Band of Survivors Team Update 11
Well deserved rest consumed a majority of our morning. Our first activity was cell groups at 10:30, in which we studied Acts 11. And since the interns finished making coffee, Justin was able to join my group. I hope some of you have been reading the devotionals; there is much to be learned from them.
After lunch we headed for our first day at the Midwest Corps. The girl’s cell group did a great job planning the VBS (Vacation Bible School). The children made paper prayer boxes for crafts and performed a play that told the story of Joseph. VBS then ended with a couple of games. We were not sure of what the outcome of children was going to be. Major told that even if only one shows up, then that one will be over consumed with our love. To our amazement, over 20 showed up! What a blessing from God!
After the VBS, the Majors made us a feast with meatballs, chicken, macaroni, and MOUNTAIN DEEEWWWWWW! The majors shared various stories and encounters over their years of Officership. Once at CFOT, much planning was done for the days to come. Our busy day ended with a party for Dietrich’s Birthday. We all sang Happy Birthday as loud as we could. And with a room filled with more than 23 people, you can imagine how loud it got.
I believe that is about it. Keep us in your prayers.
Blessings,
Alex Escobar
Friday, July 06, 2007
Band of Survivors Team Update 10
Today it was an awesome day. To start off we marched in the Blue Island 4th of July Parade. It was cool (although it was hot) and a good experience. Next, Josh and Jen Polanco invited us to a barbecue at their house. The food was great! After the barbecue some of us went to play soccer and David Witthoff got cut above his eyebrows when a soccer ball collided with his glasses. (That had to hurt!) But, he is good. Later that day we went to watch the fireworks from the future location of the Blue Island Corps. Before the fireworks started we had a good time playing a lot of games and laughed a lot. The Grand Finale of the fireworks was sweet! After the fireworks we left for home (CFOT) and crashed after a really wonderful and long day.
Gustavo Salinas
Today it was an awesome day. To start off we marched in the Blue Island 4th of July Parade. It was cool (although it was hot) and a good experience. Next, Josh and Jen Polanco invited us to a barbecue at their house. The food was great! After the barbecue some of us went to play soccer and David Witthoff got cut above his eyebrows when a soccer ball collided with his glasses. (That had to hurt!) But, he is good. Later that day we went to watch the fireworks from the future location of the Blue Island Corps. Before the fireworks started we had a good time playing a lot of games and laughed a lot. The Grand Finale of the fireworks was sweet! After the fireworks we left for home (CFOT) and crashed after a really wonderful and long day.
Gustavo Salinas
Thursday, July 05, 2007
Band of Survivors Team Update 9
Today we ate delicious breakfast. It is always a nice thing to eat breakfast. I think we had pop tarts.
Then Kirsten W, Cathleen and I went to the store to buy food for everyone. Everyone else went to Salvationism 2 with David W. When I came back later, during the class, it was really interesting. We are reading The General Next to God, a historical account by Richard Collier, and discussing that during our Salvationism classes. The chapters we went over were about things like the Skeleton Army, and Frederick Tucker-Booth, also known as Fakir Sing (AKA the “Lion of God”).
The Skeleton Army did not like the Salvation Army. They sprang up in opposition to the Salvation Army, and would throw things like dead cats and mud and rotten food and bricks at the Salvationists as they marched through town on the way to a meeting. “Through it all Booth stood bolt upright in his carriage, mud and dead cats hurtling past him, his face a graven mask as he barked crisp orders.” (106)
Tucker was a civil-servant in India when he heard God’s call to the Salvation Army, and he went to England for a while. Then he returned to India with a group of Salvationists. When they arrived on September 19 1882, the “Police-superintendent Harry Brewin loomed in view. “When,” he asked Tucker point-blank, “will the other members of the party land?” Puzzled, Tucker replied, “We are the whole of the Army.” For a moment Brewin was speechless. Martial advance billing had claimed the Salvation Army would “storm” India- but how could three men and a girl provoke bloody riots? “We were expecting you to arrive a thousand strong,” he explained sheepishly.” (92)
This was a time of intense ‘incarnational ministry.’ Tucker demanded that when a Salvationist came to India he or she leave England for good. There was no chance to return when things were too difficult. They also left their English dress behind, adopting instead an Indian style of clothing, with army colours. This was culturally necessary, because as one Indian put it, “We will accept Christ when He takes off His hat, trousers and boots.” (95)
Some notable quotes from General Next To God:
“The best men in my Army are the women” –General William Booth
“If the Devil doesn’t attack us, we ought to attack him.” –Ada Smith
Then in the afternoon we went to the Blue Island corps to practice marching for the Fourth of July parade. We first practiced in the gym of the building, but needed to march farther to get the full effect. So we went to a park down the street, and marched around and around it. This caused a bit of a stir at the nearby swimming pool. As we marched past, children crowded to the fence to watch with great expectation.
