Last Day of VBS!

Our final day of VBS on Friday was really great! We had a lot of kids return from other days and even had three new kids still come. Many of the kids and families are excited to join us tomorrow for church service and our carnival afterwards. God did a lot great things this week and really worked in all of our hearts to show us how to love on the kids. It was a great opportunity to get to serve alongside people from Payne Free Church; that's one of the unique things about BUMP, we get to come in and PARTNER with local churches and come in as learners first, then leaders. It has been a blessing and a privilege this week to be at the site and we look forward to hearing what fruit will come from this week!

The Form of a Servant - BUMP 2016 Day 4

There are many reasons that BUMP week is great. As a Youth Pastor, one thing I really love is seeing my students learn the joys of serving in Christ's name (even when it's hard, tiring, and uncomfortable). The type of learning that happens at BUMP goes so much deeper than what even the best bible lesson can give.

This summer we have been studying the book of Philippians. This study has lead us to think about what Philippians 2:3-11 would look like in our lives. Sitting in a circle in my basement, a commandment like Philippians 2:3-4 - "Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others" - feels abstract and strange. But when it's 97 degrees, students have been trying to sleep in dorms that don't have A/C, and some soccer nets need to be carried to the park, those verses suddenly come alive.

Not only that, but the verses following that command take on a deeper meaning as well: "Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross."

When we serve others in hard and humbling ways we get a deeper understanding of how Christ has served us! Our service pales in comparison to Christ's. Our humility is tiny compared to Christ's.

I'm excited to see how the growth my students have gone through this week continues to show itself when we return home. I pray that God will continue to give them the faith that works through love which they've had this week.

Soccer!

Faith Showing Us How Jesus Cleanses Us

Prayer Before Camp

Learning How to Kick

Wednesday.... BUMP 2016- Day 3

Wednesday.

The middle of the week. The half-way point. The pesky hump that always seems to have a little extra stacked against us.

The heat. With a real-feel reaching 97 degrees, we battled the potential for dehydration and exhaustion.

Fatigue. After a few days of late nights and early mornings, we all began to feel the weight of tiredness.

Low numbers. Today we had several kids in the community who were unable to attend, shrinking our group considerably.

All of these things combined for a challenging day that could have ended in disaster....but God.

God helped us maintain positive attitudes and healthy bodies in the midst of the extreme heat. He gave us the energy and encouragement we needed to continue connecting with the kids and leading by example. God showed us how amazing the opportunity to have one-on-one connections with kids could be, and how He always brings the exactly right people to the right place on the exactly right day.

Tonight, we are praising God for another day spent proclaiming Him, with excitement for what He still has in store!

Enjoy these photos of our day to day activities at Faith EFC! Thank you for your prayers!

Basketball!

BUMPers vs Kids Soccer!

Hip Hop with B-Girl Sara Kelly

We start and end the night with some worship songs led by our BUMPers

Small group discussion of the day's Bible story.

B.U.M.P VBS Day 2

Hello, friends and family! So far, BUMP has been going great. Today was our second day of the VBS. Yesterday 22 kids attended and today, 26 kids attended. The children seem to be enjoying the skit and the worship songs. We've been prayer walking every day and telling people about the VBS as much as we can. This morning at the rally, we heard a wonderful story about someone getting to know God and how she interacted with lots of people from different cultures and religions. At the Rally, we worship, work on devotionals, work with other BUMP members and have guests come in and share about what goes on the city. All of us are bonding, making amazing memories, and also doing push ups when we take our seat belts off while the car is not in park. God has been seen working at the site and in out hearts. We're preparing and ready for the hot week ahead with God leading the way.

- Elizabeth L, Lizzy M, Alicia F

Salt in the Shaker - BUMP 2016 Day 2

Salt in the Shaker

“You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet. You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

-Matthew 5:13-16

Jesus warns his disciples about two opposite dangers: Failed salt and failed light. Salt can loose its saltiness and become useless. Light can be hidden and become pointless. As Christians, we can blend in so much with the world that we lose our saltiness, and become useless. So it is important to "keep oneself unstained from the world" (James 1:27). However, we can also remove ourselves so much from 0ur neighbors that our light becomes hidden, and we become pointless. So it is important to seek out the lost with the love of Christ.

Every Christian tends more towards one of these dangers than the others. Some are very happy to spend time with non-Christians but struggle to display allegiance to King Jesus consistently. Others are very focused on staying different from the world but insist on doing this by never coming in contact with people who challenge their faith and morals.

My personal tendency is to focus on becoming the best salt I can possibly be but to stay in the salt shaker. That doesn't feel silly on a day to day basis. However, when I think about it in Jesus' terms, I realize that it is rediculous. Salt is meant to be applied! Christians are meant to be loving and serving their neightbors! BUMP is a time to for myself and the rest of my team to be challenged. We get to pursue the blessings of greater faithfulness to our calling as salt and light.

Tonight we will do this through New Salem Church's Block Party. This is a chance for us to invite the whole neighborhood to New Salem Church , to serve them, get to know them, and show them love. This is a chance for us to let our light shine before others. This will be a goal for the whole week. Shining this light will also give us a chance to be salt. It will give us a chance to proclaim the good news and show off what is different about the church.

I love the way that BUMP embraces both sides of Jesus's command to be salt and light. I pray that our group will be formed into more matures disciples because of this week. We want to be salt and light. Servants of a different King by serving all the people he brings out way.

We're holding morning rallies at Bethlehem Baptist Church's downtown facility.

Correct answer!

 

WATER BALLOONS!

Give Us Your Eyes! - BUMP 2016 Day1

Hello from the Twin Cities and all of us at BUMP 2016!

We kicked off our first full day by worshiping with our partner churches and sharing a meal with the congregations. This provided the opportunity for the BUMP teams from First EFC from Sioux Falls, North Suburban EFC from Illinois, and Northfield EFC from Minnesota to be introduced to the churches and their communities where they will be serving for the week.

We dove right into the communities, passing out fliers, painting signs, and inviting families to participate in the VBS and Sports Camps that we'll be offering. Prayer-walking gave us the opportunity to ask God to prepare the neighborhoods and cities, as well as our hearts for what He wants to do this week!

All of the teams then came together at the end of the day for the evening rally at New Salem. We played games, worshiped together, and participated in communion.

Pastor Larry then shared with us from the book of Luke, challenging us to look at others as Jesus looked at the woman who poured the alabaster jar of perfume on his feet: with love and acceptance, withholding any judgments that all too easily creep into our minds.

As we ended the evening by listening to Brandon Heath's song "Give Me Your Eyes", we sang it in our own hearts, as a prayer for God to open our eyes to what He wants to do this week both in and through us. It is our desire that God will enable us to see everyone we interact with this week with the same eyes that He always has, filled with love, compassion, and understanding. We pray that God would place in each one of us His heart for these communities, in which He has already been at work.

All of this to say, we are beyond excited to be a part of God's work in the Twin Cities this week! Thank you for partnering with us in prayer for our teams, our churches, and the Cities!

30 Days of Prayer for BUMP Twin Cities

BUMP Twin Cities is only 30 days away! Pray with us as teams prepare to join God on mission in Minneapolis and St. Paul!