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Spiritual Emphasis Week

As I mentioned in last week's prayer request post, this past week was Spiritual Emphasis Week (SEW)...This year the school invited Scott Davidson and Chad Martin (along with Scott's wife Katrina). Scott and Chad have a blog/ministry called "2 Guys and a Bible" and have started a more focused ministry called "The Redemption". They are both involved in church ministries in the States (well, the Davidsons are in Canada..)

During SEW we have chapel every day and there are various activities planned for the SEW team to interact with both staff and students in order to get a clearer understanding of what God is doing at ICSV. We have had a great time getting to know Scott, Katrina, and Chad and have been very blessed and encouraged by their ministry here. They focused on Jesus (usually a pretty good topic) and how He is Supreme, The Redeemer, and a mighty warrior. They finished off this week with a more focused discussion, splitting up the boys and the girls to discuss the challenges they face in their lives.

I was really happy to see that these folks were willing to present the Gospel in a pretty straight forward manner. They avoided any sort of "gimmicky bells and whistles" that are sometimes used to engage young people. Granted, these "bells and whistles" are not always bad...but I think many of the students welcomed the message of the Gospel presented without the extra flare. This gets into a separate blog post, but I think too often we water down the message of the Gospel in the hopes of "engaging" the audience.

The SEW team had a chance to connect with the kids with some after school activities: volleyball games,  dinner with the 11th and 12th graders, coffehaus (still to come). I was also grateful for the opportunity to spend time with the SEW team at a planning prayer dinner on Monday and at dinner on Thursday night a place where they served meat skewered on a sword!

Please continue to pray for the students at ICSV as many of them struggle with who Christ is in their lives. Pray that the Spirit will continue his work in their hears and the we as staff at ICSV will show wisdom in working with these students. Also please pray for Chad, Scott, and Katrina as they travel back to their respective homes and continue with their ministries there.

Please visit their websites/blogs:
2 Guys and a Bible
and/or
The Redemption
Scott introducing the week's focus
Students during SEW day 1

Scott and Chad sharing

Boys soccer team celebrating after beating the girls volley ball team.
Chad is keeping score in the background

Schnitzel and pork chops on the sword...pommes, chicken wings, and chili in the tray. Chad is in the background



Chad playing with the sword
Scott playing with the sword

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