Gatlinburg Day 3

What a day!  Our last full day in Gatlinburg has been one that we'll never forget.

We started off our day in Cade's Cove, taking a hay ride around the wilderness loop.  On our 2-hour trek across the cove, we saw five bears, two deer, and several turkey!!  Interesting to say the least, especially when three of the bears climbed the tree right above the trailer!!

More importantly than that though, we spent quality time in the Word talking about and learning about Heaven.  1 Peter 1:3-9 talks about our spiritual inheritance as believers... our salvation, Christ, that will be revealed in the last days.  We learned that the hope of Christ is what should drive us every day, in our decisions, in our actions, and in our avoidance of sin.  Lots of good questions were asked and a good discussion was had.  We ended with a challenge from Ephesians 4-5 that encouraged us to take every opportunity we have to live and share the gospel, so that this Heaven we discussed can be a reality for more and more people.

A special thanks goes out to Tyler Johnson, who spent his whole trip helping with anything at all that needed to be done.  Tyler, I don't know what we'd do without you!  (I have to type this, he's sitting next to me right now :) ).

We head back in the morning!  Please pray for us as we return home and get ready to put into practice what we've learned this weekend!

Gatlinburg Day 2

http://youtu.be/gHeRwEFMI5o

Here's the link to the youtube video of our scavenger hunt in downtown Gatlinburg today.  We had a blast and got lots of great pictures, so check it out!

We also had a great day in the Word today.  This morning, we fnished up on 1 Peter 1:2, talking about the issue of predestination and free will.  It was heady, but the students handled the information really well and had great discussion about this age-old topic.

Tonight, we went through several Scriptures related to topics that students had questions about.  It was a great Bible study and everyone contributed really well to our discussion.

Stay tuned to the blog for more updates on our last full day in the mountains!!

Gatlinburg night #1

Well, the first night of Gatlinburg is officially over.  The kids are sound asleep in their beds (yeah right!) and everyone is quietly mulling over everything that has happened today! 

We had a safe day of travel, without incident (thank the Lord!) and got into Gatlinburg around 6:30.  After a hearty dinner at the Applebarn (can anyone say apple fritters???  Mmmmmmm) we got to the cabin and began to settle in for the weekend.  I trust that it is going to be a very eventful weekend, with our group growing closer to each other and, even more importantly, closer to the Lord.

Tonight, we spent time in 1 Peter and began a journey of examining the book verse by verse.  We learned the background of the book and the situation that the Christians were in when Paul wrote to encourage and instruct them.  Please pray along with me that the Lord will use our time in His word this weekend to help us gain a clearer picture of Him and to help us grow closer to Him!

Stay tuned for more updates very soon!

HS Gatlinburg 2011

Make sure to be on the look out for updates about Gatlinburg 2011!

At the beginning of our last full day at Student Life Camp, the Lord is active and moving in our midst.  We had a very powerful time of healing and restoration in our church group time last night, the effects of which our ministry will feel for a very long time.  Actually, each night of church group time has been particularly productive during this week of camp.  On Sunday night, Audra Swofford, director of the mission portion of camp, came and spoke to our group about what it means to be called to international missions.  Several in our group have said that they are being called into this field, so Audra's words were well-timed and hit close to home.  I am confident that our group will be effective at spreading the gospel to the nations, both now and later.

Today is also our last day to go work at Greenview Terrace, and it should be a doozy!!  Each day the kids at the site have tried to take the water we've given them to drink and have a bonified, no-holds-barred water war, and today we are going to encourage that ambition.  With a slip and slide, shaving cream joust, and all out water bombings, it's sure to be fun!!  We will also be talking about dawn and pepper, and using them to show that sin has power over our lives, but Christ has power over that sin.  Please pray that the gospel will dig deep into the hearts of the kids there and that the Lord will draw them to salvation even today.

