In May, BSM will be returning to Los Angeles to continue the work we started there last year. The connecting church is Mosaic Church (Erwin McManus, pastor), and we will be serving in some very challenging places and contexts.
It was interesting to go through this process of discerning where God wanted us to go. At the beginning of last year, I had a very clear sense: Go to LA. Interact with Mosaic, learn from them, serve in that city.
This year, I fell into the trap of thinking we had to go to some "new" place-concerned the students would want a 'new' experience. I prayed and sent out so many 'feelers' to see where we were supposed to go...but never had a peace-even though there were several possibilities-and new experiences.
One day I was reading an article. The title was "Short-term missions=spiritual tourism?" The title grabbed me. The article talked about how churches and student ministries tend to go from one place to another each year to keep students 'interested' (or entertained)-as opposed to committing to one place over the long haul. In other words, missions being prostituted by the longing for new experiences.
We prayed about that as a group-and talked about it. It soon became clear, our "Samaria" is Los Angeles. We contacted Mosaic, and they welcomed us back-and we are returning this year again. Some of the students at first wrestled with the idea-because lets be honest-we all want to see the world...but I am so proud of their maturity-they prayed and talked and it became clear to them as well that we should invest in one place outside of San Antonio as opposed to using missions as a disguise for tourism.
Now there is peace.
We will spend one day taking a spiritual tour of Los Angeles-learning about the spiritualities that are influential in Los Angeles. We will re-visit the Scientology Celebrity Centre (seriously-Scientology is very influential in Hollywood and in Los Angeles), as well as visiting the largest Buddhist Temple in Los Angeles.
We will be working with Union Rescue Mission and the Dream Center-two agencies that serve Skid Row-and the 90,000 homeless in Los Angeles. One thing that gripped us last year was this "city within a city" of thousands upon thousands of homeless.
We will be serving with Adopt a Block-working in some of the rougher areas of Los Angeles-to serve families and children in need-to demonstrate and declare the Gospel.
We will be working with MetroKidz-another inner city ministry that focuses on bringing hope to inner city youth by sharing Christ and His love.
We'll also be working with School on Wheels, an organization that provides tutoring and education to homeless children and teenagers.
We'll also be working with Hope Gardens, a transitional community for women and their children. These women were homeless, have gone through job training and spend 9-18 months in this special place as they are getting on their feet. We will be ministering to the women as well as to their children.
We may also be working with Hollywood street kids (homeless young people who have turned to prostitution and are in bondage to many other things).
God has put together quite a trip-a hard trip-but a wonderful time to serve, grow, be stretched and to continue investing in that area.
Finally-we'll be helping Mosaic (doing the grunt work of clean up, set up and tear down) for at least 3 services: William Carey, the Mayan, and either Beverly Hills or South Beach).
Please pray for the following:
1) Pray for those God will call out to go. The trip last year stretched and grew us immensely and helped shape our culture and view of missions, service and evangelism on campus. Pray that our students will be open and receptive to His call.
2) Pray that our schedule will flow well. We will be working long hours every day-and it is important that we schedule wisely. There will not be much in the way of 'down time'-so also pray for grace and strength.
3) Pray for those we will be ministering to and with. Pray that God would use us to bless and glorify His Name. The ministry contexts are very tough. It's hard ground. But God is working there. Mosaic is also a wonderful community of believers. I've never seen a church so effectively model loving the 'outsider' as we experienced last year. We learned a lot about loving the lost and reaching out to the lost through our time with Mosaic. We are trusting that our continued relationship with them will be used by God to contnue shaping us into a missional community-a community of people who go to the edge of lostness. For more on this-see entries below!
4) Pray for provision. Last year God provided wonderfully for our students. The actual cost per student was initially just under $1,000.00. God provided through churches and individuals and as our students raised their support...the actual cost was just at $350.00 per student-a remarkable blessing since that included air fare, car rentals, housing and meals for a week. Please pray that He would superabundantly provide for us. Economic times are tough-but God is bigger. We are trusting Him for all we need. Please join us in praying for provision.
