Thursday, April 30, 2009

April 29 Youth Group Recap

What an awesome night last night! We had EIGHT new 5th graders graduate out of E-Klub.

Game:

Multi-base kickball, boys vs girls. Boys won.

Teaching Series
:
Worthless-A Study in Ecclesiastes

Topic:
There is a time for everything, good and bad.

Key Verses:
Ecclesiastes 3:1-22

Attendance:
29-120% of same week last year

Main Group Testimony:
John Mulholland talked about a "time for everything", God has it all under control. all of the bad things will be made right by God.

Small Group Time:
The small groups talked about how God has placed "eternity in our hearts", meaning, God has created in each of us a desire for more that just eating, drinking and making money.

Closing Challenge:
At the end of our lives, all we are left with is our relationship, or lack of relationship with God

Questions You Can Ask:
What kinds of things are you working for?
What things in your life would you change if you took these verses 100% seriously?

Coming up next:
Sunday School (May 3)
Youth Group (April 29)

Monday, April 27, 2009

30 Hour Famine Recap

Friday Night:

We met about 5pm; Katie Mulholland and Samantha Holley spent some time educating those gathered about homelessness and the issues that surround it. They shared why we were focusing on homelessness, rather than our "normal" 30 Hour Famine event. We spent some time reading scripture from Isaiah 58, on what REAL fasting looks like. After that, we divided the group into 2 "families"-the Papendorfs and the Jones' (yep, the apostrophe is misplaced on purpose...ask them!). Some of the students were given disabilities for their familoes to contend with; we had a broken arm, an alcoholic, and then the students were limited to only carrying 5 items each, including their sleeping bag. the students then played a game where they had to "earn" shelter, food, and medicine points. As an example, I had several students wash the windows on my van, for which they recieved points. the team with the most food points got to east first (as well as an extra cookie) and the team with the most shelter points got to pick the location of their "box city" first. Following a meal of peanut butter sandwiches, a cookie, and a bag of chips or crackers, we headed down to clean the stadium where the Cedar Rapids Kernels play, only this time, all money raised is going to help the Cedar House Shelter downtown. We returned to the church about 11:45, set up our two camps, prayed, and then settled in for a chilly, damp night sleeping in cardboard boxes. It was about 1am by this time.

Saturday Morning:

We woke to the sounds of thunder and flashes of lightning aabout 5:45am Saturday morning. Within moments, it began to drip, and since we were getting up at 6, we woke all the kids up and had them take their stuff inside. We had no sooner made it in, when the rains came. We did some clean-up around the church, and went to the kitchen to prepare the meal that we were going to take down to the Cedar House Shelter for breakfast. We arrived at Cedar House by 7:20, served the folks there, and then ate. We were given a list of 30 items for us to work on. Other than a certain problem with a ceiling fan, we got about 25 of the items done. We left Cedar House around 11:45 and went to the Hy-Vee on Collins Rd to buy lunch.

Saturday Afternoon:

We again divided into our 2 families, the Papendorfs (8 in family) were given $12 to buy lunch for all, and the Jones' (7 in family) had $10. We then went to a goodwill store to get some t-shirts that we were going to decorate withour our own design. We returned to Eastview, ate lunch, and then gave the group 45 minutes-an hour to chill out. Around 3pm, we got back together and decorated our t-shirts, made our group sign, and talked about our presentation on Sunday. We had some closing group time, sang some songs, and I challenged the kids to not make this year's 30 Hour Famine a one-time thing. Karen Cripe and Monna Kreher were kind enough to supply our last meal. they went withthe soup kitchen format, first putting some food in garbage bags and hiding it around the building, and then serving soup to us. We finished right about 6pm.

As I wrote earlier, each of the kids did a great job. The helped when asked, and worked hard without complaint. We got a ton of work done, and several of the kids are already talking about doing something with Cedar House on a more consistent basis. We'll close this year's official event next Sunday, during our corporate worship with a slide show. In the meantime, check out some photos, top right.


