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Jesus was Homeless – Branson, MO

June 20, 2013 by Chris Parker 3 Comments

extended stay

“Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” Luke 9:58

Jesus dedicated his ministry years to being homeless…he and his disciples travled a lot, relied on connections in towns for places to sleep, and they camped out if necessary. He never had a consistent “home”. Perhaps this is one of many reasons that Jesus related to those who truly had no home…those people that were abandoned by family, judged and ignored due to a particular sin, outcast due to sickness. Jesus made sure these kind of people were noticed, recognized,  and loved. Many times He went out of His way to reach this group of people.

It’s happening here in Branson, Missouri. There is a group of people here that have a heart for the less fortunate, the homeless, the working poor, those without food or shelter. Jesus was Homeless is a ministry dedicated to reaching out to those staying in extended stay motel rooms, those living in woods and other various low income housing. Each week they provide over 800 sack lunches that are taken door to door, family to family. Greeted with a smile and food, their clients look forward to the knock on the door each week. Those passing out meals don’t try to have a “gospel conversation” with them, but merely let them know that they are recognized and loved by someone. If the opportunity lends itself, JWH will pray for the person if they request it.

Gateway Branson Video from Jesus Was Homeless on Vimeo.

Along with meals, JWH is trying to help people find a way out of this lifestyle. The people living in these motels are usually stuck in a cycle of little money to no money as Branson is a tourist trap and seasonal jobs are usually the only ones you can get, unless you have higher education. JWH puts on a class each week called Jobs for Life. This class teaches necessary skills in bettering ones chances of obtaining a job.

I’m so thankful that my students were able to spend the last two weeks partnering with a ministry that is truly loving their neighbors. I pray blessings on this ministry and fruitfulness for years to come!

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: homeless, Jesus, Jesus was Homeless, meals, mission trip, motels, serving, students

Serving + Retreat + Fun = The hybrid mission trip.

August 18, 2012 by Chris Parker Leave a Comment

My first week at Gateway involved me putting together a mission trip. The second week at Gateway involved me going on that trip with twenty something students and a handful of leaders. The third week involved wrapping my head around our programs, meeting leaders, and observing the ministry – my brain has been stuck in week three and will be for a while.

The trip was semi-organized when I arrived. There were many details that still needed attention – a charter bus to be ordered, hotel rooms to be reserved, an hour-by-hour schedule to be thought out, food to be purchased…all this to say, I couldn’t have done it alone. I was very thankful for my part-time staff member Heather and all that she did in helping prepare for this trip. A few things we did before leaving that really helped once we arrived…

  • I did a pre-trip to meet my ministry partner before taking all of the students. (It was me actually rolling through with a U-Haul in tow on my move down from Chicago.) This way I was able to see where we would be staying, see the meeting space we had to work with, etc. This paid huge dividends for planning out the trip.
  • I made a booklet for the students that had a daily devotional section along with a program plan that day. This way you can exclude the 20 questions game, “What are we doing today?” “When are we doing that?”
  • I ordered 5 different colors of the rubber bracelets. This divided the students and leaders into 5 smaller teams for serving and discussion groups. This can make any larger team more manageable when it comes to logistics.  “Green team you are ripping up carpet, Blue team you are praying for the people in this building, etc.” This saves much more time than you would ever dream!

SERVE BRANSON. BLESS AUSTIN. This was the mindset of the trip – starting with the end in mind. Yes, we would be spending a week in a different city, how could we come back to our own city with a compelled heart to put these things into practice? We traveled to Branson, Missouri where there many serving opportunities but how could we transplant the heart for serving there back to our every day life in Austin?

  • SERVING – Our ministry partner Jesus was Homeless is doing AMAZING things for the kingdom as they continue to seek out and serve those that are less fortunate. Every week this organization delivers over 700 meals to those in need, it blessed my students greatly to be a part of such a process. We also had the privilege of doing some work projects for a single mom’s resort just outside of town. This will be a refuge for mom’s that have been neglected, abused, or financially unable to support their family. River Rock Ministries offer cooking classes, Bible studies, and even a GED program for these women. I am extremely thankful for what they are doing.
  • RETREAT – Gateway Branson/Jesus was Homeless was incredibly generous with their space. While they were not using it, we were able to have sessions for learning, team-building, discussion groups, games, and worship. These 2+ hour sessions each day brought on the retreat feeling and really helped in unifying our team’s ministry philosophy and allowed our group to dig into God’s Word each day together. I took them through the acronym BLESS that had been unveiled to me by our Senior Pastor John Burke…we have been blessed to be a blessing to others.
  • B – Be in prayer.
  • L – Listen and Look for opportunities.
  • E – Eat. Share meals with others.
  • S – Serve. Serve your neighbor.
  • S – Share. Share your story & God’s story with others.
  • FUN – Branson is a tourist trap for sure! Being there a week, you will not run out of things to do. We spent a whole evening making our rounds to different go-kart tracks, putt-putt golf, bumper boats, etc. Branson is located near many lakes. Take your pick of beaches, boat rentals, and restaurants. Did I mention the huge landlocked Titanic? No, I’m not making this up.

This was the perfect trip for my students, especially for my leaders. Branson gave me a good opportunity to exercise the work hard, play hard philosophy for youth ministry. I am so proud of my students and leaders in all that they did, but more importantly how God show up in them and used them to love others.

If you ever need help talking through ideas for your mission trip, I’ve been on a few…all of them have offered something different. This was the perfect hybrid mission trip. I’d love to help you talk through obstacles, desires and connect you with great ministry partners. Just reach out!

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Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Branson, fun, Gateway, hybrid mission trip, Jesus was Homeless, leaders, mission trip, retreat, serving, students, Youth Ministry, youth pastor

Giving Up! Time. Talent. Treasure.

August 17, 2012 by Chris Parker Leave a Comment

I did a series at my last church called “Giving Up”. We spent three weeks discussing what it means to give up the things in your life to God that He has blessed you with…your time, your talents, your treasures. As we head into a season where we are calling our leaders, volunteers and families to be all in at Gateway, I know this mindset will need to come across clearly to my students. I don’t want this to be a one time push in asking my students to GIVE UP their time, talents and treasures. I want this to be a consistent lifestyle that is adopted by many in the student ministry. What are some ways that we can really make it stick?

We have all seen GIVING UP in action. Students playing in the band, running the sound board, greeting visitors, serving at a local soup kitchen or nursing home, going on a summer mission trip, possibly even starting to develop healthy tithing habits. The list goes on and on for things students do and opportunities the church will offer them. What have you offered in your ministry or seen in the lives of students that fit into one of these three categories?

GIVING UP!

TIME _______________

TALENT _____________

TREASURE ___________

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Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Gateway Church, Giving Up, greeting visitors, serving, soup kitchen, student ministry, summer mission trip, talent, tithing, treasure, Youth Ministry, youth pastor

Hey there, my name is Chris. I wake up every morning thinking youth ministry. If you are in the same boat, then I know you will identify with me, because you also live the life of a youth pastor .

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