This summer we took rising 7th & 8th graders for a week of camp at SIFAT (Servants in Faith and Technology) in Alabama. SIFAT is the same organization with which we take mission trips to Ecuador. They experienced what is called a “Learn & Serve” week where they were shown how the majority of the world live in third world countries and how as Christians we are called to help those people.
Here is the reflection of one of those students:
SIFAT had to be one of the biggest life changing events that I have ever been on.
I think I speak for everyone when I say that we have so much that we don’t need! For five days we found out how the rest of the world lives. One of the days, all I got to eat was what we could find and cook. I had one sixteenth of an orange slice, a bowl of tomato soup, and two spoonfuls of rice. That is a privilege to some children in third-world countries! That might be all they get for a week! And everyday we eat a full meal and then dump half of it in the trash saying, “Nah I’m full”.
Those words probably have never been said by the some people. They don’t know what it is like to actually have a full stomach. That can be changed. If everyone left only learning one thing, it was that this whole situation can be changed. If everyone gave up what they WANTED and didn’t NEED, the whole world would have their needs filled.
The most powerful night was the two or three hours we spent in the slums. Each group was made into a family, that was sent into the slums, and had to work for their food, water and shelter. Each counselor played a realistic role. One was a homeless man, one was a drunk, one was a gambler, and many more. The whole situation was viewed as a “game”. As we walked throughout town looking for work, a man caught my eye. He slept on the ground curled up in a ball, with nothing but a shirt and pants. His feet were dirty and bare. He spoke no English, so I had to say, “zapatos?” which meant shoes. He pointed at himself indicating he needed some. I gave them up. It was torture walking on gravel with bare feet. But God’s word says we should give out of love, and I felt my heart tugged with love and pity, so I made a sacrifice.
That same night two men in military clothing came into the village.
A smoke grenade landed at either end of the town. Screams rang out, and everyone was ordered to go to their homes. We ran to our shack in the slums, and as we did, fear broke out from everyone. People were frightened for their lives. The” game” had just taken on a whole new meaning. The military came through every house and asked for the oldest son. Unfortunately, that was me. I was told to put my nose up against the wall, and stay still and silent.
They took eight of us to the woods, and on the march, one of the councilors, playing the Christian man in the town, began to hum. The tune he was humming was “Amazing Grace”. Slowly, one by one, each student added on. The men screamed at us to stop. When we arrived in the woods they blindfolded us and asked us questions about a Christian man in the town. We sold the man out, telling them what he looked like. And he was taken deep into the woods and killed.
The whole thing was a drama. It was an “act” if you prefer. However, this sort of thing happens in real life, and whether you took the game seriously or not, you had to realize, that this is what goes on everyday.
Each and every student was taught how to serve others and humble themselves. The trip trained us for mission trips to come in the future. So as we take our experience back home, we have to help.
There is now a burning passion inside each of us to serve. And I pray that you all will feel it soon enough.
- Evan Newsome (Rising 8th Grader)
Hey Guys! This is Student Ministries and we just wanted to update you all regarding the trip that Mt. Bethel just participated in down in Panama City Beach, Florida called Big Stuf! All eighty of us crammed into one floor of a beautiful beach front hotel. The camp consisted of around 1,500 students from all around the nation from Texas to Indiana. The main theme of the camp was BROADCAST, meaning that everyone’s life broadcasts something, usually what we care about most. They challenged us, leaders and students alike, to question what messages we were sending out into the world and how we could better represent the Kingdom of Jesus Christ in our everyday lives. Big Stuf also partnered with an organization located in Kenya called Compassion which seeks to use our bountiful resources to aid children from Kenya to give them a hope and a future. To better understand what type of experience we had we would like to tell you more about what we learned from Big Stuf and BROADCAST and the Compassion organization.
The camp itself consisted of two daily sessions which included two talks from either Clay Scroggins or Jared Herd, phenomenal speakers, and an incredible worship band! Like we touched on the BROADCAST theme, each session focused on a sub-theme such as Live Loud, Live Clear, or Live True. We feel that the material focused on and the BROADCAST theme was incredibly relevant to all 1,500 of the students, middle school to college, which elected to say “yes” to Jesus and give Him a week of their lives. All together we believe that the kids walked away with a great message and a challenge to live out the message of Jesus Christ and broadcast His love to the world. One of the coolest things that we saw coming from this camp was the fellowship and general love for each other among our students. This was greatly developed through the sessions but mainly flowed from the small group times where the kids were able to be real with each other and get into each other’s lives. We believe that this week fully prepared each of the 1,500 students to now make an effective decision to follow Christ and broadcast His message to the world.
Earlier in the letter we mentioned Big Stuf’s partner organization, Compassion, located in Kenya. The kids were each given an opportunity to sponsor a child in Kenya for 32 dollars a month. This money provides food, education, and medication to allow these children a hope for the future. We believe that whether or not the kids decided to sponsor a child it truly made them question the stewardship of the material that they have been blessed with by God and to open their eyes and make them aware of the poverty throughout the world.
In closing, we as the Student Ministries team would like to thank you for giving your child the opportunity to experience the Big Stuf camp in Panama City Beach. We hope that your child will tell you all about their experience and share with you what they learned. We greatly enjoyed the fellowship that was ignited among us through the sessions, amazing praise and worship, and small group talk. We hope that you will encourage them in their jog with Jesus and encourage them to continue to stay involved with us in student ministries. Let us know if there is anything that we can do for you or your children and we will hopefully see you soon!
Your Student Ministry Team
Hola!
Mt Bethel’s Student Ministries has had the fortunate opportunity and privilege to take 2 teams of students to Ecuador between March and April. Our mission was to share the love of Jesus Christ while helping to serve the people of Quito, Ecuador. Our service included a week of VBS classes for over 200 students and fulfilling some major construction needs of their Church they were in the midst’s of building.
It is with much joy that I have the privilege of trying to convey the experience that I was afforded to witness on my trip to Ecuador with 25 of our youth. As 34 of us stepped onto a plane on Saturday, April 5th, I do not think any of us had the expectations in mind quite the magnitude of what God had planned for us. What a beautiful gift, to be able to watch a group high school students fall down to their knees in the dirt, to scoop up a handful of children who have swarmed around them.
I have never witnessed such a pure joy and love, as what our students displayed, not only to the children of Ecuador, but also to each other. The unity of our team grew daily as each person allowed God to push them and use them as His servant.
Although we were the team that was Ecuador doing the actual “work”, we knew we had a whole team here in the U.S. praying for us as well. Thank you to everyone who listened and responded to God’s call for them to serve, in whatever capacity, for this trip! Through your faithfulness, God has forever changed many lives.
Your Student Ministries Team.
This summer we took rising 7th & 8th graders for a week of camp at SIFAT (Servants in Faith and Technology) in Alabama. SIFAT is the same organization with which we take mission trips to Ecuador. They experienced what is called a “Learn & Serve” week where they were shown how the majority of the world live in third world countries and how as Christians we are called to help those people.
