Into Eternity...

Many of you have likely learned about infinity in math class.  The basic idea is that any number you can come up with positive or negative can have a number following or preceding it respectively.  Others of you may have discussed infinity in terms of philosophy, such as Hilberts Grand Hotel.  I want to take a moment and think about infinity in relation to time and eternal destination (which is in its nature, an opinion on infinity).

Because of our limited position in time and space, it is hard to imagine what a timeless eternity will be like.  We will be able to praise God literally forever.  Another wonderful thing about eternity is that we will also be able to spend forever with other Christians.  

-tangent story that brings me to this-

God has blessed Kayla and I so much, that it is obvious that we are to be serving Him in Butler County.  He provided a place to rent from an incredibly nice old couple, He provided a car through some friends at church, we got all the furniture we needed and a dishwasher for extremely cheap to free, we got a washing machine for 25$, and a dryer for free.  We responded to a Craigslist ad about a dryer, and I got a call the next day from an older man.  Not recognizing the number, I figured it was one of the dozens of CEF contacts I had called in the past few days so I answered “Hello, Steven Tini, Child evangelism Fellowship.”  The man asks what the organization is, and I explain to him that we are a para-church organization that reaches out to children with the Gospel.  It turns out that he and his wife are both Christians, and they decided to give us the dryer for free.  When we picked up the dryer, I had a chance to sit down with them to thank them for their kindness.  We talked about Moody Bible institute (they listen to Moody Radio), life in Chicago, what I do in CEF, and various other things.  They were very pleasant and it was wonderful to encourage them with what is going on in the ministry, and for them to bless us by providing a dryer.

Kayla and I are so extremely grateful for all the people who have been a blessing to us the past few weeks and months.  In eternity, I will have an infinite amount of time to spend with each person who has been a blessing, an infinite amount of time talking to the people of the Bible, an infinite amount of time hearing the stories of every other Christian through the ages, and best of all, an infinite amount of time praising God from whom all blessings flow.

-Steven

While we are on the topic of eternity, I thought I would take the time to mention something that has been an encouragement to me this morning. Before heading out the door earlier today I took a minute to check my Facebook and I saw a status from one of our summer missionaries that said this:

"So thankful that I have the opportunity to not waste my summer by going places or spending worthless hours at the mall or with friends, but that I'm able to serve God with all my heart this summer. Looking at eternity instead of meaningless things. The reward is SO much greater."

    After reading her status I had to stop and think to myself, do I have that kind of focus? Am I willing to joyfully give up things that give me brief pleasure in exchange for things that will matter for eternity? The very end of her status is really what I need to focus on, and really what every Christian should be focused on: Looking at eternity instead of meaningless things BECAUSE the reward is SO much greater! Lets all try living for that reward that surpasses anything that this world has to offer.

-Kayla

Today is the Day!

Hey Everyone!

    Today is the day! Our first club of the summer starts at 10:30 this morning. Please, please, please, be praying for us today as we travel and teach. As I mentioned before, we have two summer missionaries, but one of them had a missions trip this week and we didn't find out till last minute. Having said that, we have to jump in this week and teach clubs while juggling office work.
    There is a saying that is quite popular among our CEF family that says: Be ready for anything! This is so true-things change last minute all the time and we just need to be ready for it. This is where we really need to rely on God and be willing to go with the flow, otherwise Satan will use it to bring us down and hinder the ministry.
    So in short, please be praying for us today/this week as we try our best to go with the flow and trust God to get us through and to help us get everything done that needs to be. Also, be praying for this children, that their hearts will be open and that the family of God will grow!

                                                                                                                                In Christ,
                                                                                                                                      Kayla and Steven

Praise God!

    We are truly blessed to be a part of the staff here in Pennsylvania. After 8 days of a rigid schedule we are certainly glad to be home, but very thankful for the time spent getting to know the teens being trained, as well as time spent in fellowship with other staff.
    Thank you all for praying for us and the teens this past week during CYIA®  (Christian Youth In Action). We are happy to say that there were no traumatic incidents, we didn't lose anyone, and there were no serious sicknesses to report-Praise God!
    While I am on the topic of praise, Wednesday evening we had open air (open air is when the teens share the Wordless Book with children in public places) at two parks where some churches got together to hold carnivals. Upon returning back to the camp, we had testimony time and found out that we had shared the Gospel with 172 children and 27 of then made the decision to accept Christ!
    So again, we are thankful to all of you who have been faithful in praying for us and the ministry. It was evident at training school that we have a strong army of prayer warriors. Please continue to pray for us as the summer unfolds and we are hit with all kinds of responsibilities.

