Final Day of Plant Camp

We had a later start this morning, with a stop at favorite coffee shop, before we hit the streets canvasing for the last time.  Over the last week, along with the other two Plant Camp churches, we were able to put out about 8000 door hangers on homes surrounding Gospel Grace Church.  We then headed back to Gospel Grace Church to clean up the church to get ready for services tomorrow.  It was a blessing to see our students serving the church in this way.  

At lunch all the Plant Campers gathered in Liberty Park to eat together.  

After a short rest at the hotel we went to the City Creek Mall for some time to evangelize.  Kelly was able to preach the gospel outside the Temple.  Please be praying for those who heard the truth today.  Several students were also able to get into conversations with people at the mall.  It was so encouraging to see them putting in to practice all that we have been taught this week.

Our evening was spent at the Longoria's home, where we had a great dinner together.  We also set aside some time for everyone to share what they had learned and what they want to take home with them this week.  It was such an encouraging evening to hear from each of the team members and know of the work that God has been doing in them this week.

Tomorrow morning we will be back at Gospel Grace Church for their Sunday worship services and then begin our travel back home.

-STMI Team

Friday - Ensign Peak and Service Projects

Our morning began at the foot of Ensign Peak where Will Galkin closed out our 2 Peter study, "Enjoy God's Promises" from 2 Peter 1:8-11. In the end he reminded us that 2 Peter, "serves as the apostle Peter's farewell address. He is burdened that his readers would NEVER stop growing in Christlikeness. So, Peter's emphasis in this book is for the reader to know that when God rescues people and calls them, His calling is effective. A Christian's life choices ought to be a reflection of who he is in Christ."  He ended by reminding us of  2 Peter 1:5, 2 Peter 1:10 and 2 Peter 1:11. We then made the trek up the hill, which seem like a mountain, to the top of Ensign Peak to have our discipleship groups. Ensign Peak overlooks the entire city so along with having our discipleship groups up there we also took in the breathtaking scenery and enjoyed snapping some pictures.

We headed back to Gospel Grace Church to have our equipping session: Why Plant Churches? This session was led by Lukus Counterman. He took us to various passages through out scripture and answered the "why?" by making these points:
Jesus Promised to build his church.
Jesus commissioned us to make disciples.
Jesus established local churches through his followers in the 1st century.
Jesus is establishing churches through his followers in the 21st century.
In the end he made the point that our Christianity is personal but it was never meant to be private!

After out equipping session we headed out to lunch and prepared for our afternoon of service projects. We, again, served the community by offering free car washes and helped prepare for our Teen event later that evening: The Cola Wars. While the car washes were happening, there were opportunities to have gospel conversations with those people who were waiting for their cars.

Our evening was focused on teaming up with Gospel Grace's youth group by hosting and participating in a community wide teen event called the Cola Wars. This event involves breaking up the youth into two different teams, Coke and Pepsi. They then play intense and exciting games to earn points for their team. In the end one team wins and then there is a Gospel presentation along with a free meal. This is a highlight for the Gospel Grace youth and it was exciting to come alongside them and participate in such a fun event while also proclaiming the glories of Christ.

It truly has been such a sweet week serving alongside Gospel Grace Church. Our youth, along with us leaders, have been poured into and have been challenged to walk worthy of the gospel, because we have been called, and with that calling we have been granted everything that we need for life and godliness. We are so thankful for all of your prayers this week. Please continue to pray as tomorrow is our last day of serving. We will be serving Gospel Grace Church and the community by running a carnival in the park tomorrow morning. Pray that there will be many opportunities to share the Gospel!
 " His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence." 2 Peter 1:3

-STMI team

Thursday - Equipping and Serving

Our day started out back at Gospel Grace Church with the 3rd part of our study in 2 Peter 1, "Work God's Plan."  The conclusion of our session was "Christians are to diligently add to their faith and purposefully advance God's agenda in this world.  A mature Christian is developing a whole-heart for God and is displaying a sacrificial love for others that seeks to share the gospel with the lost, and to disciple other believers to add to their faith."  We then split into small groups and had a great conversations on how to put this into action in our lives.

Today's equipping session today was "Sharing Jesus with the Religious".  Aaron Boyce taught this session and first helped us remember that apart from Christ we are no different than the religious.  He discussed the importance of defining the similar words that are used by Mormons and Christians, so that we can recognize what we are believing is a different gospel.  He gave us six tactics to reaching our Mormon friends:

1.  Reach them through the power of the Word

2.  Reach them by letting the law do its work

3.  Reach them by lifting up Christ

4.  Reach them by truly being a friend

5.  Reach them by carefully asking hard questions and answering their

6.  Reach them by persistently loving on and praying for them

We then spent some time in prayer, in small groups, focusing on our own church and its leaders.  Then we headed to lunch to refuel before starting our afternoon of service projects.

Our afternoon was spent serving the community through a free car wash, helping prepare for the kids carnival in the park on Saturday morning, and various projects around the church.  During the free car wash many we able to get into conversations with the owners of the cars as they were waiting.

This evening was spent in Mill Creek Canyon where we had dinner with all the other Plant Campers and Gospel Grace staff.  We had a worship and testimony time followed by s'mores.  It was encouraging to here from the students as they shared about the work God has been doing in them this week.  It was a sweet time as we all came together, as our time here is quickly winding down.  Enjoy some more pics . . . 

-STMI Team