Class Response Eleven: Lee Rogers

Lee Rogers is the recently appointed missionary for Youth Alive in the Penn-Del district. I really enjoyed having him join on class on Thursday and present to us what the heart of youth alive is. He shared specifically on the four strategies of youth alive and about his calling, or how God led him to the position he serves in now.

I was fascinated during class as we talked about the strategies represented in the logo above. Blue is Campus Missionaries, Green is Campus Clubs, Red is the Seven Project, and Yellow is the Prayer Zone...

Lee asked us if the Seven Project was more evangelistic or discipleship focused. A few of us gave answers, generally coming to the idea that it's an evangelistic ministry that lays a foundation for discipleship. That was mostly right. Lee pointed our to us that it is actually mainly a discipleship ministry that gives way to evangelism. The Campus missionaries are challenged to intentionally live their faith with this motto: pray, live, serve, tell, give. As they commit to doing those things, practice living them out, and start reaching people... they become a disciple of Christ. Youth Alive also has an online accountability program that helps students track their progress and rate themselves on how they're doing. It is "marketed"as evangelism, but it really serves both purposes. I love that!

The cycle represented on the logo is such a great picture of what this ministry does. First Campus Missionaries are raised up, they start or join with Campus Clubs, Campus Clubs, students, or even faculty and youth pastors can work together to bring in the seven project, which presents the gospel on a larger scale and raises up more people committed to following Christ. It is so life giving and really requires students to step up and reach their school. 

My favorite thing about the seven project is just that. They don't make it about adults reaching students. It's all about students reaching their friends and classmates for Christ. They aren't just passing off the job to someone else, the student gets to experience leading a friend to Christ and helping them follow him. Often, Lee shared, families and friends way beyond the initial outreach are reached for Christ, too. They're not just reaching students... but families and schools through the students.

Service Learning Component Post

The Plan:
a. Who did we serve? (Our target population)
         We aimed to serve families, specifically children, who will be in the hospital over Christmas.


b. How did we serve them? 
(Was there a style of service or specific act of service that most effectively ministered to our target population?)
        We created fun, decorated Christmas cards with notes that will remind them they're special and cared for, even though they have to spend Christmas in a different place than they'd like to be. We will pray over the cards, asking God to bring healing to the families that receive them. We also will deliver them with hershey's kisses and candy canes. We would like to bring them into the rooms of the children, but if we're not able to do that, we will pack everything in a box for the nurses to distribute closer to Christmas. At the hospital we will, when it seems appropriate, tell them where we're from, invite them to our Christmas service, and pray with them. We will need to bring invitations for this. We may wait to sign the cards until we get there and can talk to the children and make the notes personal.

What level of evangelism is this on the E-scale of evangelism?
         This is most likely E-1 evangelism because it is outside of the church but still within our home culture. We may come in contact with families who go to church during this time, though.

c. Where did you serve them? Was there a location or a specific event where our target population gathers that is more effective for us in serving them there than any other location?
         We made the cards and did our planning at the church (with a few extra details added at Panera Bread :)) but we will deliver the cards and candy and minister to families at either Gettysburg or Hanover hospital. (We are waiting to hear back from Volunteer Services from Hanover and trying to reach Gettysburg on Wednesday) This location is best because it's going to the people. This is where they have to be over the Holidays and we hope to bring hope. Jesus has filled us with so much love to pour out on people.

d. When did you serve them? Was there a particular day and/or time that was better than others?
         We made the cards after school on Monday, but we will deliver the cards sometime in the next week before leaving for Christmas break. We would like it to be as close to Christmas as possible, since we will not all be in the area on Christmas. We will go whenever the nurses/volunteer services suggest as a good time.

500-700 word report on the outreach as well as a critique of our planning and execution that will include 3 things that were planned or executed well and three things that could be improved.

My Report:
          I wish I was able to write more here about the time we spent ministering to families in person. I am really looking forward to that and will be asking God to open doors so we will be able to form connections with the people, rather than just dropping things off at the hospital. We found this idea in Sjogren's book, in a slightly different form. The four of us girls spent a few hours together after school one day and really enjoyed making something special for kids who might not feel so special this year during Christmas time. Aside from serving other people, I think this time together was really good for Caitlyn, Kimmy, Kriston and I. I loved getting to spend time with them and we always enjoy being creative together.
         Not only do we hope that this will encourage kids and make them smile a little more during this season, we hope we are able to give them and their families hope. These cards will provide an opportunity to give a small blessing to bring joy, while inviting them to a place where they can meet with Jesus... maybe for the first time. I would also love if God gave us an opportunity to share the Gospel in those hospital rooms.

