Category Archives: Updates
Snowing in Loris?
I’m visiting Loris, South Carolina, and it’s snowing. WHAT?!?
Growing Up
In all honesty, I’ve been discouraged by my expectations. I suppose this is because I am an approval seeker, but hear me out. I was an “A” student in high school. I graduated seventh in a class of 276, even after taking three AP courses my senior year. However, I get here and my GPA tanks. I could blame this on plenty of things, but, in reality, I saw it coming. So I’ve struggled. The bad news is that our culture has trained us to expect instant results. Therefore, everyone (including myself) would have expected this to be taken care of. Seems simple enough. The problem is that, in the last year, I discovered that I have a lot more problems than just academic discipline, and my academic standing is a mere side effect. In other words, my grades aren’t going up until I take care of everything else.
Just over a year ago, one of the most respected students on this campus looked me in the face and told me something that threw me off completely: “You still act like you’re in high school, which is understandable, since you were just there. But this is college. It’s time to grow up.” Needless to say, I was offended. I suppose you could even say I was appalled. But a couple of weeks went by, and I began to realize that he was actually right. It rocked my world. I was supposed to be the mature one in my church. I was the one who went off to seminary to do ministry. Yet, suddenly, that was out the window.
That wasn’t all. A couple weeks later, I came to the realization that I’d never dealt with my past. This was odd for me, but I realized that there’s a difference between coming to terms with your life and burying it completely. Then came the obsession with girls. Yes, you all called it. Was it fun? For the most part. Was it beneficial? Anything but. Then, the grades for fall semester came in, and it was all downhill from there. I could keep going, but I don’t have much of a desire to bore you with how sinful I am.
Needless to say, this became overwhelming. It was like pulling up a root and then realizing that this root led to a massive oak tree. Where do you even start? At first, I had no answer, but it wasn’t long before I began figure out that I needed to focus on my relationship with Christ. So I began to fight for that. Hard. This turned out to be a battle of epic proportions; an uphill struggle on a mountain covered in rattlesnakes and grizzly bears (a weird analogy, but hey, it works). The worst part? Being told that maybe I wasn’t cut out for college, based solely on my grades. Allow me to clarify that I know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that I need to be here. Why? Because you know you’re called when you can’t possibly see yourself doing anything else.
I’m guessing you want a happy ending. I have one; it’s not what you expect though. I’m still struggling. I struggle every day. In my personal opinion, you won’t grow if you don’t struggle, and you aren’t honest if you cover it up. Jesus said that the weak will be made strong, and that the humble will be lifted up (see Matthew 5). Hence, I bleed here before you, so that I might be brought to my knees in brokenness and humility before Christ.
Here’s my happy ending: a few weeks ago, I was at NC State for our usual Tuesday night evangelism trips (which have had a phenomenally positive impact on my life, as a sidenote). That week, I was with Josh Reid, undoubtedly one of the most respected students at Southeastern. This has very little to do with him being Doc Reid’s son, and very much to do with his trademark as a solid man of God. There are very few people, in my personal experience, who can strike up a gospel conversation with a complete stranger with the same ease as Josh. And, as we were walking around campus, this same guy whom God had used to flip my world upside down a year ago turned to me and said the one of the nicest and most encouraging things that I have ever heard: “Dude, you grew up.”
So no, not everything is in order yet. I’m definitely not perfect, and if I tried to portray that here, I would be lying. Yet God is working in me with great patience, reminding me, as Doc’s daughter Hannah put it last week, that He already views me as perfect because of His redemption. My encouragement to you, then, is not to lose hope. Sometimes, it will feel like you’ve produced nothing, simply because no one sees it. God does though. He knows your heart, your strengths, and your weaknesses. Persevere; endure for the sake of the gospel. That’s what we’re called to anyway.
“‘Cause I’m addicted, I’m needy, I’m lost without You…”
The Almost
“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”
Romans 12:1-2, ESV
Late Night Thoughts
Well, I guess it’s technically early morning. So basically, I think God showed up in the most unexpected way humanly possible. I can’t explain how quite yet, but I’ve been thinking hard on this and I’m pretty sure that God’s rekindled something in my life. I just hope it doesn’t die out. Pray for me please.
“My God, where have I been? Where have I been?” -Underoath
An Introduction to Campus Life at Southeastern
So since it’s easier, a majority of my posts will probably be videos now. This one was actually recorded two weeks ago so I have more to say, but here you go.
