Christian Adventurers

Reaching Youth for Christ

Mark's Message

By Mark McKinney - March 20, 2024

As someone who coaches basketball and soccer, one of the things that my players will hear me talk about quite often is the word “vision”. When I speak of this, I am often talking about the ability to see the court or field, but it’s also the sense of anticipating what will happen next. Players who have this or seek to improve in this area normally do well and help the team tremendously. Needless to say, vision is not only great to have in sports, but is essential in life as we all depend on the ability to see, whether it is for reading, driving, etc.

Just as important, is the vision God wants us to have for our life and ministry. Without a vision for what God has called us to do, it would be easy for us to “settle”, not seek to grow, and easily miss what God is doing around us.

Vision, although quite similar, is different than mission. Our mission is what God has called us to do. Vision is how God wants us to go about it. The words “dream” and “faith” are often associated with vision. Someone said if your dreams don’t scare you, then they aren’t big enough.

On Tuesday, April 23 we will be having our annual banquet and auction (see the next page). You will notice that we are not having our usual guest speaker. This is because we would like to take a little more time to share the vision of Christian Adventurers with you. In the past we have often felt rushed to try to convey all that God has put in our heart for this ministry to do. Many of you have asked us to take more time to do this. We are excited about sharing this with you!

One other thing I tell my players when I speak to them, is that I not only want them to listen to me with their ears, but to listen to me with their eyes. I want them looking at me when I’m talking. So much is communicated not only verbally, but visually as well. Then I will tell them to listen to me with their hearts. This is because I try to speak to them from my heart, and I want to connect with them, and I want them to be open to what I am saying.

I hope and pray that you will plan to come out on Tuesday, April 23rd for our banquet. Come not only to see and hear what God is doing (currently and over the past 43 years), but that you will come with open hearts and envision, along with us what God can do in the future. We are seeing God do some awesome things, but we are believing God for greater things in the coming days. We want you to hear the stories of young people touched by God’s grace, and we will be honoring those who God has used in this ministry over the years. I think it’s going to be a special time. You don’t want to miss it!

The exciting thing is, no matter what we dream or envision, God can do more than that! His word says “Now unto Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us” (Eph. 3:20). Let’s dream big!

 

Mark’s Message

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 As many of you know my dad passed away recently. He was a man who lived over 81 years and drove a truck until the truck company he drove for closed at the end of this past February. He had lived a long, healthy life, but for the last 3 months, he struggled as his health failed and he passed away due to cancer. I want to thank all of you who have called, sent text messages, emails, sent cards, and have prayed for me and my family over the last few months. As good of a man that my dad was, I believe he only came to know Christ in his final days. I am thankful for the hope I have in Jesus that I will see him again one day. This gift of God’s grace has given me great comfort. 

       There are a lot of ways I and others see my dad in me, but since he only came to know Christ in his final days, I can’t say he was one who influenced me the most spiritually. However, God saw fit to put other Godly men in my life when I was younger to help teach me, train me, encourage me, admonish me, believe in me, mentor me, love me, and simply be there for me. People like Don Lyerly, Steve Hinton, Charlie Churchill, Bruce Readling, Gerry Steedley, Eddie and Gene Beacher, Steve Roberson, Phillip Thomas, Grady Ingle, Steve Foster, Garry Baldwin, and Mark Stewart. I can’t even begin to tell you how at some point one of these men have impacted my life. There have been countless others who have come alongside of me to encourage me or speak words of life to me that have given me hope. 

       As I remember each of these men, or fortunate enough to get to spend time with them, I am always reminded that all they did was pass the baton on to me to give to the next person in the race. Obviously, those men were very influential in what I am doing today. I wouldn’t be here writing this article if it weren’t for their influence. The men on that list aren’t as young as they used to be. Some are retired or nearing that stage in their life. More and more I see the importance of taking that baton and following in their footsteps. I need to be looking to do what these men did for me, and what Paul did for Timothy and instructed him to do when he said in 2 Timothy 2:2 “And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses, entrust to faithful men who will also be qualified to teach others”. This is our goal at Christian Adventurers. Thankfully, I am seeing this in some young people who have been a part of this ministry (our summer intern, Abby Martin being one). We praise God for that. 

       Is there a young person out there that you can speak an encouraging word to? One you can love? One to help not only believe in themselves but more importantly help believe in an all-powerful  God who can take something little like a few fish and loaves of bread and do a great miracle with what they have if they only will offer it to God? You never know how God will use your words, your time, your giving to impact someone, and you may never know the impact that person will have for eternity. 

