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Tuesday in Columbus-Victory Ministries

It was a total God plan how we ended up doing what we did today.  For those of you that don't know the story of our team getting to Columbus, here it is.  Over a year ago, I had started planning to come to Challenge and do another EFCA youth mission.  This would be my third, but I prayed that God would raise up leaders and youth in our church, Faith Christian Fellowship, to come along this time.  We would be joining 2-3 other EFCA HI churches in attending Challenge 2010 (or C10 as we called it for a while) and doing mission work in Cincinatti.  After months of planning, God led us on another path.  It wasn't meant for the seven of us to go to Cincinatti, but we would stay in Columbus.  I started working with the national EFCA office to identify ministry opportunities that our group could serve in while here.  They were busy getting ready for Challenge, so I googled some of the Christian social service ministries and found 3 that I emailed.  One emailed me back right away, Victory Ministries.

Victory Ministries serves the community with a food pantry, clothes store, hope counseling, medical clinic, and tutoring for 1st and 2nd graders.  All their services are free.  They open the last 15 working days of the month and prepare the rest of the time.  As most non-profit agencies, they have paid staff but heavily rely on volunteers to get the job done.  Our group is very musically talented, but one of the things I've not experienced with our church recently is the ministry of going out and serving in the down and dirty stuff.  Yes, we do it at the school when it's church planned, but other than that, what other ways do we serve in the community with the "other" people.  Our group got to experience that today.  We were tasked with cleaning the reception area, chapel, clothes store, and food pantry.  Everything needed to be done from wiping chairs to mopping to cleaning toilets to restocking the food tables.  Taylor even hung in the freezer to disinfect that!  Yes, it was hard work.  Yes, it was different for them (this is the kind of stuff I do regularly with other churches in Hawaii).  And yes, it was very rewarding and fulfilling! 

At 1:00pm, Mike asked if we were ready to stop.  They had been concerned about the heat for us, but we didn't want to leave our job undone, so we plowed on.  As we wrapped up, took pictures, and prepared to say goodbye, I asked Phyllis (my contact there), if we could gather and pray for them and the ministry that they are doing.  She invited everyone else who was there, and David ran to grab his guitar.  We shared our prayer requests, prayed, and said goodbye amongst some tears.  We had made more new friends today, and our hands will continue to bless those that we may never know.  By the time we left, it was after 2pm, and we were hungry.

A stop at Turkey Hill produced Krispy Kreme donuts.  They're not hot and fresh like the ones at the bakery, but we cleared out their shelves anyway.  Our lunch stop was at White Castle.  Burgers, onion chips, chicken rings, and more made up our order.  If you've never been to White Castle, it's one of those places that you've got to try once.  The onion chips are a version of onion rings, the chicken rings a version of chicken nuggets or tenders but in a ring, and the burgers are mini burgers that's perfect if you're feeding little kids.  The bun is so soft!  The girls didn't like it.  Oh well...

Monday in Columbus

As our team set out this morning, I had felt God convicting me that we weren't doing enough.  We had taken a detour and lost sight of the reason we were here...to serve and minister to those in Columbus.  I posed the question to our team, "What's the plan for today?"  After hearing various responses of which none involved ministry, I told them I would stay back.  I felt that we played for 2 days but had nothing planned to fulfill the reason that we were supposed to be here for.  I came back to the room to pray and continue reading the Undo book that we were given at Challenge.  Soon, Kayla came up and said they had called our friend, Janika, and they were going to Ohio State University's House of Prayer.  Thank you, Jesus!  I think we're back on track.

We go to meet Janika at the House of Prayer and after a short introduction, we spend time in worship and prayer with Janika and her roommate, Hannah.  The House of Prayer serves over 50 different Christian ministries on campus.  It's opened 24/7 and as long as you know the door code, you can go in and use it.  They also have refreshments and a peanut butter/jelly ministry.  You can make a sandwich and go out to share it with someone who's hungry.  It was so neat!!!  I asked Janika how they are funded, and she said that God provides!  It costs about $2,000 a month to run, and somehow, the money comes in.  There are 4 people on the leadership team that help to keep it running, but anyone is welcomed to take "ownership" and help.

