Atlantic E-Free: Day 4

Dear friends,

God's still moving here in the twin cities, both in the people around us, the work we're doing in his name, and our own hearts. 

After our talk last night, we opted to skip the morning session and instead spend our time experiencing the city. We walked around the business district, watching the people who passed us, noticing how they're different from the people we're used to--and how they're the same. Then we headed for a coffee shop for lattes and smoothies and got to see and talk to some really cool people. 

Experiencing the city and its people really put us in a good frame of mind for later in the day. Everyone on the team worked super hard that afternoon, prayer walking helping in the kitchen, cleaning the church, scraping paint, and taking a trip to the Memory Home to bless the residents with songs and testimonies. 

Then the sports camp at night was our smoothest night yet, and all the kids had a blast. 

The kids God had given us an opportunity to work with have been a huge blessing this entire week. From Shahn, nine year old who bikes over from  his house every day during the work periods to hang out with us, to the little Somali girl Tiffany talked to at a bus stop while waiting for the rest of the group to catch up, they've been friendly and open and so much fun to be around. Tomorrow is the first time we'll present the gospel from start to finish, and I'm praying that we'll get to see some of those who've become so dear to us become part of God's kingdom. 

Another thing that's been great about this week is getting to see our youth group function as a team. Everyone uses their gifts to help the bigger cause of furthering God's name. And today, when we didn't have the snacks ready on time, everyone immediately pitched in to keep the kids entertained and get the food to them. It's really cool to see God using us in that way. 

Tomorrow is going to be a big day for us and the VBS. I can't wait to see what God's going to do.

Signing off,

Hannah McLean and the Atlantic E-Free Youth Group. 

(P. S. Refer back to my earlier posts to see some of what God's been doing!)

Homewood: Wednesday Checkin In

Wednesday is just about in the books and it was a HOT one! Despite the heat good things happened. The ESL Camp had the highest number of kids they had all week, praise God and the North Community Team did some killer weeding.

Most impacting for us though was our morning session in which we witnessed a play designed to challenge our thinking about homelessness. I think often times when we hear the word "homeless" the cliche stereotype comes to mind of an older bearded man wearing a beat up coat holding a bottle of alcohol. The short summary of this mornings play was this; the stereotype just isn't true. 

If we're honest we all know that the stereotype just isn't true, but we still find ourselves drifting back to that stereotype, and unfortunately let our thoughts and actions flow from that. One simple fact that I'd like to share with you to help completely break that stereotype is this "in Minneapolis there are more kids who are homeless than adults." Read that again, and let it sink in for a moment. Kids. 

Something else that blew my mind is that in Minneapolis they have more than enough food to feed the homeless, they actually have so much that they end up having to give the surplus to farms in the area to feed livestock. 

Naturally though when people think of a homeless ministry what do they think? Well it usually involves feeding them, and for Minneapolis, more food won't help solve the problem. 

So what will help you ask? Answering that question was what was so challenging about this morning, we can't assume we know what will help. We need to get our feet on the pavement and figure it out by getting in the trenches, so to speak. 

I think there's a truth that rings deep in what we learned this morning that extends to all ministry.

1 - Recognize the need (don't assume the need)
2 - Meet the need (feed the hungry, clothe the naked, house the homeless and don't mix it up)
3 - Share the gospel

Anything less falls short of the work of Christ.

James 2:15-16 If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that?

Atlantic E-Free: Day 3

Hello again from the Atlantic E-Free Church! 

Today was much smoother and much more organized than yesterday. After the rally and lunch, we headed for the site and got right to work. One group when prayer walking and handing out flyers, and, as a result of that, our numbers that night jumped from 25 to 32. The construction group split into three groups, one scraping paint off the side of the church, one group priming the entire old shed, and a third continuing the building of the new shed. And two girls helped in the kitchen, cooking us a delicious supper. 

The sports camp is also going well. All the kids that came seemed to have a fantastic time, playing sports and watching a drama and hearing the story of Noah. 

It's been hard for all of us to not see immediate results--to have doors literally slammed in our faces while handing out flyers, to have kids not pay attention during the bible stories, to not be able to see how anything we're doing is furthering the kingdom of God at all. But through our hour and a half long discussion tonight, we talked about how God works in ways we can't often see, but that doesn't mean he's not working. We exposed, analyzed, and resolved the mindset problems that many of us had, the expectations that were different from the reality of what God wants to do with here. We're also working on solidifying our relationship as a group, from twelve people putting on a sports camp and doing some work projects to a team of brothers and sisters spreading God's love. 

God's still working here in Minneapolis, and I'm excited to see what he's going to do the rest of this week. 

