Wow! Where do I start? I’m still on a cloud from last night’s GIC kick-off. I hope I can put down into words for you how awe-inspiring it was, but I’m so ecstatic it will probably be a little scattered!! For those of you who have never experienced GIC at Shades Mountain, I’ll explain.
A few years ago our dear shepherd pastor, Danny Woods, felt God’s call for our church to be more heavily involved in spreading the gospel of Jesus to the ends of the earth. Our church responded to this call by coming up with a plan to do our part in reaching “every tribe, tongue and nation.” We call it the 2010 plan (we have until the year 2010 to reach the goals we set forth).
Every year, we hold our Global Impact Celebration to celebrate the ways God has reached people using our church family. We invite missionaries from all over the world and while they are here, we treat them like NBA stars. They give us a wish list of items they need for their ministry or personal use and we provide them. Each Sunday school class adopts a missionary couple and entertains/feeds/hosts them for the week. We plan all sorts of fabulous activities for them. We pamper them and let them know all week how much we appreciate the work they do. Our goal is that they leave feeling like the real celebrities that they are.
So it all starts on Wednesday night of GIC week with a HUGE kick-off worship service. Our children always open our service by leading in worship. It is SOOOO important for them to be a big part of celebrating mission work. We also have a parade of flags for all the countries represented by the missionaries. Here they are singing the Michael W. Smith song A New Hallelujah. (Of course, I had to get Mary Anneliese’s singing on tape too!)
Can you hear, there’s a new song
Breaking out from the children of freedom
Every race and every nation
Sing it out sing a new Hallelujah.
Let us sing love to the nations
Bringing hope of the grace that has freed us
Make Him known and make Him famous
Sing it out sing to the new Hallelujah
Arise let the church Arise
Let love reach to the other side
Alive come alive Let the song Arise
Then we get our first introduction to the missionaries we will be serving this week.
(In order to protect the anonimity of the missionaries in secure areas, I have removed the video here.)
The rest of the week will be spent hanging out with the missionaries, taking them to spas, Starbucks, lunches and dinners, parties or whatever else the hosts have planned. Our missionaries requested to go to a shooting range for some target practice and to a flea market, so we will deliver. Whatever they want, they get. On Friday night, we host a concert. This years’ concert will be Marty Goetz. Last year was Sara Groves and the year before that was Selah. I’m so glad to be a part of a church who holds reaching the nations so close to their hearts. Without Jesus, what else do we have? With Him, what else do we need?
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