I had a prayer shift that afternoon. It was one of the best ones. God was speaking to me about my heart’s condition.
“When we ask Jesus into our hearts, we are asking for love to come into our hearts: we are asking for the embodiment of Love. We want to be such an embodiment. Help me to truly worship you in spirit and truth. I pray you would give me ears to listen to _____ and hear what they truly need.
God, I’ve told people this is what you wanted for my summer, and I am beginning to see more and more why. This is hard Lord, such a time of trial and testing. And maybe all of life will be like this. But it will lead to being gold. The story of Paul’s eyes [Acts 9:18] and the scales falling away, the story of Eustace’s dragon scales coming off [the Voyage of the Dawn Treader, by C.S. Lewis]: This is me father, my heart is coated in these scales. I know you care and love these kids, but my heart is scaled over. Break the crust off my heart. Give me renewed love. I knew I needed to grow in prayer and discipleship (how to) and boldness in sharing Christ, but you don’t look at those things, do you? You see my heart. Those are the exercises that work the kinks out, that get the scales off. Those are the cleansing blood to wash my sin away.” Amen.
Kirsten Aho
Today we ate delicious breakfast. It is always a nice thing to eat breakfast. I think we had pop tarts.
Then Kirsten W, Cathleen and I went to the store to buy food for everyone. Everyone else went to Salvationism 2 with David W. When I came back later, during the class, it was really interesting. We are reading The General Next to God, a historical account by Richard Collier, and discussing that during our Salvationism classes. The chapters we went over were about things like the Skeleton Army, and Frederick Tucker-Booth, also known as Fakir Sing (AKA the “Lion of God”).
The Skeleton Army did not like the Salvation Army. They sprang up in opposition to the Salvation Army, and would throw things like dead cats and mud and rotten food and bricks at the Salvationists as they marched through town on the way to a meeting. “Through it all Booth stood bolt upright in his carriage, mud and dead cats hurtling past him, his face a graven mask as he barked crisp orders.” (106)
Tucker was a civil-servant in India when he heard God’s call to the Salvation Army, and he went to England for a while. Then he returned to India with a group of Salvationists. When they arrived on September 19 1882, the “Police-superintendent Harry Brewin loomed in view. “When,” he asked Tucker point-blank, “will the other members of the party land?” Puzzled, Tucker replied, “We are the whole of the Army.” For a moment Brewin was speechless. Martial advance billing had claimed the Salvation Army would “storm” India- but how could three men and a girl provoke bloody riots? “We were expecting you to arrive a thousand strong,” he explained sheepishly.” (92)
This was a time of intense ‘incarnational ministry.’ Tucker demanded that when a Salvationist came to India he or she leave England for good. There was no chance to return when things were too difficult. They also left their English dress behind, adopting instead an Indian style of clothing, with army colours. This was culturally necessary, because as one Indian put it, “We will accept Christ when He takes off His hat, trousers and boots.” (95)
Some notable quotes from General Next To God:
“The best men in my Army are the women” –General William Booth
“If the Devil doesn’t attack us, we ought to attack him.” –Ada Smith
Then in the afternoon we went to the Blue Island corps to practice marching for the Fourth of July parade. We first practiced in the gym of the building, but needed to march farther to get the full effect. So we went to a park down the street, and marched around and around it. This caused a bit of a stir at the nearby swimming pool. As we marched past, children crowded to the fence to watch with great expectation.
I had a prayer shift that afternoon. It was one of the best ones. God was speaking to me about my heart’s condition.
“When we ask Jesus into our hearts, we are asking for love to come into our hearts: we are asking for the embodiment of Love. We want to be such an embodiment. Help me to truly worship you in spirit and truth. I pray you would give me ears to listen to _____ and hear what they truly need.
God, I’ve told people this is what you wanted for my summer, and I am beginning to see more and more why. This is hard Lord, such a time of trial and testing. And maybe all of life will be like this. But it will lead to being gold. The story of Paul’s eyes [Acts 9:18] and the scales falling away, the story of Eustace’s dragon scales coming off [the Voyage of the Dawn Treader, by C.S. Lewis]: This is me father, my heart is coated in these scales. I know you care and love these kids, but my heart is scaled over. Break the crust off my heart. Give me renewed love. I knew I needed to grow in prayer and discipleship (how to) and boldness in sharing Christ, but you don’t look at those things, do you? You see my heart. Those are the exercises that work the kinks out, that get the scales off. Those are the cleansing blood to wash my sin away.” Amen.
