Challenge Update #3: UNDO

A note from Jennifer…

The theme of Challenge this year is “UNDO: Restore the Original.” At each gathering, we’re examining a different beatitude. There are 4 inward (the first four) that each has a corresponding outward (the last four). For example, if you are poor in spirit, it will show up in your life by being merciful. So that’s the order we’re moving through them.

The first night Geoff Safford talked about being poor in spirit… spiritually bankrupt, having nothing to offer God, a beggar before Him, but ready to be filled and open to what He has for us. He reminded us of many of the things we subconsiously (or maybe very consciously) hoard. Or even the feeling that we have a lot to offer God, rather than that He offers everything to us. He also talked about how the word “blessed” is the idea of complete, fulfilled–if our future is completeness and job in Christ, it must start with poverty (emptiness) of spirit.

In the morning Nick Hall shared some thoughts about mercy, a trait that is not highly valued in our success- and individual-focused culture. Yet with how much mercy we’ve been shown, it is a slap in the face of God to not show mercy to others.

But the one that’s hit me the most so far was last night, when Geoff talked about “blessed are those who mourn.” This is not about just being sad. It’s not mourning over being caught in sin or suffering its consequences. It is a deep, violent, soul-shaking mourning over sin because it mars the image of God in our lives. We mourn because we have the heart of Christ, and what breaks His heart breaks ours as well. If we really see Him in His holiness, sin will cause us to mourn not just when it shows up in our lives (however small, “justified,” or seemingly inconsequential), but we will also begin to mourn over the sin in our friends, communities, and world. If we don’t, we don’t have a big enough picture of God. (When we get back, ask the students to tell you about the art and the mud… it was a great picture!)

This morning, as the outward expression of mourning, we talked about purity of heart. Without this, we will never see God. D. A. Horton shared that Scripture is like the eyeglasses through which we see everything around us in focus. Without it, our picture of God gets blurry, and we do not experience purity in our lives (sin is our nature!).

It’s a lot to take in! But so good. We are regaining a picture of the original vision God had for our lives. Pray that throughout the rest of this week He will continue to teach us through His Word… to give all of us here a bigger and clearer vision of who He is, that when we see this all of the sin in and around us will break our hearts, and that there would be real mourning for God to replace with unspeakable joy as we purify our hearts and our lives.

God is definitely at work here! Our worship leader, Kristian Stanfill, commented, “If last night was just day 2, I have NO IDEA what God is going to do the rest of this week… that was amazing!” Pray for God-sized things as we encounter HIM this week… not just emotions, small changes, or spiritual highs, but the truly transforming presence of Christ.

Thank you! We’re heading out now to serve the city of Columbus! We’ll report back on our ministry projects later.

FYI, you can listen to any messages you want to at the Challenge website.

Challenge Update #2: Prayer Army

A note from Greg…

This is my 5th Challenge conference that I have been to. My first tip was in 2002 to Atlanta, GA. I was in college at the time and my youth pastor from high school (Glenn Olson) had just purchased some huge sound equipment for the Prayer Army that meets before the evening gathering. Since I’ve been playing with electronics since I was five and running sound systems since middle school, Glenn asked me if I wanted to help him setup the sound system and run it at Challenge 2002. Since then, I’ve been to Salt Lake City (2004), Purdue (2006), Salt Lake City (2008), and now Columbus in 2010. My primary job is driving the van and setting up sound systems, lots of sound systems.

Today I set up 10 sound systems from 9AM to 1:30PM, in what seemed like 40 acres of Columbus Convention Center concrete and carpet. I have a box on wheels I made that’s small enough to fit through doors and elevators but big enough to fit some mic stands, speaker stands, lots of cables, and room to stack speakers on top. This box was a really big lifesaver for me.

I usually get together with Glenn and pack up the sound systems before we leave. This way I know exactly what we have and can pick up any needed parts. This year I did not have the opportunity to meet with Glenn before we left, so I did not know any details of the sound systems that we would have available and had to set most of it up on the fly, and was worried that we would not have enough equipment. But as I went from room to room, I kept pulling cables and adapters out of the box, and I was always able to find the cable or adapter that I needed. I even had a couple extras left over. To me it seemed like a taste of what it was like for Jesus to feed the 5000. As he kept breaking the bread, there was always enough, and even a little left over.

