August is the best!

I love the month of August, because fall sports are getting kicked off, people aren't traveling as much, and things are starting to see some semblance back to a normal schedule.  I also really enjoy the first couple weeks of August because we start training and equipping our new and veteran volunteers!

This coming Wednesday night we start the process of gathering our REFUGE volunteer family back together. I love this time because for some of these volunteers we haven't seen all summer, because they take off on vacations, work a little bit more, and visit family. But for the next two weeks on Wednesday nights for 2 hours, we gather together, break bread, and we pray and learn about how to minister to students.

I am especially excited for this group coming in because this will be the largest group of new volunteers we have ever had. God has provided some amazing volunteers this year, I believe this year could be a fantastic year of ministry at REFUGE!

Be praying for us this week as we start training, and we start praying for God to some massive things this year, please pray for clarity for our leaders who will be leading small groups this year. There are so many ups and downs with small groups and that is the reason we need to keep lifting up these amazing people up in prayer. They are going to be on the front lines of ministry all year long!

Please lift up our REFUGE team this week in prayer!

We are super excited for the year to come. We will have lots of details to put out to you soon, like our new app, new calendar, new check in system, lots of new things!

Have a great day!

P.A.

Back in the drivers seat

Hey there everyone, sorry this blog has been quite for a little bit, but Carter and I were both on a break after missions trips but we are back.

Here are a couple things that are going down soon that you can be praying for.

1. We start our leader meetings next week for our new and veteran small group leaders, we spend 2 weeks going over new and exciting things that are coming up for this ministry this year and we get to have some fun hanging out with each other. This group of volunteers become a family over the year and we love that about our volunteers, Youth Ministry is unlike any other ministry inside the church, and we want to make sure we start out on the right foot!

So be praying for these new leaders coming in, and be praying that our staff bonds, and becomes united.

2. August 15th is our official kick off for the fall! I can't believe that it's almost here. But be praying because we are going to having a ton of fun that night over at Terry Smiths house. We will get you the details later on in August. I can't wait to kick off the new youth ministry season! God is going to some amazing things this year.

So be praying for our kickoff and that tons of students come and hang out! We lost a lot of seniors this past year, but I am super pumped for our new students coming up into the ministry.

3. Our new student impact team, We have got a great number of students on our student impact team, they are so stinking cool, they are going to be going doing some really fun and hard training these next couple weeks to get them ready for the school year. God is going to do some amazing things through them!!

So be praying for those students to step up in a mighty way!

I hope you all have a great rest of the day, I love coming back from Denver and seeing part of my grass is actually green! Yippee!

P.A.

high school urban plunge day 3

Today started early for group 1, 5:30 to be exact. We went to Target Dayton Ministries where we got to serve homeless people coffee and breakfast and the pastor there gave a message about salvation. Once we were finished serving breakfast, we got to eat and do devotions before moving on to our next site.

The next place where we went was the YWCA and worked in Hope's Closet separating and sifting through clothes. The students had fun while serving the YWCA for a few hours. After we left the YWCA we went to the Clubhouse and spent time hanging out with elementary students and talking about super heros!

 After spending a few hours there, we went to a water fountain to cool off before Bible study. Group 2 spend the morning at URS working with kids and adults with physical and some mental disabilities. After working with and hanging out with the URS people, they went to the Garden Station where they worked for a few hours in the blazing heat, digging and mulching and doing some maintenance in the garden.

After the Garden Station they went to boonshaft museum where they all got to act like kids again. And when they were finished at the museum, they came back and joined us for bible study with the Fort McKinley church. Overall it was an amazing day with amazing people!!

Questions to ask your students:
1. What was your favorite part about Target Dayton/ URS?
2. What was the most memorable story from the day?
3. Who was the most interesting person you met?
4. How was Bible study with Bryce?
5. What is one way you saw Christ today throughout your day?

High school Urban plunge day 2

Today started a little earlier than yesterday. Today was known as poverty day. The students were split into groups of about 5 and we went to Kroger and had $10 to spend on all the meals for their families and PB&J was a family favorite. After breakfast students then broke into two groups... group 1 was Sam's group and group 2 was Kaila's group. Group 1 went to New Hope Villa first, a transitional home for seniors with a mental illness and were homeless at one time. We got to sit and talk with the residents and then play kinect bowling, shuffleboard, and skip-bo/uno. The students loved it and the residents loved it more! After that group one got to go paint a house with Rebuild Together Dayton. This is where our students did an amazing job painting in 95° weather. When we were finished there, we headed back to the firehouse before we went out to the park to eat dinner and cool off at a small water park. Meanwhile... when group 1 was at NHV and painting, group 2 was painting, first, and then at NHV for some Chair Volleyball. After the fun-filled night we came back for debrief and then Kaila gave her testimony. Overall the students did an amazing job of working hard and loving the people at New Hope Villa! I'm proud of them... pray for the energy of the students and for some awesome divine appointments. Questions for your students... 1. What was your favorite part about poverty day? 2. What wasyour one story from New Hope Villa? 3. How was painting a house of people you didn't know? 4. What did you learn about poverty today? 5. What did you like/learn from Kaila's story?

