Features Of The Weekend:
During this weekend, students will truly experience homelessness first hand. They will live the homeless life by trading their clothes for second-hand clothing, eating food from mobile soup kitchens, sleeping in cardboard boxes, visiting a local food-bank, participate in a canned food drive and engage in three powerful group worship and teaching sessions ending in a small-group debrief.

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This past March over 800 students and leaders from across the country joined the Threads Team in Panama City Beach, FL to minister to spring breakers. The ministry was awesome, the worship was stellar!! Powerful times in the presence of God.

BeachReach is absolutely amazing. You know you’re a little scared and you’re unsure of yourself once you come down here, but the trainers down here, they’re great, and they tell you exactly what you need to remember and they equip you with things to say and by the time you reach the streets you are so filled with passion and love for these students and peers, it will absolutely change your life!

—Cherie Bartoon, UT Arlington Student

I love bringing students to BeachReach because they get hands-on experience in sharing their faith. Many of the students we bring have never shared their faith before, and so when they come here they get hands on practical experience doing it day after day, and they may not have been equipped when they came but when they go home they’re equipped to share their faith with their friends and their family and that’s why I’ll be bringing student to BeachReach as long as I’m doing this.

—Gavin Duerson, FCA Director, Lexington, KY

Hi, I’m Josh. I was here about two years ago to hang out with my friends and party. I went down to the pancake breakfast to get some FREE pancakes and Jesus Christ changed my life there. I’m living proof that the power of this ministry is both lasting and effective.

—Josh Davis, Central Michigan University Student

Simon Keizer, Student Pastor - Fairview Baptist Church, Sherman TX

By Jody Parry

In a time of economic struggle, one might wonder, do God’s principles still hold true. Is He indeed the same yesterday, today and forever, or is He only good when the economy is good? And, if He is indeed the same, how do we then respond?

The news has been broadcasting that giving has been down recently. ABC News writes, “The Salvation Army says it’s down more than 100 thousand dollars in donations this year and it has a 20 per cent increase in the number of people needing help this year. The reason… the down economy. All service organizations are suffering because of the tight economy.”

During an economic low, should we tighten our purse strings or should we hold tight to Kingdom principles and still give? In Luke 21, a poor widow gave 2 coins which is all she had. Jesus said she gave more than those who were giving out of their surplus. I think we often give out of our abundance especially when we feel secure about our finances. But, I think God goes beyond our surplus and asks us to have the faith to continue to give even when we when we might not have extra. Proverbs 11:24-25NIV says, “One man gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty. A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.” In God’s economy if we do not give, we do not gain.

In Mark, a multitude gathered to see Jesus teach. It is recorded to say that there were about 5,000. It came to be a meal time and a boy decided to give the lunch his mom had packed for him that day. It was all he had to eat but he gave. Jesus took that lunch and performed a miracle. He was able to take what the boy gave and multiply it to feed all of the people that gathered that day. Imagine if that boy decided that he was hungry and it was all he had so he did not give? The multitude would go hungry for a meal and a miracle would not have been witnessed. Because the child gave, the Lord was able to provide well beyond what just the boy needed. See, we are in the economy of the world, but we do not need to be bound by it.

Recently, I interviewed Darren Tyler, founder of a young adults Bible Study and non-profit called Conduit. The group is made up of anywhere between 10-50 young adults on any given Monday night. These young people know, understand and put into practice the principles of Kingdom economy. They all have a heart to see the poor fed and the captive set free. In fact, over the past 14 months, they were able to raise $50,000. Conduit gives 1/3 of their donations to a project in Haiti under a local church. Through the funds, the project is able to feed, clothe and shelter those in need. It has also provided schooling fees for those who would have otherwise not been able to attend. Conduit was also able to provide the project with a much needed industrial sized stove, a deep freezer and a motorbike. Another 1/3 goes to Place of Hope located in Columbia, TN. Place of Hope provides in-house treatment in a Christ centered environment to bring addicts off the streets and into rehab. The other 1/3 goes to whatever needs or organizations might come up. They have previously given the remaining 1/3 to World Vision and The Hands and Feet Project. All of the money goes out without overhead costs. Everyone who helps in facilitating the needs does it on a voluntary basis. Money has also come from one time donors and church offerings. Recently in Catoosa, OK (a suburb of Tulsa), a small church in a trailer park with maybe 80 attendants gave $720 one Sunday when they heard of the cause. You can learn more about Conduit on Darren Tyler’s blog, www.darrentyler.com.

