SEND Ministries Staff Interns

REACH

2011-11-04T14:50:29Z

It's the end of week ten of DTS 2011; only three more weeks till the teams fly. The weeks have meshed together and it's hard to believe that we're in the beginning stages of the end. Practicum has come and gone, which marked the halfway mark. Some of teams came back a little more ghetto than when they left (Chili in Detroit)! Last weekend was the silent retreat, one of my favorite weeks of DTS. We all went to Clifton Gorge on Friday and hiked there along the river. It was beautiful. God spoke to all of us through His creation. After the end of the retreat we were asked the question, "what is silence for you?" Some of the things people said about silence was: rest, humbling, eye-opening, and convicting. It was really cool to see how much God is in the silence. So often we forget He is there waiting to speak to us because we drown Him out with all the noise in our life.

]]> This week was our world awareness week. We ate rice and beans for all three meals, took bucket showers, went without electricity, slept without mattresses for a night so we are now officially aware of the world. The REACHERS have been learning about different religions and how they can best portray the gospel. Last night we had our world awareness meal, which means that we split up into five different social classes. We had some beggars, non-working low class, working low-class, middle class, and high class. We all had to act in a certain way according to our class and role. The roles were of course very much stereotypical. I found it very interesting and eyeopening. I was in the non-working low class and all we had was rice to eat and our role was to be rude and very much we deserve everything we get. It was almost maddening to watch as the high and middle class kept getting plates of noodles when all we had was plain rice with no silverware. And I wondered afterwards how much are we doing that now. How much are we aware of the world and its suffering and yet we chose to ignore it? I attended church with the Morocco team two weeks ago and the sermon was on Acts 3, where Peter and John are about to enter the temple and see a lame man sitting by the gate. Instead of ignoring and going about their business, they chose to engage. Peter saw him and acted. It would have been so easy for him to just walk by and go in the temple to pray. But he didn't. How often do we as the church, the ones with the blessing, ignore those hurting around us? I have been challenged by this lately.
A big theme that has stood out to all of us as a training has been the idea of "do you love me?" The training led chapel at RBC and they did a skit and sermon talking on, "do you love me, then feed my sheep." We've been grappling with thoughts like: okay, if we say we love Him, then what are we doing about it? How are we proving that we are loving Him? Another words, how are we living our lives? It's been really cool to see how these young people are searching after God's heart. I've seen so much growth happen over the last three months. It's exciting to see that God is moving in our generation. Even though there is so much deception in the world, there are those who are taking a stand and wanting to make a difference.
One thing I have really enjoyed about this years training is LTG (Life Transforming Group) Every Tuesday over lunch we split into five different groups by gender and we just talk about real things. It's a hour where we are all totally honest with each other about where we are at in life. There are certain questions we have to ask each week as a way of keeping each other accountable. It's a good way to connect on a deeper level and intercede for each other. I'm going to miss getting together with the girls in my group.
Another thing that has been really fun for me, is the adoption of a team. I am the Nepal's team Mom and it's been so much fun spoiling them. I get to go on life-groups ever now and then with them. My favorite was when we went put putting and we all came back speaking in British accents! I also get to take a deeper look into their lives by reading their journals each week and see just how cool they really are.
Training is almost over. Please pray for safety as the teams prepare to fly. Also for an awesome last time with their families over Thanksgiving break. Pray for God's peace as the teams think about leaving everything behind. Blessings in Christ,
Sam

What's been happening in Reach?

2011-09-28T02:42:38Z

Hello to everyone,
We are now head long into the swings of Reach. We are in our fifth week of DTS. God has been so good and I have already seen Him working here.
The first couple weeks was a lot of getting to know each other and getting comfortable with each other. We have all really grown close and are like a big family. When I think about all the different individual's God brought to Reach this year, I am excited. He has so much in store for them. We have an awesome group of people here who love the Lord and have chosen to pursue Him with their lives. Just seeing their hearts to surrender things over to the Lord has been crazy good.

Last week was what we call, "Ministry Week." What this means is, that this week is set aside for each Reacher to focus on their own personal walk with Christ. To spend time seeking the Father as to whether there is anything that they need to ask forgiveness for, extend forgiveness for, or receive healing from. It can be from anytime in their lives. It's a time of much prayer, confessing, and encouraging each other. God was moving through this week. He brought courage, brokeness, healing, freedom, and so much more. It was a good bonding time for all of us. God is really challenging people and drawing them deeper to Himself.
Some hightlights for me:
One would be, three or four times a week Kristyn (one of the Reachers) and I go walking in the morning in the neighbourhood. I love having this chance to talk with her and catch up while we do our exercise.
One night I went with the Malawi team on their lifegroup. Lifegroup is just a set aside time for the team to do something together, just their team. Well, since I am the Malawi team's sponser, they invited me to join them. It was lots of fun. We first went to the World Market store. This place has lots of different things from different places around the world. It has from cards to food. It is a fun place to browse through. After that we then went to Cup O'Joe and played Rook. I love hanging out with Jeremy, Kristyn, Nathan, and Ally. They are lots of fun.
Another hightlight would be some of the speakers we have had here. I loved hearing about character and what Godly character would be. I also enjoyed the session on Worship by Michael Hansen. His heart for worship shines through as he teaches.
I know this only gives you a little window into what has been happening around here but hopefully it has left you with a little more understand of what God is doing here. God has been faithful and He will continue to be so. He is good. May His peace rest on each of you. Take care, Rachel

Summer's Close

2011-08-08T19:32:54Z

The time has come. Our summer crammed full of City Challenge is over. In fact it has been over for a few weeks now. Since then the staff have been able to hang out at Conference been able to take a much needed break and are now back and ready for go for REACH to start! It does feel like everything is go go go all the time around here but it has been, is, and will continue to be so rewarding. We have seen the Lord working in such cool ways this summer so that makes us twice as excited for whats to come this fall.

As we see the Lord work we can't help but be changed by it. Here are some thoughts from the staff about this summer and what it was like for them. To all you City Challengers keep up the MOMENTUM!! Thanks for a sweet summer!

