Summer LINK Clemson: Living Life Together

Holding down the fort here in Clemson! Our team had a great time of learning through the word and bonding with each other last week in Myrtle Beach. You can read Shelby's blog below about our time there. Since we arrived back in Clemson last Saturday, we have had a full, but fun week!

For me, this week has been the first "normal" week of Summer Link activities in Clemson. I was taking a class the first part of the summer, the week after my class ended I had the opportunity to go to Summersalt with the Crosspoint youth, the week after that was Myrtle Beach, and now here I am!

As most of the other summer link teams were sent off to their locations this past week, I had the privilege of helping drive the India team to the Atlanta airport on Tuesday. Tuesday night was a fun time as we all got to be a part of Sammi's surprise birthday party!

(Who knew a few balloons could be entertainment for hours?)

Yesterday for July 4th, Sean and Alex had the team over to their home for a cookout.

(the girls, minus Shelby and myself)

Tonight, we embraced the rain and went to all 9 innings of the Greenville Drive baseball game! They won (all because of us, of course)! We saw a beautiful firework show afterward!

(showing our support for the Greenville Drive...and America!)

As for my personal growth so far this summer, the most important thing I have learned is how to be a witness for Christ in the same town I live in. Before, I have always gone far away on missions, but it has been cool to serve the community through Crosspoint. It is such a sweet time to be saturated with the Word and live our daily lives together with the team. I have loved being poured into by my discipler, Mary Emily.

(Mary Emily and I catching a quick nap in Myrtle Beach)

This summer, I have grown to have a longing and thirst for the Word that I do not think I have ever had before. Christ is clearly working in my heart and changing me.
Psalm 42:1-2
"As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. Where can I go and meet with God?"
I am excited about what God has already started to do, and I'm excited to see what He has yet to do (in myself and our team) during the rest of the summer! Thank you for your prayers.

By: Kaitlyn Odom

SummerLINK Clemson: Through the Storm

Yesterday, SummerLINK Clemson set off for Myrtle Beach. Within two hours of our departure, the back seats were all asleep and I had the quiet to reflect on life at its present stage. I am coming up on my first year anniversary of marriage, and I can tell you – the last year has been quite a ride. In between struggling as one sinner joined to another sinner in marriage (if you are married you understand the extreme hardships) and being rejected and scorned by my earthly family, the last year has been, quite honestly, a spiritual downhill mudslide. When I joined SummerLINK Clemson I was a very recent muddy wreck trying to let the Lord piece me back together. But I can testify that as long as I slid down the muddy slope, our God did not forsake me. He never left me alone. Though I went weeks without opening the Word to hear Him speak, He pursued me through His body, the Church, and spoke to me in the quiet as I laid down to sleep at night. He pursued me until I planted my feet in the mud, stood up, and took stock of my surroundings.

I firmly believe that He planted me in SummerLINK to provide me the spiritual refuge I need to rebuild. We have studied and prayed together, shared together, laughed together, and some of us have cried together. The Lord built His body as one, that we should have the heart to support each other in pursuit of Him, our glorious Father.

When we came within an hour of Myrtle Beach yesterday we were slammed by a fierce thunderstorm and traffic slowed to a crawl. It seemed that we rolled slowly through the storm for an hour, but we did come out from under that storm cloud. In my life the cloud is still over me, but our God has delt with me kindly. I have my husband to stand beside me, and I have the body of Christ to teach and rebuke me as I need it.

In Cornerstone Church at Myrtle Beach last night we kicked off our time together with a seminary lecture by Dr. Ewart and a period of corporate worship and prayer. I admit, at one point I looked up during our prayers (don’t tell me you’ve never done that before) and as I looked out over the bowed heads of my brothers and sisters and heard the murmuring of many voices beseeching our God for the sake of the lost, my joy was nearly complete. I have all I need in Christ, and these men and women who bow before a Most High God along with me are my earthly anchor in Truth. Praise be to God!

Ahead of us we have more knowledge to gain, more prayers to say, and strangers to evangelize to. We appreciate your prayers in love, and we pray likewise for you.

Blessings in Christ.

