Posted in General Posts by Chad Mustain on 6/29/2009
This past Thursday, Friday, and Saturday Heather and I helped take a group of students to Forward Conference 2009 that met at the Gwinnett Area. There were over 10,000 people in attendance. Some of the noted people who helped with the conference were David Crowder Band, Chirs Tomlin, Steve Fee, Louie Giglio, Judah Smith, and Reggie Dabbs. Here are a couple of pictures from the weekend:
Our group that went to Forward Conference.
Me and Heather.
Our students had a blast and went deeper in their faith.
Some of the highlights from the weekend were when Steve Fee lead worship at the final session. He was definitely the favorite of the students and they all waited in line so they could be right up on the stage. One of the students I have invested a lot in over the past year is a HUGE fan of Steve Fee. He got to interact with Steve Fee during worship and even got to meet him afterwards and get a picture and autograph. But what is even sweeter was watching this student engage in worship. He is a phenomenal guitarist and I have seen him grow by leaps and bounds in his heart for worship this past year.
Another cool picture was during a talk by Reggie Dabbs on Saturday morning. His theme was "One chance, one choice, one moment" and he was encouraging students to find freedom from the hurts, habits, and hang ups of life. At the end of his talk he invited people to come forward and receive prayer to find freedom. There were students literally running, not walking, not jogging, but RUNNING in an all out sprint as if their life depended on it to find healing and release. Man, it was such a moving experience.
Today our one month teams return from the field. Heather will be headed down to a hotel near the airport today to run the debrief with the leaders. I will join them tomorrow. Our one month team to Swaziland has arrived back in the States safely. Please be in prayer for our one month teams returning from Nicaragua and Kenya later today.
The reports that come in from the other 6 teams that are still in the field continue to be amazing. God is truly doing great things, his love is being shared, and the teams are building up God's Kingdom here on earth. In the midst of all the good, Satan is trying to disrupt and destory what is being done. Please pray for protection for these teams. Praying against the lies and doubts of the evil one and that the teams would have strength as they enter the final month of their trips.
On Saturday Heather and I leave bright and early for New Orleans with 17 students from Lanier Hills. Yesterday the church prayed over our team and commissioned us. The students are so excited to bring the love, message, and hope of the Lord to the people of New Orleans. Please pray for the hearts of both the students, leaders, and the people we encounter and that God would do great things!!
Posted in General Posts by Chad Mustain on 6/23/2009
Heather and I remain very busy with our various roles here in Gainesville. The next two and a half weeks are our final big push and then things will slow down dramatically. We continue to keep up with our 9 teams that are in the field. The stories and reports we get are are amazing. Many of the reports seem to be straight from the book of Acts. Our teams are seeing people come to the Lord, people are being healed, and people are being released from demons and powers of the evil one.
Thursday, Friday, and Saturday Heather and I are taking a group of students from Lanier Hills to the Forward Conference (http://www.forwardconference.org/) in Atlanta. Some of the noted people who are a part of this conference are Louie Giglio, Chris Tomlin, Fee (Steve Fee's band) and my personal favorite the David Crowder Band. Our summer has been so busy for us thus far so Heather and I are both hoping to receive something from the Lord this weekend.
Our one month teams return back the the States on June 29th and Heather and I will be running their debrief before they head home. And then July 4-10 we will be leading a one week trip to New Orleans through AIM for the youth group of Lanier Hills. Adventures in Missions purpose or theme statement for the trips in New Orleans is "rebuilding people, not structures." Ministries we'll be a part of include VBS, relational evangelism, prayer walks, and some light manual labor. Our students are really excited about this opportunity.
This past weekend I had the opportunity to go to Dallas and lead worship at Valley Ranch Baptist Church (http://www.vrbc.net). It was nice to see my parents and Joy and Caleb while I was in Dallas. Heather wasn't able to go because she had a girls weekend planned here in Gainesville with a good friend of hers.
We continue to be so grateful for your monthly support. We are amazed by the Lord's faithfulness and provision inspite of the hard economic times. Your monthly gifts to us literally have an impact on people all over the world through the leaders and students Heather and I have had the joy to train and send out. As we fullfill our commitment with Adventures in Missions, we ask and pray that you will be able to fullfill your financial commitment with your final gift being given in August.
