Thursday, March 12, 2009

It's March Already...Update!

To say that February flew by would be a great understatement. February had us blazing trails across Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Tennessee. At the beginning of the month, we partnered with Baptist Bible College in Clarks Summit, PA to put on their Spring Missions Conference entitled “Live Like the World is Dying.” This was the first time ABWE has been asked to do something of this scale at a college campus. So along with about 30 other of our staff, we set out to tackle the campus.


The week was incredible as we stressed urgency as we live missionally. The week focused on the local church and the commission that Jesus gave to the church to make disciples of all nations. That task requires involvement of each person, regardless of location or vocation. We enjoyed refocusing on God and identifying with Him so that our lives and work flow from a solid relationship that seeks His Kingdom first. It was wonderful interacting with students who wanted to sit down and just discuss what God was doing around the world. One of the cool things we implemented was an interactive prayer room. Throughout the week, students spent 5 hours praying for the nations. About 100 people were in the room at a time and navigated through prompt stations that encouraged us to engage in global work through prayer. It was a great week!


From BBC, we traveled down to Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia for their Spring Missions Conference. The pace for the week was slightly more relaxing since we didn’t have to run things. Returning to Lynchburg is like going home for us in many ways so it was a wonderful week to connect with friends, engage with students, and help train students preparing to go out all across the world this summer. Specifically, we trained teams heading to India, Nepal, and a survey team that will visit the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, and Croatia. We were also able to participate in Next Steps – a 1-on-1 mentorship weekend for students interested in career missions. We also got to spend some time with Kelsey and Riley, which was AWESOME! We miss our families so it’s always good when we can connect. The week was incredible and we’re thankful for the partnerships we have with schools across the US. We’re continually encouraged by the progression students are making as they follow the way God is leading them.


After Liberty, we went down to Tennessee Temple University in Chattanooga, Tennessee. We spend a few days meeting with students and sharing in several different classes. It was exciting to connect with several students from TTU’s Student Missions Fellowship and hear what God is doing in their hearts and lives. We have several students from TTU heading to various parts of the ABWE world this summer so it was a beneficial time for us to talk logistics and nail down some details.

All in all, a GREAT February! Once we got home on February 28th, we were able to transition into a different apartment and catch up on office work. We’re glad to be home pretty much for the next two months before I head back to India and Whitney leads a team to Nicaragua. We have many students we are working with who are heading out on teams and for internships this summer. God is good and we’re continually grateful to be a part of His global work! Thanks to each of you for your continued prayers and encouragement!