And please pray for our group.  We are exhausted and worn, but we are excited about what's happening too!  We are also wary and on the lookout, rumors are that there is a scary clown with a front ponytail that has been wandering around our mission site and following us back to campus.  Hopefully, the local authorities will be searching out this frightening figure and will apprehend him very soon.  And on an equally shocking note, I would like it stated here that Carrie Ball woke up at 5:45 this morning (4:45 our time) to go for a morning jog.  I know, most of us are still are still in shock too.  Pray that we will be able to recover :)

Until this afternoon....

We're headed back from our second day working at Greenwood Terrace and we are worn out, exhausted, drained, and so thankful for how the Lord is using us up to perpetuate the gospel. So far, our group of 37 has worked with around 40 kids, almost all of whom come from breaking or broken homes. It's so obvious from the way these kids respond to us that they are in desperate need of the love and simple acceptance that can only permanently come from being in God's family. We pray that the time we spend with these kids can help take part in the promises of Romans 5... That each of us could be adopted into the King's family, never to be fatherless or motherless again.

There are a couple of people in particular that I'd like to brag on. Analeigh Barnes has made a connection with several of the kids, but there is one in particular that seems to have latched on to her. Every day that we get ready to leave he gets tears in his eyes and asks her to stay just a little longer. The Lord is showing himself to this child and we need to pray for him. Other examples like this abound and I can say how proud I am of our students and leaders as they minister and bring about change in the lives of these children.

Back at camp, things are going exceptionally well too, as the Spirit continues to heal, convict, and move. Please pray that He will continue to move as He sees fit.

First day of camp is almost over and it has been a day!! The Lord is moving in big ways in our group like we expected Him to (and in ways we didn't expect too!)

Due to lack of Internet, this post will be short, but look for pictures and videos on Facebook and a longer post first thing in the morning!

Until then, may we all continue to conform to Christ...

Saturday's a comin'!

Student Life is in two days!! I hope everyone's gotten their stuff together and is beginning the long, arduous packing process!!

Just a reminder for everyone going to camp that we will be leaving at 6:00 am on Saturday morning. I know it's early, but we're anxious to get on the road to camp!!

Can't wait to see you then!

Jesus Will Meet You There

As I was making final preparations for our time at camp this morning, Steven Curtis Chapman's song "Jesus Will Meet You There" came on my Pandora. As I listened to the song's beautiful and simple message, I had to stop what I was doing and go to the Lord in prayer and ask for His forgiveness that I have been worrying so much about what I needed to do to make this trip a success. So often, I get caught up in what I am doing and the ideas I can come up with and the people that I can affect for the gospel, and I too often overlook this simple truth- that people are not drawn to the Father through ME, they are drawn to the Father through Christ, and I need only be obedient to lift Him up and make Him famous, and the results of that can be left up to God.

So, as the week continues and our camp departure draws ever-nearer, I would ask that you would join along in praying with me. Pray for all of the students and leaders who are attending camp next week. Pray for the leadership of the camp as well as the speaker, Chris Brooks, and the worship leader, David Walker. But most of all, pray that in spite of all our plans and programs and events, that more than anything else Christ will be lifted high during our time together and that He will draw us to Himself. May our worship and our time in His word be life-changing, for us and others as well.

Almost time for Student Life!

We are gearing up to go to the Student Life Mission Camp at Covenant College in Lookout Mountain, Georgia. It is going to be an incredible week that I believe the Lord will use to help bring us closer to Him, bring us closer to each other, and bring us closer to people who need His salvation.

Please be in prayer for all of those attending camp this year and all of the leaders who are going to help lead small groups and disciple our teenagers. Also be in prayer for the children of Greenwood Terrace who we will be working with throughout the week.

Some websites you may find useful...

Student Life- www.studentlife.com
Covenant College- www.covenant.edu
Wildwater Rafting- www.wildwaterrafting.com
Coker Creek Village (where we'll stay before we raft)- www.cokercreekvillage.com


See you soon!

Thanks

 

Thanks to everybody who helped to make the Gatlinburg trip the best ever!!  I can't wait until next year!

Incredible!!

