The End of a Semester
These last few weeks have been a whirlwind of activity! In the last week of May we wrapped up our very first semester of our new School of Biblical Studies. This semester was our Pilot program where our students were testing out the new structure and format of the school. Running a pilot school gave us the chance to tweak and adjust along the way, making sure that it's the best way to run the program.. Even though we only ran for one semester it felt like a whole school-years worth of work! As we prepare for the fall semester i would love to take some time to share with yall how we finished and what lies ahead.
Prayer Time With the Students
One unique thing about our emmaus community is the intentional time that we take to encourage and affirm one another. Instead of studying for the last week of classes, we spent time just debriefing their experience here at the school. The biggest part of the debrief was the time spent to affirm and pray over every student and staff member that was a part of this community. We as a staff planned for two hours of encouragement, but it ended up taking closer to four and a half! We spent a lot of time speaking the truth of the Gospel into each other's hearts. All of us on staff walked away from that time amazed at what God was doing in each of our students hearts.
Emmaus Celebration
Most programs like this end with a graduation ceremony. We wanted our students to be celebrated for their hard work. Each staff member gave a few words for their one-on-one for the semester. I had the pleasure of sharing a few words about Seth. Seth truly walks out the Gospel in his life. He might be the most teachable and moldable person I have ever meet. Any time that he feels like God is calling him to grow, change, or do something, his simple reply is, “Yes Lord”. He has really become a student of God's word and I am so proud of him. During our celebration ceremony we took sometime to encourage Tom Phillips. Tom Has been the executive director of Emmaus for several years now. He recently stepped down in order to become an Episcopal priest at a church right here at Canterbury! We wanted to send him off well, so we asked all of our past staff and students to send in videos sharing their thoughts and memories of Tom from their past experiences here at Emmaus. It was a special time to celebrate 12 years of hard work. We are so grateful for everything that Tom has done for this ministry and are excited for what lies ahead for him. 
This Summer!
I just got done speaking at the summer camp, New Venture. This was the 4th year I have been able to speak for this camp. For those of you who don't know, New Venture is a camp for kids who have been removed from their home, usually due to abuse or neglect. Most of the kids are not familiar with church or the Gospel. It is one of my favorite speaking engagements every year. The theme this year was “Ransomed”. Using Mark 10:45, we talked about how Jesus Christ paid the price needed to rescue us from sin and death. During the week, I highlighted how Jesus ransoms us from sin, performance and death. We talked about how God uses everything in our lives to make us more like Jesus. Leaving the week I felt like the Holy Spirit really got an opportunity to work in the lives of a few kids this summer. This week was about planting seeds in the hearts of hurting kids so that one day the Holy Spirit might remind them of a chapel or phrase that they heard at camp and move them towards following Jesus. Please pray for those campers, they are currently back home in tough environments where they might feel far away from God. Soon I will be tag-teaming a camp in Ohio with my dad! I'm excited to get some time with my dad this summer and I always enjoy fun ministry alongside him.
Prep for the Fall
During my weeks here in Florida, we are getting ready for our school in the fall. We currently have 10 students accepted and coming in September. Along with those 10 we have a few more last minute applications. We are confident that the fall school will be in the double digits!!!Fall prep is everything from unit assignments and welcome week prep, to physical renovations. This week we are currently working on updating some of the student dorms to be more spacious and offer better storage space. We are also currently working on updating our classroom and residential hall with new paint, carpets and lighting. Lastly, new kitchen equipment will be added to make residential students have a better living experience while on campus. There is a lot going on here to get excited about.
Lastly, this summer I’m hoping to go on a big fundraiser push. I am hoping to get fully funded by the fall and raise money as the wedding approaches. Please pray for divine appointments and partners in the Gospel to get excited about what is happening here at Emmaus.