Saturday - Monday

It's been a full few days since we left Grace Bible Church in a fleet of vans early Saturday morning and began the twelve hour trek to Salt Lake City, Utah. Here is a recap of what we've done so far!

SATURDAY

Saturday was a travel day—and that's about it. The drive from Fair Oaks to Salt Lake City is about 9.5 to 10 hours long. Ten hours in a car is one thing, but ten hours in a giant van with 9 other teens is another! The travel day was a great opportunity for the teens to hang out together, build some team camaraderie, and have some fun before the busy week began. We made several stops, including one at the Bonneville Salt Flats which was quite the experience!

After a long 12 hours of travel, we arrived in Salt Lake City. It's a beautiful place, a green valley nestled up against the Wasatch Mountains. We arrived at our hotel and settled in for some rest after a long day and in anticipation of a busy week!

SUNDAY

Sunday was a rest day, an opportunity for us to recover from the long hours in the car the previous day and to get ready for the long week ahead. We worshipped with Gospel Grace Church in the morning and enjoyed a message on Jesus as Prophet, Priest, and King from Deuteronomy. After lunch (with Jesse and Joey Kush!) we drove up to Park City, Utah, to explore the Olympic Village that was made famous during the 2002 Winter Olympics. We had a blast playing on a large ropes course (basically an adult jungle gym), touring the Olympic Museum, and watching freestyle ski jumpers launch themselves into a practice pool. It was a long but fun filled and active day.

After a brief rest at the hotel, we went out to dinner and then, over gelato, talked about the week and what to expect. The youth leaders encouraged the students to be present and engaged during our timer here, to block out the distractions and commit themselves to the work God has for them to do. We prayed together and asked that God would prepare our hearts and give us the strength we would need. We made it an early night with an an early start Monday looming.

MONDAY

Monday was our first full day of PLANT Camp. We arrived at Gospel Grace Church at 8am and got to meet the other teams that we will be partnering with this week. It's a diverse group from all over the country, all students ready to work hard for the Lord. The pastors of Gospel Grace welcomed us and talked about their heart for Salt Lake City, one of the most unchurched and spiritually dark cities in America. It was inspiring to see their heart for their city and how God had worked to form the team that planted this church not too long ago!

After this introduction we went as a group to tour the mormon temple and temple grounds that in many ways make the city so famous. The temple and grounds are shockingly beautiful, grandiose, and immaculately clean. Everyone there is kind and eager to talk with anyone who comes through. Yet, as we were walking through the temple grounds we were struck by the heavy emphasis on the external. Everything and everyone there looks the part, yet in conversation it becomes clear that there is great tension and contradiction in their beliefs. We spent the lunch hour debriefing our time there and the interactions we'd had, and were reminded that mormonism is a false gospel that elevates the self and diminishes the work of Christ. It was a very sobering time.

We also talked about the makeup of the city, which has grown increasingly secular—and less mormon—over the past two decades. The city is a strange amalgamation of the secular and the hyper-religious. Really, it is full of lost people who need the gospel. That afternoon some of the leaders of Gospel Grace went over their strategy for reaching these lost people, which they describe in three steps: 1) Inform, 2) Serve, 3) Proclaim. We spent some time getting to do all three! We passed out water bottles to people in the park (it's over 100 degrees here!), hung door hangars, and invited people to backyard bible camps, all the while seeking to engage in gospel conversations. It was a great opportunity for our students to get outside their comfort zones and talk about the gospel with total strangers.

That evening, one of the pastors of Gospel Grace Church preached a message to us from Isaiah 6 and reminding us that when we see God as He truly is, it should cause us to confess our sin and cry out to Him for forgiveness. He encouraged each one of us to honestly confess where we are at with God and to receive the forgiveness He has offered in Christ. We closed the evening with a prayer walk around the city, praying for our own hearts, our group and home church (go GBC!), and for Salt Lake City and asked that God would use us to spread the gospel this week. We went to bed tired but ready for the rest of the week!

Till next time,

Team STMI SLC 2021