Reaching the World from the Dells

A single unplugged guitar and amped keyboard led about fifty of us in worship at our the first ever Nav Nite of the Wisconsin Dells. A small and humble beginning for what we hope to be a foundational summer for the lives of the students here and generations to come. Mike, a lifetime Dells native and father of a current Navigator student, shared about his experiences in helping make this STP possible. He put his reputation on the line networking with employers lining up jobs and housing for our students. Listening to him share reminded me of the privilege we have in being a part of something new and foundational. He shared this verse, "because a great door for effective work has opened to me,"(1 Corinthians 16:9a),
explaining that it described what God was doing in brining all of us here to impact the Dells, a historically very secular region. With about 5000 residents, an almost equal number of internationals in the summers and about 2 million tourists, the possibilities to reach many regions of this country and world with the Good News are breathtaking. Amazing that they are all living and coming here – all we need to do is be ready and willing to share!

 

Of course our ability to do anything rests solely on our willingness to Abide in Christ, and that is what hubby encouraged us to do in his message last night. He reminded us that abiding is surrendering our heart, mind and will to God continually. If we just simply go through the motions but don't engage God with our hearts, we are in danger of being destroyed. To illustrate he shared about some homes that were needlessly destroyed in a tornado; the homes hadn't been properly built. The builders were just going through the motions using staples instead of nails, rendering the buildings useless. Secondly, if we just simply take in the Word but don't let us change our thinking we are more like a pipe with water flowing through us rather than like the tree described in Psalm 1, that yields fruit and does not wither. We have to engage His Word with our minds or we will just end up being a rusty pipe instead of a flourishing tree. Lastly, we must be willing to let God prune us, surrendering our will to Him. Only as we fully abide in Him will we grow and be allowed to bear fruit. Truly, the harvest here is plentiful; please pray for us that we will be ready, abiding and willing to be reapers this summer.