp" [July 3 - July 10]

Camp was amazing this week. On Saturday, we drove up to Camp Eden where we would stay before the services on Sunday at Beth Eden Baptist. We then took our enjoyment with the camp staff at the Rockies vs Giants game Saturday night. We were able to get to know some of the staff pretty well before camp started which was very nice! Unfortunately, the Rockies lost the game due to one bad inning. But enough about the game; you want to know about Camp Eden.

At 8800 ft, the temperature never rose above 80 degrees which was a blessing. Ryan had a hard time adjusting to the altitude which weakened his immune system, so, unfortunately, he has been sick all week. Wes, Matt, and I all served as Co-counselors in different cabins. Mack helped the program staff with the camp activities, song service organization, and whatever else the program staff asked him to do this week, so he was very busy. Evangelist Mark Herbster was the preacher for the week, and he brought many challenging messages to not only the teens but also to all the staff (including us). In the mornings, he preached out of James which is so rich in Biblical wisdom, and in the evenings, he preached about the Christian life (from the Gospel to how to live the Christian life). He was a solid Bible preacher who brought the Bible into focus all week.

There were several campers that made decisions this week! Many were saved and several were convicted in other areas of their lives. Again, just like the previous camp, it was amazing to see God work in the lives of these teens, and it was a privilege to be used by God to further His purpose. It was great to be a Co-Counselor with Senior High guys and to be able to challenge them to live fully for God and to get to know them throughout the week. It was great to be in the same cabin as my cousin and to get to influence him throughout this week as well.

We were able to participate with the teens in many activities throughout the week. We got to go white water rafting and hiking with them as well as all of the other activities that were on the camp facilities. It was quite fun to be with them and to interact with them as well as the staff. The camp staff was absolutely amazing. They ran the camp very smoothly and efficiently. The camp director, Pastor Jason, told us that this was the perfect week for us to be there because they had about 100 campers registered in which around 70 were boys! It is truly amazing to see how God works things out according to His plan. Overall, camp was an amazing time for us in which we were challenged to grow closer to God. Hopefully, we were able to influence at least one person to devote their life more fully to God.

Please continue to pray for us. Ryan is still sick, and I am trying to fight something off as well. The whole team is tired. Just pray that we would have the energy that we will need to keep on going these last two weeks! Also, we have to start our long drive to Minnesota on Monday, so please pray for safety as we travel. Thanks again for all the prayers throughout the summer!

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Week 6 - "Beauty" [June 27 - July 2]

Well, last time we had just begun our tour of Colorado, and now, we're almost done! These last two weeks have been absolutely amazing and crazy. The reason it has been two weeks is because my computer crashed on me right after the last blog was finished; I thought it was repaired, but it decided to crash again after a day of working. So, for the rest of the summer, Ryan's computer will be used instead.

Last week went very well. We started in Denver on Sunday and had Monday off. While the rest of the guys travelled to Dillon on Monday, I visited with my Uncle and his family and stayed the night with them! It was very nice to be able to see them. On Tuesday, we drove a beautiful drive to the opposite side of the state to Grand Junction in which I took well over 100 pictures of nothing but the beauty of God's creation. Being in Colorado and having the Rockies to continually admire has reminded me of Psalm 121:1-2 which says, "I lift up my eyes unto the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth" (ESV). What an encouragement to know that the God who made these incredible, majestic mountains is the God that will help me in my time of need, loves me despite my sinful nature, and wants to fellowship with me! Wes mentioned earlier last week how "with the faith of a mustard seed, we could tell these mountains to move and they would!" It's so amazing to think that with just the tiniest bit of faith we could move a mountain, yet we lack that small amount of faith. After seeing the beauty of the Rockies, it amazes me that people can deny that there is a God!

After Grand Junction, we returned to Denver on Wednesday, but not before we drove across to Utah just to say that we went there! :) On the way back to Denver we had a major traffic delay, but we made the best of it by entertaining ourselves with sunflower seeds and construction cones. The rest of the week went smoothly and according to plan. But, that was just last week. Week 7 was also amazing!

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Weeks 5 - "Revival" [June 18-26]

Hello from beautiful Colorado! Last week was our first camp of the summer, and I know that I had a blast getting to know the campers. I have never been to any kind of camp before so this was a whole new experience for me, and BOY! Was I ever thrown right into it! I found out that I was going to be a counselor with Wes and that we were each going to be team captains and game leaders! So, my first experience at camp ever was one in which I was thrown right into the middle of everything! It was a hot, HOT week with temperatures in the high 90s all week long with no AC outside of chapel and the dining area. Sweat a little?? Definitely! But it was so worth it!