Luke 25:40 says, “I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.” Even when the economy is bad, don’t we still want to give our best to our Lord? The challenge is on. You cannot out give God, but it sure is and adventure trying.

I am constantly amazed by the youth of today!! I hear so much encouragement from our event and how God is using it to confirm misional callings on peoples lives, inspiring people to give and go, and it being a catalyst for change in peoples thinking and attitudes toward the poor and social action. One of the greatest joys of my travels is that I meet inspired young people and delight in hearing their stories of how they’ve taken up the call to speak for the voiceless and stand up for severe injustices all around the world. This past week I got to hang with a young girl who rocked my world with her passion and purpose for the heart of God. Now 10 years old, I interviewed her so I could tell her story, a story that will inspire even the hardest hearts to, as Mother Theresa once said, “do small things with great love”. Jordan Grosser – One of the world’s youngest poverty fighters!

It all began when she was 7 years old. Jordan Grosser, was at church one Sunday when they handed out a brochure from TEAR Fund called “The Worlds Most Useful Gift Catalog”. She took the leaflet home and was reading it one afternoon and realized that she could buy school supplies for a student in a developing nation for only $5, or she could send a student through school for an entire year for as little as $45. Jordan, a self confessed lover of school, was amazed at how cheap it was to give someone the same chance as she has at an education. “I loved stationary as a kid, I thought they’d be happy if I can supply them with theirs” said Jordan.

So she set out to do something about it. An idea came to her one afternoon that she could make and sell items to raise money for school supplies for kids around the world. She quickly re-arranged her bedroom and it became a factory. Working tirelessly to create ornately designed wrapping paper, which she sold to her friends and family for wrapping birthday presents, and made Japanese origami, paper ornaments, jewelry and beads, which she sold at school market stalls and at church. Her grandmother then donated some books to her cause, so she set up a bookstall at her church and began selling used books to the congregation. Items ranged from between 5c to $2 for the most expensive books. Jordan sold shells and prized rocks she collected at the beach to her friends when they came over to visit and play…. She used every opportunity to sell items to everyone she met.

After 4 months she had raised over $270, all of which she gave to TEAR Fund. That enabled 54 kids to receive school supplies for an entire year!! “All human beings should have the same rights! Education, shelter, it all comes back to the fact that we are all deserving of the same things… its wrong for people to be deprived of these basic rights” said Jordan.

Today, Jordan is 10 years old and continues to speak out against injustice and uses every opportunity to fight poverty. She recently finished the World Vision 8 hr famine (for children), helped raise money for a hospice ministry which operates in India and sponsors children through Compassion International, “I love reading the letters I receive from my sponsor kids, they always express their gratitude for sponsoring them. It makes me feel happy knowing I’ve been able to make a difference in someone else’s life.”

When I asked about how her friends at school responded to her newfound vision she responded, “A lot of fellow kids at school were really interested and encouraging… very supportive actually. Doing this is nothing compared to what people in poverty need to do, carrying heavy buckets of water for miles, it’s a heavy load! The least we can do is give a little. Pocket money, giving to TV telethons, every bit counts, every 5c adds up and soon makes $5 - which buys stationary.”

Recently, Jordan was involved in a class project in which they wrote a song about poverty and injustice and sent it to their local Member of Parliament, urging him to do everything within his power to help put an end to poverty. ”I want to help halve world poverty by 2015- If we all get motivated and help out… it could happen!”

What a legend!! A 10-year old who is changing the world! Doing what she can, “small things with great love” to impact those living in poverty around the world. She inspired me, and I hope her story inspires you! Ask yourself today, “What can I do to help raise awareness and resources for mission and social action work around the world?” Then go do it!!

Sunday September 7th - BENDIGO, VIC - AM service.

Friday September 26th - SYDNEY, NSW - Concert (With Matt Lucas)

Saturday September 27th - SYDNEY, NSW - Concert (With Matt Lucas)

Sunday September 28th - SYDNEY, NSW - AM Service

Sunday September 28th - SYDNEY, NSW - Concert (With Matt Lucas) - PM Service