Month: June 2016

Day 5 Ministry (Pittsburgh)

Today’s post was written by students on the Pittsburgh Missions Trip

We’re now on day five of ministry and you would think that we would be getting in the swing of things, which we are. The weird thing is that every day the Lord shows His mercy and how much the people of Pittsburgh long to know Him and draw close to Him. For most of us, yesterday’s prayer walk was a first, but it certainly won’t be the last. The last day of park ministry was bittersweet. It came down to seeing kids that you spent the whole week sharing meals with and really connected with. Before today I personally thought we were just another youth group in Pittsburg but at the end a girl started to cry about leaving us and I heard from her sister that all she could talk about was coming to see us every day and how much she enjoyed how we loved her. How Jesus Loved her, and honestly that’s all that really matters in life; to love God, and Love your Neighbor.

As we drove away from the park, we felt sad that we probably wouldn’t see our sweet friends for quite a while. But at the same time, we were happy that we even got to know each of these special kids. After praying for them, we felt more hope in their lives because it was evident that God was working in their lives to bring them closer to The Way, The Truth, and The Light .

Afterwards, we began our last day of our VBS. It has been so awesome to see the work of God and how everything moved so fluidly throughout each day of the camp. From singing happy days to preaching The Gospel through the skit, God was there every step of the way. Watching fellow students being led and used to further the Kingdom of God has been a beautiful experience. Although the end of our last park visit and vbs lesson was today, we are steadfast in the knowledge the Lord has provided. We have had the great privilege of planting the seeds, but now its up to the Lord to make them flourish.

Written by Anna and Juan

Day 4 Ministry in the Steel City!

Today’s post was written by students on the Pittsburgh Missions Trip

Today was our first day doing a prayer walk on this trip. Each group had loads of success passing out flyers and striking up conversations that sometimes even led to prayer with them! We analyzed each house for clues as of what we could pray for, such as kids’ toys out front (so we knew to pray for the kids’ futures and safety). It was a new, delightful experience for all of us, and we hope that it will stay in the memories of those whom we met.

For lunch, we brought pizza to the park. We were able to play with the kiddos from yesterday, and met some new faces as well. Many of us shared Jesus with them, displaying Christ’s love to them. Some of them were sad that tomorrow would be our last day with them, which means that we made a difference in their lives! Since we had a lot of leftover pizza, we were able share with more than just the kids, too!

We continued on with our skit and stories during VBS, which were a huge success! Mckenzie also shared her testimony, which was a special treat! Once again, the kids are definitely excited to come tomorrow, including the new ones to the group! We were also able to share our superfluous food supply with a few of the kids that came early. Tomorrow’s water day, and they’re in for a blast…of H20!

Written by
Ben: Shout-outs to Mom, Dad, Jess, Mallory, Wesley, and Josiah! Also, Ginger and Gavin-can’t wait to see your furry faces again!
& Mandy: Shout-outs to my family, dog and specifically my grandparents for supporting this trip!

Day 3 Mission Pittsburgh

Today’s post was written by one of our students on the Pittsburgh Missions Trip

Today was our first full day of ministry with the children! To start our day, our Praying Pelican mission leader Jess lead us through conversation and testimony training in order to prep us for our day in the field. Conversation training consisted of a memorization exercise that would give us a common ground to talk about with any person. Testimony training was a huge growing experience. In seven short minutes we learned that each and every one of us has a story of what Christ has done in our lives that is a powerful witness to those who will listen. After these lessons we paired off to practice our new skills with someone we don’t know very well. Despite a little nervousness, we were able to form deeper and more Christ centered bonds.
Before noon, we headed over to Emmanuel United Methodist Church to assist them in serving the surrounding community. Emmanuel UMC serves lunch to the families of area who fall below the poverty line. Lunch was a great opportunity to build relationships with the people and invite them to play with us at the park. We had a lot of fun spending time with them and letting them know that they are loved. One of the most remarkable parts of today was when one of the women told us that she was so happy we were here because normally there was no one to play with her granddaughter.

