Friday, January 25, 2008

Bboy Bible Study Practices




Breakfree has been hosting a practice spot at Whitton Ave. Bible's church. The practices are from 7-9 pm on Mondays and Thursdays. The practice starts out in word of prayer, then practice goes for about 1hr and 1/2, then ends in a short Bible study. The purpose of the practices is obviously teach people who have a desire to bboy but more importantly, is used to help reach out to people who dont know Jesus Chirst. Roosevelt Community church also does a bboy Bible study practice on every third Monday of the month.
Out in California, Bboy Bishop (Mike Swalley) has been going to various practice spots and reachn out to the bboys. He is trying to get a Bible study going at one of the practice venues. Breakfree's passion is to try and reach as many people for Christ as possible, this is one way that the ministry is expanding.

Friday, January 11, 2008

Mike "Bishop" Swalley's Testimony



I grew up in the Lutheran church until I was 8 years old. At that time my family,
which consisted of my mom, my sister and myself, moved to an evangelical covenant
church. This was a great move for me in the long run as the Lord surrounded me with
some great friends and pastors. My family at this time was a big part of who I was. My
father had passed away when I was very young, so I was close to my mom and sister.
When I reached middle school the security I had in my family started to crumble.
There was so much pain that I experienced in this time that I turned from my family, and
quickly went to my friends. But my friends were going through much of the same things
I was and there was not much security there. The relationships would fail and hurt, and I
was tired of the pain. So I turned to sports and school as my identity. I could understand
those things and they brought me the acceptance and popularity that I desired.
I continued to go to church and put on a good front, but I was a tare among the
wheat. I knew a lot about God and was heavily involved in my youth group. I was on
the leadership team with my youth group, and was the vice-president for our local FCA,
but it was all an image for me. This was my group and where I felt comfortable. But I
did not have a saving relationship with the Lord, mainly because all of my other
relationships were ending in hurt. Why would it be any different with Him?
Amidst all of this, I was not aware of my personal rebellion to the Lord and how
dark my sin was to Him. No one had told me that I had broken God’s Law and because
of that I needed Him, or at least if they had I was not hearing it. The God in my life was
football, and ultimately what people thought of me through that. I went to a Christian
college to play football and would much rather have been known for being a good player
than a man of God. And that is exactly what I got. I played well my first year and that is
where my identity stayed. Surrounded by Christians now more than ever, I continued in
my way of simply having my faith as just another thing I did, refusing to face the pain of
my past. I had yet to commit my life to Him, to die to myself and follow Jesus.
My second year of college I got a few concussions in football. It put me out of
the season for good, and they told me that if I got one more I could never play again.
This really hit hard for me because my entire identity was wrapped up in football. Not
being able to play, coupled with post concussion syndrome, put me into a deep
depression. One afternoon as I was laying in bed, I simply cried out to God that if he was
who I had heard he was, to make himself known. I got out of bed and read Romans 8:35-
39 and saw the love of God in Christ Jesus. It finally clicked in me how much I needed
Jesus. Everything I was doing on earth was temporary and my identity here would do
nothing for me when I stood before the Lord because of my sinful nature. I cried out to
God for His forgiveness, and he faithfully answered. I truly saw that His love would
never fail me and I knew this because when I was his enemy he died for me (Romans
5:8). Now that I was his son, he would never let me go.
It has been a process since that afternoon of my sophomore year of college. I did
get another concussion the next year and had to quit playing football. My relationships
with family and friends bring me a lot of joy, yet still cause pain and heartache. The
grace that saved me is the same grace that sustains me. Despite the fear and uncertainty I
face in ministry, I am driven by the love he has for me to tell them of the same love he
has for them.

Thursday, January 10, 2008

Breakn in Wheaton IL and Branson MO






Well, Mike and I have been planning this trip for sometime now. We both arrived in Chicago, my favorite city, and had an event that evening in the Wheaton area. The event was at a large car garage, which was owned by the people we were staying with, and it was awesome. Randy, who is a close friend of mike, is a leader of a Christian organization called K Life and he invited many of the Christian high school students he leads to come to the event. So there was a great turn out, about 40 or so students came. Mike and I taught them the top rock, knee drop, 6 step, and a freeze. It was awesome to see how well it connected with the high schoolers. We were given an opportunity to speak and I spoke on being creative in evangelism. While Mike shared about identity and how it needs to be found in Chirst alone. At the end of the night, the students showed off their moves that they learned. It was great!

Then, we headed off to Branson, Missouri. I must admit Branson is an interesting town. Dolly parton's hotel, Dick Clarks theatre, and countless impersonators made me laugh. There was a K life conference going down at the Dick Clark theatre and hundreds of college age and older people were there. Mike and I set up a both and were able to promote Breakfree ministry. The first night of the conference we were able to go up on stage to share about breakfree and bust some moves. So we had the booth for a few days. Then the last day,Sunday, we were able to go to a church in Branson and do a couple Children's services. I spoke about being a fisher for men. Then we gave an announcement to the church about the event we were doing that night called Kollision, which was for jr. high/ high schoolers, encouraging them to invite people. We were told that typically on 30-40 people come, about 110 people showed up ! Bishop (mike) and I did some bboy demonstrations and then Mike shared his powerful testimony. The gospel was preached and because of this, I was pumped! Thank God for another great week of opportunities!