We have been home for almost an entire week now. It has gone by fast and I have had the chance to talk about the trip with a lot of people in many different settings. It has been great to go over the things that happened in Montana, talk about them, share them, and hear people's reactions. Here are a few of my reflections.
Tightly Bonded Group: most of our students already had good relationships with each other. They have grown up in the church and have become good friends just through time spent together. However, while we were away some things happened that really brought them together and gave them common vision. If you haven't read McKenna's recount of Monday night you really should. It was a turning point in the trip that God used to bring our students together and show them how much He loves them.
God is in Control: I think that a lot of times we start to believe that if we only do things correctly then we will get the response we are seeking. Or we, incorrectly, believe that we know what will happen if we "do" ministry a certain way. We should always do the best we can and we should always leave the results to God. He'll do a much better job anyway. Our ministry in Roundup became something that was led by God as the week progressed and our students got to know people. Some of them went to dinner with students from the town and heard their stories. Others found ways to use their gifts to bless others without the benefit of food. I found solace in watching as our students "got it" and began listening and sharing with other students. I did my best to let God use our students and I was blessed by what I saw.
Worship does not equal singing: This is a great lesson for everyone to learn. We can worship by singing but our worship does not consist only of music (and that's good because some people aren't musical and I don't think God wants them to miss out on worship). We sang like crazy Saturday night, we sang lots on Sunday, and a little bit on Monday. After that our worship consisted of encouraging one another, praying, sharing, laughing, and allowing God to work in us through each other. We were up really late most nights and it seemed like sleep would be worshipful to me...it was.
Thankfulness: I have amazing volunteers! Mike and Lori not only helped with the students on the trip, making sure they were safe, talking to them, working with them, but they helped me a lot. I don't always see everything the way it really is and to have their eyes and experience there was a huge help to me. They were instruments that God used to make sure this was the trip it needed to be.
Bringing it HOME! Between West Glenwood and the "downtown" exit McKenna spoke up and said, "We need to pray before we get home." So I told her to start and she did. She and others in the van asked that God would help them do what they had learned in Roundup here, at home. We all realized that God will change lives if we will take the time to be used as instruments of His grace and love. We know that not everyone will respond well, but we learned to be "seed flingers" throwing God's love everywhere we go. We need to be a lot less careful about where we throw the seed.
Prayer: One night, around the table, we were talking about "going home" and I had the opportunity to share with our students my hope for them. There is a Proverb that says, "As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another." If the students who went to Montana continue to do what they learned in those 10 days here at home they will share the love of God in a powerful way. Please pray that they continue to listen to people's stories, refuse to judge before they get to know them, share their faith blatantly, and love unconditionally.
Please consider how you will do this as well. Who do you know that could use a cup of coffee and an attentive ear? Who, in your life, needs to know that Jesus loves them? How can you share with them? During our time in Montana we learned that we cannot put God in a box...how is God going to use our trip in your life?
in His grip,
Jared
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Friday, July 18, 2008
packing up in Roundup
Friday night at the Youth Center was a ton of fun. A bunch of people are gone on vacation but we have made some great friends that our kids will remember forever. We have had a great time and learned a lot of lessons.
Thanks for praying for us and for all the encouragement you have been. I will post more pictures when we get home, right now it's time to pack stuff up...we must leave early in the morning if we're going to drop the surprise on the students.
We will call when we get close to home so you all know when to come pick up your kids. See you tomorrow (late).
in His grip - and loving it,
Jared
Thanks for praying for us and for all the encouragement you have been. I will post more pictures when we get home, right now it's time to pack stuff up...we must leave early in the morning if we're going to drop the surprise on the students.
We will call when we get close to home so you all know when to come pick up your kids. See you tomorrow (late).
in His grip - and loving it,
Jared
Thursday, July 17, 2008
right now
At this moment I am watching our students paint designs all over the youth center in Roundup. Reid, Carson, and Kevin are working on a design that tells the gospel with Heather (from Roundup). Harris is filling in a circle with Robbie (a 6 year old from here). Kellin is working on a really cool design for a circle. Mike is talking with Hannah. Amy and Ashley are working with Ethan on splatter painting a wall as a backdrop for hanging pictures. McKenna just finished sponge painting a wall. Stephanie is taking pictures. And Lori just finished having coffee one of the students parents. And I have already been to the hardware store (again) but this time with Robbie. I asked about his favorite sport...football. Favorite team? He said he has five and the first team he told me was the....Seahawks! I was so proud. He also listed the Broncos so be encouraged.
