Thursday, July 18, 2013

Monday-Tuesday

Monday we had a block party for the community and it was well attended. our kids mingled with the kids form the community, playing games, talking to them, having a huge water fight, and generally just having fun with the kids. We had different service projects Monday as well. Some us went to a soup kitchen, some went to a nursing home, while others went prayer walking through the various neighborhoods handing out flyers inviting them to come back the the churches VBS. Many of the teens are being stretched outside of their comfort zones at these various service projects. They have been learning in about poverty, life in the inner city and its been helping them put things into their context back at home. Tuesday – out and about at more service projects. Some of our kids were prayer walking, some were at My Brothers Keeper, while others were at a farm called - http://thesamaritanwomen.org/, please take a look at this website to see what this place does. I will share more about it when my group goes this week.
Our first VBS was a great success! Pastor Dave said it ww as the smoothest running VBS he has had yet and we had over 35 kids come to it. Each teen from our group is getting an opportunity to run the craft and teach it to the kids. It’s awesome to see our teens empowered to step up and take lead ship in this role.
Each afternoon we have a worship service before we do our VBS pond teens have the opportunity to share their testimony with our BUMP group. We had our turn yesterday and we chose Gabe Boorse, Kristina Rogalski, Kristin Hasse and Jen Consomer to share their testimonies. The teens did awesome! There were a lot of nervous teens but the spoke with power and boldness about their lives in Christ. Jen Consomer has been amazing addition to this team and she has an awesome heart for the girls. When you see people, do you have the eyes of Jesus? Do you see what Jesus sees in people? that was my challenge to our group, before we headed out to lead our VBS.

~ Eric Couch

Wednesday

Wednesday is a day many of us look forward to because we get a day to spend with our youth group kids. This the day we get off and can go check out the city we are serving. It’s a relaxing day and a day for us to be together and have fun. All the groups went to the Inner Harbor for the day and did various things in that area. Our group went to the National Aquarium and it was a blast! This place was huge, and we got to see a rescued sea turtle that tipped the scales at 500 lbs! We were picked by the trainers at the dolphin show to be a part of an interactive social experiment with the dolphins. this was a lot of fun and we got wet. Our birthday girl, Elizabeth Cochran, was told happy birthday by everyone in the aquarium audience. The other two groups got a chance to experience true Baltimore style food, while one of the groups went to Pizzeria UNO, and I won’t say what group that was…(maybe The Jersey group).
We all came back around 430 to get ready for VBS that night. These teens have been working so well together, that The VBS has been a running like a fine tuned machine. The most important part is the kids from the community are connecting with the teens from our groups and lives are being impacted. One story comes to mind of a little girl who has having difficulty with the craft and was crying. So one of our teens from Staten Island, took her aside and comforted her. The little girl began to tell her how she didn’t feel loved at home and thought that nobody loved her. The teen shared with her how God loves her and that loved her and she continued to share with her about Gods love. This little girls demeanor changed and it all started with three little words….I love you….simple but powerful words to some of these kids on this community.


