What Will They Become?

     Somewhere a father is lift his hand to beat his child. Somewhere someone is pulling the trigger of gun on another life. Somewhere a murder is being plotted. Somewhere innocence is being tortured. Somewhere a teen committing suicide. There is so much evil in the world.
     When I think about all these horrible things that take place around us I think about the people who do them. Where did they come from? What has their life been like? Then finally I think, these people were all children at one point. These people all came from the womb as innocent little babies, so what happened between then and now? It can sometimes be unbearable to teach children, love children, and be a friend to children, all the while wondering What will they become? What pain will they experience? 
     This is why our work is so important! We share the gospel in hopes that they will come to know Christ. When they know Christ, God now has a hold of their heart and He is never going to let go-they are His. He will work in their lives to change them and mold them into His image and save them from who knows what kind of future. Perhaps reaching that one child has saved the world from the next Hitler, but more importantly, reaching that one child has saved that child from a hopeless eternity.
     Feeding the hungry won't change the world, providing for the poor won't change world, rescuing people from terrible environments won't change the world, and bringing people happiness won't even change the world. None of these things can change the person, there is only one who can: Jesus can change the world and He can do that through you and me. We can show Christ's love in our lives, show them that special something that we have inside and then when they come running to know what it is we can share the love of God.

Adolf Hitler

2014 Most Searched Verses

Biblegateway.com is one of the biggest online Bible sites on the internet.  They recently released their 2014 results for what verses and topics people search for the most.  Among this write up there is a list of the top 100 verses searched for.  In America, there are three main categories people search for (according to me).  Let’s explore the top 10 them together.

Coming in at number 10, Philippians 4:7 is a fantastic verse talking about the nature of God, a promise for the believer, and security in Christ.  This is always a verse I love to teach to children because of all that is in here.  If they have trusted in Jesus as Saviour, they are able to claim God’s promise of guarding the heart and mind. This verse starts out by going into the personal security category.

Number 9, Proverbs 3:6 is also a good verse (as if there are bad verses).  This verse fits into the direction category.  People are always looking for direction in their life, and having this verse on the top 10 list certainly validates that.  Children also are looking for direction in life.  Even though it has been short, by ages 3-11, children need to develop a sense of competence.  Helping children understand they are directed by Christ gives hope.

With number 8, we have another example of direction.  Romans 12:2 has a great encouragement to not conform to the world, but to conform to God.  Interestingly with this verse, America was the only one (out of USA, Canada, Britain, Australia) to have this verse in their top 10.  God’s will is not for us, or children to match the world, but to stand out.  It is encouraging to see this verse on the list because it gives me hope that the church acknowledges how hard it is to follow this verse in American culture.

For number 7, we have Psalm 23:4 (the rest of the Psalm fills popularity spaces 11-15).  This verse, and the Psalm in general, fit the personal security category.  People and children are encouraged to know that God will be their comfort.

Proverbs 3:5 takes the 6^th place slot, encouraging us to let God direct, leaning not on our own understanding.  Again, direction is important to people who are searching.

Another verse about personal security, Philippians 4:6 holds number 5.  There are wonderful truths taught in this verse, but I can’t help but to begin to wonder if the fact that all of these verses so far have fallen into direction or personal security doesn’t indicate a self serving objective when looking them up.  I’ll give us the benefit of the doubt simply because there are so many positive takeaways from this verse.

Getting the consolation prize in the Semi-finals, Romans8:28 comes in at number 4.  This verse is one of the ones that I’ve read numerous articles about and have a hard time believing everyone who searched it had the right heart attitude in approaching this text.  This verse fits both personal security (all things work together for good) and direction (called according to His purpose).  Exegete correctly and this verse truly does have a great promise.  Exegete incorrectly and you have the prosperity ‘gospel’.

Number 3 is Philippians 4:13.  It’s hard to complain about this verse because I learned it growing up and it is a great personal security passage.  Ranked so highly though, again what is the motivation behind the search?  Am I sounding like a broken record?  Let’s be careful to teach children how to correctly claim this verse for themselves making sure they know it is in God’s will we have our strength, not our own.

