Chicago Mission Report

 On July 7^th -15^th, I had the great privilege of leading a team of students and adult leaders on a mission trip to Chicago, IL.  Many people in our church and people from churches around the United States were financially supporting and praying for our team as we prepared for and engaged in this mission endeavor.  The Mission organization that our team partnered with is called Leader Treks.  One distinctive of this organization is that they focus on developing students into Christian leaders to fulfill the Great Commission.  As a result of this distinctive, our students planned, prepared, led, and carried out both manual work projects as well as relational ministry.

Another unique aspect about this organization is that they have long term partnerships with local churches.  On our trip, the cement we laid, the garage we restored, the landscaping we labored through, and the deck we repaired were for non believers in the immediate neighborhood of the local church that we partnered with.  Our team was prepped and ready to explain that everything we did was to point people to Christ as an extension of the ministries of First Christian Church of Chicago.  Because of this, our ministry both in work projects, as well as the evening relational ministry that we led, has a lasting impact, reaching far beyond our departure.  The people we served and shared the gospel with in that community are now able to connect with FCC of Chicago and receive a deeper understanding of the gospel, get discipled, enjoy fellowship and the support of the local church body.

 In my opinion, the mission trip was extremely fruitful.  God worked both in our lives and in the lives of those we interacted with.  I was humbled and excited to watch God work in such evident ways.  Because of this I want to share with you statements from our team as a response to the concluding question of our trip, “What did you see God do this week?”  Here they are:

-“God made it so I was able to get over my shyness of talking to others”

-“God has taught me leadership, discipline, and has given me trust again.”

-“God showed me how to serve and really helped me to have a better perspective.”

-“God stretched and unified our group.  Students took risks in His strength and displayed His grace in both physical and spiritual ways.”

-“I built relationships and learned from examples of the way others love and serve.  I was blessed to see others grow!”

- “God let us finish three houses because He gave us energy to do it!”

-“God showed us to serve with humility and to love each other, through our struggles.”

-“The Lord actually answered my prayer in the way I asked and faster than I thought possible in the way He changed the hearts of these students into leaders and stretched them to be vulnerable.”

-“God listened to our prayer and stopped the rain long enough for us to get our work done and we all grew closer to Him.”          

-“God pulled all of the adventures together and got us through them successfully.”

-“God held off the rain just long enough for us to finish the concrete.  We finished the garage and the stairs and the garden and we were successful at VBS and the Grill-Out.”

-“It doesn’t matter who made the mistake just how we’re going to fix it.”

-“God showed me how to serve and really helped me to have a better perspective.”

-“God gave us all energy to work hard.”

-“God made me a servant and held me to my personal goals.”

-“I’m not sad anymore.  Thank God!  He made me want to bring those I care about to Him.”

Thank you all for your prayer and support for us and our students!

~Trev

Are We Growing Weary in Doing Good?

Happy One year!  My family and I have officially been here in Casper one year as June 9th.  Wow, this has been a full year!

One of my first experiences with the church was participating in the Riverside Triathlon last June.  For the past five years our church has heavily supported this event and last year, my first week on the job, I was sucked into competing in the triathlon without any prior training.  Well to be honest, I was not really sucked in; my own competitive nature drove me to it.  Needless to say, as I was competing I realized I was not prepared for the task.  I did complete the triathlon, but it was a lackluster finish to say the least, and I am really thankful that I didn’t hurt myself. 

Last week I had the opportunity to compete in the Riverside Tri again.  This time I decided to train (a little) and instead of doing the whole triathlon myself I decided to participate in a team relay.  This turned out to have much better results!  Instead of completing all three legs of the race, the swim, the bike and the run, I only did the cycling portion.

One of the difficult aspects of a triathlon is that there are three very different competitions crammed into one race.  Swimming is much different than cycling, and cycling is much different than running.  A person can be a great runner, but if she is not a good swimmer then she probably will be extremely exhausted and won’t finish very well overall.  On the other hand, if this same person who is a great runner partners with someone who is a gifted swimmer and someone who is gifted in cycling, then they could have a winning team.  Within a team, each teammate will be working in the areas of their strengths, thus being able to compete longer, faster, and stronger than they ever could on their own. 

I believe this concept of team work is what God intended to happen in the church.  We are urged by the apostle Paul to join him in the triathlon of the Christian life.  Paul tells us, “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked.  A man reaps what he sows.  The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.  Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.  Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers” (Galatians 6:7-10, NIV).  Throughout the Bible we are called to persevere not growing weary in our Christian life and in the work of the Lord (See also, 1 Corinthians 15:58; 2 Corinthians 4:1; Hebrews 12:3).     

If a few people try to do all the good work God has planned for our church, they will grow weary.  But when all parts of the body work together, each exhibiting their strengths, lots of good will get done!  It was awesome to see so many people working together at the Riverside Triathlon.  And I had a great time serving along-side some of the students and other adults during vacation Bible school.  With fall approaching, we’re drawing nearer to the kick-off of another season of Sunday school, Awana, and many other ministries of this church.  Let’s choose to step up and serve.  Rather than standing on the side lines watching a few folks work hard (and probably grow weary in the process), let’s all participate in the work God wants to do in and through His Church.  “For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function,  so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.  Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly: if prophecy, according to the proportion of his faith; if service, in his serving; or he who teaches, in his teaching; or he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness” (Romans 12:4-8, NIV).

~Trev