Last Friday we had over forty parents from Believers Fellowship come out to Real World Parents! RWP is a seminar put on by Wisdom Works ministries, and was presented by Johnny Pearson.

We came together, no one as experts, but all as seekers in how to connect our story into God’s story of love and redemption. We saw how our role as parents fits well with what Paul calls every Christian to be…an ambassador. In 2 Corinthians 5 we read “and we are ambassadors for Christ, as if God were making his appeal through us…” We desire to model what an ambassador looks like to our family! When we become ambassadors, our home becomes an embassy! We were challenged in making our home an embassy to the world. This was contrasted with the way we tend to deal with the "world." We tend to isolate from the world, or putting rules on how much world comes into our home, or agree with the world...yet when our homes are embassies we transform the world.

Many parents came expecting to learn about behavior, but were pleasantly surprised to be challenge to live for God and that will be the biggest lesson their children will pick up. When we only deal with behavior, we miss the heart. The heart is formed in the home, not by our culture!

So hang in there parents! Your job is incredibly important and God wants to work in your heart so you can work in the hearts of your kids! Our prayers are with you as we strive to raise up the next generation of Christ followers that will make a difference in the world, in this city, in their schools, and in your neighborhoods!

Don't worry if you missed out, we are already planning another seminar for the fall!

Youth Ministry (2 month)

So I just celebrated my second month of being at Believers. There are a couple things that I have learned and am really excited about so I wanted to share them with you.

1. I've learned that at BF parents really do care about what is going on in the life of their students. In youth ministry that is not always the case. Here it seems a lot different. The parents are interested and truly do love and care about their children. It really became evident through our Parent/Student Transit night.

2. I've learned that Middle School Students get it. By "get it" I mean they are hungry for God's word. Through Transit I have seen so many students ask questions like "what was Jesus doing until the age of 30" and "why is the genealogy of Jesus important?" It is awesome to see a student ask a question like that and find hope in the Bible through wrestling through the text.

3. I've learned how to truly rely on the Holy Spirit more than ever before. I think for people who are doing God's work a lot of times we forget this. We forget that God is in charge and no matter how awesome these events look and how much I plan, I still need to rely fully on God. It's amazing how when you step back and let God do God's thing it turns out so much better than you could have imagined. I have been blown away at how God works. God is doing something in the life of the Middle School ministry and it has been fun to see how God cares about these students so much.

4. I have learned what a great church Believers Fellowship is. Walking into this new situation can be very intimidating but everyone at BF has welcomed Carina and me with open arms. It has been so great to get to know your students and to see how God is very much alive and active in their lives. We have felt so much love from everyone at church during this transition phase. We are so blessed to be in this community and to see what God is doing in Gig Harbor.

I have learned a lot more and can't wait to share some more stories with you soon.

Peace,
Scott