High school urban plunge day 1

We went to Fort McKinley church and heard a message about prayer. We then went to marions pizza for lunch where our students hammered through like 10 pizzas... after that we went to garden station for some geocashing ...when we were finished geocashing we went to the air force museum for a couple hours. For dinner we enjoyed nice and sweet, a local little food shop. After dinner we went back the the firehouse and had some worship and talked through our journals and heard Sam's testimony... Here are some questions to ask your students when they get home. 1. What was your favorite moment in church? 2. What was the one thing Jeremiah said that stuck out to you in his sermon? 3. How did you feel at dinner when that lady came up and started bugging the group? 4. What did you take away from Sams story? 5. What is one thing that you learned about God on this crazy Sunday?

Urban plunge day 4

Hey there everyone, I hope things are going well. Everyone is asleep already and they are wiped out. Here is the run down of todays events. One team went to urs to help out with art day and they loved it. They also were doing some landscaping in at college station which is a community garden. Our students worked so hard it was great. Another team helped with target Dayton and serving those who were homeless and needed a meal, then they spent time working at the YWCA folding clothes, and then they spent time running a clubhouse at ft. McKinley church. Our students did amazing. God has done some amazing things on this trip. Your students have worked so hard and it has amazed the people running this event. They continually dode on your students about being the hardest working team they have had all summer. I sat them down tonight and told them how proud I was of them i was and how they have been a blessing to so many people. It is so rewarding seeing junior high students love people who are the outcasts, down and outs, and the misfits. God has a plan for them and your students stepped into that plan. Here are some questions to ask your students. 1. How was the interlude dance? 2. How did you enjoy your time debriefing by the river? 3. What was your favorite thing about helping with clubhouse? 4. What was the best part about helping with the handicapped people at urs? 5. What is something God taught you on this trip? We will be arriving tomorrow night to cvmc around 8pm. We are sad to go but we are excited for air conditioning! See you tomorrow! p.A.

Urban plunge day 3

Hey there everyone, I hope things are going well for you. Our students are so tired from today. They worked so hard. We had 1 team wake up at 5 am and take off towards project Dayton where they served homeless people, while another team took off towards a place where they helped mentally disabled students, and adults. That team served root beer floats and and had a dance party with the adult class. This afternoon both teams served by cleaning up parks, team 1 went to a YWCA and cleaned and indoor park, while team 2 went out to a community garden and helped them lay mulch and weed out some of the gardens. Tonight we had a cookout with some of the neighborhood kids. It was really fun playing games, and eating a ton of food. Then we had a guy named Bryce who plays right guard for wright state come and give a message. He spoke on anger and told stories of how when he was angry how he acted, and then he told stories about how Christ changed his life. God is doing some amazing work in these students our debrief time took almost 2 hours because of all the stories being told of these students serving. Here are some questions 1. How did you enjoy working with the mentally challenged people at urs. 2. How did you like Bryces talk about anger? 3. In yor devotion time in the morning what did you read? What did you get it of your time praying? 4. What's the best dance move you did in the dance party? 5. what did God teach you about speaking to those who are in need? Can't believe tomorrow is our last day. God is doing some amazing stuff! Keep up the prayers we are feeling them!!! P.A.

Urban plunge day 2

Good evening everyone! I hope you are doing well, here is the run down of our day today and also some questions to ask your students when they get home. Both teams spent time in new hope villa, and painting a house for rebuild Dayton. New hope villa is a residential unit for people who have been homeless at one point in their lives, and who deal with mental disorders. Team 1 spent their time playing games, the Xbox kinect, and skipbo. They had great conversations and came away with lots of eat stories, team 2 played chair volleyball. It was amazing, they have an actual chair volleyball team that competes in tournaments, and they have 1st place trophies. Our team won 3 out of the 4 games, but it was pretty close. Today was our poverty day, we broke the students up into 3 families of 6 and they got 10$ to eat all day. Our students did great! Almost every family had food left over, they did a great job. The debriefing time was fantastic with the students tonight. It would be a great thing for you to talk with your student about when they get home. Here are some questions for you to ask your students. 1. How was poverty day? 2. What was your favorite part of painting? 3. Tell me about the people at new hope villa? 4. What was your favorite game we played in the park? 5. Wha did you learn about God in Sams testimony? Hope you guys have a great day! See you Thursday, please keep praying for our team. P.A.