God has something special for us on this trip. We ask for your prayers-and will keep you posted as we continue to prepare. We are hoping to take around 25 students, which would be 10 more than last year. We know that as students have this shared experience of serving together, sweating, working, crying, praying, laughing and worshiping together in this 'strange land,' they will come back to San Antonio better equipped to be missionaries on campus-and their vision of the Kingdom will be profoundly expanded.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Praying for Internationals
God has blessed us by allowing us to develop relationsihps with five amazing young people. Joseph is from Morocco. "Ricky" is from China. Ken and Shiori are from Japan. Margaret is from Khazikstan.
There is a large international community at UTSA, and sadly, few know Jesus. Sadder still, Christian organizations as a whole have not done well in reaching out to internationals.
Jesus' heart is for the nations, for "panta ta ethne" (all the people groups)-and we realize that the students He has brought here, to UTSA, matter-and who better to be missionaries to their own people than these young people once they come to Christ?
We are gathering (Our BSM Staff) Friday with these five international students to plan an international party-a bridge event to develop relationships with internationals for the sake of the Gospel. The international students are planning most of it. We had a meeting last week and heard their hearts-and they are very excited and very open to doing something for their international friends!
Our own students (BSM) are willing to be conversation partners with internationals (a great need for students learning a new language)-to serve them in this way. Our students want to serve and bless international students and are trusting that God is going to use those relationships and provide opportunities to share the Gospel.
Please pray for our international students and for our BSM students-and staff, as we seek to share Christ with young people who have little to no access in their country of origin to the Gospel.
There is a large international community at UTSA, and sadly, few know Jesus. Sadder still, Christian organizations as a whole have not done well in reaching out to internationals.
Jesus' heart is for the nations, for "panta ta ethne" (all the people groups)-and we realize that the students He has brought here, to UTSA, matter-and who better to be missionaries to their own people than these young people once they come to Christ?
We are gathering (Our BSM Staff) Friday with these five international students to plan an international party-a bridge event to develop relationships with internationals for the sake of the Gospel. The international students are planning most of it. We had a meeting last week and heard their hearts-and they are very excited and very open to doing something for their international friends!
Our own students (BSM) are willing to be conversation partners with internationals (a great need for students learning a new language)-to serve them in this way. Our students want to serve and bless international students and are trusting that God is going to use those relationships and provide opportunities to share the Gospel.
Please pray for our international students and for our BSM students-and staff, as we seek to share Christ with young people who have little to no access in their country of origin to the Gospel.
Bowling With Atheists and Fugitive Nights-Students Being Intentional
You can learn a lot about loving the lost by spending time with Jesus in the Gospels. Of course, all "Good Christians" know this. But often our "knowing" does not translate into our "doing." We are prone to stay isolated in our Christian communities. It's a sad truth-but a lot of us spend too much time with our "brothers and sisters" to the point we have no relationships (at least no meaningful relationships) with the lost.
And if we do-we usually tend to have relationships with people who are at least OPEN to the idea of Christianity, people who have commonalities with us.
This happens all the time in churches.
It also happens on campuses with Christian organizations. When I first came to UTSA I thought that students would be much more missional and intentional and open to being on the "edge of lostness"-after all, they are all about relationships...but I found out something that shouldn't have surprised me: Our kids are reflections of us.
The "Good Church Kids" quite often prefer to circulate in Christian circles Monday-Friday (some of these kids spend all their time with as many Christian organizations as possible during the week) and the end result is they "stay safe" but miss out on the adventure of following Christ and being obedient to the Great Commission and the Second Greatest Commandment! Sound familiar? It should-the story is played out in thousands of churches across America. We like to 'be safe.' Jesus never called us to that.
