As a
team we are excited to introduce our new team member Lawrence Lartey. Lawrence has
taken the place of Brett Derr, who after graduating in December with a Student
Ministry degree is following some different dreams and passions in his life. Lawrence
is from Kansas City, Missouri. He has a passion to preach God’s word and is
recently engaged. We are excited and blessed to have Lawrence in this role and
are excited to see how God uses his gifts.
Team
Charger Challenge had the opportunity to be with Faith Christian Academy on
Monday and Tuesday this week. What a glorious time we had with 190 students and
15 or so leaders. To see the students open up to Gods word was awesome. We
started off with some mixers trying to get the students excited for the day. This
was not too difficult once we reminded students that they at least got out of
classes during our time there (special thanks to all of the teachers, faculty,
staff and volunteers who took time out of their lives and made this Team
Charger Challenge Day possible). We
started off with our first B4Real where Lawrence did a great job encouraging us
all to drop our water line to show what is really going on below the surface of
our lives. We split into small groups
and shared some thoughts about what we hide below the surface.
After
meeting in small groups, it was time for some more games and interaction with
the students and leaders. We had a lot
of fun and started to see some of the walls come down. Shortly after playing
some games we went into our second Be4Real where T. J. talked about what was on
the throne of our hearts. He made not that some of us have replaced God’s throne
with a couch, He then brought forth our need to move the couch and replace it
with a throne because our God is a jealous God (Deuteronomy 4:24). God wants to be on the throne of your heart.
So what about you? What do you allow to be on your throne other than God? Is it
a boy/girlfriend, video games, perception of others, athletics… the list goes
on and on. What is it for you? Will you put God back on the throne where He
belongs?
We
finished up our first day with FCA in small groups discussing “If you really
knew me” this is what you would know. Students talked about their likes and
dislikes, their struggles, their family background, etc. This is when we started
to see the students share more of what was going on in their hearts. To cap off
our first day with FCA,we decided to see FCA’s Men’s Basketball team reveal
their heart and hustle as they battled in a hard fought game. The outcome was
not what we would have liked, but they certainly gained respect in showcasing
their discipline and perseverance to never give up.
Afterwards
we returned to a nearby host family for some fellowship and football, although the
National Championship game was pretty much a blowout by Alabama. We returned
the next day looking forward to spending our final day with FCA. We had another
three hours with the student body. Our day started off with a SCREAM,
literally! We had to do something to wake up the students. After some loud
noises and giving away some t-shirts, we introduced Walk-the-Line, where we
saw God do immeasurably more than we could have thought or asked in the lives
of FCA students and faculty. We saw students be vulnerable as the student body
of FCA started to form into a community. Relationships began to be restored and
students showed one another that they had each other’s backs.
We
capped off our day with some small group interaction. Students then had the opportunity
to share with one another the commitments they had made. Some students wrote
letters to friends and family, while others were able to write a commitment on
a banner. We closed our time at FCA with a skit called, “Baggage”. 1 Peter 5:7
says “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”
To celebrate
the ‘true community’ that God had created in their school, the basketball team
lead cheer and an FCA chant. God is moving at Faith Christian Academy, in
Sellersville, PA. Continue to pray for these students and faculty as they
continue to grow closer to God and one another.
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