STEP Stateside: Excursion to Chicago
Many are not aware that the STEP (Summer Training Evangelism Partners) program offered by the Church of God Youth and Christian Education department sponsors student groups to mission sites within the United States as well as to other parts of the world. Participant Brad Schalk offers this assessment of his experience to Chicago earlier this summer:
Our experience during the Chicago STEP trip was a very positive experience. Our group had never been on a mission trip before, nor have we gone away and evangelized at other churches like we had the opportunity to do during the trip. What we came away with was a deeper relationship with Christ, a strengthened faith, and new fire burning within us to reach out and help people in need. Not everyone at the mission’s that we were involved with were grateful for the work and the help that people provide for them, but when you hear the testimonies of men who were struggling with abuse in their past, drug addictions, alcoholism, and contemplating suicide, and you hear them talk about how Jesus Christ has literally saved their lives, it is truly amazing.
It was also amazing to see how God worked in the services that we were able to lead. It seemed as though God had strategically placed each of our speakers and our dramas in the right position at the right time, and the response from the young people who we were in attendance was awesome. We had a young man from our group who hasn’t even spoken in front of our youth group, get up and share his testimony in front of over 200 people. The Holy Spirit was prevalent in the altar calls and we got to see people’s lives getting changed. That same young man in our group made a remarkable quote regarding his testimony, he said: “We think that we are speaking words, but when you see people at the altar on their knees, you know that God was behind it.”
We appreciate the opportunity that the STEP trip provided and we give thanks to God for using us and allowing us to minister to the people of Chicago. It was an amazing experience and we also thank God for opening our eyes to his plan and his purpose for our lives.
Brad Schalk
