My Father's House

My father takes down barns for a living, and he built the house where I was raised. I grew up with 200-year-old beams over my head and wood floors under my feet that my dad laid himself. He used such detail in everything. It was a perfect setting amidst a forest of white birch overlooking a pond.

I know what it means to build a house, the work it took. My dad’s hands and face bear the marks of his years spent building. He built a place where we could rest and be ourselves. After all, isn’t that what makes a house a home? It is a place of freedom—to come as you are.

Much like my dad, we too are building a house, but one for the Lord. Haggai 1:8 says, “Go up to the mountains and bring wood and build the temple, that I may take pleasure in it and be glorified.” God is calling us up, away from our own personal building projects, into the hidden mountains of our hearts to build Him a home where He can rest and come as He is.

He asks us to bring only our humanity and recognize the magnitude of what He accomplished on the cross for us. Because those two things—who He is, and who God has made us to be—bring Him glory.

Let us be meticulous in our caring for this house. The Scripture doesn’t say, “Let God come and build,” it says, “You build.” The Lord is glorified through the labor we invest into building our lives as a habitation for Him. Just as the house my dad built was beautiful in its completion, so too will our lives be. He is worth it all!

- Laura Swift, Second Year Student

2010 Class Trip

Pinecrest's annual class trip was held this year from April 23-24. The class trip is a special time for fun and fellowship among the Second and Third Year students, as many of them will be graduating and moving on from Pinecrest in May.

Friday, the group visited the beach at Long Island Sound and had a barbeque at student Evan Bolton's house. The night ended with worship around a bonfire.

"It was nice to have some time away from the campus, but to still meet God in the same way," said Third Year student Ashley Dedee, who was also excited about tasting salt water for the first time at the beach.

The group then headed out bright and early Saturday morning for a day in Boston. The bulk of their time was spent doing a photo scavenger hunt throughout the city. The students broke into three groups and were sent off to get pictures of the teams performing tasks such as "sitting on a fire truck," "getting handcuffed by the police" and "fitting everyone into a phone booth." The scavenger hunt proved a great way to see the city and mingle with the locals.

"Boston is easily one of the friendliest cities in America," stated Third Year student Chris Hannan. "I'm glad I got to visit it with this group; they really made the trip worthwhile."

Second Year student Stephanie Polivka said it was the most fun she has had in the last two years: "We got to meet so many people and pour out what God has poured into us."

Internship Report

During this previous summer and fall, I was able to do an international internship to Kenya, Africa for five months to help teach and work with local churches. It was such a blessing for me to be able to take what I have learned here at Pinecrest and my own previous experiences and go out and bless others.

While in Africa, I worked mainly with the PEFA Organization (Pentecostal Evangelistic Fellowship of Africa) and their local churches in the Southern Nynzia Region of Kenya. I travelled around speaking and participating in different churches, open air meetings and crusades.

I was also given the privilege of teaching math and science at Pinecrest alumnus Peter Midodo's primary school, Joy Schools International, and I was able to start an introductory computer class that will continue to give the children an opportunity to use and learn about computers.

I would say that the greatest thing I received from my internship experience was an increase in my own faith in God's faithfulness. He was faithful in so many practical things, such as giving me the words for preaching even 10 minutes before I was to speak, keeping me healthy and safe throughout my travels, and connecting me with and providing for me through the people there. There were times of hardship, trials and difficulty, though which God was always with me, but there were also many times in which God moved in miraculous ways that could only have been attributed to Him.

- James Culver, Third Year student

James and Pinecrest alumnus Peter Midodo

Coffeehouse

Pinecrest held its annual coffeehouse on April 1, with students, staff and faculty enjoying desserts, music by Emily ('09) and Gabriel Whittaker...and of course, coffee!

Anahi and Mayumi

Tori

Benson

James and Evan

Rebecca and Christa

Emily Whittaker

What is Your Resolve?

Daniel 1:8--"But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way."

I started participating in a weekly prayer group a few months ago, and the book of Daniel was what we began studying. That particular season in my life was very hard for me. God was prodding at a lot of things that He wanted to get rid of. I was a mess. Everything was just too hard for me and I was done with it. I felt as if God could never get me through all the things that were going on in my heart and life. I was about to give up on it all and even the prayer group I had just started.

Then one day in prayer group, we were reading through Daniel and something struck me. Daniel made a resolve. A resolve is a decision that is purposed in your heart. That night, I resolved in my heart that I would press through and get through this with God. I decided right then that no matter what came against me or how much it cost, I would let God have all of me.

In Daniel 3, Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego made a similar resolve when they were faced with being thrown in the fire. These men were going to be killed; even the guards who were heating the fire were burned. Despite this, these men made a resolve in their hearts that they would serve God only and not back down.