Mark

“Now to him who is able to do far

more abundantly than all that we

ask or think, according to the 

power at work within us”

Ephesians 3:20

Mark’s Message

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The Covid-19 situation has brought about a lot of changes in how we do ministry
and quite honestly has often been a hindrance. Therefore, I feel thankful more than
ever when we can carry on with things as close to normal as possible. One way
that has been possible for me is to be able to coach a few of our sports teams. So
far this fall, I’ve had a fall league basketball team, and school soccer and
basketball team. It is my goal with all these teams to share Christ with each of these kids and be a
positive influence in their life. God has given some good opportunities through this to share His
word. Although I’m still limited in how much time and all that I can do with these kids, I know
God’s word isn’t limited. It will accomplish its purpose and will not return void.
I love coaching, and to be able to share God’s word in that setting is one of the reasons why I
enjoy it so much. However, it’s also seeing young people grow in their sport, and if they are
fortunate and talented enough, to be able to win a championship at the end. There’s nothing like
watching a team as they celebrate. Seeing the joy and happiness on their faces brings about a great
feeling. Our Soccer team was able to do that this year, and it was great seeing the guys celebrate,
parents take pictures, and so forth. Surely championship teams are excited about a championship,
but I think it’s more than that. They have been on a journey TOGETHER. Sports gives you
something else that has been missed by so many during this pandemic. That is the idea of
camaraderie. It’s a sense of family. It’s a band of brothers (or sisters) who have been together on a
journey, and they have trained, pushed each other, picked up, and encouraged one another along
the way. Some of the strongest friendships are formed through sports. You often hear the thing a
retired player misses the most about playing, is the locker room. It’s that togetherness, sense of
family that we were created for. The bible calls it fellowship.
In addition to the sickness, and deaths Covid-19 has brought about on so many, there is the
emotional toll it has brought about as well. I saw a special report on the news recently that talked
about the suicide rate since the start of the pandemic. It spoke of the suicide of a young teenage
boy. His parents were interviewed, and they said they had no doubt that if their son was in school,
he would be alive today. Regardless of this one specific case, there is no doubting how important
it is for us to have the fellowship God created for us to experience. This is one reason why we recently offered a time for our mission team to come together. It’s why God doesn’t want us to give
up meeting together as some are in the habit of doing (Heb.10:25). The writer goes on to say
it’s so we can encourage one another as we see the day approaching. In these difficult days
when there are so much disagreement and divisiveness, it’s our desire to give that encouragement to
the young people God sends our way, and share the hope of the abundant, eternal life that comes
through Christ.

Mark’s Message

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What a crazy couple of months it has been. The pandemic has definitely rocked our world, to say the least. Thankfully as Christians we can place our feet on the rock that is Jesus, and He will give us peace as we focus on Him. He is the rock eternal, and we are to trust in Him (Isaiah 26:3-4).

One of the things it has reminded me of is how fragile life really is. It’s easy to live like we have many more years on this earth, but in reality, we don’t know how many years we have left. Moses prayed that the Lord would “teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom.”

We need that wisdom to see the opportunities that God gives us. It’s easy to blow them off because of business, apathy, or sometimes we are simply just too selfish. Someone said opportunities are like sunrises. If you wait too long, you will miss them.

Right before the pandemic hit, we had our first mission team meeting/training. It was probably the largest number of kids we’ve ever had show up at a first meeting and was going to be our largest team ever. The energy in that room that day was great as people were excited about the opportunity to serve this summer on a mission trip.

Now because of the pandemic, those trips have been canceled. I’ve thought of the older kids that were at that meeting that day who were looking forward to the trips. Due to college, jobs, and life’s circumstances, this summer may have been their last opportunity to go on a trip with us.

We are still working on doing more outreach locally as things continue to open up. Hopefully, some of those kids will be able to join us. Pray for us as we seek to do as Paul wrote in Ephesians and Colossians, “to make the most of every opportunity”. As I wrap this article up, I think of another verse that Paul penned about the opportunity. It’s Galatians 6:10 that says “Therefore, as we have an opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.”

So many of you lived this verse out in helping us with our drive-through meal and online auction. We had no idea what to expect, but God’s family sure “made the most of the opportunity to do good.” We had so many people respond by ordering food, sponsoring a table, donating auction items, bidding on items, as well as those who came to volunteer their time to help serve the meal. You blessed us incredibly, and a simple thank you doesn’t seem to do justice to the gratitude we feel in our hearts for your acts of kindness during this trying time. Please know how grateful we are for your heart to serve and help us reach the many young people we serve. We couldn’t do it without you.