Janika and Hannah take us on a tour of Ohio State University, and we get to walk through the "Oval" which is where they often pray for students. Today, the campus is pretty empty, since summer school enrollment is very low.

The temperature today was 95 degrees.  Yes, it was hot!  But we walked down the streets to see a different side of Columbus.  Ross, Alexia, and Taylor were able to pray for someone as they walked to meet up with us for lunch.  Throughout the trip, we've been asked for money, and if we have it, we've given it.  Today, Ross said he felt compelled to ask the man if they could pray for him too.  Yes, God is talking to us.

The other night at Challenge, David went to get a cup of coffee.  There was a conversation between him and the coffee guy after which David said that he should have said something to him about God.  A missed opportunity.  On Friday morning, we listened to D.A. talk about those missed opportunities that so many of us have.  David was convicted to buy a bible and go back today.  What do you know?  Barnes and Nobles was on our walking trip.  We drove back to the Convention Center and David went in.  The guy wasn't there, but David left the bible for him.  Now, we pray that God softens a heart and opens it to his word!

Sunday in Columbus

One of the girls we met during Challenge, Janika, recommended a church with a Sunday service called Vineyard Village.  The time was perfect, 11:30am, after a long day on Saturday, and it was nearby.  The fellowship meets in the basement of another church.  The message that morning summed up what God had been teaching us throughout the week at Challenge.  As we studied the Beatitudes and were challenged to go out and spread the gospel, Josh Weir spoke on sharing Jesus and the good news. 

Our hotel has a grill, picnic tables, and it was 4th of July.  We decided to cook dinner that night after a stop to the store down the road, Giant Eagle.  If you take a look at the ad, you'll know why.  Corn on the cob for 16 cents each, berries for $1.50 a basket, sweet onions at 99 cents a pound, and thick steaks!  We rounded the meal out with mushrooms and loaded baked potatoes.  Ross and I prepped our food and waited in line for the grill.  And waited.  And waited.  The person in front of us said he'd be done in 10 minutes.  Two hours later, we're waving bye to him!  He left behind his roll of foil that we really needed, so we didn't grumble too much.  The grill was filled with our stuff, and we could smell the food cooking. 

We enjoyed a great meal with perfectly cooked meat, grilled veggies, and steaming baked potatoes.  The leftovers went into the fridge for sometime later.

Happy Birthday Kayla!

Today is Kayla's 17th birthday.  This is the third birthday that she's had that we've celebrated it in a different state.  For her 5th birthday, we were in Orlando, Florida for the American Optometric Association Congress.  We got to go to Disney World.  For her 13th birthday, we were at Challenge in 2006 at Purdue University in Indiana.  This year, we just finished Challenge 2010 in Columbus, Ohio.  They went to King's Island for they day.  It's one of the largest amusement parks in the nation and has some of the longest roller coasters.

GlobalFingerprints Red Backpack Project

The GlobalFingerprints projects consist of two things.  The first being making and distributing red backpacks filled with basic school supplies to thousands of children overseas.  The backpacks are simple to make with a very basic pattern.  Challenge attendees were given the opportunity to participate in making 5,000 backpacks this week. 

On Tuesday, 600 backpacks were completed.  If you do the math, at that rate, only half of the backpacks would get done.  Kids and adults stepped it up, the sewing room even opened an extra couple of hours at night (9-11pm), we forged ahead, and the goal was met.  On Friday night, backpack #5,000 was shown to us.  What an awesome feeling to know that we are a part of that.

(Kayla stops to look at the prayer wall.  Each red piece represents a prayer that a participant wrote for the children that are a part of GlobalFingerprints.)