Thursday, April 23, 2009

April 22 Youth Group Review

Game:
"Hockerball"-is it soccer? Is it football? Yes. And the boys won.

Teaching Series
:
Worthless-A Study in Ecclesiastes

Topic:
All our stuff? Accomplishments? Meaningless.

Key Verses:
Ecclesiastes 2:1-17

Attendance:
19-63% of same week last year

Main Group Testimony:
Betty Dickerson shared her thought from the funeral of a friends father, which she had attended yesterday.

Small Group Time:
The small groups talked about how easy it is for us to find meaning and purpose in our things and our accomplishments.

Closing Challenge:
At the end of our lives, all we are left with is our relationship, or lack of relationship with God

Questions You Can Ask:
What kinds of things are you finding your meaning and value in?

Coming up next:
30 H0ur Famine (April 24/25)
Sunday School (April 26)
Youth Group (April 29): Ecclesiastes Study, Promotion Wednesday, Parents night

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Delayed Weekly Post

Sorry this has been delayed, I've had trouble getting onto the Blogger page for a few days.

Here are a few things that you need to know:

Tonight:
$50 deposit for CIY Summer Conference is due.

30 Hour Famine:
Coming up this weekend is our annual participation in an event called 30 Hour Famine. Our youth ministry has partnered with World Vision in this event for many years. This year however, is going to be different. This year, the funds raised will go to a local ministry here in Cedar Rapids. We’re supporting the Cedar House Shelter in downtown Cedar Rapids.

Here’s the “run-down” (that was for all of you “Office” fans out there...)

Friday:
10am- For those participating, we’re asking that their final meal of the day be around 10am
5pm- Registration/Introduction/Educate
8pm- Small meal
9-11pm- Kernels cleaning
Post-game- Debrief at Eastview, sleep

Saturday:
6am- Wake up
7am- Head to Cedar House Shelter for service projects
Noon- Lunch
1pm-5pm- Debrief/Group Project
6pm- Dismiss

We have talked a lot about this event with our kids. Please review the following with them:

  • This is an event about service. It is designed to create awareness, empathy, and a heart for God’s people. Whether it is not eating for a few hours, eating food that they do not care for, cleaning at the stadium or sleeping in a box, we have designed this event to make the students uncomfortable to push them to their limits. If you do not feel that your student is up to this challenge, please don’t send them.
  • Friday night, we’ll be sleeping outside in boxes in the parking lot at Eastview. The low’s for the weekend look to be in the mid-50’s. All students will be expected to sleep in the parking lot.
  • Saturday, we’ll be doing various work projects at the Cedar House Shelter. All students will be expected to participate in whatever work projects we are assigned.
This is going to be a great event. On Sunday April 26, there will be a brief presentation and slide show depicting the events of the weekend during our Sunday service. We’d love to see you there.

April 29-(Next Wednesday):
-$35 deposit and registration form
-Promotion Wednesday, our 5th graders are coming to join us in youth group for the rest of the year.
-Parent Night- You're invited to come and check us out. Join us at 5:45 for a meal, then stay for our organized game time and main lesson. After our groups break into their small-groups, I'll visit with parents for a time of fellowship and questions and answers.

Have a great week!

Friday, April 17, 2009

Some Youth Ministry Finances Stuff...

Over the past few days, I’ve been asked a question or three about finances. Here’s the rundown:

Any student that participates in a fundraiser will have a student account set up. As they work various fundraisers, their “cut” goes into their account. This is their money, to be used for church events (Camp, CIY, Retreats, Trips, etc).

Anyone may add money to their youth account at any time. Simply make the check (I am no longer accepting ANY cash) out to Eastview Youth Fund, and give the check to ME. Why me? Because we manage our youth accounts in a totally different bank than our church general fund. When “student money” goes into our general offering, there are several clerical things that need to take place, so skip the middleman. Please give all checks to me. This includes deposits, balance payoffs for trips, and even just general deposits to increase student balances.

