MBA Summer Missionaries

Camp SonShine at Briar Creek

2009-08-09T18:30:00.001-07:00

Working at Camp SonShine at Briar Creek is and always has been a blessing! I have learned so much about myself and about the young people that I hope to work with the rest of my life. All too often I go in places believe I'm there to impact lives and leave realizing that those I longed to impact, impact my life in return. It's such a great realization because God is the one who renews and equips me in the days ahead with what I've learned in my past!

The young people at Briar Creek give me with the appreciation for them and where they come from. As workers we are able to teach the kids things that they had never heard at home and provide a positive environment where they can learn and grow in the knowledge of Christ. As Christians we all too often take that knowledge for grated and these kids teach me to never take what I know of the Lord and His great love for grated... for it is far too valuable.

God is using Briar Creek to be a Light in a dark world... as all churches that function under the name of Jesus Christ are to do. Join me in praying for their ministry to the people in their community as the Lord see's fit!

Kindergarten Camp

2009-08-04T11:07:00.000-07:00

I had a great blessing working with Anne Crawford at the Park, an area in Huntersville. She is a wonderful woman who has a passion for the people in the park. For one week I was able to help her during a Kindergarten camp. She got all the children around the area from the ages four to six and helped prepare them for Kindergarten. These children were not able to attend daycare so some of them were not prepared for Kindergarten. She taught them different things to better prepare them. I enjoyed working with all the children and they all stole a piece of my heart. They were such sweet children and were ready to learn. Being there for a week was such a joy. :)

Boomerang Express!

2009-08-04T11:06:00.000-07:00

All Aboard! I was able to do two more Vacation Bible Schools on the Boomerang Express! The first one I was able to help out with was Berryhill which went really well. For the first time I was able to work with youth students. Although this was one of my first I have worked with youth students I really enjoyed! The church there was very welcoming and I found it a pleasure to work with them.

The second church that I worked in was Lake Norman. I had the blessing to work a second grader with autism. Watching and helping him throughout the week was a blessing. Being with them made my passion for children grow. As a child I always loved going to vacation Bible School, so now as I am older I have loved going and helping out in all the vacation Bible Schools! J

Upward Basketball at Lake Norman

2009-08-03T07:05:00.000-07:00

It finally seems like I'm up to date with what has been happening this summer.

Last weeks experience was at Lake Norman Baptist Church, where I was a counselor helping out with Upward Basketball Camp. For those of you who don't know what Upward is, it's a basketball camp that is used to teach kids about Christ. It usually starts with a team meeting, followed by drills, namely Dribbling, Shooting, Defense and Passing. After doing two of these drills, there was another team meeting lasting 15 minutes that was used as a personal time for the kids to learn from their coach. After that was the other two drills you hadn't done before followed by a big game time. There were a lot of games that we played, such as Hungry Hippo, Freeze Tag, Sharks and Minnows and the such. The kids really seemed to enjoy these games. After this, the kids all sat down in the middle and listened while Mrs. Gordon talked to them about numerous Bible verses and lessons the Bible can teach us. This was followed by the last event, which was the scrimmage time. This time was really fun, as it gave me the opportunity to play some b-ball while teaching Christ's love, and gave the kids an opportunity to learn about Christ in an uplifting environment.

Lakehaven and VBS at Newell

2009-08-03T06:51:00.000-07:00

During the week of July 19-25, I was assigned to go to Lakehaven, a Baptist mission house and help do a VBS at Newell.

At Lakehaven, when I first arrived, I was a big surprised to see how young the kids were there. Lakehaven was run by a woman named Ann Crawford, who had a great heart for kids. The kids were in the ages of 3-6 years old. Mrs. Crawford had a schedule were they were doing crafts, sports, and learning while also teaching them about Christ.

At the Vacation Bible School at Newell, I was in charge of the Youth Group. On average, we had around 8-12 kids there each day. It usually started with dinner, followed by rec, then by game time, and finally the lesson. We started playing many games, such as King Mao, Spoons, and Mafia. The kids really seemed to enjoy the games that were set up. On Friday night, the last night of VBS, I was able to take the entire Youth group to go bowl, which was a lot of fun for everyone there. A few of these kids really impressed me with there knowledge of scripture, and there heart to lead others to Christ. It was great to see some Youth, which is a very hard age to reach be in love with Jesus already to the point that they can't wait to try and lead others to him.