~ Eric Couch

Thursday

I’m glad this week has been going by slowly. we have been having such a wonderful time serving people in the community, serving each other and bonding with the other two youth groups.
Our morning started after breakfast with a bang, we all worked together and set up for the produce give away for the community. The room was filled to capacity with produce, and bread. The teens set up tables and separated it all out. It looked like a Costco in the the fellowship hall. The church gets produce that it is taken off the shelves from grocery stores and other places . then it’s delivered to the church, then the church opens it’s doors, after each person registera,the people can come in and get produced for their families.
Then two groups stayed to help hand out tthe food, carry boxes for people and to clean up. Other groups went to My Brothers Keeper, to the local nursing home and my group went to the Samaritan Woman. This place is a safe haven for women who have come out of sex trafficking. The property is 23 acres and it has a working farm on it where the women learn how to grow food. The food is then harvested by them and used in their kitchen, where the women can be trained for the culinary arts. The women go through a 2yr program with the goal of rest abolishing them back into society. This is a faith based organization that has only been around for a few years but is doing amazing things for these women. For some of our teens it was the first time to hear about sex trafficking and how it happens, how girls are pulled into it and what happens to these women. It’s sad that things like is happen to young girls between the ages of 11-14. I would encourage you to look around on their website to learn more about what they do. We have an organization in Bridgewater, NJ that just started a couple of years ago that it striving to do similar things for women of NJ that are trying to come out of sex trafficking, Love-true.
Yesterday afternoon, we did service projects to bless the community and the church. A couple groups went a few blocks up the road to pick up trash and other groups stayed at the chutch and cleaned. The groups that went out into the community to pick up trash were not greeted very kindly. One of the groups was being cussed at, yelled at, and basically harassed by the men that were hanging around outside. The group that staxed at church cleaned bathrooms, swept, mopped and cleaned wherever the church needed it. Plus one group cleaned up outside the church as well.
At the end of each night we have a debriefing time to talk about the days events and happenings. We also have a time where we affirm each other and encourage one another. These are awesome times! Listening to kids affirm each other is such a great thing to have teens practice to do. We have been having all of gropus meet together for these times and it has been a great blessing to me and to the teens. This group of teens from Ohio, Staten Island, and our NJ kids have bonded so well together that we arent three separate groups but we are ONE group united in Christ to serve God and the community.


~ Eric Couch

Bump Baltimore Week 2!

BUMP  Baltimore Week 2 is off to an excellent start! The team from Christ Community Church in Ashland, Ohio arrived at Stillmeadow EFC on Saturday the 6th, and teams from Montgomery EFC in Belle Meade, New Jersey and Salem EFC in Staten Island, New York, arrived late Sunday afternoon. Since then, the three teams have bonded well and share a collective joy in spreading the Good News to the people of Baltimore!

On Day 1 (Monday, July 8th), the BUMP team began several service projects in the surrounding neighborhood. Two groups went prayer walking in the neighborhood surrounding Stillmeadow EFC, while two other groups visited Rock Glen Nursing and Rehabilitation Center and My Brother's Keeper. The rest of the team intended to play a game at a local school to draw in kids for the week's VBS, but they ended up prayerwalking instead. Kicking off VBS that night was an awesome block party with music, food, and lots of games. About 50 people attended, and the evening was a success! God's handiwork was visible several times throughout the day. After one group arrived at the nursing home, one man immediately asked to pray with the team.

Day 2 (Tuesday, July 9th) was the first day of VBS! In the morning, two groups helped at the Samaritan Woman Farm, and after lunch some returned to working there in the early afternoon. Two other groups visited My Brother's Keeper and the Rock Glen Nursing Home again, while the rest went on a "Prayer Hike". Apparently they got lost and prayed through more of the neighborhood than they had intended. They had the opportunity to meet and pray with a woman who they would not have met had they not gotten lost. VBS began well, and 43 kids participated in awesome crafts, games, and singing.

Yesterday (July 10th), the team had a day off from morning projects. Most of the groups visited in and around the Inner Harbor, and they returned excited for an even more successful VBS that evening. Thirty-nine kids attended and learned about Moses and the Plagues in Egypt. One team member had the opportunity to speak with a little girl who felt unloved a home and told her about how much Jesus loves her. The little girl was first astonished and then started crying. The team gave her a Good News Wristband and several Bible verses to read at home.

Personally, I've seen God's handiwork many times throughout the week. I taught the VBS lesson on Tuesday, and although we didn't finish completely, the kids clearly understood what I was saying and I could see the light in their eyes as we explained how Jesus came to save us. After that, I was able to explain the Gospel message to a little boy named David, who took home a Good News Wristband While teaching the craft yesterday evening I talked to a boy who had been jumped and stripped while walking down the street. He told me how safe he felt here and how he intended to return this evening. This morning, Stillmeadow EFC hosted a produce giveaway, where I met a man who told me how it was his first time coming to Stillmeadow and how glad he was that a friend had invited him to come. My own faith has grown as I've seen even these small interactions turn into opportunities to share the Gospel.

Please pray that these interactions continue and that more and more kids in the neighborhood would come to hear the Gospel message. Also pray for continued endurance (and sleep!) for the team and pray that our work at more service projects would be fruitful. The BUMP team is ready and excited for VBS this evening and continued service throughout the week! Gloria Deo!

