15 Jul Loving Bellevue with Essential Church
Hello from Seattle!? We are at the midpoint of our 6 weeks of serving the Seattle/Bellevue area and things couldn?t be going better.? We are also half-way through Love Bellevue, the two-week outreach campaign put on by Essential Church in Bellevue.? Week one consisted of Camp R.A.W.K. (Rowdy And Wild Kids), Essential?s first ever Vacation Bible School.? We had around 65 students consistently between Monday and Thursday, and finished the week with a block party at Jubilee Reach!? Over 100 people showed up for the party and Pastor Warren was able to speak several locals about Christ and what Essential Church does and believes.? Pray that they will continue to discover who Christ really is and what He?s done for us.
During the week of Camp RAWK we had a mission team from Cornerstone Church (Florence, SC), and they were a tremendous help.? Their leaders served well but also stepped in to help and lead where we needed it.? The Cornerstone students also stepped up and provided tons of energy!? Pastor Warren was the youth pastor at Cornerstone before moving to Bellevue to plant Essential Church, so having this group here was especially encouraging.? The kids seemed to really enjoy the camp, and we also had a little girl come to know Christ while some others took the message of the gospel home to their families.
We were blessed to have the assistance of Abbey Cook, the GenerationLINK Assistant Director who came from Clemson, SC to serve with us for Love Bellevue week 1!? She stepped in to save the day on more than one occasion and we?re so thankful for the experience she brought to our community outreach and large scale events. ?Not only did she help with planning and logistics, she was great at bringing levity to our hearts when things got hectic.? All in all, God?s presence was clear and abundant during the camp and the weeks leading to it.? He provided the opportunities and the resources to work, serve, and bring glory to His name.
- Abbey was such a joy to have around! We miss you, Abbey!
After Camp RAWK we were able to go to downtown Seattle for a bit and see some of the sights we?ve heard so much about!? It was a great time to see some new things and take a very tourist-y picture by the famous Space Needle.
As week one of Love Bellevue came to a close, Cornerstone returned to South Carolina and seven new mission teams arrived!? These teams will be helping us with this second week of Love Bellevue while we run a sports camp, do service projects, and prayer walk as many homes in Bellevue as we can!? Our prayer walking is a huge part of loving Bellevue for us this week.? All of our groups have been assigned various neighborhoods, and we will pray over each home and invite them to the block party.? Our goal, put forth by Pastor Warren?s vision, is to ?love with no strings attached,? which means our love for them doesn?t stop if they choose to not attend Essential Church.? We will always pray and serve them in any way we can!
- Andrew and Caleb help prepare a meal for the mission teams.
We are excited to finish out this week of Love Bellevue, which will culminate with a baptism celebration this Sunday, July 19th, at a local Bible camp called SAMBICA at the lake with Essential.? Please pray that we will continue to serve this community well and work well with the mission teams that are here this week.? We are truly excited to see what the Lord has in store!
- The Cornerstone and Summer LINK teams pray together at Camp RAWK.
