Spring is here and summer is fast approaching! With teams already in the field, we have seen God move in so many ways: from a crippled man receiving healing on the streets of Gainesville, Georgia to sharing the love of Jesus with the orphans in Mexico!
We can't wait for more this summer LORD! Praise Jesus!
Here are a couple stories:
From the Field:
In
a small village outside of El Estor, we ran into a 11 year old boy
named Benjamin while setting up the clinic in a local church. While
playing with the kids outside, he caught our eye. He was standing
behind the rest of the kids, sweat beads on his upper lip and breathing
heavy. I placed my hand on his back. It was wet; he felt feverish and
was coughing, struggling to breathe. I asked if he was having a hard
time breathing. He then told me at night he hardly sleeps; it keeps him
up. We walked him over to the nurse and translator. It ends up that he
has asthma. We taught him how to use an inhaler and prayed for healing.
The entire time he smiled. -Connie Rock, Guatemala, 2/11/09
God
has been working in ways that could never have been predicted this
summer at AIM's New Orleans mission. Judging by what I've seen in my
experiences at the VBS sites, I would venture to say that the Lord is
working his miracles and his great revival in the youth of New Orleans.
It is liberating, awesome, and a privilege to witness. -Jillian Andre, New Orleans, 8/8/08
For nearly 20 years, we at Adventures
in Missions (AIM) have considered it our calling to bring the mission field
to the church's doorstep.
During this time, we've
learned that when a group of young people step out of their comfort zones and
embrace what God is doing around the world, they do not return the same.
Often, they even bring a little bit of the mission field back with them.
While AIM has been doing short-term missions for many years now, we
believe that "The Edge" does a better job of communicating our purpose and
vision for why we do what we do.
The Edge is not a new
program, but rather a new direction and description of something we've been
doing for a long time.
The Edge means different things to different
people:
For some, it means going to the edge of yourself and
realizing that you have what it takes to be a person of godly character.
For others, it means leaving the comfort of your own
culture and coming to the edge of where two worlds meet.
For all, The Edge is a place of decision. Standing over
a huge cliff, you don't come back the same. You can either retreat or take the
plunge into the unknown.
As we introduce your group to situations that will give
them opportunities to allow God to work in and through them, our desire is that
an Edge trip will be a place for each person to experience dramatic life change.
Read
more about The Edge...
Hurricane
Ike Relief Teams - Get a group together to help clean up Galveston, TX and bring hope to those who have lost
everything to the recent hurricane.
College-Break
Trips - Take your college group to the inner city, across the border to
Mexico, or overseas to
Africa to discover Christ in unlikely places.
Featured Program: The
Journey - "Experience the Journey of Abiding in Christ"
The Journey is eight straight months of living as a
"family" in Matamoros,
Mexico, seeking
God in not only the simplest of ways but also in the "loudest" possible ways.
Read
more...
We just got this report from Athol Barnes, an AIM staff member who was investigating the damage caused by Hurricane Ike in Galveston, Texas:
The damage is very similar to Katrina and the New Orleans Gulf coast area. We went through houses and neighborhoods today that had 4 to 5 feet of water in them. There will be hundreds, if not thousands, of homes that need gutting, something our teams do really well.
The area of damage is very widespread; the storm was 600 miles across. Many of the areas between Houston and the Louisiana line are economically depressed and the people might have insurance, but the insurance covers only current cash value (this was the case with a family we visited today in Galveston).
The pictures could have been taken anywhere in the Holly grove area of New Orleans, but they were in Galveston. Bolivar, an area outside Houston was almost completely destroyed. And it was a very poor area.
The immediate need is for volunteers, yesterday. We are proposing to have volunteers come to Houston and stay with our partner church. We will have a volunteer coordinator in place to facilitate the work crews and make sure their food and lodging are taken care of. We will charge them $30 per day that will include, a place to sleep, three meals, a coordinator, nonspecialized tools (they might want to bring chain saws etc).
Lodging might be varied including trailers, dorm style in a hall, or large tents. However, cots will be provided.
The volunteers will do:
Gutting and demolition
Food distribution and ministering to those affected by the storm
General contractors
Yard clean up
Roofers
Prayer walking and evangelism
We who follow Jesus need to find more ways to give and bring hope. Here is an obvious way.