Which leads me to something amazing our BSM students are doing. You must know-they are doing this because they have been in prayer and are following the Spirit's prompting. We have been talking a LOT about being missional and not attractional as a ministry. Too many organizations (like too many churches) put on a lot of shows to "attract" while never living attractive lives that intersect with the lost. We reject that idea. The students have committed to a lifestyle that is intentional in being missional-in developing relationships with the lost. What follows blesses me to no end:
Several of our students, male and female, last semester, expressed a burden to reach out to the Atheist Agenda, a campus organization at UTSA that is quite militant. This semester, two of our students have actually attended their meetings (not to "de-convert), but to develop relationships. The story gets better:
We have been praying for the students in Atheist Agenda. We have a corporate sense of calling to go to groups and to people that others avoid. Through this meeting-relationships have been developed with some of the students in the Atheist Agenda. Something quite humbling (and sad in many ways) came out of the conversations. A few of the students from the Atheist Agenda said "BSM...we are cool with you...you guys are all right."
The stories that flowed from the conversation revealed that the Atheists have been burned, tricked (that is their perception) by other Christian organizations who were more concerned with pounding them over the head or winning an argument than they were concerned about them as people.
Stories were told by some of the Atheists about WHY they became hostile towards Christianity-and the common thread-how Christians treated them. Some come from church backgrounds. Some were seeking and exploring and had bad experiences. Some felt like 'projects.'
They knew us (BSM) only because we serve free lunch and our students have shown them authentic love. They are wary of other organizations.
From this comes a night we are scheduling with them to go bowling. Now bowling is not the end of the story-we are praying and working towards building trust and God-honoring relationships that He will use to build bridges to the Gospel. We are willing to love, to be patient, to invest-and I am SO proud of our students.
Please pray for them, for me, for the Atheist Agenda-pray for God to use these relationships and this scheduled time to bring students to Himself.
Our students also are putting on another event-it's an elaborate game called "Fugitive"-and personally, I can't wait to play. Long story-but we'll need a lot of space and every college student who hears about it thinks it's just about the coolest idea ever.
Our students have determined to not invite other Christian organizations-but to specifically invite non-Christian organizations, to play. Again-a bridge activity that will allow us to develop relationships with students who might not normally connect with a ministry.
Now some might think:"Wait-are you not being cooperative with other organizations?" We are-but we are refusing to perpetuate the Christian bubble experience.
If you put together all the students connected on a fairly significant level to Christian organizations at UTSA, you would find around 450 students...out of 29,300 on campus.
There is much work to be done and we cannot continue to circulate the same kids in the same Christian bubble-there is a campus that is lost and needs Christ. I am proud of our BSM students for their willingness to go to the edge.
Pray for them. We are asking God for a campus. We can't do it-but all things are possible for Him.
Oh-and feel free to tell this story to your church. What would happen if we all came together to worship and to encourage each other-to be refreshed, and then went out into the harvest fields with great intentionality? What if we spent more time with lost people?
What if...?
And if we do-we usually tend to have relationships with people who are at least OPEN to the idea of Christianity, people who have commonalities with us.
This happens all the time in churches.
It also happens on campuses with Christian organizations. When I first came to UTSA I thought that students would be much more missional and intentional and open to being on the "edge of lostness"-after all, they are all about relationships...but I found out something that shouldn't have surprised me: Our kids are reflections of us.
The "Good Church Kids" quite often prefer to circulate in Christian circles Monday-Friday (some of these kids spend all their time with as many Christian organizations as possible during the week) and the end result is they "stay safe" but miss out on the adventure of following Christ and being obedient to the Great Commission and the Second Greatest Commandment! Sound familiar? It should-the story is played out in thousands of churches across America. We like to 'be safe.' Jesus never called us to that.
Which leads me to something amazing our BSM students are doing. You must know-they are doing this because they have been in prayer and are following the Spirit's prompting. We have been talking a LOT about being missional and not attractional as a ministry. Too many organizations (like too many churches) put on a lot of shows to "attract" while never living attractive lives that intersect with the lost. We reject that idea. The students have committed to a lifestyle that is intentional in being missional-in developing relationships with the lost. What follows blesses me to no end:
Several of our students, male and female, last semester, expressed a burden to reach out to the Atheist Agenda, a campus organization at UTSA that is quite militant. This semester, two of our students have actually attended their meetings (not to "de-convert), but to develop relationships. The story gets better:
We have been praying for the students in Atheist Agenda. We have a corporate sense of calling to go to groups and to people that others avoid. Through this meeting-relationships have been developed with some of the students in the Atheist Agenda. Something quite humbling (and sad in many ways) came out of the conversations. A few of the students from the Atheist Agenda said "BSM...we are cool with you...you guys are all right."
