The students of Poplar Springs Baptist Church in Richmond love Impact Virginia! — not only have they attended this mission-minded work camp for the past 10 years, this summer they decided one week at Impact wasn't enough.
On Monday, June 26, just two days after 13 Poplar Springs‚ students returned from Bristol, a group of 19 boarded the church bus to attend a service at Impact's second location in Louisa. They went back to Louisa on Thursday night as well.
“Our hearts were still heavy for God and we wanted to hear more,” 16-year-old Jessie McGirt explained. “We're groupies,” she said with a laugh. “We spent all of last week in Bristol, and now we're joining everyone in Louisa.”
This year marked McGirt's fourth trip to Impact, but she and 15-year-old Kaley Madison agreed that returning worship leader Phil Baquie, who could not attend last year, and speaker Jamie Nate Saint, a newcomer to the Impact lineup, made this year even better than previous Impacts.
“I went to Impact two years ago and had such a great experience that I wanted to go back,” Madison said. “It was even better this year.”
Saint, the oldest grandson of missionary martyr Nate Saint, spoke all week about what it means to be “plumb” with God. The summer's theme comes from Micah 6:8: “And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.” Saint used the story of his grandfather, who was killed at the hands of the Waodoni (or Auca) Indians in the Ecuadorian Amazon, and his father, who returned to the Amazon as an adult, as the backdrop for his messages each night. The story was recently made into a movie, End of the Spear, which students watched at Impact.
Saint, who has been traveling the country to promote the movie, explained his desire to see God transform lives through his family's testimony.
“It's a story that causes kids to wake up, to look at their lives, to say,
‘Am I really living a Christ-like life, or am I just faking it?' ”
Baquie also provided an opportunity for self-examination when he challenged students to carry their service beyond their Impact work sites.
“If we're here to serve this week, does that stop when we get back to the school?” he said Monday night, referring to the school in Spotsylvania where students at Impact in Louisa stayed for the week. “I want you to think about what it means to serve,” he said. “Is it just something you do when people are looking?”
Greg Jones, associate pastor at Poplar Springs Baptist, said he enjoys giving students the opportunity to serve God by serving others. Jones attended Impact 10 years ago with the first group of Poplar Springs‚ students and he has chaperoned the trip every year since, also acting as a crew leader on different job sites.
“I keep going to Impact because I enjoy working with young people and showing them the meaning of missions,” Jones said. “It's all about getting students to connect with the homeowner. The project is just the tool that we use to connect with people.”
Students confirmed that their interactions with homeowners were indeed a highlight of the week.
“I loved seeing their smiling faces,” said 15-year-old Mary Korman. “I hope we impacted them by working for them and not wanting the glory for ourselves, but giving it to God.”
“I like that the homeowners could see that we gave up our whole week because of what God has done for us,” said McGirt.
Even the parents of Poplar Springs‚ students were encouraged by the Impact experience.
“Domenick came back really excited about the work he did at Impact and the time he got to spend with youth from the church,” said parent Kim Leach, whose 14-year-old stepson went to Impact for the first time this year. “I think he was especially impressed by the speakers and the overall message of the week,” she said.
Saint said he hoped that each week students would catch a glimpse of God's plan for their service beyond just helping to repair a house. Several students said Impact inspired them to give themselves completely to the Lord, just as Nate Saint willingly gave his life to reach the Waodoni tribe with the message of the gospel.
“Impact taught me to let God take control of my life, said McGirt. “I
need to put it in his hands.”
Korman expressed similar feelings. “I need to really give God my everything and let him have all of me,” she said.
Thirteen-year-old Ben Orr said he was challenged “to have a stronger
relationship with God, to let him be my pilot, and to walk humbly before
him.” Orr quoted John 3:30 — “He must become greater, I must become less” — while sharing what he had learned about humility in a Sunday morning service at Poplar Springs following Impact.
Other students were specifically touched by the Thursday night service. “What Jamie said was amazing,” said 14-year-old Lindsay Korman, who went forward that evening to pray with a youth sponsor about her walk with Christ. “God answered my prayers by telling me the way to go, and I have started really living with him.”
Recent high school graduate 18-year-old Matt Orr said that the Thursday night message caused him to rethink how he responds to God on a daily basis.
“It made me change,” he said. “I know that I just need to follow Jesus.”