The past 2 months of City Challenge has been great. This summer I have seen the Lord move in so many amazing ways in each group that came into the RIC. Probably one of the things that stood out to me the most was just how faithful God was to me each week. Anybody that has gone through the City Challenge program knows that it is not a week known for lots of rest. The pace is very fast and week in and week out can be extremely wearing on the body both physically and mentally but the lord week in and week out gave me the energy that I needed to keep going. It was amazing to hear from the different groups how I and the rest of the staff where being used by God in ways that we didn't even know and at times even when we didn't feel like giving anything. If there is one thing I learned about God this summer it is that he is faithful to complete what he starts and he can use anybody to do it. It was a very trying summer but I learned a lot about God and about myself. One of the highlights each week for me was the Prayer Walk. The groups would walk around the Shepard Community and pray for the people in the community. It was great to hear the different stories each group had every week. It was cool how the people in the neighborhood knew why we were out each week and what we were doing. One time a car even stopped and asked a group if they were going around praying for people because they wanted prayer themselves. It was a great way to bless the neighborhood and show the kids that it was something that they could do in their own home towns. Over all it was a very tiring and stretching summer but also very rewarding.
Toby

Wow, how do you go about trying to sum up a summer in one paragraph? I have to say, God is so faithful and good. He was so faithful to show up each week of City Challenge and speak into the young people's lives. I loved building relationships with the young people and just being apart of what God was doing here. I want to share a story with you that was really neat for me personally. On Wednesday nights, we take the young people out and do different outreaches to homeless people. One Wednesday night I helped to lead a group of young people at "Fruit of the Vine" which is an outreach that drives around to different homeless camps, praying for people, giving out food and clothes, and building friendships. On this particular night, I met a young lady who had been at this homeless camp for not that long. Soon after introducing myself and talking with her, she began to share her story. A little while ago, she had given up her home and moved in with her brother along with her children. Soon after, though, her brother started to be abusive and she knew she couldn't stay there. She had no where to go so she ended up on the streets while someone took in her children. She said how she had grown up in the church and had been very involved in her youth group. She never thought she would end up here. My heart went out to her. What is the difference between her and me? Nothing. We are both human and loved by God. It just reminded me of how much I have to be thankful and how there are so many people who just need someone to love on them and be there friend. I can do that. So this summer the young people coming to City Challenge were not the only ones being challenged but I was as well. I am so thankful for all that God has been teaching me and just for Him allowing me to be apart of His work here through City Challenge.
Rachel

There is no doubt that God was working in and around the RIC this summer. From the very little (answered prayers for good weather, energy that didn't run out, etc.), to the very big (a gracious and accepting staff, changed lives, times of healing, and so much more), God was moving and making himself known in Columbus.

I began the summer by asking God to open doors for me to share a deep and intentional connection with one girl from each group. With only 5 days to establish a friendship worthy of trust and influence, this was a bigger request than initially thought. Though this was asking much, week after week God continually brought a specific girl to my attention - every week! Through common hurts, through shared experiences, or even a cheesy sense of humor - God used my flaws and failures as a way to draw young hearts to His own, as we shared and lifted one another up and spurred each other on to dig deeper.

A song that we worshipped with each week this summer says, "Jesus, hold me into your heart, into your heart. And Lord, my soul delights, and I know you hear my prayer. Take me deeper, Lord." We serve a God that is living and active; He hears our prayers. It continues, "And by Your love, Lord You've opened my heart, and Your light will shine always. And by Your Word, Lord your promise secure, and my soul will live always." We love because He first loved us, and He invites us to share in His work.

God didn't need to use me this summer to accomplish all the great things He did, but he invites me to present my life to him as a living offering. He invited me to go deeper into His heart, and by doing so He has blessed me by using me as an instrument to do His work. God is most certainly alive and well here in Columbus, and we will continue to press on to reflect His light and love to our community.
Beth

City challenge has been incredible, my emotions are so bittersweet coming out of this stage. I have never been so blessed, energized, worn out and tired at the same time. To me the most amazing part of City challenge was simply God's faithfulness in everything even the little things and how He worked in and threw the kids each week. I will share a few stories. A big thing was that every day that it was raining and we needed to have outreach, prayer walk, prayer challenge or anything outside God would always take away the rain when we needed gone. I remember one time specifically, I woke up and looked out side to it dumping down rain, we had one of our largest groups here and I couldn't just change up outreaches. So us staff prayed about it clearing up from 1-4 when we had outreach. We went and looked at the hourly forecast after that. It said that rain was 85% up until 1, then from 1-4 it was only 15% and then 4 till evening was back to 85%...and it did exactly that. It rained until 12:30ish and then didn't rain again until a little after 4. Seriously all summer every time that it was going to rain God would always clear it up for us! Another story we were doing our brown bag outreach where we pack lunches and walk around downtown Columbus passing out lunches and water to people and then ask if we can pray for them. The one group came up to a man down on his luck at a bus stop and asked him if he would like prayer. He said yes, and that he had just got off work from a 12 hour shift and his ride had left without him and it was a 2 hour walk home and he had no money and needed a bus pass or ride or something. So they prayed for him, he was grateful and then they were walking away when they heard him yell "stop, wait. God really does answer prayers!!!" as he was running towards them waving a bus pass that someone gave him in his hand. Another time on brown bagging we ran into a guy named Justin that I had giving lunches to almost all 8 weeks but he would never receive prayer. Of all the people down on their luck he stood out to me as being truly down and homeless, I had seen him big up cigarette butts from the ground and try and smoke them. Anyways both of our brown bag groups gave him lunches without knowing it and we both asked to pray for him and he shot us down. Both of us groups felt something very dark and hard there. So both groups without knowing bout the other stopped and prayed for him and whatever that was in his life causing him to reject prayer. The next day at prayer challenge a group bought him lunch, ate with him and then asked if they could pray for him...he said YES!! He is someone that I have been praying for a long time and it pumped me up and the group so much!! I could go on forever but I'll stop there. I saw God change so many kids, I saw them grow in knowing who their God is, what it means to be running this race as a Christian and how that should look, and just the truth of God and who He is in their lives. I saw people become clean and give everything up to the Lord at very young ages, I saw relationships healed and love for each other and for complete strangers in every group. I have never been so blessed to be a part of and be used by God in such great ways. God aloud us all to speak truth and love into so many kids lives, yet we were always blessed by the groups and people just as much. So ya these past 8 weeks of City Challenge have given me hope, joy, courage, strength, love, passion, and influence in who I am, who God is, in this generation, and who God is to me. I can honestly say that no one has a better job than me, because I get to see lives transformed for and by God!!