Posted in General Posts by Chad Mustain on 6/17/2009
This past week Heather and I had the opportunity to go to Chicago for a short vacation. We got a great deal on a hotel right downtown on Michigan Ave and had a great time checking out the sights of Chicago. I was so thrilled that we were able to go to a Cubs game (I bought the tickets in February!!).
"Cloud Gate" commonly known as "The Bean" in Chicago near Millennium Park.
Outside of Wrigley Field before the big game.
And here I am during batting practice. It was seriously so cool being there.
The primary purpose of our time in Chicago was for Drew and Christine's wedding. I spent two years in England with Drew and Christine with AIM.
I was honored to serve as one of Drew's groomsman and to play the song "Be Thou My Vision" during the lighting of the unity candle.
It was also awesome to see Ian Fellows and Henry Martin who I served with in England. Ian was Drew's best man and Henry helped perform the wedding ceremony. I also spent two years in England with Andrea who was Christine's maid of honor.
It was also neat to see our 2007-2008 FYM team who all came in for the wedding. Ian and Heather are pictured as well.
It really was a great trip up to Chicago and so neat to see so many friends. Now that we are back, Heather and I continue to be busy keeping up with our 9 teams who are in the field. Things are going really well overall. There are some awesome stories of people coming to the Lord, the sick being healed, and the blind who now see. God is truly doing great things!!
This weekend I'll actually be in the Dallas area. I'll be leading worship at Valley Ranch and spending a few days with my parents. Heather will be staying here in Gainesville as she had a girls weekend planned before I was given the opportunity to lead at VRBC.
It's crazy to think that Heather and I have just under two months left in our time in Gainesville. We are striving to finish strong in our time with AIM and remain very busy. We are leading a one week to trip to New Orleans July 4-10 with the youth group we have been working with. We've also been busy helping the new student pastor get started and comfortable at our church. Debrief for our 1 month teams is also quickly approaching at the end of June as well.
Please keep us in your prayers as we desire to finish well here in Gainesville. In the midst of all that is going on, we are looking forward to the transition to life and grad school at Baylor University and Truett Seminary in Waco, TX.
As promised, here are some photos from the past 10 days of training that Heather and I oversaw. These are just a few of the highlights of worship, prayer, investing in leaders, fun times, and times of rest. These photos are all courtesy of Doyle Wallace, one of my leaders leading the one month Swaziland trip. To see more of his photos, check out: http://wallacephoto.zenfolio.com/swazilandtrainingcamp
Heather and I are now in full swing of keeping in contact with our teams in the field. This involves helping the leaders process the culture shock of the things they are seeing and experiencing, how to balance logistical stuff, team life, ministry, how to deal with problems and issues that arise, and just generally making sure that our leaders are taken care of physically, emotionally, and spiritual. It's already been so cool to hear some of the stories of the ways God is using these teams in their respective countries. We hope to share some stories with you soon.
Heather and I leave on Wednesday for a few days of vacation in downtown Chicago and going to a Cubs game. Over the weekend we'll be involved with all of the wedding festivities of my good friends Drew and Christine who I spent two years serving in England with. I'm excited to serve as a groomsman in their wedding and the play a song for them. It will be fun to see Henry and Ian from England, our England staff that I served with, and several of the participants as well.
Blessings,
Chad, Heather, and Maeby
Me leading worship at one of our evening sessions.
Our leaders praying over their students at the commissioning service.
You've got to have some fun at training as well. The guy on the right is Kenny, one of my leaders in India. This was a one on one dance off.
Heather just hanging out with and investing in Brittany, who is one of our leaders in Nicaragua. The guy on the right is Chad Small who is leading in the Philippines.
Maeby got to hang out with us some at leader training. This was when we brought her with us to the lake as we wrapped up leader training with some lake fun.
Wow, what an amazing past 8 days it has been with leader training and then training camp!! All of our teams went through an intense 5 day training camp and yesterday we sent them out to join in God's Kingdom work. It all began bright an early at 4am as the 1 month Nicaragua team and the 2 month Peru Amazon Jungle team headed out for the airport. Next was the 1 and 2 month Kenya teams, the 2 month India team, the 2 Month Nicaragua/Guatemala team, and the 2 month Philippines team. The final airport run was for our 1 and 2 month Swaziland teams.
God seriously showed up in some mighty and powerful ways over the course of the past 8 days. This was the largest training camp ever for the Real Life College program and Heather and I had an absolutely amazing team of people who played such a huge role in helping us pull that thing off.
