This Past Wednesday

This past Wednesday we talked about sharing our faith with the people around us. We started out with a charade/relay type game, and the point was made later on that, sometimes, we just need to speak. Instead of exhausting ourselves trying to charade to people what we believe, we should have a conversation!

The main point we talked about is that sharing your faith isn't about gimmicks, stategies, tactics or manipulating conversations, but about love. Loving the Christian community God has placed us in, and loving the people around us. How much more honest and impactful is loving someone unconditionally than treating them like a project!

Loving with no agenda is the real kicker here, that regardless of how people respond to us loving them and talking with them (because it's not loving to leave them guessing! you have to talk as well) you love! Not demanding change, or growth, or them to be a different person by tomorrow morning. But to love how Christ loves us. Always through our sins and faulterings.

The groups broke up into D Group (Discussion and Discipleship Groups) and conversation seemed to flow really naturally.

God has really been blessing our D Group times recently. You should grab a youth leader (Mike, Ruth or Laura) give them a hug, and tell them thanks!

- Andrew

Want to talk parenting?

While at a youth conference last year, Andrew and I had the pleasure of listening to Carey Nieuwhof speak. Carey is the lead pastor of Connexus Community Church in Toronto. He has written a book called, Parenting Beyond Your Capacity, which is about what he calls "orange strategy."

Orange is what you get when you combine two primary colors—red and yellow.
 If you paint only with red, you will get what only red can do. If you paint only with yellow, you will get what only yellow can do. But when you paint with red and yellow, you’ll get new possibilities, fresh solutions, vibrant outcomes.

We use the color orange to symbolize what it means to parent beyond your capacity. Orange parents understand that by tapping into a wider community, they have the potential to make a greater impact in the lives of their children.

It is a very interesting strategy, which we found very beneficial as youth leaders, and which we would love for you to find out more about.

On March 2nd at 11am, Carey is hosting an online chat for any parents wanting to discuss hot you as a parent can invite others to invest in your children. For more information or to join the discussion, click here and scroll down to "Carey Nieuwhof."

- Laura

A look at this week and next in youth group

Let me keep you informed on what has happened and is happening with our youth.

Last night we hosted a group of about 10 ladies from the community and put on a Valentine's Day spaghetti dinner for them. The kids worked hard, made it look pretty and the food tasted great. It was awesome to watch the kids mingle (this pushed some kids out of their comfort zone) and learn from and minister to the ladies.

In the coming weeks we will be handling some tough issues.

Next Wednesday, we will be talking about sharing our faith with our friends. Preparing for this has been both good and frustrating. Good because I feel a renewed sense of calling and Love for God and the people He has placed around me. Frustrating because I see how often we miss the mark. As Christ followers we often profess one thing and live another. I am the first to admit I am a work in progress, so the "Christians are hypocrites" argument doesn't usually hold much water in my mind. However, in the issue of sharing faith, I see this way too much. We teach that all people are created in God's image and hold a value so great, we can't even wrap our minds around it. Then we go out and treat people like projects, we reject them because they haven't "got it right yet," or, perhaps the most tragic, we love conditionally. I pray that over the next week God would continue to work this in my heart more and more, and that the words He is preparing for me connect with the hearts and lives of the people who will hear it.

Thanks for joining us on this incredible Journey.
Parents, you are a vital part of this journey. Thanks for allowing us to be a part of it.

- Andrew

A Beginning

After attending a conference in December, Laura and I talked about starting a blog for our Youth Group. We wanted a way to keep people connected, to share ideas and resources, to question, and to let people (youth and parents, alike) know what happens in the trenches on Wednesday night.

So, as we begin the whole blog adventure, please join us - comment, ask questions, and let us know what you would like to learn more about through this blog.

- Andrew