God at Work at Student Life Camp::One Student's Experience

Recently the youth at Riverside Church went to Daytona to experience Student Life Camp 2013. This was Sean Detwiler’s first time at “camp” in Florida. While it’s not exactly like youth camp back in Idaho, where he moved from last year, he has no complaints! Staying in a resort on the beach wasn’t even the best part. Surfing was awesome, but that wasn’t it either. Sean’s experience with God at camp took him to a whole new level in his faith.

Every morning and evening, the Riverside group of about 100 drew together with thousands of other youth to worship with Brett Younker and Chris Tomlin. Sean recalls, “The worship was amazing! Watching thousands of kids praising God was so powerful; it’s really indescribable.” He especially loved “Burning In My Soul” and “God’s Great Dance Floor.”

Louie Giglio gave a strong message every evening. Sean loves what he said about sin: “Sin doesn’t make you bad. It makes you dead, and dead is a problem.” The students learned what it really means to be given life—and to live—through Christ. At camp they didn’t have phones, iPods, TV or access to any social media. Now they have to figure out how to integrate back into normal life without losing their focus and priorities. “Louie Giglio told us the way to keep your ‘camp high’ is to identify the things in your life that distract you from God and eliminate them,” Sean recalls. He learned that he really does have to be purposeful in his time with God and says, “It doesn’t matter if it’s talking to God, praising Him or reading His word—I have to make it happen every day, make it the priority.”

Sean shared a room with 4 other guys and his adult leader. Ask him how a bunch of teenage guys pulled that off in a room with only 2 beds, and he slowly states, “Several air mattresses.” He was really inspired by his adult leader, watching him not just believe in the power of God’s love, but putting it into action through prayer. He explains, “When Jesus fills us with Himself, the Holy Spirit fills our body with love, peace and joy...our cup overflows. We can take that and show it to others, praying for and loving on them. The power of that prayer and love can even have physical effects.” He watched his adult leader walk right up to a stranger with a knee brace on and ask if he could pray for her. She agreed and afterward said the pain was gone! His leader said, “It’s not me. It’s God’s love!” Sean says he watched him do that several times, caring for and praying for people, letting God’s love spill out of him. “It made me want that—want God to work through ME!”

Group times were fun with the students divided up into different colored teams to compete in the Camp Games. Rumors have it one of the adult leaders sported his team spirit with a purple beard all week! There were also group discussions, prayer and times of deep sharing. Sean loved getting real and really drawing close to his friends and leaders. He loved drawing closer to God, and He can’t wait until next year!

Praise God for the resources and leaders that made this year’s camp possible. Praise God for working in a powerful way at Student Life Camp, pouring out His Holy Spirit, changing lives, and drawing our kids closer to Him. 

God at Work through a Storm and a Trusted Relationship

While a tropical storm was moving in, another storm was already raging, threatening destruction. But God was at work, ironically using the tempestuous weather to begin the process of healing and peace in a time of marital turbulence.

It’s no secret that every marriage has its struggles, but what is usually a secret is when a couple struggles. It’s one thing to say, “The Lord has brought us through some really tough times,” and another thing entirely to admit “We’re in the dead center of a real mess.” Not for two couples at Riverside Church, though. They have decided to walk their journeys together. They’ve built a trusting relationship, realizing they share many of the same struggles as couples. They decided to help each other through those tough times, reminding each other of the Truth and bringing issues to God together in prayer.

They committed to being honest, to allow their friends to speak into their lives, and to a mutual accountability with their weakest areas. 

Shortly after this commitment, they were in the thick of it. Quite suddenly one of the couples found themselves in a tangle of emotions—angry, confused, hurting, and exhausted from hashing through an old issue that surfaced, one they’d thought had finally been resolved. So, when the wife was asked by her friend how she was doing, she was honest. It felt impossibly complicated. She knew God would get them through it, but she felt hopeless and helpless. The friend offered to get together—to listen and pray. And so they did.

Meanwhile, Ft. Myers was experiencing severe weather. The rain poured, the wind blew and the thunder crashed...and inside the cozy house the wife poured out her heart, fears, and pain. Her friend, offering no quick-fix solution or tidy answers, asked questions, tried to understand, reminded her friend of God’s faithfulness, and expressed hope and confidence that God would bring healing to their hearts. And they prayed together. As the storm bore down on the family’s home, it became unsafe to leave; the friends were together all day. As God would have it, the men met up also, and it didn’t take long before they too were discussing the marital mess. Storm circumstances eventually united all four of them, providing them an entire evening together and an opportunity to talk through the troubling issues.