The stories that flowed from the conversation revealed that the Atheists have been burned, tricked (that is their perception) by other Christian organizations who were more concerned with pounding them over the head or winning an argument than they were concerned about them as people.
Stories were told by some of the Atheists about WHY they became hostile towards Christianity-and the common thread-how Christians treated them. Some come from church backgrounds. Some were seeking and exploring and had bad experiences. Some felt like 'projects.'
They knew us (BSM) only because we serve free lunch and our students have shown them authentic love. They are wary of other organizations.
From this comes a night we are scheduling with them to go bowling. Now bowling is not the end of the story-we are praying and working towards building trust and God-honoring relationships that He will use to build bridges to the Gospel. We are willing to love, to be patient, to invest-and I am SO proud of our students.
Please pray for them, for me, for the Atheist Agenda-pray for God to use these relationships and this scheduled time to bring students to Himself.
Our students also are putting on another event-it's an elaborate game called "Fugitive"-and personally, I can't wait to play. Long story-but we'll need a lot of space and every college student who hears about it thinks it's just about the coolest idea ever.
Our students have determined to not invite other Christian organizations-but to specifically invite non-Christian organizations, to play. Again-a bridge activity that will allow us to develop relationships with students who might not normally connect with a ministry.
Now some might think:"Wait-are you not being cooperative with other organizations?" We are-but we are refusing to perpetuate the Christian bubble experience.
If you put together all the students connected on a fairly significant level to Christian organizations at UTSA, you would find around 450 students...out of 29,300 on campus.
There is much work to be done and we cannot continue to circulate the same kids in the same Christian bubble-there is a campus that is lost and needs Christ. I am proud of our BSM students for their willingness to go to the edge.
Pray for them. We are asking God for a campus. We can't do it-but all things are possible for Him.
Oh-and feel free to tell this story to your church. What would happen if we all came together to worship and to encourage each other-to be refreshed, and then went out into the harvest fields with great intentionality? What if we spent more time with lost people?
What if...?
An Encouraging Word For Those in Ministry
I ran across this story in Leadership Weekly. John Ortberg has something encouraging to say about "evaluations" in ministry. Having served in the local church for over 21years and in ministry for 23 years, I appreciated Ortberg's words. I think they will be an encouragement to many of you.
Enjoy:
http://www.christianitytoday.com/le/currenttrendscolumns/leadershipweekly/howamidoing.html
It's a two page article-so make sure you go to the next page to finish the story!
Blessings,
Kevin
Enjoy:
http://www.christianitytoday.com/le/currenttrendscolumns/leadershipweekly/howamidoing.html
It's a two page article-so make sure you go to the next page to finish the story!
Blessings,
Kevin
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Praying for a New Semester
I am leaving with our student leaders tomorrow for our prayer and planning retreat. School resumes January 12! Please pray for us. We will be praying and planning for 3 days.
We anticipate God doing wonderful things this semester. We are looking forward to reaching new students for Christ, to being a great influence on our campus. Our students truly have a heart to see Christ glorified on our campus-and beyond.
We will be preparing for our mission trip as well, which will take place in May. Please pray for us as we prepare our hearts for the things God has in store for us.
We anticipate God doing wonderful things this semester. We are looking forward to reaching new students for Christ, to being a great influence on our campus. Our students truly have a heart to see Christ glorified on our campus-and beyond.
We will be preparing for our mission trip as well, which will take place in May. Please pray for us as we prepare our hearts for the things God has in store for us.
Discipleship and Slipping Through the Cracks
I wrote in an earlier entry about a young man connected to Baptist Student Ministries (loosely) who contacted me over the holidays to request a meeting. I asked for prayer for him. I wanted to give you an overview of what took place, thank you for the prayers, and relate something I pray will challenge all of us in positions of spiritual leadership to take seriously-the matter of discipleship.
The meeting was wonderful. He was authentic. Real. Very confused. He wanted to grow in his faith but really did not know what to do or where to start. More on this later.