Pray...

...for our missionaries Becky Shirey and Angelina Gottron that they would stay spiritually strong, safe, and healthy. Also pray that God would speak through them and give them the words to say as they teach all summer.

Becky Shirey and Angelina Gottron at CYIA.

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...for us as we try not to go crazy with all the work we need to do as we concentrate on summer while planning for the fall.

...for us as we try to raise support. Pray that we would be able to raise $3,000 a month. (if you would like to contribute please see the "support team" tab up at the top).

...for our search for a church, that we would find one that we both like and that has people our age (Married people our age would be a plus).

Exciting Things are Happening

Hey Everyone!

    Thank you all so much for your support, encouragement and open arms, welcoming us back to Pennsylvania. We have been so very blessed these past couple of weeks by notes, phone calls, and meetings. It is incredibly exciting to meet people with the same passion that we have-to see children saved!
    We have had so many opportunities to share about CEF already. Last week Steven met with some pastors to share a little bit about CEF and to encourage them to get involved. We also had a meet and greet on the same day where we were able to meet many of the locals and put faces to a few of the names we had been hearing. Today we met with two pastors in an effort to find a church to support a local Good News Club® this fall (yes, summer has barely started and we are already working on things for the school year).
    Also, amid our efforts to become familiar with people and places, we have also been gearing up for CYIA® (Christian Youth In Action) which starts this Saturday and involves making sure our missionaries have checklists finished. We are also teaching a couple classes so we try to fit some study time in there as well.
    I know some of this may seem a little dull to read, but we hope you are excited about what has been happening and what we have had opportunities to do already, because you, as a part of our prayer/support team are what make these things happen.

Prayer Requests

  * Pray for our summer missionaries right now as they prepare for training school starting this Saturday (6/15). Satan is going to try to prevent them from going using any number of attacks. Please pray that they will stay strong, safe, healthy, and focused. Also pray for them as they study their lessons that there would be no distractions and that they would get things done in a timely manner.

*Pray for us as we are also preparing for training school, that we will stay strong, healthy safe, and focused. That we would have wisdom in dealing with any situations that may arise and that our hearts and attitudes would be focused on Christ and mission. Also pray that God would give us His Holy Spirit as we teach, that it would not be our words, but his.

*Pray for the children that God would be preparing their hearts even now.

*Pray that one of the churches we talked to today would come forward and take on the role of supporting Church for a Good News Club this fall in the Mars elementary schools.

*Pray that we would become fully supported so we can continue doing this full-time.

*Pray that we would find a Church to become a part of.

We're Here!

    Yup, that's right-Butler, PA is now our new home! Actually I should be more specific and say  that Prospect is our new residence. Steven graduated on May 18th, we loaded up the truck that evening, and got on the road the next day.
    It has been a crazy couple of weeks, hence the lack of updates (sorry about that...). We dropped our stuff off at our new house, went to Altoona to get a car, throw an anniversary party for my parents, and then we finally made it back to Prospect this past Tuesday. We have finally unpacked the majority of our stuff and this little house is beginning to look like a home.
     Thank you all for your prayers these past couple weeks, for it is evident that we have been showered with them! We are so very blessed to have so many friends who are wonderful encouragements and are willing to cover us in prayer on a daily basis. We ask that you would continued to pray for us throughout these next couple months as we have much to do. Here are a few specific times that we could use your prayer:

Tuesday, June 4th at 1:00pm-Pre-training with our summer missionaries, pray for us as we go over all the materials with them, sign papers, and teach the wordless book.

Thursday, June 6th at 6:00pm-We have a meet and greet to attend, where people from the county are invited to meet us and learn about what we are going to be doing. Pray that many people will come out and that we will find valuable contacts for the ministry as well as possible supporters.

June 15-23- Christian Youth In Action® (CYIA) is going to be taking place all day everyday for those 9 consecutive days. Please cover this week in prayer! Pray for health and safety for both missionaries and staff, for wisdom and knowledge needed in handling any problems that may arise, words as Steven and I teach two classes, unity as we get to know our missionaries and hopefully grow close to them, spiritual awareness and strength as Satan makes attempts to keep us from serving in our fullest capacity, and finally for the hearts of everyone there, both staff and students that we would all be focused on God and our service to Him.
   
And finally, please pray even now for the hearts of the children, that their hearts would be open and receptive to the message they will hear.

    Thank you all, once again, for your faithful prayer and support. God Bless!

                                                                                                                                       Kayla&Steven

Did Jesus Teach Children?

