“One Heart, One Soul”—In Monte Plata, DR

Cedarville University just took their first trip with LeaderTreks to the Dominican Republic. During our first team time we studied the Acts church (Acts 2:42-47; 4:32-37) and were struck with the phrase “those who believed were of one heart and soul.” Such a neat opportunity to be a part of a team who truly desired to see this lived out. Not only did “one heart, one soul, were on a roll!” become a cheer throughout the week but it was evident we were there for the same purpose. Everything from quoting I Corinthians 10:31 before every meal, to intentional conversations, to serving selflessly on and off the worksite, to loving on the kids brought the team together to be moving as one heart and soul. Such a beautiful picture of what living in true community looks like.

One of my highlights off the trip was one morning walking to the worksite the worship team challenged us to really look around at the community and to pray out loud for the community we were serving. On our fifteen minute walk there, praying powerfully, it was incredible to hear my brothers and sisters in Christ crying out for the community. When our hearts are transformed by God to desire what He desires, our lives are changed as we seek not only one heart and soul with those around us but with our heavenly Father as well.

On the worksite, we were able to complete all of the projects and the foundation of the multipurpose building at the orphanage. There is now a sound foundation ready for all of the teams this summer to continue building the only two-story building at Casa Monte Plata which will impact countless numbers of children in the future.

It was an incredible week as God used the team to bless the orphans, the house parents, the missionaries, and the community through hard work on the worksite, love and energy during VBS, and selfless love towards one another.

The gospel is preached in Baja

As Nancy mentioned Steve and I recently led a group of students from Rice University to Baja. The students were all a part of FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes) so instead of running a typical VBS they decided to run a sports camp for the kids in the area. More specifically they ran a soccer sports camp which was awesome because not only do the kids in La Paz love soccer but 7 of the students on the trip play for the women's soccer team at Rice. Each day was composed of combination of soccer, a testimony, a bible verse and some snacks. Overall the camp went really well. The kids loved the soccer (they were surprised at how good a bunch of American girls were), they were engaged in the stories, and enjoyed getting to just interact with some of the students. The best day though was the last day of the sports camp. Typically when we arrived at the town where we were doing the camp it would take a few minutes to get organized and get the kids split into teams, but for the last day the students wanted to do something a little different. In the previous days the students had each gotten to know certain kids well. They didn't want that influence to go to waste so on the last day instead of organizing and splitting the kids into teams right way each student grabbed a few kids and began to share the gospel in Spanish. Peter our missionary partner had provided the team with some tracks in Spanish, so those who didn't speak well could read through it with the kids. Within 5 minutes of getting out of the van each student had a small huddle of Mexican kids around them and each of the 9 students on the trip shared the gospel to them in Spanish. It was a pretty powerful moment, to be able to see 40 or so Mexican kids hear the gospel. It's just another great example of the influence we can all have in the world and another reason why I love my job.

Catchin' up...

As Phil predicted, it's great to have everyone back and to hear what each of us has been learning and what God has been doing on these trips! You can definitely feel the buzz of excitement as we all share stories and gear up for more trips this spring and summer--we spend a lot of time in preparation, in planning, in prayer, but seeing God at work on the trips is the fuel that keeps us going. I'll let the Baja and DR teams share their stories...are you in for a treat! Keep reading!

Reunited

Its been a while. The whole Summit team as not been together for more than 3 weeks now and the joyous reunion will commence tomorrow. All members were dispersed all over and have returned recently to the greater Chicagoland area.

• Nancy and Ryan returned back from Long Island about 2 weeks ago
  
• I have recently returned from Haiti last week
  
• Lori and Justin returned from DR over the weekend
• The Steves (Gerber and Houck) returned from Baja over the weekend

I am sure there will be plenty of time updating each one on all the ways they saw God at work. It is always a time where we are reminded of how BIG of a God we serve and how we are blessed to be a part of His work and His body. These times become a "cloud of witnesses" that spurs be to continue to run His race with perseverance.
Stay tuned to read posts from the recent DR and Baja trips.

Fooling the Wise

Yesterday for our Life Session we watched a documentary on miracles called, "The Finger of God". It was quite interesting to say the least & I think everyone should take a look at this movie (it is about 90 minutes & is free to view on YouTube).

The movie was about a gentleman who basically took his video camera, "which looked like he bought at Radio Shack for $39.99," says Phil, & just started meeting up with people who were witnessing & taking part in miracles. The first part of the movie seemed a little ridiculous because the miracles were gold teeth, & jewels showing up at churches who met at airport hotels. But as the documentary went on it began to show miracles were happening all over the world. High school students here in the US, to underground churches in China, to men rising from the dead in Africa were all apart of these miracles.

Now I'm not here to convince you that God does or does not sprinkle gold dust on people, or allow children to place hands on people and heal them, but I am challenging you to think about just how great and powerful is our God? 1 Corinthians 1:27 says, "God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise." Who are these wise people in our lives? No I don't think the Olsteens, Warrens, & Bells of our Christian world count, mainly because we have no interaction with them. But really, can we think of wise people in our lives who we can or have shamed with foolish things?

I have begun to be a little restless with this idea because I am really struggling to think of who these wise people are in my life, and if they don't exist does that mean I am the wise person who is being shamed? Just a few verses later in verse 2:4 it says, "we want men's faith to rest not on men's wisdom, but on God's power." Miracles are one of the big ways that we can show just how powerful our God is, & to be honest I don't think any of us experience our Lord this way enough. How much more exciting would it be for us, & how much easier would it be for us to smash stereotypes as Christians if we were able to experience God's power & then be able to share about it.

So let us not jump to conclusions or make assumptions the next time we hear about strange or unrealistic miracles happening around us. Most of these are happening without us even knowing, which adds a bit more validity to them because people are simply being a part of God's power without seeking recognition for it. Let us go into our day remember that, "the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk, but of power" (1 Corinthians 4:20).

Live from the Dominican Republic

Okay, it's not live, but it is pretty close. Below is an update from Lori & Justin, who are in the middle of their last week in the DR. The first week they had some middle school students from Florida, and this week they have a college group visiting them from Cedarville in Ohio. The text below comes straight from the email they sent me. As you will see, God gets the attention of not only the students who are on these trips, but us as staff as well.

Thanks for the prayers, they were much appreciated! Ramon & Juana (our missionary partners in the DR) have definitely been an answer to prayer. Their faith, encouragement, & sharing scripture with us was a huge blessing. Also, Jenny & Carlos (teacher & husband) were incredibly supportive as well.

I (Lori) had been praying for God to do the unexpected, to humble me, & to increase my faith & reliance on Him. Lets just say He definitely did that & not at all in the way I expected. I have been reminded of the power of God's word, living & active, & have been continually praying hearts will be softened to it.

We had some really neat moments with some of the parents which was really encouraging. We also had some great conversations with the students during the week. God really is at work in their hearts which is so encouraging & a great reminder that it is God who is at work.

LeaderTreks trips are always a blessing because you just never know how God is going to show up. I challenge those of you reading this who might be considering applying for Summit to ask yourselves this question, "How many 'jobs' provide me the opportunity to follow God & see his work not only in this country, but in others around the world?"