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Intersect's Summer 2006 Update

Read here and/or download the full-color version!

Greetings from Grand Rapids, MI!

We trust your summer is going well and we are glad to pass along our Summer Update! Click HERE to download the full-color .PDF!

Hopevale Church EXTEND

In June, Intersect launched it’s first EXTEND with Hopevale Church from Saginaw, MI.  This event was significant on multiple levels.  First, we have updated our training into “Guidebooks” that are graphically pleasing and set for self-publishing.  Our goal is to eventually have four EXTEND tracks that offer a scope and sequence track for students 

Second, Steve and Dan Spors team-taught the sessions.  This is a big step toward Intersect making training material accessible to more training leaders. In the training process, writing material is the first goal.  The next goal is to train your material.  The biggest goal is to have others train your material.  We are excited that we are moving in this direction.

Third, Hopevale’s youth group is led by Mike Garner who was one of our EMERGE Cohort participants.  Mike used the EXTEND material to shepherd his students in the concepts he’s been working through with us over the past year.  In our minds, this is the holistic approach we desire, offering training that compliments both pastor and students.

Finally, Mike, his leaders, and his students, were thrilled with the weekend.  This is what is most valuable to us. You can see some pictures and comments from the students comments on our blog.

We are discovering that Intersect serves the church best thought customized, theological training for youth ministries.  Our focus this next year will be to continue to offer EXTEND training to interested church and groups of churches.  We already have another EXTEND scheduled for October and plan to offer EXTEND up to a half dozen venues over this next school year.  If you are interested or know of others who might be interested in Intersect bringing EXTEND to your youth ministry’s retreat, please contact Dan Spors at (888.877.5928).

Singapore EMERGE

In September, we’re launching our second youth ministry cohort in partnership with the Methodist Church of Singapore. Singaporean youth ministry is very developed in terms of ministry structures and programming. But a group of the core youth ministry leaders there have invited us to join them in addressing the core, more foundational competencies that are needed for longevity in youth ministry. Dave will be co-leading this cohort with Judy Foo, a long-time friend and Singaporean youth director.

CQ Assessment

The natural follow up to Dave’s book, Serving with Eyes Wide Open: Doing Short-Term Missions with Cultural Intelligence, is continued work on Cultural Intelligence (CQ) itself. Through Intersect and the Global Learning Center at Grand Rapids Theological Seminary, Dave is developing an online assessment to help leaders get a personal profile of their own CQ. The assessment and resulting profile will be available this Fall for $35/person. Contact Dave for more information.

North Indian Summit

September 20-22, Intersect will be co-sponsoring a North Indian Summit in partnership with Lifesteps, an Indian ministry based in Punjab. The focus of the summit is to discern what God is doing and desires to do through missional church centers across this vast part of India. Less than one percent of the people living in the urban centers throughout North India are Christians (of all persuasions). Combined with the growing middle class and hopefulness of India playing a growing role in the world economy is the growing pandemic of AIDS (if current trends continue, AIDS in India and China will dwarf the number of lives lost to AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa). We look forward to sharing with you ways you can join in serving Indian churches in responding to what God is doing through them.

Jim Yates update

Jim Yates, one of our current and founding board members, was thrown off a horse at the end of April. Due to a serious spinal injury, Jim was paralyzed from the neck down. We’re praying for a complete recovery and are thanking God for the miracle of Jim and his family’s testimony in the midst of such hardship.

Intersect Goals and Opportunities

•  We plan on developing more materials that will be ready for self-publishing.  Publishing costs can be expensive. If you are interested in donating to Intersect toward a tangible project, please consider supporting our publishing projects so that we can keep our costs to the youth ministries reasonable.
•  We will be at the Youth Specialties Youth Workers Convention in Cincinnati this fall.  Our goal will be to connect with leaders interested in theological training offered through Intersect and Grand Rapids Theological Seminary.  We are slated to train at all the YS Conventions for 2007.
•  We are exploring ways to give graduate credit for our year-long EMERGE Cohorts.  Please pray for this process.
•  We have possibilities for new EMERGE Cohorts starting in Milwaukee, Boston, and Grand Rapids.  Pray for us to discern timing and the best scenario for each potential cohort.
•  Dan Spors will be serving with us another year, fulfilling his residency requirements and completing his MDiv through Grand Rapids Theological Seminary.  We’re thrilled to have him on the team.

Thank-You! 

Thanks for your ongoing support and encouragement.  We value you journeying with us as we seek to serve the church around the globe.

The Intersect Team — Steve, Dave, and Dan

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