Introducing a new look!

We are so excited to share with you a fresh, new, unified look for our summer opportunities! We have just come out with all new logos for our Summer Training Project, Twin Cities Project and Cross Cultural Project. From now on you'll be able to recognize our favorite events with these great new designs. 

Our summer projects have come a long way in the past few years. This summer has been the year of 3s! TCP finished it's 3rd summer strong meeting in downtown Minneapolis and the CCP team enjoyed visiting our partnership in Sheffield, England also for the 3rd summer in a row. STP keeps growing and students spent a 3rd summer in our own hotel in Myrtle Beach, SC.

We're so thankful to the Lord for what he has done and will continue to do through our amazing summer opportunities! We love the new look, and we hope you do too! Stay tuned to find out what God has in store for us next summer...  

WE LOOK BACK TO LOOK FORWARD - From CCP Blog

This post is originally from the CCP Blog, check it out and see other updates from the group that traveled to Sheffield, England this summer here.

We look back in awe over God's faithfulness and commitment to seeing His gospel grow among students in Sheffield...

“Being a part of CCP has been a very growing and eye opening experience that has reframed the way I think about the world and how I can live out my life on mission for God. This has been a blessing and privilege.” – Sarah Trapp

Looking through the carousel of visual memories above, it is really amazing to reflect on all that we have been able to do, and all of the people in Sheffield that our team has been able to point to the Gospel. For that, we thank God and you who have helped to make this possible through your prayer and support. To recap on this summer, myself and six other U.S. students formed a Cross Cultural Project (CCP). We were later joined by seven British students to launch a Summer Leadership Project (SLP) in Sheffield, U.K. Over the last two months we have learned how to study the Bible, been trained in evangelism, shared our faith collectively with hundreds of students, processed applying the gospel to so many areas of life, and experienced deep fellowship - all within our local church in Sheffield. 

Michaiah Melody provides some introspective thoughts pertaining to this summer project: “Once, our trip leader Devin {fondly known by our team as ‘dad’} was leading one of our training sessions and he asked us the questions: “How has God saved you in the past?” and “How is God saving you now?” When I first started to think about these questions I honestly did not know how to start answering them. As I look back over the past years of my life, I can see how different I am, but in all reality I don’t feel all that different. It is a strange and almost out-of-body experience to look back at your previous self, but when I come to think of it, it is a constant practice. We have been told by many to look to the future. However, everyday I realize more and more that I cannot look forward without looking back. In days past I would never have imagined that I would be sitting here in England. If God had not shown up, I would not be in our little Sheffield apartment smiling because I am remembering all the laughs and cream teas we have already shared in such a short time. God has truly transformed me. Thinking through the answers to these questions has helped me to communicate the Gospel better to the university students that we meet. I am able to see how it impacts my life in a personal way.”

Looking forward to the Prayer Focus for STP ’16 Missions Week:

  • Pray for the lost and unbelieving people the CCP team have engaged with this summer.
    • Specifically university students that attend The University of Sheffield and Sheffield Hallam University.
  • Pray that the English people group would know Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and savior, and, in turn, they would share the gospel message in their thoughts, words and deeds with others.
  • Pray that the international students we shared the gospel with: 
    • Would get connected with a gospel-centered Church in Sheffield.
    • Would get connected with the long term CO team planted in Sheffield.
    • Travel back to their native country and share the gospel there.
  • Pray God would start planting the seeds for next year’s CCP team and the years to come.
    • Many of the students on STP '16 ARE members of future CCP teams.
  • Finally, pray for the needs of the world to hear Jesus!

We want to take the opportunity as a team to recognize your work as supporters. Through prayer and financial support people from all over the world have been able to hear about the glorious grace of the Father through Jesus Christ. Know that your support has the opportunity to change an eternity for someone, and that is not a small thing. Know that not only are we grateful, but that God sees your faithfulness. Please continue to pray for our team during these post-short term mission days. Pray we would soak in the rest of this project and actually process all we have learned. Pray this summer would be a BIG step in shaping us to become life-long laborers for Christ!

- Michael Jolivette

Talking to Strangers is Okay - From STP Blog

This blog post is from the STP Blog, read it and other posts from our STP Students here: cominneapolis.org/stpblog

You know how your parents always told you that you shouldn’t talk to strangers? Well, here at STP it’s recommended, especially on Wednesday afternoons.

You may be wondering why that is...because it sounds kind of strange.

A big part of what we do here at STP is work to develop our personal relationships with the Lord, but a natural result of getting to know God better is to be moved to share Him with others. Wednesdays’ Ministry Training meeting is the time set aside to equip us with tools to share the Gospel effectively with those around us, as well as to have time to practice what we’ve learned.

WHAT WE DO

Ministry Training meetings consist of two parts, a talk and a workshop. This past week, Nirmal Mekala spoke on “Abridged Revelation,” and walked us through how to share the Gospel using a simple diagram called the Bridge. It revolves around Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” After that, he discussed two kinds of fears we might face in evangelism, insecurity (fear of awkwardness, rejection or a loss of reputation) and inadequacy (we may not have the right answers).

In the workshop, students paired up and practiced sharing the Bridge with one another as if they were sharing it with an unbeliever. Then, we actually went out onto the beach and talked with tourists and locals about what we believe, and when we come back, we shared stories of conversations we had.

WHY IT MATTERS

The amazing thing about being a Christian is that we get to be a part of God spreading His name and fame throughout the world. God didn’t have to use us to share the Gospel, but He chose to because it both develops our faith and gives us joy in seeing His work up close.

Undoubtedly, Ministry Training is the meeting that students dread the most, because it’s scary walking up to complete strangers and asking to talk about deep, heart-level issues. But the beauty of it is that, despite our insecurities and inadequacies, there’s no way we can fail if we step out in faith. God doesn’t call us to save those we approach on the beach; He simply calls us to be faithful to share the best news in the world.

Even though “cold turkey evangelism” isn’t our normal modus operandi, I think Ministry Training is one of the most valuable times of the STP week because it’s our chance to vocalize and live out what we profess the rest of the week: that God’s free gift of eternal life through Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection is the most important thing in our lives, and we want the world to know it.

Brianna Williamson
STP Student Communications Intern
 

With Thanksgiving

The words “with thanksgiving” have been stuck in my head. I am so often discontent. In a sense, discontentment is a good thing because we are not yet home and things are not yet as they should be. However, I am realizing that much of my discontentment stems from forgetting we serve a real God who has done great things for us and is providing for our every need. As I have applied the simple command to be thankful to my life and prayers, I have been blown away by how kind God is toward us, and it has made me a lot happier. 

Evangelism is Relational - An Update from SCSU

One of the highlights of this past year at SCSU was an investigative Bible study we hosted. After months of building relationships and having one-on-one conversations, we started inviting students to have dinner and then discussed spiritual things together. We had anywhere from 10-20 students showing up every other week, and there were many fruitful follow up conversations.

God's Been Faithful at the U

Movements do not change overnight, and what we’ve observed at the U of M has been a slow, but steady, increase in desire to share the gospel with those who have not heard it. This has resulted in a lot of gospel conversations happening over the course of the last year. We feel excited as a staff team about how God could use our small team of staff and students to reach many on the campus this coming year.

"I Took a Pill in Ibiza", Getting What You Want, and Discontentment

Mike, after his first few hits at the age of 22, had it all. Or so he thought. He had money, girls, success, fame, but something strange happened when he finally got what he wanted. He wasn’t happy. In fact he felt depressed. This doesn’t make sense. He had everything he ever dreamed of, things many of us dream of, how could he not be satisfied?