    As a follower of Christ, the goal is to become more Christ-like (through the power of the Holy Spirit of course). One way to do this is to be acquainted with how Jesus lived and acted. When looking at His life, I noticed that Jesus taught adults. This got me thinking. Why do I want to teach children? Why did D.L. Moody say if he could do his ministry all over he would teach children? Why did Spurgeon have a huge emphasis on children and yet to me it seemed like Jesus did not teach children?

    Now, it is clear Jesus didn't ignore children. We are familiar with the passages where Jesus says “let the little children come to me,” or “if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.” When else did Jesus teach the children though? I couldn't think of any. When I Google searched 'did Jesus teach children,' I was discouraged by the lack of corresponding hits beyond the aforementioned passages. After a bit of thought, I realized I was committing a hermeneutical fallacy. I was superimposing my current view of the world onto the Ancient Near Eastern culture.

    When I reenacted the Civil War with the band I was in, I remember learning that music was not nearly as diverse as it is today. Children and adults listened to and enjoyed primarily the same music. Even past music, society was more tight knit and children were often with parents in activities. They were seen and not heard. During the turn of the 20^th Century and into the modern (and arguably post-modern) age the role of children has changed. Children no longer work to support the family, adolescence came into existence, and individuality was explored at an early age. Today we have music and church services for children, teenagers, college and career, adults, seniors, and every subset therein. During the life of Christ, everyone did things together. When Jesus fed the 5.000, it is often noted that this is just the number of men, and that there was likely to be many women and children there as well.

    When I realized that I needed to take culture into play, I instantly recognized the vast number of times Jesus is teaching to children (as well as adults). When he fed the 5.000, he used the lunch of a boy, signifying there was likely children in the crowd. In His saying let the children come to me, there were obviously children around. He took the children from the crowd and blessed them in Mark 10, he healed a woman's daughter in Matthew 15, He cast a demon out of a child in chapter 17, raised a child from the dead in Mark 5, and used a child from the crowd to show His disciples that “whoever receives one such child in my name receives me.” Even during Jesus' triumphant entry into Jerusalem, we read in Matthew 21:15 that the children were “crying out in the temple, 'Hosanna to the Son of David.'

    Children were very important and present in Jesus' ministry. He certainly taught the adults, but His ministry to the children should not be overlooked. As Jesus taught the children, I too seek to show the children their present need of a Saviour.

What Color is Heaven?

Today’s Good News Club® (GNC) brought me back to Sumner Elementary School, the first location I ever taught GNC.  Over a year ago, the group had well over 30 bubbling energetic students.  Today’s club had 7 children who had all changed a lot since I had last seen them. I was honored and excited that they all still remembered ‘Shaggy’ (the endearing nickname GNC and non-GNC students alike gave me because of my goatee).

I had my lesson prepared and was excited to teach the kids about Jesus turning the water to wine and trusting Him to be their rock (Isa 26:4) in whom they can trust.  As I remembered, they were extremely curious and were constantly asking questions. I taught about how we pray to God and ask Him for things, like asking God to make moving easy for them instead of a possible selfish mindset such as asking Him to not let the house sell so they won’t have to move.  One boy asked me if it was wrong to pray for help on tests.  I was thoroughly impressed by the thoughtfulness and practical implications of the question.  It is questions like these that let me know that the students are truly taking in what I am saying and thoughtfully processing it.
The Bible talks about the faith of a child.  While children are not burdened by the worldviews every person develops during life in culture, they are not unintelligent about what they believe.  

My ‘weak spot’ in teaching is my desire to answer questions.  Today while teaching I fielded questions on and off (at least I have no idea how they connected the question to the discussion at hand) topic.  They wanted to know if it was a sin to drink, because surely Jesus wouldn’t promote sin.  They inquired about Jesus’ status as God’s son.  Is Jesus God and separate from God as God’s son all at the same time? (I gave the best explanation I could, but let them know that at the end of the day even the brightest theologians end up like this when thinking about the Trinity:

(Mind Blowing)

.  One girl asked what color Heaven and Hell were. One asked if people repent in Hell would God save them?, Did Satan kill Jesus?, Where did Satan come from?, Where did bad spirits come from?, Does the Signum Crusis (Sign of the cross) do anything?, and a few more.

It is at times like these that I am reminded to stay curious.  Even at a Christian equivalent of an Ivy League school I need to be inquisitive.  God is mysterious even after leaving the entire Bible for us to study and learn about Him. As growing Christians, may we never stagnate in our search for understanding of God, His glory, His nature, and all other doctrine.

-Steven