Circuit Riders Day 8

On the final day of Circuit Riders sessions so much took place. It was a really cool day. Throughout the day, there was talk about going to Pirate's Cove to baptize anyone who wanted to give their life to Jesus. I originally wasn't planning to go as I wanted to get dinner because I knew that with having to get up at 2 am the next day, I did not want to go out to eat after the showcase, but I decided to go to Pirate's Cove! This last day was memorable and a great way to finish my time in California. 

The morning session started where we talked about the Great Commission. We talked about our call to bring the message of Jesus back to our communities and to disciple new believers showing them the way that leads to salvation and freedom. We additionally talked about the Holy Spirit. We talked about the importance of living our lives aligned with the Holy Spirit and how he is our advocate. The Holy Spirit is who reigns within us. 

The next thing we did during the session I heard was called either a blessing sandwich or a prayer tunnel. I have done something like that before, but I felt like it was a beautiful image of being activated to go back into our communities. The image I got during this was us doing the prayer tunnel and then starting down a road. Prayer is the start of the road and must continue through this road as it connects us to the heart of God. 

During the Messengers track, I preached a second time to the same group of people, but a different leader. I did feel like the message I shared really applies to the community I am coming back to. We have to be united in Christ to stand for what Christ would have stood for and oppose what is of this world. We also went outside and practiced being passionate about what we were preaching. The goal was to preach to three different types of people: the one who does not seem interested in God, the one who has heard of God, and the one who is so passionate and receptive to the message of the Gospel. 

After Messenger's Track, I decided to skip dinner and go watch the baptisms at Pirate's Cove. I already had lunch left over and I was not super hungry. When I got to the beach, I was surprised by the rocks and how steep they were. I did watch the Jesus Revolution movie, but I did not remember there being rocks. I brought my dinner because I did not expect to have to climb up the rocks. It was cool though seeing the journey that the people went on back in the time of the Jesus Revolution. I then saw multiple people get baptized which was so cool. It was cool to see a place where a revival happened and see people get baptized there. 

We rushed back to the church as we had to be to the showcase in 10 minutes, but were about 30 minutes out from it. The showcase consisted of 2 Messenger track people preaching the Gospel, the Media track shared their social media pages, and the music track shared songs that they wrote. It was truly a gift to see all the hard work and talent that went into the showcase as we were all given a short amount of time to prep everything. God gives us each gift, and when used wisely those gifts can be used in ministry and in worship of him. 

After the showcase was when I said many goodbyes to people because I knew for certain that once I got back to my dorm I would be packing up to go home and trying to get some sleep. I was so blessed by all the people I met. I know that this year I came into the California Circuit Riders trip knowing no one. It was something that seemed absolutely crazy. However, we were all connected by a strong relationship we all had with Christ. I know that these people will be powerful going back into their communities. 

I tried to sleep after everything the best I could. I know that nerves can make it hard to sleep before a flight, especially one I had to be awake at 2 am for. I ended up only sleeping until 1 am, got up and packed away everything else. I said goodbye to the people hanging out in the lounge, got in the van, and was ready to head out to the airport.