Summer 2023 Recap
Hi church. This is Pastor Colby.
I wanted to celebrate with you all that God has done this summer on our various trips.
Thank you for being a church that supports missions, student ministry, and children’s
ministry!
Panama City, Panama
We took a team of nine to serve for a week in Panama City, Panama with IMB partners.
Our team was a collective of high school students, college students, young adults,
and parents. For some on the team, they’ve been to multiple countries on mission
trips. For others, it was their first time.
Our team served in two different cities: Panama City and Colon. Panama City is the
capital and is located on the Pacific side of the country. Colon is the second biggest
city and is about one hour away on the Caribbean side.
We taught English in schools all around the country and used that as a bridge to
gospel conversations. With younger students we made bracelets and used colored
beads to talk about spiritual things. With older students we used Bible stories and 3
circles to teach conversational English. We also led an ESL class for university students
at a local cafe, and prayed with people as they waited outside hospitals for their loved
ones. Panama is still abiding by covid rules and not allowing visitors into their
hospitals, so there was a long line of people who sat outside waiting all day.
At the end of the week we recounted our “green lights,” “yellow lights,” and “red
lights.”
Green lights stood for people who responded to the gospel. Yellow lights stood for
the gospel conversations we had. Red lights stood for experiences with people who
were hostile to the gospel.
We celebrated 5 green lights, 62 yellow lights, and 3 red lights!
The missionaries that we worked with have lived in Panama for years and host teams
every summer. They are amazing people who sacrificially work and travel in order to
train local Panamanian pastors and multiply churches. One of my favorite parts was
getting to know them as well as the local translators, pastors, and leaders.Two other teams joined us from the US. There was a group of older adults from
Alabama and a group of college students from Charlotte. It was a great reminder that
people of all ages can serve on short term trips. (Next summer I would love for more
adults and parents to join us on our international trip. More about that coming soon!)
Fuge at Ridgecrest
We’ve been taking groups to Ridgecrest since 2015 and it’s always one of the
highlights of my year! This year we took 22 middle school, high school, and college
students.
Our theme this summer was “In His Image.” We had worship and small group Bible
studies each morning and night. As we dove into this theme it was a great reminder
that we are loved individually, designed for a purpose, and sent out together.
Each day we teamed up with other churches at Fuge to serve across greater Asheville.
Our students served with kids at apartment complexes, senior adults at veteran
homes, and homeless adults at a rehab facility. We were able to have a number of
gospel conversations at these ministries.
On the way home one of our students told me she wanted to be baptized, and we
were able to do that at our 11am service on July 16th. What a great way to cap off an
amazing trip!
KidSalt at CSU
We took 15 children to KidSalt- a South Carolina Baptist camp at Charleston Southern
University. Children experienced deep teaching during their Bible studies and had
multiple opportunities to respond to the gospel during worship. For their missions
night the campers packed bags and notes for college freshman through a partnership
with Baptist Collegiate Ministries. They also got to pick fun classes and learn how to
cook, cheer, basketball, swimming, and more. It was one of the best weeks of the year
for our children’s ministry!