Fun Stuff!

Hi there!

The youth and I have been up to no good lately! Just kidding. Last night, we had our very first Youth Kickoff and it was a BLAST! We had lots of different games where you could win tickets, face painting, popcorn, and lemon shake-ups. At the end, the tickets were put into drawings for prizes and everybody wanted the two tobymac CDs! We all got wrist bands, key chains, silly bands, dog tags, and t-shirts, but only a lucky 10 got Christian CDs and I tell you what, they were coveted by all! We had all kinds of fun thanks to the many helpers! Then, we enjoyed a potluck/BBQ dinner with the rest of the congregation.

The next event we have coming up is a Halloween Lock-in on the weekend of Halloween. We will have a costume contest (appropriate costumes only), games, junk food, and all kinds of fun. Then, when the sun comes up, we will put on Youth Sunday for the morning service. I can only imagine how much coffee and sugar we'll need to stay awake for church in the morning after staying up all night going crazy! I've put on one other lock-in in the past and it went well, so I'm sure this one will be just as fun! While we're dressed up, we will "trick-or-treat" for canned and unperishable foods for either the Inner City Mission of Springfield or for the local food pantry. Both places are always in need of food. As a congregation, we collected a large bundle of unperishable foods for the ICM just recently. I know they will be thrilled to recieve our donation. I want to continue to do services such as this with the kids to show them how important and how gratifying it is to help others. I'm looking forward to the Christmas season because WIBI always does a "Random Acts of Christmas" program and I want for us to do a kindness for someone who needs it as a group. We will also do a "secret santa" kind of thing among each other where we'll make gifts for each other for Christmas. Additionally, we will do Operation Christmas Child boxes again this year. Those are always fun!

We have a lot we want to do, so please continue to pray that we are doing the will of God in all that we do! Thanks for reading!

Correction!

For several weeks now, I have been thinking about having the poetry slam on Wednesday, September 23rd...The reality of the situation is that there is no such date. *facepalm* It will actually be on Wednesday September 21st. On Wednesday, we worked on more poems. I had all ages in my class and we all created rhyming poems. Some struggled with ideas, but we all helped each other and came up with some really fun writings. I am very much looking forward to the slam! I'm currently on the hunt for a platform that will be used as a stage. We will have coffee with several different available creamers, doughnuts, and fresh fruit. I can't wait to hear what the kids have come up with. It's so interesting to see how very different everyone is because I know that there will be a variety of different styles and ideas. It will be a great time! After the slam, we have the youth kickoff planned. I have many different games and prizes in mind for this day. It should also be a fun time! If you are reading this, I have a request. Please pray for us as our numbers are steadily increasing. We have been getting new kids lately, which is awesome! The only problem I am encountering is that I have all ages in my class at one time and they just don't work well together. The little kids and the high schoolers just are not on the same playing field and we need more teachers! So, please pray that more of our congregation steps up to the plate to help out. Not only will it be a weight off of my shoulders, but the kids will be able to learn more and grow closer to Jesus and the teachers will benefit from sharing their knowledge of the gospel with younger ones who may not understand it fully. (But then again, who does, really?) The point is, that our little church is trying so very hard to reach out and grow, but we are struggling to find able people to help that process move. Thank you for taking the time to read my blog. I just pray for good things to happen with our little church!