Kirsten Aho
Wednesday, July 04, 2007
Band of Survivors Team Update 8
Waking up after the first night at the CFOT (College For Officer’s Training) was pretty amazing. It was perfect morning of rest. We all took the time to finish up our laundry and just hang out. I took the time to call family and friends who might be far off doing their own thing. Even though I live here at the college I rarely make trips up to my house. After sitting around all morning, we went on to have morning worship along with a pray the bible session. It was an incredible time of pure worship with E. Himes on the guitar and God there to receive our hearts. Then in Pray the Bible we focused on the blessing of God’s redemptive grace that is there for each and every one of us (with Ephesians 1:3-13 and Psalm 51 as our guide).
Once that had ended, we had a break for lunch and then we came back together for what is known as Salvation Circle. For those who don’t know what the Salvation Circle is I’ll explain the concept. As a group you come together and one after the other explain how you found Salvation or better how Salvation found you. While giving your testimony you also speak out what you face today because the sins that we currently have in our lives can and will keep us from salvation if we don’t continue to give them up to God’s plan and purpose for our lives (see the 9th doctrine of the Salvation Army).
It was a freeing experience to say the very least and there are no amount that can be said to truly explain the fact that we are redeemed from our sins. We took the time after each time of sharing to pray for each other because, as we’ve learned through hiding scripture in our hearts (and our BOS Tephillim scripture pouches): “Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.” James 5:16. This process took quite a few hours with our twenty-three person Band of Survivors but, it was more than worth it.
That evening I had a prayer shift during the barbecue given to us by the Aho family. I came in at the end and they were laughing it up while playing four square. In that time of prayer I really spoke with God about making a commitment to His ways. I realized that in washing me clean He separates the sins of my past from my present identity. This fact gave great joy with sudden peace but I prayed that it would not burn out. I prayed for fully compassionate, aggressive, love-filled, faithful obedience. In other words I prayed for THE FIRE.
We finished a night with a training college classic Capture the Flag. Our team of CFOTers won the first game and the second game went so long that we just gave up strategy and let them have the win. All in all it was a good day.
Dietrich Hunter
Waking up after the first night at the CFOT (College For Officer’s Training) was pretty amazing. It was perfect morning of rest. We all took the time to finish up our laundry and just hang out. I took the time to call family and friends who might be far off doing their own thing. Even though I live here at the college I rarely make trips up to my house. After sitting around all morning, we went on to have morning worship along with a pray the bible session. It was an incredible time of pure worship with E. Himes on the guitar and God there to receive our hearts. Then in Pray the Bible we focused on the blessing of God’s redemptive grace that is there for each and every one of us (with Ephesians 1:3-13 and Psalm 51 as our guide).
Once that had ended, we had a break for lunch and then we came back together for what is known as Salvation Circle. For those who don’t know what the Salvation Circle is I’ll explain the concept. As a group you come together and one after the other explain how you found Salvation or better how Salvation found you. While giving your testimony you also speak out what you face today because the sins that we currently have in our lives can and will keep us from salvation if we don’t continue to give them up to God’s plan and purpose for our lives (see the 9th doctrine of the Salvation Army).
It was a freeing experience to say the very least and there are no amount that can be said to truly explain the fact that we are redeemed from our sins. We took the time after each time of sharing to pray for each other because, as we’ve learned through hiding scripture in our hearts (and our BOS Tephillim scripture pouches): “Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.” James 5:16. This process took quite a few hours with our twenty-three person Band of Survivors but, it was more than worth it.
That evening I had a prayer shift during the barbecue given to us by the Aho family. I came in at the end and they were laughing it up while playing four square. In that time of prayer I really spoke with God about making a commitment to His ways. I realized that in washing me clean He separates the sins of my past from my present identity. This fact gave great joy with sudden peace but I prayed that it would not burn out. I prayed for fully compassionate, aggressive, love-filled, faithful obedience. In other words I prayed for THE FIRE.
We finished a night with a training college classic Capture the Flag. Our team of CFOTers won the first game and the second game went so long that we just gave up strategy and let them have the win. All in all it was a good day.
Dietrich Hunter
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
Band of Survivors Team Update 7
Today was a lot of firsts, it was are first Sunday and are first day at CFOT. Dave W preached on the passage in Romans about being more than conquers. Afterwards the Officers of the corps—Captain Jeff Carr—took us to eat at this great gyro place. When we had finished eating we departed for CFOT. When we got there we unpacked quickly and found out who are roommates would be for the week. We went over the rules and took a tour of the campus. After everyone was all settled in, we went to play, what else but Dodgeball. Over all it was a great day.
Noe Rivera
Today was a lot of firsts, it was are first Sunday and are first day at CFOT. Dave W preached on the passage in Romans about being more than conquers. Afterwards the Officers of the corps—Captain Jeff Carr—took us to eat at this great gyro place. When we had finished eating we departed for CFOT. When we got there we unpacked quickly and found out who are roommates would be for the week. We went over the rules and took a tour of the campus. After everyone was all settled in, we went to play, what else but Dodgeball. Over all it was a great day.