Our God is faithful
Brian "BAM" Troyer

I learned so much this summer, so much that it's hard to sum it all up. Every week I learned something new about God. How He is a provider of energy, and how His faithfulness is new every morning. How we are there to be a blessing but yet end up being blessed in return. I was impacted and humbled the most by the fact that I was a vessel sharing only a small portion of His love. There were so many ministry nights or days when I didn't feel like I had anything to give, but then God would come and surprise me. I remember smiling at how God had showed up through my prayers. Who am I? It's humbling to be apart of His Kingdom work. I never want to take for granted what I hear from Him. I saw God use everyone of us staff this summer. In every way, small and big, it was all for His glory. And he chose to let us be apart of that. Wow!
One thing that's really cool about City Challenge is that it's challenging for the youth groups that come in, but on the flip side it's also challenging for us as staff. I know for myself there were several different times when I was challenged in my faith by some of the groups. It also challenged me in my leadership skills. I remember the first time I led a group to a soup kitchen that I had never been to. I was terrified! How was I to be confident and act like I knew what I was doing when I had no clue? It ended up being a good thing and God used us there that day. It's cool to think that the kids leave having learned something new but so did we as staff. The biggest thing for me this summer was that God speaks in real and personal ways. But He doesn't just speak to the people that we think He should speak to. We often create stereotypes in our heads of what a Christian should like and how they should act. But I saw Christians this summer that didn't look like your typical Christian. Yet their faith was bigger than mine. Their joy was greater. And God was speaking to them. I think so often we forget that God looks at the heart. So I was not only challenged by some of the groups that came in, but by the people that we interacted with during outreach. I hope I never put myself in the position where I can't be challenged by simple faith. All in all I came away from City Challenge with a better view of who my God is. City Challenge was probably the hardest and yet the most faith building summer of my life.
Sam

As I reflect back on what has been the best summer of my life so far, I can only thank God for the priviledge of being a part of what He did here. Being a summer urban volunteer at the Rosedale International Center was an awesome experience! Working together with the program facilitator, Austin Beachy, the staff interns, Sam, Rachel, Brian, Toby, and Jesse, and the other summer urban volunteer, Beth, was awesome in itself. As a team, we saw God work in amazing ways throughout the two months of running the City Challenge program. And He did not restrict Himself to working solely in the lives of the youth groups that came each week; He worked in our lives as well.

I would like to share two of the many, many ways we saw His hand this summer. One way was prior to the groups even arriving. Wednesday mornings were our prep time each week that we had a group coming. As our team had a group devotional, sang, and prayed specifically for the groups, God would reveal to us His heart for the group coming as well as specific areas that we were to target with prayer. Every time, Scripture and words we received that morning were applicable throughout the week. Another way that we saw God at work was in the enormous growth that we saw in many lives of the youth from the time they arrived to the time they left. Those who came having never prayed for a stranger or shared their faith often found themselves enjoying it, or at least not afraid of it anymore. Many were set free from bondages in their lives, while others learned how much God loves them.

1 Corinthians 3:7, "So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth" (NASB), took on new meaning for me this summer. My team had the priviledge of being tools in God's hands as he worked in the lives of the young people, but none of us can take any credit for what He did. We serve a MIGHTY GOD who is at work here and around the world!!! I'm so glad He allowed me to be involved for two months in what He is doing here in Columbus, Ohio. "Greater things have yet to come, and greater things are still to be done in this city.
Heidi

So the summer has been crazy, stretching, out of control and so much fun. It has been crazy for the simple fact that we had 300 some kids come through City Challenge this year. It was nuts most of the time. I am not really sure how we made it through other than God was giving us energy and the strength to go on. So over the summer I again learned to trust in God no matter what came our way or how tired we where. That we can always trust in Him no matter what comes our way.
The stretching part of the summer was that we had 300 plus kids come in and trying to connect with them and learning their names was really stretching. We also had to just be flex able with things that where going on. A lot of the weeks didn’t always go the way that other weeks had gone. So we had to work on the fly sometimes. So being flexible was a wonderful thing to be able to do.
The out of control part was pretty much the whole summer. We had so much fun just getting to know all the kids and just talking with them.
Well the whole summer was pretty much awesome. It was fun and it was wonderful to see God show up every week and just blow us away with how awesome that He was. I have seen God show up and blow us away with some crazy stuff. It was a wonderful summer and one of the most crazy summers that I have ever had.

Jesse

Our God is Greater

2011-07-20T04:43:00Z

So the past 4 weeks have been nothing but City Challenge here at the RIC. Every week is the same but different. Logistics stay the same, but God shows up in new and personal ways every week. It's awesome to see how much the kids learn in just five days and how God blows them out of their puddles and into His ocean. When I signed up for this job I wasn't expecting so much of the hands on ministry. I'm often times blown away by how much we are His hands and feet here at the RIC and how much we are able to speak into so many lives. It's an awesome opportunity. This summer has taken us all on a wild ride, one that I think we're all ready to be finished with. There's been times when we as staff (last week) haven't felt like there was anything else in us that we could possibly give. But the verse that says when we are weak you are made strong has become truth in all our lives. God has not only showed up in the lives of the kids that come every week but ours as well. He has shown us His love that goes above and beyond what we need so that we might pour that out on the City Challengers. He never fails to fill us up when we are empty. It's encouraging to see the kids leave here with a deeper desire to follow Christ. One of the recent City Challengers posted on our City Challenge page on facebook saying that he had prayed for a lady at Wal-Mart. We were all encouraged by this and so thankful for the work that God continues to do in their lives when they leave the RIC.
With the end of the summer comes DTS and thoughts about going home. What will the next year look like for us? Our lives have been laid out for us here and now that they're not it's a little scary. Pray for us that God will give us guidance as we think about going home. We appreciate all the prayers!!
Sam