God continues to show us that we should invest in a training center. He is calling us to equip a generation and send them out into the world as disciplemakers. We need to expand our space in order to meet our growing year-round training needs.
We currently use a large outdoor tent for meeting space as well as an indoor/outdoor kitchen. With your help, we can add new space that will serve as a meeting/dining hall and a kitchen.
Our Gainesville Training Center is becoming a launch pad preparing missionaries to minister around the world. We prepare them for the trials they will face in other cultures. The training center is an environment where biblical truth and life are breathed into them. It is going through our training camps that we see hundreds of people leave behind their baggage and discover their identity in Christ.
Here is what recent training camp participants are saying:
I am in awe of God after our week at training camp. I saw Him move in the hearts of people to break down strongholds. He tore down our ideas of the safe and familiar in order to bring us to the point of complete dependence on Him. I saw teammates share things with our community that they have never shared or dealt with before and are now walking in the freedom of Christ. -Sharon
"It's been a great but difficult week. We're taking in a lot and letting go of just as much. Lots of tears, confessions and huge moments of realization and life change. People are being broken and molded." -Ryan
"God broke me. It was the most horrifying, yet amazing, thing I have ever experienced. He knew that if I did not allow healing for the pain in my heart now, I would be of no use to him out in the world. I would always have this part of me I could not turn over to him, and he wants all of me..." -Lindsey
There are three main components to the training center project: the indoor public meeting spaces, the kitchen facilities, and the outdoor spaces.
We need to be able to prepare food and serve the larger numbers of participants, so we are planning for a kitchen that is located adjacent to seating spaces. We plan to connect the indoor and outdoor spaces with hardscape paths, decking, and stairs to promote better traffic flow and reduce wear and tear on the facility.
STEWARDSHIP: In good stewardship, our plan is renovate our old wing and finish part of the upstairs of the new building. We will reconfigure the "old" office space to be a large, open meeting area with adjacent support rooms for break-out sessions and small group meetings.
A covered concrete patio will serve as an entry way and be connected by a path to the patio that is at the back of the building. Additional paths will connect the bunkhouses with the training center and outdoor meeting areas.
Chris and I just finished leading a short term mission project in Gainesville, Georgia! This is AIM's first Short Term project in Gainesville and it was exciting to see God move in such a powerful way! We were blessed to have a mature group of young Christians and leaders! God Bless each and every one of them!
Here are their own words about this past week:
Malachi 3:7 "Return to Me, and I will return to you,"8
7/23/2008 By: Lauren Hebda, "Return to ME, and I will Return to you,"
Brighton Nazarene Church- Brighton, Michigan
Before experiencing this trip I felt like I was drifting from God. I was brought up in the church and accepted Christ as a young girl. From that point on I struggle but i continued to rededicate my life to Him. Lately I have felt that I just cant go back to Christ that i have strayed so far that He just wouldnt want me back. Eventually I didnt want to put dmy energy back into it. I gave up on myself and God. This trip has completely changed my perspective! Ive been inspired by so many other testimonies and heard what they have gone through. I praise and thank God that in every single one of those circumstances God welcomed them with open arms! It gives me hope and strength to go running back to my Father! I know now that He will return to me when I return to Him!I am amazed at the work that God is doing in me and all of my friends here!
Blessed7
7/23/2008 By: Jake Andrews, Small group Leader
Brighton Naz Church- Brighton, Michigan
We have had a truely blessed week and a half here at the Gainesville, Georgia location. The staff that was put together was truely amazing. I'm gunna keep it short and sweet and just say that I came to help younger Christians grow in their faith, and I ended up growing myself in the faith. I just wanted to say THANKS to AIM; for helping our youth at the church to grow stronger. Thanks again and GOD BLESS.
