ESBS 2013-14 graduates

Subscribe in a reader

ESBS 2013-14 staff and students

ESBS 2013-14 is done, and it was a great year.  We had 9 wonderful students study with us this year, and I once again am so thankful to have had this amazing opportunity to journey through the Bible with such a fantastic group of people.  As we debriefed the year as a community, I was blessed again to hear so many people say that they loved the gospel focus of our community, and that they understand the gospel (the radical and lavish love of Jesus) in a deep way that they didn't anticipate coming into the program.  As we discussed the year, several students said that when they think about the gospel now they think about entire chunks of Old Testament Narrative (yes you read that right…Old Testament!), as they see the love of God not just in a verse or two here and there in the New Testament, but in the way God dealt with Israel all through their history.

Thats pretty cool I think, and it makes me even more sure that THE BEST way to transform someone's life forever is to take them through the journey of the entire Bible in a community setting.  God's character becomes so clear, and the community living demands an immediate response to what we're seeing in the Scripture. 

As we head into summer (all of us but Greg…who headed back home to winter...wa wa wa…in New Zealand) we have students and staff scattered all over the country: Florida, Seattle, Colorado, Mississippi, Michigan, and 4 who chose to stay right at Lurecrest and work the summer camp program (very cool, and something I always love to see).  

Additionally, Caleb Ives (ESBS staff) and Tom will be speaking for the Lurecrest's summer camps this summer.  Caleb will also head to Nigeria with Heart Cry, and Tom is heading to Montana for a week to speak for a DTS.

Excitingly, we've also filed articles of incorporation and our IRS 501c3 application to carve out the ESBS as it's own non-profit entity (Emmaus Ministries).  With that process now complete, we're beginning our search for a new location to host the 2015-16 ESBS, and we're excited to see where God takes the program next.

We're also excited about another great ESBS starting this August right at Camp Lurecrest!

Tom