As it says above, this is “their money”. As events get closer, I’ll let you know what funds are in their accounts, and you just pay the difference. There is nothing to apply for, I just need to know if you want to use the money in their accounts for an event. If we are speaking in person or on the phone about this, I’ll ask that you send me an email just so we have documentation.

We take deposits for trips as a way to gauge interest, commitment and because the organizations that we work with require them. It is our ministry team policy that deposits NOT COME FROM STUDENT ACCOUNTS. If this is an issue, please contact me personally so we can discuss it.

These deposits come out of the total trip cost. For instance: the total trip cost for CIY is $300. The deposit due is $50. Once that deposit is paid (it’s due on the 22nd, by the way!!), the balance due becomes $250. If a student has $65 in their youth account, and you communicate to me that you want that to go towards CIY, you would then owe $185.

I try very hard to keep things as reasonably priced as possible. Having said that, everything costs more right now. We try very hard to be good stewards of the funds we take in. We do not seek to make money off our events. In fact, last year on our Kansas mission trip, we spent .04 less than we had budgeted!

Finally, scholarship funds. We have set up a scholarship fund to ASSIST families and students who need money to attend out events. Generally, scholarship funds are available to students who a) are involved consistently in our events, b) who participate in our fundraisers, and c) need the money. Additionally, our specific policy is that students can only receive funds for one MAJOR event per year. A MAJOR event is one like CIY, CAMP, a mission trip, etc. On top of that, even within those guidelines, we may not be able to fund an entire trip for someone. Above all else, we are limited by funds on hand. We simply cannot pay the total amount for every student who wishes to go to CIY. But, we may be able to pay something. Our scholarship policy will be under review by our ministry team in the coming months, I’ll let you know what changes. For details on the current policy, hop over to the parent website, and download the form.

I hope that this answers some questions. Have a great weekend!

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Camp Week Correcction

I inadvertently missed a week of camp in my email yesterday.

3rd/4th Grade Camp is June 28-July 1.
Cost if paid before June 1st: $95
Cost if paid after June 1st: $120

Sorry about that!

Monday, April 13, 2009

Eastview Parent Weekly-April 12-18

I hope that you all had a great Easter weekend.

This is the “busy summer ahead” edition.

CIY Summer Conference-High School Students
  • This morning, I registered 15 people for our upcoming high school trip. If you do not see the name of your student on this list, and they are supposed to be, I need to know immediately. As of this morning, there were only 240 spots left.
  • Here’s who got registered:
  • Student List: Samantha Holley, Jenai Holley, Brittany Kiley, Katie Mulholland, Nathan Mulholland, Amanda Williams, Nickie Smith, Breanna Smith, Dillon Bisig, Heidi Dickerson, Courtney Des Forge, Kayla Buffington.
  • Adult List: Betty Dickerson, John Mulholland, Steve Novak
  • $50 deposit is due NEXT Wednesday night (the 22nd) along with the registration forms. Scholarship applications are due no later than June 1, but I’d sure like to know earlier than that if you are going to apply for help. All of these forms are available on the parent website.

Kansas Mission Trip-Middle School Students
  • Registrations and $35 deposit are due no later than April 29th.
  • Scholarship applications are due no later than Sunday, May 3.
Parents night is Wednesday April 29th
  • Please join us at 5:45!
Wednesday June 10
  • Final Youth Group meeting for Summer

Summer camp dates and cost-for all students

Date
June 14-19 6th-8th Grade #1
By June 1st cost $155
After June 1st $180
(I am at this camp week)

June 21-24 4th-5th Grade
By June 1st cost $95
After June 1st $120

June 26-27 2nd-3rd Grade
By June 1st cost $35
After June 1st cost $45
(Parent goes with child)

July 5-11 High School
Before June 1st cost $185
After June 1st cost $210(I am at this camp week)

July 12-17 6th-8th Grade
Before June 1st cost $155
After June 1st cost $180

July 19-23 5th-6th Grade Camp
Before June 1st cost $125
After June 1st cost $150

This week at youth group and e-klub, we’ll be handing out camp brochures and registration packets. If your son or daughter is planning on going to camp this summer, would you please give me a heads-up? Scholarship applications for MS week 1 (June 14-19) are due THIS Sunday (April 19). High school week scholarship applications are due by Sunday, May 10.

