Remember...

we meet at the church building at 6:00 PM tonight. We'll go get fast food and then head to New Richmond High School for a concert of Devon Beck's choirs, which starts at 7:00.

Watch for...

detailed information on our upcoming November 11 and 16 fundraisers. I hope to post those tonight or early tomorrow.

Update on Our 'Week of Hope' Mission Trip

There are still a lot of questions about the Week of Hope mission trip. Several that have come up in the past few days:

Where will we sleep?
On air mattresses at a school in Canandaigua. Showers, breakfasts, lunches, and all but one of the dinners will be provided for us as part of our registration.

When should we get our $50 deposit in?
The deadline was last Sunday, October 8. But I set that deadline for us at Friendship. The quicker we get our registration in, the more secure our spots will be. The other deadlines you'll see below are from Group Workcamps, the organization that puts the Week of Hope together.

How many adults are needed?
We need one adult for every five youth. So far, in addition to myself, four adults have indicated a desire to attend. Their registration costs the same as the youth participants' registration.

A more detailed information packet will come to us once we've officially registered.

Below, you'll find other information shared here after the youth decided where we will be going for the Week of Hope:

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!

The Week of Hope video will answer a lot of our initial questions. Here it is.

As of this morning...

ten youth and four adults have confirmed that they're going on the Week of Hope trip to New York in June! Awesome!

Schedule Change for This Coming Weekend...and an Addition for Next Week

Because so many are unable to make it for the lock-in we had scheduled for this coming Friday/Saturday, we're going to scrub it for now and meet next Sunday night, from 6:00 to 7:30 PM. The purpose of the get-together is to plan the youth-led worship happening in December.

Also: We've been invited to attend a concert by the New Richmond High School Choir. Devon Beck is a member of this very good choir. It happens on Tuesday, October 24. If you'd like to go, let's plan on meeting at the church building at 6:00, getting some fast food, and then, heading for the 7:00 concert.

Thanks!...from Pastor Mark

You did a great job packing the duffel and diaper bags for the CASA for Clermont Kids! program tonight. Children going through tough situations will be helped because of what you did tonight.

Sometime this week, would you pray for them, asking God will use your kindness to help them know that He is there for them and loves them?

I'm proud of you!

God bless.

Pastor Mark

What's Happening This Coming Sunday Night?

This coming Sunday, we'll be packing duffel bags for the CASA for Clermont Kids! program. We get together at 6:00.

We need parents to provide refreshments for the evening.

Christmas Caroling Date/Time Nailed Down

We're scheduled to do Christmas caroling at the Eastgate Nursing Home on Sunday, December 10, from 2:00 to 4:00 PM. Put it on your calendars. We'll plan on doing hot chocolate at the church building afterwards.

Everyone Planning on Going on the Week of Hope Trip

Your $50 per person registration first installment needs to be handed in ASAP. Give those to Mike Cheney, written to Friendship, with something like "Week of Hope Mission Trip" on the memo line.

We Meet Tomorrow Night...

at 6:00 PM at the church building. From there, we go for some fast food and then head to Kyle Barrett's soccer game.

A Reminder...

We meet this coming Thursday at 6:00 PM to go to Kyle Barrett's 7:00 soccer game. Scroll down to see other upcoming gathering days and times.

Remember...

we meet at Friendship's building at 6:00 this coming Tuesday. Then, we'll go fast food before seeing Sam's soccer game.