City Challenge #2

2011-06-28T19:01:23Z

So these last two weeks have been a little bit crazy. We had two youth groups here for City Challenge. They where pretty big youth groups. So we had around 55 kids plus leaders running around here. But it was a lot of fun in seeing God work in the lives of the kids that have come here. Every week we can't wait to see God come and work in the lives of the kids that come here. There has not been a week that we have come away disappointed. But any way back to the groups that where here. We had a wonderful time doing homeless outreach on Wednesday. Thursday was the prayer challenge. The kids came back with some interesting stories and some real God experiences. It was wonderful to see how the kids saw God working in the city and in the people that they meet. For the staff it is good in the fact that we get a little break from the craziness that is going on here at the RIC.
Friday was more outreach in the community and work projects here at the RIC. Its a chance for the kids to show the love of God to those that don't know Him. Or maybe they do but still need some help. It is a way for the kids to work and help those around us. Then we have ministry night on Friday night. One of nights that I like the best. To see God work in the lives of the kids and see them give stuff to God and watch him work in their lives.
Saturday is more outreach and work projects. It is just a time for us as staff to pour into the lives of these kids and to just talk with them. Then Sunday was church, clean, pack and wrap up. It is a sad time because the kids are leaving. So there is some picture taking and some tears but we work through it just fine. Through the week we are seeing God really work in the lives of the kids that come through city challenge. It is a wonderful thing to see and to be apart of. It is pretty mind blowing to see God work.
Then this last week we had our staff retreat. We went to Stacy Mullet's cabin to just have some soul care and for a time of relaxing. We had a fun time just riding 4 wheelers and riding some trails. We got some good blisters from chopping down trees and chopping up trees. But it was all fun so it was worth the pain?
We made a big water slide out of plastic and had a lot of fun with that and seeing how many different ways that we could go down the hill. We also went fishing and got to watch some really cool lightening storms. But all in all it was a very fun and relaxing four days. We came back feeling refreshed and rested.
So this is just a little taste of what is going on in the lives of the RIC staff.
Blessings
Jesse

Summer of City Challenge

2011-06-28T15:54:00Z

Looking back on the past week, I stand in awe of our God! This was my first time helping out with City Challenge, so I was not quite sure what to expect. I had heard from friends who participated in years past that it was a life changing experience, yet I wondered how that was possible in only one week. With the arrival of the Riverview and Agape youth groups here at the RIC Wednesday afternoon, I was about to find out.

After orientation the youth were split into small groups and sent to help out at various homeless ministries throughout the city of Columbus. The particular group that I was with went to Manna Cafe, an outreach of a local church. I was encouraged to see the enthusiasm of the youth as they helped to serve and clean up the meal that evening. However, what blessed me the most was to see them holding meaningful conversations with the homeless there during the meal. Later I would learn that for many of them volunteering in this way was a first-time experience. It was awesome to see them putting what would be one of of the major themes of the week, "stepping out of our comfort boxes," into practice right away. At debriefing that evening as each group shared their experiences, I was thrilled by the enthusiasm in the voices of the young people. God had used them to bless those in need, and they were excited. In my heart, I knew that the week was off to a good start!

What followed was four amazing days of seeing God at work in the lives of each participant. I watched as they were challenged by the teaching sessions led by Austin, Carmal, and Todd, as they joined their hearts in worship, and they were knit closer as youth groups by serving, praying, and working together. A picture forever etched in my mind is a small depiction of what God brought about this week. Sitting at the art museum, waiting to be found by the youth during the Prayer Challenge, I looked across busy Broad Street. On the steps of one of the buildings, I saw that a small group of youth had stopped to pray. They stood in a circle holding hands and, although I could not hear them, I knew their prayers were intentional. I saw a lady walking by them on the sidewalk with curiousity written all over her face. The verse popped into my mind, "By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:34). The youth showed the love of Jesus in mnay ways this past week, and I believe in doing so their lives were changed and the city of Columbus was blessed.

At the beginning of the week, I wondered how City Challenge could be a life-changing experience. By the end of the week, I knew. And I did not know from just observing the changes in the youth who came through, but also from personal experience. As I interacted with the youth, watched God work in their lives, and helped to lead their small groups, God stretched and changed me. I came away with a greater desire to be involved in what He is doing in the lives of young people, new insights into the power of prayer, and a better understanding of the unity that Jesus prayed that His followers would have. I'm so grateful to have the priviledge of being here, and I'm eagerly anticipating the next youth groups coming Wednesday. Thank you for your prayers.
Heidi Burns

Catching up from the last couple months.

2011-06-04T18:42:16Z

Here is an update that covers some of the last couple months so, sorry if am repeating somethings you've heard from the others.

Dear Family and Friends,
When I think over the last couple months, since I last wrote you all, so much has happened. There have been times, that things have been a challenge for me here and tiring. Then there's the times that have been so neat to be apart of as we've seen God work here through ministry. I hope to give you a little over view of what's been happening around here these last two months, what God has been challenging me with or speaking to me about, and just how you can be praying for me over these summer months.

Since we got here in January, Samantha and I went to Franklinton Youth group every Wednesday night as one of our outreaches. Most of the young people come from the community and just need encouraging friends to be there for them. Normally, we would go and just hang out with them and be there for the activities and Bible study time. Well, one Wednesday night, Samantha and I had been asked ahead of time to share with the girls about purity. Purity is something that is close to my heart and this was a great opportunity, but I have to admit that I was kind of scared. Think about it, it is one thing to talk about purity with girls who have been raised in a Christian home and have some background for this, and a completely different thing to be talking to girls who come to youth group but don't necessarily have a godly home or don't have spiritual role models in their parents. I prayed a lot about this and took time to try and figure out how to explain purity and why it should be applied to our lives. The week that Samantha and I were going to share, we also had a speech class with Carmal (Send's assistant director) and so I used my purity speech for that. Carmal was such a blessing. She sat down with Samantha and I and helped us to narrow down what we wanted to say and how to say it in a way that these girls could relate to. I have to thank God for His help that night. For the most part, we seemed to keep the girls attention and they seemed to be able to relate to what we had to say. Have I seen it make a change in their lives? Not necessarily in outward form but I know that truths from God were spoken and who knows how God may use that in the future.

