Ukraine May 14th-22nd:

This was the most emotionally tough trip I’ve taken. In all my travels, I’ve never experienced a culture that felt so repressed. After a day and a half of touring the capital city of Kiev, I didn’t see one person smile (later discovered that it is culturally inappropriate) or hear one person laughing in the streets. It’s a weird observation, but one that marked our trip.

During our daytime, we went and delivered groceries to pensioners, war veterans and people on social services. These were some of the hardest visits. One lady (94 years old) asked us to pray that she would die (already a Christian), another was blind, robbed 2x by gypsies, mother died of old age, her grandson died in Afghanistan, and her daughter died on the way to the hospital after her appendix burst (told us there was “no hope,”) and another moved back from Cuba to have brain surgery (she prayed to receive Christ…picture below.) Raina (Moody participant) visited a veteran fire fighter of Chernobyl (he prayed to receive Christ). Our visits left a lasting impact on us as well as the people we visited.

All in all we were able to train 20+ people in how to share their faith, 58 people heard the gospel, 17 prayed to receive Christ and we have been invited back to host clinics in Moldova, Georgia, Armenia, Russia and the Ukraine.  

Revolution 09 June 10th-14th: 

For half a week I joined my church for a mission trip to serve our community with 5 other local churches. The true highlight was being able to lead one of my students, Rudy, to faith in Christ. The following day he did something surprising, he thanked me for leading him to the Lord. What a privilege!

Kuala Lumpur / Singapore July 2nd-14th:

Thursday morning at 6:05 am I fly to Kuala Lumpur with Carter Brown and Rio Vista. Please join us in praying as 30 students and adults embark on this adventure. Please pray that we’d be safe, not lose any luggage in any of the three layovers, stay healthy, and above all else…that God uses us to make His name great here and overseas. Yesterday, I was informed that Singapore thinks the USA has the black plague. If any of our team has a fever when we cross the boarder into Singapore we will be quarantined for 7 days and miss the 2 launches we are hosting in Singapore. Pray that we make it across the boarder on July 9th. 

Prayer:

That the people who recently accepted Christ would be the third soil of the parable of four.

I’d have wisdom as I make travel arrangements over the next month.

That I’d continue to put God first, others second and me third. 

Calendar of Events:

July 2nd-14th Kuala Lumpur / Singapore

July 24-26th Allendale, MI XEE Launch

July 26th-30th EE Summit in Lake Junaluska, NC

July 31st Seth Brown’s Wedding

August 1 Visiting Kevin Ford and our El Salvador Team.

This past week, I had the privilege of participating in the Revolution of Love 09 Mission trip. Six churches and 190 students and leaders from Lake County came together to share the love of Christ with our community by serving in anyway possible. We pulled weeds, moved mulch, washed cars, cleaned bathrooms in local businesses, pulled more weeds, held day camps for children, invested in the people in our community and lives are continually being changed. The video below will give you a taste for what God started last week. Enjoy!

As I continue to process this past trip to the Ukraine, I want to introduce you to another person we worked with. This is Pastor Alexander, aka Pastor Sasha. He was gracious enough to share with me how the church we partnered with started. Enjoy!

Hey guys. It’s been a long and wonderful week here in Kiev. We’ve seen and experienced more than we could have imagined. As I travel, I get to meet some incredible people with great life stories. In the past I’ve tried to write them out for you, but today I want you to here directly from one of them. Reina is a Moody Church member with an incredible heart for the gospel. Listen as she shares here testimony.

This morning marks day three of our Ukrainian adventure. Day one was spent traveling from Chicago to Frankfurt Germany and then on to Kiev, Ukraine. Yesterday, day two, we slept like it was going out of style as our body clocks got turned upside down. As I write this, it’s approximately 8:30 am Ukrainian time; however, my body thinks it’s 12:30 am and time for bed…and I just woke up!

After getting up from our sleep yesterday, we invested the day touring the city. Instead of listing the places we saw, I want to remark on the thing that stood out to me the most. I don’t remember hearing one person laugh yesterday. As we went from place to place, I kept looking at everyone’s downcast and somber faces. From what I’ve been told, part of that was cultural and in part respect for the locations we visited. But on the main streets and around town, nobody looked like they were having fun our enjoying themselves. There is an air of defeat about the people. I doubt that the Chernobyl radiation burned off their smiles and sense of humor. 

In a few moments I’ll be heading off to church and then visiting Kiev to visit what we didn’t see yesterday. I hope to learn more about what I observed yesterday. Maybe I’ll even catch someone laughing! 

I want to thank all of you for taking time to pray for us as we travel to Kiev. Below is an itinerary and ways to be praying for us. Thank you!

May 13th: Prepare to leave Chicago for Ukraine the next morning. Pray for good rest, orderly prep and peace in our homes.

May 14th: 2:24pm we fly to Kiev via Frankfurt.

May 15th: 1:20pm Arrive in Ukraine, settle in, rest, orientation.

May 16th: Orientation and tour of Kiev. Pray for clinic attendees as they start to arrive. Safety as they travel.

May 17th: Church, meet clinic team and translators. Afternoon tour of Kiev. Evening worship and testimony. Pray for clinic attendees in prep for the week of training.

May 18th: Day on of the clinic. We start house visits in the daytime and evenings with trainees. Pray that God would move hearts toward Him, health, endurance, unity.