Noe Rivera
Monday, July 02, 2007
Band of Survivors Team Update 6
Good day all! Today we spent the day at Waukegan Citadel. We put on a car wash for the corps, and we assisted in their rummage sale (I got Unger’s Bible Dictionary for $1!). The people of the corps were very appreciative of our help. The money we raised from the carwash (somewhere over $200) is being used to send delegates to the National Seminar on Evangelism. Partnering with them in this was a good experience. I’ve heard a lot about that conference and it was good that we could help send them there.
The worship band practiced today for Sunday as well. The band is trying to get used to playing together, but it can be hard at first. Still, we’re all good players and we’re ready for Sunday. We’re playing the song Christ is All. I really like that song. It’s a great song, a strong song, and it’s written by an army guy. I like the words.
When we got back to camp we packed a bit so we could leave quickly in the morning. After packing we went down to the pool for a night swim. We played water polo again which was fun. My team lost 11-10. But we had come back from 8-4, so that made me feel better. So that was our day.
David Witthoff
Good day all! Today we spent the day at Waukegan Citadel. We put on a car wash for the corps, and we assisted in their rummage sale (I got Unger’s Bible Dictionary for $1!). The people of the corps were very appreciative of our help. The money we raised from the carwash (somewhere over $200) is being used to send delegates to the National Seminar on Evangelism. Partnering with them in this was a good experience. I’ve heard a lot about that conference and it was good that we could help send them there.
The worship band practiced today for Sunday as well. The band is trying to get used to playing together, but it can be hard at first. Still, we’re all good players and we’re ready for Sunday. We’re playing the song Christ is All. I really like that song. It’s a great song, a strong song, and it’s written by an army guy. I like the words.
When we got back to camp we packed a bit so we could leave quickly in the morning. After packing we went down to the pool for a night swim. We played water polo again which was fun. My team lost 11-10. But we had come back from 8-4, so that made me feel better. So that was our day.
David Witthoff
Sunday, July 01, 2007
Band of Survivors Team Update 5
Today was marvelous. We began with breakfast and cell groups, studying Acts chapter five. A great lesson on being truthful, and preaching our faith despite the cost. Before lunch we had Salvationism Class, where we discussed chapters one and two of The General Next to God (bio on SA founder William Booth) and learned of Booth’s passion and fervor for the poor and marginalized. Booth did something seemingly simple: he looked around his city and asked, “What do the people here need?” They needed help–physically, emotionally and spiritually. His next step was to dedicate his life to do just that–help, serve, and love. Good thing he did.
Off to the Waukegan Corps–in the afternoon we did several projects including: organizing files and closets, preparing for an upcoming carnival, cleaning, and putting together War Cry’s and flyers to hand out to the surrounding community. After a delicious pizza dinner, we gathered and made final preparations for the evening meeting…and around 7:00p.m. people began arriving for the first Prayer and Praise Night of the summer. The meeting was great–lots of testimonies, worship, and a powerful message delivered by Justin Rose about not settling for anything less than God’s perfect plan (Genesis 11), with a challenge to go where you need to go and do what you need to do in order to be the best you can be for the Lord. We fellowshipped afterwards and departed for camp. Prayer shifts continued throughout the day and we are learning so much already… God is here and we are joyful!
Cathleen Himes
Today was marvelous. We began with breakfast and cell groups, studying Acts chapter five. A great lesson on being truthful, and preaching our faith despite the cost. Before lunch we had Salvationism Class, where we discussed chapters one and two of The General Next to God (bio on SA founder William Booth) and learned of Booth’s passion and fervor for the poor and marginalized. Booth did something seemingly simple: he looked around his city and asked, “What do the people here need?” They needed help–physically, emotionally and spiritually. His next step was to dedicate his life to do just that–help, serve, and love. Good thing he did.
Off to the Waukegan Corps–in the afternoon we did several projects including: organizing files and closets, preparing for an upcoming carnival, cleaning, and putting together War Cry’s and flyers to hand out to the surrounding community. After a delicious pizza dinner, we gathered and made final preparations for the evening meeting…and around 7:00p.m. people began arriving for the first Prayer and Praise Night of the summer. The meeting was great–lots of testimonies, worship, and a powerful message delivered by Justin Rose about not settling for anything less than God’s perfect plan (Genesis 11), with a challenge to go where you need to go and do what you need to do in order to be the best you can be for the Lord. We fellowshipped afterwards and departed for camp. Prayer shifts continued throughout the day and we are learning so much already… God is here and we are joyful!
Cathleen Himes
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