Not what I was expecting6
7/23/2008 By: Jordyn Coy, youth
Brighton Nazarene Church- Howell, Michigan
I was so excited to come on this mission trip and just couldn't contain myself weeks before. I was so excited to be an instrument of God and have Him work through me. The first night though I started to have some problems with my asthma and it began to get worse as the days went on. I spent the second and third night of the trip in the hospital and was so incredibly bummed that I was missing all the activities with my team. However, the second night, I came across an opportunity that only God could have provided. I was waiting in my bed in the emergency room and I had to get an EKG done on my heart. The lady walked in and immediately I felt God's presence in the room. She asked me what I was doing all the way down in Georgia and I told her about AIM and our mission. She was so excited and told me how proud she was that we, as youth, are working for the Lord. I'm normally not a person to ask someone to pray with me but I really felt as though God was telling me to pray with her and for her family, so I did. She was so receptive and began to tear up and I could tell that God did something in her that night. I was just so happy that I could be a part of it. Also, spending so much time in the hospital allowed me to build a really good relationship with my leader and she has helped me so much and offered me so much support. I can really see God's presence in her and can't thank God enough for putting her in my life on this mission trip. So although it wasn't exactly how I expected this mission trip to go, God found a way for me to minister even when I was sick and I feel that he put me in the hospital for a reason. Our God is an awesome God.
I've Heard His Voice5
7/23/2008 By: Rebecca Webber
Brighton Nazarene Church- Brighton, Michigan
Wow! This trip has made such a difference in me. I did not expect this. I've been unsure about where I am in my walk with the Lord since I was baptized in April. I've felt a little lost, and being here is tying it all together! Even after the first day I felt different. At an event, I felt the Holy Spirit move and nudge me toward singing on stage in front of the community. I never would have done that at home! And it just keeps getting better. We had a time of prayer with our Bibles and He spoke to me through His word. I was compelled to pray for a man over a phone call. I finally realized that my testimony is not a series of mistakes, but the path that I was taking back home to the Lord. Praise God for this opportunity, and God bless AIM!
Tylers story?4
7/23/2008 By: Tyler Michael Simon, Tylers story?
Brighton Naz- Brighton, MI
My name is Tyler Simon and this trip has changed my life in many ways. In one big way I have strugled with drug and drinking abuse for quite some time now and this trip has really brought it to my attention that I don't need it in my life. We have been street evangelizing and I truly think its my calling. I am in love with it. I love going up to people and just starting talking about there life and my testomony and how God has changed me. This week has helped me so much. Praise God!!!
WOW! What a Day!3
7/23/2008 By: Chris Pagel, AIM Staff
7/21/2008 By: Chris Pagel, Staff
Everyone is eating ice cream after a long day of ministry in the 100 degree temps. The day started out with the group breaking up into teams of three, four and five. They then sat and called men and women who are at the end of their time and are now in hospice. Tears filled the building as stories were shared, hearts were broken and prayers were held. After the calls, the groups learned how to tell their testimonies. We had an awesome speaker. Following the speaker we were off to VBS which we did not have a huge crowd for so we just kept pushing forward and found a parking lot where there were children and many others who we blessed with food. They also blessed us with their stories and testimonies. The participants of this trip say that God is changing them in ways they cannot completely explain. Everyone is having a blast and excited to see where God leads us next!
Church Street Manor2
7/23/2008 By: Lisa Pelcher, Chaparone
Brighton Nazarene Church- Brighton, Michigan
Today I spent time with Rebecca and Austin, helping three elderly women by washing their windows. We had an opportunity to get to know Miss Alice, Miss Bessie, and Miss Cecile. Not only were they incredible women, but the two students I was with absolutely amazed me, after throwing a few hints of what to say with Miss Alice both Rebecca and Austin took over and needed no more hints with anyone else. It was fantastic to see God work through the two of them, and to see the smiles on their faces when all three women allowed us to pray with them. This is a day I will never forget.
Praise God1
7/23/2008 By: Tim Wessel, Pastor
Brighton Nazarene Church- Brighton, Michigan
Wow is all I can say. God has been faithfull to all of the prayers we have lifted up for this trip. We have the most amazing group of students here and God is doing an amazing work in each of them. We have laughed together, cried together, prayed together, shared together, ate together, worshipped played together and together we have served our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. We have seen God's hand move on our group all week through the ministries we have served. We have done Hospice work, prayer walks, door to door evangelism, hung out with the homeless under an overpass and prayed with them, worked at an elderly care facility, worked a downtwown street evangelism program and there is more to come. Tonight we are doing sports evangelism and tomorrow we are feeding the homeless in a shelter and asking the Lord what other ministries we should serve in.
