Highlights

Aug 02 2016

A Stone of iRock – Part 1

garth I came to join the iRock Ministry team on the week of the July the 11th. From then to present date it has been a great journey. Terry asked each summer student to take sometime out of our schedule to let the world know what we have experienced. In truth, there is too much to list in a single blog post. However, I’ll do my best to highlight a couple things that have been super impactful for me personally thus far.

My second week here at iRock, we served at the Potomac District Camp. For those that do not know it is affiliated with the Assembly of God denomination. Yet, it was very welcoming to a little Mennonite like myself. The camp staff was awesome group of people to work alongside in every sense of the phrase. They welcomed the iRock team right in and had such a passion of sharing the Lord with the campers. It was a week full of worship, teaching, and play. Its was clear to see in the camper’s day to day activities regardless if that was walking into the Chapel for service and out to the fields to play.

Witnessing the kids press inasmuch as they did to seek the Lord’s face for their personal lives was incredible. The camp had different ways for the campers to engage with the Lord; at the Response Stations or at the Altar Calls to just name a couple. The camp as a whole had this understanding that the Lord was going to be there to speak with these campers. And OOooh did He. Many of kids felt prompted of the Holy Spirit to share what He was speaking into their hearts. The verse in Matthew that talks of youngsters uttering praise was clear to see happening before my very eyes. Something I think we should all witness and experience in our walk of faith. Read more

Apr 18 2016

Christian Extinction

I’ve recently been able to share at a few churches a growing concern over our youngest generation of children. Are our children just a generation away from Christian extinction?

Barna research indicates nearly half of all Americans who accept Jesus Christ as their savior do so before reaching the age of 13 (43%), and that two out of three born again Christians (64%) made that commitment to Christ before their 18th birthday.

That is great news but let’s take that a step further.

Barna’s research also shows that 84% of those children that accept Jesus as their savior turn away from their faith before they graduate high school. Some reports are saying as high as 94%. To me this is alarming. We are not passing on a robust Christian faith and an accompanying commitment to the church.

If we love as Jesus loved and show children Christ by investing in their lives, the likelihood of “Christian extinction” diminishes. We may never see the influence we have on these kids while we’re here on earth, but you can never tell what seeds God has used you to plant in the lives of children.

Are we handing down our faith like Moses handed it down to Joshua or are we a Joshua that dropped the ball and “After that whole generation had been gathered to their ancestors, another generation grew up who knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel.” Are we leaving the spiritual development of our kids to chance or are we being strategic and intentional?

We are the Joshua Generation! Who are we handing down our faith to and who are we mentoring? It’s time we take a closer look at what we might have to do differently to reach this generation for Christ. What might we have to change and how might we have to approach our young people so that they don’t grow up “neither knowing the Lord or what he had done for Israel”?

If you would like for me to speak to your congregation and encourage them in the task God has set before them, feel free to contact me. I would love to come share what God has laid on my heart for this generation of children.

Apr 18 2016

Let your light shine

When Beetrice the honey bee visits Frederick, this was a day destined to ‘bee’ life changing. What begins as a conversation between Beetrice, the honey bee, and Dr. Stinger, ends with the salvation of seven children. Who is Dr. Stinger and was he actually talking to a honey bee? Dr. Stinger is a ‘bee’ therapist and Beetrice is a honey bee that thinks she needs to be a lightning bug so that her father would ‘bee’ proud of her. One day as she was collecting pollen she heard some kids saying, Matthew 5:16 “In the same way let your light shine before others so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”

Being a honey bee she interpreted that to say, that when she used her light to SHINE on how GOOD SHE WORKED then they would give HONEY to her FATHER who lived at the HIVE INN. She says she heard Matthew say that at exactly 5:16. Or, she thought that’s what time it was.

You can see why Beetrice felt like she needed to ‘bee’ a lightning bug, she had no light to shine but thanks to the kids she soon realized that her light wasn’t a physical light but rather her light shines when she does something that helps someone else know Jesus.

This might be a silly approach to the idea of sharing our faith walk with others, but it was an approach that led seven children to making a decision to invite Jesus into their lives and there is no silliness too great when that is the result.

Jan 23 2016

Spirit led and Spirit filled camp

God has been intentional in the way He has been leading me and how I then lead kids camp. Over the past few years He has moved me from being intensely focused on the details of running camp to being intensely focused on providing opportunity for kids to connect with God in a real and personal way. Being obedient to that leading has truly opened the doors for the Holy Spirit to work in the lives of everyone at camp.

Three years ago our week of district camp piloted a different way of allowing kids to respond to God through several response areas that appealed to not only the audible learners but also to the visual, and tactile learners. We saw amazing things happening as kids were now open to hearing God’s voice in different ways. Each year we continued to educate both the kids and chaperones in the benefits of response areas and again the Holy Spirit touched hearts and lives.

Last year God impressed on me to take on a different role than I had previously filled and become more actively involved in the altar time as the Holy Spirit allowed me to be used to speak His truth and help lead the kids into the throne room of God. I’ve been in awe at what God was doing and I couldn’t fathom how it could get any better, but it did and there was no question that the Holy Spirit was in charge of what was happening each and every day.

If you want to be touched by the openness of the kids at camp just take a look at one of our times of worship during the week of camp.

Jan 23 2016

A bit on the Wildside!!

Is kids camp ever anything less than wild? Camp generally allows kids to operate a bit on the wild side and we, which included myself, Caleb and Tanner, were about to get a taste of inner city kids on the wild side. Adrian Black, youth leader at The Hope Center in Hagerstown was the master mind and we were there to give him a hand. From the moment we arrived there was activity; bounds of it as the kids were playing basketball, ping pong, video games and make shift volleyball.

Teens and young adults from local churches had rallied together to both guide and maintain some semblance of order. I was actually surprised at how well they did and how positively the kids responded to the rules that were shared at the very beginning of the week.

So let’s throw that together with small group time, a service to talk about Jesus, lunch, a short ride to the outdoor campgrounds and an afternoon of letting loose playing in the creek, ziplining, snacks and activities to learn more about the country of Africa and you have a full day of Camp Wild.

I suspect the staff was more tired at the end of the day than the kids but they came back each day to do it all over again. Not only did we get a glimpse into the lives of these kids but for many this was the first time they had ever been exposed to the person of Jesus and what He offers. What a privilege to share the love of Jesus and the hope that He freely gives. We are trusting that seeds have been planted and these kids will return for the weekly ministry of Wildside Youth Ministries.