Faith’s Summer Ministry Teams Prepare for Action
February 16, 2021
By Malachi Williams, Student Writer
In 1940, Omaha Bible Institute sent out its first ministry team, composed of three brothers and three sisters, to share the gospel and minister to churches in the Omaha area. It was a milestone moment in the history of our institution. Over the past 80 years, our college has sent out dozens of ministry teams to minister to various schools, churches, conferences, and camps.
Ministry teams and names have changed over the years, with everything from the Choralaires to Voices of Gladness. This year, Faith is preparing two teams for summer ministry: The Contenders and Team Impact. The two teams, under the direction of Joey Young and Brenda Hendrickson, will be preparing and training students through various workshops on counseling, discipleship, teaching, and preparing skits and monologues for presentation at the camps.
The purpose of our summer ministry teams is to develop influential leaders within our students as they serve in a life-impacting ministry that will require:
- An intense passion for people
- An extreme devotion to the Word of God
- A constant desire for serving others
The Contenders, under the leadership of Seth Thompson, will be working at Iowa Regular Baptist Camp (IRBC), helping with counseling, program directing, services, games, and the presentation of the gospel. The team consisting of Seth Thompson. Carson Odle, Tyler Carsen, Karina Fritz, Samantha Peterson, and Lydia Trygstad have been working together and building a teamwork ethic and bond for the ministry. Thompson stated that he is most excited to “see a different camp and how they do ministry.” When asked how this ministry compares to other ministries he’s served in at Faith, Thompson (who has served in many various aspects of Faith ministry such as Chorale, Chamber Choir, student leadership, and Uplift) stated, “I don’t think you can compare this ministry to the others. Each of the ministries I have been involved in has all been unique and spiritually maturing.”
Team Impact is a renewed ministry team that is being sent out to different camps across the country. Sawyer Gogerty will be leading this team throughout the summer. Team Impact members include Sawyer Gogerty, Christian Banks, Jessica Stilwell, Becky Sturgis, and Brittany Whitcher. Team Impact was designed to allow a select group of Faith students to minister to churches and camps across the country through discipleship and counseling ministry. It will help build useful ministry skills that can stay with them far beyond their time in the program. When asked what he thought was most important in preparation for the summer, Gogerty stated:
“Building unity and service among the team. You must be unified as a team and be able to serve well together.”
Both teams have received training from great teachers and professors, instructing them on different methods and skills that will be beneficial to the team. Sponsor and director Brenda Hendrickson said of the teams:
“I love coming alongside the students with purpose, that we’re working together toward a common greater goal, and growing in Christ together. I love that aspect of ministry. Having a group of students I get to work with and build personal and spiritual relationships with is something I cherish. I love getting to invest in them and seeing the fruit from this ministry at the camps and in the students’ lives. I hope this stays with them, and they can use the skills far past graduation.”
Faith’s summer ministry teams have helped promote the mission of our institution for 80 years and have been an illustrative example of our school’s motto, “With the Word to the World.”