It’s Been a While…
Well now. It is extraordinarily late, so I will be cutting this rather short. Hopefully this will stop becoming so sporadic. Honestly, I’m not even sure if anyone will be reading this, but I have no idea. Anyway, my circumstances have adjusted slightly since I last posted. The summer is over, and I have not been working with Mission Raleigh for about four weeks. Instead, I am attending college in Wake Forest (just outside of Raleigh) at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, to study to become a youth pastor. Before I go into more details on that topic, I will recap the summer in a sea of emotions (or whatever you want to call it).
The summer of 2009 was arguably the best summer I have ever had. This was not due to my new found independence or the thrills of a new location. It was beyond a shadow of a doubt due to the fact that God repeatedly showed up this summer. All credit goes to Him, without Whom this would have been completely impossible, not to mention a waste of time. I witnessed love in a way I never expected or imagined. Having been to Mission Raleigh the past five years for week-long trips, I can honestly say that I did not expect it too be much different; I merely expected it to be longer. I was impossibly wrong. I built relationships with kids that I will never forget as long as I live. For example:
On my last day I went to Raleigh North in the afternoon, as I always had. A girl of about nine or ten, whom everyone knew as “Mama,” was there as always. Throughout the summer, she had developed a nickname for me: “Cloby” (pronounced “Clobby”). I am still struggling to remember how that came about, but nevertheless it stuck and became my new name among the kids. On that last day, as the kids finished their crafts, she approached me with her’s. It was a paper plate on a stick with pipe cleaners that resembled the face of a cat. I told her that I liked the theme of red, white, and blue, and then proceeded to ask her what she named it. Without hesitation, she told me that she had named it Cloby. She then handed it to me and told me that she wanted me to keep it. It is currently sitting in my dorm room upstairs. It was everything I could do to keep from becoming emotional. It was such a simple, seemingly minuscule gesture, yet it meant the world to me because I knew that I had made a difference in her life.
Throughout the summer, it was such incidents that reminded me of the importance of what I was doing. I was eternally impacting a bunch of kids who, for the most part, weren’t used to being shown any love, let alone the love of Christ. Looking back on this summer, there are plenty of things I could have done. I chose to invest a small percentage of my life into the souls of others, simply because Christ commissioned us to do so. By no means do I consider myself a saint, because I’m not even close. I fail by human nature, but God still used me, Colby Davis, to impact the lives of others. He didn’t need me at all; someone else would have been just as sufficient (or perhaps even more so). Yet He chose me to do His Good Work. That’s the only rationale I can give you as to why I did it.
To be honest, I think I learned even more from the kids than they learned from me. I learned that the materials of this world are simply that: materials. These kids were content with what they had, which was much less than me. They sought after love and affection, while we seek after money and power. It was very eye-opening, to say the least.
I departed on the first Friday of August with my own team from Maine. The drive was lengthy, yet extraordinarily fun. By Tuesday, I was on my way back to North Carolina in yet another vehicle. Unfortunately, my car had broken down the previous day, so instead of following my parents down I rode in the Pathfinder with them. The NSO Weekend was rather busy, and I found little time to be bored. However, I quickly made new friends and grew to adore this school. My classes have been very intriguing as well, as I am learning how to connect every aspect of any subject to the Bible. We have already had some incredible times together and have begun to form a what might resemble a rather dysfunctional family. Throughout the year, this blog will hopefully be posted with thoughts, stories, quotes, events (such as the recent Nerf Raids), and the like. Feel free to keep watching for more updates and such, and also look me up on Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter. At this moment, I am nodding and must now retire to bed. God bless you all! I love you and am keeping you in my prayers. Please do likewise as I am trying figure out how to pay through college and keep up in my studies. Thank you very much!
In Christ,
Colby
On a side-note, I will apologize in advance for any spelling or grammatical errors, as I am very tired. Peace!
A Message to Water’s Edge
So I will have my next update up soon, but I wanted to add this as soon as possible.
