Am I too old for this?
Posted by: Boot Camper
Finally! I'm blogging for the very first time and I realize that I'm completely computer illiterate. I'm so sorry Kent for bothering you and I'm sure this would be simple as pie for anyone that uses the computer for anything other than Microsoft Word or email. I guess I should introduce myself so, drum roll please.... My name is Sharenda Barlar and I live in beautiful Chicagoland with my husband, Jonathan and daughter, Claire. WE ARE AT SOULWINNERS BOOTCAMP!!! We brought 17 from our church and I must say that Boot Camp is everything I expected it to be and more.Yesterday was a LOOONG day mainly because of the terrorist precautions. We got the notice about the liquids in our carry-ons so we had no problems checking in. We were patting ourselves on the back about our good fortune and uneventful travels until we arrived to our gate and sat there for 2 hours. We finally arrived in beautiful St. Pete 3 hours late and had our first "boot camp" experience. A yellow unairconditioned yellow school bus picked us up and remember, we're in Florida. Trust me, we were just glad to be here. We made it to service on time and it was packed!Let me just take a moment to say how proud I am of our youth group. My husband and I showed our youth group the Boot Camp dvds in February and we decided then to make plans to attend this year. We started teaching Bible Studies and challenged all of our youth to teach a Bible Study and to raise money to go to Florida. We've been doing fundraisers and teens have been teaching Bible Studies left and right. Several have taught more than 5 since March! Anyway, we came expecting God to do a mighty work and it was so exciting to see over 900 people here last night with the same expectation.Bro. Haney, our great superintendent, built everyone's faith during his sermon. Bro. Matt Maddix is doing something so out of the box that some have been known to criticize his techniques, but it was encouraging to hear Bishop Haney get behind him and his efforts. Last night was not a "traditional" Pentecostal service and that was so refreshing. The music was fresh and young, and the band was fantastic. After Bro. Haney spoke, we sang some more and Bro. Anthony Mangun spoke and brought us to our knees. While Bro. Haney's message built our faith, Bro. Mangun spoke of our passion and finding our purpose in life. It was so increadible to see so many people on their faces seeking God's will for their life.Unlike some other UPC events where the halls are full of people catching up with each other, the sessions here are packed! I'm not criticizing the hall wanderers because I've been known to do that too, but everyone came to Boot Camp with a desire to see results. Also, there are no politics, preliminaries, or announcements which is so refreshing.At 10 pm we were served Subway and chips and let me say that the Boot Camp staff has been MOST accomodating and they really model true servanthood. As can be expected, there were a few registration kinks but they have thought of just about everything.At midnight we met to prep for the following day. I'm so excited to minister to homeless and see how Pastor Maddix's team pulls off a Back to School bash. They're expecting 5000 students at the bash tomorrow. Right now though, I've got to get some sleep!
Finally! I'm blogging for the very first time and I realize that I'm completely computer illiterate. I'm so sorry Kent for bothering you and I'm sure this would be simple as pie for anyone that uses the computer for anything other than Microsoft Word or email. I guess I should introduce myself so, drum roll please.... My name is Sharenda Barlar and I live in beautiful Chicagoland with my husband, Jonathan and daughter, Claire. WE ARE AT SOULWINNERS BOOTCAMP!!! We brought 17 from our church and I must say that Boot Camp is everything I expected it to be and more.Yesterday was a LOOONG day mainly because of the terrorist precautions. We got the notice about the liquids in our carry-ons so we had no problems checking in. We were patting ourselves on the back about our good fortune and uneventful travels until we arrived to our gate and sat there for 2 hours. We finally arrived in beautiful St. Pete 3 hours late and had our first "boot camp" experience. A yellow unairconditioned yellow school bus picked us up and remember, we're in Florida. Trust me, we were just glad to be here. We made it to service on time and it was packed!Let me just take a moment to say how proud I am of our youth group. My husband and I showed our youth group the Boot Camp dvds in February and we decided then to make plans to attend this year. We started teaching Bible Studies and challenged all of our youth to teach a Bible Study and to raise money to go to Florida. We've been doing fundraisers and teens have been teaching Bible Studies left and right. Several have taught more than 5 since March! Anyway, we came expecting God to do a mighty work and it was so exciting to see over 900 people here last night with the same expectation.Bro. Haney, our great superintendent, built everyone's faith during his sermon. Bro. Matt Maddix is doing something so out of the box that some have been known to criticize his techniques, but it was encouraging to hear Bishop Haney get behind him and his efforts. Last night was not a "traditional" Pentecostal service and that was so refreshing. The music was fresh and young, and the band was fantastic. After Bro. Haney spoke, we sang some more and Bro. Anthony Mangun spoke and brought us to our knees. While Bro. Haney's message built our faith, Bro. Mangun spoke of our passion and finding our purpose in life. It was so increadible to see so many people on their faces seeking God's will for their life.Unlike some other UPC events where the halls are full of people catching up with each other, the sessions here are packed! I'm not criticizing the hall wanderers because I've been known to do that too, but everyone came to Boot Camp with a desire to see results. Also, there are no politics, preliminaries, or announcements which is so refreshing.At 10 pm we were served Subway and chips and let me say that the Boot Camp staff has been MOST accomodating and they really model true servanthood. As can be expected, there were a few registration kinks but they have thought of just about everything.At midnight we met to prep for the following day. I'm so excited to minister to homeless and see how Pastor Maddix's team pulls off a Back to School bash. They're expecting 5000 students at the bash tomorrow. Right now though, I've got to get some sleep!
