The top 3 pics were from mission trips to Peru
These 2 pics were form the Go Tell Kid's Camp
I just wanted to share with you some about what God is directing me to do for ministry this summer. First of all, as many of you know God has given me the opportunity to do ministry through missions trips over the years (Japan for a month in '03, India for a month in '04, Peru for two months in '07, Peru for a month and then Argentina for a month in '08, and then Costa Rica for a week last summer '10). During these mission trips I would have the opportunity to minister to people of all ages. One thing I noticed was that I felt like I could connect with the children and really enjoyed ministering, playing with them, or just holding them and letting them somehow feel the love of God.
Well, this last summer I interned with a group called Go Tell Ministries. As I was preparing for the summer I got a call and was asked if I would be willing to work with a Kid's Camp that Go Tell was pioneering. I thought I could help out for at least a week. However, after going through the first week with the Kid's Camp I decided to do another week. I found that I could really connect with these kids. I saw how much they love drama and fun voices that I do. Also, I got to see first hand God softening the heart of a young girl. I met her at the begining of one of the weeks and went to give her a high five but she said she didn't high five guys. I then asked her if she smiled, and she said no! I then told her that by the end of the week she was going to smile, and she DID! By the end of the week if I only looked at her she would break into a grin. I feel as if through these two weeks of working with Go Tell's Kid's Camp really showed me that part of God's plan for me is working with children.
Continuing down the road of Children's Ministry, this semester I took a course in Children's Ministry where I feel like God pretty much verified to me that Children's Ministry will be one of the ways that He will be using me to expand His Kingdom. One thing that I kept thinking about during last summer's ministry as well as during this years Children's Ministry course is the verse where Jesus says, " Let the children come to me, and do not stop them, because the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these." At another part of the Bible Jesus even connects the Kingdom of God with children's faith, "you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven."
This now brings us to this summer. First of all I will be volunteering with Go Tell Ministries (http://www.gotellministries.com/camps/kidscamp.html) this summer. On June 14th I will drive down to the Georgie Baptist Convention Center in Toccoa, GA, where I will go through training with the other Interns till June 19th. Then I will work once again with the Kid's Camp during the weeks of June 20-24 and June 27th-July 1st. After ministry in Toccoa, GA I will then drive home to Northern VA (Browntown) and will be home for 3 days. I will then head to Reagan Airport in the morning of July 6th. I will then fly to Guadalajara, Mexico, where I am volunteering at an orphanage that a friend of mine from my '07 mission trip to Peru helped to start (http://laolacasahogar.com/). I will be volunteering at this orphanage till July 27th. I am so excited to see what God does both in the lives of these children that I will be ministering to as well as in my life.
Please pray that God protects me over these many miles as I travel and pray that both myself and all those I work with are effective tools in God's hands this summer. Also, if you would like to support me monetarily in any way (the round trip ticket to Mexico costs $612, also I will need Gas money to drive to and from Toccoa, GA) feel free to send checks to:
Adam D. Parker
40 Black Bear Ct.
Browntown, VA 22610
God Bless you all,
Adam D. Parker <><
