My1shirt Campaign

On November 24th, 21 students and leaders from Journey SM joined with many others in South Dakota to wear one t-shirt for thirty days. It was the last day of SD Youth Convention... I had introduced the idea during a youth service, so we had a bunch of students that were already raring to go. But during that service, DYD Mark Zweifel shared the vision behind My1shirt - and when he finished... we were so PUMPED to be a part of something way bigger than ourselves.

We never would have imagined the impact it would have in Yankton. A couple days before youth convention, I saw a post on Facebook from my friend, Rob. He works for our local newspaper, and that sparked the idea to call the paper to see if they might be interested in doing a story on our students! When I called the newsroom, they were immediately interested in the idea. So when we got home from youth convention, the reporter met us at the church to take a group picture. I was so excited to see that they put the story on the front page! We started to get comments from people in the community and it immediately increased our visibility. The day after it was published, I got a call from ABC 9 News in Sioux City! They saw the article and wanted to do a news piece on it the next day! I love it when God uses His influence to maximize His glory through our lives. The students did such a great job with their interviews. And even though there were a couple of minor details that were skewed, both press opportunities turned out really well! All credit goes to God - now it's our responsibility to use the momentum to maximize this opportunity for Speed The Light.

It's a minor inconvenience to wear the same thing for thirty days... But it has caused a significant shift in the worldview of our students. They have a new awareness for how others live across the globe, and now they're sharing that awareness with others. We are so grateful for those that have supported Speed The Light through my1shirt. Teachers, students, and even a sweet elderly lady that called from an assisted living center in town. May God multiply their investment to further the message of Christ around the world.

If you haven't heard...My1shirt started with a teenager in Minnesota. Here's Courtney's story (copied from www.sdyouth.my1shirt.com - visit the website for more info):

Courtney Olson was a junior in high school when, at the beginning of 2010, she sensed God speaking to her about setting a Speed the Light (STL) goal of $10,000. She had no idea how she was going to raise the money, so she prayerfully brainstormed about creative ways to reach her goal. The one-month t-shirt concept was born. Courtney decided to have a special STL t-shirt made and wear it for one month straight. Thirty of her friends joined her effort. They collected donations daily or asked for one donation for the entire thirty-day period. In 2010, she raised $3,000.

Though she did not reach $10,000, she decided to go for the same amount in 2011. However, she implemented some changes to her strategy. She asked her youth leaders if there was a STL project that was associated with ministry to those involved in human trafficking. The team chose to focus on Project Rescue, a ministry to women and children in sexual slavery that focuses on providing physical, emotional, and spiritual rescue, as well as, holistic restoration. STL provides vehicles used by Project Rescue.

Courtney recruited 178 friends (both high school and college, saved and unsaved) to participate in wearing a STL t-shirt for a month. Each participant was required to pay $20 for the cost of the shirt, but an anonymous donor committed to pay back the $20 if students raised $100 or more. Before the group even started asking for donations, she had already matched her previous year’s STL total!

Students were divided into smaller groups so Courtney did not have to manage the entire group on her own. They met weekly at Centennial High School and Emmanuel Christian Center in Spring Lake Park, MN, to collect money and engage participants in the heart behind the project. Each student had the opportunity to hear and learn of God’s love for people and His desire for the lost to return to Him. At one of the meetings Courtney even presented the Gospel story, knowing that not all of the participants had made decisions to follow Christ.
Through her efforts many students came to know the love of God, and $16,957 was raised for STL in just one month. Even more incredible, because of her heart and passion for missions, in two years (but technically two months) she raised almost $20,000! Courtney is impacting the world and is an encouragement to everyone she meets. When students participate in STL, they too have the opportunity to see God do the miraculous.

Summer 2013

Summer is already winding down. I definitely have some emotional attachments to summer ministry experiences that are hard to let go of. How do I even begin to explain that?...

We start off with summer camps. Always a major reference point that students go back to over the course of the year. Their lives are affected so deeply and intensely that they are literally different after experiencing it. Yes they may go back and struggle with some of the same issues. But you can't undo what God does. You can't unexperience the incredible power of God's presence. It is imprinted on their minds and hearts, and those moments will replay by the Spirit's prompting just when needed most.

The connection with students in the summer is so unique. A lot of the stresses that they carry most of the year are shrugged off in the summer. Academic pressure, compacted schedules, constant barrage of what everyone else is doing and wearing and... In the summer - relief. Beach days, late night Facebook conversations, campfires and s'mores, concerts, revisiting hilarious cabin memories. Priceless.

El Salvador missions trip. Can I even articulate it... Being displaced in a culture that is beautiful but perplexing, surrounded by a language that leaves you lost and humbled, falling in love with people that are strangers, and seeing God supercede all of that through prayer and hugs and tears. It's a privilege that no Christian should ever miss out on. Its impact is varied from person to person, but it's undeniable. And the transformation is both instantaneous and residual. Again, the Spirit will prompt recollections of certain moments weeks and months later to rekindle that desire to be a world changer. There's no way to measure that kind of impact.

So I don't know that I can say I am ready or excited for the school year to start quite yet. Even though the structure brings consistency...is that valued above bursts of amazement? Even though the commonality brings some connection...is that valued above the solitude of time on a mountain with God?

I guess it all goes back to balance. It always does. We can't live on the mountain top or in a new foreign mission field. After all, if you stayed, then it would become your new normal. So we are thankful for the incredible moments that God provided, and we pray that the ways it changed us will be evident to everyone around us. We pray that those moments will have eternal impact on us and on others we influence.

So here we go Journey Students! We are contenders for the faith! We serve the Ultimate Fighting Champion who has trained us for this very moment. We don't know what opponents we will face each day, but we know they will be there. And we have been trained for this. The fight is part of our destiny! The training, the victories, and the knock downs are all part of the Journey. I have a lot of treasures from this summer - and I know that they will serve as fuel for what is ahead of us. Are you ready, world changers?

I Timothy 6:11-12 (NIV)  But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses. 

Rock-a-thon

So we are going to host our first ever Rock-a-thon in Journey Student Ministries. The money we raise will go to Speed The Light. I did a rock-a-thon in youth group like a zillion years ago and it was a blast. What a fun way to raise money to help carry the message of Jesus around the world!!

Students are excited - now I'm praying that translates to them raising pledges to rock. GO SPEED THE LIGHT!!!