A Mid-Summer Eval

I wanted to blog at the end of every week like I did two summers ago when I worked Fuge, but limited access to wifi has prevented that so this will have to suffice for now. For those of you wondering how things were going here's what's been going on!


A little over a month ago I flew out to Glorieta, NM where I met my new family for the summer. There's 37 full time FUGE staff here which makes us the third biggest camp in the country which means LOTS of stuff is going down. There's also 75 full time Glorieta staff here that help run this beautiful conference center site. Other camps use the facilities here throughout the summer too so there's never a dull moment. This is also my first experience with a combo camp which makes this an even more crazy place to be. I am a MFuge Bible Study leader so I take a group of kids from different churches into the city of Santa Fe to do mission work. There's also lots of Centrifuge, XFuge, and XFuge-on-Mission Bible Study leaders here which do similar work to myself, but we all cater to what the churches that come here need. You can ask me more about it later if you're curious about the differences.


Most of the sites the MFuge leaders go to are in Santa Fe, but the majority of the sites I go to are located near a small city named Espanola. I've gotten to go to two Boys and Girls Clubs in the area and the children I come into contact with are so special. There's a decent mix of home backgrounds for these children, but some of the home-lives of these kids just break my heart. I was eating lunch one of my first days on site and a kid just blurted out that his mom had died in a car accident a few years ago. It was just so random and matter-of-fact that it really just touched my heart in a particular way for these children. I've only actually worked two weeks of camp and I have this week off so I'm ready to get back to site and love on these kids some more.


I've taught Centrifuge before and grown up going to MFuge so I knew what to expect heading into this experience. It's still another thing to actually do everything you've learned/heard about and it's definitely a tiring experience. I'm using this week to catch up on rest and do things I haven't really had a chance to do yet. Leading kids on site is a unique experience and slightly terrifying if I'm being honest. I have a couple of adults to help me (thankfully), but I'm pretty much on my own out there and I really want my Bible Study kids to interact with my site kids and love on them. I'm teaching Games and Recreation so of course my focus is playing games which is easy. It's difficult being more of a facilitator than jumping right in and playing everything. I just try and make sure that everybody is interacting and things are running smoothly. God has proven time and time again that any worrying I do is pointless. I love seeing the work that God does through my Bible Study kids and in them.


I can't remember the exact numbers from weeks 1 and 2, but we had over 70 students accept Christ as their Savior last week which is incredible! Praise God for His redemption! That's my favorite part about camp and why I love Fuge camps. One of the mottos is "life change" and I get to see it every week. I know God has done a work in me through these camps and I hope that I can give back a portion of what was poured into me into these students. I'm looking forward to the grind of 3 weeks of MFuge and I can't wait to be utterly exhausted at the end of it. God is so good and I can't wait to see what else He has in store this summer.


"I am sure of this, that He who started a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. " Philippians 1:6

In Love,

Bill

Belize: A Journey to Central America

I want to start out this blog entry by saying thank you to everyone who either supported me financially or through prayer while my team was gone in Belize. You got to be a part of the ministry that God is doing in Belize and I am very grateful for how you've supported me time and time again. God has been so good through this trip and now I get to tell you a little bit about it!

The journey to Belmopan, Belize began early Sunday morning of May 11 and we came home a week later on the 18. I know God was looking out for us because even the little things were taken care of. We had very short layovers to catch connecting flights and we made it! On the return flight we had to check all of our luggage in again since it was an international flight and out of the hundreds of bags on that flight our bags were the first to come through. God cares about the little things!

When I stepped off the plane I raised my fists in the air and exclaimed "Belize!"  The ramp leading to the tarmac that I was standing on then proceeded to fall a couple inches lol.  According to the people we were working with, it was cool for this time of year but it was extremely humid still.  There's also no AC so it's like you're constantly sweating.  The compound we stayed at was setup similar to a summer camp which was nice.  I had a clean shower and as much water to drink as I would want so I was very thankful for that.  We also had a "campus cook", Rubia, who made the most amazing food ever.  I did not expect to eat so well while I was over there.  You gotta watch for insects and wild animals though.  That place is a wilderness!

The missionary we went to work with arrived Sunday night shortly after us and he is one of the most incredible people I have ever met. When you encounter Randy Gaither (yes, he’s one of THE Gaithers) you can’t help but come to know Christ better. Here is a man who lives out his faith as we all should, completely relying on God, and God is using him in mighty ways. Here’s a website for those of you who are curious about more of the work his family is doing: http://www.randygaither.org/index.html. He’s accustomed to teams coming in and serving alongside him so I was thankful for how he ran things during the trip.

A lot of the work we got to do in Belize consisted of assisting Randy or going out to the people and ministering to them in some way.  Randy has a lot of different things he’s in charge of. Gaither Evangelistic Ministries literally spans the entire country. Through God’s power medicine has been standardized in Belize so medical teams can come in and be effective, over 20 churches have been planted, and more children are being educated since Randy’s ministry started over 7 years ago in Belize. Our team organized lots of things for Randy including clothes to be passed out to needy people and a container from which supplies are frequently used. We actually got to pass out these clothes to some locals and delivered some to churches so that they could distribute them to where there’s an actual need.  When we passed out the clothes to the families, we got to pray with them too.  I asked one man if I could pray for him, with the help of a translator (English is the main language there but there are many areas where Spanish or some Mayan dialect are more popular), and he ended up praying for our group.  Talk about a change of perspective.  