I am so impressed with our students and the hearts they have. I also very proud of them as I have heard so many of the leaders in Aim and others down here say how wonderful they are.
Newark was founded in 1666 by Connecticut Puritans led by Robert Treat from the New Haven Colony. They bought the property from the Hackensack Indians by exchanging gunpowder, 100 bars of lead, 20 axes, 20 coats, guns, pistols, swords, kettles, blankets, knives, beer, and 10 pairs of breeches. The colonists sought to establish strict church rules, and settlers decided that a community reflecting that task should be named "New Ark."
Newark has always been a city of immigrants, and today it is multi-cultural: 52% Black, 30% Hispanic, and 14% White. It is located approximately five miles west of Manhattan and two miles north of Staten Island, NY. Newark Bay's proximity to the Atlantic Ocean contributes to its status as the major container shipping port for New York Harbor.
Across several administrations, city leaders accepted 100% federal funding for housing projects. Eventually, Newark had a higher percentage of its residents in public housing than any other American city. Certain pockets of the city developed as domains of poverty and social isolation. Of Newark's 273,546 inhabitants, 28.4% live below the poverty line.
Newark has been rated one of the most dangerous cities in America, but it is a place that Jesus would visit to impart His limitless grace, mercy, and love. AIM partners with World Impact to do children's ministry in the projects and parks, and at the base. Teams also serve at soup kitchens and share Christ at a New York City rescue mission.
World Impact's original Bible club ministry in 1976 has expanded to include Newark Christian School, a summer day camp/learning center, and home church plants. AIM teams come alongside to help.
Community Life:training & apprenticeship for Christ-followers One year of growth, community, and ministry.
We're excited to introduce a new opportunity that many of you will love.We're taking our best coaches and disciplers and matching them up for a year with our most passionate young people (up to age 31). At Adventures In Missions (AIM), we love the next generation. We want to see people launched into a whole new way of doing life. In a culture that esteems independence, we want to restore the value of interdependence that was so prevalent in the Early Church. By living in authentic community, disciples of Jesus learn how to be "salt" and "light" in a way that transforms the world around them. It's a year of training and apprenticeship in community.
Community Life is a place where you can continue to grow in your identity and role in the kingdom of God. The people of AIM will pour into you during this year in a number of ways. Our leaders will train you and hang out with you. We'll help you sharpen your life focus and call to ministry and even help you develop your skill sets. We provide housing in Gainesville, GA, where a select group of 30 young people will live together in several houses in a neighborhood with easy access to the surrounding community. There are five major aspects involved in Community Life:
·Mentoring: As part of creating a personal development plan, you will be paired up with a leader at AIM that will regularly meet one-on-one with you and provide coaching, encouragement, and discipleship. Seth Barnes and Scott Borg will guide a team of top leaders as we return to discipleship as Jesus practiced it.This includes intensive teaching to help you understand your past, who you are in Christ, and how to move forward in the plan God has for your life and ministry. You will work on your own, in small group settings, and with some of the most experienced and inspirational mentors AIM has to offer.
·Skill development: You will expand your life skills. Many of you will have an internship in the office in an area such as recruiting, marketing, creative writing/editing, media, missions mobilization, web design, or program development. Your internship will be tailored to develop your passion.It's an opportunity to develop valuable work skills through hands-on training.
·Ministry: In order to stay connected with ministry, we've partnered with a local outreach to the 60,000 marginalized Hispanics in and around Gainesville. It is important to us that you continue to be exposed to the poor and have the opportunity to engage in hands-on ministry.We'll also partner with a camping and sports ministry.
·Travel: To continue engaging in different cultures and learning about God's heart for the nations, we'll provide you with opportunities for travel to put into practice what you have learned.In addition there may be a summer opportunity to lead various discipleship programs for high school and college students around the world. You will be able to call others to a life of sacrifice and to fulfilling the Great Commission.In the future, we'll plant new leadership training bases in places like Spain and Africa with our colleagues Andrew Shearman and Gary Black and partner with them in developing those training centers.
·Sample apprenticeships: Recruiting Team, Marketing Team, Multimedia ministry, discipleship ministry coordination, short-term mission project coordination, and many others. You will have the opportunity to use your gifts in mobilizing people for God's kingdom.
