Kelly is a Kingdom Worker

Most summers we attend the Christ In Youth MOVE Conference with our high school students. It’s a great environment for our students to be challenged to live as Kingdom Workers. A few months ago I shared about a project our students took on because of the challenge.

Last year one of our former students, Kelly, was able to be a part of the Kingdom Worker Crash and share her story. While in high school, she accepted her Kingdom Worker Challenge and took part in a ministry in our church for ladies with special needs. It was encouraging to see how she was able to serve and then able to share about that experience through the Kingdom Worker Crash. MOVE chooses ten students from across the country to video their stories and then show those at the various MOVE Conferences they host each summer.

We showed Kelly’s video a few weeks ago in our church services and plan to show it in our small groups this Sunday as springboard to our discussion. Kelly does a great job sharing not only her experience, but how God shaped her through it.

Support IJM and the IMPACT Kingdom Worker Challenge

Just about every summer our high school students attend the Christ In Youth MOVE Summer Conference. It’s a week designed specifically for high school students and the goal is to move students to become Kingdom Workers.

For the past few years, that challenge to Kingdom Work was an individual one where students would commit to open a card and fulfill the challenge they were given.  We’ve had students in the past serve with special needs kids, go through their clothes and sell what they didn’t wear to raise money for a ministry, and commit to putting others first by allowing others to go in line first.  The challenges were varied, but always pointed students to Kingdom Work.

This year the challenge was a group challenge.  So a few months after MOVE our group received our Kingdom Worker Challenge:  social justice.  We spent some time talking about what social justice is.  One definition we read was this:  “…to love and defend those with the least economic and social power.”

Our group then did some brainstorming about what it looked like to love and defend those with the least power.  We talked about local and global organizations that do that.  We landed on International Justice Mission (IJM) and decided to raise funds to support the work they are doing.  The vision of IJM is to “Rescue thousands. Protect millions. Prove that justice for the poor is possible.”

Our Kingdom Worker Challenge is to raise $800 which will help provide after-care and training for those rescued from human trafficking and fund a weeks worth of investigation to continue rescuing people.

We have a Kingdom Worker Campaign Page where people can see more information about the project and also donate toward our goal. The page will be active until May 23.  Click on the image below to be a part of our campaign.

 

Great Week at MOVE #kingdomworker

Last week we took some of our high school students to the MOVE Conference held on Cedarville University’s campus. Christ In Youth has been producing weeks of conference for nearly 50 years and it seems like they just keep growing in number and getting better in quality.

This year’s theme was “You Are Here” and was based on the first six chapters of the Old Testament book of Daniel. Kind of a funny thing about the theme – anytime I saw the theme “You Are Here” I assumed it was about those of us who were going to be at MOVE. Once we got rolling in the week, it was obvious that the “You” was not a reference to “me” or to “us,” but to God. God was present with Daniel and Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and He is present with us. That thread ran throughout the week of conference – You (God) Are Here!

Over the past few years, there has been an intentional move on the part of the coordinators of the week to challenge students to take what they experience at conference and live it out at home. They use the phrase #kingdomworker. All of us, no matter our age or location, can be kingdom workers. Several of our students accepted specific challenges to be kingdom workers at home. I’m excited to see how they work out those specific tasks in the coming weeks and months.

One of the benefits of MOVE (or any summer camp or conference) is time spent with students. We had two times each day that was focused on talking about and applying what was happening during the week. We also had free times and meals together, which provided times for conversation and getting to know each other.

On one particular day, the students had a chance to write encouraging words to each other. It was cool to sit back and watch them think through what they could write to encourage others in the group.

There were several fun elements included throughout the week. In the book of Daniel, there is a unique event that involves King Nebuchadnezzar. The king has become quite arrogant, so God warms him that if he doesn’t change, God would humble him. Nebuchadnezzar ignores the warning so God caused him to live as an animal, complete with long nails that look like claws and long hair that grows to resemble feathers. You can read the entire story in Daniel 4. To highlight that event, students were encouraged to come to morning session in animal outfits. Here’s some of our group:

It was a good week to see God move in the lives of students and adults and send us out to be kingdom workers. I’m looking forward to see the commitments made this week become a reality.

Kingdom Worker Card Challenge

Back in June, we took some of our high school students to the CIY MOVE Conference at Cedarville University. I shared a little bit about our experience in a previous post.

The challenge of any retreat, conference or camp experience is making it stick once you get home. One of the things MOVE offers is the Kingdom Worker Card challenge. Each person at conference is giving a business card size envelope that has a specific challenge. The twist is that each person has to commit to complete the task on the card prior to opening the envelope. I was proud of our students who opened their cards and, in doing so, committed to complete what was on the card.

My card was interesting. It read as follows: For the next year, make a serious effort to not pull our your phone in any social situation. Talk to people, ask questions and tell some jokes.

At first I thought, “No big deal.” But in the 20 days (and counting) since we’ve been home, I’ve found it to be somewhat challenging. It immediately made me aware of how often I pull out my phone to check email, notifications, etc. It has also underscored that I am not a good multi-tasker and usually defer to my phone than engage in a conversation.

While I will look for ways to encourage our students to fulfill what was on their cards, I will need to do the same with mine. Here’s to less screen time and to more face time with those around me.