Baltimore Mission Trip 2016 - Day 6

Our last FULL day of being On Mission in Baltimore was filled to the rim, finger lickin' good, out of bounds - just amazing!  I truly wish each one of you could witness the On Mission Team in action.  Our focus for today was LOVE and serving others out of the love of God inside us.  Man, God showed each one of us how to serve when we were exhausted and at the end of our rope - it was beautiful to watch and experience.

Sports Camp went off, again, beautifully.  The theme for the week at Sports Camp is SHOW RESPECT.  Many of the individuals who live in this area truly "cut down" on one another all the time and have little to no respect for one another, for authority and God.  We are striving to teach them how to show respect this week.  It has been a challenge, but through the power of God we are seeing great things happen.  Tomorrow morning will be our last time with them, then we head home!

Our last VBS was great as well.  Finishing up with the Captivate East team was fruitful as well.  Our 4 days there were met with love, courage and hope!  Thank you Colleen Smith and the GEM Program for all you did to make this week a HUGE success.

We also experience a Bus Stop Outreach - where we cooked 500 Nathan Beef Hot Dogs all afternoon, then went down to the corner of Greenmount and North and handed out Bibles, food and shared Jesus for a couple of hours.  TREMENDOUS opportunity and outreach to this neighborhood.  Charlie and Diane Brown really need your prayers as they continue to make a difference in many lives on Greenmount Avenue!

And our final stop for the day was another Community Cookout with Church of the Harbor!  Great burgers and hot dogs made the night fun and inviting for this new area of outreach for Jeff Belcher and his team.  Thank you to Mark and Kelly Headrick and Beau Landers for spending your entire trip with them - coming along side them in their efforts to build their church.

We all leave tomorrow after Sports Camp.  Thank you for praying for us and journeying with us through the week.  Thank you LORD for your provision and your protection for our team.  Get us home safely to our families.  In Jesus Name - AMEN!

The On Mission Team
Keith Tyler

Baltimore Mission Trip 2016 - Day 5

After a night of storms in Baltimore, we woke up to blue skies and cool breeze as we made our way out of the Brookshire Hotel in the Inner Harbor of Baltimore to Greenmount Avenue for Sports Camps.  Our team was revitalized after a great morning devo, and throughout the morning we had many spiritual conversations with kiddos.  Jennifer Frazier had the opportunity to lead two girls to the Lord, and Keith Tyler got to share the Gospel as well to the older kids in the park and invest in a couple of young men searching for the truth of Jesus.  Mike Cekinovich shared Jesus to all the football camp people and we simply experienced God moving all morning.

Our afternoon was met with tragedy in Baltimore.  There have been a couple of homicides this week in this city.  A couple of them have been associated with the churches we are working with, so we continue to ask you to pray for Baltimore and the darkness that is over the generational decline of this area.

At Captivate East - OVER 50+ kids are involved in VBS!!  They normally get numbers like this at the end of summer, not now, so God is bringing us kids to share Jesus with.  It is beautiful to see our team work and reach out in love those in this neighborhood.  Once again, I am reminded of the need for love and support in this great city.

After dinner with our friends at Captivate East - Hip Hop Chicken!! - we met up with our team at Church of the Harbor for a Community Cookout.  Our team has been canvassing the area all week handing out flyers for this event, and man, it was a huge success.  We played football, kickball and ate some great burgers and hot dogs!  Jeff Belcher is making a different in this area of Baltimore.

Be in prayer for our little friend, Gage LaFon who broke his collar bone tonight playing kickball.  He is a tough kid!  All is fine, but be praying for him!

One more day left!  We need your support in prayer as we finish strong.  Thanks for reading and please PRAY FOR BALTIMORE TODAY!

On Mission Team at Cottonwood
Keith Tyler

Baltimore Mission Trip 2016 - Day 4

Hebrews 12 was the passage God gave to our team today.  The challenge was to fix our eyes on Jesus an to rise above any and all obstacles that might come in our way to weigh us down, and man, God answered our prayers as we were able to apply this passage to our life and day today.

At our morning sports camp with Charlie Brown, we saw over 100 kids show up.  We were able to build on the relationships we established from yesterday, sharing the truth of the Lord with so many great kiddos.  We are all learning more about how to reach our friends from the inner city of Baltimore.  It can be very difficult at times.  We teach them respect - of God, Authority and Others.  The work here is monumental for this area and is making a huge difference for the Kingdom of God.  It is an honor to serve alongside Graffiti Church this week.

Captivate East VBS was HUGE!  We had over 29 kids show up today - that is 20+ more than yesterday - what a blessing to speak life into these children.  Colleen Smith continues to be an example to these kids and the partnership with her GEM program is making a difference in so many lives.  What a great day it was with them as well.

Church of the Harbor Street Evangelism was great today - it was 6 hours of door to door walking and sharing.  We are having 2 Community Cookouts this Wednesday and Thursday.  Please be in prayer for Jeff Belcher and his team as we meet people from the community these two nights!!

All in all - a great day!  We laughed a lot and are dog tired!  We are all thankful for this opportunity to be here and be On Mission!  Please continue to pray for us as we lead for 2 more days!!

The On Mission Team
Keith Tyler

Baltimore Mission Trip 2016 - Day 3

The Journey began today as we put our training and preparing into action.  Our day started by meeting together for Devo time where the Lord prepared our hearts through scriptures, like 1 Peter  5:17 - Cast all your cares on the Lord for he cares for you, and Acts 1:8 - where you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes to you to be a witness for Jesus - and many more.  He set the day for us and we were able to trust Him and follow Him all day long.

Sports Camp at Graffiti was OUTSTANDING!  So many great opportunities for spiritual conversations with kiddos, campers, parents and more.  We registered over 100 kids for the day and it will only go up from there.  Soccer, Basketball, Football, Crafts, Bible Stories and more!!  It was a rough start as we got organized, but after an hour, things settled in and began to work beautifully!

Three of us got to mentor 6 high school teenagers after lunch.  We each got to share our transforming testimony and will get to share Jesus with them all week long.  What a great opportunity!  Thank you Lord.

We then traveled to Captivate East to begin our Vacation Bible School.  We had a great group of kiddos show up, and WOW - you should have seen our kids engage!  Inner City relationships can be difficult at times, but our students jumped in and did such a great job!!  So proud of their hearts for the Lord to serve!

Our team with Church of the Harbor spent the entire day on their feet walking, praying and sharing Jesus to the community surrounding their new meeting place.  They have had their building (YMCA) here in Dundalk for only 6 weeks and are looking forward to reaching their neighborhood for Jesus.  So thankful to be involved with their work.

We had TWO birthdays on the trip so far - Kyle Cekinovich and Dillon Frazier.  These young men are having a blast and we get to go to Hard Rock Cafe to celebrate them tonight!  Happy Birthday BOYS!!

Please continue to pray for us as we share the love of Jesus!  God is moving in our group and in our time with our church planting friends  Charlie Brown, Jeff Belcher, Tally Wilgis and Colleen Smith.

The On Mission Team
Keith Tyler