Almost Gone

TRAINING CAMP is coming to a close.

Right now it is 5.30 am on Saturday morning and we are hours away from parents coming to visit for Open House. We are only 36 hours away from boarding a flight for the United Kingdom. And we will be busy busy busy until that point (which is why I am up so early to write this blog, because our schedule is so full). Our Scotland team has been doing great. We’ve had some minor injuries and homesickness but the excitement for our ministry in Scotland has been building and all of the hours spent praying and fundraising and trusting God is about to come to fruition.

Training Camp is a busy affair. Our students have gone through teachings such as Being Culturally Sensitive, the Necessity of Truth, Identity in Christ and Forgiveness. Matt Halseth blessed me with the privilege of teaching on Restitution, which I shared with our team yesterday. They’ve also learned disciplne, responsibility and humility through the structure and priorities we maintain at Training Camp.

Please keep our entire team in your prayers this summer. Pray that we would be preaching the gospel of Christ and not our own selfish ideas. Pray for our relationship with each other, that we would remain in unity and that gossip and dissent would have no place here. Pray for Kelsie and I that we would continue to strive to serve and love each other in a stressful environment while still putting God first in our marriage. Finally, pray for the Scottish people who are about to encounter our 24 students and staff and consequently, we hope, encounter Jesus.

Jack and Kels

Today is the Day

Good morning all. Today is the day. Oh, what a beautiful morning, oh, what a beautiful day it is. Today is the day I head to Training Camp (Kelsie will join me on Monday after a friends wedding). We are very excited to begin training for out roles this summer. I will be responsible for the finances this summer, which means I balance the books every day, go to the bank and get the best exchange rate, divvy out spending money to everyone and coordinate with the food person so they have money to buy food. And of course, Kelsie is in charge of the food this summer. She will be be responsible for supervising the preparation of every meal, the safety of the students while cooking, she will be buying food almost daily overseas and planning meals as well. Obviously there will be a lot more that we do within the team but these are our primary functions as assistant leaders.

Please pray for us this summer. That we would find our strength and energy in God alone and not ourselves or each other. Pray that we would have patience with one another and truly treat each other with respect and love as it will be a long, exhausting summer. Pray for our students that they would be stretched and molded in a way they never have before and that they would boldly share the Gospel with the nation of Scotland.