When I know there is a deadline to complete something, I tend to become very focused on the task at hand and tend to tune out the distractions and become oblivious to others around me. After getting it all set up, I was finally able to open my eyes and heart to what is really going on. I spent time walking around and praying for all the seminars. It was a really great time, not only because that is really what my job as prayer army staff is supposed to be, but because God is doing an amazing thing through prayer at this Challenge 2010.

At my first prayer army in 2002, we met in a large gymnasium, and by the end of that week a couple hundred people were attending. The momentum of the prayer army has been growing stronger and stronger every conference since then. In 2008 I think it went from 500 to 2500 by the end of the week. This year we started with over 1000, and tonight (only day 2!) we packed out our room with about 2500. It is simply awesome to see half of the people at the conference come to a voluntary prayer session before the evening gathering to pray for the band, the speakers, and hearts to be prepared for worship and teaching.

Jennifer worked with some people to set up a number of prayer stations that are available all day long for everyone to have a more interactive experience with prayer. Some of the prayer stations should be familiar to you because we’ve done them at CEFC (like the wooden cross to nail sins to, the holy of holies with paint and black lights, and prayer for the world). We also have a number of new stations, like a six-foot canvas shaped like a heart that we will write God’s promises on, a five-foot globe to stick prayers for the world on and many others. I’m looking forward to using some of these ideas for our next 24-hour prayer room at Centennial.

Needless to say, I really feel prayer is very big part of Challenge and I thank you all for your prayers for us and hope this gives you a taste of my experience at Challenge 2010.

The packed-out prayer army room:

A sample of the interactive prayer stations we set up:

Challenge Update #1: Chicago

A note from Grace…

Greetings Minnesota!! It’s Sunday evening and we finally have some down time to reflect on the weekend’s happenings and tell them to you. We arrived in Chicago at Theresa’s house at 12:30 at night—Saturday morning, technically—and unloaded our belongings into the house while the neighbors stared. (They tend to stay up late on Friday nights, smoking on their front stoops.) The ride was uneventful and relatively painless, only eight hours long with the seven of us packed snuggly into a seven-passenger van. We stopped half-way through at Wendy’s for greasy burgers, although Sarah and I made ourselves peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. We spent the car ride checking off boxes on Jennifer’s road-trip bingo while Reid sang the Banana Phone song, David told interesting stories and told jokes that none of us could understand, and Sarah and Scott played games on Sarah’s ipod thing. I, being the nerd that I am, and having little understanding of technology, read Les Miserables and listened to classical music in an attempt to “improve my mind” (although I must admit, Sarah’s catapulting martians kept catching my eye) while Greg maneuvered us skillfully with grace through the most intricate arteries of Chicago.

We were blessed by Theresa, a member of Rock Church, to stay at her house instead of a classroom at the church building. Her house is comfortable and larger than it appears from the outside. You walk into the living room, themed by a sort of mix between ancient Egypt and British royalty, which joins the kitchen by a small hallway. The females quartered upstairs, and the males downstairs, and Theresa was very friendly and accommodating always assuring that we were comfortable and holding nothing back in her generosity. We spread out our belongings and were able to turn out the lights by one o clock.

About four in the morning, the storms that the forecast called for blew in. The rain fell in torrents, accompanied by the kind of thunder that makes the heart jump out of the skin and wakes you up in the dead of night so you are disoriented and can’t remember where you are or what your purpose is. About an hour later the storm abated, and I was left to lie awake and dwell on the power of our Creator. We hadn’t been in Illinois for four hours and already God was reminding us who was boss and what wonders he can work with his hands. And boy did we get a taste of those wonders that Saturday!

