So we are back from Kansas, and it was truly an amazing week at Fort Hays State University. God was at work, and we did a lot of work on the campus and with the team in Kansas. There is no way that I can tell you about the week in one post, so I am not even going to try. I will start here and see where I get, but expect more reports from Kansas in the days to come.
We left on Saturday, the 21st of March, at 6:45 in the morning. We had a long 15 hour van drive to Hays, Kansas, but it was a great ride. We bonded in ways that we had not yet been able to. We played all sorts of random games that helped us get to know one another a little bit more, and we laughed pretty much non-stop. But we did have some serious moments, such as watching a movie called, The Gospel Blimp. If you have not seen that movie, I encourage you to do so. It is about a group of people who are very energetic about sharing the Gospel so they do so by putting verses on a blimp and flying it around. But the blimp only causes people to get frustrated, and these people never share the Gospel one on one with their lost friends. The movie shows that those type of tasks are great and helpful, but only if they are coupled with true interaction with the lost. If we neglect to invest in people's lives, we are failing to show them the Gospel. The movie ends with one of the couples coming to that realization when they finally share the Gospel with their lost neighbors.
Once we arrived in Kansas, the Kansas Team (Christian Challenge) was waiting for us at the church. They were very excited to see us, and I knew then that the week was going to be amazing. They helped us unload our luggage and loaded it into their cars. We stayed in 5 different houses of the students and leaders of Christian Challenge, and then we all went over to one of their houses to hang out for the rest of the night. This was our chance to begin to get to know one another.
On Sunday, we went to Agape Southern Baptist Church with many of the students. Landon, one of our team leaders, led the Sunday School lesson that morning. Once again, we were able to get to know more of the team from Kansas. We had lunch at the church and went to another one of their homes for the night. We had an initial meeting about the week, what we would be doing, what Christian Challenge was about, and we had time to pray over the week. We played games the rest of the night and got ready for the week.
Monday began with a team meeting around the breakfast table. We had bought breakfast food for the week on Sunday. So as we ate, we prepared for the day. That morning, we stayed at Carin's house (the leader of Christian Challenge) and helped her out around the house. Some cleaned and some worked in the flower beds, and by midday, we were done. So for the afternoon we went back to Agape to help paint the church. We put on 1 coat of paint in the foyer and hallway and began a 2nd coat. Since we did not have time to finish, a few of us went back on Tuesday. That night, we went back to one of the student's houses to eat with the Kansas Team again. We were able to continue to build those relationships and prepared for the events that were coming for the rest of the week.
I am going to stop there for today. That was our first 3 days of the trip. But so much more happened, and God truly was at work.
Matt
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