Kidz Kamp in God's Big Backyard

2009-08-03T06:37:00.000-07:00

Hey there guys. Been awhile since the last update, so I'm going to be doing a few of these in a row.

About three weeks ago, I did a project with First Baptist Church Charlotte called Kidz Camp in God's Big Backyard. We had around 50-60 kids divided into three color groups. The schedule usually revolved around a lesson at the beginning, sports, lunch, another service with music, and finally revolving around three activities. It was a great experience, both for me and the kids, and we were able to have a lot of fun with it. During the week, my group, who were comprised of mostly older kids, went to the hospital and were able to hand out bags that the kids had made earlier in the week for the sick patients. Knowing that God would be able to touch some of these people who had been put in the hospital was a great experience for me. Some of the kids by the end of the week decided to get saved, which is the entire purpose of the camp. It is wonderful to see God working in the kids and future leaders of the Church.

Centre Pointe - The 4th Dimension

2009-07-15T06:44:00.000-07:00

I'm currently with Centre Pointe Church in Sevierville, Tennessee experiencing the Amazing Race. This week has really been a time that God has shown how He works through new situations by opening new doors and teaching new things. As a counselor/adult with the youth of Centre Pointe, I'm leading them in worship and building relationships with all those attending. The youth have been learning about "running their race" as they go about their lives. When one becomes a Christ follower simply coasting through life without a goal or purpose... is meaningless. But running with the purpose of doing all we do for the glory of God and running in such a way as to us receiving a prize. Sometimes it's easier not to care and to run aimlessly but easy is not always the best route in the long run.

I must admit this time working with Centre Pointe has been a blessing and I wouldn't want to be anywhere else this week but with these great kids. It's great to see how in Associational mission work is about working with churches and church plants to further the Kingdom of God. That's the important part of what we do and I love it... I'm really excited to see what God will do this last day of camp and tomorrow morning before we go home.

Thanks so much for your prayers and support this summer! If you would please lift up the 14 youth and 6 adults that are here; along with our trip home tomorrow.

Blessings!

Rachel Lowman

Prayer Journey

2009-07-06T11:06:00.000-07:00

Last week I had an amazing opportunity to go on an Acts 1:8 prayer journey. We left on Monday and went to the IMB in Richmond, VA. On the way up, we prayed for the ends of the earth. When we got there we were able to tour the IBM and then go on a virtual prayer journey. That night we had the privilege of staying at ILC. Being there was very exciting and I learned a lot about the missionaries, and how important it is to give and pray for them. On Tuesday we left and went to Cary, then to the North Carolina Baptist State Convention. On the way there we prayed for our nation. When we arrived at the Convention, we prayed for the people that work there. We left there and went to Raleigh and prayed for our state. We were able to go into the Legislative building while they were in session. We left there and returned home praying for the city of Charlotte. It was a blessing to have been given the opportunity to go this journey.
Acts 1:8
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."

Vaction Bible School :)

2009-07-06T11:05:00.000-07:00

Two weeks ago I had the privilege of working in two Vacation Bible School, Sharon Road Baptist and Covenant Baptist. In Luke 18, Jesus tells the people to let the children come to Him. Teaching the Good News to children in Bible School I was able to see this play out. Watching the children learn about Jesus, making crafts, and raising money for missions I was able to see children come to Him. Every day the children were excited about coming back and disappointed when the week ended. By the end of the week not only did the children grow but I grew as well. I am looking forward to working with more children throughout the summer.
Luke 18:16b
"Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.”

Vacation Bible School

2009-07-06T06:41:00.000-07:00

I can't say enough how much of a joy it has been to see God work through Vacation Bible School to reach kids. Two weeks ago, I served as a Vacation Bible School leader in Providence Baptist Church and Trinity Baptist Church, doing whatever I could to help proclaim the name of Jesus. Both experiences were fantastic, both for me and for the kids. Being able to be able to teach others about the good news of Christ, well, there is nothing better in this world. I'm looking forward to being able to reach other kids as the summer progresses.

Summer is Underway

2009-06-15T13:35:00.000-07:00

Greetings from the 2009 Associational Summer Missionaries!

We have started our third week of summer mission work. :) I believe I speak for all of us when I say this has been a great start to our summers here with the Metrolina Baptist Association!

Feel free to frequent the blog throughout this summer. We'll all be posting events and experiences we've had working as summer missionaries here in the Charlotte area.

God Bless! And have a wonderful summer!