Mark

Mark’s Message

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Crazy times we are living in for sure! It’s unlike anything I or many of us have ever seen. When I think about Covid-19, it intensifies some of the things that so many teens often struggle with. Honestly, it could even describe a lot of adults as well (including myself). These struggles and trials are a reminder of the importance of what God has called us to do here at Christian Adventurers, and why so many of you are partners with us in this ministry prayerfully, and financially.

One area that comes to mind is Fear. There is so much out there (media, etc. some factual, some not) that if we aren’t careful it can paralyze us. When we think of fear, so much of what we are afraid of is really the unknown. It’s one of the great weapons of the enemy. Whether one is afraid of physically getting the disease, or if their family will have enough money (with parents out of work) to pay the bills during this crises, these are thoughts and emotions that can control their life and ours if we aren’t vigilant in fighting against it. The virus aside, I often encounter students who are afraid to pray out loud in front their friends or tell someone about their faith. Many are afraid of being rejected, or maybe not being able to follow through on their commitments to the Lord. I John 4 says “God is Love”, and verse 18 says “there is no fear in love, but perfect loves drives out fear…”. It is our goal to show and share that love with people young and old here locally as well as on our mission trips. Because of God’s grace and your help, we’ve have been able to do that with kids and adults throughout this area as well as in 3 other states.

Another reason this time is so hard for students, and people in general is because so many feel isolated. Even in the day of social media, there still is something about face to face time and being with your friends. Being social (not just on a media device) is how God created us. Some are more social than others, but we all were created for relationships. We were not created to just for ourselves, but for the good of others as well. One of the great things about Christian Adventurers is that God has allowed us to provide an avenue, and a “safe place” for students to come together to build positive, godly friendships. Whether it’s through our weekly meetings, our sports teams, or through our mission teams, we see friendships that are eternally impactful and last a lifetime. Most importantly, we praise God for many who have come to know the greatest friend anyone could have and that of course is Jesus. He is the one who will never leave us nor forsake us (Heb. 13:5).

Lastly, a big struggle during this time and in the life of a teenager is that of the future. I keep hearing questions like “when will this end?”, “will we go back to school?”, “will we be able to have a graduation ceremony?”, “will I be able to start college on time”. Many already struggle with life decisions such as college, a future mate, or simply facing the next day or “are my parent’s going to make it?” Obviously, we can’t predict what tomorrow holds, but we do tell them about the one who holds tomorrow. It’s more than a cliché, it’s the truth of God’s word (Ps. 139:16, Job 14:5, Jer. 29:11-13). God has a plan for them. One of hope and a future. This hope is not just for this life, but for all eternity if they put their faith in Christ alone for salvation (Eph. 2:8-10). This is the message of hope God has given us. We so appreciate all of you who continue to stand with us through your prayers, encouragement and financial support. It allows and assists us in sharing this life changing message during such troubling days. We know these are challenging times for all of us. If we can be of assistance to any of you (especially our senior citizen friends), please do not hesitate to call us. It would be our privilege to serve and help you anyway we can.

Mark

God Answers Prayers

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Throughout scripture, we see where God not only encourages us to pray to Him but that He will also answer us. I think of Psalm 91:14-16, Jeremiah 33:3, Matthew 7:7-12, and John 15:7 just to name a few. I know that many prayer promises are conditional. If we meet God’s conditions, then He will answer our prayer. We serve a very gracious, and loving heavenly Father, who wants to bless us.

One of the ways He has blessed us this summer is by answering our prayer for more workers. As you can tell from this newsletter, we have a couple of summer interns (Jonathan Lunceford, and Josh Stewart) working with us this summer. In addition, we also have Jordan Tate who is now part of our full-time staff. Praise God for answering our prayer for more help!

These guys have already been such a blessing to us, and a huge help. They will be keeping busy this summer with our 3 mission trips, plus 4 local camps, and our weekly local ministry with a group of young men. There is no way we could do these things if we didn’t have them.

So many of you have been faithful to give to this ministry, and some have even supported these men in addition to what you already give financially. I thank you for investing in their lives, and in the many additional people that we will be ministering to because of them. I am already seeing the profitable return of your investment with the additional ministry that God has given us.  Ultimately, it is an eternal investment that thieves can’t steal, nor will moth or rust destroy it (Matthew 6:19-20).

I want to finish this short article with how I started. Considering how God answers our prayers, I ask that you please pray for the numerous lives that will be touched by these guys (along with Chief, and myself) sharing God’s love and the good news of the gospel with them.

