From Our Pastors

 

It has been a great summer! We had students attend and serve different weeks at Ambassador Camp, Crossroads Summer Camp, and a great group of high schoolers attend our Puerto Rico mission trip. They have had several chances to grow in their faith, take next steps, and use their gifts to serve in different ways and in different places.

 The last night of our mission trip, our group was challenged to think about missions. We had been serving for a week in Puerto Rico, had chances to share the gospel through translators (or with English speakers), and worked heard each day on projects in the community. One of the missionaries with Send Relief full-time closed the week with some thoughts on missions work, and what we are called to do as followers of Christ. He ended with a challenge to our students that while they had gone on a mission trip to a new place for a week, the calling of followers of Christ is to be on mission all the time where they actually live every single day. Missions isn’t something we only do when we sign up for a trip and go to a different place around the world somewhere. Missions is what we do as followers of Christ wherever we are.

 We got to then talk in table groups, and as a church group afterwards, about what this could look like for our students here in Sumter. There were several great ideas shared. Below is a list of a couple challenges for our students, as well as for you as parents to model this for your students. These are simple things, that truly don’t add much time to your schedule, and are practical ways that we can live on mission here in Sumter.

 Students:

• Schools: This might seem obvious, but most of our students walk into a mission field every single weekday from August to May. Many of the students they are interacting with do not walk with Jesus, attend a church regularly, and have that influence in their homes. Students are attending school every day, so this is a natural place to leverage living out the gospel and proclaiming the gospel. This includes time at school, and then after school with sports, clubs, extracurriculars, etc.
• Neighborhoods: One student on our trip shared an idea of once a month students meeting up together on Saturdays in Sumter at places people hang out and spend time and seeking to simply talk to people, share the gospel, and invite them to church the following day. This is something we hope to do a couple times this fall!

 Parents - again, these are simple things that we can model for our kids that don’t add time to our already seemingly overwhelmed schedules!

• Go to the same places: When you go grocery shopping, and bring your kids, go to the same place. Get to know the people that work there over time. When you practice this, over time, you will know what is going on in their lives, how you can pray for them, and share the hope of Jesus. Go to the same coffee shop, and meet and talk to the people there. When your family goes out to eat, frequent the same places. All of the errands you will run as a family are opportunities to be intentional about where you go and what you do, and are already in your schedule. Model intentionality and boldness for them!
• Neighborhoods: Get to know your neighbors! Interact with them, invite them into your home, serve them, invite them to church with you, etc. This is a natural place to show the love of Christ in tanglible ways to people you don’t have to go out and find! And, you are going to eat dinner (most nights!), so invite them to that. It doesn’t add something to your schedule in that sense.

 Our students were challenged to think and live on mission all the time, not just on a week mission trip. We, as parents, can help them catch a vision for that and know better how to do that based on what we model.