In April, for a few days, we were able to be apart of the RMM 2020 Vision Consultation. This was a meeting of pastors and people from different CMC churches coming together, to think about and discuss what should the vision be for RMM for the next 10 years. I loved this chance to be able to gather with leaders and hear people's hearts for what they desire to see happen. I have to admit, I get excited when you talk about vision and pursing what God is up to. I know that God is doing some amazing stuff, I just hope I don't miss it.

One other highlight for me, was Samantha and I had the opportunity to join Carmal at a women's retreat in Maryland. Carmal was the guest speaker and the ladies also invited us to come as well. Samantha and I got to share small parts of our testimonies and also to do two skits that correlated with what Carmal was sharing. It was neat to see God using this time to speak to the women there and that we could be apart of it. The theme of the week, was unframed. So often in life, we put things in frames in our lives and think we can't change what is inside those frames but with Christ we can. He brakes those frames and gives us release from them. We had a time of sharing together in pairs of two or three and during this time God spoke to me through a friend, Naomi, and Scripture. I had been battling with a personal struggle off and on for the last couple years and as we shared together, I shared about this. Naomi spoke some encouraging words and reminded me of where I needed to have my focus by asking these questions. Where is your focus? Is it on yourself or Jesus? Then God brought to mind this Scripture,
"Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart." Hebrews 12:2-3

God continues to challenge me with this thought of, where is my focus? I must keep my focus on Jesus because when I focus on Him, it makes non-important things fall away and puts things into perspective. I was challenged with this again just today. Just to keep my focus on Him and not on the tasks around me or other responsibilities. Thank You Father that You are in control.

In May we had our second City Challenge group come. It was group of young people that came from a Christian school. It was awesome to see God move and work in these young peoples lives. One thing that stuck out to me for this particular week was that often I felt that we maybe weren't connecting with these young people as much as I hoped, but then closer to the end of the week, it became apparent to me that God had been moving and using us more than I could even see or realize. Thank the Father for how He moves even in the unseen. Through this week, I saw young peoples faith in God restored and challenged to pursue Him and to lean on each other. I was honored to have the privilege of leading the ministry night for the girls. One night of the week, during City Challenge, we have a night of worship and then break up into guys and girls and spend time confessing sins, sharing, lots of praying, and encouraging each other in Christ. Austin, us staff's director, asked me to lead the ministry time for the girls and that was so neat. I was so blessed by just how God moved and worked during this time. Two of the girls shared how their belief in God had been very low coming into this week but now it has been restored. Praise God!! That is why I am here doing this.

This summer, we have six more City Challenge groups coming. I am excited to see what God will continue to do here this summer. I am glad that I can be here and be apart of the work that God is doing. He is good. I would appreciate your prayers for this summer as it will be challenging at times spiritually and physically. We have three groups coming in June and three groups coming in July. When groups are here, we are doing and interacting all the time so please pray for both physical and spiritual strength. I don't want weariness to take away from the joy and excitement of what God is doing. Weariness has been a challenge for me and so I appreciate the prayers. I would ask that you would be praying for continual spiritual filling as we share out to others. Also, for protection, both spiritual and physical.

"The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold." Psalm 18:2

Thank you Father that You are all that we need. May His blessing, His strength, be upon each of you, that you would feel His presence. Thank you so much for your support and prayer.
Your sister in Christ, Rachel

From the end of one thing to the beginning of another.

2011-05-09T16:41:43Z

This past week was a little bit of everything, from chaotic to peaceful and relaxing. We all were wishing our mothers were here on Sunday for Mother's day, and some had that wish come true. So i guess a shout out to all of our mothers and the incredible impact that they have had on our lives. I know without my mother I would never have been involved with REACH and wouldn't be close to where i am today. Thanks for all your prayers and love mom!!! I love you!

OK this week was our last week of our Perspectives class. But with that we had project due on a people group, as well as two other homework assignments. So we were fairly busy with those. I tackled the two homework assignments on Monday and got them both done. It was a pretty awesome feeling to have that done already. I then proceeded to prepare a speech for our ministry and leadership class. It went really well and if your curious on how to make a delicious steak for half the price of a restaurants steak, then you should talk to me, because thats what I spoke on. I think it went well everyone was hungry afterwards....sadly no steak for lunch though. I then proceeded to finish my paper that I had been doing on reaching out to Arab, Moroccans. It was really cool to research and try to make a strategy for reaching this people group. Especially since I had been there before for a week during my time in Spain with REACH, and in that short amount of time formed a heart for the people there. This caused the paper to be extremely interesting for me and something I was able to tackle in a matter of minutes it seemed like. With that Perspectives has been an incredible class and I would recommend it to anyone. It just opened our eyes to a wider view of missions and what missions really are. Robert Coleman came and spoke at our last class and commissioned us out. He spoke on discipleship and how it is a part of missions and how it should be done. He had lots of incredible stories. He was either my favorite speaker or real close to the top at least. He had some awesome stuff and had an incredible passion for discipleship. The thing that struck me the most from this lesson was that if we do any action that is not furthering God kingdom, not discipling others then that action is all futile. Everything we should do for God it's useless if we don't. Why aren't we always trying to disciple others as well. This class has been extremely beneficial and growing for all of us...lots of homework with it but it was well worth it i think.

Jesse and I went to rebuilding together on Thursday morning, and went to Jocelyn's house, a place we have worked before, and hauled moldy boxes out of the basement, scraped paint off the window trim and repainted it, cleaned the cold air returns and repainted the registers on them as well. She was extremely kind and grateful for our help in fixing up her house. We then got to talk with some of the staff at Rebuilding Together about SEND and what we are doing, it was really cool and they really appreciate our help and our program. It was really cool and they are awesome people that need to know the Lord as well.

Oh and probably the biggest event of the week was that Samantha had surgery on her nose, she had a deviated septum, so they fixed it and cleaned out her sinuses. She is still weak and recovering from that. She has some soreness with it as well. So be praying for her recovery and health from this. Hopefully she will be raring and ready to go for city challenges coming up. Speaking of which we have our second cc next week, we have Kingsway Christian School's Sophomore class. So be praying for that as well. Also those six month teams are coming back here really soon so be praying for that as well!

