A Blue Cup and Advancing the Kingdom

It started in '06 with the "What If?" Question.
What if NMC Student Ministries Senior High took part in an effort to share God's story to a tribe halfway around the world?
Our Senior High students answered the "What If?" with Maasai Night in January, 2007.
The students' efforts on the night made an entire church aware of the Maasai Project, raised over $15,000, brought in a prayer army to lift up the "scouting team" that went into Maasailand in April, and inspired other churches to join in the journey.
In February 2008, our 5th-12th students joined in to make Kenya Night happen.
The night raised over $25,000 for the Maasai Project and the AGC Baby Center both in Kenya. It helped get the Maasai Project to the point where the Exodus Conference could take place mobilizing 30 Maasai Church Planters and Evangelists into the bush of Kenya to begin a disciple making movement that is still seeing significant fruit to this day!

This year, we have been given the opportunity to continue in a partnership with Caleb Bislow and Unusual Soldiers as they head into the country of Rwanda. The hope is to mobilize a group of 20-30 church planters to get into some of the unreached regions of the country that recently went through one of the more horrific genocides in human history.

We've pulled together the students to dream up and plan out the night. As a product of those meetings, we concluded that the past goals of Maasai and Kenya Night can and should be the same for Rwanda Night....

1. Raise Awareness.
2. Raise Prayer Support.
3. Raise Financial Support.

It was also concluded that our focus be three-fold to best accomplish that goal this year...

1. We continue to do well what we've done well (the elements of silent auction, bake sale, talent show... get Small Groups and Workshops involved)
2. We step up our game in raising awareness (people are aware of Rwanda's history and culture, as well as grasping what the Rwanda Exodus Conference is and looks like)
3. Students give sacrificially ("give till it hurts")

This past Sunday, we pulled all 5th-12th grade together to work on the Awareness side. We shared a little with students on where we've been in the past, what Rwanda Night is all about now, and invited them to get involved.

At the close, we invited those students involved to take a blue plastic Meijer Cup (not Solo, the Meijer cups were cheaper) and place a label on it with our Rwanda Night logo. The cup is to serve as a reminder of the call to "give sacrificially" as individuals. Students can use that cup to collect money and bring it in the week before the night.
We're excited to see where God takes us on this journey. There's some new twists and turns to this one, but I believe the story of Rwanda Night may likely end up being more about the significance of the sacrificial involvment and giving of students over the size.