One of the coolest parts of the trip was passing out some Operation Christmas boxes that hadn’t been passed out yet. I will never forget the look on the faces of the children when they realized they were getting something for free. It was pure joy and God was glorified in it. We also got to go to a couple pre-schools and run a typical Wednesday children’s service for them with a story, game, music, and craft.  I had the opportunity to lead worship for children in a public school by playing guitar which blows my mind. I remember God telling me in 8th grade to play the guitar while I was listening to the worship at Fuge and it's so awesome to see how He's used that since then.  The principal of the school took Randy aside while we were hanging out with the kids and was extremely grateful that we came to speak to the kids.  He said it was something that they definitely needed and he was moved by what occurred.  God was doing something special in that man's life.  The Gospel was definitely shared throughout all of this.

We also had the opportunity to see much of the beautiful Belize.  We went to the Blue Hole which has the bluest water I have ever seen.  There's lots of Mayan ruins in the country as well so we checked some out and climbed to the top of Xunantunich.  I could actually see Guatemala from the top of it.  On our R&R day we made a trip out to Caye Caulker and went snorkeling!  I shaved in the ocean and swam with sharks so I punched a couple holes in my man card that day.

I’ve been reading through my journal trying to comprehend everything God was trying to show me through this journey. The craziest thing about mission trips is that you go somewhere in order to serve and minister yet you come back changed feeling like you got more out of the ordeal than the work you did. God has shown Himself to me as more powerful than ever. He is God as much in America as He is in Belize and He is sovereign over ALL creation. When I begin to worry about things, He keeps telling me not to because He will take care of my every need. I am so thankful for a God who I can call my friend, who can demolish strongholds, and who loves me intimately despite my many shortcomings.  May God be praised even more through the work that was done in Belize. I know that I will never be the same. “Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.” 1 Corinthians 15:58

In Love,

Bill

The Homeless and the Hurt

I normally try and give a brief life update at the beginning of my blog posts and I am about 6 weeks away from completely finishing my undergraduate work and I am ready.  A lot of what I'm doing now is just to get my degree and not really teaching me a ton so I'm ready to continue my education as a Ph. D. candidate.  God has been so faithful in providing a way to do this and I'm excited to see how He's going to continue to use me as a grad student!  Right after I graduate in May I will head to Belize for a mission trip with Thrive to help with some children's ministry and loving on some locals who have it pretty rough.  When I get back from that I have about a week and a half then I'm off to Glorietta, NM where I will spend the summer as a Games-and-Rec M-Fuge track leader!  These next 3 months are going to fly by so quickly and I am ready to do some worthwhile work over the summer.

I titled this post "The Homeless and the Hurt" because I got to spend part of my spring break in Columbia, MO working with Ben Hightower and Mitchell Neldon as they are planting a new church there.  A lot of what I did over the trip worked with people who were homeless and hurt.  I journaled throughout the trip to get a recap of what all actually occurred and I wanted to try and get a sense for what God was trying to tell me.  I had a friend suggest an idea to me that whenever I go on a mission trip I should journal at night before I go to sleep and I would give you the same suggestion as well.  It helps me remember what all happened and helps me sort through things myself later on.

This is my 4th year going with Thrive on a mission trip during spring break and I've always wondered what all I was "missing out" on for the typical college spring break.  In high school you always hear how college spring break is basically the greatest thing ever by going to the beach and hanging out with all your friends.  I'm not exactly a partier so that part wouldn't happen for me, but I do enjoy having a good time with my friends and beaches are pretty sweet.  I've had a pretty good attitude about going on these trips and going for the right reasons, but there's a part of me that has always wondered what else was I "missing out" on.  Every year God has shown me that the work done has been worthwhile with eternal consequences and He is not holding out on me.  I have no clue why we believe this lie so often, "God is holding out on me."  If you think that, He isn't.  God has what is absolutely best planned for you even when you don't fully comprehend it yourself.  Jack challenged us to dwell on John 15 during the trip and one thing that sticks out to me is verse 2.

"Every branch in Me that does not produce fruit He removes, and He prunes every branch that produces fruit so that it will produce more fruit." John 15:2

I think of how God has been pruning me over my college years and it sucks at times.  He's been pruning me on these mission trips showing me the process of planting a new church and how difficult it really is.  Love on your church leaders because they have a lot more going on in their lives than just leading their people spiritually.  They have families and financial situations which are tough at times that they have to worry about too.  God has also been pruning the pride and lust in me that's been buried deep inside.  Verse 2 talks about how He does it so that I can produce more fruit and hallelujah for that.  He's doing it for our better you guys!  If He didn't want you to grow then He would just remove you from the branch.

