Nehemiah Teams Training

Nehemiah Teams training is over & teams are on the field... getting started with their ministries. But let's back up a little....

Students spent the first day of training meeting their team leader & other team members, sharing meals, having meaningful team time & making fun group chants!

During training, students hear from many different speakers, sharing testimonies, Christ-filled stories and inspiriting sermons.

From team building activities to information security trainings and the Sunday night community worship service... we're excited to see God work this summer through our 168 students!

-Faith

Philippine Media Intern

NT Goal #2: Personal Spiritual Growth

Goals of Nehemiah Teams

1. To lead students to help open doors and plant churches among the unreached and hard to reach.
2. To help students grow in their walk with the Lord.
3. To help students become World Christians.
4. To help students deal with a mission calling and find their place in finishing the Great Commission.

Camp & Community team (Kenya) doing their daily team time

As an organization, it is one of our goals to help students grow in their personal walk with the Lord. One intentional way of doing this is through specific materials that all teams study over the course of the summer: daily Quiet Time guide (through the book of Acts), memorizing 26 verses, and reading other materials related to evangelism & missions. As these are done in the community of their team, it's our prayer that they are encouraging & challenging each other daily.

Please pray for students as they study through these materials over the summer. Pray that the Lord will use this daily study to strengthen their personal walk with the Lord. 

Virtual Discipleship

Facebook, like other media sources today, enable us to jump from one world to another, without giving us much time to process.  As I scroll down my most current News Feed, I can be at a friend’s wedding, a nephew’s prom, and watch a video of a friend or family member.  I can join the many others who "Like" this or even make comments that somehow connect me with this virtual community. 

However, interspersed among all these "Likes" I may be confronted with prostitution in Thailand, the horrible face of terrorism, and the realities and results of poverty in some third world countries.

Because I am in charge of the page down button or the swipe of my finger on my iPad, I can choose where I stop and what I read.  I can choose to erase or “unlike” what or who I do not like.  It is really the best kind of world to live in. I can fool myself into believing I can "End it Now" or solve it now by joining a group and then sharing that with "my friends."

When Jesus called His disciples to come and follow Him, He called them to come and die.  They could no longer "erase" or "unlike" what became unpleasant or difficult.  Virtual discipleship was out of the question.  It still is.  The Bible says in I Corinthians 6:19-20, "You are not your own; you were bought with a price." 

-Jess

Encounter the unpredictable... endure the predictable

I was looking back through my journal for this year and ran across this entry from February 23rd.  It encouraged me and I pray it encourages you and puts more iron in our souls as we follow Him.

"Reading back through the highlights of Walking with Bilbo. It talks about simply sticking to the path.  Along this path we encounter the unpredictable and we endure the predictable; both take great courage and faith.  If we finish what God has called us to do, we must move forward trusting in times of obscurity and doing the mundane tasks over and over.  The doors will eventually open.  We are under the dragon spell when we are jealous or hurt for being overlooked.  

Sometimes there is no clear cut ending to various chapters of our story and we often wonder what God is up to.

Will He bring our adventure to a good end?

I must keep up my hobbitry of heart (this is what Tolkien wrote to his son who was fighting in WWII).  All stories feel like this when you are in them, but it is faith in God who finishes what he starts and brings our story to a happy ending.  This is not about us, but about His purposes.  So if you are feeling a little uneasy about the details of following Jesus, take heart.  That is how I feel at times; faint at heart, dis-heartened, but God will strengthen our hearts along the way.   

Let us stick to the path He has showed us: To lead young people to finish the Great Commission in this Generation!  He will help us encounter the unpredictable and endure the predictable.   

Restored from brokenness

Isaiah 61:1-2 "The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners. to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn."

That is why I am here. You don't go on a mission trip as a vacation.You don't go on a mission trip to for an adventure. You don't go on a mission trip to be comfortable. You don't go on a mission trip to be pampered. You don't go on a mission trip for selfish reasons. You don't go on a mission trip to still be mommy and daddy's baby or your "significant others" for that matter. You don't go on a mission trip for a shopping spree.

Matthew 8:18-22 talks about how you have to give up everything to follow Jesus. That might mean being away from family, comfort, and life's luxuries.   To many, the "American Dream" sounds much too dreamy. To me though it's simple. In Luke 9:59 Jesus says, "Follow me."
Is that hard to do? Well yeah- but think about what Jesus has done for us. He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities, he was MURDERED for OUR sin. I think the least I can do is share His love with others. I can preach good news to the poor. I can bind up the brokenhearted. I can proclaim freedom to the captives. I can release prisoners from darkness. I can comfort those who mourn. What can you do?

-Jenny

Random Orientation Pics

One last weigh-in

Last group to head to Atlanta...

One final roll call...

Load up the buses

A few extra facilities...

Last buses on way to Atlanta!

Team leaders: chicken killing activity

Team building: electric fence

Team building: go lower... not higher!

Team building: putting a puzzle together.... blindfolded!

Orientation 2011

154 students from 22 states & 63 colleges.... 15 facilitators.... 21 churches.... 85 buckets... 1000 feet of clothesline... 60 hours of evangelism, culture, language, & security training. The result?? Check back at the end of the summer.