“God is doing big things in the Selma and Dallas County area for those that make themselves available and seek His Kingdom first!” - Jonathan “JB” Brown, Camp Director.
For one week in June, United For The City brought together 47 students and 21 adults from 4 cities and more than 9 churches and then sent them throughout Selma and Dallas County to serve in the name of Christ.
From Vacation Bible Schools at Summerfield Baptist and First Baptist Selma to Backyard Bible Club at Valley Creek Homes and Kickball Outreach at Felix Heights Apartments, students reflected the light of Christ to all they encountered.
United is centered on the mission of reaching the community for Christ and this is what truly unifies the churches involved. These churches include several without current youth ministries who were able to serve through hosting and serving breakfast, lunch or dinner to the United students. Each meal was accompanied by a testimony from a local missionary.
Rand Smith, Camp Pastor and Interim Pastor of Westwood Baptist, encouraged students and adults alike to “Shine Out,” this year’s theme taken from Matthew 5:16, “let your light shine before others.”
Worship Leaders, Luke and Samantha Jones, along with others from Christ the King Cathedral in Selma, truly reflected His light in focusing everyone’s attention on Christ through song during each night’s worship service.
JB led all students and leaders through daily training utilizing the Reverb discipleship curriculum to “Love God, Love Others and Make Disciples as Jesus did.”
During Wednesday evening’s worship service, Robert Norton from the Network of National Youth Ministries, led the camp through a service of prayer which included each camper writing a letter from God to themselves. Each letter included encouragement, something to work on and something they learned about both themselves and God throughout the week. These letters will be mailed to each student at the beginning of the school year to serve as a reminder of their United experience.
Elkdale Baptist Church served as the host site for all students and leaders. A special thank you goes to Alabama Baptist Disaster Relief for providing a shower trailer to allow all participants to stay on campus.
The youth from Southside Baptist Church of Ozark, AL, summed up the week by saying, “We can serve alongside our brothers and sisters in Christ right here in their Jerusalem.” This is the focus and hope of United that students will not be satisfied with serving for one week, but will develop a lifestyle of service through Christ in order to magnify His name.
You can connect with UNITED For the City at www.elkdale.org/united.
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