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| Challah (age 8) |
Have you ever tried to daydream about eternity? It hurts my head sometimes to try and make any sense of it. What will it be like to be with the Lord forever and ever, and ever, etc.? If God was to show us entirely what eternity will be like, I'm sure our brains would not be able to comprehend all that we'd experience. Thankfully, I serve a gracious and unpredictable God. In the middle of June, God showed me just a flash of heaven, and it happened on our annual trip to Kids Across America, in Branson, Missouri.
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| Ferrell (age 8) |
I had the unique privilege to represent 2nd Mile Ministries on this year's trip to KAA. Our ministry has been going on and off for the past decade and it has been a fun way for our kids to experience lots of outdoor activities that they are not accustomed to (tubing, archery, ziplining, ropes courses, staying in cabins on a mountain). This year, I brought six of our middle school students and we went with about 50 students from churches around our neighborhood in Jacksonville. Why this was a very special trip for me was because I've known these particular six students for an average of 5.6 years each, two of which I've known for 8 years! It's been amazing to be a part of their growth and development and to be able to see how God has transformed their hearts to desire a relationship with him.
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| Ferrell (age 9), Challah (age 10) |
KAA is a week long camp, and they emphasize team building, encouragement, and HYPE! Loud cheers can be heard throughout the day, even including energetic dances during meal times. To contrast this constant hype, Wednesday night came. Every student that went to camp (from all across the country), sat on wooden bleachers arranged in a semi-circle deep in a clearing in the woods. It was dark, humid, and the air smelled faintly of bug-spray. On this night, college students who work at KAA performed a reenactment of the resurrection along with a relevant skit about a brother and sister dealing with issues that many middle schoolers deal with. This skit was powerful because the one playing Jesus took some very real punches, was thrown to the ground, and got scraped up pretty bad (nothing he wasn't willing to do for the sake of those kids, he told me the next day). Afterwards, the main speaker gave a very informative and clear invitation to the campers, if they would like to entrust their lives to Jesus Christ or rededicate their lives to Christ.
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| Ferrell (age 13, at KAA) |
They had the adults that accompanied the campers (me) stand in the open in case our students wanted to make that decision so we could pray with them. What happened next blindsided me. One by one, the six students I've known for so long, either came down to give their lives to Christ or rededicate their lives. What's more, a couple of them were in tears at this decision and I was in tears while praying for them. To embrace my young sisters and brothers was a gift from God, being able to get excited with them about eternity and what this meant for their lives as they would go home to Jacksonville. Not knowing exactly what heaven will visually look like, the sense I got in those moments were of intense peace and joy knowing that one day we'd dwell with God and worship him in one voice as one family. I'm getting chills just typing this now.
Memories of all the Bible lessons we've taught at 2nd Mile, the discussions, the teachable moments--they were the water to the plant, God supplied the growth (1 Corinthians 3:7).
The day after Crosstalk (what they call the night with the skit), they have a bell-ringing ceremony for those that have made that initial decision to put their trust in Christ's saving grace for their lives. Below are pictures of the two that made that decision--Jovan, going into 7th grade, and Challah, entering high school this fall. Rejoice with me as the angels, too, celebrate their adoption as son and daughter of God!
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| Challah (age 14, at KAA) |
For those who specifically donated for the students to be able to go to KAA this summer, thank you! For those of you that have supported me through the years prayerfully and financially, thank you! It's these moments that not every missionary gets to see, the fruit of God working strongly in the lives of children. I pray that my own faith can be similar to that of a child's.
Now that we are back in Jacksonville, pray that some real discipleship can take place. One of my own take-aways from KAA was a story about discipleship. Please permit me to share with you quickly.
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| Jovan (age 11, at KAA) |
There was a man who would teach and preach the gospel, and he'd bring one thousand people to Christ every day! So in a year, how many would he bring to the Lord? That's right, 365,000 people. In three years, this man would reach about one million people! That's amazing! To reach the 7 billion people in the world who don't know Jesus, it would take this man almost 20,000 years to reach the world (you gotta figure that's at least 250 lifetimes). Now, there was a different man who reached only one man this year and discipled him for that time. The following year, both he and this new disciple each reached another man. The following year, those four each reached one more, and so on and so forth. If you had to guess, how long would it take for that system to reach the 7 billion people in the world? Without doing any math, I'd assume it wouldn't take as long as the first guy, but I would've had no idea that it would only take 34 YEARS! Imagine how much easier obeying the great commission would be (Matthew 28:18-20) if we discipled just one person?
I'd challenge you, if you claim to be a Christ-follower, to find a person to disciple in their faith, just one. If you are not a Christ-follower, I'd encourage you to not just take my word for it, but examine what the scriptures say about Christ and about God's amazing love for you. You are fully known and loved.
I hope you take a second look at the photos I included. Ferrell and Challah have been around 2nd Mile probably the longest and they are very near and dear to our hearts. Seeing them grow up and change has been beautiful to witness. I praise God for that encounter of heaven in the woods, and I'm excited to see the ripples and waves that God has in store for these young people, to Brentwood, to Jacksonville, to all the nations.
