Thanks to all the participants and coordinators for an awesome week!  We worked on 20 sites.   We know that you all made a huge impact on the lives of the residents and neighbors.

We raised $1056 for North American Church Plant Student Ministries this week!

Be sure to become a fan of World Changers on Facebook.  We give out tons of prizes over the course of the year, and you can stay up to date on details related to World Changers as well as hear what God is doing in and through the lives of other World Changers!  WC Facebook Page

Pray that these students will continue to see God working not only in their lives, but in their churches, schools, cites, and world.  Clearly these students are passionate about serving Christ and we know that this week in Fort Walton Beach is only the beginning of a lifetime of world changing.

After a morning at the work sites painting, landscaping, pressure washing, and roofing, Fort Walton Beach World Changers had an awesome opportunity to interact with people from the community at the block party at Chester Pruitt Park, including residents of the houses they are working on and local families.  Several local churches worked hard to plan this block party and it was a success, with bands, a church dance group, basketball tournaments, volleyball, inflatables, a slide, a dunking booth, and great food.  We all got to hear a message from NFL wide receiver E.G. Green and World Changers speaker Dave Miller.

Photos from the Block Party and Worship:

Participants have donated $1056 to the missions offering for Student Ministry Church Plants in North America.  It is exciting to see World Changers students giving so other students can have a youth group to be a part of.

Participants also filled and brought 29 shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child.  These will provide gifts of school supplies, toiletries, and toys to children in need all over the world.

E-couragrams will no longer be accepted.

You can see pictures that were in the newspaper of Fort Walton Beach World Changers in the Northwest Florida Daily News.

After another day of hard work at construction and ministry sites, the participants took part in the Concert of Prayer. It was awesome to see the students praying for the residents of the houses they are working on, the people they have met in the community, the city of Fort Walton Beach, their youth group, their school, their hometown, and the nations.  Students were shown a map in which light represents the presence of evangelical Christians and the students prayed for people groups living in spiritual darkness.  They were asked to consider further mission work in the U.S. and around the world.

“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” -Jesus, Matthew 5:14-16

Arising and eating breakfast at 6AM, our Fort Walton Beach team was prepared and equipped to do the work of God at 7AM.  Armed with first aid kits, water coolers, cups, paintbrushes, rollers, and the power of Christ, the courageous students mounted their vans and drove off into the sunrise as the Summer Staff waved them goodbye. This was The Great Send Off.

Students were hard at work on ladders painting and doing landscaping despite the heat.  These students are clearly dedicated to serving Christ by serving the needy in this city.

Tonight in worship our speaker, Dave Miller, taught us that unless God’s going, we are just wandering.  Today’s Scripture passage was:

Then he said to Him, “If Your presence does not go with us, do not lead us up from here.
For how then can it be known that I have found favor in Your sight, I and Your people?
Is it not by Your going with us, so that we, I and Your people,
may be distinguished from all the other people who are upon the face of the earth?”Exodus 33: 15-16

Welcome to World Changers in Ft. Walton Beach, Florida!

The Florida Summer Staff team is excited to meet all 275 of our participants and get started on some awesome construction and community projects.  We are going to have 16 sites this week to show the love of Christ by being his hands and feet.

We look forward to meeting all our coordinators.  This week, our Project Coordinator will be Jack Lister, our Construction Coordinator will be Bill Cramer and our Associational Coordinator will be Hershel Adams.

Meet your summer staff (left to right):

Your Missions Communications Specialist is Kelly Prater from Appling, Georgia!  She majors in art at Samford University in Birmingham, AL.  She enjoys walking her labradoodle, playing flag football, and drawing the beach.

Your Office Manager is Caitlyn Griffin from Longview, Texas!  She is a senior at Letourneau University where she is child psychology major.  She likes organizing, long walks on the beach, and singing in the shower.

Your Audio Visual Technician is Jonathan Cisco from Memphis, Tennessee!  He studies Graphic Design at the University of Memphis.  He enjoys surfing and rafting through glaciers.

Your Music Leader is Brandon Anderson from  Laurel, Mississippi!  He is a senior at William Carey College majoring in history.  He loves his guitar, Ava Marie, screams in his sleep, and used to drive a motorcycle.

We are all so excited to see how God is going to use all of us- participants and staff- for his glory this week!  We look forward to meeting you on Monday, July 11 at the Northwest Florida Fairgrounds in Ft. Walton Beach!