New BUMP ministry partners!

This year marks the 20th BUMP in the Twin Cities! Broadening the focus, BUMP Twin Cities will partner with area ministries World Relief Minnesota and City Vision. Both organizations seek to open people's eyes. World Relief MN focuses on the refugee, while City Vision focuses on "thinking global and acting local," helping people to know Minneapolis and St. Paul.

People are often surprised that the Twin Cities has so much diversity. In an article about why they come by Bob Oehrig, Executive Director, World Relief MN, he writes that this is an "unprecedented movement of people." It is exciting to consider this year's BUMPers will be challenged to "open your hearts to what God wants to teach you and what God can teach His Church, through those who have traveled a hard road to call themselves our friends, neighbors and joint heirs of God’s blessings."

God is always doing new things! His heart of compassion and justice drive Him. Pray it drives this 20th BUMP as well!

A New Week of Prayer!

BUMP Twin Cities is the largest of the 2012 BUMPs with more than 100 participants serving at six locations in Minneapolis and St. Paul. This week, join us in praying for each of these churches, their leaders who tirelessly serve their urban communities and their site leaders who invest many hours of themselves into their incoming teams!

Visit the BUMP website to learn more about their work in the Twin Cities area!

"Seek the shalom of the city..."

"Prayer for the cities is missionary activity. "Seek the shalom of the city," Jeremiah told God's people in Babylon, "and pray for it!" (Jer 29:7) Neither Satan nor city problems can withstand the effects of prayer... Prayer is missionary action." from Roger S. Greenway's "The Challenge of the Cities"

Prayers this week for BUMP focus on the six cities BUMP serves, and today is the day to cover the Twin Cities. Mike Wilkerson in Redemption describes shalom as "the universal peace, harmony and wholeness of God's original design of humankind and the whole earth." He also reminds us that in the end, "God will wipe away every last trace of sin's vandalism and re-create shalom... Wherever we find chaos and sin unmaking God's creation, we find a God who ultimately triumphs over them by making a new creation."

THAT is our prayer for our BUMP cities - that they would become places where God's triumph is evident through the new creations He makes, particularly during BUMP week!

30 Days to Pray for BUMP!

BUMP teams and sites need you to stand with them in prayer as they train and prepare for ministry that begins on July 14th!

Welcome to BUMP Twin Cities 2012!

In just a little over a month, 110 EFCA youth and their leaders will arrive in Minneapolis/St. Paul to energize six local, urban EFCA churches!

Partnering together from July 14 - 22nd will be:

Windom Free Church (Windom, MN) with New Salem EFC (Minneapolis)
North Suburban Church (Deerfield, IL) with Payne Avenue EFC (St. Paul)
Faith EFC (Austin, MN) and Grace Fellowship (Kansas City) with Faith EFC (Robbinsdale)
Southern Hills EFC (Hot Springs, SD) and Westminster Presbyterian (Rapid City, SD)
                                  with Cross Cultural EFC (St. Paul)
Lake Community Church (Alexandria, MN) with Antioch Community Church (Minneapolis)
Hope EFC (Roscoe, IL) with Riverside EFC (Minneapolis)

Welcome!