30 students/adults continue to lead well and serve the Kingdom of God in Alaska.
They are concentrating on a small transitional housing unity called the Merrit Inn. Children of the local families are invited to sing bible songs, listen to stories of faith and participate together in learning about Jesus.
While ministry is occurring with kids, the students on the team have broken into work groups. They are taking on challenges of clearing an area for a new playground play set.
A local equipment rental shop heard about our group’s participation from another state, and offered to donate the use of their bobcat dozer for the day, free of charge.
One of the students in the group has dozer operating experience and has taken the challenge of clearing the entire area for the playground set. He’s a high school kid who feels that he doesn’t measure up to other kids because of low grades and social exclusion sometimes. But a situation like needing a bobcat operator brought his skill to perfect use and he’s now the champion of the group. He cleared the area and leveled the ground for the other kids to add the playground equipment. The lesson we’ve learned this week is that different people with various gifts are all needed for the purpose and mission of God. No one kid needs to be the all-star, but together, the entire group brings glory to God.
In the grand scheme of things, God is being glorified for His perfect orchestration of gifting, timing and meeting needs as they come up. We enjoyed an hour at the beach of Kenai after the work day, and though the sun was shining, the cool air reminded us that we are truly alive when we work together and depend on God’s leading.
In the middle of all the “giving and serving”, word has gotten out to the Mayor of Kenai that these kids are doing something different for the community. He offered to come to the work site on Thursday to bring us all pizza and, with news cameras rolling, he’ll offering his thanks to the group.
Let’s always remember that we are the body of Christ when we work together.
benjamin kerns
April 22, 2011 at 8:37 am
encouraging post. I have been praying for you, that god would use you in mighty ways and that he would give you clarity and grace a’s well. I love you bro! (way to rep rebecca black)