Weekly update-Kick Off Retreat

Hey guys!

It has been a while!  I have plenty to catch you up on!  I apologize for not posting last weekend, it has been hectic with kick off retreat (I'll touch on that later and all the cool things God did!) and I've been busy to say the least.  But, Alas, I am here, writing, and excited to update you on how God has been moving in my life and in the lives of others!

Kick Off Retreat

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For first time readers-being a GCM intern with New Life Church entails helping to pull off our 7 week leadership training program that we hold in Ann Arbor.  Over 150 UofM students signed up this year and last week we finished our kick off retreat located at spring arbor university.  It was a crazy, powerful week.  Here are some of the highlights!

-Small group

My small group minus a few

The small group that I am leading has been incredible.  The first night we met, guys shared things in their lives that they have never shared before.  Tears were flying, chains were being broken and lives were/are being transformed.  I mean it was incredible.  The only way I can describe it is by the power of the holy spirit.  I asked the fellas a question the first night and the first guy to respond stated, "I don't want to answer that, can I talk about what's going on in my life right now?"  He was so vulnerable, so real, and so courageous.  Then the domino affect occurred and everyone starting sharing.  These men were/are courageous and it was/is a privilege to be a part of.  Every group I feel like the spirit moves through us.  Sharing past shame, past hurt, crying- It's beautiful.  There are 10 of us in the group.  Pray for these ten.  Pray that we may all catch the fire to share God's truth, His word, His Gospel.  Pray that each of these men would find healing from past hurt in their lives.  It's been powerful, it's been raw.  It's clearly God.

-"Add another one to the kingdom"
During one of our lead team meetings one leader shared that a female from her small group was still debating if she wanted to accept Jesus Christ as her savior.  We prayed for that individual.  It's just beautiful what happened.  We had several evangelism training sessions during LT (Leadership Training program) where we learned of an effective way to share the gospel and had the opportunity to practice sharing it with other people.  Well it so happened that I was paired up with the individual who had not accepted Christ.  I ended up sharing the gospel with her and she accepted Christ on the spot.  Haha, I write this with a big smile on my face.  It was beautiful.  I felt so used by God and to see a life transformed is priceless.  Gosh that was an incredible moment.

-New Life Team

OC Blue!

New Life Teams are a larger group of both guys and girls (small groups/life groups are segregated between male and female) separated by locations on our campus.  I'm in charge of helping lead the Off Campus New Life Team.  God has blessed our numbers this year and we have split our Team in half.  So for LT we have OC Maize and OC Blue each with around 25 students.  I'm co-leading OC Blue and again, God has blessed our team.  Both guys and girls have been open during sharing time, we have been planning different events to build community and unity within our team and it has been a lot of fun!  Pray that our unity may be formed out of a genuine love of Christ, and that God would move in our hearts to have a desire to spread His truth. That we could be a team on a mission, a light on UofM's campus.  It's been an honor to be a part of.

-Sermons/talks
God has been moving in the life of speakers as well.  During kick off retreat our pastors gave several sermons that just left you saying, "Oh yeah, God spoke through them."  We heard talks about unprecedented faith, grace, evangelism, and holiness.  The one that really stuck out to me was a talk our lead pastor, Steve Hayes gave about holiness.  Holiness basically means being set apart.  God is separate from humanity because the Creator is perfect, the creation, us...we are not...Jesus Christ came to bridge that gap by being the ultimate sacrifice for us and taking on our punishment for our Sins so we could be connected with the Father.  Steve challenged us to think about how we could set our lives apart.  Self control is key to a holy life, where in my life do I need to be more self-controlled?  (Kick off retreat challenged me in numerous ways, and I have plenty of questions to wrestle with).

Steve shared this verse.  1 Peter 1:13-16 "Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed.  As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance.  But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do, for it is written: Be holy, because I am Holy."

Steve posed the question that we should all ask ourselves when we wake up in the morning, "who am I?  If I believe I am a son/daughter of God, and that He has called me to be holy, am I living my life in a way that reflects God's holiness?"  It was challenging.  I felt very convicted in certain areas of my life, and it was what I needed to hear in that moment.  To listen to all the sermons click on this link Sermons

-The Gospel
Like I stated above, we had a lot of talks pertaining to evangelism.  We were posed with the question, "how desperate am I to save souls?"  Do I really believe the gospel is true?  If so, why am I not spreading it with a fiery urgency, when peoples lives hang in the balance?"  Jesus was a fisher of men, if I am called to be like Him, do I place enough urgency in my life to share his truth?  Again, it was very convicting, but God is already moving.  Last Sunday all of LT went out onto the campus with spiritual surveys, hoping to talk to people about their faith and seeing where people are at.  I heard numerous reports that the gospel was spread like wild fire.  My partner and I shared the gospel with 4 people in the span of an hour and a half.  How awesome is that?  God is moving.  Can you image what it would be like if 150 UofM students caught a fire to spread God's truth, to live like Christ this summer?  Can you image the impact on UofM's campus and even further, the impact on the world?  Lives would be changed.  Lives would be healed and this world could become a better place.  It's a powerful thing that's happening at LT this summer.  It's been awesome to a part of.  Continue to pray for life change within LT and for all of our hearts to burn with a desire to share God's truth with His children.  There's nothing like it.  Also pray against spiritual warfare- I believe the enemy will do His best to dismantle the progress we are making this summer.

As for me, I am physically drained ha.  It's a lot.  My internship is very busy and it's also very emotionally draining to pour into guys lives and attempt to disciple them.  I need a lot of help.  Again, I feel so blessed to have this job and look forward to work every day, but I could use prayer for strength, rest and peace.  Also, I'm going to be vague, but God put some desires on my heart during the kick off retreat that I didn't expect.  I feel like He revealed to me certain insights for my future.  My first thought was, "It can't be this easy."  But maybe God is starting to pave my future for me now.  So, pray for wisdom and guidance as I continue to seek Him.  Also, pray for my leadership.  I can't lead or do anything for that matter without God leading me.  Pray that He may use me for his Saints.  That He would speak through me and help to disciple His saints.  It's a big responsibility that I can't do without Him.  Pray against personal pride as well.  I struggle with that at times.

Anyways, I'm just exhausted haha.  I'm going to bed early : )...I'll be sure to update this blog weekly so stayed tuned!  Take care and God bless!

being artsy- ohhh yeah

-cam