~ Gabriel Boorse

Arrival - Sunday

We arrived in Baltimore later than expected but as many of you know, 95 can give you peace in your travels or a testing in patience. Sunday was a day of orientation, getting settled in, sweating, meeting the other two teams, learning about what’s coming up this week, planning for our block party tonight, and breaking our teens onto family grounds of 6-8 people. These family groups will be ministering together all week in various areas from prayer walking the neighborhood to visiting nursing homes, to serving at My Brothers Keeper-http://www.mybrotherskeeperbaltimore.org/, which my team will be serving at today.
The key word for the week is Flexible, because our group is going to learn what it’s like to take 5 minute showers! The church has one shower for all 39 people here! So, we will be training your teens how to take quicker showers, so when they come home there is no excuse for them to take 30 minute showers. This is just one area we are going to learn to be flexible. Our schedule is going to have a bit of “flex” to it so our people that need to be scheduled are going to learn what it’s like to be flexible.
I’m really looking forward to serving at My Brothers Keeper today and DJing our Block party and connecting with the community. Please in prayer for our group, we are going to need prayer for patience. Prayer for us as we relate with others from the different groups, for our ministry areas today, for our opportunities to share the love of Christ and for Jen and I as we lead this group.

~ Eric Couch

BUMP Week Two--God Is Good

I am currently sitting in the library almost a week after Salem, Montgomery & Christ Community EFC left Baltimore and still I am amazed at the work these three churches did in the community. They arrived as three different churches with three different dynamics but left as one family. In the words of a BUMP student, Nate Kline, "friends were not made a family was united." I can remember sitting with April Warfield, director of BUMP, and trying to figure out ways we can mix the teams so the students will not always be with the people from their church. The idea of making family groups was brought up and when we actually put the students and leaders into family groups it was shocking, uncomfortable and a stretch. But, by the end of the week those groups grew to love, care, support one another like blood families do and that was encouraging.

God has again showed his amazing mercy and love through these churches, students and leaders during their missions trip to Baltimore, MD. They worked at some great organization like My Brother's Keeper, Samaritan Women, Rockglen Nursing Home and Stillmeadow Church itself and created an atmosphere of genuine people who love Christ and love community members by doing whatever they could to make them smile (even if it was just a little smile). The praise reports that came back from these organizations made me feel that not only did they get a chance to serve but they got the opportunity to learn as well. Throughout the week, we even had family groups go prayer walking and go fellowship with the local recreation centers and that even showed God's unfailing love. Conversations brought life to people, prayer & singing allowed people to get out of their comfort zone and the relationships that were built was truly inspirational to see. One of our BUMP students made a connection with a teen named Marques at one of the recreation centers just by playing basketball and having fun with him. Marques came to Stillmeadow early the next day so he can help serve with the BUMP teams at the organizations they were going to that day. And to top that off he was at vacation bible school every night ready to receive whatever it was the Lord was teaching him. How amazing and God-led is that!

Even though the team experienced a number of great things they also experienced some challenges from the community that shocked and disappointed the BUMPers. But, with prayer, deep conversations with fellow students and leaders and times of affirmations they overcame the challenges and glorified God by not giving up. I praise you all who went through those challenges and know it was very inspirational to me witnessing that.

The week of vacation bible school was also great. We started off the beginning with big numbers of people attending and throughout the week the numbers declined but the BUMPers never got discouraged in my book. If anything they saw this as an even greater opportunity to connect with people on a more intimate level. Through the skits, lessons, games, crafts, music, dancing, RAP BATTLES (which became the highlight of the nights for everyone), etc. God really showed the community that they are loved by people they do not even know coming to serve, teach and hangout with them.

BUMP week two was awesome to say the least. This group not only combined three churches into one but we had students in this group that came from junior high all the way up to college. But with the blend and familihood and maturity they all exemplified no one would have even questioned their strong ties to one another.

BUMP this summer has truly opened my eyes to growth in myself that I have learned from the students, leaders and in April herself and her wonderful team back in MN. God truly knew this would help me for my upcoming years in the things he has me doing. Grateful, grateful, grateful and thankful is what I want to express to the BUMP program.