Hello Friends, Family, Brothers and Sisters in Jesus!
Well, the summer season is behind us and Chris has returned from over three weeks in Nicaragua following the Lord's leading. Chris and I thought we would have some down time to reset after a long summer but...not to be!
We received word that we needed to move from our place in Marietta, Georgia because of an ordinance change in the county where we resided. We needed to make the move soon so we dug in and found a house to rent in Gainesville (about 3 miles from work and 1.5 hours from the city). We are once more back in the country side although we didn't realize the extent of the compassion the Lord has given to us for urban areas...we now find ourselves missing the city and longing for the work the Lord has us doing there.
After the move was finished, Dar and Bill left for Harlan, Kentucky. AIM has it's Appalachia base in Harlan and a group from Wisconsin was coming down for a week long mission project. While I was in Harlan, not only did we participate in the mission project, but I conducted Mission leader training for three individuals from around the country who will soon be leading mission trips for AIM. It was a great week and I learned much about poverty in our own country. Please pray for those in the Appalachias that have need for their need truly is great.
Dar and I returned from Kentucky the last part of October. A couple days after our return, the whole family was packed up and heading to Central Wisconsin. In Wisconsin we visited family as well as churches and individuals that have been partnering with our ministry, although I am the first to admit that we did not get to see everyone that we wished to see (but hope to the next trip up!)
In addition to visiting, Chris and I participated in the Nightmare ministry at Believer's Church in Marshfield Wisconsin. If you are not familiar with the Nightmare, it is hard to describe in a nutshell but here is my attempt anyway: The Nightmre ministry is held on the weekends each year in the month of October. It is a Hollywood quality, walk through, in your face production that highlights the top killers of teens in this country today including Suicide, gang violence, alcohol abuse and drug abuse. Individuals are shown the destructive behaviors and the eternal consequences of a lifestyle in sin. At the end of the Nightmare, participants are also shown the eternal sacrifice made by Christ and the gift God extends to all of us.
It is a powerful ministry that saw over 10,000 persons come through this year with over 600 life dedications to Jesus Christ - AWESOME!
Chris and I also spent two days in Chicago as Chris did "Setup" for the 2008 Missions season in that city. She met with various church and ministry partners to ensure that our missionaries would have housing next year and to identify various ministry outreach and community needs.
Well, we are back now in Gainesville. Bill is working on drafting updates to the Mission Leaders manual for 2008 as well as church missions training material development. Chris is continuing with her Setup responsibilities in various locations and homeschooling the kids as well. We hope to have a few weeks at home before the LORD sends us somewhere else...
This trip was a blessing as well as an incredible mission opportunity. We were blessed with leaders with such servant hearts. Bill and Chris did so much behind the scenes work. I appreciate their hard work. You could just see their loving heart and sensitivity to the needs of the host Pastor family as well as the team. I felt blessed by the team unity and how everyone worked together. It was incredible to come and work alongside a church in another culture, experience their worship, ministry, their needs and their hearts for God and for the community.
- Amber Mitchell
This trip was an amazing blessing to me! Our whole team was very unified and some of us came not part of a group. We all worked well together and it was awesome how Chris and Bill gave us all the levels of AIM's vision for the trip. Felt needs, Relationship Building, Prayer, Worship and listening and hearing God. I look forward to another "Adventure" for Jesus. I will miss our leaders Chris and Bill and all those who I served with and ministered to.
- Melissa Honour
Playing soccer with the local youth was one of the first opportunities we had to connect with people in Santa Cruz. I thought it was a fantastic idea. VBS was extremely successful in terms of drawing the locals to the church to provide opportunities to impact both the children and their parents with words of life, hope, truth, love and vision for how much more is really available to them in the "here and now" as well as eternity. I'm thankful to God for the raising up ministries like AIM to provide people like me with a glimpse of what missions are all about. I'm thankful for a clear vision of what God may have prepared for me in the future.
