Evangelism – Page 3 – REVKEVJR.COM

August 27, 2015August 27, 2015 revkevjr Christianity, Church, Evangelism, Faith, Jesus, Kindness, Mentoring, Ministry, Outreach, Student Ministry, Youth Ministry

Serve and Swim 2015

It’s been several years since I came up with the Serve and Swim concept, and it’s always one of my favorite things we do during the summer. The concept is simple. Go out and do a simple act of kindness in the community, then take everyone and go swimming at someone’s house. Tonight was Serve and Swim 2015, and we had a great outreach with our students!

We are launching a third Shelter Rock Church campus in Westbury on October 4th, so I contacted a local ice cream store and worked out a deal to buy several hundred scoops of ice cream to give out to people in the community for free. Tonight our students walked Post Ave. in Westbury and gave out 380 coupons for a free scoop of ice cream compliments of SRC, along with an Invite Card for the Westbury launch. We had many good conversations with folks. Several said they would come and check out SRC. One guy told us he’s coming and bringing his whole family. Another lady in a bar started bawling her eyes out in tears of joy when she heard that a church was starting right around the corner from her house. We talked to lots of the local business owners too. Before we left for our pool party, I bought all of our kids ice cream. It was a great way to partner with and support a local business, and a great way to build excitement about our church coming to town.

July 10, 2015 revkevjr Christianity, Compassion, Evangelism, Faith, Jesus, Kindness, Legacy, Mentoring, Ministry, Missions, Preaching, Student Ministry, Travel, Youth Ministry

Nicaragua Mission Day 7

This morning we had devotions at 7:30am and breakfast at 8am. We then set up for something of a “VBS”. We had 2 groups of children bussed in from the community – one group at 9am and another at 2pm. We played soccer, did facepainting, made balloon animals, then had a time of singing and dancing followed by a gospel message. We are super proud of Claudia who preached in the morning, and Timmy who preached in the afternoon. About 5 children prayed to receive Christ following each message! Never underestimate the significance of a child praying to receive the Lord. I was one of those children! Let’s pray for these 10 or so kids. Pray that the seed of the Word of God has landed on good soil, and that it will bear good fruit in their lives. This evening we had rhe 7 year anniversary celebration of Villa Esperanza. We led worship, some of the girls from the Villa did some dances, we ate dinner, had cake, watched a slide show, and shared notes and took pictures with the girls. It was a very fun night. Tomorrow we are loading the bus at 4am to head to the airport.

June 25, 2015 revkevjr Camps and Retreats, Discipleship, Evangelism, Fellowship, Fun, Missions, Student Ministry, Youth Ministry

Shelter Rock Students Summer Calendar 2015

June 11, 2015 revkevjr Campus Ministry, Christianity, Evangelism, Jesus, Leadership, Legacy, School, Student Ministry, Team, Youth Ministry

Passing the Leadership Baton

Many of you may remember the excitement we experienced 8 months ago when our youngest daughter Natalia started the first-ever Christian Club in her middle school. All year they averaged almost 30 students in weekly attendance, and it was awesome watching the influence they had in the school and beyond. A few weeks ago, they received a Certificate of Merit from the New York State Assembly for their project of sending Valentines to Veterans which is going to be framed and displayed in the school!

After an amazing school year, yesterday we attended the final club meeting of the year. We have been so proud of our girl for all of her hard work and leadership. She assembled a great team of her peers and led them as together they led the club all year. Perhaps the most impressive part of her leadership is that right from the start she recognized that as an 8th grader this was her final year in the middle school, but she wanted the club to continue long after she was gone, so she was looking for future leaders from day one.

About 3 months ago, she and her team really started praying, watching, and talking with the younger students who had been faithful and active in the club, and who had a desire to be lights in their school. Two months ago she approached two 6th graders and asked them about the possibility of them leading next year. After they accepted, she began training them, giving them opportunities to lead, and giving them leadership feedback. Yesterday, as we celebrated a great inaugural year for the club, Natalia and her team formally handed the baton of leadership to the aforementioned students and prayed over them.

May 2, 2015 revkevjr Campus Ministry, Christianity, Evangelism, Fellowship, Jesus, Leadership, Legacy, Mentoring, Outreach, Parenting, Pastoring, School, Speaking, Student Ministry, Youth Ministry

Video: Natalia Speaking at Youth For Christ Banquet

Last night was one of the greatest highlights of my life as a father and as a youth pastor. I had the privilege of sharing the stage with my daughter at the Youth For Christ banquet as she shared about starting a Christian Club in her middle school. Our family is so proud of her!

Natalia with banquet speaker Pastor Dimas Salaberrios of The Bronx

April 28, 2015April 28, 2015 revkevjr Christianity, Evangelism, Faith, Uncategorized

If I believe in Christianity, am I a Christian?

“Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me” (Revelation 3:20).

When Dr. J. Edwin Orr spoke to a group at a University, a young lady raised her hand to say, “I do not understand this. If a man believes in Communism, he is a Communist; if he believes in Socialism, he is a Socialist; I believe in Christianity‑‑am I not a Christian?” “Not necessarily so,” replied Dr. Orr. Then he asked, “Do you believe in marriage?” “Yes, I do,” she answered, “I’m engaged to be married.”

Facetiously, he asked the young ladies in the group how many of them believed in marriage and ninety‑nine percent of them raised their hands. “That’s very interesting,” Dr. Orr said. “You say that you believe in marriage. It so happens that I am a chaplain of the Air Force. I am recognized by the government to perform marriages. This young lady says if one believes in Communism, he is a Communist; if one believes in Christianity, he is a Christian; now you tell me you believe in marriage: allow me to pronounce all of you married. What’s wrong with that?”

