Robin's Thoughts: June 5, 2009

A New Venture: the Impact 2009 Apostle Team
by Robin Anderson

June 5, 2009

“Consult not your fears, but your hopes and your dreams. Think not about your frustrations, but about your unfulfilled potential. Concern yourself not with what you tried and failed in, but with what it is still possible for you to do.” -Pope John XXIII

This Impact is the first to have a full-time outreach team on the road, dubbed the "Apostle Team." They have already been in many schools in and around Saskatoon, bringing the love of Jesus with them wherever they go. They want to see lives changed, to bring “every heart to Him,” as the Impact tag line goes.

The team consists of Larissa Nelson, Ian Anderson, Eloisa Tamondong, Alana Hodge, and Andrew Nobauer. They come from across Canada, from places as geographically separated as Vancouver and Toronto. Their fields of study range anywhere from electrical apprenticeship to music. And yet God has brought them together to Impact the city of Saskatoon. “I think each of us were put in a position that weren’t really 100% comfortable with,” says team leader Larissa Nelson. “But through that weakness, God is strong. I want to see us grow in our service for God, in self-giving.”

Indeed, this theme rings true for the whole team. Each member spoke about their weakness, and how God is using their weakness to help them grow: God is showing them how He can work in power despite their feelings of inadequacy. Says Alana, “I’m realizing the call to love people, whole-heartedly, within weakness; that when I see weakness in myself and others, I’m called to love even more. And this doesn’t just go for the team, but in the kids we’re meeting at the retreats.” The desire for God is not hard to find, says Andrew: “I’ve met people who are searching for truth everywhere we’ve gone.”

Ultimately, says the Apostle Team, it’s not about them: their mission is to proclaim Jesus. “There was a student at the retreat we did today,” says Ian, “and I asked him, ‘What did you think about the sessions we put on today? Be honest with us, how was it?’ And he said, ‘To tell you the truth I wasn’t listening for most of it, but then that one guy’s testimony (Andrew’s) really hit me.’ And he just started sharing about the struggles he’s going through right now.” Encounters such as this one can lead to a person coming to Cornerstone, Impact’s weekly outreach event. “It has been especially encouraging to see some students from an inner city school come out to something like the Cornerstone,” says Eloisa. Many of these students have never heard of God’s personal love for them. The team may be their first introduction to the person of Jesus Christ.

“He’s thirsty for God,” says Andrew, speaking specifically about a student he’s been getting to know since being on the Apostle team. The team knows from experience that this student is not the only one. They will continue to seek out those thirsting for God as the summer progresses: they will continue to see their own thirst for God through the missionary work they pursue.