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HERE'S WHAT YOUR GROUP WILL DO
First, you live in the city--experiencing
firsthand the sights, sounds, smells, and textures of urban
life. Our housing options vary from city to city, but each
of them are located in the heart of their respective city.
You also eat at local ethnic
restaurants and cafes. You'll discover the delights of Salvadorian,
Middle Eastern, Thai, Filipino, Vietnamese, African-American,
Cajun, and other cuisine.
Second, you learn about the city --what
it's really like (positives as well as negatives), who lives
there, the unique issues and problems that city dwellers
face, and most importantly, what God is doing to foster
and further His Kingdom in the city, through the indigenous
local churches, homeless shelters, neighborhood centers,
and other organizations that operate on the front lines
of urban ministry.
Third, you become part of the solutions for the city --by
offering your time, energy and sweat as you support these
indigenous "ministry sites." CSM plugs you into
a variety of hands-on ministry opportunities to ensure that
your time in the city is spent supplying substantive help
to God's people in the city.
HERE'S WHERE YOU'LL SERVE
Ministry opportunities include: Rehabilitating
apartments for low-income residents; serving food and building
relationships with hungry men, women and children at soup
kitchens and homeless shelters; planning and conducting
weekend and week-long Backyard Bible Clubs for inner-city
children; joining inmates for worship and Bible study in
a prison chapel service; delivering meals to impoverished
shut-ins; joining street savy urban Christians in evangelistic
outreach into their local neighborhoods; worshipping with
African-American, Latino, and other believers of color in
their local churches; and much more. For examples of CSM
ministry sites, check out the listings in our
City Profiles.
All of our "ministry sites" are indigenous to their
communities. CSM has no ministries of its own; rather, we support what God
is doing through His people who have been called to full-time ministery
in the inner-city.
HERE'S WHAT WE DO FOR YOU
CSM supplies your group with a City
Host-one of our full-time or intern staff who has been trained
to handle both the logistics of your trip and provide you
with a guide and mentor who will help you and your group
process what you're experiencing. This enables you and
your leadership to participate in your trip as fully as
your students. The only activity we encourage you to lead
is the morning devotional time with your group.
HERE'S THE RESULTS YOU CAN EXPECT
First, your personal walk with Christ
will change. As your heart is broken by the things that
break the heart of God, you'll experience His love for you
and presence in your life in powerful and new ways. You'll
be confronted with God's call on you as a disciple of Jesus
Christ, and you'll be sparked to re-examine your life priorities
in light of what it means to be the hands and feet of Jesus
in a hurting world.
Second, your life back home will change.
You'll return to your home community with new eyes - sensitized
to see the ethnic diversity and pockets of poverty and need
that escaped your notice previously. You'll also return
home with a new vision for how your faith can impact your
home and family life, relationships at school and work,
and your community at large.
Third, your future direction will change.
Many young people and adults have returned from a CSM trip and changed
their school major, job, and/or
career plans. "I'm switching my major from music to
liberal studies," one student wrote. "God is calling
me to become a public school teacher in the inner-city."
While not everyone is necessarily called into missions or
urban ministry, it's virtually certain that your future
decisions will be impacted by what God has shown you through
your time in the city. Which is great! That's one of the
reasons we do what we do. You can find out more about how God has used CSM
to impact the lives of young people and adults by checking out our
what youth leaders and students say or our
CSM Urban Update Blog!
HERE'S THE COST
CSM provides you with housing, three
meals a day, the full-time services of a City Host, a pre-trip
training course, a post-trip follow-up course, and much
more for a cost that you pay to CSM
(check out the Costs).
As you can imagine, this doesn't cover everything! CSM also raises additional
financial support to meet its overall obligations. Need help calculating
the total cost?
Click here.
HERE'S WHEN YOU CAN SCHEDULE A TRIP
All of CSM's sites are open throughout
the year (except for September). A weekend, long weekend, four days,
up to seven days- whatever works for your group. Just call our home office
for available dates. Spring break dates and some summer dates fill up
quickly, so get your reservation form in early!
HERE'S HOW TO FIND OUT MORE
It's easy! Phone our home office at 949-248-8200
or email our home office staff at
info at csm.org
Register Now.
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