Yesterday was an incredible day for us here in Clemson!
One of the things that I think about a lot is, 'are Stacey and I
instilling in these young men and women what they need...are we training
them right?' Well, I don't fully know if we are, but we are doing our
very best...and yesterday Stacey and I sat in one of the middle rows
with huge smiles on our faces as we were led in worship by the campus
ministry.
They did everything...I mean EVERYTHING. I just showed up. They
reserved the room, set it up, organized the singing, decided who would
do the welcome and prayer, created powerpoint for the welcome, song
lyrics and announcements, did communion, ushered and preached. They
also, pulled together for the pre-service meeting WITHOUT ME. They
started on time...did you catch that? They started on time. On Wednesday
and Thursday, Liz Carter, who was baptized on April 18th, 2010
organized a table outside of the Library on Campus and handed out
invitations along with some of the other students that she coordinated
to help...and on Sunday the students had out with them over 20 friends
visiting.
Patrick Anderson and Blake Badders did the preaching and they hit it
out of the ball park. 2 young Christians preached the word! Blake was
baptized August 2nd, 2009 and Patrick was baptized October 22nd, 2010.
They preached from Matthew chapter 8 on Faith and Servitude; Blake from
the angle of Jesus and Patrick from the angle of the Centurion and
they both did an outstanding job.
Dj Alrutz was our First brother baptized in Clemson back on May 3rd,
2009; he organized the order of service & powerpoint and headed up
the pre-service meeting. Bryce Pinson was baptized on December 13th,
2009 and he led us in prayer. Our sister, Hanifa Akpe, our campus
intern, shared how the Cross changed her life as we were led in
communion by Jordan Hall, a freshman here who came out of the teen
ministry in Charlotte.
The Song Service was amazing too. Jacob Richardson who was baptized on
January 30th, 2010 led his first song in front of everyone! As a matter
of fact, he led the opening song! No pressure there Jacob. There were 4
young Christians baptized in the past year up on stage side singing.
Jacob Richardson, David Boerma, Hannah Salberg and Colleen Ardis who
was just baptized on December 12th of 2010.
Each campus brother and sister took ownership of their church
yesterday...they carefully and passionately led the way in giving us a
great worship experience!
These brothers and sisters are the future preachers, spiritual leaders,
song leaders, administrators, shepherds, deacons, visionaries and
elders of our churches...They REALLY can do it! They Want to do it!
After service, several asked when they might be able to do another
service like this again...
We are so encouraged...we hope this encourages you as well!
Much Love,
Jarrod