Student CPx Austin 2010…

“We had our first Baptism last night. He was a gang member and has been hanging out with me and my friends”, was the text message I received from Cameron, an 18 year-old student from SCPx Austin 2010 a few days after he got home. This is one of many stories that we get to hear all throughout the year as ordinary followers of Jesus step out in faith to live out the teachings of scripture. Yes, we are training EVERY believer to Baptize new believers. Yes, we are equipping EVERY believer to make disciples, and start NEW CHURCHES. (Yes, “real” churches. YES, it is their “HOME church”-meaning they don’t ALSO go to another one. =)

There was a lot of freedom being experienced in Austin during Student CPx. Many people were, for the first time, experiencing the love of the Father, and uncovering their true identity as children of God. As this reality hit home they began realizing the most basic commands of Jesus found in scripture. When all the “extra stuff” that has been added to “being a Christian” is removed, and students begin walking in confidence in who they are in Jesus the sense of freedom becomes tangible. You can see it on their faces…

After our session on Baptism and Communion several students decided to get Baptized! So, we did what anyone would do…we went down to the river and had one of their friends Baptize them! Check it out…

Thanks Caryn Werner for taking some LEGIT pics for us!

We spent lots of time in the prayer room worshiping and praying. We encountered the Spirit in fresh new ways all week! The Holy Spirit ISN’T the “black sheep” of the trinity anymore! It’s so cool that we get to “soak” in His presence.

Part of the DNA of SCPx is creating a culture of honor everywhere we are, and everywhere we send students. One of the ways we start creating that culture during SCPx is to pray and impart blessings/prophetic words over each guest who comes to pour into us. This is the students praying over Neil who joined us from Long Beach to teach us about Church Planting Movements and Multiplying Disciples.

We met for dinner one evening at Jon & Cherie Werner’s house where we got a real taste of what “house church” might look/feel like. We worshiped, prayed, & talked about sabbath rest & communion as we celebrated the Baptisms from that day.

Overall, this is definitely a group of world changers. I am super excited to see how God uses them in their individual contexts this next semester, and for the rest of their lives. Stay tuned for more on what God is doing directly in the city of Austin as a result of SCPx. Also, feel free to watch the short slide show of pictures from Student CPx below…if you are inspired by what you see here, and want to sow into what God is doing through Intentional Gatherings and Student CPx then CLICK HERE to give.

Jaeson Ma says…

If you have a heart for the nations then go ahead and start pursuing that heart right here in the states! Start this beautiful journey to the nations by getting some of the “best cross-cultural missions” training in existence!

Click Here to find out some more info about Student CPx! From there you can select a city near you!

Or, GO STRAIGHT TO ONLINE REGISTRATION!

Summer Is Here!

…And you know what that means…things start to get a little crazy around here for us, and our partnering organizations as we come together to put on Student CPx trainings in 4 cities! That’s right, we have SCPx opportunities this summer in San Diego, CA. Austin, Tx. Phoenix, AZ. & Pittsburgh, PA. Intentional Gatherings is responsible for hosting two of these four (San Diego, and Austin). If you, or anyone you know is interested in some incredible cross cultural disciple making/church planting training then SCPx is a MUST!

“Student CPx will be a potent force on the university campus. This endeavor merits our prayers and support!”

– George Patterson, PhD, author of Church Multiplication Guide

“The hottest mission field in the Western world right now is the college campus. If this is an indication of what is to come, we will see another Great Awakening. Everyone should be praying for this emerging movement to spill over into all the domains of society. Come join the party.”

– Neil Cole, Church starter, author of Organic Church

To find out more information about a particular city, click the city’s link above. To register for Student CPx Click Here!

