I won’t make a habit of using this blog to promote ministry events, sermon series or individual speaking engagements.
However, tonight, I felt I needed to tell you about something happening tomorrow, which will make my presence here more erratic for the next few days, and for good reason.
It’s called Spring Breakthrough.
Two years ago, a couple of us on staff were brainstorming where we might take students later that year. As we bandied about the usual suspects; large mission ministry trips to neighboring states, a smaller-sized team heading overseas, or some kind of camp or service organization, I remembering hearing the words blurt out of my mouth, “Why don’t we just create a local Spring Break experience right here in Charlotte?’
That was all I had.
My teammates were immediately enthusiastic, and over the next 30 minutes, certain of God’s momentum, we had the rough sketch of what would become Spring Breakthrough 2010; 5 days of service projects throughout the city, with students working in teams and returning to a home base camp nearby. Students would not know until they packed into their crew vans each morning, where they would be going.
Service would be the emphasis and God would be the star.
We weren’t sure what the reaction would be, but once we announced it, we were quickly blown away by the response from students, volunteers, the church and the local ministries we would work with.
SB has become the centerpiece of our BIGHOUSE Youth ministry. Each year nearly 100 students and adults “give-up” their Spring Break to love and serve people who often are overlooked and unseen. They get dirty, get sweaty, and as we say in our youth ministry, “get low” to do selfless acts for the Kingdom. The heart of our students and leaders for the people around them continues to amaze me, and continues to redefine and redirect our path as a community.
These trips are revelatory; students walk through the streets praying with strangers, they do difficult, often thankless work joyfully, they express love in a countless small but life-changing ways.
These are also experiences that remind me why I do what I do, and how I should do it. The beauty of SB, is that it isn’t built on some clever teaching plan, or awesome band or manufactured moment (the way most ministries, ours included, tend to get stuck on).
It’s all about God’s presence and our availability.
As I said, God is the star here, and it never fails to be better than we could expect or plan.
Tomorrow, we begin with a prayer walk through Charlotte, handing out carebags and praying with people, then onto a huge block party for a struggling neighborhood just north of the city.
The rest of our days will be spent in 8 work crews, partnering with 15 different ministries partners on 35 work projects, building stuff, fixing stuff, touching people and seeing them.
We have a rare group of students here; dozens and dozens who want to leave their mark on more than just the sand, to get something far deeper than a tan during their time off.
If you think of it, lift some prayers if you’re the prayin’ kind.
And if you’re in the Charlotte area this week and see a bunch of wild, passionate, slightly odd teenagers in orange t-shirts, give them a hug and thank them for getting low.
