Short term ministry is indeed an adventure. I can tell you strange and exotic stories of my tromp around the world; eating sheep heads and fish guts, sleeping in hammocks on the Oronoco and in the surf in Thailand, near drowning, fire, severe illness, and bloody injuries, BUT that is NOT what travel in missions is all about!

Paul said:

I have become a servant of everyone so that I can bring them to Christ. When I am with the Jews, I become one of them so that I can bring them to Christ. When I am with those who follow the Jewish laws, I do the same, even though I am not subject to the law, so that I can bring them to Christ. When I am with the Gentiles who do not have the Jewish law, I fit in with them as much as I can. In this way, I gain their confidence and bring them to Christ. When I am with those who are oppressed, I share their oppression so that I might bring them to Christ. Yes, I try to find common ground with everyone so that I might bring them to Christ.

If you are going this year, park your personal desires and motives back at your church and go ONLY with the passion and desire God would have you have a passion for souls. It does not matter if you go halfway around the world or just one state away, or if you do ministry or work, your heart ought to be like Pauls I try to find common ground with everyone so that I might bring them to Christ.

You can leave a comment on this article at our Lets Fish weblog

Sports Ministry Opportunities with Push the Rock

ROMANIA - Soccer Mission Trip (Men)
Push The Rock is returning to Romania in July. This will be Push The Rock's third trip in a row to Romania and fifth overall.

Soccer will give us the platform to tell others about Jesus Christ in a non-threatening environment. We will follow up morning camps with evening exhibition matches against local professional and club teams. This will give us the opportunity to give action to our words kids from camp will come and watch how we play the game of soccer with true sportsmanship, character and a Christ-like attitude!

Consider and pray about being a part of the team. Team training sessions for the trip begin the evening of July 13 in Allentown, PA, and runs through July 15. We will be leaving Allentown, PA, July 15 and returning July 30. The cost of the trip is $2,775, which includes flight from departure point (PA), air and ground transportation in Romania, meals, lodging, interpreters, group travel insurance, ministry equipment and expenses, and uniforms. The only things this does not cover are souvenirs. Scholarship money is available to those who qualify.

RUSSIA - Volleyball Mission Trip (Men and Women)
Russia is open and searching ... for the Truth!

Push The Rock is returning to Siberia for two weeks in June to partner with churches in Novokuznetsk to build upon the ministry we had there in the summer of 2004.

Volleyball will give us the platform to tell others about Jesus Christ in a non-threatening environment. We will follow up daily clinics with evening exhibition matches against local professional and club teams. This will give us the opportunity to give action to our words kids from the clinics will come and watch how we play the game of volleyball with true sportsmanship, character and a Christ-like attitude! We will also be able to rekindle relationships with opposing players from 2004.

Please take the time to consider and pray about being a part of the team. I am confident that the Lord will allow this to be a life-changing experience for you if you allow Him to work in and through you on this trip! The cost of the trip is $3,375 and includes flight from departure point (PA), air and ground transportation in Russia, meals, lodging, interpreters, group travel insurance, ministry equipment and expenses, and uniforms. The only things this does not cover are souvenirs for family and friends. Scholarship money is available for those who qualify.

Training sessions start June 8 in the evening and run through June 10 in Allentown, PA. The team will be departing Allentown on June 10 and will be returning on June 25. If this trip is something that you are interested in, an application can be found on this site in the "Mission Trip" section. If have any additional questions, please feel free to contact the Push The Rock office.

AFRICA - Basketball Mission Trip (Men and Women)
Push The Rock is headed to East Africa. Push The Rock took a team there in 2004 and the Lord really blessed the ministry that happened. We look forward to returning there, reestablishing old relationships, and developing new ones.

Consider and pray about being a part of the team. Training sessions will run May 19-20 in Allentown, PA, before we will be leaving May 21. We will be returning June 11, 2006. The cost of the three-week trip is $3,675 and is all-inclusive. This covers all of your transportation, lodging, and meals on the island, as well as our stopovers in England and Tanzania. The only thing that money does not cover is souvenirs. If you decide this is where God wants you to serve this summer, please take the time to pray about it and fill out an application. Scholarship money is available for those who qualify.

Applications can be found at this site (www.pushtherock.org) in the "Mission Trip" section. Please feel free to contact the Push The Rock office (610-967-6861) with any additional questions.

Do not miss out on this life-changing opportunities!

Looking for a Short Term Ministry for Your Group?