Have a great week!

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Kernel's Fundraiser tonight

CANCELED.

For the students who were there last night, I will match last night's pay from our scholarship fund.

Our next fundraisers are scheduled for May 1 & 2. See you then!

Thursday, April 9, 2009

April 8 Youth Group Recap

Sorry this is a little late...

Game:

Soccer, middle school and adults vs high school...TIE!

Teaching Series
:
Worthless-A Study in Ecclesiastes

Topic:
What does "meaningless" mean?

Key Verses:
Ecclesiastes 1:1-11

Attendance:
26-84% of same week last year

Main Group Testimony:
We talked about the author of the book, Solomon. We talked about life without God and the things that we chase after.

Small Group Time:
Each of the small groups talked about best and worst teachers and learning. We read and talked about our key verses.

Closing Challenge:
We ended our time in all 3 groups talking about how what we're all REALLY looking for is God. We talked about not finding satisfaction in "things".

Questions You Can Ask:
What was the best thing you ever learned? Why?
Have you ever received a gift that, within a few months, got old? Why is that?

Coming up next:
Sunday School (April 12)
Youth Group (April 15): Ecclesiastes Study

Monday, April 6, 2009

Parent Weekly, April 5-11

Coming up this week:

Wednesday night, were beginning a study series from the book of Ecclesiastes in the Old Testament. We’re calling the series “Worthless”. Biblically, we intend to show that life without God is no life at all. We hope to see all of our students there!

Friday &Saturday: Kernels fundraiser. We need at least 10-12 students and adults to help us clean Kernels stadium after their games.
Friday- Meet at Stadium by 9:30
Saturday- Meet at the Stadium by 5pm
Big Purple will leave the church parking lot at 9pm on Friday night, and 4:30pm on Saturday if you would like to drop off/pick up at Eastview. We’ll call both evenings when we leave the stadium. If you or your student is planning on being there, please let me know asap.

A little further out:

April 22- CIY Summer conference deposit of for 8th graders-graduating senior is due by April 22. The deposit is $50. Currently, the week we are planning on attending is 77% full. I cannot guarantee that students will be able to attend if we do not register by April 22. All information is available in the “forms” section at the parent website. Sponsors for this trip are myself, Steve Novak, and Betty Dickerson.

April 24 & 25- 30 Hour Famine at Eastview. All details are on the registration sheet, over at the parent website.

April 29-
Parents night at Eastview Student Ministry. We hope to see you there!
Kansas Mission Trip (Middle School Students) registration forms are due with $35 deposit. Sponsors for this trip are myself, Rob Frederick, and Kathy
Thomas.

Thursday, April 2, 2009

April 1 Youth Group Recap

Game:
4-base whiffle ball...the boys won.

Teaching Series
:
Set an example...

Topic:
Why should we set an example?

Key Verse:
1 Timothy 4:12

Attendance:
23-88% of same week last year

Main Group Testimony:
Since we've been talking about the same verse for the last 7 weeks, we wanted to see if any of them learned it. We had about 10 kids get it mostly right, so they got a prize. We also talked about what was coming up next.

Small Group Time:
We spent time talking about each of the area that Paul had encouraged Timothy in. We asked which of the 5 were "easy" to be an example in, and which were "tough".

Closing Challenge:
We challenged the groups to consider what headway they have made in these areas. We also encouraged them to keep being an example.

Questions You Can Ask:
What were the 5 things that Paul encouraged Timothy in?

Coming up next:
Sunday School (March 29)
Youth Group (April 1): Ecclesiastes Study