Video Recap of The Ark - Journey Encounter

See more about last week's Journey Encounter here.

"Youths Build Ark, Nail Noah's Story," is the heading over the article that ran this morning in the South Bend Tribunes faith section.

You can read the full article here or read below:

Youths build ark, nail Noah’s story

By ALICE CULP
Tribune Staff Writer

This summer, a group of children in kindergarten through fifth grade built an ark.

Of course, their ark does not follow the same dimensions as the biblical version. Noah’s ark, which was 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet high, was similar to the size of a modern-day cargo ship. Still, the kids’ model is no toy, measuring 70 feet long, 14 feet wide and 18 feet high.

It sits near the parking lot at their church, SouthGate Church (formerly Calvary Temple) in South Bend.

“We decided that the best way for anyone to understand a story of Scripture was to experience it,” says Jerrell Jobe, a member of the pastoral staff.

The adults at SouthGate did a lot of research on the ark before an architect at Forsey Construction Inc. in South Bend drew a blueprint for them. Then, carpenters in the church helped the kids build it.

On Wednesday nights the kids examined the story of Noah from different angles — the history and culture of the time, God’s promises and faithfulness, Noah’s obedience, etc. Then, they worked on the ark — painting and screwing boards together.

“In the beginning they couldn’t even conceptualize how big the ark was,” Jobe says.

In fact, when they stopped work the first night, the kids didn’t feel they’d accomplished anything.

“We told them, ‘Imagine how Noah felt doing this for 120 years,’æ” Jobe says, laughing. “We wanted them to understand how big the ark really was and … that we believe God has a plan and purpose for each and every person, and this includes children.”

The children caught on quickly.

“They really pondered the question: How can (God) use me to change the world? Some of the responses were pretty astounding,” Jobe says. “They have not just said ‘Hey, this is cool,’ but on their own initiative have started to live out these things.”

Sunday, several of the fifth-graders shared their insights with about 500 members of the congregation during an outdoor service that used the ark as a backdrop.

One girl shared that God told her that he wanted her to go into nursing homes and pray for people. So, she got her grandfather to take her.

A boy explained that God told him, ‘I want to use math in your life to change the world.’ He talked to his teacher and is now set up with a tutor.

Another girl says God is leading her to work with autistic children, including a neighbor. A third girl thinks God is asking her to raise money for kids in the hospital. She and her mother are already researching options.

Now that the ark is finished, Jobe says the church plans to leave it up for about a month. Then they will donate the wood to a good cause."

The Ark - Journey Encounter

All summer long, we've been building an Ark. It started as a crazy idea back in the early spring. We were planning out what we would be doing with children on Wednesday nights through the summer. We wanted to take a story from Scripture that could be engaged over the course of 12-16 weeks.

We wanted to do more than merely talk about the story or even extract great moral principles. We wanted to enter the story. Engage the Story. Become the Story. Isn't this one of the main purposes of Scripture?

So we've spent all summer studying the life of Noah. And, what better way to study Noah, then to do what Noah did? So we built an Ark. It's about 72 feet long, 26 feet high and about 18 feet wide. It's built roughly to a 1/7th scale of the original Noah's Ark.

Today, we wrapped up our summer with our Sunday morning service outside around the Ark. The day included, children sharing how God had spoken to them over the summer as the asked God, "What do you want me to do to change the world?" This is a question we had each child ask God... And, the responses have been mind blowing. Today, three of our children shared specific things God said to them and HOW they have ALREADY began to DO IT... Now that's Awesome! It's one thing for God to speak, it's another to actually begin to do it.

As Warren Buffett said, "It doesn't count to predict rain, it counts to build an Ark." So it is with hearing the voice of God...

Also, this morning Shauna Cameron shared a musical composition she wrote. It's a classical rendition of the complete story of Noah. Have you ever thought what the story of Noah sounded like? We'll, her composition is breath-taking. To help us visualize the storyboard of the song, Jennie Grunseth did a visual mime-drama-dance interpretation of the song.




Children were baptized by their parents...

During the drama Dive people jumped off a 15 foot cross...

And, a live dove was released from the top of the Ark...

In the midst of all this, there was space for us to ask God, "How do you want to use me to change my world...?"

We believe He does... He really does...

Below is a slideshow with a few more pictures of the day.

You can also read about this in the South Bend Tribune or see the News 22's video segment on the Ark.

Journey of the Last Meal...