- Justin Bellars
This trip was excellent! Bill and Chris were very flexible with their schedule and accomodated our needs very well. The trip details were well organized and their were no signs of stress or discord that detracted from the reason we were all on the trip. We all had an amazing time and we had lots of great storiesabout our trip to share with others. We had great opportunities to demonstrate who Christ is to others, share our faith with others (including ourselves) and to help the church with its vision to reach the people of Santa Cruz. It was such a great pleasure to be able to felloowship and worship with others. It has been the best experience of my life. The Vacation Bible School was well attended and you could see the excitement growing everyday on the childrens faces. I had never prayed for people as they received Christinto their hearts before and it was truly amazing to experience that. I could feel the spirit move every time we were praying with someone and for each other. The chemestry of the group was totally amazing. It was a blessing to see how each one of us brought different gifts and how we were all able to find our place and fill the needs of the group. God used us to show His glory and He also showed us that He is in Santa Cruz and is working to reach the people here. I could see the appreciation in the eyes of the childrenfor the attention; I could feel the love for Jesus when we talked to people at their houses. It was a blessing to be here, to meet who we met and share what we shared.
- Kimberly Whitted
Bless the Lord for assembling this team and for our gracious leaders... Good energy made challenges bearable. Feels like much of a difference was made and a movement has been started.
- MaDiana Diaz
It is my sincere hope that I have been as much of an impact on the people of Santa Cruz and La Iglesic Metodista as they have been on me. I believe that I have grown closer to God in every moment of my time on this mission trip. From the first night we had a worship service and the Lord led me to lead in the singing, something I had never done before, I knew that this would be an awesome experience. Witnessing the church service, it was a gift to return to the basics of praising God. When pastor Victor laid his hands on me and prayed for me, I could feel the Holy Spirit working through him. Interacting with the people of Santa Cruz has been a life changing experience for me. Being able to play a game of soccer, share meals, and just talk with people brought joy to my heart. Providing a VBS for the local children was an exilarating adventure. I thank God for the opportunity to utilize the abilities that He provided me to minister to the youth of this community. I truly believe that it is through the children that this church and community can flourish in the love and word of God. My experiences on this trip have been some of the most meaningful and fruitful blessings of my walk with Christ. Due in large part to the wonderful members of this mission team. I can't imagine being surrounded by a more loving and supportive group of christians than the life-long friends I have had the pleasure to meet and be disciples with throughout this mission trip.
In
a small village outside of El Estor, we ran into a 11 year old boy
named Benjamin while setting up the clinic in a local church. While
playing with the kids outside, he caught our eye. He was standing
behind the rest of the kids, sweat beads on his upper lip and breathing
heavy. I placed my hand on his back. It was wet; he felt feverish and
was coughing, struggling to breathe. I asked if he was having a hard
time breathing. He then told me at night he hardly sleeps; it keeps him
up. We walked him over to the nurse and translator. It ends up that he
has asthma. We taught him how to use an inhaler and prayed for healing.
The entire time he smiled. -Connie Rock, Guatemala, 2/11/09
God
has been working in ways that could never have been predicted this
summer at AIM's New Orleans mission. Judging by what I've seen in my
experiences at the VBS sites, I would venture to say that the Lord is
working his miracles and his great revival in the youth of New Orleans.
It is liberating, awesome, and a privilege to witness. -Jillian Andre, New Orleans, 8/8/08
The Edge is not a new
program, but rather a new direction and description of something we've been
doing for a long time.
The damage is very similar to Katrina and the New Orleans Gulf coast area. We went through houses and neighborhoods today that had 4 to 5 feet of water in them. There will be hundreds, if not thousands, of homes that need gutting, something our teams do really well.
God continues to show us that we should invest in a training center. He is calling us to equip a generation and send them out into the world as disciplemakers. We need to expand our space in order to meet our growing year-round training needs.
I am in awe of God after our week at training camp. I saw Him move in the hearts of people to break down strongholds. He tore down our ideas of the safe and familiar in order to bring us to the point of complete dependence on Him. I saw teammates share things with our community that they have never shared or dealt with before and are now walking in the freedom of Christ. -Sharon
We need to be able to prepare food and serve the larger numbers of participants, so we are planning for a kitchen that is located adjacent to seating spaces. We plan to connect the indoor and outdoor spaces with hardscape paths, decking, and stairs to promote better traffic flow and reduce wear and tear on the facility.