In the pole position, *cringe* we have *cringe* Jeremiah… do I need to go on?  Jeremiah 29:11.  Put it on a card, encourage someone with an e-mail, print it on a poster, and just don’t think about the historical context and we’ll be good.  This is likely the most misquoted verses in the Bible.  Seeing it as number 2, which is not terribly surprising (disheartening but not surprising) since it fits in the personal security category, makes me cringe inside.  That exciting hope I had in number 8 has all but evaporated.  Need I say any more about this one?

Finally, in the number 1 slot.  The most looked up verse in the Bible  Likely the most known verse among Christians and non-Christians alike.  You guessed it.  John 3:16.  That wasn’t intended to sound snarky.  I am glad to see this as the number one looked up verse.  This evangelistic verse (only one in the top 10 not in personal security [although you could argue that it does fir that too] or direction) is our opportunity of connection with so many people.  If non-Christians only know John 3:16 we have a much easier time sharing the Gospel.  The attributes of God in this verse are abundantly shown.  The plan of salvation is overviewed.  The culmination of God’s plan since Genesis is described.  John 3:16 as the number 1 verse relifts my spirit and encourages me to continue to share the Gospel.  People are searching for direction in life and for personal security.  Humanity is self centered.  Let us continue to strive and share the Gospel with others and pursuing a God centered mentality.  If that is your goal, feel free to claim Philippians 4:13 because He will be your strength to help you accomplish that. Guaranteed.

2014

Give thanks to Yahweh, call on His name; 

proclaim His deeds among the peoples.

Sing to Him, sing praise to Him;

tell about all His wonderful works!

honor His holy name;

let the hearts of those who seek Yahweh rejoice.

Search for the Lord and for His strength;

seek his face always.

Remember the wonderful works He has done,

His wonders, and the judgments He has pronounced, 

you offspring of Abraham His servant,

Jacob's descendants-His chosen ones.

This is a Psalm that we can claim for the year 2014. God has done so many wonderful works this year. Our last local board meeting was a time of praise for all that God has blessed us with and here are a few things that were on that list so that you can praise Him too!

Praise God for...

-Four Salvations (this fall)

-New volunteers

-Faithful volunteers

-The children who are attending GNC

-The churches that are partnered with us for GNC

-Schools that allow us to be there

-Great turn out for the banquet

-Provision of a speaker and musician for the banquet

-All the donations that were given for the auction at our banquet

-Good Finances

-Donors

-Committee members

-Local church allowing us to use their room for storage

-Freedom to share the gospel

-His word

If you played a part this year either by praying, volunteering, or supporting financially-thank you!!!!!!

Saving Fish from the Fire

                This month has been a busy, but rewarding month as we traveled across Butler County teaching 5-Day Clubs. We have reached many children, counseled several for assurance, and had the privilege of seeing one young girl come to Christ. Alex, one of our summer missionaries, describes it like this: “The experience is thrilling, knowing that another soul has been won for the Kingdom.” We are also thrilled and we hope you are too. Thank you again for your support-you are a part of a life changing ministry!

                Along with our 5-Day Clubs we have also been preparing for our venture to the CEF Christian Ministries Institute this fall. We will be taking required classes in Missouri from September all the way through the end of October. We would really appreciate your prayers as we prepare both mentally and physically for yet another big task while we are still in the midst of ministry.

 While having devotions this morning I was reminded once again of the importance of our task and its impact on eternity. Matthew 13:47-50 says, “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of every kind. When it was full, men drew it ashore and sat down and sorted the good into containers but threw away the bad. So it will be at the end of the age. The angles will come out and separate the evil from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing teeth.” How many fish will be thrown into the furnace? What can I do today to increase the number who will be ushered into the kingdom? We pray that you would ask yourself this same question.

That Still Small Voice

There are some days where I feel as though I have a bit of an Elijah experience. In 1 Kings 19 God simply

passing by caused fire, an earthquake and wind, but God wasn't actually in those things. In the ministry there are often great things happening and though I rejoice because of them God is not always speaking to me through those situations as I expect. I always think that those things will be what drives me to push forward in my service for Christ because they are so big and fantastic. However, as Elijah experienced, there are times where I am simply going about my day watching God do great things when I hear that still small voice saying "Kayla, remember your task. Remember your focus. I am the one you are serving. I am the one receiving your worship. I love you. Keep pressing on." It is in those moments that I feel the biggest "wow" in my day and feel encouraged to stay the course and keep pressing on! 

