It’s hard to believe we are wrapping up our time here in Boston with SummerLINK. We are grateful for the opportunities we have had to serve the Lord? and serve this community over the past five weeks. We are gearing up for our last and biggest event of the summer–Serve Medford. This is an opportunity for our team to work alongside 5 other teams (including the Clemson SummerLINKers) to serve the city of Medford in any way possible. Check out the update below from our team member Charis Schemm.
“As a team this summer we have had many opportunities to grow as individuals, as a team, serve alongside each other, and have fun together!
We had the opportunity to put on a short summer camp for two government housing developments: Willis Ave and La Prise. We were able to provide water games, kickball, a Bible story and a craft, and just a time to play, love on, and connect with the kids who have so little. It was a blessing to see how much it meant to them to have people come and invest in them, if only for a few hours! ?This also gave us an opportunity to connect with one of the women who leads a summer camp for the kids at Willis Ave. Her name is Christina–she loves the kids there, and showed much appreciation toward us as we were able to come alongside her and display the gospel in love to the kids, as well as to her. Pray that Redemption Hill would continue to build relationships with children, parents, and the leaders in the government housing. Pray that these people would be exposed to the gospel and be receptive to it. Pray also for Christina, that she would receive the gospel.
One particular night, we were able to go into Harvard Square and connect with the homeless community there alongside several members of Hope Fellowship, a partnering church with Redemption Hill. We met a man who had experienced a lot of brokenness in his life and had attempted to take his life it multiple times. We were able to share with him the eminence of sin in this world, the need for Christ in all our lives, and the hope we all share in the gospel. It was not the first time he had heard about God, but he didn?t fully comprehend everything we were sharing with him. As the people of Hope Fellowship continue to go into Harvard, pray with us that they would be able to continue to build a relationship with this man and display the gospel through love and words.
The final week of SummerLINK Boston will be Serve Medford, which consists of teams coming up to Boston to serve the community alongside Redemption Hill Church. There will be teams cleaning parks, tearing down walls of businesses, and serving at Willis Ave and Le Prise. Pray for these teams, that they would be able to continue to build relationships with the people that Redemption Hill already has contact with. The final night will be a culmination of the week through a Community Fun Night. As a church, Redemption Hill wants to share the love of God with others by loving the community of Medford and this is a great way to do it! For many people this will not be their first time attending, so please pray that relationships would be established and grown and that many people would hear and come to know of the saving grace we have through Jesus Christ.”
Here are some ways we would ask you to pray for us in these final days.
For our team: Pray that the Lord would renew our strength and energy to serve him. Pray that we keep the gospel ever before us, and that it compels us to love others as Christ has loved us.
For Redemption Hill: Pray for the impact they will have on the city this week during Serve Medford. Pray that many would volunteer to serve throughout the week, and that they would develop relationships with those far from Christ in the community.
For our Ministry: Pray for the individuals we connected with in Harvard Square–pray for the Lord’s mercy in their lives. Pray for the teams who have joined us for Serve Medford. Pray that they impact the community through gospel proclamation and service.