Catching Up
Alright, so this week was probably the best week I’ve had so far, as well as the most intense. It had nothing to do with the team, or the staff, or anything else along those lines, but instead the sites. The week started off fairly rough with a couple of overnight break ins at Raleigh North. Later on in the week, we had to cancel Kids Club there once again because there was a gunman in the area. I wasn’t there, but it still took a toll on all of us, namely Scotty B. It has become clear that Satan is not comfortable with us being there and is doing everything in his power to stop work at one of our largest sites. Please be praying for Raleigh North and the kids there. That includes their protection and ability to attend Kids Club. The kids love us being there in a way that I couldn’t even begin to explain, and having to cancel twice in two weeks has been devastating to them just as much as us. However, God is still in control and continues to remind us of that.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, we were able to start work on a site that we have not touched in at least a couple of years. Meadow Ridge had nine kids on the first day, and that number did not increase much throughout the week. However, I saw God work there in a way that threw me completely off balance. We had about the same amount of youth as kids, and that opened up an entire new type of ministry there. As a result, Ariel and I will be going to Meadow Ridge every Monday to run Youth Nites (Mission Raleigh’s term for youth group). We are thrilled beyond belief that God has given us the opportunity to do this and cannot wait to get going. I also may begin to improve my football skills a little bit (but not likely). And yes, I am aware that I said “Brookside” instead of “Bradford Crossing” in this video. My bad. :D
My other site this week was Bradford Crossing. I have not been there since last year and was very excited to go see the kids. I was amazed at how well the kids already knew the Bible and was able to witness first-hand a prime example of God at work. On Thursday, we had Kids Club at the community pool and had a blast doing it. The kids loved it too, and we were even able to teach them about Jesus walking on water and how Ariel is incapable of doing so, despite her best efforts.
The team this week was Jason Engle’s team from Westwood Baptist Church in Roxboro, NC. I did not witness much from them on the field due to the fact that they went to different sites than I did, but I was able to catch three of the guys before they left for their take on the week’s events.
Before I close, I will throw in a few sidenotes. First of all, for those of you who will be joining us soon, please do not be frightened by the criminal activity that is taking place here. This is not entirely uncommon, and Scotty B. does his absolute best to assure the safety of the teams. He will not put a team on site if he feels that there is any danger whatsoever, and there has never been a single incident with the teams in the fifteen years Mission Raleigh has existed. Second, be sure to continually check the videos section of this website, as not every video I post will be displayed on the home page (for example, there will soon be a video of Jason getting drenched by the staff). Third, by request, I will soon be adding some videos that may be of interest to upcoming team members, including a message from Scotty B. Fourth, I am fully aware that some of the photos are duplicated. I have no idea how this happened but fixing it would, as of right now, be a waste of time, so I apologize. I’m also aware that some of them are sideways, which is my fault, and I apologize for that as well. Last yet most importantly, please continue to pray for the kids we have and will encounter, as well as the staff. This has always been a crucial part of Mission Raleigh, and we try to keep it that way. So please set aside a few moments for that when you get a chance. It would be greatly appreciated.
Next week, Jasper Rains, the former youth pastor of Hollis Center Baptist Church, will be bringing a team from Missouri with the help of Aaron Chapman. Please begin to pray for these guys as well, and I will do my best to keep you posted.
I have one final story that I wanted to share that is not entirely related to Mission Raleigh, but Kendall and I were very excited about it. This morning, Scotty B. gave us a list of things to pick up from BJ’s for the kids on site. He told us that we could take care of it during the weekend, and so we planned to do it tomorrow. However, after leaving the mall, we decided to take care of it then because BJ’s was right nearby and we had the truck. As we were leaving, a man approached us and randomly asked what we were doing with all of the juice and Pixie Stix. He then asked if we could do him a huge favor. He had just purchased a grill and was unable to fit it into either of his vehicles, and he had noticed that we were driving a pickup. So we loaded the massive grill into the truck and followed him to his house. In the process of loading and unloading, we were able to tell him about what Mission Raleigh does for the community. He seemed very interested in it and was blown away by the fact that two teenagers would put aside time for a bunch of inner city kids. Before leaving, we mentioned Mount Vernon Baptist and told him to feel free to contact Scotty B. if he ever needed anything at all. It was clearly God who had us go to BJ’s at that exact moment and meet a complete stranger who needed Jesus just as much as anyone else. Please pray for this family as well in hopes that today impacted their lives in a powerful way.
Anyway, this post has become extraordinarily long, so I will close with saying that I love you all and appreciate all of the messages and calls you have made. I will do my best to respond to these as well as keep you updated with what is going on in spite of my busy schedule. Praying for you all!
In Christ,
Colbs