Though I am no spiritual giant, I do try to be sensitive to the Spirits voice because look at what I could be missing out on if I didn't! As fellow brothers and sisters in Christ I encourage you to live lives that are pleasing to Christ so as not to squelch the Spirit. If you are discouraged perhaps you are missing out on that still small voice. Take some time to make your heart right with God and receive the blessings of his encouragement to your heart. 

And we do hope that your hearts are right with God because jealous for your prayers for us, CEF and the children that we are reaching. 

Pray and Surrender

This past week Steven and I attended the CEF International Conference in North Carolina. It was a wonderful week of encouragement and spiritual enrichment. I have come home a truly changed person as I have just spent a week listening to God speak through several great men, spent time in fellowship with others who share my passion for children, and prayed out loud with people from over 80 nations.I get chills down my back as I think back to how strongly God's spirit was moving among us.

During one of the messages we were told to give all we have to God just as the boy with the five loaves of bread and two fish did. I know as Christians we have heard this over and over again: "Surrender all to God yada yada yada" and so often we follow that up with giving God an extra hour of our time or a little extra sum of money and think that will suffice. However, God does not need our money or our time for he can do whatever He wants by simply speaking a word, but He wants it. It is not for His benefit or anyone else's, but for yours. It is hard to remember on a daily basis that this life is so short. It is hard to remember that eternity is at stake. It is hard to remember that everything we do matters to God. If you are rich, give until you have nothing because God will bless you and make sure that you have all you need and your faith in Him will grow exponentially. If your time is all divided up cancel appointments and ask God what He wants you to do with the time He has given you, because if you are alive and reading this right now, then it is only because He still has a plan for your life here on earth -don't miss out! If you are living your life in selfishness by keeping to yourself, please stop! Most of the people you see everyday are going to hell and you could make a difference!

This week I have been challenged to work harder than ever because when I get to heaven I don't want to find out that many children have gone to hell because I chose to watch a movie instead of call a church. I have also been challenged to pray. Many of the people at the conference were from sensitive countries and they have so much that they could complain about, but instead they pray. They pray loud and long and I know that God hears their prayers. God answers prayers that are prayed with sincere hearts and prayers that are prayed often. I have access to the most powerful weapon on earth and often times I choose not to use it and who knows how many have died without Christ because of it. Prayer is powerful and I am excited to use it because I know that with it, many will live and become part of God's family. Can you think of a better way to use this life?

Surrender all you have and become poor for Christ. "Do you not know that God has chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom to which he has promised to those who love him?" James 2:5

Pray with me for the children who are lost. Pray long and pray hard! "Pray without ceasing" 1 Thessalonians 5:17

Pass me-I'm driving for Jesus

Kayla is not the biggest fan of driving, so I am often behind the wheel (I probably drive 300 miles for every 1 mile Kayla drives) the vast majority of the time.  One of the biggest annoyances I have while driving is speed limits.  They almost always seem set too low for the road.  “I could easily do 50 down this road.”

In one of the classes Kayla and I took recently online for CEF’s Children’s Ministry Institute, Reese Kauffman the current president of CEF said something that got me thinking.  He said that he would rather have an employee who was submissive to authority but had a poor work effort than one with a go-getter attitude and no respect for authority.  He gave an example from Scripture how Jesus upheld the Roman authority even though the government was corrupt and oppressive.  While it may feel like speed limits are oppressive, it is still of Christian importance to yield to the government.

I find it interesting that this is something that is not only ignored, but joked about in Christian culture.  I think back to when a wonderful old saint in our church got a speeding ticket on Ruskin Dr. while traveling to the church (and I do have to admit that 25 is much too slow for that road).  The overwhelming response I heard was joking about his lead foot etc.  This is not an isolated incident though.  I often hear people joking about how fast they got from one location to another compared to what it should have taken (if they were obeying the speed limit).

