Got Challenges?

I have fought a good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful.

(II Timothy 4:7)

There is a famous shoe company who's motto is: Just Do It!

Well maybe that works in the sports arena, but it gets a little tougher when it comes to life. It seems like sometimes the older we get, the more cynical we become towards life. That's exactly what Satan would want! The devil throws disappointment our way for that very reason. He doesn't need to turn us into satanists, just get us whiney, weepy, and wimpy. So here is a reminder of a different kind of life motto:
 "Just Do It Anyway"

People are unreasonable, illogical and self-centered.
Love them anyway.

If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives.
Do good anyway.

If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies.
Succeed anyway.

The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.
Do good anyway.

Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.
Be honest and frank anyway.

The biggest people with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest people with the smallest minds.
Think big anyway.

People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs.
Fight for the underdog anyway.

What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.
Build anyway.

People really need help, but may attack you if you help them.
Help people anyway.

Give the world the best you've got and you'll get kicked in the teeth.
Give the world the best you've got anyway.
(Mother Theresa)

P.A. 

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.