living church
We gather throughout the week in this building, and live throughout the state. We are the living church, out there. This page is dedicated to tell the stories of the people that find friendship, growth, and fellowship in the people of Berean.
Featutred Story
Logan | Apple Valley High School
I’m Logan Moorse and I’m a senior at Apple Valley High School.
This year our football team had high hopes from day one. We wanted to be a team that everyone remembered for years to come. It turned out that our coaches and classmates will remember us forever, but probably not for the reasons we had originally expected. We opened up the season an extremely experienced group of guys with a lot of talent. Thirteen of us were starters last year. We started just as we had hoped; winning the first three games, even beating cross-town rivals, Eastview – business as planned! After that we had multiple players that were a large part of our success, go down with injuries. From that point on we could not pull it together for the rest of the season.
Luckily that’s not what we will be remembered for. The reason we will be remembered is for being the first Apple Valley High School football team ever to hold chapels the night before every game, the first team to pray before and after the game on the field, and the first team to come together as brothers in Christ. It was amazing to watch my football “brothers” taking time for Christ. Some of them for the very first time, and others revealing their faith, like me. The last four months have been about so much more than football. They’ve been about 70 members of a family coming together to do everything in their power to leave their mark on a school and a community. Our slogan for the year was “Unfinished Business”, and although we didn’t reach all our goals athletically, we set a completely new standard for our school spiritually and I’d take that outcome every time.
There’s nothing like sitting in the locker room next to your teammate praying the night before a game and then playing next to him the following night, putting your heart, body, and wellbeing on the line for the next three hours. The trust you gain in those people is an opportunity that comes around so few times in a lifetime
When someone on your team gets hurt, is laying on the field for twenty minutes, wrapped in blankets and not moving it is pretty intense. At that moment not only did my entire team kneel and begin to pray, I looked up and saw many in the student section praying also. It was then that I realized I was part of something big. It’s those moments that make you realize that it doesn’t matter about the score or who wins the championship. Those things will be forgotten faster than most of us will realize. What will be remembered is the type of team we were and the relationships we made along the way. The last four months have truly been the time of my life. Even though the season was full of both joy and adversity, I wouldn’t trade a single day of it. Through the Lord our team changed lives. I am proud to be a part of that.
You may be wondering what ended up happening to this team. We finished the regular season a disappointing 4-4 and after an opening round playoff win, we lost in the section semi-finals. As hard as that is to swallow, knowing what a difference we made puts everything in perspective.
Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men. ~Colossians 3:23
-Logan Moorse
Featutred Story
Carol | Farmington
During the last school year, my seventh grade son came home very excited to tell me he'd invited a friend to Wednesday night Junior High Fusion. Joining in with his excitement, I asked him where his friend lived. He followed by telling me that she lived in the mobile home park that is right next to the development we live in. That night we went to her home, met her mom and grandmother, and took her to Fusion. This was the beginning of a long-term relationship with her and her family.
While filled with love, this family's home was clearly suffering from the effects
of poverty. I was sure that God had directed us to them, but I didn't quite
know what He had in mind. I felt drawn to help them but hesitant to force
myself into their lives. I didn't want them to ever feel judged by me because
I was offering assistance. Occasionally, an opportunity would arise to donate
some of my daughter's hand-me-down clothes or pay for dinner for their daughter.
They were always very thankful, and giving blessed me more than it could have blessed
them.
My parents called me one evening to ask if I knew anyone who would like an almost
new sleeper sofa. Immediately, I thought of the special family that lives
near me. Two of their boys were sleeping on the floor each night on a small
air mattress. When I called them, they were very happy to say yes. That
week was a busy one for me, and I couldn't get over to my parents to pick it up,
but God was very clearly revealing to me that He wanted more from me in this area.
I felt powerfully drawn to this entire neighborhood, since, really, it is an extension
of my own. It broke my heart that this kind of poverty was in my own back
yard, and I had closed my eyes to it for so long.
My passion spilled out in conversations with my neighbors, and it was contagious.
Everyone I spoke with felt the same way but didn't have a connection to reach out
to help. The following weekend, I left on a mission trip to inner city Chicago.
Talk about poverty … the entire trip had a profound impact on my spirit.
I felt an even stronger desire to reach out and really start something big when
I got home. Even the students on the mission trip were fired up to jump on
board with me.
When we arrived at home, I met with the Student Ministries
staff at Berean (I'm one of them.). During
the meeting one of the other staff members mentioned that she and her husband desired
to do an outreach in a mobile home park near my home. My jaw dropped.
God was working in her heart, too? We met later in the week and I told her
my heart's desire for this community. I wanted to be a contact person for
the mobile home park, someone they could call if they needed something. I
would then get the word out for volunteers, funding, whatever it took to meet their
need. I explained to her that the only thing I didn't have was knowledge in
web design to set up a web site for this venture. A couple of days later,
a friend at work told me about a new ministry that was beginning in another area
of our church. I was able to contact that ministry pastor, and you'll never
guess what it was … a web site for people to register their needs or for
people to volunteer to meet needs (giveyourselfaway.org).
Can you believe it? I'm still reeling. I didn't know yet how I'd fit
in this whole puzzle, but it was so clear that God wants me to be a part of it.
Later, I was able to deliver the sleeper sofa with my husband, son, and dad.
My dad, the king of all handymen, brought his tool box and was able to do some repairs
to their home. The grandmother broke down in tears of gratitude, awed that
someone would do this for them. It's hard for her to understand the motives
behind the generosity, so I just keep telling her that God has blessed us both.
I continue to meet other families living in the area with deep burdens and needs.
My heart is broken for them and continues to be driven to serve the need right in
my own back yard.
H
e IS awesome.
-Carol Bolin
More Stories on the living church coming soon. Stay tuned...
