End of Summer at Camp Falcon Rock
As the weather in many parts of North America begins to transition toward cooler nights and summer leads way to fall, we want to take a moment to celebrate the ways God was at work during the four weeks of camp at Camp Falcon Rock in Romania. After a year when they were unable to host camps due to COVID-19, they were once more able to invite more than a hundred kids and students for camp, bringing life, energy, excitement, and a hunger for God to the grounds of Camp Falcon Rock.
The fruit that resulted from these four weeks of camp was visible in the students at the end of each week. Paul Gericke, NAB missionary to Romania serving at Camp Falcon Rock, said, “As many young people shared testimonies, they shared their testimony of putting their faith and their hope in the security and the anchor of Jesus Christ.” Continue to pray for Camp Falcon Rock as they transition into the fall camp season, hosting groups and churches that will be using the camp for their retreats.
Visit the link below to watch the video the Camp Falcon Rock team put together showing the highlights from summer camp and to hear more from Paul as he shares the impact this summer had on many.
Camp Falcon Rock Summer 2021 Recap
Identity: Part 3 – The End Goals
Over a span of six weeks, we will be sharing a series of articles from NAB Executive Director Harry Kelm about our identity as the NAB. You can read the third article below or find all of them here.
In a six-part series of articles, we have been considering what identifies us as the North American Baptist Conference. This is most certainly our statement of beliefs; we are unified around what we believe about God and who we are in God through our faith in Jesus. We are also unified around our mission. We use the term “ends” to describe this mission of the NAB. These end goals have been given to us and affirmed by the churches of the NAB. While there are many good things we could be doing, these end goals are what we believe God is calling us to work toward.
There are four end goals:
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- The NAB will be trained for missional ministries that flow out of being spiritually formed by who God is and who we are in God. This is about multiplying ministry and planting churches.
- The NAB will connect with ethnic partnerships and seek to live out a God-directed cross-cultural engagement.
- The NAB will seek to identify and develop emerging leaders and to equip spiritual leaders.
- The NAB will send international missionaries. This is about partnering with national Christians and national churches in cross-cultural settings.
These end goals are not independent but are interconnected. They flow in and through each other. We are to be missionally multiplying ministry, and we are to be missionally multiplying those who minister and lead. This happens in North America and wherever the NAB serves. As we live missionally, we treat others with God’s grace and mercy because of who God is and who we are in God.
Make no mistake, these end goals are not just for certain kinds of people or certain kinds of churches; they are our end goals as a conference. They are transferable to various settings. We can refer to the ends in different ways and we can use different methods to reach those ends, but the result is the same. These ends flow from who God is and who God wants us to be in him. These ends give us direction and unity as we minister together.
Blue Ocean Postponed
Due to the continued uncertainty around travel and regional restrictions, the Blue Ocean cohort that was slated to begin at the end of October will now be postponed until the beginning of 2022. While this is sad news, we continue to look toward that day in the near future when we will once more be able to draw together dozens of individuals from across the NAB for an in-person Blue Ocean gathering.
Even though the in-person Blue Ocean has been pushed back to next year, there are still a couple upcoming opportunities to virtually gather with others within the NAB who are also on this missional/formational journey together.
Coming off of the recent two days of virtual Bonfire with Mark Nelson, Alan Hirsch, Michael Frost, and Rich and Anna Robinson, there is a new book club with Mark Nelson that dives into his book he wrote with Alan Hirsch, Reframation. The book club will be meeting for six weeks on Thursdays at 10:00 a.m. (PDT) starting October 14. Space is limited, so sign up by contacting Sara-May Cardy.
Additionally, Light Blue Ocean, the shorter, online version of Blue Ocean, has been pushed back from its original start date to allow for more people to sign up. The first of nine consecutive Tuesdays when Light Blue Ocean will be meeting is October 19. You can fill out this form to register today.
If you have any questions about Blue Ocean, Light Blue Ocean, or the Reframation book club, contact Sara-May Cardy at the link below.
Church Planter Summit
With just eleven days before the start of Mission Multiply, NAB’s Church Planter Summit. We are so pleased to welcome Dr. Ron Hitchock to the team of presenters intent on pouring into the souls of our church planters and their spouses. Ron has been married to Barbara for forty-two years, and they serve as relationship coaches, pastors, trainers, and consultants for all thing marriage and family life. Ron has an M.Div. from The Kings Seminary and a D.Min from Asbury Theological Seminary; coupled those credentials with thirty-five year’s experience as a pastor, we are eager to benefit from the tools Ron has created to serve in healthy marriage and family life. Ron joins our keynote presenter Dr. Mike Lueken for this gathering of forty NAB planters and spouses, where he’ll be talking about the soul of the planter uniting more deeply with the way of Jesus.
It’s not too late to join us! If you are a planter or interested in planting with the NAB, you can check out all the info and register for Mission Multiply at the link below.