Urban plunge day 1

Well we finally got down here! It was a great trip down today and it was a lot easier than yesterday. The students are all mostly sleeping I just stepped into the guys room and made sure they were actually going to bed, but it was a lot of laughing and bodily noises. Most of the ladies I am told are already asleep. They were really tried. Today we got to spend a lot of hanging out with our team, doing fun games, and eating. We ate a lot today. Tomorrow we will be spending most of our day working in various capacities, and it's poverty day tomorrow. We will be breaking the students up into families of 4 and giving them 8 dollars to feed themselves all day. We want them to understand how difficult it is to be poor and be hungry. Be praying that God does some amazing things through this day. Here are some questions you can ask your students when they come back. 1. How did to enjoy the trip down? 2. Tell me about geocaching? 3. How was playing in the fountain? 4. What was your favorite thing to do at the firehouse? 5. What type of fruit do you think Jesus is looking for in yor life? Hope you have a great day. P.A.

Urban Plunge leaves tomorrow!

Hey there everyone! Last minute details are under way over here at CVMC getting things packed up and into the trailer! Here are some of the things you need to remember:

1. We leave at 5pm tomorrow night from cvmc! We will be stopping on the way down for dinner so make sure to bring some extra money.

2. Make sure you bring a water bottle, not a flimsy plastic one, but a good sturdy one!

3. Bring good clothes to work in, and good shoes to work in as well.

4. Make sure to bring your bibles, and a journal as well.

5. Pack for the weather! It's going to be hot!

If there are any more questions that you have please email me and I will return those as quick as possible.

Thanks guys! Can't wait to leave tomorrow!

P.A. 

Urban Plunge Prayer list

I can't believe we are only a couple days away from taking off on a luxurious missions trip :) Just kidding about the luxurious part we are sleeping on floors, and doing a ton of hard work, but it's going to be stinking awesome.

Here are a couple ways for you all to stay connected during our time away.

1. Facebook - Friend either I (Adam sharp)  or Carter Ammerman. We will be posting pictures and updates through our facebook pages, also we have Cvmc youth facebook page, if you like it, you can see some of the updates there as well.

2. Twitter - If you text 40404 then in the message potion of the text type "follow cvmc_therefuge" you will receive our twitter feed on your phone like a text message, you don't have to sign up for twitter, its pretty much us sending you text messages about our time in Dayton, and this will work for all of our trips. Big Chill, 3dyc, HS urban plunge, EVERYTHING!

3. Blogspot - Obviously if you are reading this you have the blogspot web address, on here we will be debriefing everyday with parents so they can follow along with our trip, we will be posting questions you can ask your students when they come back home so you don't get the typical "How was your trip" "FINE!" answer. We want to equip and help the parents be able to connect with their student as much as possible!

Our Goal is to make it easy for parents and others to follow us on our trip.

As always if you have any questions please feel free to email me at cvmcadam@gmail.com 

Have a great day, and try to stay cool!

P.A. 

Urban plunge prayer list

Hey there everyone, we are just a couple days away from our Junior high students taking off to Urban plunge! We leave July 7th, at 5pm from CMVC! It is going to be such an amazing trip, we can't stinking wait to go. I can't believe its already here. For those who will be back here and wanting to pray for us here are a couple more things you can pray for.

1. For the leaders to get sleep!
2. For the leaders at Urban plunge to connect with our students.
3. For our 2 teams to do amazing work down in Dayton Ohio!
4. For the Poverty day to be really effective with our students.
5. For the parents and students to have great debriefing time when they return.

We hope that you all have a great day!

P.A.

Urban Plunge

Hey there everyone, I hope things are going well for you guys! Here are a couple things to be praying for our students with urban plunge.

1. For God to move in major way in these students and leaders lives.
2. For safety, we will be traveling a lot, and all around Dayton so please pray for safety.
3. For sleep, its always hard to get into a good rhythm of sleep in a new place and when its really hot out.
4. For the students to connect to others while on this trip.
5. For students to have a passion for serving others.

We leave on our first trip in 5 days! This first trip is Junior High students, and our Second trip is all high school students. We are super excited on what God is going to do on these trips.

Obviously during these trips I will be blogging questions you can ask your students when they get home, and for others we will be blogging about what we are doing and we will be posting pictures all the time on facebook, and here on the blogspot.

I will be posting all the this week on different ways to be praying for the teams that are heading out.

Hope you guys have a great day!

P.A.