I have been reading a lot! I mean a whole bunch of reading has gone on in my life....I feel like I have gone back to school. Seriously, the reading list that I have compiled over the past month has about 22 books on it! I now have access to 19 of them, so I need to get a few more and I have completed reading 17 so far! That is not counting the multiple curriculum books I have acquired and researched.
I am becoming more knowledgeable on urban youth ministry and multi-ethnic teaching and all that the church should be leading out in. It has been a wonderful time of discovery and learning. I am getting a clearer picture of how and why City Impact does ministry the way that they do and I'm excited to be apart of it!
Some of my favorites reads-
Beyond Charity by John Perkins
Deep Justice in a Broken World by Clark & Powell
Raising Up Young Heroes by Smith
All of this has confirmed that I am exactly in the position that God has wanted me in. I have had several opportunities to teach/preach to the students at Impact Leadership Academy and I have gotten some great feedback. I also planned and put on one of the biggest ILA events that comes around annually our Black History Month Celebration! With a ton of thanks to Lizzie and Ashley as well as Leadership Team leaders, it was a great night! Black History Celebration went so well, I am working on planning our next big ILA event an Easter/ Holy Week celebration. I have started writing scripts for the students to perform and I am working on an outline for a message, its going to be an awesome night, I am praying God will continue to bless this ministry!
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Monday, February 13, 2012
Why are you here?
Last night was my first official night of running program at ILA. It was a great night and I thank all of the teachers and faithful volunteers who make ILA happen each week.
Some of the highlights of the night included:
*Impromptu game of catchphrase during the hang out time.
*Being "initiated" with a display of my hand / eye coordination.
*Shepherd's Pie!
*GFG Shopping for middle school girls
*Sitting in on High School boys lesson and party time.
I attempted to answer the question "Why are you here?", by giving a message to the students. During that time in introduced myself and gave a bit of my story. As I talked I began to turn the question to pose it to the students. I talked about all of the highlights we saw during our evening together but came to the conclusion that while all of those things are fun, good, and desirable to do....they in and of themselves were not a satisfactory answer to that question, "Why are you here?" The Lord gave me a message that the Gospel was the main reason that we were all there and a challenge to the students to say that they are being equipped to be "salt and light" in their schools and this community. Romans 1:16a "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes..." The gospel calls us to relationship with our maker; then as we seek to become more Christ-like it calls to action. To be a part of God's story, to minister to orphans, widows, and the least of these. God does not need us to minister to them, but rather allows us to be a part of this work. I am grateful that this was our starting point. I look forward to the work that God will do through these students.
Some of the highlights of the night included:
*Impromptu game of catchphrase during the hang out time.
*Being "initiated" with a display of my hand / eye coordination.
*Shepherd's Pie!
*GFG Shopping for middle school girls
*Sitting in on High School boys lesson and party time.
I attempted to answer the question "Why are you here?", by giving a message to the students. During that time in introduced myself and gave a bit of my story. As I talked I began to turn the question to pose it to the students. I talked about all of the highlights we saw during our evening together but came to the conclusion that while all of those things are fun, good, and desirable to do....they in and of themselves were not a satisfactory answer to that question, "Why are you here?" The Lord gave me a message that the Gospel was the main reason that we were all there and a challenge to the students to say that they are being equipped to be "salt and light" in their schools and this community. Romans 1:16a "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes..." The gospel calls us to relationship with our maker; then as we seek to become more Christ-like it calls to action. To be a part of God's story, to minister to orphans, widows, and the least of these. God does not need us to minister to them, but rather allows us to be a part of this work. I am grateful that this was our starting point. I look forward to the work that God will do through these students.
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Settling In
As many of you know and for those who do not.... I have started a new position in ministry. I am happy and excited to say that I am the Teen Ministry Director at City Impact in Lincoln. It has been a long journey of seeking out the Lord and following His direction for me and my family. As I said in my last post it has been a long period of refinement. But I am confident that all of these things have occurred in order to bring Glory and Honor to the name of Jesus.
I am getting settled in... in many ways. Our gears have switched greatly, we are going to be in Lincoln for the foreseeable future, we have gone from church-planting to changing Lincoln by ministering to urban youths, but we are still in the service of the Lord.
As I have gone through this process, I look back and know that God's hand has been all over guiding me to this ministry: the unique connections that God has developed have been fascinating to discover and generally make me think only He could have set this up! All of these were unknown to us until after I started and some came out during the interview process.
Examples you say, here are a few:
* I reached out to a friend I went to Bible school with, he is doing a similar ministry in Omaha, I said we should start a dialogue....he was in my new co-workers wedding.
* My new boss, his sister-in-law and I worked on several dramas at my old church in Omaha.
* He is also related to Caleb's algebra teacher from last year.
* Renee is the care taker and "buddy" of one of my co-worker's son while she is in Bible study at her church.
* My friend Ken was in a life group with another staff member.
* And on, and on, and on.....
I find it amazing that God, in His sovereignty knit together all of these connections. I am looking forward to my new ministry and will be blogging more frequently now that I have things to share with all of you. I have updated all of the other pages on this blog with links to City Impacts webpages, if you would like to get more info about what we are all about, check it out!
I am getting settled in... in many ways. Our gears have switched greatly, we are going to be in Lincoln for the foreseeable future, we have gone from church-planting to changing Lincoln by ministering to urban youths, but we are still in the service of the Lord.
As I have gone through this process, I look back and know that God's hand has been all over guiding me to this ministry: the unique connections that God has developed have been fascinating to discover and generally make me think only He could have set this up! All of these were unknown to us until after I started and some came out during the interview process.
Examples you say, here are a few:
* I reached out to a friend I went to Bible school with, he is doing a similar ministry in Omaha, I said we should start a dialogue....he was in my new co-workers wedding.
* My new boss, his sister-in-law and I worked on several dramas at my old church in Omaha.
* He is also related to Caleb's algebra teacher from last year.
* Renee is the care taker and "buddy" of one of my co-worker's son while she is in Bible study at her church.
* My friend Ken was in a life group with another staff member.
* And on, and on, and on.....
I find it amazing that God, in His sovereignty knit together all of these connections. I am looking forward to my new ministry and will be blogging more frequently now that I have things to share with all of you. I have updated all of the other pages on this blog with links to City Impacts webpages, if you would like to get more info about what we are all about, check it out!
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