As I write this, I am sitting in a hotel in Cincinnati with a few minutes of downtime before our annual youth retreat really gets going. There are about 30 of us here from Walnut Street, but its not the number thats really important. We have never been the biggest youth group around and that's ok. What I love about this trip and our church is the makeup of the students that are here with me. This group of students is one of the most diverse groups I have ever taken. We have our kids that live in the suburbs and our kids that live in the city. We have two girls from China who have only been in the country for 11 months. We have for the first time on a youth trip, 3 students from Burundi. Frankly it's the biggest hodgepodge of students I've dealt with, and I love it!

As I spend time with these students it is impossible to not be reminded that God's Kingdom is a global one. His people are not just Americans but from tribes and nations from across the world. As we study Radical together we have been challenged to get back to Christ;s teachings on making disciples of all nations. In the coming weeks and months you will here of missions opportunities that will take members of our church all over the world. I cannot wait to see how God moves among our membership to call people to this awesome task of spreading the gospel worldwide. I am just as excited though to see how God moves and calls people to the task of seeing those already in our circle of influence come to know Christ. We are blessed to have the privilege of traveling across the globe to be a part of what God is doing to grow His kingdom on earth. We are just as blessed to know that we do not have to get on a plane to have a global impact. In many ways God has brought the nations to us. I have no doubt that the call to go can and will be answered by our church. Just remember that you don't have to wait to get on the plane to fulfill Christ's commands to go and make disciples of all nations.