We started the week by dropping Mr. Dupee off at the airport on Sunday night and got going with camp the next day. Camp Challenge is a camp that is run by about six pastors who bring kids from their churches to the camp for a week just outside of Arkansas City, Kansas. This year there were a little over a hundred campers ranging from 8 to 19 years old. The speaker that came was Pastor Mark Kittrell (I'm not sure how to spell his name, so I hope I got it right!), and I'm telling you, his messages were absolutely amazing and challenging! I found myself getting convicted in many of his messages! It was really a blessing to listen to him speak. He started the week by preaching from Ecclesiastes 12 and challenging us to remember God in our youth because that is when we are at our prime in life. He then progressed into the Salvation message by Wednesday and into committing your all to God using "if the Lord wills" from James as your life phrase by Friday night. There were several decisions made at this camp this last week. Many people came to know Christ! Praise God! And many more submitted their lives and their wills to God! It was awesome to be a part of such an incredible work of God and see how He moves when all distractions are removed for a whole week and all focus is on God!

We left Kansas on Saturday and are now in Colorado where we have already had the opportunity to have services in two great churches in the Denver area! The weather is definitely to be envied for all you on the East coast who are experiencing the heat and extreme humidity! It may be hot in the daytime, but there is very little humidity, and it cools down to amazing temperatures at night! I am really loving it out here!

At camp, God really worked on my heart about really serving Him. It's easy to get into a routine sometimes in our Christian walk: we read our Bible, go to church Sunday morning and evening and Wednesday, sing in choir, sing hymns and often don't really think about the words that we are saying, etc. We have our lives all planned out, but we somehow forget to put God, our Creator, Ruler, Our GOD, into those plans! This was the basic idea of the last challenge of camp. Our lives are but a vapor! We're here one minute and gone the next! Why do we have this idea that we can serve God-later? We shouldn't wait! We should start serving Him now! Pastor Kittrell said this earlier in the week, "I have never heard anyone on their deathbed tell me 'I started serving God too young.'" But, we have this tendency to get caught up in our plans and put off our service to God! It's no wonder Christianity is in the state that it's in right now;  we aren't putting God as the most important priority in our lives! If anything, we should count it a great privilege to be a part of His work! God really just convicted me that I need to be wholly devoted to Him, not partially. So, God not only put me to use at this camp but also grabbed my attention and told me to live for Him always!

Thank you all for your prayers for us throughout the last week! It was evident that God was at work, and we praise Him for that. Please continue to pray for us. We still have many miles to travel. We will be travelling in the Mountains quite a bit these next two weeks, so pray especially for that. We will be at another camp next week, so please start praying that our hearts would be ready for service and that the campers would be ready to hear what God has for them! These camps are great ministry opportunities! Thank you all for your prayers…they don't go unnoticed!

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Week 4 - "Back into the Swing of Things" [June 11-17]

After our two weeks of break at home (which was amazing and definitely needful), we flew into Midway Int'l Airport in Chicago on Friday and drove from there back into Indiana. It is great to be back with the guys again! The first service we had back from break was actually a teen rally called Farm Fest! That was a great ministry in which several decisions were made for the Lord! It was great to be a part of that. While we were there, we had the opportunity to spend some time with one of the teams from Maranatha; it was great getting to know them a little bit before moving on!

We left Indiana on Monday to go to the Child Evangelism Fellowship International Headquarters in Warrenton Missouri which is a little North of St. Louis. We stayed with them Monday and Tuesday. It was really neat to be able to spend time with them on Tuesday, doing chapel for the staff and working with them in some of their specific ministries! Their ministry is largely done through volunteer workers, and it was just great to see the great work that they have there.

Right now we are in Kansas, and we have our first camp next week! I am really looking forward to the opportunity to work with the camp for a week where we can establish relationships with the campers. On our way to Kansas we made a stop at the Arch and went to the top! That was really REALLY awesome! It was amazing to see the beauty of God's creation from the top. It was a great reminder of how great our God is!

A couple days ago, I found out that some of my plans that I have had for quite a while will probably not be able to be accomplished. I was really discouraged, but God, in His sovereignty, allowed me to be reading in Proverbs the next day! Proverbs 16:3 says, "Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established." Wow! When I read that, it just hit me that I don't need to worry about it because God is in control! If I submit my will to Him, HE will establish my plans; my plans will fall into accordance with His plans, and that is all that matters! It was a great encouragement to me in my time of doubt!

Please continue to pray us. We still have many miles to travel and many lives to touch. Pray for the hearts of those we are going to be ministering to. Please pray for our camp next week. Finally, pray for us, that we would keep our focus and have the energy that we need to have as we travel.