We had an incredible night tonight!! But to take it all in, we must start at the beginning... This morning, our Bible study was about the rich, young ruler and how it seemed that he had everything he needed to be in God's good graces... And in the world's eyes he did! He was rich, influential, knew Scripture, went to church, and even sought out Jesus. He did everything he thought he was supposed to do, but when it all came down to it, he didn't have the only thing he really needed- and that was Jesus. Our main point was that without Jesus, nothing else makes sense. Jesus is the key that makes God accessible to us.

We then continued our day with a conference in the morning and go-karts in the afternoon (can anyone say whiplash?!) and then we got to tonight.

Tonight, we had a concert with Kari Jobe, needtobreathe, and Casting Crowns with Scott Dawson sharing the gospel. The Spirit moved in hearts across the room, including our own kids!! Tonight, we had five of our kids give their lives to Christ and one repent for sin he had been living in.

Praise the Lord that He answered out prayers and moved in our kids' hearts!!

Great ending to day 2

It's been a long but incredibly productive day. We spent this morning talking about Elijah and Samuel and how God used to speak to people like them out loud, but how He now speaks to us through His Word, the Bible. This is why it's so important to read and study and memorize the Bible, because it is God's words to us.

Then, we went to Gatlinburg on the annual scavenger hunt, where fun (and some shrimp) was had by all.

Finally, we went to the first Strength to Stand conference, where Kristian Stanfill led worship and Ergun Caner delivered a powerful message out of Mark 2- about the importance of Jesus being the center of our worship and the importance of us bringing others to His feet.

Everyone is having a blast here, especially Jalen Cates who has been rumored to have been taking in the mountain scenery by moonlight. Logan Criswell is also having a great time and meeting lots of new, scarily helpful, friends!!

Please continue to pray along with us and ask the Lord to move in the hearts of the kids and leaders who are here with us. See you tomorrow!

I know my sheep. My sheep know me.

We finally made it!! After a long (and sometimes stinky) van ride, all 34 retreaters are warm and happy in our cozy mountain home. The scenery is beautiful here. Think: Lucy first going through the wardrobe and seeing a snow-covered Narnia for the first time; then, add in lots of cabins with the word "bear" in their name, and you'll have a pretty accurate picture of our majestic mountain setting.

Being the honest, hard workers that we are, we jumped straight into our first Bible study tonight (after the obligatory squealing and room dibs ceremony of course!). For our first session, we discussed the difficulty of hearing God's voice amidst all of the noise around us, but that even though that may be the case, Jesus says in John 10:14 (our key verse for the weekend) that His sheep know Him. And earlier in the passage, He says that His sheep know His voice and listen to Him. The question, however, is, "How do we do that? How can we hear and know God's voice?". That's the question we hope to answer this weekend.

Here are some specific things to pray for:

That we would continue to all get along in tight quarters and that no little squabbling would come up along the way.

That we would be able to focus on our small group time together, even though we have so many others things going on that could steal our attention away.

That the kids would take it to heart that the "Key" to understanding what God is saying to us is Jesus. Without the Key, God's message to us will be undecipherable. With the key though, God will speak truth into our lives that we never dreamed.


Thank you for checking in on us and for praying along with us that the Lord would work and move in the hearts of our kids this weekend. We know that if it's going to happen, He'll be the one who has to do it.

Stay tuned! More to come tomorrow!

Getting ready for the mountains

All of this winter weather has made me feel like I am already in the mountains!  What in the world is going on?

Our trip is almost here and with each day that passes I am getting more and more excited about what the Lord is going to do within our group.

Please join in with me this week by praying that all of the kids and leaders who go on the trip will hear from the Lord while we are there.  That is our topic of study-- what it means to hear from the Lord and how we can know His voice amidst all of the noise around us.  Our key passage is John 10:1-21.

Here's hoping that our time with the kids this weekend is much more successful than the Oregon offensive line!

The HUB

Welcome to the Chapel Hill Student Ministry blog!  This is your central location to find out information about our trips and events while we are on them!

The next event coming up: Gatlingburg 2011!!  Make sure to check out the blog while we are in the mountains to see pictures and updates from our time at Strength to Stand!