For the past three years we have been on a discipleship journey, through iDiscipleship. We have approximately 400 students that are actively participating in the discipleship platform. It has been an amazing journey.

Sometimes the books we read can be difficult to get through (hello, Ezekiel)! Recently we read through the books of I & II Kings. Those are two books that I really enjoyed reading, because of all the stories. Kings has great examples of people who served God, and examples of those who did not.  In I Kings 5 &6, we read through the story of Solomon building the temple of God. I am always amazed when I read that story. If you are able to, I would love for you to put this newsletter down, and go read those two chapters.

Solomon spent seven years building the temple. He worked on getting the best laborers, with the finest materials. Nothing was to be spared for God’s temple! He made agreements with neighboring kingdoms, contracts with skilled laborers, and trained those that needed training. This temple had his highest priority. What struck me was the intricate detail that he put into the design of the “inner sanctuary” (6:19). He used fine woods and craftsmen to build the outside of the temple, but once he started on the inside of the temple, the word “gold” became standard! Everything was forged in gold, gold overlaid, or beaten gold. It was also very precise with the size and spacing of everything in that inner sanctuary. He held nothing back!  While the entire temple was a creation of art, and was built with great care, the inner sanctuary was crafted with great precision.

While I was reading this passage, I was drawn to the fact that we are all the “temple” of God. God has created us in His image, and the N.T. tells us that we are the temples of the Holy Spirit. Solomon gives a great picture of how we are to develop our inner sanctuary! See, he spent a great amount of time in the detail of the inner sanctuary, which was a place that would only be seen by the select few – the high priests and God!

See, too often in our world, people focus on the exterior. We want to make sure that we look like we are close to God on the outside. We want others to think that we are really spiritual, and that we have our act together. We spend so much time on the exterior and we totally ignore the interior. Whereas, the interior is our holy place! It is the place in our lives where God dwells. My question for all of us is simple: Are was as concerned with making our inner sanctuary a place where God would want to dwell as we are in making the exterior something pleasing to look at? Do you spend time preparing your inner sanctuary to be a temple of the Lord?

iDiscipleship Launch :: Sept 1

The 2012-2013 season of iDiscipleship is set to launch on September 1, 2012.

Last year, over 400 MKs used the iDiscipleship platform to read a total of 56,000 chapters of the Bible!  iDiscipleship is more than a reading program.  It is a website that allows students to come together from anywhere in the world, track their Bible reading, engage in small-group discussions, share prayer requests, keep a private journal of all they are learning and so much more.   Originally developed to help MKs have Bible studies together online, iD is now open to ANY group of students who wants to commit to reading 3-4 chapters of the Bible each week — youth groups, Royal Rangers and Girls Ministries, Sunday School classes, and more.  Your group can join with hundreds of other students for a powerful and unique discipleship experience.  

Go to www.iDiscipleship.com/newsletter.html for more info.  

MK Office says Goodbye to Brianne

The MK Office sadly says goodbye to Brianne Smythia on Wednesday, March 14th. If you are in the Springfield area, stop by the MK Office this Friday, March 9th between 2-4:30 PM.
Brianne has been with the MK office since July of 2009 and has left a happy smile on the program that will not be forgotten. In her time here, she has served as the Resource Assistant and has been the primary point person for all college-age MK ministry. She also invested countless hours to bring the ISMK a brand-new fresh and updated look.
She leaves us to return to her home state of Ohio and pursue further education towards her masters degree.
Brianne, we wish you many blessings and days filled with "sunshine on your shoulders." Thank you for your contribution to MKs around the world!

Beginning 2012

The month of January went by so quickly! It is hard to believe that we are in the second week of February.  So much has happened. January started off with a retreat in South Africa. We were honored to have Steve Pulis preach to our youth, Jay Risner lead our elementary MKs and dynamic ladies from Texas and Kansas head up the younger programs.  Thanks to their hard work the retreat was a true success!

The last few weeks in January were filled with packing and unpacking boxes. We moved the MK Office down the street! Even though we still have the same mailing address, the MK Office has relocated to the corner of N. Campbell and W. Lynn in Springfield, MO. It was a lot of work, but well worth it.

Summer program preparation has begun. We are having a design contest for our summer t-shirt! Click here if you would like details on how to enter. The deadline is March 1. There are so many talented MKs; we are excited to see what they come up with.

Please keep us in your prayers. The season ahead is exhilarating! We have various college visits, an MK caregivers conference, a Task Force to Costa Rica and so much more coming up.

The Clock Keeps Ticking

Time has been flying by. It seems like only a few days ago we were in the middle of Thanksgiving Retreat! In reality, that was a month ago. The memories of retreat are still fresh in our minds. Jon Susa did an amazing job of sharing the Word of God.  His encouragement to follow the dreams God has given us was invigorating. The facilities were incredible. The campus layout was perfect for our MKs to enjoy themselves and the meals were delicious. We were even told by one MK that the meals were the best she had had in her life. Overall, it was a phenomenal retreat! We are very grateful to those who helped make it possible. 

One of our greatest delights is spending time with the MKs. The new year is shaping up to be quite exciting in this regard. We will be at the South Africa Retreat in early January. After that, we are off to visit MKs across the United States. If you are ever in Springfield, MO, please feel free to stop by our office. We love it when MKs visit us! 

Christmas is just 4 days away and the start of 2012 is only 10 days away. We pray that your holidays are filled with family, new memories and tasty meals. Enjoy a merry Christmas and a happy New Year!