Band of Survivors Team Update 4
Thursday June 28th, a pretty sweet day to remember for all time. Basically we started our 24 hour prayer shifts, Gustavo Salinas went first at 12:00 AM. Each member prays for an hour a day and doesn’t stop until he or she is relieved by the next person to pray. Of course one member is stuck praying for two hours a day since we only have twenty three members. Even though and hour alone talking to God might seem a bit much, none of the kids have complained about it. In fact many have stayed when relieved to pray for even longer. Once you are intimate with God and hour just doesn’t seem long enough.
We went to The Waukegan Corps to do an open air in the park. Our goal was to find kids and parents and tell them about Christ’s love. Most of the kids and adults spoke Spanish and our Spanish speaking members were really awesome in how they could translate and speak to so many people. Many kids came to play with us and receive balloon animals and face paint. Once we had their attention and the parents were assured that we weren’t a threat, we began to talk about Christ’s love for all we used the methods and techniques Barb taught us, and the kids were interested. Hopefully they left knowing that Christ is real and his love is contagious. The kids liked us a lot and afterwards we played for almost an hour. Perhaps open airs aren’t dead.
We returned to the corps and had McDonalds… woot. (dry woot)
Dave Shay
Friday, June 29, 2007
Band of Survivors Team Update 3
Hi from Camp Wonderland! We’ve had a long but productive day up here and have spent most of the day learning how to be an evangelist! David Witthoff taught us in the morning session; he started us off with basic definitions about worldviews and religions, and gave us examples on how to share the Gospel with people who have a different worldview/religion. It was an intense session, but we have taken good notes and are better prepared to reach out to others.
After an awesome lunch (loaded baked potatoes!), Barb Higgins came to lead a session on Child Evangelism. It was a fun and informative time as we learned about the gospel ribbons (gold, dark, red, clean, and green colored) and were each assigned parts for a ‘practice’ open air meeting for children. Once Barb had lead us thru the ways to lead a child to Christ, we held an ‘open air’ meeting inside of Beech lounge and had a lot of laughs while refining our evangelism skills.
After a rest period and dinner, we held our cell groups. We focused on Acts 3 and how Peter and John healed the cripple at the temple gates, and how this act gave glory to God and testified to the Lord’s mighty power. We also discussed how this still applies today – we can, and should, be bold in our faith and testify to the power of God in our lives!
During the evening we had a marathon planning session of the coming week’s activities ranging from VBS, to car washes, to holiness meetings, to Prayer & Praise Nights. Our cell groups looked over the events and decided what groups would be planning different events, starting with the Open Air/Carnival at Waukegan Corps Thursday (the girls’ cell group got it). We had a great time planning and learning during the day and we went to sleep excited for our first day of 24/7 prayer shifts and of using the skills we had learned.
It’s been really fun to hang out at camp with each other and learn together. We have really grown close in just the few days we’ve all been together. Thank you for your prayers and thoughts, we feel them very much! Continue to keep us in prayer as we work at Waukegan corps this weekend and as we make the move from Camp to CFOT Sunday. We are healthy and happy, and learning more and more the love of our great Lord!
Kirsten Witthoff
Band of Survivors
Hi from Camp Wonderland! We’ve had a long but productive day up here and have spent most of the day learning how to be an evangelist! David Witthoff taught us in the morning session; he started us off with basic definitions about worldviews and religions, and gave us examples on how to share the Gospel with people who have a different worldview/religion. It was an intense session, but we have taken good notes and are better prepared to reach out to others.
After an awesome lunch (loaded baked potatoes!), Barb Higgins came to lead a session on Child Evangelism. It was a fun and informative time as we learned about the gospel ribbons (gold, dark, red, clean, and green colored) and were each assigned parts for a ‘practice’ open air meeting for children. Once Barb had lead us thru the ways to lead a child to Christ, we held an ‘open air’ meeting inside of Beech lounge and had a lot of laughs while refining our evangelism skills.
After a rest period and dinner, we held our cell groups. We focused on Acts 3 and how Peter and John healed the cripple at the temple gates, and how this act gave glory to God and testified to the Lord’s mighty power. We also discussed how this still applies today – we can, and should, be bold in our faith and testify to the power of God in our lives!
During the evening we had a marathon planning session of the coming week’s activities ranging from VBS, to car washes, to holiness meetings, to Prayer & Praise Nights. Our cell groups looked over the events and decided what groups would be planning different events, starting with the Open Air/Carnival at Waukegan Corps Thursday (the girls’ cell group got it). We had a great time planning and learning during the day and we went to sleep excited for our first day of 24/7 prayer shifts and of using the skills we had learned.