After reading this, I began to see how the Lord was working in my heart. It started with a resolve and a decision to press through, then my coming to a place where I decided, "God, even if you completely mess with everything in my life, I know You are faithful. You are faithful."

The question burning in my heart is, "Are you going to make a resolve before God?" I don't know what fire or issues you're being faced with, but there is one thing I know: pressing into God is the only way. The only way is straight. We have to press through. We have to resolve. There is something that God wants to do in you that can only be done if you press in and determine to be obedient to Him. Let go, and let God be God.

Ashley Dedee is a Third Year student from Albany, NY.

Challenge 2010

Teens from as far away as California, Florida, Canada and Virginia packed Pinecrest for Challenge 2010, Pinecrest’s youth conference for ages 14-20 from February 18-21.

The Orange, Hot Pink, Black and Purple teams competed for points in icebreakers and games throughout the weekend, with the Orange Umpa Lumpas winning first place and the “Think Pink” team claiming the team spirit award. Activities included sledding, Wii bowling and tennis tournaments, The Amazing Race, and Balloon-a-Pallooza-Rama.

As fun as the games were, though, the important thing was that God really met the youth in a personal way. On the first night, speaker Pravash Mukherjee, from Norfolk, Virginia, challenged each person to write one thing they were expecting from God during the weekend. As the conference concluded on Sunday, many of them testified that God had met them in ways they hadn’t even expected.

Here are a few of their testimonies:

The minute I walked in the doors here on Thursday, I felt God really strongly, and I was like, “Oh boy,” because I knew God wasn’t thrilled with the way that I was leading my life, and I didn’t really want to change. On Friday, we were singing, “I don’t want to talk about You like You’re not in the room,” and I really realized, God, I want to feel Your presence again, I want to open up to You again. And I confessed a bunch of things to God, and I made a commitment I was going to totally turn my life around and I was going to repent. I feel like God’s really changed my heart this week towards Him and helped me to start again and live a new life in Him.

These past couple years that I’ve been coming to Youth Week and Challenge and all these other youth conferences, I’ve always been struggling. I’d come, I’d meet God, and I’d go back home, and I’d be around friends, and I’d just go back into my life. I was always struggling to stay with God. I realized for the first time in my life, probably about a month after this past Youth Week, that I can’t just come and meet God just for a week or just for a weekend, I have to come, and I have to stay with Him, 24/7, all the time. It can’t just be for Youth Week, it can’t just be for Challenge, it can’t just be every Sunday, just normal life—I have to be with Him all the time in order to stay on track.

Before this week, I was kind of feeling like I couldn’t feel God, like I didn’t know His voice, and I was really longing for that. I was praying in Chapel, and I was like, “Oh, I just want to hear Your voice.” And I realized that I wasn’t listening. He’s been talking; I just haven’t been listening to Him. And also that I have the key to His heart, and it’s not someone else who needs to come tell me what God’s going to do for my life and how my path’s going to go—God is going to tell me. Someone else doesn’t have to tell me what He’s going to do for me because I’m going to know. I just think that’s really awesome.

These last four months have been such a pain for me. I was just frustrated and depressed all the time. These last two months, I wasn’t praying at all, I kind of gave up on God. I felt like I didn’t have anyone by my side, even if I had a bunch of people, I felt like I didn’t have friends. I really felt alone.

I tried to find myself in every possible way, everywhere. In school, I tried for sports, I just tried to be the best, but I couldn’t be the best. Then I tried to do the same thing in my studies. And then the college stuff came, and I was just going crazy, because I was trying to get the grades, I was trying to get applications, I was trying to get everything done. At the same time I was frustrated and depressed, I felt I had no friends. I turned my back to God.

Then, this Challenge, I just didn’t expect anything. I came here and I was like, ok, this is just a weekend, I’m going to have it and leave and be done with it.

[Friday night,] they started playing the “You Won’t Relent” song, and I love that song, and I just started breaking. I was there in the back, and I was just breaking and breaking. And then God told me, “You need Me. You don’t need anything else but Me.” And I found myself again with Him. Because He’s the one that completes me—nothing else but Him.

For two years now, I’ve been wanting to become a lawyer. I’ve been starting to save up money now. Well, God said, “Missionary,” and I was like, “What? You’ve got to be kidding me! No!” I’ve never thought about being a missionary, ever. And just right then, I was like, “Really? Are You sure? Me?” I didn’t know what I was saving up money for. I thought I was saving it up for college. Now I know that I’ve been saving it up for a missions trip, and it’s just amazing how God can change your plans drastically. He loves us so much. I’m so thankful. It’s just amazing.