We appreciate all your prayers and thoughts for us here at the RIC

God's blessing on you all,
Brian Troyer

Finding God in Detroit

2011-05-05T16:06:59Z

Well this last week was a very eventful one. All of us staff interns plus Austin went to Detroit to do our staff missions trip. We where only there from Tuesday morning to Friday morning but we got to experience a lot of different things. Our first day there was spent mostly at a free Medical and Dental clinic. They didn’t need any help inside the clinic really so we where placed on the ground crew which meant we got to go around the neighborhood and tell everybody about the clinic. This involved going door to door telling people where it was at and what was happening with the clinic as well as asking them if we could pray for them. The neighborhood we where in was actually a very bad part of town. Brian was told not to wear his sweat shirt because it was black and red which were gang colors so people might try to attack him. Needless to say nothing like that happened but we where defiantly keeping an eye out for possible attackers.

About half way through the day we split up. Samantha and I (Toby) went to an after school program called Bezalell that was run by the organization that was hosting us (Youth Works) and got to help the kids with some homework and read to some of them a little. The kids where anywhere from 10-14 years old so we got to have a lot of fun playing games with them as well. After that we went to where we would be staying which was an old monastery. We got settled in and then found out that a guy that knew the people at youth works had come over and told them that they had 6 tickets and a parking pass for the Tigers vs. Mariners Game at tiger stadium and they could have them for free. Seeing as there where 6 of us and a van that needed parking they decided to give them to us. Needless to say we took the hint from God that we where supposed to go to this game for free and got to enjoy a major league baseball game. Sadly our sixth ticket went to waist as Rachel was not feeling good.

The next day was just as packed as the first. Us guys got to go pray with a house full of guys know as “The Brothers”. They where a bunch of guys that had devoted there lives to serving Christ and also took a vow of celibacy. Each morning at 6am we would drive over to there house for an hour of prayer and worship with them. After that we got to split up again. Jesse, Brian and I got to go with brother Ed, who had helped get two soup kitchens up and running in Detroit, to an AA meeting/bible study. That was a lot of fun getting to talk to some of the people there and hear there testimonies. It was amazing to see how God was working in those peoples lives. While we did that the girls and Austin got to go help a lady known as sister Judy. Sister Judy for the past 7 years had packed 80 lunches five day a week and handed them out to the people living on the street or in rundown houses. After that we all met up again and all of us got to go to Bezalel and spend time with the kids there.

Thursday morning everybody but Austin and I went to a community garden and helped out with planting some stuff for the lady that had started it. It was amazing to see how these people where starting these rather big gardens in the middle of the city. We found out that 2/3 houses in Detroit are abandoned because of the decline in the Auto industry. 20,000 people move out of Detroit every year leaving it almost like a ghost town but that also makes room for a lot of urban farming. IT was amazing to hear the stories of how starting these gardens has brought the community together in some really cool ways and made opportunity for Christ to be shared with people that otherwise would probably never be reached out to. Also it really cleaned up some of the neighborhoods because the people were working for a common goal. After that we got to lead the last Bezalel that we went to. We got to make up some games for the kids that taught them a little about all the countries that we had been to and that was a lot of fun to play with the kids and just love on them. Most of the kids came from very broken homes and it was really cool to see how they opened up when you just showed them that you cared about them and loved them.

Over all it was an amazing week. We got to do a lot of really fun stuff and meet lots of really cool people. Above everything else though we got to see God working in a very big way. The city of Detroit is very much in need of Christ and God is working in very big ways there. It was cool to see how some of the ministries there now have sprung up from almost nothing because a person saw a need and felt God asking them to fill it. One of the coolest ministries that we got to see a little bit of was a Bakery that Brother Ed started. Brother Ed saw that there where a lot of people coming out of prison that had felonies and could not get a Job so he started a Bakery that would only hire people with felonies. After the Bakery started to blossom and do well he started turning it more into a discipleship program that would get the guys off there drug addictions and help integrate them back into society. After doing this for a while a guy from the Michigan rehab facility came in and told him that there program met every requirement to be a full fledged rehabilitation program and wanted to know how he got all of his recourses to make such an effective program and he told him “The bible”. Now the bakery has had one class of four graduate and three of them already have Jobs in the city while the fourth stayed to work at the Bakery.

Again There are lots of stories of how God is working in Detroit and other things that we experienced but it was cool to see how God was coming through in a place that seemed so hopeless. There was a lot of need for sure but God is raising people up that will one day, I believe, turn things around in Detroit and Gods glory will be shown through it.

Toby

2011-04-14T16:09:49Z

Another week here at the RIC. Where does the time go? We're all busy trying to wrap up the last of all our homework responsiblities so that we can get ready for a crazy summer! City Challenge is right around the corner!! With City Challenge comes the warm weather and we've already taken advantage of this. Monday we all changed into our get dirty garb and went to the park for some fun! It was raining and the field was mush! It wasn't long before our game of throwing the frisbee turned into let's get muddy. We made a game out of diving for the frisbee. Bam's was the best I must say. I made him dive through a puddle after he had made sure I had been throughly mudded. It was extravagant! Nothing like getting your face in the mud!! When we called it quits, we all were throughly mudded when we came back to the RIC. We took hot showers and then went out to eat at a Chinese Buffet! My only complaint was the bitter ice cream!

This past weekend we had the 2020 vision here. It was really interesting. I am not part of CMC, but it was neat to be able to hear from church leaders and gain wisdom from them. I was able to give a little wisdom too!...at least I hope it was wisdom! It was encouraging to see that people have a heart to reach out.

This weekend Rachel and I are going with Carmal to Grantsville, MD for a womens retreat. I'm looking forward to it! Rachel and I are doing a few skits and sharing our testimonies. God is going to move this weekend!

We're almost done with Perspectives. Only 4 more weeks. I will be glad to no longer have the homework hanging over my head each week, but I really enjoyed the class. I feel like it changed my perspective so much and made me think of things I'd never thought of before. I don't think I'll be able to live a normal life and be satisfied. I want to be a part of what God is doing in missions.

Samantha

God is Good!