Thus far I have heard that the Nicaragua team and the Expedition (Nicaragua/Guatemala) have a arrived safely. In the next few hours the rest of the teams should be arriving. Please continue to pray for God's provision and blessing over these teams as they arrive, rest, and begin to catch a vision for what God is doing in their communities.
Heather and I are sort of resting and recuperating today. We hope to get pictures up from training camp and share some stories of God's goodness and faithfulness through the past 8 days of training. We'll also be posting updates on what God is doing around the world through the teams that have gone out.
Posted in General Posts by Chad Mustain on 5/26/2009
Well, later today I will be headed to the airport to pick up our leaders and the madness of training season official begins for Heather and me. Please keep us in prayer as we help train and prepare our leaders for the incredible joy but also the difficulties they will experience leading teams this summer. The 120 or so participants arrive on Friday and that is when it will get truly crazy. In everything that is going on, it is our desire and prayer that we will be sensitive to the Holy Spirit's leading and that God will accomplish what he needs to accomplish in our leaders and students lives to prepare them for the amazing experience they are about to embark on.
May God do whatever he needs to do in us so that he can do whatever he desires to do through us,
Posted in General Posts by Chad Mustain on 5/24/2009
Well, it is officially that season at AIM. Over the next month or so there will be 4 different training camps and several leader trainings that will be going on. World Race kicked things off on Friday with their largest training camp ever with around 90 participants. On Tuesday our leaders arrive for our nine different one and two month college trips. On Friday around 120 college age students will be arriving for Real Life training camp that Heather and I are over-seeing. This is the largest training camp for the Real Life program as well. In additional to the 120 participants there are 18 leaders for these teams and 30+ AIM staff and friends who will be helping out. We have an AWESOME team of people working with us on this training camp and we are so grateful for all of their help, knowledge, and wisdom.
So, needless to say, these are extremely exciting times yet extremely busy times. There are so many details that go into a training camp this size from how to get 120 people and luggage from the Atlanta airport up to Gainesville, where everyone will sleep, how to efficiently feed and clean up after 170 or so people 3 times a day, and most importantly the emotional and spiritual preparation for the participants and leaders. There are countless other details and we ask for your prayers for all of our training camps but specifically the Real Life training camp that begins on Tuesday with our leaders and Friday with the participants. Please pray for safety of travel, all the details, health and safety at training camp and in the field, against the attacks of the evil one, and that God will truly do what he needs to do at this training camp to prepare our students and leaders for an amazing God experience.
Heather and I also ask for your prayers for our health, strength, rest, and for our marriage as we'll be going from about 6am to 11pm or later for about the next week and a half. You can also pray for little Maeby during this busy time as well.
I hope to give you an update at some point during training camp but I'm sure you'll understand if I don't post again until after everything wraps up for us on June 3rd.
Posted in General Posts by Chad Mustain on 5/11/2009
I just wanted to give a bit of an update on our prayer needs from our last blog; one of our most pressing needs was to find two more leaders, a guy and girl, for our our summer trips. I am happy to report that the Lord provided those leaders!! The female leader is for sure going and we have just a few details to work out for the male leader to lead for us this summer. This is a huge answer to prayer so thank you for all of you that joined with us.
In addition to continuing to pray for our upcoming training camp May 29-June 3, I have one other prayer need I would love for your to join with us in. As I mentioned above, we now have all of our leaders for the summer, however, the leaders now need to raise their support for the trip that they are going to be leading. Like most staff with AIM, our summer leaders are supported through the gifts and donations of friends, family, churches etc. Please pray that the leaders support will come in quickly as they arrive for leader training in two weeks.
As many of you know, Heather and I are serving as the interim student pastors at our church. We are happy to report that yesterday Lanier Hills introduced the new youth pastor who will start the 1st of June. Heather and I care so deeply for the students and we think Gabe is going to be a great fit as their student pastor. He is passionate for investing in students and helping them realize God's best for their lives. We will stay on in a staff capacity through the first part of July to help him transition in to his new job. Additionally, we'll still be heading up many of the summer activities including the missions trip through AIM to New Orleans July 4-10. And of course, we'll continue to volunteer and hang out with the students until we move to Texas in August.