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Week Three - "A Time for Rest" [May 23-27]

Well, week three is finished, and we are all home for a break to see the family! Ryan is on the road to recovery from his cold. So, thank you all for praying for him. The week began with a trip up to Michigan. Our travel was smooth, and we had some great chapels and time following chapel with the schools. We were able to play Ultimate Frisbee with all of us on one team for the first time on Wednesday against the school's Senior class! It was great fun.

Coach Bates was able to continue to travel with us the rest of the way which proved to be a great blessing at each service when he preached. He used Isaiah 53 to continue the message of Christ's suffering on the cross that is emphasized in our songs! It was a great reminder for the cause of Christ's death. He read the chapter as it is written; then he did something that I loved! He replaced all the personal pronouns throughout the chapter with first-person singular pronouns "I," "my," and so on! It really brought attention to the fact that it was for me that Christ suffered and that God the Father sacrificed His ONLY Son! He, as a father, was able to honestly say that he wouldn't be able to see his sons or grandchildren beaten, tortured, and murdered to save anybody's life in the room! It was an awesome illustration! It reminded me of my little brother; I'm 12 years older than he is, and even though I'm not his father, I could never bear to see him hurt or killed for someone else's wrongdoing! It was refreshing to be reminded in song and through the Bible of the HUGE sacrifice that both God the Father and Jesus Christ made on that day!

We are on break for about two weeks, so this will be a time of rest and visiting with our families! We were all looking forward to this, and we are all looking forward to the next six weeks to come after the break! Please continue to pray for us. This time is vital for us to be rested for the rest of tour. Pray that God will keep us all healthy for the rest of the summer. And finally, remember that our salvation, though it may be free for us, was extremely costly for God!

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Week Two - "Spiritual Growth" [May 16-22]

This last week was spent in Indiana. Once again, we have had the opportunity to stay with several wonderful people who have opened their homes to us. On Tuesday, Coach Bates joined us as our sponsor for the rest of our three week part of tour. He has been a great help to the team with his observations and suggestions. He has also proven to be an asset on the field for our favorite team game of Ultimate Frisbee! We had a much needed break on Friday and much of Saturday. We took the time to relax, rest up, and, of course, we got a game of Ultimate Frisbee in last night.

We changed time zones about four times this week! Talk about making things confusing for scheduling when to wake up! We survived and are back in the Eastern Time Zone for all of next week until we come home for a short break. We will be in Indiana for most of the week; however, we will be in Michigan for a couple days as well!

God has really been working for us. His hand of protection is evident in our travels so far. I know that for me, He has made the Gospel so much more real. We have two skits that lead into two of our songs. One of them is about a Bridge, and it talks about the great sacrifice that God made when He sent Jesus to die for us. We then sing "The Weight of the Cross" which points our focus to how the weight that Jesus bore was the weight of our sins, not the weight of the tree that He had to carry. The next piece is "How Deep the Father's Love for Us" which is preceded by a reading from Isaiah 53 and Psalm 22. Again, it places great emphasis on the fact that I was one of the one's scoffing at Him while He hung on the cross and that it was MY sins that placed Him there. It has been a week of much growth and reflection for me!

Please continue to pray for us. We still have many miles to travel. Ryan and Mack have been fighting a sore throat and some head congestion, so pray for their health. We appreciate your many prayers!

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Week 1 - "Planting and Harvesting" [May 9-14]

Well, after one week of travel, we have covered about 1500-1800 miles of road and the terrain of the great Midwest state of Illinois! We are definitely tired, but it has been well worth the time, travel, and energy that has been expended.

We had to stop by a Wal-Mart to buy some fuses to allow our beloved GPS "Holly II" to be plugged in while we travel. We have had the opportunity to stay with several amazing, generous people ranging from Hixson, Tennesee to Pana, Illinois.

This is my [Jared's] first year of travel, and I know that I am super excited about the opportunity to be out with this group of great guys! After this first week, I can already tell that we are going to have an awesome summer! One of the goals for our team is to grow to be more like Christ. We are given a list of Christ-like characteristics in 2 Peter 1:5-8. Peter then goes on to say in verse 8, "For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ" (ESV)! So, by being Christ-like, we cannot be unfruitful! I think that's awesome!

Being in the Midwest, we have ample opportunity to see many, MANY cornfields. But right now, the cornfields are just freshly plowed and beginning to grow. The corn is not ready for harvest yet, but we will be able to observe the progress of these fields. This has reminded me of what we are doing this summer. We are going out "into the fields" to sow the seed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ! In some cases, we may be watering; but in others, we will hopefully have the opportunity to harvest! Please pray for us as we travel this summer! We will be covering several thousand miles, and we enjoy playing very active, physical sports such as ultimate Frisbee. So, please pray for travel safety and protection from injury as we go on our way this summer!