Plant Camp has begun

Today was our first full day of Plant Camp.  We started the day with an orientation and worship with the other two Plant Camp churches that are here.  Jon Kopp showed us a video that shared the sad truth that Utah is the least churched city in the country, with only one Bible teaching church for every 10,000 people. We were then sent out into the city to get acquainted with religious history and makeup of the city, by visiting the Temple Grounds and Conference Center.  We then had lunch, which was catered by Chick-fil-a, and discussed what we had seen and heard.  We took a short hike to the lower park of Ensign Peak to look out over the city and learn about how the Pioneers founded the city, but mainly to see the this large city's great need for the Gospel.

After getting acquainted with the city we gathered back together at Gospel Grace Church to go over their Framework for ministry in the community.  They used an illustration of a house to show how the church cares (living room), instructs (dining room), disciples (basement) and invites (front porch).  This reminded us that we are there to be the wide open "front porch" for Gospel Grace to reach the Salt Lake City.  We put that into action by going to surrounding neighborhoods and inviting them to Backyard Bible Clubs, that start tomorrow.  After our time of canvasing we were invited by the Longoria family to stay for dinner.  Fun was had while we shot hoops, ate hamburgers and enjoyed our time with them.

Our evening started back at Gospel Grace for a time of worship and message by Will Galkin.  He taught out of John 18 and the theme was Jesus is sovereign in the midst of betrayal, failure and suffering.  The group was then encouraged to make prayer a priority and we were sent off to the capital building on a prayer walk.  We prayed for our walks with the Lord, our team unity and health, for the area we were at and the people we saw and for God's glory.

It's been a long full day, and we are grateful for the work that God is doing in our own hearts and at through the men and women at Gospel Grace.  Be praying for our opportunities tomorrow at the Backyard Bible club and as we do more canvasing.

- STMI team