The second part of GlobalFingerprints is adopting a child to support for $25 a month.  74 children were adopted!  Our mission team had adopted a 4 year old with funds that were raised for ministry expenses.  See one of my previous posts to see him.

This little boy, Sukana Simeona, is 4 years old.  I adopted him for Kavin who is 4 years old.  I thought that it would be wonderful for Kavin to have a child his age to see and learn about in another country.  Many times, we take for granted the luxuries and lifestyle that we live.  The little things that we have, most of these children don't ever hope to have.  By adopting this child, I hope that we're able to not only help another child in another country, but we'd be able to appreciate everything that we have.  If you are interested in adopting your own child, call the toll-free number in the picture.

Final Day of Challenge 2010

Today was the final day of Challenge 2010.  It was a day to finish out strong in all aspects of the conference...training, ministry (sharing, caring, and serving), worship, teaching on the Beatitudes (Matt 5:1-12), and relationships both old and new. 

Our morning started with the youth worker's meeting where we were able to meet other youth workers in our district.  Hawaii has 8 EFCA churches, of which 6 are on Oahu and 3 are here in Ohio.  Of the 6, 5 meet or communicate regularly in youth ministry and collaborate with each other and other churches for larger events and camps.  It's amazing to find out that on the mainland, most EFCA churches don't have this collaboration.  Many don't even have annual district conferences or meetings.  We may be isolated in Hawaii, but I am grateful for my fellow brothers and sisters in youth ministry that hold each other up and provide the support that we need to succeed in ministry.  This meeting was the beginning of a network for some of our mainland brothers and sisters.

The day went on pretty much like the previous days.  We went into the morning gathering session with worship led by Kristian Stanfill and teaching by D.A.  The previous night was our prayer gathering, and you could feel the difference in the air this morning.  Our group headed to grab lunch and decided that we would split up for the afternoon in different ministry options.  While waiting for that to happen, we went back to visit our friends on the ministry staff.  Actually, Kayla was really looking to play volleyball.  That was probably one of the highlights of the conference for all of us...making friends with the Floridians!  As Ross commented, if we didn't participate in the ministry option, we probably wouldn't make the connections that we did.  So true!

David, Ross, Alexia, and Taylor opted to take the opportunity to do ministry out in the community.  Kayla, Shirlene, and I wanted to go and sew/assemble backpacks.  The goal was 5,000 backpacks by the end of the conference.  On Tuesday, they had completed 600.  By last night, there were still more than 1500 to go.  It didn't look possible, but the call for help went out, and answered it was.  In the second shift today, there were more than 500 people who showed up to help!  Some groups who had already taken a turn earlier in the week were asked to come back at a later time.  They started assigning people to work groups and stations.  Kayla and I were one of the last that were still seated, so I told her that we could go back for the next shift.  Since she had sewn on Tuesday, what she really wanted to do was personalize one before leaving.  Check out my next post for that.

The last gathering tonight focused on persecution.  What a great way to wrap up the week.  Nick spoke on what it really means to be persecuted for righteousness.  Visually, he built a wall and brought all the teaching from the past week together.  It was moving enough to drive one to tears.  Kristian Stanfill finished strong with leading worship that had the ballroom rocking.  I'll try to get some video uploaded on facebook.  It's not the same, but you have to imagine yourself in a room of 5,000+ lifting their voices and hands up in unison.  It's awesome!

Tonight, the city of Columbus celebrates our independence and freedom.  Earlier, the parade went down Front Street and fireworks went off at 10pm.  Our group got to watch from the window of the restaurant in our hotel.  Our hotel has very tight security.  The rooms opposite our hall are booked over a year in advance and start at $500 a night for the holiday weekend.  We're told that it's "the" hotel to be at...right across the river.  The streets are slighty crazy, but all our kids are safe.

Link to photos from Challenge:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/aiondesign
(This is from Jon Rees on the Challenge blog)