As the story unfolded, it often felt like an impossible dilemma. “I’m so done with all this pain...” “I can never do anything right...” and “I just can’t do this anymore!” There were no sides, only brokenness, anger, pain and a complex maze of misunderstandings, miscommunications, and distrust. It was exhausting and messy for both couples, and at times it was quite uncomfortable. It took a lot of courage to be that real, that vulnerable, and that broken in front of their friends.

At last when all had been said, the husband and wife were quite at the end of themselves, desperate but not alone. Their friends spoke Truth to them, reminded them how much God had already brought them through, and shared testimonies of God’s healing in their own hearts. Nothing was fixed, and nothing was decided, but the four of them poured their hearts out to God through tears in prayer, fighting side-by-side for this marriage. And God moved in. He brought a stirring of hope, an emerging new perspective, and a renewed commitment to press on. By the time the couple left, the height of the storm outside had moved on, and the night sky was filled with stars.

The next morning was calm: nothing said and nothing done. At work, the husband texted his friend and thanked him, telling him how much it meant to have friends who would actually walk through the muck with them. The woman prayed for her friends, texting the wife several times during the day and reminding her that “God is big enough to get us through this!” By evening, husband and wife came together with softened and willing hearts. After a sincere apology and forgiveness, they prayed together. At last united, they planned their next step, knowing that their mess took years in the making and understanding it would take time and considerable intentionality to work through it.

They’re not out of the mess yet, but they have a new confidence, believing that God will bring them through this storm and knowing they have friends by their sides.

Their confidence isn’t in themselves or each other, but rather, in God who used a storm and a trusted relationship to ignite a peace and healing in their home.

God at Work in Baptism

God at Work at the Hospital

She had lived a hard life. It was obvious the world had knocked her around a bit. Hers was a journey of hardships and desperation. Still, as she lay there in her hospital bed, a new softness came over her—a hope, a longing, a lightness. 

She'd visited Riverside Church the weekend before - for the first time. Moved by the message, she made an appointment to meet with Pastor Bob. But something unexpected happened, and she found herself stuck in a hospital bed instead.

When Pastor Ron learned she was in the hospital he felt compelled to visit her. She was pretty candid with him about her state of despair, her need for something more. As she continued to speak, he remained curious, truly caring for the woman. Eventually he was able to share the redemptive story of Jesus Christ with her, and she prayed, asking Jesus to be her own Savior. 

She has begun a new journey now, not without hardships, but never to be lost and alone again.

Pastor Ron reflects, “Only time will tell how serious she is about walking with God, but I’m so glad I went to see her. I’m so glad God allowed me to introduce her to Him.”

Pastor Ron had met the woman and her landlord at church the previous Sunday. Her landlord was the one who brought her to church. He told Pastor Ron about the others he wants to bring to Riverside to learn about Jesus. 

“It gets complicated when we start loving folks who are used to the ways of the world,” Pastor Ron says. “We’ll have to have more conversations and talk to some of them one-on-one to learn their sincere intentions. If we’re really serious about loving and living like Jesus, though, Riverside has to be a bit like a hospital too, open to the hurting, leading them to the Great Physician who can heal their hearts and lives.”

Praise God He drew this woman to Riverside and revealed Himself to her at the hospital. Praise God He is using us to care for those who need Him!

God at Work through Hands-On Love

Sometimes being the hands and feet of Christ requires blood, sweat, and tears. Sometimes it requires power tools! When the Werley and Mueller Riverside Life Groups decided to help an elderly disabled woman, they knew she needed more than a few meals and encouragement. One of the obstacles in her daily life was simply accessing her home safely. Her ramp was old and unstable. She traveled up it backwards in her wheelchair with great difficulty, afraid she’d end up falling backwards down the ramp should it collapse. Riverside Church partnered with The Heights Foundation and Home Depot to replace the old ramp. It was a big project, but together they had the funds, man-power, tools, supplies and know-how to get the job done. 

A member of the Werley Life Group, George McMahon played a big part in the project, not only on-site, but also behind the scenes. As with any building project, plans and permits all had to be in order. He recalls how timid the elderly lady was when he first approached her to review some of the project details. He’d been cautioned that she was very private, and he wanted to be sensitive to her hesitancy to have a dozen strangers working around her home. By the time the ramp was done, though, she had warmed up quite a bit, even sitting in the doorway watching and visiting with the crew.

Pastor Chris recalls how excited the woman was—and her family—to see so many people caring for her, doing the things she could not do for herself. Over the course of 4 days, the crew not only built the ramp, they did a ton of yard work, trimming trees and bushes, putting down bark, and even planting some decorative plants around the ramp. One of Pastor Chris' favorite moments was when he realized that Beth Morford from his own life group knew how to seriously handle a chainsaw! Not only did this project help the members of the Mueller life group learn more about each other, he feels it really helped bond the group. It felt good knowing they’d joined resources to help someone from whom they never expect anything in return.

