August Beats by Mark
JUNIOR HIGH MISSION WEEK
One of the things that the Lord has been impressing on me constantly this summer is what an incredible privilege it is to work with your students. They have amazed me constantly as they serve, lead, and love those around them in such beautiful ways. This past July was no different. Our junior high students served the families of the Pleasant Ridge Mobile Home Park by leading a daily Bible club. Each day our students would lead kids through a Bible lesson, crafts, and fun games (all pictured above). Almost equally impressive is that they did this through very hot, wet, messy days. I am so proud of them!!
In a world where we hear so many stories of students making bad decisions, going down bad paths, and hurting themselves or others, it is so encouraging and life-bringing to serve alongside our students. They display incredible patience, love, and leadership. They are able to share and teach about the Gospel through both lessons and conversations. I’m eager to see how the Lord will continue the relationships built at Pleasant Ridge.
CAMP
The theme for Camp this year was Proclaim. Our camp pastor, Rob Turner, boldly challenged the students in their understanding of the Gospel and whether the Gospel was affecting how they live their lives, how they use their words, or how they serve.
God used Rob and this camp theme to really convict some of our students about how they’ve used their words and many of them walked through repentance, forgiveness, and reconciliation with one another. This in turn led to an authentically beautiful time of confession and students sharing their stories. It is hard to describe in words how truly stunning it is to watch the Spirit lead out students into such deep community. In these moments I think we see actual love. So often we experience and see shallow and surface level love in this world. But in moments like this one, we see love as it should be.
God showed His power, His beauty, and His grace in unbelievable ways this year. 10 students came to know Him throughout the week, and I’m eager to see how God is going to continue to work in and through these students as we head into this fall.