To the BUMP Baltimore teams (Church at Charlotte, Salem, Montgomery, Christ Community EFC) continue to service communities around the world and show the love of God. The outcome of your service truly changes the lives of people (not only have I experienced it myself with your service to me but I have witnessed the change in others)

Love You All
Syerra Meadows
BUMP



'13 Intern

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Baltimore BUMP Week One - God is Working

Baltimore BUMP Week One is officially over. Whew, how it went by fast and how I already find myself missing the Church at Charlotte youth group and leaders. They have brought joy to my heart this past week with their smiles, jokes, card tricks and lessons they learned and shared. I remember specifically having time with some of the young ladies and asking them what experience this week opened their eyes to the fact people are not as blessed as them? One of the ladies shared working in the soup kitchen at My Brother’s Keeper; here she saw people who struggle for meals, people struggling with addiction, people who were released from jail and who wanted to start a better life for themselves and how hard it was because they faced many challenges like not having money, how they are viewed, how people do not put in the effort to help them, etc.

That conversation along with others, dealing with the topics of racism-compassion-justice and evangelism, has shown God working in these students. They witnessed and heard stories of how those topics affected the community as a whole and the individuals in the community as well as the Stillmeadow Church. I saw God take junior high school students and open their eyes to understand that people are not blessed as they are. I saw them cry, pray and get angry about it. Then, at the end of the week I overheard conversations and was a part of a few that talked about that realization and how they would take this experience back home to Charlotte and see how they can help people in urban communities there.
Those conversations truly made me see that after the week of extreme humidity, frustration, pain, injury and tiredness THEY GOT IT. BUMP brings students from around the country to help in urban communities not to try and find a “Savior” for that community but, to show them that everyone does not live like them and that topics like racism, poverty, lack of compassion, injustice and no evangelism happens even in their town. BUMP provides an experience to open their eyes and teach steps and they go back home and use those lessons and steps to make those in their town better by their service and care.

God is truly in the midst of the BUMP program and I had the opportunity to experience it first hand as a BUMP Intern. I am so excited for the next group coming to Baltimore to experience that too. So get ready to serve because your commitment sincerely changes lives!

Syerra Meadows

Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Eye-Opening BUMP Moments

"Our students have learned a lot in a few short days about poverty, racism, gentrification, which could all be summarized by saying that all three are way more complicated than they've ever imagined," writes Cedric Lundy (read his full blog entry). BUMP strives to help participants understand compassion and justice issues here in our country.

Today we're praising God that Stillmeadow EFC is "winning back the favor of the community!"




Tuesday, June 25, 2013

BUMP's about what we're here to do...right?

Missions trips are about serving others...giving of ourselves...letting God use us. Aren't they? Yes...and no! God ALWAYS does a mighty work IN BUMPers AND BUMP staff! That's the true beauty of missions!

Cedric Lundy, Church at Charlotte team leader writes in his blog: "Also it’s been good to see some of our students come out of their shell this week. One student in particular I’ve never seen be very animated or say more than two words at a time. Now she’s running around with some other girls, goofing around with the water balloons with kids from the neighborhood, and doing little ballerina jumps to and fro. Two other young ladies who rarely are at youth group during the school year have really gotten plugged in with many of the other girls. It’s developments like that internally within the group which make being hundreds of miles away from home for a service project totally worth it for our group of students."

Read more!
Pray unceasingly!



Thursday, June 6, 2013

Welcome to BUMP Baltimore Week 2!

BUMP welcomes Salem EFC, Staten Island, NY, Montgomery EFC, Belle Mead, NJ, and Christ Community Church, Ashland, OH, as they travel to Baltimore to partner for a second BUMP week at Stillmeadow EFC!

You can partner with them by praying daily for BUMP in this city!



Friday, May 24, 2013

30 Days to BUMP Baltimore 2013 Week 1!

BUMP welcomes back Church at Charlotte, Charlotte, NC to Stillmeadow EFC for BUMP Baltimore 2013 Week 1!

You can partner with them by praying for the next 30 days!