He also had girlfriend issues. She is a former atheist who is now an agnostic. She had a lot of painful and traumatic experiences in her childhood and teen years and during that time she repeatedly asked God to help her, to change things-and things did not turn out well. She came to the conclusion that God either didn't exist or was unwilling or unable to help her. She carries deep scars. She is apparently open to the possibility of rethinking things, and he is going to not only start coming to our luncheons and study/worship times, but try to bring her as well. Please pray for her. Her name is Sarah.
Back to my friend: His story broke my heart as well. He came to faith in Christ in High School at a youth rally. He was given a Bible. The story of his discipleship basically ends there. All he knows is what he has tried to understand in the Scriptures for himself. No one ever spoke to him about what happens after trusting Christ. No one spoke to him about discipleship. No one asked him to connect with a community of faith.
We spoke about the nature of salvation, about justification, about sanctification, about time alone with God daily in prayer and in the Word, of the importance of connecting to a local body of believers, of being a part of a community of faith. He's reading through the Gospel of John now. We're going to spend more time together when the semester starts, one on one. He is going to look for a church home.
He slipped through the cracks. Some well meaning person invited him to a rally. He understood his need for salvation. But no one walked with him after this defining moment.
His parents are nominal Hindus. Please pray for him. Pray for me. Pray for our students as we seek to journey with him.
The meeting was wonderful. He was authentic. Real. Very confused. He wanted to grow in his faith but really did not know what to do or where to start. More on this later.
He also had girlfriend issues. She is a former atheist who is now an agnostic. She had a lot of painful and traumatic experiences in her childhood and teen years and during that time she repeatedly asked God to help her, to change things-and things did not turn out well. She came to the conclusion that God either didn't exist or was unwilling or unable to help her. She carries deep scars. She is apparently open to the possibility of rethinking things, and he is going to not only start coming to our luncheons and study/worship times, but try to bring her as well. Please pray for her. Her name is Sarah.
Back to my friend: His story broke my heart as well. He came to faith in Christ in High School at a youth rally. He was given a Bible. The story of his discipleship basically ends there. All he knows is what he has tried to understand in the Scriptures for himself. No one ever spoke to him about what happens after trusting Christ. No one spoke to him about discipleship. No one asked him to connect with a community of faith.
We spoke about the nature of salvation, about justification, about sanctification, about time alone with God daily in prayer and in the Word, of the importance of connecting to a local body of believers, of being a part of a community of faith. He's reading through the Gospel of John now. We're going to spend more time together when the semester starts, one on one. He is going to look for a church home.
He slipped through the cracks. Some well meaning person invited him to a rally. He understood his need for salvation. But no one walked with him after this defining moment.
His parents are nominal Hindus. Please pray for him. Pray for me. Pray for our students as we seek to journey with him.
Praise Report
My family and I truly appreciate your prayers and words of encouragement as we prepared to take our daughter, Hannah, to MD Anderson for her annual check up. There were some slight spinal issues the doctor here in San Antonio noticed that could have been related to her Neurofibromatosis. Had that been the case, there would have been multiple possible complications and causes for concern. We were obviously concerned as we headed to Houston to see what the tests would reveal.
The trip to MD Anderson was incredible! Her spinal issue is just a slight rotation in the lower back and has nothing to do with her Neurofibromatosis! Praise God! In addition, the doctors at MD Anderson (who are on the cutting edge of NF research) had new findings through research this past year which gives us new tools and insight into her disease. It was a huge relief to drive home after three days and know that we don't have to go back to MD Anderson until her next check up later this year. She is doing well.
Thank you again for your prayers. We are blessed!
The trip to MD Anderson was incredible! Her spinal issue is just a slight rotation in the lower back and has nothing to do with her Neurofibromatosis! Praise God! In addition, the doctors at MD Anderson (who are on the cutting edge of NF research) had new findings through research this past year which gives us new tools and insight into her disease. It was a huge relief to drive home after three days and know that we don't have to go back to MD Anderson until her next check up later this year. She is doing well.
Thank you again for your prayers. We are blessed!
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