May 19th: Day two of the clinic. Daytime visits. Evening training visits. Pray that God would continue to draw people to Hiself.

May 20th: Day three of the clinic. Daytime visits. Evening training visits. Pray that the students would absorb the information they are learning, boldness to share what they learn, endurance for all. Saving faith for all who hear.

May 21st: Day four of the clinic: Same schedule. Pray that clinicians finish well. Pray for new believers, all who hear the gospel to receive with joy. Endurance, health, and unity.

May 22nd: Last clinic session, exam, celebration in the morning. I depart at 2:10 for the US. Pray that clinicians finish what they have started and begin training people in their home church. Safety and health as I return home.

 

This past April I joined Kevin Ford and Franklin, NC’s First Alliance on a trip to El Salvador. Below are some highlights as to what God is doing through our ministry. I don’t think I was prepared for all that God had in store for us. 

We arrived in El Salvador on Saturday, ready for our 7 day adventure. Thankfully, my role was to partner our Guatemalan field staff (Emilio, his wife Tania, and Jose) with the missions group we were joining, and the local church they partner with (Iglesia Cristiana Comunidad de Fe y Adoracion). Since most of my work was accomplished before I left, I was freed up during the trip to join Kevin and help dig a foundation for an orphanage. 

Our time sweating, digging, breaking concrete, travel sickness and building character forged a great team. At night we held the Share Your Faith Workshop (SYF). To my knowledge, this was the first ever youth EE trip to Latin America. As a direct result of our trip, Pastor Mario (photo) and Juan Carlos were trained in Classic EE back in February. Between the clinic and the SYF in April, they led two people to faith in Christ. During the SYF 29 adults and students were trained how to share their faith. 

Tuesday morning during breakfast, Emerson (a neighborhood boy) asked Tania (EE field worker) to play cards. She informed him that she didn’t know how to play his card game and asked him if he would play hers. She proceeded to use our Kids EE cards and led Emerson to faith in Christ! 

 In June Pastor Mario is sending two church members to get trained in Kids EE and Youth EE. His church is also going to host a EE clinic in November to train neighboring pastors in EE. The thing that really amazed me is that they regularly teach weekend seminary style classes to their congregation, and the one piece they were missing was evangelism. Because of our trip, they have all the pieces to the puzzle! 

The trip is not only bearing fruit for our ministry, and the amazing relationship I’ve developed with Kevin and his students, but also in regards to growth in the students lives. I wish I had space and time to share all that they have learned. To name a few: perseverance in light of opposition, being faithful in the little things, what hard work looks like, hospitality and community to name a few. Not to forget that they are going to start Xee once they get home!

Please continue to pray for these students. Many of them are still wrestling with how God wants to use them. We’re reminded in scripture of our battle not being against flesh and blood, but against the rulers and principalities of this world. Satan is not happy with what happened and he is seeking to stop these students from having an impact before they start. Pray that they would persevere and not be lost to the things of this world. 

Please pray for me as I’m leaving for the Ukraine with Moody to help train pastors in Kiev how to share their faith. Our team leaves this Thursday. If you go to scottcarson.org, you can see a calendar of our events and how you can be praying for us daily. Thank you for joining us is this battle!

This is a link to another website containing more photos and a couple interviews

On Saturday morning, and not by choice, I woke up at 5:30am. Why in the world my body decided to get up that early is still a mystery to me; however, it turned into a great day. I’ve always enjoyed long Saturdays where I can accomplish my list of things to do by 10 am and have the weekend free to relax and enjoy. This last Saturday was one of those.

A link on a friends facebook page led me to discover Willow Creeks annual bike blessing and ride. Before Saturday, 98% of my time was spent riding alone, and a couple other times with one or two friends. At Willow, there we over 200+ bikes lined up for the blessing and ride. More would have shown up, but the weather wasn’t cooperating. 

I don’t know the last time I heard anything as deafening as 200+ bikes idling in a parking lot. While we all mounted our steeds, the sky opened up and started to pour. As we anxiously awaited the first crew to take off, a large bolt of lightening streaked through the sky. What followed was such a great reminder of my smallness. Even in the deafening sound of 200+ motorcycles roaring to life, the clap of thunder that followed the bolt of lightening actually startled me. It deafened the sound of the motorcycles.

In that moment I couldn’t help be think that even as loud as we were, God looks down and says…”watch this!” It was a humbling moment, to think that at our loudest we couldn’t come close to crack of thunder echoing through the sky. 

It’s been too long since I last sat down to write. It’s not for lack of wanting to. It’s sad to admit, but “updating sc.org” has been on my to do list for longer than I care to admit. This past month has been a blur. I’ll try to hit the highlights and fill in the cracks later. 

March started with ‘Brother’s Week’ out in Colorado. A week of snowboarding and all its forms of enjoyment. Shortly after that  I made my way home to a ‘hemophilic’ of a car that had been leaking oil for the past nine years. A couple friends and I invested a weekend pulling the motor and swapping out every conceivable part. All in a Herculean effort to get it up and running before making the expedition up north to Minnesota for Disciple Now Weekend. Needless to say it was a scramble and required extra work after our weekend was over.

After a fun and sadly short trip to Minnesota, I came home to make provisions to head to El Salvador the following week. I was able to join a team of 30 high school students and leaders on an incredible trip that is still producing fruit. In the time to come, I hope to write more about the adventures, but hope this appetizer will hold you over until then. Thanks for staying tuned!