I’m not like a very out-there person—I’m kind of shy and timid, but I was praying last night, and the Scripture came to mind: “God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power.” And, it really just kind of inspired me. I have the keys to the kingdom, I have the power—what am I so afraid of? I can go out there and reach out to people, and God’s got my back.

I didn’t know what to expect when I was going to come here, and I’m really glad I did, because I’ve just felt really passionate about God, but I never knew how to express it. I’m usually composed and try to keep my emotions concealed with regular life, so I’ve felt that I’ve had a heart full of passion for Christ but I was never able to let it out. I just wanted to cry out to God, I wanted to be able to shed tears for Him of joy and just rejoice in everything He’s given me, and I could never do that.

This weekend was amazing, because I was just on my knees, crying, and then after the baptism in the Holy Spirit, I just cracked, and my heart poured out to God in a way that was so passionate. It’s amazing, because I never thought that I’d be able to express my emotions to Him. He’s just given me that, and it’s amazing—through the music, through everything, I just want everything I do—every way I walk, talk, speak—I just want to show my emotions to Him. It’s amazing He’s given me the gift to actually be able to do that now.

God has met me in every way that I have sought Him. I was looking for healing, and He healed me. I was looking for answers, and He answered me. I was looking for the Spirit, and He came, and I was looking for truth, and I asked it to hit me in the heart. I was expecting something hard and something explosive. But you know what, it didn’t come like that. It descended so gently, and it overflowed, and it was so awesome, and it was so 100%, and it was so complete. It was the most content I’ve ever felt in my whole life.

I was looking for people to fill in places in my heart that only Jesus Christ could fill and only the Spirit could fill. I always look for people, and I’m insecure like that. I felt complete, and I wasn’t looking for people anymore. That was so cool.

I always struggled with worship, and I always get distracted with things. But just seeing you guys worship really ministered to me. And seeing everybody’s hands raised and everybody dancing and everybody giving their heart really made me give my heart to God because I saw you guys, and I saw how dedicated and how much you love God, and how hard and how deep you guys were worshipping. And I wanted to worship that deep, too. This is our generation, that we’re going to take back, and we’re going to go back to our homes. We all came from different places—we’re all going to go back to our homes, and we’re going to light our home towns on fire. We’re going to light our schools on fire. I want to go home and light my home on fire, light my church on fire again. I want to give it back to God—I want us, this is us—our time, and I want us all to give it back to God. And I love Him, and I want us all to love God.

My church at home is really falling apart, and that can be very discouraging to me, that my own church is falling apart. So, God said, “I want you to go home, and I want you to help your church.” I know that I’m only one person, but that one person in the Old Testament slayed 800 people at one time. So, if that guy can do that, then I’m sure that I can help my church and I can grow stronger in Him and I can read His Word more and help those in my school. I’m very happy I came to Pinecrest.

Youth Week 2010 will be held from July 18-24.

Serving for God's Glory

We are all familiar with the story of Mary and Martha in Luke 10:40. Well, nearly every Sunday for the past month I’ve been either travelling on outstations off-campus or working in the kitchen, and in some ways, I’ve felt like Martha—busy. As God has called me to serve, though, He has really met me in some new ways.

On January 17 we had an outstation to Hearts Ablaze, a church in Albany pastored by Pinecrest graduate Stephen Addo. During worship, God really gave us His joy, as we thanked Him for all He has done and made a proclamation that we would not stand by and watch our families or our situations be overcome by the enemy. God is bigger and greater than any obstacle we face. First Year student Job Wafulu from Kenya preached a sermon on allowing God to make us into the leaders He wants us to be.

More recently, I participated in an outstation to Faith Deliverance Tabernacle in Schenectady, NY on January 31. God met us there from the get-go. The church was absolutely beautiful, with a giant stained glass portrait of Mary Magdalene bowing at Jesus’ feet. As I was thinking of how beautiful the church was, the congregation started filtering in, and I realized that the people, too, were beautiful. They had hearts full of welcoming hugs and kisses towards strangers.

God truly met each one there that day through worship, and Third Year student James Culver preached a grounded sermon on Philippians 3:1-14, in which he challenged us to realize that all our achievements are counted as rubbish in comparison with knowing Christ. How true that statement is.

In all of this, God, in His goodness and in a way only He can, has been working something in me: humility—humility to realize who I am serving. Am I serving the people in these churches, or am I serving the God they worship? The answer is resoundingly the latter. God calls us to serve, then enables us to do it. And it always was, always is, and always should be all for His glory!

- Stephanie Polivka, Second Year Student

The Pinecrest outstation group with members of Faith Deliverance Tabernacle