Who Is Ready For Summer?! Well, folks. January is almost over, which means I’m thinking about June and July. I know what you’re thinking, “What? There are four months between now and then. Whitney needs a calendar.” You’re half right. There are four months between January and June, but I have plenty of calendars. And each calendar is telling me that these next four months are going to be filled with the activities that will make June and July possible. June and July are the golden months in the life of youth ministry. They are filled with mission trips, church camps, and countless opportunities for our young people to encounter God through diverse, novel, and holy experiences. This summer is already shaping up to look pretty fantastic. Our middle schoolers will be heading to Austin, Texas to serve hunger relief organizations and learn about how to break the cycle of poverty. The high schoolers will gain new skill sets and learn about community uplift while repairing and renovating homes in Oliver Springs, Tennessee. Fourth and fifth graders will be taking a mission trip to the far corners of North Texas, discovering the vast and varied ways we can serve our neighbors. We are also trying to organize our first mission trip for the 18-22 crowd. Across the summer, there are a whopping eleven opportunities for our youth to attend church camp, where they will deepen their relationships with God and other young people trying to figure out this whole faith thing. The exciting experiences that await our youth in June and July offer us opportunities in the coming months to partner, support, and invest in their spiritual development and soul care of our youth. We, as a congregation, are blessed with abundant opportunities to equip and empower our youth to attend mission trips and camps. If you want to know what these abundant opportunities are (trust me— you want to know), read on: 1. Pray for our youth. Devote time in your daily reflection and conversation with God to ask for God’s presence and purpose to manifest in the lives of our young people. 2. Sign your youth up for camp and mission trip. 3. Help us raise funds to sponsor and send our youth on mission trip. We have several fun fundraising events coming up: - Chili Cook-Off//Trivia Think-Off on February 16. Sign up your think tank or your chili pot here: signupgenius/go/9040544ADA92EA02-chili - Youth Auction and Dinner on March 30. Come bid on sweet swag or donate something for others to bid on. Or both. - Churchwide Meal Meet-Ups throughout the spring. Watch for announcements and join us for lunch at local restaurants who will donate proceeds to our mission effort. - Flocking throughout the spring. Oh, just y’all wait. As youth sponsors, teachers, and I enter into the season of always prayerful (and sometimes frantic) preparation for our major summer youth ministry initiatives, it is such a comfort, blessing, and joy to know that our church community will continue to surround our youth with love and support. So, who’s ready for summer? Whitney
Posted on: Wed, 22 Jan 2014 22:27:11 +0000
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