 

Mark

Dream Big

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I don’t know a lot about Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the first female African president, but I like one thing she’s famous for saying. She said “if your dreams don’t scare you, then they aren’t big enough. The size of your dreams must always exceed your current capacity to achieve them”. What you see on this page is a drawing of a gym someone did for us. It’s long been a dream of ours. We have plans drawn up, the land has been donated, but it is still far beyond our capacity. However, we are still dreaming and believing. Some may say it’s not possible, but with God all things are possible. It’s not only possible, but it’s needed. When you go fishing, you want to go where the fish are biting. If someone wants to reach kids, then they should go to the local gym, ball field, or local park. It’s hard to get something like this off the ground, especially with all the ministry we have going right now and are planning for the summer. This may be our busiest year yet! I could take up the rest of the page with all God is doing through this ministry. That is why we are in the beginning stages of forming a building committee to make this gym a reality. There are several ways you can be involved. You can serve on the committee, pray, give monetarily, donate your services, or share the need with someone else who may be able to help us. I know we have a way to go to make all of this happen. I look forward to the day when the gym becomes a reality. When that happens, we will all stand back and give praise to our all-powerful, faithful God.

The Lord of the Harvest

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Jesus said in Matthew 9:37 “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few; therefore, pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” I continually see the truth to this verse more and more (I know I referenced this verse before in my article). This summer I have definitely seen the truth of this verse. First, I am thankful for the plentiful harvest that God gave us on our trip to War, WV. We saw so many pray to receive Christ as Savior (28 to be exact)! It was so incredible how the Lord was speaking to people. All praise to God, because after all, like the verse says, I have been praying for quite a while that we would have more help in reaching this great harvest. I am thankful for how God has sent us Josh Stewart this summer to work with us. He has been a huge blessing to us and the guys we work with. I am asking God to give us someone like this in a full-time role. Please pray along with me for this. We have also seen so many come to be a part of our mission teams this year. If you have given up on the “younger generation”, then you need to spend some time with over 50 young people who signed up for our mission trips this summer. They have been the hands and feet of Jesus. It was great to see them at work in War, and I can’t wait to see how God uses them in Southport.

In closing, I want to give God praise for answering prayer in providing for us a newer shuttle bus. It was great to have this for our summer mission trips, and the local activities we have going. I was thinking as I was riding back from War, how good the folks at First ARP in Burlington had a part in those kids accepting Christ. They were so gracious in selling us their shuttle bus. The bus was full going up there and back with the mission team, and it was full every day of the camp picking up kids. I am thankful for their vision in wanting to see a harvest of young people come to Christ.

~Mark~

Mark’s Message

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Coach Mark's team

Mark’s Message

One of my favorite stories in the bible was when Jesus took the lunch of a young boy and fed over 5,000 people. The young boy didn’t have much, but what he had, God took and blessed it.  It became more than enough and with that He performed a miracle.

Miracles often happen when you least expect it. This miracle happened when God chose to use what a young boy had. It happened even though the disciples said it was the wrong place and time (Mark 6:35). Miracles happen when we don’t humanly see a way through an obstacle. They happen often in spite of our well-meaning human efforts. Too often we think things depend on us. Yes, God wants us to do our part, but ultimately God is in control. Circumstances may not always look the best, but they are no match for an all-powerful God.

Such was the case this past April during our annual banquet and auction. Since we had Brandon Jacobs as our guest speaker this year, we wanted to maximize his time with us and offer a football clinic for kids. We were able to do this on a weekend, and therefore we had the banquet/auction on a Saturday night. This is the first time we have had it on a Saturday in a very long time. It ended up not being the best night to have it as we had so many people who couldn’t come. It wasn’t the right time. Ever heard of Haw River? Not exactly the metropolis of Alamance County. Our crowd was smaller than last year. Even though we had a ton of great auction items, we didn’t have as many as we had last year. On top of that I was getting messages throughout the day of people who had planned to come to the event, but couldn’t at the last minute. Sounds like the perfect time for God to show forth His power, and that’s exactly what He did. He took what we had, and helped us raise the most money ever for our banquet/auction. It was amazing!

The great thing about this is, I get to see this kind of stuff a lot. It’s not just about fundraising, but it’s about changed lives as well. It could be a young person accepting Christ as Savior on a Monday night or seeing a young person on a mission trip let God use the gifts and talents they have to point a child to Christ. I see it every day in my life.  I am nothing, but He is everything!

Mark