Also this morning, Carson gave a drum lesson to Briana because she mentioned that she would like to learn the drums yesterday.
I am really proud of our whole team! In this instant they are all being Jesus to someone somehow.
in His grip,
Jared
Also this morning, Carson gave a drum lesson to Briana because she mentioned that she would like to learn the drums yesterday.
I am really proud of our whole team! In this instant they are all being Jesus to someone somehow.
in His grip,
Jared
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
DMB: Recap
three letters...one word...WOW! It was an amazing day at Deadman's Basin (I learned how to really spell it from the sign that led to the park). I am proud to report that I even used sunscreen (you're welcome). We had two boats out on the water, which was awesome. Pastor John drove one of them and you could see in his face and his actions that he was thoroughly enjoying what he was doing. He encouraged the kids, let them try new things, and helped them back up time and time again without any hint of being annoyed. He was using what he loved to bless the kids of Roundup.
Kurt was also driving his boat. He found his enjoyment in watching people fly through the air. We came to say that if "Kurt wants you off the tube, you get off the tube". It doesn't matter how much you wanted to stay on there, you were getting off. The kids loved tubing out on the water with Kurt, and he made it a lot of fun too.
While we were tubing we were also talking. I heard a number of students sharing their stories with each other. You could see people lounging around just talking to each other and see that they were connecting. Ashley flat out asked a few of the girls to tell her their story and in the middle of a tubing session on a boat they did. They poured it out and told her, and Reid, what their lives were like. It was great to see our students connecting and listening so intently and being great examples of Christ by caring for others.
When we got back to the youth center Amy and Ashley shared part of their stories with every one who went (about 20 of them) and told them why they feel like God should be an important part of their lives too. And because we have spent so much time working on relationships this week everyone stayed and they all listened. It was a great day.
Prayer Requests:
- Salvation: In the Bible Paul says that he prayed for all of Israel to be saved. Will you please pray that this town will realize God's grace and will be saved.
- Boldness: that we as a group would have the boldness to invite students to accept the message of Christ, follow Him with their lives, and grow in Him.
- Rest: We're tired. It's been a few really long days and we're all pretty exhausted. We need rest to finish well.
- Community: we need to continually grow together as a group and we are making huge strides but there are still challenges to overcome.
And here's some pics...
Kurt was also driving his boat. He found his enjoyment in watching people fly through the air. We came to say that if "Kurt wants you off the tube, you get off the tube". It doesn't matter how much you wanted to stay on there, you were getting off. The kids loved tubing out on the water with Kurt, and he made it a lot of fun too.
While we were tubing we were also talking. I heard a number of students sharing their stories with each other. You could see people lounging around just talking to each other and see that they were connecting. Ashley flat out asked a few of the girls to tell her their story and in the middle of a tubing session on a boat they did. They poured it out and told her, and Reid, what their lives were like. It was great to see our students connecting and listening so intently and being great examples of Christ by caring for others.
When we got back to the youth center Amy and Ashley shared part of their stories with every one who went (about 20 of them) and told them why they feel like God should be an important part of their lives too. And because we have spent so much time working on relationships this week everyone stayed and they all listened. It was a great day.
Prayer Requests:
- Salvation: In the Bible Paul says that he prayed for all of Israel to be saved. Will you please pray that this town will realize God's grace and will be saved.
- Boldness: that we as a group would have the boldness to invite students to accept the message of Christ, follow Him with their lives, and grow in Him.
- Rest: We're tired. It's been a few really long days and we're all pretty exhausted. We need rest to finish well.
- Community: we need to continually grow together as a group and we are making huge strides but there are still challenges to overcome.
And here's some pics...
DMB
For many people DMB would stand for a world famous band known for amazing acoustic guitar work and creativity...but for us, for today it stand for Dead Man's Basin. And as strange as that sounds we are really, really excited to go. DMB is closest place you can go to waterski and inner tube. We have invited any of the kids from the town that want to come and have even acquired a school bus to get them there!
We get to spend at least 10 hours with kids from Roundup in one day. We'll be playing, talking, praying, singing, and doing our best to model Jesus as we go crazy. In a normal week I will spend about 2 hours with any particular student and I try to make the most of my time, but it's still not much. In one day, our entire team will get to spend 5 times the weekly average. It's an amazing opportunity.
