Tuesday, March 18, 2008

A Familiar Foreign Land

Another Summer to Disciple Students, Impacting Ireland and the UK.

Leading the ‘08 Ireland Team

Many of you remember the amazing summer Jenni and I had in Ireland back in ’06. Well, I have some exciting news to share, I have been asked to be the senior team leader for the Royal Servants ’08 Ireland team! I am so excited to be leading this team! I can’t wait to see the team God will raise up to join us in making a lasting impact.

This year, our Ireland team will be unique from previous years. Why? Because God has placed an opportunity in our path that we just couldn’t pass up! In addition to working in Northern Ireland, we will also be serving in one of the poorest boroughs on the outskirts of London.

Partnering with Local Churches and Reaching Diverse Communities

The first part of the summer will be spent in Londonderry, Northern Ireland. In Londonderry we will be working hand-in-hand with a church youth group to reach out to the community through a variety of ministry opportunities.

For the second part of the summer our team will fly over to London, England to partner with a church in the Tottenham borough.

Tottenham is rich in ethnic diversity. It has some of London’s highest concentrations of people from the Caribbean islands, Ghana (West Africa), and Eastern Europe. We will be reaching out to a racially diverse community with big needs.

“Real” Spiritual Growth

Though one of our main purposes of our summer is to reach people for Christ in these communities, we also have the privilege to see God work in the hearts of the students on our American team. Real spiritual growth takes place in a God centered, discipleship oriented, summer mission experience! Listen to how God worked in David’s life, a young man on the Nepal team last summer.

In a recent email David said in part:

“I just wanted you to know that God really used Royal Servants this summer to change my life. You helped me to get to the point where I was on my knees, offering my heart up to God. My WHOLE heart.

Before the trip, my sin had been separating me from having an awesome incredible relationship with the God who created the universe, but thanks to Royal Servants I now feel like all those walls have been torn down and I can finally meet with God face to face and experience His presence in ways I have never felt before.

So again, my life has truly been changed by God this summer, and I am forever in your debt for letting God use you as His instrument to shape and mold the lives of us students.” David—Nepal ‘07

Pray for the Harvest… Pray for Workers!

It’s our desire to see more students like David be equipped to make a difference and be impacted for Jesus’ sake.

Currently, I’m actively recruiting students to join Royal Servants this summer. I’m not looking for students who are perfect, only students who have a heart for Jesus and desire to grow more in their faith - like David (above).

Do you know a teenager or college student who desires to be shaped by Christ and wants to make a difference for him in this world? If so, simply send me their name, email and/or phone number (with their permission) so I can contact them. It would be great to have them join our team!

Please pray for all the preparation, planning and for our time in Ireland and the United Kingdom this summer. I anticipate with great joy what God is going to do in the hearts of the students and in the lives Jesus will touch through them!


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