Colorful Community

written by Skylar Baker

Hello dear family and friends, 

The Fellows program is running its course with only a little over two months left. It is such an interesting time for us fellows, we are getting anxious and excited about the transitions of what is to follow the program while also trying to deal with the heartbreak of knowing that most of us will spilt up at the end of the program. If I am to leave the fellows program with anything it would have to be the absolute importance of community. Living life together. The absolute importance of life together is more than necessary for a healthy spiritual life. I am constantly amazed at how I am always learning from those around me, especially those specific ten who are scheduled into my days. I fear that at the end of the program we will have difficulty trying to spend a normal day without each other. I truly believe that God designed us to be communal for so many reasons.

One of my favorites parts about the fellows community is the opportunity we are blessed with on thursday afternoons to sit and listen to a business man or woman who is living out their faith in their workplace. There is something so special about hearing from individuals of different generations sharing their lives with us. A couple of weeks ago Jim Van Eerden came to speak to us, his advice to us was to reach forward and reach back, meaning that there is value in hanging out on the "front porch". By this he meant that we can gain so much by having conversations with individuals from all generations, we can learn so much from those who have come before us as well as those who are pressing towards what the future holds for us now. I loved Andrew's blog post on here last week because I believe in what he had to say about our generation. There is a rumble in young adult christians who seem to be searching for something similar to the fellows program, that there are some of us who hunger for community, fellowship, discipleship, growth, and love. It is an exciting time for us, and I look forward to seeing the different paths we take in which the Lord leads us.

I also would love to share what I got to do this past saturday in Winston-Salem with a couple of kids from my internship. My internship is at Hope Academy, which is essentially a private Christian middle school in a lower income area. Part of my internship is being helpful during the extended day program, and on mondays that happens to be enrichment day. The enrichment class I chose to offer this semester was running club, and to be honest I was a bit nervous about how many kids would actually be interested. I ended up with five kids, and that is basically the limit for each class so I was ecstatic. I showed the five fifth graders a video of the color run and they decided that they had to run it! I was able to get sponsors and we got the kids registered for the race! I started training with them eight weeks ago and they were able to run their first 5k this past saturday! I was surprised at how much fun running can be when you promise a little bit of color. The kids that joined seemed to have a blast....I mean you be the judge...check out the picture below. This would not have been possible without a community, who is supportive, loving, and excited to see where the Lord is taking us. The community that surrounds Hope Academy is absolutely heart changing, and I feel beyond blessed that I get the chance to spend hours with these people every single week. I really wish I could go into all the details about everything that has gone into building up this school and community. 

Another community the Lord has blessed me with this year is Greensboro Young Life, specifically Page High School Young Life. I get the awesome opportunity to hang out with sophomore girls who want nothing more than to ditch me...just kidding...but not really. Even though ditching comes with the territory there are so many more positives that come with being part of this community. These people have taught me so much about discipleship and how to love kids well. As leaders we are constantly pouring ourselves out for high school students because we believe that every single minute we are loving on these kids is another minute that they are getting a chance to find out who Jesus is. I love watching other fellows like Michelle, who go above and beyond the call of Young Life because that is such a testament to their heart and how they passionately want high school friends to know Jesus. This inspires me every single week. A couple weekends ago some high school girls wanted to go hiking and they actually invited me! We went to Hanging Rock which was such a blast and beautiful. The conversations I had while hiking were amazing and they showed me how God is everywhere and in every conversation. I would ask that you all continue to pray for the community here in Greensboro, that the connections can continue to be made, and that the Lord is glorified through it. 

Incredibly blessed by all of you,

The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in YOU; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing. Zephaniah 3:17

Peace and Blessings!

So Your Joy May Be Complete

written by Emma Ball

Hello friends, family & Fellows supporters!

I’m so happy to be able to share with you what has been going on with the fellows lately.  We are currently in Rwanda fundraising mode trusting God to provide the funds we need for plane tickets. The Fellows are also continuing to train for our 10k that’s only two weeks from now (eekk) in Charleston. The amount of snow and ice we have gotten has not helped our training schedule. We are also continuing to learn how to do Morning Prayer and enter into the same type of worship that Christians did hundreds of years ago. I am looking forward to our last two months, soaking in all that the Fellows program has to offer. I cannot believe how fast the last 7 months has flown by!

Even more importantly than what I am doing with the Fellows is what I have been learning. The theme that has been popping up over the past week over and over again is JOY.   The Fellows received a devotional book by Jon Piper about the fifty reasons why Jesus came to die and the entry that stood out to me was entitled “to gain his joy and ours.” God has been teaching me that joy is not dependent on my feeling. Joy is not dependent on my circumstances. Joy is something that was acquired at the cross and is a gift to me that comes with salvation.

Hebrews 12:2 says “For the JOY set before him He endured the cross…” Jesus joyfully took on the cross so that our joy could be complete. That is incredible! I am able to live a full and abundant life because of the joyful sacrifice that was made. 