The gospels tells us that Jesus spent a lot of time around the disciples and that changed their lives. We are trying to care for people like Jesus does.
Prayer Requests:
- Safety: we are going on the water and will be driving for a while. Please pray that we are safe in all we do.
- Connections: this is a great opportunity to connect that we all need to take full advantage of.
- Boldness: the students in Roundup know why we're here and they know what we believe. Pray for boldness for our students to extend invitations to their friends to follow Jesus.
in His grip,
Jared
We get to spend at least 10 hours with kids from Roundup in one day. We'll be playing, talking, praying, singing, and doing our best to model Jesus as we go crazy. In a normal week I will spend about 2 hours with any particular student and I try to make the most of my time, but it's still not much. In one day, our entire team will get to spend 5 times the weekly average. It's an amazing opportunity.
The gospels tells us that Jesus spent a lot of time around the disciples and that changed their lives. We are trying to care for people like Jesus does.
Prayer Requests:
- Safety: we are going on the water and will be driving for a while. Please pray that we are safe in all we do.
- Connections: this is a great opportunity to connect that we all need to take full advantage of.
- Boldness: the students in Roundup know why we're here and they know what we believe. Pray for boldness for our students to extend invitations to their friends to follow Jesus.
in His grip,
Jared
Monday Review: God works
Something happened Monday night that I felt was important to share in the students own words. What you are about to read happened Monday night, and I wanted to make sure that they were ready to share what happened before we posted anything.
I believe that it’s important to worship in community. And something I had noticed was that we seemed to be worshiping as individuals, without concern for anyone else. So with the help of Lori and Mike I designed an experience for our teenagers to worship together. We change the atmosphere by lighting candles and turning off lights. We assigned them to a specific seating order and I instructed them not to wear blindfolds or close their eyes. Not closing eyes is really hard for me and I was stretched as I looked into their faces.
We began singing together and after a few minutes I noticed that it didn’t seem like their hearts were in it. I wasn’t interested in forcing anything upon them so I asked if they felt awkward with the instruction they had been given. I wasn’t expecting the response that I got. Some were genuinely upset, some were confused why we would structure worship so much, and others genuinely attempted to worship. After a pretty lengthy discussion and prayer I put away the guitar and told them they could go to bed. But Reid asked if they could spend time together...and I left the room.
McKenna (writing for all the students)
So as you have read Jared’s plan left all of the kids rather frustrated and none of us wanted to go to bed. So as Jared, Lori, and Mike all left the room Reid asked if the kids could stay for a while. As soon as the adults left Reid suggested that rather than waiting our turn to pray we should all just pray at once, so when Reid never stopped praying I (McKenna) started praying with him for my own problems and concerns. Then another person joined in and eventually everyone was praying for their own needs and it was the coolest sound to hear everyone lifting up their needs. I decided to go around the room praying for everyone and by the time I got to the end, Steph and Reid started praying for my physical healing. Very quickly everyone was surrounding me begging the Lord for my healing. At this point everybody was screaming, crying and yelling to God. Reid and Harris began to plead God to take away their gifts in order for me to be pain free. This really touched my heart because although I have had other people tell me that they would take away the pain for me I have never had 14 and 17 year olds pleading God to take away what God has given them in order for me to be pain free. I don’t know whether the story I just told or this happened first but both are very important parts. I began to have horrible pains in my back. I haven’t had pain that severe since my disco-gram (the disco-gram was my worst procedure that was both a horrible procedure and also recovery). There is no better way to describe the way the pain came and went other than contractions. I was screaming, crying and begging God to take the pain away, eventually the pain would reside and I would get a couple of pain free moments. After a couple of contractions I began to get the pattern and expect the pain. I don’t really know why I experienced the pain last night but I know it was part of God’s greater plan for the night. At one point I had to lay down because the pain was to great to bear sitting up. So while I was laying there I literally felt God’s power run through my body. I know that I am purely telling my story but for most of the night the kids were serving me by lifting my petitions up to Christ. I am happy, no overjoyed, to tell you that many miracles happened that night. My soul and my mind were healed, however it is not time for me to be physically healed. God clearly told me that I still need to be at Steadman Hawkins and that there is a friend who needs my support. We all ended the night by singing, it was completely accapella and we didn’t know all of the words so we were just jumping from song to song and chourses that didn’t match with the verses. Then we all sat down and started talking about what God had shown them personally. The neatest thing about the night was that even though everyone was basically focusing on me, God showed each individual person something extremely personal, but thats their story to tell. As I was crawling into bed I looked for some verses in Job and they applied so well to the night. The verses are John 14:12-17, Job 8:21, 9:10, 16:5. This night was amazing and i strongly urge you to contact me over the phone when I get back from the mission.
