CEF Student Ministries

  Breakout! 2010 urban missions boot camp

     Bless Cornwallis event July 17th with music, food, gospel presentations, games, and more
 Hey, boot camp was a blast! Our family loves working with those kids at Liberty St. Apts. 
said Pastor Maggie Mraz.  During boot camp weeks, ministry was scheduled in seven Durham communities using the 7 Most Important Things in the World to communicate the Gospel message. Inflatable games, 5-Day Clubs, sports, prayer walks, and service projects were some of the various activities and tools used in the ministry plans of boot camp students.

Each day Breakout! urban boot camp started with a walk to the downtown YMCA for morning workouts, shower, and then worship lead by various musician and five guest ministers. This inspirational session of worship helped students develop a heart for the city and God. Immediately afterwards, a couple of teaching sessions were presented each morning on topics like, Moving Beyond Rhetoric and Building Bridges to the Disadvantaged Child. After a great lunch, provided by First Baptist Durham, there was a time for games and competition. Breakout! believes in praying hard, working hard, and playing hard. Games and social activities were a major part of the ministry plans developed by the student-led urban mission teams each day.

Ministry plans for each assigned urban community were reviewed and improved during a 8 PM debriefing after each team had returned from their four hour ministry day. Many times adjustments were made on site as the students had total freedom to change their plans, shuffle their staff, or follow the Lord's direction to do something different.

Each evening after ministering, a dedicated time called City Life was offered. Sunday night (first night) was a bus tour of Durham. Wednesday night the students attended a Durham Bulls baseball game complete with fireworks. Bible study - movie night, eating ice cream with another local ministry, and _ were other activities, but the last night (Friday) was used to bus city kids to an inner city gymnasium for an end-of-week Let Freedom Ring rally. Breakout! students prepared and presented the Gospel-centered program. Paneh Mime International provided entertainment; Irvin d Clown gave the message; and Bull City Outreach of Durham provided the supper. 

Also, that final evening, City Life had the entire team of students and staff at the Tobacco Road Cafe in downtown Durham. A late night dinner, conversation about the week-long boot camp, and July 2nd fireworks overlooking the Durham Bulls stadium were enjoyed by all. Students from  Asheboro, California, Canada, Connecticut, Charlotte, Chapel Hill, Durham, and Statesville had worked to reach nearly 2,000 city kids for Christ during the week describe above and the weeks that followed into late July.

Hillary, one of the boot camp students and a CEF intern, stated "While serving as an intern was the first time I really encountered Christians with a deep desire to serve in urban areas and with evident gifts in reaching out to inner-city youth." Breakout! 2010 students and staff ended their seven days of boot camp by attending worship together on the American Tobacco Trail on Saturday morning at 7 AM. Each day and each event had a uniqueness and freshness about it. Everyone involved was tired, encouraged, energized, and blessed for participating.

                2011 Application/boot camp information and online registration available for Breakout!

Internships provided for students, mission staff, and local pastors

 It now strikes me as astounding that I lived an entire nine months in Durham without truly seeing or appreciating the city. When I began my freshman year at Duke last fall, I rarely left campus and knew almost no members of the community besides other undergraduates. However, as I entered spring semester, I felt God encouraging me to form a relationship with the Durham community and allow myself to serve and learn from the city’s residents. 

 I applied for a summer internship with Pathways, a Duke Chapel program that allows students to explore their unique vocations and callings by serving in Durham while living in intentional Christian community in a house downtown. After hearing me talk about my love of working with children, Rev. Keith Daniel, the director of the PathWays program, paired me up with Child Evangelism Fellowship as well as Cornwallis Youth Life Center. The past month has been a whirlwind of experiences, among them: tutoring, food preparation, sport camps, and CEF’s Breakout Boot Camp. 

Spending time in fellowship with Boot Camp participants and with the wonderful kids at our 5-Day Club in McDougald Terrace and Cornwallis Rd. Apts. enabled me to witness firsthand the ways in which God is moving in the lives of the children of Durham and allowed me to better grasp the magnitude and tenderness of His love for them. I’m so grateful to have the opportunity to see and be a part of God’s transformation of this city. I look forward to see what beautiful plans he has in store for the rest of the summer and my next three years as a Durham resident. 
                                                                                               — Hillary (Hilly) Martinez   Duke ‘13

Today's Hero
Over the last several years we, at CEF^®, have had the privilege to work alongside a young man that has shown a tremendous growth in his walk with Christ.  His name is Syelwin Moore.  I met Syelwin at the Carriage House tutoring program.  I would meet with him twice a week, going over material he had to learn for Christian Youth in Action^® training camp that summer.   Even then he showed a willingness and hunger to learn how to share the Gospel.  As time went on, he, my Dad, and I developed a strong bond of friendship together. We enjoyed working together on how to share the Gospel, hanging out in the gym, and just hanging out and spending time together.

That summer of ministry with him was, to me, probably the best I have ever experienced.  We would ride around all day talking, laughing, listening to music, and just ministering to the community together.  It wasn’t long before he started asking me if he could bring his friends.  “Of course”, I said.  There would be times I had an entire car full.  I couldn’t believe that these friends of Syelwin’s actually wanted to come and hang out, but they did and they kept coming.  Syelwin started showing leadership qualities as he was around his friends.  He showed them what to do in a club, how to help in storytelling, and he even let his friends read the missionary story and they ended up teaching a few times.  It was amazing. 

In a recent interview, Syelwin stated, “Because of CEF, I now have higher self esteem...  I’m not shy around anyone now, and I’ve matured into a strong leader.  I've grown stronger in the Lord by surrounding myself with people that are in the Word and know the Word.  And I would encourage other teens to get involved with CEF, and if not with CEF make sure to get involved with your church.  Because everything you do is bigger than yourself.” — Sean Blake

Student summer Missions Fund 
                       The Rebecca Sims Memorial
This fund benefits college and high school students working with CEF as local staff interns, summer urban workers, and international missionaries.  Funds received will meet their necessary travel, living, and missional expenses. Contributions are tax-deductible when given to CEF Durham by mail at the address below or by clicking on the donation button. Please designate this contribution: 
                                  Summer Missions or Sims Fund

International and urban missions opportunities
Plans will be developed each year from 2011-2014 for students from North Carolina and the USA to have an opportunity to minister in Honduras, Malawi, or beyond where CEF Durham has a ministry partnership.  Approved students can work with school clubs, sports outreach, evangelism, and discipleship efforts for 2-4 weeks in urban communities across America and other countries.  Students will receive basic, advanced, and urban training before traveling to their mission assignment.  Applications are accepted year-round.  See downloads page for details.  Sites for consideration through 2012 are: Salt Lake City, Chicago, Jackson, MS, Malawi (Southeast Africa), and Honduras.

   
    Urban missionaries in Durham last summer               Student Thunder missions team to Honduras