April was an incredible month. There’s so much to celebrate. So let's stop the lolly-gagging and jump in to everything God's been up to in Resilient Church and Vermillion!

All-Campus Worship Night

We kicked off Holy Week by being a part of a joint worship night between the four campus ministries at USD: Cru, Chi Alpha, Coyote Catholics, and Resilient Students. We had three worship teams from three of the campus ministries, and I got to preach a message on campus revival. We worshiped for 2 hours, and had close to 80-100 students in attendance! God is clearly moving on this campus!

United Good Friday Service

Continuing on with the theme of unity, Resilient Church was one of four churches that came together for a United Good Friday Service, along with Cornerstone Church, Faith Fellowship Church, and Hillside Community Church.

The purpose of the joint service was to bring our churches together as a legitimate expression of all of us being under the Lordship of Jesus. And everyone raved about the service, not so much because of the service itself, but for the sheer sake that churches came together for something. It was such a beautiful expression of what can happen when the Body of Christ works together!

Baptisms

And if the month couldn’t get any better, we had 6 baptisms on April 16! Check out their photos and testimonies below!

"I am being baptized today as a proclamation and dedication to following the Lord for the rest of my life. While my future may be unknown, God has been and will continue to be a constant in my life. He has been with me as I battled and overcame cancer, suffered a loss I will forever grieve, and will continue to stand by my side through every obstacle I face. He loves me even when I don't love myself and believes in me even when I fall short. This is my promise to always give forth continual effort, with the realization that I am not perfect. My desire for baptism follows Peter’s writing in 1 Peter 3:21. “And this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you -- not the removal of dirt from the body, but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ."

–Kate Reuvers

" I've always grown up in the church. learned a lot growing up, but I fell into sin when I came to college. I had a misunderstanding of what it looked like to follow God courageously. In the midst of chasing alcohol and admiration, I was brought to what would become Resilient church. | re-learned how to follow God and he has led me to live a happier and fulfilling life. I'm now surrounded by his love and people who encourage my faith and live it with me. I’m so excited to be baptized again and declare my total willingness to live for God."

– Natalie Robinett

“I want to come closer to God and show I have faith in God. This is a way for me to keep growing my faith and learning about God.”

– Brayden Waterbury

Faith Hackett

Ariel Hackett

Trinity was a walkup baptism, and decided to be baptized on the spot this Sunday! Trinity is a college student at USD, and shared briefly in her testimony that she has had a resurgence in her faith over the last year, and wanted to take this step to publicly declare that renewed allegiance to Jesus. This was her first Sunday at Resilient Church!

– Trinity McMurty

“Worked Up” Sermon Series & Sunday Services

Following Easter, we began a new series called Worked Up, where we discuss the extraordinary things God can do when we leverage our everyday work and vocations with a sense of mission and kingdom expansion. We kicked off the series with a Faith At Work panel, where we interviewed four of our attenders about how they see Jesus at work through their work. It was amazing!

We also made some Exam Cram Packs for students and distributed them at Resilient and on campus; just as a little pick-me-up and encouragement as they headed into finals week!

Senior Send Off

We concluded our Worked Up series by sending out our seniors and students transitioning into the workplace. We sent a total of 10students (2 of which were prayed over and sent the weekend before the send off). We prayed for the Lord to anoint them, bless their work, and that they can adjust into their new jobs and communities with a sense of purpose and mission. It was so bittersweet! And we all celebrated with cupcakes afterwards.

Prayer of Invocation at the VCDC Annual Banquet

I had the incredible honor and privilege of giving the prayer of invocation at the Vermillion Chamber and Development Company’s Annual Banquet at the end of April! This is a yearly event where the chamber of commerce celebrates progress in the community, while handing out a variety of awards to exemplary businesses, chamber members, and citizens for the work they do to make our community better. It’s an amazing event, and I was thrilled to get to be a part of it in this capacity!

Prayer Requests

Summer Vermillion is here! Pray for our students who are all traveling and back home for the summer; that they will find rest in the Father’s arms.
Further, pray that we can figure out how to leverage this down season of Vermillion to best reach our city well. We have a number of outreach events and worship nights planned. Pray that those all go incredibly well!
Continue to pray for where we’re heading next as a church. We have some big dreams on the horizon, as we continue to grow our reach, see new disciples made, and strive to be best church FOR Vermillion. (more on that another day 😉)

Thank you so much for your continued support! Your prayers, advocacy, and generosity continue to empower us to do what we do, and expand the Kingdom here in our city, university, and region!

– Jake