Serving Sister Churches, Communities in La Crosse WI & Bloomington IN

Another team of students on Practicum divided their time between serving a sister church in La Crosse for a week and then traveling to the Calvary Chapel in Bloomington IN for the second week. Led by a couple of bible college grads who were now interns, this team of eleven engaged in building improvement projects, worship leadership, youth group leadership and evangelism to the greater communities at each location.

At each church location, once the team finished its projects for the day such as painting, cleaning, maintenance, etc., they made time to evangelize people on the streets, on college campuses and in downtown areas. In addition to leading worship at times, some helped lead youth group study and activities in Bloomington.
One team member, Josh Gorley, who grew up in a missionary family overseas, said it seemed that “each one from the team came back with a new perspective or lesson that they had learned from the Lord and some found some new gifts and talents they didn’t realize they possessed. But common themes among all of us seemed to be: 

• The power of Jesus’ name and the gospel message in a public setting
• How we can be lights in a world that desperately needs Jesus’ love
• What a healthy church/body of Christ is supposed to look like
• How to trust and praise the Lord through the highs and also the lows.”

Josh added how special the trip was for him personally. “I think the Lord was teaching me that in such a broken world, I might be the only “glimpse” of Jesus that people will get. This trip encouraged me to be more open to the Lord and how he works in everyday life, how vital this time is that we have on earth and how people need the gospel now more than ever. Moving forward after this trip I aim to be more open to the Lord speaking and working every day, at every time. And I aim to be in prayer for lost souls now more than ever!”