Signing off, 

Hannah McLean and the Atlantic E-Free Youth Group

Cheerleading

Basketball

Soccer

Reid with Preston and Alex on his back. 

Scar Force Ep. II: A Servant's Heart -- East E Free, Wichita

Hi this is Kevin from East Evangelical Free Church located in Wichita, Kansas.  We are working at Cross Cultural Church this week and have had a blast these past two days!  Now that the vbs week has begun, we have been working tirelessly to train our new, young cadets to become J-Di (Jesus Disciple) cadets at the Scar Force J-Di Academy.  We have been blessed to welcome a great number of new attendees to the Academy.  Today, we learned about God's plan and guidance for the Hebrews in escaping from slavery in Egypt to finally reaching the promised land, while the kids enjoyed the light sabers that they made in crafts yesterday and spent some energy in games, music and snacks.  To finish the evening we witnessed JJ get blasted with silly string following a red team victory and were encouraged to see two girls ask for Bibles and leave very excited to be able to take one home.  Praying for a great and powerful rest of the week!

EEFC

Whoa!  God busted down barriers today for Southern Hills, Faith and Atlantic in our sports camp and neighborhood prayer walk.  So many shout outs for the team members who came through in unexpected and godly ways.  More attendees at the camp, work projects galore (even in the HOT sun), fellowship and relationships with neighborhood folks.  Plus, we gained a new heart for immigrants and minority populations that no one else cares about.  Lord, grant us a new heart to take back with us!  And, of course, photos of the day.

Bible stories--Noah and the Flood

Shout outs!  with rewards!

Brevin from Fargo

This is Brevin Such from Bethel Church in Fargo, North Dakota. Our group is serving at New Salem Church. Yesterday morning we had a rally at Hope Community Church near our dorms. After lunch we also went to our site at New Salem and handed out flyers for our block party we had last night. It was also a prayer walk. We had a good group of people show up for the party. Us BUMPers helped run some of the stations such as snow cones and cotton candy. We also had inflatables that a few people helped out in and guided some of the kids. There were some hot dogs, chips, and watermelon for supper. Ice cream was also served later. Some of us talked with some of the people about God. We will be hosting a soccer camp for some of the people around the Minneapolis area. I have met a few people since we arrived here. I also had a great talk with one of the BUMPers from Sioux Falls. There is a way that you could pray for the community of New Salem. The church would like more regular attenders. Also, if you would like, could you pray that I will have the courage to share the Gospel with kids at the soccer camp and that they will accept it. Another thing is that I will grow in my relationship with God.

Atlantic E-Free: Day 2

Hello again from the Atlantic E-Free Church!
Today was our first day of sports camp. We had about 25 kids show up and play basketball and soccer and learn cheer leading with us. We had a short drama, a parody of Star Wars called "Scar Force," and told the story of Adam and Eve, then finished off the night by teaching them how to dance the Interlude.
Tiffany and Reid bonded with the kids while shooting hoops, Cassie and Lydia taught some of the girls how to cheer for Jesus, Josiah kicked a soccer ball around with some more of the kids, and Matt,
Preston, and I played the "J-Di" (Jesus DIsciples) warriors in the drama.
Earlier in the day, we'd split off into groups, one group helping around the church, building a shed and assembling soccer goals and basketball hoops, and one group walking around the neighborhood and handing out flyers. With God's grace, both groups made progress with their projects despite sweltering heat, issues with building the shed, dehydration, and our own fatigue. The shed is started, the sports equipment was ready on time, and at least one family was brought to the camp by the flyers we'd handed out earlier. And the sports camp went relatively smoothly, despite our lack of preparation.
As we drove back to the campus after cleaning up from the camp, we were listening to a song called "Signed Up To Die," by Thi'sl, about how as Christians, we don't need to fear death. And that song got me thinking, because if we don't need to be afraid to die, than why am I so afraid of us not being prepared enough for sports camp? Why am I so afraid of not being there on time, of ending a few minutes early, of not having enough snacks, of everything not going exactly right? God has it all in his hands, and all we have to do is be there and love the kids that God has brought to us. He can use us, even with our lack of preparation. If we don't have to fear death, we certainly don't have to fear imperfection or confusion.
I'll keep you updated with what God continues to do with us here in Robbinsdale. Until next time, as we say in the Scar Force Academy, may the Lord be with you!

Signing off,

Hannah McLean and the Atlantic E-Free Youth Group

The morning rally

Team pep talk

"Canvassing" the neighborhood (handing out flyers)

Praying before camp starts

Singing with the kids

Cheerleading

Basketball

Soccer