Nathan Neighbors
Follower of Christ, Husband, Father, & Youth Pastor
Why do we go to Carowinds in July? It’s hot, sticky, and just plain nasty outside. But students love it and the rides are great. More importantly SC Baptist do a great job at putting on a wonderful youth event. Casting Crowns was fantastic and Mark Hall brought the Gospel clearly to our students. In fact, eight of our youth rededicated their lives and Cam Connelly accepted Christ as his Lord and Savior. Wow…now that’s worth a day in the blazing heat! What a summer we’ve had at Morningside. Two students have a brand new relationship with Christ and over a dozen others have rededicate their lives along with countless others who are walking closer with Christ.
(By the way…if you’re tracking the cross – Malcom gave it to Elise as we left Centrifuge and Elise gave it to Jordan at Carowinds. She will be the last to carry it this summer. Come to the Progressive Dinner Sunday Night the 30th to hear the full story of the journey of our cross.)
We’ll it’s the last night of Fuge and we are heading home in the am. Sorry I haven’t been able to blog much this week…not much time. The students are doing great (aside from missing Tori). Yesterday was wild. Holly and I spent seven hours in an ER with Tori after her fall. But at least we got Zaxby’s (tori was excited). She is doing fine and is resting at home. The teenagers miss her and look forward to seeing her Sunday.
Tori, Crystal and Hunter formally redidecated their lives – but everyone of our teenagers has been changed in some way this week. None are returning the same as they left. Moms and Dads…please ask your teenager about what God has done in their life when they get home. Encourage them in their walk with Christ.
The hymn says, “I once was lost, but now I’m found.” That is so true! The cross we’ve been passing was lost Thursday and we searched for hours, but when we thought all hope was lost – it was found by another church group on Friday. It’s quite a story and we’ll share it when we get home. More than just a worldly possession, this cross has meant so much to these students and has become the symbol of their summer of growing in their walk with Christ and growing closer to one another. (I’m glad it’s coming home with us)
The cross was passed from Crystal to Cam to Colson (to the recreation field) to Hunter and now to Malcom.
We’ll…it’s been almost a month since my last blog and we’re on another youth trip. We arrived yesterday with 27 at Ridgecrest for Centrifuge. The theme for the week is “Thrill Ride”…the amazing ride that God offers us in our life through salvation (John 10:10). We are studying about who Jesus is through reading the Gospel of John and learning about the I AM statements.Parents, your teenagers are doing great and everyone seems to be having a great time. However, Holly is sick so Jan (her mom) is coming up tonight to help and join our chaperones. Pray for Holly’s health and pray for our students. We had a great time last night hearing about their expectations for camp and about how they hoped to grow in their walk this week – that’s our prayer! Check back for updates.
Nathan Neighbors 