2011-03-19T23:32:38Z

Since the exciting adventure with our first city challenge group, things have gone back to the normal routine. It was kind of hard to transition from one thing to the other and back again but God was good and I loved being a part of the city challenge group. One big change has occurred particularly in my area of work. A big part of my work has been in keeping the RIC clean and getting rooms ready for groups that come and rent the building. Well, Austin gave me the great news that they have hired someone to help cover this department of RIC. So now I have the fun of helping Angie learn the ropes and then she will be taking charge and I will work under her. I am totally fine with this as the job load was big and I felt like I couldn't adequately cover it along with all my other responsibilities. So now, I should only be working about 10 hours a week helping in cleaning the house instead of a lot more. =) I have to give God thanks for Him bringing this about. He knew that I needed this and I feel blessed. Austin was great in getting the ball rolling and letting it be known that another person was needed.
I was reading a story in 2 Kings today about Elisha. A king was upset because Elisha kept telling the king of Israel where this king's army was at. Well, he decided to capture Elisha to solve this problem. He found out which city Elisha was at, surrounded the city, and was going to capture Elisha. Well, Elisha's servant sees this vast army and asks Elisha what are we going to do. Elisha says not to fear for those who are with us are much more than those who are with them. God opened the servant's eyes and he saw all the angels that surrounded them. The story continues with God causing the army to be blinded, Elisha leads them to another place, feeds them, and sends them back to the king. After this, the king no longer tried to attack Israel. What stuck out to me was the part where Elisha explains to the servant that there are more of us than there is of them. How often do I forget how many I have on my side? God is Almighty, Powerful, and Strong. We have His forces behind us. What do we have to fear? He will be there for us. I am so thankful for this, for a God who cares about me.
When you remember us in prayer, please pray for continual team unity and strength. God is faithful and I know He has great plans for this year. He is already doing things. May you see Him around you just as the servant did.

Clinton Christian City Challenge

2011-03-17T03:29:49Z

This past week was full of new adventure for us staff interns, as we experienced our first City Challenge group!!! So the group was coming Tuesday evening. So all day Tuesday we spent preparing for the the group to come, mostly covering the group in prayer. As the time of arrival for the Clinton Christian group grew closer and closer us staffers started grinding our teeth, pacing the floor, and playing with rubber bands, in anticipation for the following 3 days. Then the bus pulled in and all we saw were a bunch of high school kids staring out the windows at the three guys all wearing marvelous plaid shirts and giant grins on our faces. So we helping them bring in all their stuff and split into groups for a tour of the facilities. Then we released them to unpack their stuff. All the girls disappeared, while all the guys went straight to the game room to play ping pong. Us staffers started making some forced small talk but things were just a bit awkward. But then it was time for session to start, we gut up to the classroom but the leaders and Austin were still in their meeting. So we had 50 people all out in the entrance way to the big classroom. All of us staffers thinking to ourselves what do we do. So I decided lets play team rock, paper, scissors. Basically if you get beat by someone then you cheer for them along with all your followers from your victories. So everyone started playing and it got crazy loud, everyone cheering for someone else until there were only two left, Tobyites and the Annettites, both sides going crazy almost screaming for their fearless leaders... as the battle started both sides grew silent in anticipation... Toby lays down a rock....and Annettes was paper!!!! NO!!!!!!!!!!!! the Tobyites lost, our side fell to our knees almost in tears. Ok so it wasn't that intense but it felt almost that way. But this turned out to be a great way to break the ice, everyone was real vocal and open with each other. From there on out it almost felt like we knew each other for weeks rather than the hours that we had.
Wednesday came around and we had our outreach day, which I was in charge of. Three of the groups went to soup kitchens, a girls group went to a women's temporary housing place called Rebecca's place, some went and took bagged lunches around to Columbus to anyone that looked like they could use one, and then a small group of guys went o MAPS a furniture bank that gives donated furniture to those who are less fortunate. Our heart for the kids on outreach, was for them to have their eyes opened to the need around them close to home, to get out of their comfort zone, to do something helping those less fortunate, and mostly for them to be actively showing God's love to the people they interact with. The kids jumped into this with excitement and eagerness, the one's with me had great attitudes with the people and the not so glamorous work, and just really desiring to talk to the men and women. Most of the kids came back encouraged and excited about what they had helped with. Some of them got to pray for people and some had really good conversations with people as well. There were a lot of stories and some laughter and interesting experiences as well. After that we had our prayer walk, in the rain. We walked around the neighborhood by the RIC, and would stop and pray for anything that struck our hearts. In our group we prayed a lot for the children in the neighborhood and got to talk to a few people. It was a relaly awesome prayer time, I don't know what to say other than that the Spirit moved through the kids and you could just feel it in their prayers, it was really cool and I think it might have been my highlight of the week as far as scheduled events went. Then we had group games and followed that up by a trip to Graeters for ice cream.
Thursday we started off with session and then we had the prayer challenge, the kids were in different small groups and us staff were hidden in different part of the city. It's like a prayer and staff scavenger hunt. I was at the Ohio State student union building. The groups would get a clue and have to take public transportation or walk to the location and had to find out different answers to questions and ask people how to get places, and ask people if they can pray for them as well. When the group found a staff member, we would give them another clue to the next staff member in hiding. When the groups got to me i would have them pass out water bottles to people and just tell them what they were doing and try to talk to them some and even to ask them if they would like prayer or have prayer requests. I was on the third floor, so I got to watch the kids trying to pass out these water bottles, that was some good entertainment haha. At the end we heard all the funny and awesome stories that he groups experienced. All of the groups got to pray for people and many of them had some really awesome stories of people they met along the way. They seemed to really enjoy it and it seemed to really open their eyes that a lot of people are nicer than you think and lots of them will take prayer if you offer it to them. Then we had our ministry time, where the guys go to one room and the girls to another and we share stuff that we need prayer for and come together with God to overcome this. I don't think i could ever explain how incredible it was. God moved through those kids, it was incredible. After one person shared it was nonstop flow of guys stepping up, being bold, and sharing their deepest darkest secrets, followed by a ever steady flow of tears and hugs as well! After a guy would share the group would almost sprint to him and do one giant group hug while he prayed declaring this to God and then the rest of us would lead out in prayer over him as well. Again I saw the Spirit working overtime in these kids. Our slogan was " We are truly strong when we can show that we can be weak." Such an awesome thing. i will never forget this night it was memorably for me when i went through city challenge a few years ago and it is almost more incredible now. God did some incredible healing and bonding that night. Praise the Lord!
Friday I had Brooke come up to me and say that its Amber's birthday Tuesday we should make her the center of attention, and then Amber said that Monday was Brooke's birthday and we should embarrass her as well. So i had them both come up at lunch and ride brooms around like they were horses while everyone sang happy birthday to them. Everyone had a good laugh especially the two birthday girls. Then we cleaned the building, took group pictures, and then there were a million hugs everywhere and lots of goodbyes until the group had to leave. Us staff all stood by the railing waving goodbye as the left the RIC a new, changed group, and us staff were exhausted but blessed beyond compare.
Up to this point I guess i would say that I questioned why I was actually here as an intern. I felt like i wasn't doing anything that meaningful. But after this week i know why God has me here, these groups, these kids are my passion and seeing them step out in faith and love and grow drastically in a few days. i can't think of anywhere i would rather be!! Glory to God!!!