Contact Tim Hash at the Fold in Vermont
802 626 8313 or hashes@theforlinc.org

Camping Ministry

Victory Valley Camp Summer Staff
Phone: 610-966-5880

Pinebrook Bible Conference Summer Staff
http://www.pinebrook.org/summer staff application.htm

Summer Church Planting Intern

For the Past five years Church Extension Ministries has sent out men interested in learning more about church planting. They served for a six week period in places like Thompson CT, Las Cruces NM, and The DELMARVA Project. Other church planting sites are also open for a Summer Intern: Hispanic summer ministry in Reading & Allentown, PA, urban ministry in Brooklyn NY, and at the Cape May County, NJ church plant.

Once again we are recruiting men to be considered for a summer internship. If you are interested in learning more about our Church Planting Internship, please contact me at:

Pastor David Gundrum
Church Extension Ministries
PO Box 753
Whitehall, PA 18052
610-769-4337
cebfc@enter.net
www.churchplantingbfc.org

1. My experience is that a child is not ready to minister overseas prior to age 14 UNLESS he is accompanied by his parents.
2. You should have in your possession a parental consent form for all minors under 18 indicating the parents permission for them to travel and permission for you to make decisions concerning emergency health issues.
3. You should have in your possession a more detailed permission form is you are taking minors overseas. This should include dates of travel a list of countries that you will be in as well as the material listed in #2 above. This form must also be notarized. IF the child is from a broken home situation, attempt to get a notarized signature of BOTH natural parents. Because of custody issues countries such as Mexico require a signature of BOTH parents.

Following the guidelines above, I am all for minors experiencing short term missions. A high percentage of missionaries today mention two things God used to lead them to career missions. First was a short term trip, and secondly they sensed the call of God prior to age 16!

URBANA 2006 December 27-31, 2006

URBANA is only 306 days away.

NOW is the time to begin to plan for this great experience. There is no getting around the fact that URBANA is expensive. If you immediately begin a consistent savings plan there is no reason why this important missions conference should be out of your reach.

Get all of your questions answered at:
http://www.urbana.org/u2006.faq.cfm

Urbana offers a multiplicity of experiences and opportunities under one roof. Participants hear the word of God, learn about the current state of global missions, worship and study with thousands in a diverse gathering of world Christians, and interact with hundreds of different missionaries and agency
representatives. Anyone who is serious about discovering their place in Gods mission will benefit from Urbana 06s program and the abundant resources present.

How are you doing? I'm doing great! Just came out of a wonderful week called Founder's Week this past week at Moody. It was amazing and so challenging!

I was wondering if you got my e-mail about the connection you helped me out with for my spring break in a few weeks? If you didn't, I attached it to the bottom of this e-mail.

Also, I was hoping that you could put our trip in "Let's Fish" so that other people can be praying for us as well!

Here are some of the details:

There will be three of us going to Apaxtla, Mexico to work with church planters Jose and Carol Garcia and family (with FIM) from March 10-26, 2006. Kendra (Moody student) will be teaching English in a local community center and i will be helping to translate if needed. I will also be working to get a youth group started and be in charge of 3 youth group nights. Mark (my brother who attends Geneva College) will be going also to do construction for the Garcia Family. Between the three of us we hope to build relationships with the Mexicans in their church and community, do construction, help and encourage the church and the ministries, as well as serve the Garcia family and their church. We are soooo excited and can't wait to go!

God is so good and has worked it all out for us to go! Our plane tickets are bought and we are anticipating God using us to serve the Mexican people and the Garcia family as well as come back with changed lives for Jesus!

We appreciate your prayers and encouragement. Thanks so much!

God bless,
Rebecca

Pinebrook Bible Conference has a successful program of volunteers through RWR (Retreat Within a Retreat). RWRs help us serve in the Dining Hall, work in the dish room, assist in the Snack Shop, help with room check Sunday afternoon, and occasionally do some other jobs around the conference grounds while at the same time you get to have your own retreat and we give a gift to your church/ministry. Requirements: a maximum of 25; minimum age of 14. If you have any questions, feel free to call Melinda at (570) 424.1212, ext. 10.

Available upcoming dates:
March 17-19
April 14-16
May 26-29 (thru Monday lunch)
June 9-11
June 16-18

Melinda is also scheduling for the Fall. Please give us a call if you are able help us out.

At first working at a place like Victory Valley Camp or Pinebrook may seem like a financially poor choice. But when you consider that all of your expenses for the summer are taken care of, the summer spent there begins to make sense.

Lets not simply talk jobs but rather working at one of these camps is a ministry. You will grow spiritually and have an awesome sense of accomplishment. For the BFC, many of our leaders in our churches including pastors, elders, missionaries, and godly business people had their start by ministering at Victory Valley or Pinebrook.

If you weigh all the options you will see that your summer spent in ministry will have far more value that mopping floors at the local Mc Ds.

Lets go fishing!
Dana

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