In Kenya, drilling wells was about providing physical water and the gift of life through that water, which would open doors for the living water of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This summer I have gone back to the roots of what caused and introduced me to this passion, Christ in Youth.
My philosophy has always been "Where You Go I'll Go." This summer God has got me on an incredible adventure with Christ in Youth. This is something that is also near and dear to my heart because attending CIY is what changed my life forever. At CIY I was introduced to the water crisis. At CIY I experienced God in a way I never had before. And lastly, at CIY God called me into full time ministry, something I had rejected once before. I feel privileged this summer to be interning at Christ in Youth specifically because I feel that I am able to give back and help change lives of students as my life was changed.
I have spent a week here in Joplin and I have already learned so much that I don't think that I could even begin to explain. I'll start with what I am doing this summer and some highlights of this past week.
I will be the Backstage Manager for six MOVE events this summer. I will be at Johnson University, Milligan College, Panama City, and in the Ozarks of Missouri. I will be helping set-up, tear down, manage who comes on and off stage, the major props, facilitation and direction of speakers and bands on and off stage. My job is crucial because I will never be seen, but what I am responsible for is always seen.
MOVE's summer theme is "When Heaven and Earth Collide," pulling from the Sermon on the Mount. I think this is awesome because something that I have learned this past year is that EVERYTHING Jesus said or did pertains to this Sermon. I have come to know it as Jesus' Manifesto, meaning that this is the core of what Jesus thought became application. It is practical. It is the way we are supposed to think and act. It goes deeper than just meaningless actions, and is more than just philosophical thought. In order to be like Jesus, we must live out and think in the terms of every aspect within the Sermon on the Mount.
These thought have already been a challenge for me this week with this past working week. I spoke of the challenges it took to adapt in Kenya, during my first blog entry, but these challenges are similar but different. In Kenya they simply didn't have, so it was easy to focus on what we were doing and the physical nature of water we aimed to provide. This summer is an aim to focus on the spiritual, I must constantly attempt to have the mind of Christ. His attitude was never poor even when persecuted. He prayed for them. The long hours and the tough work, with everything provided for me, is a mental battle to keep in good spirits and think positively and not complain or negatively think of others and the way in which we may do things differently. This is just some of the challenges have posed the first week of learning and adapting here in Joplin, MO.
I have a great team and I am thankful for them. I am thankful for my fiancee Ruth because after one month of being engaged I have taken off to do this internship. Lastly I am incredibly thankful that God has allowed me to be apart of something again that is bigger than myself and that He has chosen me to be apart of impacting the lives of students all across the country. I am blessed.
Prayer Requests
- Have the mind of Christ- do not get down, but focus on the mission of the Gospel
- For me to relinquish control
- Know that God's ways of doing things is better than my own
- Be open to being taught and molded by experts
- Grow spiritually
- Love those who I may not get along with