Joy is jumping on a beautiful beach in Florida,

Joy is endless laughter on Tuesday night dinners,

Joy is playing monopoly when all the power is out,

Joy is cooking dinner together,

Joy is so many things…

But ultimately …

Joy IS Jesus Christ.

Love Always,

Emma Ball

“I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.” John 15:11

An Idealistic and Messy Generation

written by Andrew Edscorn

I have been thinking a lot recently about my generation. This is mostly due to the multitude of articles and books recently about my generation. I wanted to give some thoughts about who we are, and how the Greensboro Fellows fits in.

Every generation has a name and a legacy. There’s the Greatest Generation known for their heroism during World War II. The Silent Generation who fought in Korea and Vietnam. The Baby Boomers who are known for their rejection and eventual acceptance of social norms. Generation X who are described alternately as slackers and entrepreneurs. And finally the Millennial Generation.

We as a generation are still young, so we don’t know what our legacy will be. But there has been a lot of talk lately as what my generation will become. Some are fretting that we are leaving the church. Some fear that we care too much about the phones in our hands. Some are deriding us as “the Peter Pan Generation.” Some are calling us out for not focusing on the “things that matter.” I recently heard a marketing expert describe Millennials as “too idealistic and messy.” He meant this as derogatory, his point was that Millennials should stop caring about intangible matters, and start caring about money, business, and so forth.

However, I take this as a compliment. We as a generation are idealistic. We are messy. We care about human trafficking, the poor, the sick, the environment, and so forth. We want to create a better world, and as Christian Millennials, we want to create a better Church that will serve and minister to this world. Another term I have heard is that we are a “generation of potential world changers.”

And while many are worrying about how to “fix the Millennials,” some are trying to give us the tools to be a better generation, and to accomplish our goals. In the Greensboro Fellows, we are given the tools that we need, and we are taught how to be world changers. Through leadership classes with the Center for Creative Leadership, seminary classes through Trinity and with Elijah Lovejoy, internships and volunteer work with some incredible organizations, trips to different places, and being able to meet with and talk to those who have come before us, we are learning more about ourselves and how and where we are called. Coming up on the last few months of the program, I am extremely thankful of what I have learned in this program, and I feel sincerely ready and prepared for what is to come. I think we need more programs like the Greensboro Fellows, so that Millennials can be truly prepared to be a generation of world changers.

The Greensboro Fellows with Fil Anderson, author of Running of Empty

Unbelievable Community

written by Molly Aldridge

Ever wish life was like a musical all of the time, with people randomly breaking out in song and dancing around? That’s kind of how life looks with the fellows 50% of the time. Since joining the fellows in September, I have danced and sang more at inappropriate times in public than ever before (ex. inside the halls of Greensboro College, walking down the street in every city we have visited, mingling in the inner harbor of Baltimore, the list goes on). So, when we started to think about the Greensboro Fellows Banquet…we decided that the night just couldn’t exist without some form of entertainment for our lovely guests. And being the extremely talented broadway performers than we are, we decided to design our own flash mob to a popular song from the movie Pitch Perfect (if you haven’t seen this movie yet, you should probably pause your reading of this and go check it out). I’m not sure what was more fun, actually performing our routine together at the Greensboro Fellows Banquet, or the hours we spent together attempting to perfect our routine and laughing hysterically.

While being able to dance, sing, and laugh together on stage was a lots of fun, the most memorable part of the night was being able to look out at the unbelievably supportive community that the Lord has built in Greensboro. As the plans for the banquet were underway, Tripp continued to share his vision for an event that would bring the community together; and I believe that is just what happened. The Lord has blessed us with an unbelievable community here. Through our internships, volunteer work, host families, and Church of the Redeemer, we are being showered with a loving and supportive community. In the past 6 months, the Lord has taught me so much about not only walking with Him, but also walking in community with Him. I was overwhelmed with joy on Thursday when I was able to see the people that have walked with me through life for the past 6 months all together in one room laughing, mingling, and eating together. We were graced by the presence of host families, mentors, real families, co-workers, church members, friends, local business owners, Christian organizations, past fellows, bosses, students, and the list goes on. For this community, we prayed that God would open hearts, plant seeds, make connections, and that our guests would feel appreciated and loved.

As the program is winding down (I am still in denial of this), we are all beginning to look to what next year holds. Whether we are attending graduate school, moving across the United States (or world), teaching in the classroom, serving in ministry, or staying right here in our beloved city of Greensboro…my prayer is that we will all seek out this same type of loving and supportive community of believers to walk with wherever the Lord takes us.

I also wanted to share this fitting verse that we read together yesterday during Morning Prayer:

Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Philippians 2:1-2

In conclusion, the banquet turned out to be an amazing event and I am SO thankful for this city and the community that God is continuing to build up and knit together here!