Opening Night

Opening Night found itself, yet again, on a Thursday night. I packed myself, my brother and my cousin (a new attender) into my car and we headed down the the Barn. As we arrived the parking lot already showed signs of life. My 'spot' was taken by a student Kyle, who I've been meeting with weekly, and a car length behind his car was a group of girls (Ruthie, Hanna, and Elizabeth) showing up. Needless to say, I had to parellel park between the too. Grabbing all my stuff I headed into the Barn and there were students everywhere all ready: playing instruments, shooting pool, chatting on the risers, drinking tea/coffee, and goofing off upstairs. If you have never visited the Barn this is the picture that will rush onto you upon entering in.

The turnout was great, 19 students came out for the first night, but beyond that, the hearts of those students were awesome. I got to lead the worship band with 3 students (Kyle, Travis, and Jordan), who are all amazingly skilled in their instruments, and as we played I could see crying out on the faces of those who love the Lord and the searching of those who are new to the Lord. One could sense the Lord working in the room.

After singing chorus' to our Lord we headed down to the Barn and chatted for a while. We felt it would be good to talk to the kids, on this opening night, about the significance of communication and how it played a role in the Barn. We took at look at four levels of communication, cliche's, facts, beliefs, and passions, and really encouraged the kids to be willing to go deep with us and talk about their passions. Not only that, we asked them to go deep with each other and ultimately with the Lord. Then we spent some time letting each student share a bit about how God had been working through their summers.

Ultimately, it was an exciting night, and I am stoked to see how God will continue to work through the Barn Student Ministries. He has already begun, that is clear. In the furture weeks we will be looking deeper into the 'Five Barn Posts' which compose the foundation of the Vision at the Barn: Love one Another well, Encourage one another, Challenge one another, Work together well, and Pray for one another. Please continue to be praying that the students at the Barn will be able to capture the vision of the Barn and make it their own. Our hope is to help spur these students into a deeper relationship with Christ, that they might understand completely, what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.

Thank you for helping change kids lives!

In Christ Jesus,
Jeremiah Dowling