Brian

2011-02-26T21:15:08Z

Its hard to believe that next week will already start us into the month of March. A lot has happened since we all first arrived as staffers. I think I can correctly say that we each have learned and been challenged in different ways since coming.
Currently as I sit here, filling you all in on the events of our lives, one group that we had this weekend is hitting the road home while the other group is staying one more night and heads out tomorrow. Since I am on-duty this weekend, I have offically washed many dishes. Up to this point, between Sam and I, we have probably washed around 120 plates, 120 cups, and many coffee cups. =) Along with pots and pans from the cooking. I really like when it is the weekend because that means that the center is all ready for the group that is coming and I can enjoy helping the group to feel welcome. This weekend is different from other weekends because it just so happened that all the guys are gone. Jesse and Toby went to Michigan to see Jesse's family and Brian is at Rosedale, seeing some friends from Spain. Austin has also been gone, so Samantha and I have had fun hanging out with Rachel. We plan to have a movie night tonight, which I am really looking forward too.
Each week, the five of us staffers and Austin, get together on Wednesdays and have a Bible study time together. We have been taking turns preparing a lesson and then leading the discussion. This week was my week. I did my study on Philippians 4. It was interesting, looking up different things about the context of the book of Philippians. For example, like what kind of place was Philippi? Who was apart of the Church in Philippi? Where was Paul when he wrote this letter? Also, I looked into what are the correlations between what Paul speaks of here and where you find those same thoughts elsewhere in Scripture. It was a lot of work and made my week full but I enjoyed what I learned in doing it. I felt that the Father helped me to grasp a better understanding of what it means to be content. To be content, does not mean to just sit back and be O.K. with whatever comes. I believe it means that with where ever God has placed you, you are striving to make the most of that situation. Paul was in prison when he wrote this letter. I am sure, he didn't really want to be there but he made the most of where he was at. He took the time to encourage the Churches by writing letters to the believers and he saw how God was using his situation to encourage other believers to be more bold. I desire to follow Paul's example. May the Father be teaching each of us how to be involved in His work, right where He has placed us.
Hope you all have a good week. Rachel

Toby's Update

2011-02-21T16:39:25Z

Well this week was the same as most. We clean the house every Monday after the groups are gone along with our weekly Intercession and fasting time. Throughout the rest of the weeks nothing out of the ordinary happened. We all did our various community outreaches. I go to a furniture bank on the west side this week and got to paint a bunch of tables that will be given to families that need furniture but cant afford any. We have bean learning a lot about listening to and hearing Gods voice in the book Experiencing God. It is a challenge some times to wrap our heads around it but its been really good so far. For intercession last Monday we prayed for the Thailand Team and had a time to listen for God and see if he had anything for the team. It was cool to see that some of the same themes came up even though we where all praying in different rooms. It was a good week though.

Preparation for whats to come!

2011-02-14T03:32:10Z

Hey this is Brian the outreach coordinator, so basically I contact and organize different volunteer outreaches for us staff members to do each week. I will also be organizing outreaches for the City Challenge groups, which is stressing me out a bit, so you can be praying about all that stuff getting worked out. But this past week us staff figured out our personal outreaches for each week. Samantha and Rachel are helping at Franklinton youth group on Wednesdays, while us three guys work at Manna Cafe, which is a soup kitchen on Wednesday nights. Then Rachel helps at a free clinic, Samantha is helping at an after school program called the zone, Toby works at the furniture bank of central Ohio, and then Jesse and I working at Rebuilding together. We are all very excited about each of these opportunities, because they are all places that fit our interests and skills really well. Jesse and I are trying to find a church that we like in our outreach area and so that has taken us to some interesting churches. The other three staffers are attending Franklinton Vineyard and they really enjoy it.
We have also been taking this class called Perspectives on the World Christian Movement. It comes with about five hours of homework, which is mainly reading, but its been really educational and encouraging for us. We are learning a lot about the attitude or mind set that we should be going into missions for, which is bringing God His ultimate Glory. The speakers have been really good and been really passionate about what they speak on.
Today we had a Valentine celebration for us staff members. The girls spent most of the day preparing the food, while us guys helped when with what we could. We had all kinds of delicious treats and I am still full. As a sign of our appreciation for the girls hard work we got them each a couple roses. It was a pretty awesome little party.
So in all this week has been kind of long and a little stressful preparing for the groups that came during the week. But overall it has been really good and definitely full of growth in our relationships with each other and God. God is using us in ways we don't even know. But by the people we work with each week, and interact with in our outreaches, we just show them Christ's love as well as we can and we have already seen God work through that. We have had plenty of good and intense conversations at Manna Cafe. I look forward for more to come.

Prayer Request: Getting everything cleaned up for the groups coming during the week with ease, cooperation, and stress free.
Get stuff scheduled for city challenge groups
God to move through our relationships with people we meet and work with
Samantha going home to this week to visit her family and get her car
Diligence and growth in our homework
God to speak to us in our quiet times

Peace and Love
Brian