         Three things that were executed well:
             1. The actual act of service! I looked through the book a couple times and nothing really clicked until I saw the author write about the value of giving people cards. I think it's a great, simple, practical but powerful way to love people. It's all about going to them and loving them in a dark place. Our plan values encouragement, making people feel loved and special, and the importance of inviting people to church. It's not just a hit and run, we'll try to make ourselves available to be connected with later. Overall, I think it's just a beautiful way to love people.
             2. The cards themselves! Kriston and I brought the supplies and it was a great collection of things to make cards that would be really fun for the kids to receive. They looked creative and not just like a card someone would buy in a store. I think some of the best gifts are home-made and I love that we were able to do that... even though it's a smaller kind of gift. :)
             3. The time we spent together doing the card making! We got behind in our planning from a combination of feeling busy, forgetting about the assignment, and struggling to find a project that would work for us. I was really thankful we were able on such short notice to have a chunk of 2 hours where we could just sit together. Longer would've been better... but I look very positively at that time we got to spend together. It was good for our friendships and really makes me value having team building time to carry into your time of outreach together. Whether it's praying or just doing something else that's fun together, I think it will positively affect the way you minister together at the outreach.

         Three Things that could be improved:
             1. Timing. We didn't use our time responsibly in that we were really rushed at the end and STILL have to find a time where the hospital will approve us to come in. That's kinda a bummer and something I wish I would've worked on a month ahead rather that 2 weeks. That is something I'd suggest for the future.
             2. Dividing jobs better to improve the outreach and make more people feel ownership. I felt like I tried to take too much on from the beginning and distributing jobs would've helped us make the outreach better and accomplish more in the same amount of time. I felt like at the end, it was a lot of work trying to communicate the full vision of this and I think that would've changed if I helped them figure out their roles in it sooner.
             3. Better communication with the people we're going to. The biggest challenge that stemmed from timing was actually communication with the hospital. I think it will work out well and we'll be able to connect with the right hospital/volunteer service center, but it will take a few more phone calls. I called one hospital a few times and struggled to get connected with anyone who could tell me anything other than "I'll leave a message". That's fine, it just left us a little stuck. It all goes back to time management... it really puts you under pressure if you start assuming things will work before and depend on them before you really know.

Class Response Ten: Peter Almqvist

Peter Almqvist, Festival Director of Mission SOS, joined us in class via Skype Thursday morning.

My favorite story he shared was about the time he drove around in a jeep through Africa for four days. They were trying to find an unreached people group they'd set out to share the Gospel with.

When they arrived, the Holy Spirit told them it was the right place but it seemed they'd have to build a road to get anyone else in. The four wheel drive on the Jeep was enough for a few people, but the festival would require heavy equipment and many more people.

So, they built a road. 6,000 people came to Christ that week and 10 churches were planted. He told us stories about renovating a town so the festival staff could stay there, buying a sound system from a local night club for a festival, and even a time when a man who was a midget asked another man to throw him in the air to attract attention... all for the opportunity to share the gospel with more people.

Peter said that God gives us each a place in furthering the gospel and quickening the return of Jesus. The place that God has given Mission SOS is through these festivals. They have a confidence in what God has called them to do and they know it's value. They know it is a proven way to reach people and even when they come up against opposition or things just don't really seem to be working... they use their creativity and they overcome.

"Challenges are meant to be overcome" He said. Challenges are not meant to defeat us or be things that steal our joy and zeal for following God... they're simply things that are meant to overcome. Things that serve as rungs on a ladder that encourage us to take another step up.

I love the heart I see in Peter and Mission SOS for overcoming and pushing through, in never giving up... because there is something so much greater God wants to do. Whether it's to reach one person or one-hundred thousand, it is so worth it to be creative and not give up.

This week I'm asking God to give me wisdom in this area. When he asks me to reach a person or a certain group of people, I don't want to stop just because I see a challenge or two. God builds roads with us if we'll trust him and serve faithfully. I don't want to stop after 4 days of driving and give up just because I didn't think building a road was possible.

There might be one person or 6,000 on the other side of that brush, on the other side of that challenge, who are just waiting for me to be creative, push through, and share the beautiful, precious, overcoming message of Christ.

Not giving up or letting anything stop you