By Shelby Hercules

Summer LINK Clemson: Even in the Midst of the Craziness, God Provides

Only seven more weeks of the program that acts as a relief from my hectic schedule. I can't believe how much I have learned, just in these few short weeks with summer LINK Clemson. One of these things includes how God is in control and finds ways to reassure us that his direction is sovereign. When signing on with Clemson SummerLINK, I was a tad hesitant that it would conflict with my strenuous class schedule. Not being the only one taking classes, there was a bit of relief, but for some reason I felt that because I was taking the dreaded ORGANIC CHEMISTRY that my schedule was going to busier than others, and oh how I was wrong. It turns out, everybody doing summer LINK is extremely busy taking classes, working, and trying to manage their time just as I am. And still, after spending time with this awesome group of people being on mission for the Lord, there is always that little assurance from God telling me that this is exactly what I should be doing with my summer. Participating in Summer LINK activities during the week is sometimes stressful, but it isn't the activities that stress me out. I look forward to every single one of them, whether it is being trained in discipleship, or fellowshipping with families in the church. Yes, my classes are crazy hard, but I always find such a relief when I get to go do "Summer LINK" things. Sometimes, I find myself driving to the church just to hang out and help out with some of the other generation LINK staff. I just love the people that I am privileged to interact with this summer and cherish the time that I get to spend with them. That being said, this summer has still had it's hardships. There have been multiple instances when school has kept me from doing the thing that my heart desires, even the things that I feel that God has called me to pursue. These situations especially have been difficult because I feel like it is what God wants me to do, but also know how strong my fleshly desire is. It is sometimes tough to distinguish which one is real. And always, after much prayer and petition, God leads me to the wisest, most rational decision. Part of Summer LINK involves scripture memory and the first week me and my discipleship leader, the amazing Sammi Fife, agreed to memorize and abide on Galations 2:20, which states that we have been crucified in Christ so that he lives through us and we should live therefore live our lives by faith in him. What a verse to start off with! It was key in showing me that no matter what I am doing, I am doing it for the glory of God who sent his only Son to die on the cross for our wretched sins so that we could live. So as miserable as organic chemistry is some days, it is nice to have to perspective to know that this is what I had committed to this summer, and therefore, I need to do it in a way that pleases the Lord. The same goes for hectic busy schedules. As hard as it seems to make them all fit together, God has a way of working things out so that we can further bring him glory through being on mission with SummerLINK Clemson. Therefore, if I commit to things that I clearly do not have time for, I would not be able to do the other things well, and that would not bring honor and glory to my Savior. So when times seem bleak, and schedules don't fit together, I just have to remember this verse and know that this summer was a summer for the Lord to strengthen me spiritually and physically. Yes, school is hard...but YES, God has given me supernatural focus and concentration to do well in my class. Yes, there are constant schedule conflicts... but YES, God has a way of working things out in the favor of those who seek after Him. God does have overarching plan for our lives and He is sovereign in everything he does. And with these things, he constantly provides for us.

By: Katy Weaver

Summer LINK Clemson: Christ our Sustainer

Our second week in Tigertown has come to a close, and what a great week it was! The Lord blessed our week in so many different ways. Thursday nights we meet in different church members' homes to fellowship with them over a meal and conversation of God's grace in their lives. The Finley family was gracious to host us this past week. We had a delicious meal prepared by Cayce, and a sweet time getting to know this awesome family of seven! It was a blessing to be loved on and encouraged by such a great family through their hospitality and sharing of what our precious Savior has done in their lives.

Many of us on the team are taking summer classes, working long hours, or doing both in addition to the responsibilities that come with serving our local church body through Summer LINK. Therefore when the weekend approaches, we welcome it with open arms!

Friday is the night designated as our “socials” night. Each week we alternate the structure of our social.  We start out with a larger more structured event planned by Sean and Sammi, and the next week is meant to be something low key and planned amongst ourselves. We call these “group dates.” “Group dates” are intended to be a time for us to continue to fellowship with one another through fun activities! These nights can be as a whole group, or we could choose to split and do different things in smaller groups. The purpose is to have a fun time that allows us to relax and continue building relationships with one another. 

This past Friday marked our first group date social. The guys planned for us to eat dinner at Paw’s, a local diner, and then head to Clemson’s campus to play Frisbee golf! During dinner an intense storm arrived, and we thought we wouldn’t be able to play. However, the Lord was gracious and eventually the storm subsided enough for us to begin playing in a light rain. It turned out to be a great evening full of laughter, playing in the rain, and encouraging one another! I was really encouraged by our two guys, Victor and Edward, as they stepped and took leadership over this night! They took initiative to make plans and served the girls well by being patient and encouraging as they taught many of us to play Frisbee golf for the first time.