Last night, we had a sweet time with the high school students at the small group we host each week. We took some time as a group to remember the many ways God has blessed us and what he has done in our lives. We also took some time to dream about what we want God to do in our lives and who we want to become. Heather and I are so proud of the students as they are earnestly seeking God's best for their lives and are trying to live out the "I am 3rd" challenge. We closed out time sharing communion and worshipping together. It was truly one of my favorite memories of the past several months.
And finally, our good friends Tag and Holly Thompson had their first child on Friday. Here is a picture of Holly, Heather, and little Jack Peyton Thompson.
This past weekend Heather and I helped coordinate and pull of a "Gym Sale" at our church as a fundraiser for the youth group mission trip to New Orleans that Heather and I are leading. On Friday we spent most of the day picking up stuff that church members had donated and worked with the youth and other volunteers to set up, price etc. On Saturday we had a great turn out and we are thrilled to have raised about $1,360 at the gym sale which will cover our van rentals for the trip.
We are really seeing some excitement and momentum build for all of our summer activities and service projects. Our summer theme is "I am 3rd" as we try to shift our focus from ourselves and realign our lives so that it is God, others, and then self. I've also heard it said that JOY is a great way to describe this (and to experience true joy) as it is all about Jesus, others, and you. Please pray for our students and leaders and that we would all really embrace and live out this "I am 3rd" lifestyle.
On Thursday we'll be just 3 weeks out from when over 125 college age students and their leaders will be arriving for their one and two month trips to Guatemala, India, Kenya, Nicaragua, the Peru Amazon Jungle, the Philippines, and Swaziland. This is crunch time for both our students and leaders as they raise funds, prepare to leave the country for one or two months, and try to focus and prepare themselves spiritual. Satan always tries to bring an assortment of attacks so please pray for protection over our students and leaders as they prepare for an amazing God experience.
In closing, I'd like to ask for your prayers for a HUGE need. We are actually still in need of a male leader for our one month Nicaragua trip and a female leader for our two month trip to Nicaragua and Guatemala. We seriously need your prayers for these two leaders as we are just three weeks out from when the students arrive. If you know of someone that might be interested, please pass along my email address to them. We trust that God will be faithful and provide the final two leaders we need.
Posted in General Posts by Chad Mustain on 4/27/2009
Whew!! We have been busy these past two weeks. Heather and I hit the ground running when we returned home from England jumping right back into work with AIM, our work with the student ministry at Lanier Hills, and our small group. It seems like we've hardly had a moment to pause and reflect.
On Friday April 18th I was offered and accepted a position as one of Baylor's resident chaplains for the upcoming 2009-2010 school year. Heather and I believe fully that this is yet another sign of God's provision and that attending Baylor/Truett Seminary is clearly what he has next for us. As a resident chaplain Heather and I will be living in a small apartment in one of the freshman dorm halls at Baylor. In short, I am a pastoral figure to the 500+ students who will be living in the dorm as they go about their freshman year of college. In addition to a small salary, Heather and I will live for free and both receive partial meal plans. While it will be an adjustment living in a small apartment surrounded by freshman guys, we do view this as a blessing and a continued sign of God's faithfulness in our lives. Heather and I feel so fortunate to both have jobs (Heather has a job as a missions assistant in the office of spirtual life) upon our arrival to Waco, TX in early August and a free living situation.
Last Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday I co-lead a team debrief and celebration time for our 3 month Real Life teams that were in Kenya and Swaziland. It was a jam packed 3 days with lots of emotion, processing, and celebration of all that had occured in these students lives over the past three months. It was a very challenging yet rewarding thing to be part of.
We are just under a month out from when our leaders arrive for our 1 and 2 month trips to Nicaragua, Guatemala, Kenya, India, Peru, the Philippines, and Swaziland this summer. The students arrive for those trips on May 29th. We welcome your prayers for both our students, leaders, and training camp as we prepare for their life changing experiences that await them.
Heather and I are also preparing for a busy summer with our students at Lanier Hills. We had a mission trip meeting yesterday for the trip we will be taking them on July 4-10 to New Orleans. Our theme for the summer is "I am third" and we are really trying to encourage the students choose into making their summer about God, others, and then self. I am beginning a teaching series this Wednesday that will be based on Romans 12. We are really hoping that this series will help prepare their hearts for selfless living and a desire to fully give of themselves this summer.
Well, I think that's about all at the moment. We remain so grateful for your continued love, prayers, and financial support as we continue to give our all and finish strong here in Gainesville.
