What Happened at Tonight's Meeting?

We had another good turnout tonight and a good get-together.

For devotions, we watched as five of our youth moved my van, something it would have been impossible for any of them to have done on their own. We talked about how we can sometimes get discouraged, because there are things we simply can't do alone. We then looked at Exodus 4:10-13, which tells about how God called Moses to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt, how Moses didn't want to do it for fear that he wasn't able enough, and how God promised to be with him to help him.

Later, we read Nehemiah 4:10-23, which talks about how the ancient Jewish people who had moved back to Jerusalem after a long period of exile, rebuilt the walls of the city. Despite people who harassed them, they were able to do it by first, relying on God, and second, by working together.

As we look at the goals for our youth ministry this year, especially our Week of Hope mission trip, it may seem like a mountain. (Or maybe like a Kia Sedona van!) But depending on God and working together, God will help us do it!

So, what else did we do? We selected youth group officers. They are:
President: Courtney DeVore
Vice President: Justin Feine
Secretary: Laura Kuebel
Treasurer: Sean Daniher
We thank these young people for their willingness to serve!

We chose June 17-22, 2007 and Canandaigua, New York as the date and setting for our Week of Hope mission trip. Below are some details on the trip.

1. The cost is $239.00 per person.

2. After we've registered for the trip, we'll learn what we may be doing. It could be:

* Tutoring little kids
* Serving elderly people
* Working at a food bank
* Assisting at a day camp
* Sprucing up a social service agency office
* Helping needy people with their house or yard work
* Doing VBS outreaches

3. Built into the experience will be some time for us to get to know people from other youth groups, to explore the community in which we're spending the week, and to grow in our faith.

4. Registration cost includes:
Lodging
All meals but one
Materials
Camp T-shirt
Professional coordinating staff

5. You can defray your expenses by participating in our fundraising. Every household that participates in a fundraising event, will split the take for that event. (Example: If ten households participate in the Sam’s Club event and we raise $300, each household will be credited with $30, reducing their registration by that amount. If people who don’t have youth in the group participate in the TGIFriday’s fundraiser, what they raise will be split among those youth households that participated.) We're trying to schedule as many of these fundraisers as possible so that everybody’s costs can be reduced.

5. When do you pay?

• The first payment of $50, a nonrefundable deposit, should be ready to send in by October 8. (Make checks payable to Friendship Lutheran Church. Give them to our treasurer, Mike Cheney. Be sure to put Canandaigua Youth Trip on the memo line.
• Payment 2: 50% of the balance due must be paid by March 15, 2007
• Payment 3: The balance due must be paid by May 15, 2007

6. We will have a blast!

We also looked at the schedule of youth ministry events for the rest of 2007.

Later, we played HORSE, football, Cornhole, and talked. Thanks for your help in cleaning up the building!

Thanks also to the Kuebel family for providing refreshments!