Saturday is designed to be our day of rest, so we all are generally doing very different things. This past Saturday, Crosspoint’s youth had a lake day so those on our team serving with the youth for the summer spent their Saturday afternoon on the lake loving on the students and building relationships with them. The rest of us spent our day doing various things as we all sought to be rejuvenated for the next week!

Sundays are always a big day for us. We arrive an hour before the first service to come alongside the other staff and help complete whatever needs to be done for Sundays to operate smoothly. These tasks always look very different. Some of the team helped set up the café area and prepared to greet people as they arrived, while others served with the kid’s ministry. This summer I am serving with Crosspoint’s college ministry; ergo my primary responsibility on Sunday morning’s is making sure everything for our college discussion groups is set up and ready to run smoothly.

The college discussion groups happen during the 11:00 service. Each week we discuss the passage/sermon that was just preached during the 9:00 service. It is a great time for food, fellowship, and time together studying God’s word. This past Sunday we had great discussion over 2 Thessalonians 1:3-10! Many good discussions broke out as we digested what we had just heard about God’s righteous judgment and discussed how the hope the Thessalonians had is the same hope we can trust in today! Praise the Lord that Christ is glorified through judgment and mercy!

As I reflect on these past two weeks, I am beyond thankful for the Lord's love and faithfulness. It has been a joy experiencing and witnessing the different ways in which the Lord answers prayers and equips his children to do work for His Kingdom. Whether that be through being refreshed by hearing of God's work in others lives, encouraging one another as we labor through long days or difficult situations, extend grace to one another when we fall short, or merely just providing one another with biblical, Christ-loving community! Regardless of our own faithfulness, our Lord is never changing and forever GOOD! Hallelujah, what a Savior!

By: Hannah Milroy 

Summer LINK Clemson: First Week Experience

    

Wow, the first week of Summer LINK Clemson has ended and there are plenty more to come. I am excited to say that I am not ready for the summer to end even though it as just begun.

Throughout this week, we have all learned more about each other and also the leaders and the leaders' families within the church. The two host dinners have been amazing! The food, fellowship, and stories have been great! Our group has learned more about how the elders of Crosspoint Church came to their relationship with Christ, as well as their spouses’ testimonies. We have been blessed to have Q&A with the families and have gotten to hear the lovely stories of how they courted in their younger days.

Lastly, throughout this week, I have been greatly discipled by Sean Alford, Will Jackson, and other godly men within the church. I can wait to hear more about the Word and stories about their lives that will help me through my walk with Christ.

By: Edward Fowler

Summer LINK Clemson: FIRST DAY!

Summer LINK Clemson has officially BEGUN!!!  For the past few years Crosspoint Church has hosted a Summer LINK, where college students can intern at Crosspoint and be poured into by Generation LINK and church staff members, and this summer we are back again!

Our team is composed of seven girls, two guys, and two Generation LINK staff members (Sammi Fife and myself).  Our vision for Summer LINK Clemson is to disciple future leaders to go and impact the nations for God’s glory, and we have the blessing to do that very thing in the Clemson area at Crosspoint Church.

On our first day we started to get to know one another and learn of the vision and goals of Summer LINK (Intentional Discipleship, Ministry Experience, Gospel Community, and Leadership Development).  It was a long day, but a fruitful one with time in the Word, community building, outreach, and fellowship.

We learned that we are to abide in Christ, and it is through that reliance in him that we will bear fruit.  We even saw some of that fruit when we went out onto the Clemson campus.  Our team was able to engage with nearly a dozen students with the gospel.  It was an eye opener for many on our team of the “lostness” on the campus, but it encouraged and challenged everyone that we are here to proclaim the name of Jesus Christ.

We ended the day with amazing fellowship.  One of Crosspoint’s Connecting Point groups invited our team out to the lake to enjoy some food, games, and fellowship.  It was a great way to cap off the first day of Summer LINK, and we are excited to see how God uses us this summer.  Please be praying for us as we seek to glorify Christ.  Soli Deo Gloria!

By:  Sean Alford