The homeless part of this post comes from some of the things we did in Columbia.  Ben wanted to equip all the people involved to do further mission work in the future so my group went to the store, bought all the necessary items to make a homeless care package, assembled it, and then found the homeless to give it to them.  I literally drove around for a couple hours looking for homeless people haha.  I've done some ministry with the homeless before, but not quite like this.  I walked up to people who were holding signs and gave them a backpack full of useful supplies and just started a conversation with them.  You hear stories about medical problems by a guy named Paul or how Amy has been hitchhiking to go to her friend's house in another state because they have work for her to do. Most of the time my attitude towards these people has been that it's their own fault and they don't want to work.  Life is rough sometimes and just gets us beat down.  I could have easily been lied to, but that honestly doesn't matter.  As a Christian God wants me to love on these people unconditionally and serve them.  That's what Jesus did and I want to be more Christ-like in my love.

I have no clue what sticks out to you in this post, but I know that I need to keep writing occasionally because God is moving in me and I do not want to be silent about it.  Please keep Ben, Brittany, and Joey Hightower and Mitchell Neldon in your prayers as they continue to serve the city of Columbia, MO and start Summit Church there.  It is extremely difficult to leave the comfort of home to start a church to a completely alien people but they are faithful in their calling.  I would also ask for prayer as I enter this crazy point in my life.  I'm super excited to see how God will continue to prune me and make me more Christ-like in my love.  As always, if you have anything I can be praying for you about please let me know.

In Love,

Bill

The Plunge

Tomorrow morning I begin my last first day of classes as an undergraduate student! I think back to the past 3 and half of years of my life and realize just how far God has brought me. I look at all the decisions I've had to make and realize that God had a plan throughout all of it. In case you didn't know I really focused on two universities that I wanted to attend as a senior in high school: the University of Arkansas and Vanderbilt University. I'm still not sure why I had such aspirations as Vandy, but I was disappointed when I didn't get in. I remember praying for God to make the choice clear to me where He wanted me to go and I don't think it could be made clearer when I was only accepted into one school haha. God knew exactly what He was doing putting me here though.


Thrive, the student ministry I'm involved with, took hold of me before classes even really started and I was glad to be around a group of friends who loved Jesus and would push me to do the same. Before I got to school I pictured that my education would be the biggest thing I would take away from college. Man was I wrong. While I am receiving an excellent education (plug for the U of A cuz I love it!), the most important part of me that's grown over these past couple years is my faith. For anybody still in high school or just beginning your college journey, if you haven't noticed it yet, you don't have to live out the faith you've been raised up in your life when you reach this stage. Maybe some of you understand that and now you're just apathetic towards your relationship with Christ because it's what you did while you lived back home. My prayer is that this is the time you take your stand for believing in something, not because your parents believed it, but because you believe it and it is the truth. Now is the time to live out your faith on your own. The habits you develop now will most likely be the habits you continue after you graduate college too.


I say a lot of this to point you to the fact that God desires what is absolutely best for you! A lot of times we think that God is holding out on us. When I didn't get into Vandy, I was disappointed in myself honestly. I thought that I wasn't smart enough to get in. I could get into a pointless conversation about how can you really measure someone's intelligence, but what I want to focus on is that God had my best intentions in mind through it all. The Father's heart looks like this: He wants to lavish His mercies on you. He wants His lost and broken child back.


"When Israel was a child, I loved him,
and out of Egypt I called My son.
2 The more they called them,
the more they departed from Me.
They kept sacrificing to the Baals
and burning offerings to idols.
3 It was I who taught Ephraim to walk,
taking them in My arms,
but they never knew that I healed them.
4 I led them with human cords,
with ropes of love.
To them I was like one
who eases the yoke from their jaws;
I bent down to give them food."
-Hosea 11:1-4

We don't often know how God is working in our lives until He decides to reveal it to us and that's OK. The Israelites had no clue how God was healing them and watching out for them. In all honesty, we will probably never completely understand God's Will. (Notice the completely) What we are called to do is obey and walk in His ways and there is joy in that. Something that took me awhile to understand is that God often doesn't care about our actions as much as He does the attitude of our hearts.


“'I wish one of you would shut the temple doors, so you would no longer kindle a useless fire on My altar! I am not pleased with you,' says the Lord of Hosts, 'and I will accept no offering from your hands.'"
-Malachi 1:10

The priests didn't have the right attitude when they made their offerings to God and He didn't even want them sacrificing if they weren't going to do it with the right heart. God doesn't NEED us to accomplish His Will. He's God after all. What He desires is our hearts to love Him, to depend on Him, and to want Him because He desperately wants us. I'm working on being more transparent because that's what this generation of Christians needs and that is why I blog. When we waste our efforts on rituals and behind metaphors that sound nice but don't actually mean anything to us then the Enemy wins and I don't want to see that happen. Every day I understand more and more how lost I am without Christ and my prayer is that you depend on Him because He has your best interest at heart. Give Him your heart and not just your actions. As I take this "Plunge" into the semester, I pray that you understand your need for His presence as I know I'm lost without it.



In Love,


Bill


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The Pursuit
Jesus Culture