Later on, after dinner, we had our first day of VBS hosted by Grandview. There was tons of energy throughout the night and it was super exciting to see God working through us and making a big impact, knowing that the kids are coming back tomorrow.

All in all, God is moving powerfully and visibly.

C Payne
K Pankonin
(Hi Mom! Tell the boys and Alicia I said Hi!)

Day 1 and 2 Mission “City of Steel” Pittsburgh

Today’s post was written by one of our students on the Pittsburgh Missions Trip

Hello everyone! We have been in Pittsburgh for two days and can already see the work of God within our team! The people we continue to meet everyday continue to inspire us to follow the word of God and do what is best. We have learned so much already on this trip and are excited to share it with our family when we get back home.

The drive to Pittsburgh was wonderful, being able to get to know people from the other campuses and hearing each other stories. For a lot of us not being able to have our phones was really odd. However, I am so thankful for that rule because I felt as though everyone was able to live in the present and not be caught up with what others on social media are doing. After 10 wonderful hours of driving in the bus and getting to know everyone we arrived at The Grand View Church of God. We met our awesome Praying Pelican Members who explained to us more about the mission trip, which only made us more excited to worship God and share his word. We also learned that this was a first mission trip for a lot of us. After the team meeting we took turns talking really cold showers and snoozed to bed.

The second day was a more relaxed day. We woke up and went to Sunday service. We put on our best church clothes and were happily welcomed by the church members. After service we were able to talk to the members and create great relationships. After service we went to the Strip District (the cultural hub of the city) and shopped for souvenirs and ate wonderful Pittsburgh food. When we got back some people had the opportunity to go to a Portuguese service while others had devotion time. During our team meeting we made a decision to spend alone time for 30 minutes outside with God before diner. Having the 30 minutes to truly connect with God and pray for things that where on our mind created way less stress for the future. For dinner we had pizza in a local style…the cheese was not melted. It still tasted delicious. After that we got everything together and practiced our VBS for Monday. Then went to bed excited for our VBS and to see what God has in store for us.

M Fonseca
(To my family- Your princess is safe, Love you)

Shaming the Wise and the Strong

The “26th of July Movement” was the revolutionary organization led by Fidel Castro (with Raul Castro, Che Guevara and Camilo Cienfuegos) that overthrew the U.S. backed Fulgencio Batista dictatorship in Cuba by the end of 1958. Initially, the revolution was supported by the church (“Social justice, yes; communism, no!”) which was overwhelmingly Roman Catholic (72% of Cubans declared themselves to be Catholic, but only 24% actually attended mass on a regular basis). By 1960, the revolution showed its true intentions. Fidel Castro, enjoying his enormous popularity with the masses, declared that there would be no free elections…for “the people already decided”.

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Cuba aligned itself with the Soviet Union and declared itself Atheistic…the diplomatic and economic war with the United States began. Castro proclaimed that the church was dead.

Churches were closed, property was nationalized, pastors were taken to rehabilitation camps and foreign missionaries were deported. In addition, printing Christian literature was prohibited and Bibles were not allowed to enter the country. Christians were discriminated against in seeking employment. Great limitations were imposed on Christian gatherings and approval by the government was required for any religious activity.

“Hasta la Victoria Siempre”, Che Guevara’s rallying cry during the revolution (“to victory always”; “never give up”), ironically characterized the fledgling evangelical movement during that time…but with this movement, resistance and advancement was in the power of the Holy Spirit! The Apostle Paul boldly proclaimed, “We are pressed on all sides, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed.” (2 Corinthians 4:9)

Castro’s decision to suppress the church…declaring it to be dead…actually planted the seeds for growth…explosive growth! The few public churches that were allowed to remain open began meeting every night of the week to accommodate the crowds. The lack of meeting space unified the believers and created the house church movement which began multiplying exponentially.

A spirit of prayer and evangelistic zeal persisted and spread across the country. While other pastors and religious leaders were fleeing the country, the pastors of Los Pinos Nuevos stood firm…not one of them defected!

“But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.” (1 Corinthians 1:27)