For Centuries, each year around this time, people of God have taken a journey. It's the journey of Passover. Passover, is a meal, but it is much more than a meal, it is a journey that happened, happens and will continue to happen within each of us.

Jesus and the disciples were experiencing this very mean when they were in the Upper Room with His disciples, just before Jesus went to the cross as the ultimate Passover Lamb.

As with many things in the Story of Scripture, places, events and feasts are saturated with multiple layers of meaning and relevance.

This Easter, we are going to participate in this Journey by interactively and experientially exploring some of these multiple layers.

I believe that this encounter is going to serve as an interactive icon that will catapult us into the Story and reality of Easter like never before...

Journey of the Last Meal - March 16th-21st

Sun 5-8pm + Mon-Thur 6-8:30pm + Good Friday 7-8pm

*Space is limited per night, so be sure to make reservations for the day and time you would like to participate*

Journey Encounter - Desert - September 07

This past week, we went on a journey.

We hauled in 51 tons of sand into our gym and turned it into a desert with a 15 foot waterfall and a stream flowing through it.

Something happens when we pull away from our familiar surroundings. We become more sensitive... More sensitive to who we are... Who God is... What He's doing... And, what He is speaking into our life.

This past Wednesday night we designed a desert for this very purpose, to pull away from that which has become familiar and enter into a desert place.

Here are some shots of what it looked like...

If you're interested in seeing the Desert in the making you can see it here.

The Way of the Heart - A One Day Spiritual Retreat

During the 4th & 5th Century there arose a community of people desperate to encounter the Voice of God. They sensed that their daily lives had become so cluttered with business that God’s voice was getting drowned out. As a result, they journeyed to the desert places of Egypt to intimately pursue and engage the Living God.

September 29th we will engage in a similar journey on a one-day retreat to the desert places of the Indiana Dunes.

This retreat is designed to facilitate greater intimacy, rest and attunement to the Voice of God in your daily life. It will be a combination of group facilitation and personal reflection and experimentation.

The FAQ's

• Departure: From Calvary Temple Saturday morning at 8:30am.
• Return: by 5:30pm.
• Lunch: Bring your own bag lunch.
• Register: by Thursday, September 27. (click here to register online)
• Cost: $0.00

What to Bring...

• BackPack: You will want something to put your bible, etc in as you walk about.
• Chair: Bring a light-portable chair that you can carry. You may also want to bring a towel to sit on.
• Food: Bring something to eat, snack on and drink...
• Mp3/CD: You may want to bring a portable Mp3/CD-Walkman with some music that is conducive for you focusing on God.
• Bring: Your favorite writing utensil and small Bible.
  
• Provided: You will be provided a journey guide for the day. The journey guide will outline schedule, activities and have ample space for you to journal.

If you have any questions email me.

"Desert" in the Making - A Sneak Peek

Here's a sneak peek at the making of the upcoming Journey Encounter.

Journey Encounter

Shakespeare said, “All the world is a stage.” Jesus often utilized elements of the world around Him as visuals when teaching. Last spring we engaged a number of questions, what if we could create a journey that would take us through the last hours of Jesus' life? As if we were there... with Him... What would we see? What would we hear? What would we feel? What would a multi-sensory and interactive environment be like...?

With the help of over forty people, we designed eight different spaces, representing eight different places along Jesus' last journey. We wrote a script for the journey, recorded it and edited audio/music tracks to accompany...

The journey started in the Upper Room and ended in the Tomb. Over four-hundred people took part in the journey. The responses were overwhelming. We saw fourteen-year-old boys come out in tears. We saw hardened agnostic eighty-year old men come out showing similar tears. We concluded that for many an environment like this could facilitate as much spiritual formation as a ten week class or small group. It caused us to begin to rethink the context that spiritual transformation can take place.

As a result, we are doing it again. We're actually doing it twice this fall. We're calling it Journey Encounter.

Journey Encounter is a unique gathering where the whole environment is the stage. It’s an atmosphere that engages all of the senses. These journey's will explore the world of Scripture, seeking to encounter God and experience personal/community transformation.

The first Journey Encounter this fall is Wednesday, September 19. The night is going to be called Desert.

Throughout Scripture and even history, significant things transpired in the desert. We believe that God is going to do something just as significant in the desert we journey onto September 19th...

Imagine... Over fifty-tons of sand...a community of followers...and the Voice of God...

It's going to be and experience like no other...