Project Serve

For Spring break we had two opportunities for students to serve others. Friday was especially great. On that Friday we met at the church. A group of us made cupcakes while the others made Birthday cards. When everything was ready we loaded up and drove up to Seattle to Pioneer Square.
Once in Pioneer Square we went and bought some pizza and then we split up into three groups. We walked around the downtown area and found some people that were homeless. We would start conversations by asking their name and when was their birthday. We would have one person from the group write the person's name in the card and then we'd sing them "happy birthday".....the short version of course!
We would then give them some pizza and a cupcake.

Here's one of my new friends I met.

We had walked down the street behind some buildings and found a group of people on some stairs by a loading dock. Walking up to them, one of them looked at me and his eyes were glossy. I immediately got cautious because I thought they were doing drugs and here I am with three high school students and one middle school student! There were four guys and one woman. I noticed that the woman was crying hysterically. The pieces started coming together. The guys were crying with her as they listened to her story. Her name was Alisha and she was talking about how her kids had been taken away from her because she is on the street. We talked with them for a while and they were very excited about the pizza and cupcakes. They asked us to pray for Alisha so we spent some time praying for her difficult situation.
After saying our goodbyes we walked back down the street, around the corner, and started up the hill back toward Pioneer Square. While we were walking we heard someone behind us. We turned around it saw one of the guys that we had just met. He was an older Native American guy with a really cool handlebar mustache. He chased us down and with tears in his eyes gave us all hugs.
Jesus said "blessed are the poor". When we live as part of the Kingdom of Heaven and we are pouring ourselves out to others in love, the poor are blessed and the words of Jesus become reality.

Reflections from last night

Last night was our Prayer for Peace. We had planned this night weeks before the school shootings went down which brought the importance of this prayer to the forefront. When thinking about the situation of our world and what Jesus is calling us to do in response sometimes frightens me. I also get overwhelmed and doubt that I can actually make a difference. I think it is okay to feel that way. But only if we don't let those feelings paralyze us.
So if you are going to be a peacemaker it is okay to be scared. It is okay to think that you are inadequate for the job. We are not proponents for peace because of who our friends are, our nationality, nor political alignment. We are not proponents of peace because it is the logical and rational thing to do. We are proponents for peace in individual lives, relationships, and the world because we are part of the Kingdom of Heaven which is ruled by our Prince of Peace. Today may you experience shalom (wholeness, wellness, prosperity, completeness, peace) in your heart, in your relationships, and in your world.

Calling All Sleeping Bags!

Do you have any extra sleeping bags that you can donate? We are collecting sleeping bags for Tacoma Street Ministry. Tacoma Street Ministry is a group of churches that are working together to meet the needs of homeless people in Tacoma. There are a group of us that go down once a month and we'd love for you to join us. The next time we're going is April 27th.

So bring your extra sleeping bags to the church anytime and drop them off in the youth pod! Thanks!

Virginia School Shooting

Many of you have probably already heard about the school shooting at Virginia Tech. The death toll continues to rise. What was your first reaction?
All I felt at first was shock, I was stunned. But that was soon replaced with anger, sadness, and sympathy. I am afraid that many people will feel indifference to this tragedy. The culture in America is rooted in violence. From music, video games, and movies, to our relationships, and our government policies; violence has formed the way we think. In many ways we have become desensitized to violence and death and we don't even realize it.
Coincidentally, Wednesday nights topic is called "A Prayer for Peace." We will be talking about peace on a personal, relational, and global level. The word peace is thrown around a lot these days and I think its definition has become distorted and disfigured. We will also be talking about what peace really is.

Reflections on Scott's last weekend

So if you missed last night's party it was pretty sweet. I'll try to post some pictures if I can get a hold of some. Jen and I were dressed up as Mormon missionaries and rode in on bicycles. It was pretty funny. We were going "further in mission." Many of you know that Scott is really into bicycling and that was one of the themes last night. All the staff came in dressed in black leather Harley gear which was pretty hilarious. Then Jen and I came in. What most people didn't know is that I had misplaced our two black ties and could not find them anywhere. While we were getting dressed in our black slacks, white button-up shirts, name tags, and bike helmets we could not find the ties. We both made several trips out to my truck looking for them. So we ended up incorporating it into the skit. Jen's response to the rest of the staff was, "Scott told us to go further in mission." To which I replied, "but how can we be missionaries without our black ties?!" Hopefully I can track down a good video of it and I'll post a You Tube link here.

This morning Scott preached a beautiful sermon. His benediction (good word) to us has definitely been good. I've appreciated his authenticity and desire for living as part of the kingdom of God.

Pastor Scott

Tonight is Pastor Scott's farewell party. It starts at 7pm at Lighthouse school. Show up if you can. Tomorrow is his last day as well as last sermon so make sure you show up!

Sushi Party!

We are having a Sushi Party next Friday. It is $10 per person and you must sign up in advance. All profit is going to One Life Revolution in Africa. You can sign up on Sunday or Wednesday. Not all the sushi will be seafood, there will be plenty of vegetarian sushi as well. Space is limited to the first 15 people to sign up.

Welcome

Thanks for visiting the new blog for Ignite Student Ministries. We hope this blog keeps you up to date with what is going on with Ignite and how you can stay connected. Please let us know if you have any suggestions or comments.