Julie Workman attends Riverside Church and is also the Chief Advocacy Officer of The Heights Center, an impressive facility and resource dedicated to helping at-risk children in the community and strengthening families. According to the foundation’s website: The foundation is a grassroots, hands-on organization that celebrates the strength and diversity of the community and has the goal of breaking the cycle of poverty. Its work supports community development programs for individuals, students, and families, and provides charitable outreach projects in the community. Julie is so thankful these Riverside Life Groups chose to take on this outreach project, helping a very special woman in the Harlem Heights community, an area with twice the poverty rate of Lee County. Together the live group crew put in 140 hours on this project. “What a difference [they] made...truly loving and living like Jesus!” Soon after the completion of this project, through the encouragement of a close friend, Julie and her husband Matt joined a life group close to their home.

George says it was so gratifying watching the elderly lady come out of her shell a bit, going up and down her ramp with confidence. Pastor Chris is sure this is just one of many projects the Riverside Life Groups will be able to do with The Heights Foundation and looks forward to seeing how God will work in others' lives and in our own hearts as we continue to reach out to “the least of these” in our own communities.

Praise God for the funds Riverside Church was able to contribute and for inspiring people from our own life groups to be a part of caring for the less fortunate in a very necessary and tangible way. Praise God that He is bringing glory to His own name and strengthening the church body through hands-on-love.

God at Work through Life Groups

Dave and Luann Flammia attended Riverside Church for over a year before it finally felt like “home.” They'd  been heavily involved in another church for years, but were burned out and became disconnected from the church entirely. Eventually they began attending Riverside. Sitting in the back, they enjoyed the worship, the message, and the people they met, but they still felt like something was missing - so when Bob asked them to consider plugging into a Life Group, they agreed. 

The Flammias tried several different groups before they found one that they really connected with. Dave admits that when he first heard about “the whole storying thing,” he was a little hesitant. But as the leader told a story from the Bible, the group re-built the story, checking the Bible for accuracy, and then discussed what God was showing them through the story, he could see that God was at work. “Somehow God seems to take [the story] and use it in incredible ways. It is definitely working.”

After joining their Life Group, Dave and Luann immediately felt like they became a part of the church family. They found what they’d been missing! Now, they’re enjoying their new-found friendships and have just recently become greeters, giving them a wonderful way to both serve the church and meet even more people. In fact, they are now excited to see how and where God is going to use them next, as they continue their journey with the Lord.

According to Dave, the Flammia’s Life Group has been and continues to be a blessing in their lives. 

“My wife and I are both growing spiritually closer to God and to each other. The [Life Group] has been an incredible experience for us, and we are so happy that we made the decision to check them out.”

God at Work through Facebook

When Jody Drovdlic gave her life to the Lord years ago, she obediently got baptized. In a genuine celebration of her decision, she was sprinkled. Several weeks ago, when her husband asked her if she’d considered being baptized by submersion, she was surprised and then disturbed. It felt as though he was suggesting that her baptism wasn’t good enough or somehow didn’t count. Re-doing it would be like denying the importance of what she’d already done. Worse, it felt like legalism, checking off a box to fit in. She had no problem being baptized again if that’s what God wanted...and so she prayed. She asked God to not only make it clear to her if she should be re-baptized, but also to make it really meaningful and to give her a desire to do it.

Soon after that, a lady at church was re-baptized and shared her reason, her story. And God began a stirring in Jody. She realized that just as her faith had deepened over the years, so had her commitment to following Christ. She began to see a re-baptism as a restatement of her vows. Very much like the restatement of wedding vows after many years of marriage, her new vows would be from a seasoned journey with a Savior who had proven His faithfulness and perfect provision through many a storm. She was excited. Yes, she wanted to be baptized again...and not just a sprinkling. She wanted her whole body fully submerged. Little did she know how God would use that decision...and her Facebook!

Recently, a friend in Pennsylvania called Jody to let her know how impacted she was by Jody’s Facebook. This gal’s first husband had committed suicide years ago, and even though she was happily remarried, the confusion and pain of that first relationship felt unresolved. When she saw Jody’s baptism on Facebook, it suddenly hit her that it was time to bury her first husband’s ashes, time to bury the past and let go. She also decided it was time to move ahead. While she’d known about Jesus all her life, she knew there was something more. She was desperate to know the Jesus that Jody had come to know over the years and was so absolutely in love with.

What an awesome reminder that people are watching us, and God is so amazingly creative in how He draws others to Himself. Praise God that He is still at work, changing hearts and changing lives, pursuing the hearts of those around us and using our humble obedience, service and offerings to further His kingdom!