One girl protested, “Mr. Orr, you know that marriage is not a philosophy; marriage is a personal relationship!” “Exactly,” he replied. “And Christianity is not a mere philosophy; to be a Christian is a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, a living Person.” (From: Stories that Feed Your Soul by Tony Campolo)

February 18, 2015February 18, 2015 revkevjr Christianity, Compassion, Discipleship, Evangelism, Faith, Jesus, Kindness, Ministry, Missions, Outreach, Serving, Student Ministry, Youth Ministry

Jr. High NYC Mission Day 4

This morning we had breakfast at 7:30am. Christina led our group devotions. After cleaning up, we headed to the subway at 8:30am bound for lower Manhattan during rush hour. e were packed in like sardines! We arrived at the Bowery Mission at 9:30am and were given a tour of this incredible ministry which is 135 years old. We then got to work sorting donated food items and stocking the food room, breaking down cardboard boxes, and sweeping and mopping. We had a short break to eat lunch which doubled as a training on how to serve our guests when they arrived for lunch. We then settled into

our positions and served lunch to 150 people – many of them homeless. It was a great joy to honor these people as guests of the Bowery mission and serve them in the name of Jesus with kindness and smiles. After cleaning up we said goodbye about 2:30pm and headed off for our fun time. We went to Little Italy and Chinatown to buy souvenirs, then we went uptown to Rockefeller Center where we went to the Top of the Rock and enjoyed a crystal clear view of the city from 70 stories high. We took the train back to Living Waters, arriving about 8pm, and had dinner. It has been a really great trip! We look forward to our final night together, and then packing up and heading home tomorrow. Thank you for your prayers.

February 17, 2015February 18, 2015 revkevjr Christianity, Compassion, Discipleship, Evangelism, Faith, Fellowship, Fun, Jesus, Kindness, Ministry, Missions, Prayer, Serving, Student Ministry, Youth Ministry

Jr. High NYC Mission Day 3

This morning after breakfast Griffyn led us in devotions, sharing several Proverbs with us that talk about caring for those in need. We then got to work here around Living Waters. Our team was able to accomplish a lot of things that needed to get done around the church. We mopped the entire basement, four flights of stairs, fixed about 40 chairs in the sanctuary, washed 4 refrigerators, cleaned the stove, fixed some lights, stocked toilet paper and paper towels, and vacuumed the dormitories.

After some quiet time to do devotions, journal, and reflect, we had a brief time to relax, then at 5:30pm we jumped on the train and headed down to Brooklyn Tabernacle for their Tuesday night prayer service. Thanks to one of my friends who is a pastor at BT and were able to sit down in 6th row. It was a service in which probably 2,000 people were gathered to pray and worship, and it was a great experience for our team to not only observe another church, but to participate in praying for the needs of people all around the world.

After the service we took the A train down to the Brooklyn Bridge and had pizza at the world famous Grimaldi’s. Over dinner we talked about things students should be looking for in a church when they are older and need to make such a decision. We also debriefed our day, and Kristen led us in a devotional. It was another fruitful day for our team.

February 16, 2015February 16, 2015 revkevjr Christianity, Compassion, Discipleship, Evangelism, Jesus, Kindness, Ministry, Missions, Outreach, Student Ministry, Youth Ministry

Jr. High NYC Mission Day 2

This morning John Long made our team a delicious breakfast of eggs, hash browns, and grits. Josiah was the first student up, and he led our morning devotions, sharing from Romans 1. At 9am we left and boarded the train and headed up to the Hunts Point section of the Bronx. We met up with Pastor Reggie and Ibelsa Stutzman and Real Life Church in the projects outside of one of the buildings their church has “adopted” to show God’s kindness to and see the people come to know Jesus. A few of us walked up and down 6 flights of stairs several times announcing “Free coats and shoes” to the tenants. In spite of the temperature of 9 degrees (the wind made it feel like -6 degrees!), we set up tables in front of the building right out on the street and gave away 200 coats, pairs of shoes, and Bibles to people. After cleaning up we took a few remaining coats to a shelter and donated them, then we took our team for some authentic Mexican food. Want to know just how cold it was? The water in the toilet at the restaurant was frozen! Wow! So proud of our students that even in this bitter cold they were willing to go out on the streets and show people the love of Jesus!

February 15, 2015February 16, 2015 revkevjr Christianity, Compassion, Discipleship, Evangelism, Fellowship, Kindness, Ministry, Missions, Outreach, Student Ministry, Youth Ministry

Jr. High NYC Mission Day 1

Today our Jr. High mission team met at the Mineola train station and headed into Living Waters Fellowship in Brooklyn where we will be based for our NYC mission trip this week. Our train and subway rides were fun and overall non-eventful. When we exited the subway station we met our first challenge. It was bitterly cold outside (temps in the low teens), and the GPS said we had a 12 minute walk to the church. Unfortunately we thought we had turned up one street at a 5 point intersection, when in fact we had turned up a different one. We ended up walking in a nice big circle, and it ended up taking us about 40 minutes to get to the church. Our legs, faces, and hands were so cold and numb. It sure was nice to walk into a warm building! After getting thawed out and settled into our rooms, the team met my dear friend and chef John Long, who is on his 95th mission trip and is here to cook for us this week. He had some delicious hot chocolate waiting for us. After a time of sharing our team had dinner with John and Pastors Ron and Ana. After cleaning up we enjoyed an evening of fun playing Dutch Blitz and relationship building using questions from my book What Would You Do?. Tomorrow we are heading up to The Bronx to work with Pastor Reggie Stutzman and Real Life Church.