Back to Jared
As you can tell God is really doing something in our students lives as they engage Him. Please pray fervently for them as they wrestle with things and take steps in their walk with Jesus. I will communicate any comments you leave to them this evening.
in His grip,
Jared
I believe that it’s important to worship in community. And something I had noticed was that we seemed to be worshiping as individuals, without concern for anyone else. So with the help of Lori and Mike I designed an experience for our teenagers to worship together. We change the atmosphere by lighting candles and turning off lights. We assigned them to a specific seating order and I instructed them not to wear blindfolds or close their eyes. Not closing eyes is really hard for me and I was stretched as I looked into their faces.
We began singing together and after a few minutes I noticed that it didn’t seem like their hearts were in it. I wasn’t interested in forcing anything upon them so I asked if they felt awkward with the instruction they had been given. I wasn’t expecting the response that I got. Some were genuinely upset, some were confused why we would structure worship so much, and others genuinely attempted to worship. After a pretty lengthy discussion and prayer I put away the guitar and told them they could go to bed. But Reid asked if they could spend time together...and I left the room.
McKenna (writing for all the students)
So as you have read Jared’s plan left all of the kids rather frustrated and none of us wanted to go to bed. So as Jared, Lori, and Mike all left the room Reid asked if the kids could stay for a while. As soon as the adults left Reid suggested that rather than waiting our turn to pray we should all just pray at once, so when Reid never stopped praying I (McKenna) started praying with him for my own problems and concerns. Then another person joined in and eventually everyone was praying for their own needs and it was the coolest sound to hear everyone lifting up their needs. I decided to go around the room praying for everyone and by the time I got to the end, Steph and Reid started praying for my physical healing. Very quickly everyone was surrounding me begging the Lord for my healing. At this point everybody was screaming, crying and yelling to God. Reid and Harris began to plead God to take away their gifts in order for me to be pain free. This really touched my heart because although I have had other people tell me that they would take away the pain for me I have never had 14 and 17 year olds pleading God to take away what God has given them in order for me to be pain free. I don’t know whether the story I just told or this happened first but both are very important parts. I began to have horrible pains in my back. I haven’t had pain that severe since my disco-gram (the disco-gram was my worst procedure that was both a horrible procedure and also recovery). There is no better way to describe the way the pain came and went other than contractions. I was screaming, crying and begging God to take the pain away, eventually the pain would reside and I would get a couple of pain free moments. After a couple of contractions I began to get the pattern and expect the pain. I don’t really know why I experienced the pain last night but I know it was part of God’s greater plan for the night. At one point I had to lay down because the pain was to great to bear sitting up. So while I was laying there I literally felt God’s power run through my body. I know that I am purely telling my story but for most of the night the kids were serving me by lifting my petitions up to Christ. I am happy, no overjoyed, to tell you that many miracles happened that night. My soul and my mind were healed, however it is not time for me to be physically healed. God clearly told me that I still need to be at Steadman Hawkins and that there is a friend who needs my support. We all ended the night by singing, it was completely accapella and we didn’t know all of the words so we were just jumping from song to song and chourses that didn’t match with the verses. Then we all sat down and started talking about what God had shown them personally. The neatest thing about the night was that even though everyone was basically focusing on me, God showed each individual person something extremely personal, but thats their story to tell. As I was crawling into bed I looked for some verses in Job and they applied so well to the night. The verses are John 14:12-17, Job 8:21, 9:10, 16:5. This night was amazing and i strongly urge you to contact me over the phone when I get back from the mission.
Back to Jared
As you can tell God is really doing something in our students lives as they engage Him. Please pray fervently for them as they wrestle with things and take steps in their walk with Jesus. I will communicate any comments you leave to them this evening.
in His grip,
Jared
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
painting, painting, and a little more painting
We came here ready and equipped to paint. We just finished our own youth room so when they asked if we were willing to paint the youth center we of course said we were pros. After being placed in a building for many hours filled with paint fumes and tired teens things start to happen. There is a video on a previous post but here are some great still shots.
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