A Moment To Breath…

…Is what I would like, but not something that seems like it will happen-for a few more weeks at least. We have gotten somewhat settled in Austin, but have been going non-stop the entire time. I have wanted to blog so much, but just have not had time. I leave tomorrow morning for SoCal, then return to leave for DFW the next day, home for a week for “Verge” (In Austin), then off to Orlando, FL. (See what I mean?) I did want to post an update about some exciting things coming up:

“iSCPx” (Intro to Student Church Planting Experience) will be held in about 13 cities all over the country between now and March 2010. Brad McKoy from the Student Church National Elder team as well as myself will be in San Diego and Los Angeles this weekend to host the first “iSCPx’s” on the USCD & UCLA campuses. I am also responsible for Orlando, FL. (along with our local contact and friends, Thomas & Lian Day), and Austin, Tx. Here’s some more info. about “iSCPx”:

Imagine a geographic area so strategic, in one square mile you can influence the nations.  Imagine a place where the future leaders of the world live together in temporary communities, open to new spiritual realities and worldviews.  It’s a reality – the university campus.

Now imagine 2,600 university campuses across the U.S.

Now imagine millions of students gathered on universities across the world.

If we reach the campus, we will change the world.

How can we reach these strategic training centers of the world with limited staff and budgets, not to mention declining overall Christian population from year to year on most college campuses?

What if students could do all the works of ministry? What if, — instead of planning a weekly meeting – campus ministry staff could mobilize and mentor students to start 25-50 simple churches across their campus?

A shift has begun across several campuses in the last few years. Churches and ministries have begun sending out students to make disciples on their campus. The result has been a growing movement of student-led churches.

Students preach the gospel and make disciples. They hold 24-hour prayer vigils for the nations. They baptize other students. They pray for the sick. They branch out to unreached people groups and start simple, reproducible churches in dorms, apartments, and fraternities – any area students do life together.

We see college campuses as small nations, composed of multiple unreached people groups. Together with mission agencies and a growing network of friends across the world, we are working to mobilize a student led church planting movement that will influence every university in the world to reach the nations for Christ.

iSCPx is a four hour seminar that will introduce you to the movement.

You’ll be invited to help mobilize student churches on your campus this year.

Does your heart beat for the nations, yet you feel called to the college campus? You are not alone!

Learn the History.

Catch the Vision.

Join the Movement.

To register in a city near you go to http://studentcpx.org

Adventures in Pittsburgh…

We just arrived back from a 4 day planning trip in Pittsburgh, PA. 9 adults and 13 kids piled into one house for the weekend as we brainstormed, dreamed, and made plans for Student CPx stuff in 2010…

(Snow family, Fish family, McKoy family, Chang family, Pam Arlund)

Most of you know about the Student CPx training experiences we host along with several other partnering organizations. Five families make up the SCPx National Elder Team. We host the training experiences in various cities all over the world, with an upcoming SCPx in Costa Rica & our Student Church National Gathering in St. Louis in January. Intentional Gatherings is so blessed to a part of such an incredible team of like-minded brothers & sisters.

We had an incredible time of relationship building & planning for 2010. We have some exciting things in the works for this next year. We made plans for SCPx Training in several cities including Austin. We also developed a plan to visit 12 cities from Jan. 2010 – March 2010 for what we’re calling “iSCPx” (Intro to StudentCPx) where we will meet with students who have heard about the experience, & are interested in learning more about it. The weekend was incredibly productive & fruitful. Not to mention we got to spend some sweet time with some wonderful families who we don’t get to see very often…

View of the lake from the back porch of the house we stayed in. The leaves were changing & it was delicious.

(Olivia Fish, Eliza Snow, Hudson Fish, Graham Fish – SO Cute)

(The kitchen where food was prepped for 5 families-thanks Michelle & Jen!)

(Tried to get a shot of all the kids…apparently Hudson wasn’t in the mood for a photo shoot!=)

(Our little chunky monkey who’s 3 months old and pushin’ 20 pounds!)

We had a blast, and got a lot done. I can’t wait to reveal more details about the upcoming National Gathering, “iSCPx” 12 city plan, and the full length SCPx training experiences that will be hosted in 2010! Stay tuned…