Embedded Files
On-the-field Ministry Partnerships
On-the-field Ministry Partnerships
Many hands make light work.
October 2022
Praise God with me for some amazing partnerships! Lauren and I are constantly on the lookout for what God might be putting in our way to do this work well. Even though we are currently few in number, staff-wise, God's storehouses are limitless!
I want to use this space to highlight some of the ways in which God has blessed this ministry, filling in the gaps where needed.
Volunteers
Volunteers
As I have mentioned before, God has blessed us over the years with many amazing volunteers who show up to our events ready to serve. They come to training events, carpool students to where they need to go, engage in conversation with our students... they just do so much and we are eternally grateful for their effort and praise God for them constantly.
Some of our volunteers and staff at a training event.
We do have many volunteer partners who are involved to varying degrees. Some show up when they can or open their homes when possible to serve these students well; some come to literally every event and are involved in the planning and training; many others are somewhere in between. We are blessed and grateful to have every single one of them and are always excited to bring on more. Many times when Lauren, Rebecca, and I have felt as if we wished we had more staff, our volunteers are always ready to swoop in to make it work. Praise God with us for these dedicated workers.
Cru Staff & Students
Cru Staff & Students
Our Bridges team is embedded on a Cru campus ministry team, which I've heard can come with its own pitfalls and complications, but we feel ridiculously blessed to be on this team. The passion I hear and feel from the non-Bridges staff for the Bridges movement is moving and empowering in a way that I might feel lost without. This staff team is constantly asking us what we need, platforming us when possible, partnering with us at every turn, supplying our needs, and giving us much-needed direction. They often show up at our Bridges events and just start helping. We truly are one big team.
Finally! A photo of our whole staff team!!
The local Cru students, as well, do such a great job of rallying around the ministry of Bridges. I can't tell you how many times Cru students have come up to me just to tell me how much they love what Bridges does, how "cool" it is, and asking if they can get involved somehow. And believe me, we do get them involved. These students are excited at the opportunity to put the Gospel into action by loving and serving international students on their campuses.
Photos from our 2nd International Dinner. Cru Student Leaders came and cooked and hung out with our international students. What a beautiful partnership!
Church Partnerships
Church Partnerships
3 members of Daybreak Church came to cook the meal for our first International Dinner
Our most active church partnership is with Grace City Church. Ever since being introduced to GC, they continue to prove how invested they are in Kingdom work and in making sure we have what we need to do our work well. These guys give financially, regularly spotlight our ministry in their Sunday announcements and even let us speak on stage, but probably the biggest piece of this partnership is how many of our volunteers have come from this community of believers. Lauren and her boyfriend Mike go to GC every Sunday and Gloria and I have been frequenting it as well. It's so great to see these volunteers and co-laborers every Sunday.
As I mentioned in the photo above, the 3 guys in green shirts on the right of the photo are on the mission board of a church called Daybreak Church (located 30 min. north of UCSD). This church is excitedly jumping on board to help us in the ministry of International Dinners. They want to see it be a success and have offered to financially support this endeavor and are creating a way to get their church body involved to volunteer, coming to cook and clean and hang out with the students. We breathe a sigh of relief knowing that this amazing community is behind us.
When we were in the planning stages for the Bridges International Dinner events, we were desperately looking for a space to cook the dinners and maybe even to host them. We struck out a few times while reaching out to some churches and even trying to test out some house ideas. Then, a friend who works for InterVarsity here in San Diego pointed me to a church called Torrey Pines Church, which is only a 5-minute drive from UCSD. Being the impulsive guy I am, I just showed up to the church unannounced. I ended up talking with a pastor named Guy. We talked for over an hour and had a lot of fun chatting about ministry and life. At the end, he smiled and told me that they would be excited to partner with our ministry in this way. I have had multiple conversations with them since then and they continue to show themselves to be open-handed with God's blessings. They are truly living out the call to be blessed to be a blessing, considering what they have to not be their own. They don't need us to cause people to come to their church, they're not asking how this can benefit them in any way. They only ask, "How does this grow the Kingdom?"
Praise God with us for partnerships with churches that give so freely and generously.
Sam Davis has focused on international student ministry since 2010 and is on staff with Cru and Bridges International in San Diego, CA. His passion for leading others into a close relationship with Jesus is shown in his general love for people and focus on discipleship.
Sam and his wife, Gloria, love to travel, meet people, eat great food, and hike.
Google Sites
Report abuse