We were up and out of the house by eight the next morning, with water bottle in hand, ready to put together a carnival for a community of high-energy kids on less than six hours of sleep. We parked at The Rock of Our Salvation Church, and a staff member in a yellow t-shirt with the words Voices and Choices on the back (this years’ theme) led us to the meeting hall where we breakfasted on bagels and fruit. At nine we teamed up with two other groups of volunteers and were each assigned a station to man during the carnival: some went to operate the games, others to serve hotdogs and slushies, some to the blow-up moon bounce, and others to clean-up duty. By ten the children streamed in with their parents and played hard for prizes for four hours. During that time the pastors gave away prizes to the kids who were able to answer Bible questions, and the staff handed away free food by the popcorn bag and hotdog wrapper. The carnival was a success, a blessing to both the children and their parents. I’ve never seen so many people in ecstasy to receive little favors like bouncy balls and toy trucks, as well as bigger gifts like bicycles. According to the staff, we are in a poorer portion of the city, and the people flocked by the hundreds. I’ve never seen such generosity. Free hotdogs, popcorn, slushies, and ice cream seemed like a big expense, not to mention boxes of prizes. But the church wouldn’t let the people pay a dime. At two in the afternoon our group went into the church building (stiffly, because we were all terrible sunburnt, having forgotten the sunscreen) and the ladies of the church had provided a lunch for the volunteers in the fellowship hall. Tired and hungry, we feasted on fried chicken and lasagna, at which point a lady named Laurie gave us instructions on a BBQ we were going to serve the people from 3 to 4. Until then the pastor was going to give a sermon to the adults, and our friend Robert Stevenson gave an abbreviated version to the children, which was where we came in, offering our services to crowd control and the passing out of fiery-hot Cheetos. After our duties with the children were fulfilled we put on aprons and hairnets and went outside to wait quietly for the adult service to finish. Pastor Washington was in the process of an altar call and tears came to my eyes when I saw dozens of people at the front of the tent, ready to accept Jesus into their lives.

When the service ended, church members led the saved into another tent to talk with them further. There were 69 total. The rest of the people lined up at tables and we served them ribs, chicken, mac and cheese, baked beans, and cookies. It was so fulfilling to watch each individual pass us, to see their face, and talk with them while we served them supper. About six o clock everyone had eaten and we went into the church to enjoy the leftovers ourselves and then go to the chapel for a time of debriefing, a time of real enrichment, for we were able to see how the day had impacted everyone else, and by the end of the hour, I felt like I’d known everyone for years. Then, because the Wyzata group was leaving in the morning, hugging and farewells commenced, and we left for Theresa’s house feeling fully satisfied with the day and thankful to the Lord for his blessings and the black community of Chicago.

This morning we rose refreshed after nearly twelve hours of sleep, and returned to the church for the morning service and the baptism of 11 people, some of them the newly saved. Some of us had never been to a black church service before, and it was an experience we’ll never forget!! They sang four songs in the two hour service, all of which were hand-pumping, halleluiah-shouting, repeating-until-you-go-hoarse songs that lasted at least for five minutes. They were easy to catch on to and it was fun to see the congregation so engaged. Then Pastor Washington preached from 2 Corinthians for about a half hour until sweat poured from his head, and with such zeal that he was singing parts of his sermon and jumping and rolling around on the floor! His message was a follow-up for the new believers and how they responded! Jumping to their feet and raising their hands, shouting “amen” and “praise the Lord!” and clapping every few minutes. It was glorifying to God, and encouraging to all of us.

We ate more leftovers for lunch, said our goodbyes, and went downtown for ice cream and sightseeing. We saw the “Bean” and took lots of pictures, most of which are posted on Facebook. We went to Gino’s East Italian Pizzeria and ate the most delicious, freshly baked sausage and vegetarian pizza. Now we are gathered in the basement, listening to Reid’s vuvuzela fanatics, and giving Scott advice for his swollen thumb (we aren’t sure what he did to it).
Thank you for your support and prayers, and for taking the time to read this novel! We are enjoying our time here, and will leave for Columbus at 6 tomorrow morning. Blessings to you all, and more updates to come!