It’s been really fun to hang out at camp with each other and learn together. We have really grown close in just the few days we’ve all been together. Thank you for your prayers and thoughts, we feel them very much! Continue to keep us in prayer as we work at Waukegan corps this weekend and as we make the move from Camp to CFOT Sunday. We are healthy and happy, and learning more and more the love of our great Lord!
Kirsten Witthoff
Band of Survivors
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Band of Survivors Team Update 2
Hello all, today was a really great day. We spent the day getting to know each other better and growing as a team. In the morning we had a teaching session on spiritual gifts. We learned that we are all the Body of Christ and that we belong to one another. We learned about all of the different gifts that the Holy Spirit gives us and why we have been diversely gifted. We then took a Spiritual Gift Inventory and it was great to see that God has given so many of us with different gifts and that his Spirit is working in and through us.
In the afternoon, we went on the high ropes course out at camp. When we showed up we split into three groups and went up on the course. From the ground it didn’t look that high, but when we were actually up there it looked really high (over 40 feet, I believe). Many of us were scared, even though some wouldn’t admit it. But I am glad to say that all 23 of us successfully did the course and we all had to work together in the process. We were forced to hold hands all the way across and had to use each other so not to fall. It was really hard, but it made us come and work together a lot, as we are going to do all summer.
We then studied Acts 2 and were excited to see that the things the Holy Spirit did at Pentecost are still happening through the Spirit’s power today. We then ate a delicious snack of juice and choco tacos and had a night swim. Some of us played volleyball and others played water polo. It was a really great time to spend together and continue to get to know each other. I really love everyone in this group and I love getting to know them better. We are really starting to get to know each other and are having a really great time with each other.
Cordially,
Justin Rose
Hello all, today was a really great day. We spent the day getting to know each other better and growing as a team. In the morning we had a teaching session on spiritual gifts. We learned that we are all the Body of Christ and that we belong to one another. We learned about all of the different gifts that the Holy Spirit gives us and why we have been diversely gifted. We then took a Spiritual Gift Inventory and it was great to see that God has given so many of us with different gifts and that his Spirit is working in and through us.
In the afternoon, we went on the high ropes course out at camp. When we showed up we split into three groups and went up on the course. From the ground it didn’t look that high, but when we were actually up there it looked really high (over 40 feet, I believe). Many of us were scared, even though some wouldn’t admit it. But I am glad to say that all 23 of us successfully did the course and we all had to work together in the process. We were forced to hold hands all the way across and had to use each other so not to fall. It was really hard, but it made us come and work together a lot, as we are going to do all summer.
We then studied Acts 2 and were excited to see that the things the Holy Spirit did at Pentecost are still happening through the Spirit’s power today. We then ate a delicious snack of juice and choco tacos and had a night swim. Some of us played volleyball and others played water polo. It was a really great time to spend together and continue to get to know each other. I really love everyone in this group and I love getting to know them better. We are really starting to get to know each other and are having a really great time with each other.
Cordially,
Justin Rose
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Band of Survivors Team Update 1
Hello friends and family! Band of Survivors is off and running smoothly. Everyone arrived at DHQ on Monday morning, packed the vans (an incredible Tetris-like accomplishment) and then we got on the road and traveled to Camp Wonderland in lovely Camp Lake, Wisconsin. When we arrived we had a nice picnic lunch and enjoyed the beautiful weather. After lunch we unpacked the vans and dropped off everyone at their cabins for the week; the guys at the always rustic Martin and the girls at Sandpiper.
In the afternoon we had a time where we went over rules and expectations for Band of Survivors. Everyone shared why they are a part of the project and we really heard some great testimonies as to what God wants to do in their lives over the next 28 days. It was a great time of sharing. We had dinner at Camp after that and then had our first Cell Group time. We are studying the book of Acts during the summer (it works out perfectly: 28 days; 28 chapters) and are going through a study called RevoDevos. If you want to follow along with our RevoDevos online, please do so! You can check them out on MetroYouthNetwork.Com.
After that we had a campfire and ate Smores and had a time of worship and prayer around the fire. There’s nothing like the combination of campfire+smores+worship+prayer. It is highly recommended. It was a long day so after all that we went to our cabins to hang out and get ready for bed. Everyone is getting to know each other and we can already tell this is going to be a great summer.
I hope you all are well. Thank you for your prayers and interest. We hope to see you soon. We will also be posting pictures of our first couple days sometime soon. Keep checking back for updates!
Grace,
Eric Himes
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)