September 2, 2010

Summit Students 2010

Posted by Tim

Last week we launched our Fall 2010 Student Ministry season. It was a
fantastic week as we unveiled new bands, new songs, new looks, new games,
and, well… lots of new stuff! But what was most exciting is that there
were over 100 students in attendance between Surge and The Edge. We still
believe that the program elements (skits, games, etc) are important, but
they are not our main focus. Connecting students with one another and with
caring leaders who help them take their next steps toward God is the
primary reason that we gather each week. We hope that this year will
afford us the opportunity to reach more students than ever before with the
life-changing truth that they matter to us and, more importantly, to the
God who created them.

August 19, 2010

2010 Fall Launch!

Posted by Ryan

It’s that time of year again! School is starting back in session and
Summit Student Ministries is kicking into full gear. Coinciding with the
start of the Orange County school year, Surge and The Edge have their fall
launches next week. Surge launches on Tuesday, August 24th at 6p.m. and
The Edge launches Wednesday, August 25th at 7p.m. The staff, students,
and volunteers are pumped up and ready for the excitement of the new year.
There is a lot in the works this year, including fun games and events,
relevant Biblical teaching, and more. The Garage has even gotten a bit of
an upgrade too! Both Surge and The Edge will launch with a series about
the vision of the ministries to catalyze students into action.

Summer is over. The time for sitting around is finished. The time for
action is now. Don’t miss it!

July 12, 2010

Student D.R. Team Update

Posted by Kristy-Lee

The Student Team made it to the D.R. safe and sound. Tim Harmon is keeping us updated on the team’s busy week in Barahona. Here’s the latest update:

Friday, July 09
All is well. After a long day of travel everyone arrived tired but ready to serve. So, we are hoping for a good night’s sleep and anticipating a great day on Saturday of visiting with some of the bateys and meeting the kids.

Thanks for all of your prayers for journey mercies; it was a smooth day of travel and for that we are grateful. Bless you all and keep praying for our team.

Saturday, July 10
Today was a great day. We spent the day touring 3 bateys and 2 villages.
The children in the villages loved all over us and everyone on the team really enjoyed their company. The time spent here is going really well and we are so grateful for the opportunity to be here.

Tomorrow we’ll be attending a local church in the morning and then heading to the beach after lunch. Thanks for all of your prayers, we so appreciate them.

Sunday, July 11
Today we spent the morning in one of the local churches. Service lasted nearly two and a half hours. We, of course, were the only Americans in attendance. With no translator, we were a bit like fish out of water! But all in all, it was a great time of fellowship and the congregation was super friendly. This afternoon we spent some time at the beach and really enjoyed simply resting and relaxing. A new team of 20 students and leaders from the Boston area joined us this evening at the Casa. They will be here the rest of the week, so it will be a full house here for remainder of our time.

Tomorrow morning we will be touring the COTN offices and medical clinic in addition to spending some time with the ILB (I Love Baseball) Team. After lunch, we will head back to Pueblo Nuevo to begin our work project. We will also spend some time playing games with the local children. We are continuing to enjoy our time here and the team is bonding quite well. Thanks for all of your thoughts and prayers. We miss you all and look forward to seeing you at the end of the week!

February 16, 2010

There's an app for that

Posted by Tim

This week we are finishing up our five-week series on the Lord’s Prayer. I can’t speak for anyone else, but personally, I’ve really enjoyed studying and walking through this subject, but all good things must come to an end. With that in mind we are gearing up for our new three-week series on stewardship for our high school ministry. Our creative folks have cleverly titled this series, “There’s An App For That.” We will be looking into some of the opportunities as well as some of the trappings we have for how we can spend our time, money, and talents. The idea behind the title is that there are tons of ways we can choose to apply our resources. We want to take a few weeks to look at what God says about this subject and how, often times, it’s starkly contrast to what our cultural is constantly telling us.

February 9, 2010

Livin' on the prayer

Posted by Tracy

“Livin’ on a prayer” but what prayer? It seems that my prayers are changing all the time. I like to write down my prayers partly because it helps me focus and partly because it makes them tangible and I can look back at my talks with God and see all the things He has done in my life. Now, He doesn’t always answer my prayers the way I would like or in the way I think He is going to but I know that even if I don’t understand His answers now, one day I’ll look back and say “Oh that’s what You were doing!” You see I don’t view time the way God does and often times I am thinking in the now, looking for a solution for now that will bring about an image that’s in my head. Then God moves (answers my prayer) and suddenly my life is different but not in the way I had thought. It is better.

This whole series thus far has brought to the forefront of my mind just how much I don’t know what I really need. I always think I know and I pretty much always find out that I was wrong. God works in truly mysterious ways. So, if I don’t know what I need and my prayers are always changing then what prayer do I live on? I don’t know what prayer Bon Jovi lived on but Christ came and gave confused Christians, like myself, an outline. It goes… “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.” We don’t always have to say this prayer in this way, but at least for the times when I’m aware that I don’t know what I need, it helps me communicate to God that I need something. That I need Him. That’s the kind of prayer we live on.