Having done over 20,000 miles since May, I can certainly attest to how tempting it is to want to speed. Even speeding by just 1mph would save me a quarter of a day just spend sitting in a car.  Unfortunately speeding even 1mph is disobeying the government/ the authority God has put in place for us, and ultimately sin-sin that Christ died on the cross and gave His perfect blood for.  It may seem a bit drastic, but it certainly should make you think twice about speeding.  The next time you go to set your cruise control above the speed limit, just remember that it isn’t the speed trap you should be worried about, it’s your submission to the authority God has set, it’s your testimony to other drivers around you/passengers in your vehicle, and it’s your relationship with God you put on the line just to arrive a few minutes earlier.

Quick Update

These past two months have gone by so incredibly fast and I just realized that we have neglected to update you on what we have been up to. First of all, the snow has not bee kind to our GNC's! We missed about three or four weeks of clubs because of school cancellations due to snow. Last week we finally got back to having club and because it was the week of Valentines Day, we threw a little party. They made their own candy necklaces, had a valentines snack, and played a review game that involved eating lots of Valentines chocolates-it was certainly lots of fun!

Secondly, we started some more Christian Ministries Institute classes, so that occupies our time a great deal. We are actually starting another class this evening, but this one is a live class taught by some of our fellow CEF workers. I happen to be sick right now and have been bed ridden for the past two days, so prayers for this class this evening and tomorrow would be appreciated!

This past weekend we held our first CYIA winter retreat and received a lot of positive feedback from the
five teens who were in attendance. It was a great time of learning and fellowship and it looks like we will be adding some missionaries to our county for this summer! We also talked to a young man this past week who has been attending a training we are teaching and he is ready to sign the papers to be a missionary as well! We have been praying for ten summer missionaries for this summer and right now it looks like we have five, so we are half way there! Please pray with us that we will have ten missionaries this summer.



Thank you to those of you who stay updated on what we are doing and who pray for us faithfully-we appreciate it! And if you don't currently pray for us and support us, it is never too late to start.

Please Pray

Dear friends,

As many of you know we have been preparing for a winter retreat for prospective CYIAers. The retreat is supposed to take place February 14-16. However , thus far we have not had a whole lot of response to our invitations. Please pray that teenagers will contact us, that God will bring names to mind of people we should ask, and that we will have wisdom as to whether or not it is God's will for us to have the retreat. We have put a lot of work into it and obviously we hope that it is God's will, but perhaps it is not on His agenda this year. We trust God in all things and know that He has our best interests at heart.

Children's Perspective

There is nothing quite like listening to children give their perspective on theological quandaries. This week in GNC we talked about Jesus' temptation in the wilderness and asked the age old question "could Jesus have sinned?" We got an array of answers from "Well yes, because He was being tempted so He could have chosen to sin" to "Well no, because Jesus is God" and "Well yes and no, because He was being tempted, but He was also God". It is certainly interesting to get their perspective on things that adults mull over themselves. It is exciting to see them get enthusiastic about learning things of God and is an encouragement to us as well to become eager about spiritual things.

Encourage One Another

Hello everyone,

I hope you all had a fantastic thanksgiving! Steven and I were able to celebrate Thanksgiving 3 times with our various family members. We had a wonderful time of fellowship and encouragement from our loved ones we have not seen in a while. As I reflect on the blessing of encouragement, I find myself thinking about Hebrews 10:24 which says "And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works," and 1 Thessalonians 5:11 which says, "Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing." When I am encouraged, my love for others and my love for ministry is rekindled. We are the body of Christ,we are supposed to encourage and support one another-your role in the body is important! Do not think that your small acts of kindness and encouragement have gone overlooked-we appreciate every bit of it. I want to thank all of you who have been an encouragement to us and urge you to continue in those small acts of kindness, not only towards us, but others as well, because it does make a difference.

In Christ,

Kayla

Give Thanks

In light of the fact that Thanksgiving is in nine days, we want to take a moment and thank you  for your support of us and this ministry. We cannot emphasize enough how very important you are to this work that God has called us to. If you are supporting us than God has called you too-we are an extension of your ministry and we thank you for your prayers and support that are carrying it forward. Because we are in this together, we want to share a few things that we are thankful for and hope you are too.

We are thankful for...

1) The opportunity to be able to share the gospel with children in public schools

2) The 5 Good News Clubs (GNC) going on throughout the county

3) The 150+ children that we are reaching through the GNC program

4) The volunteers who devote many hours each week preparing and teaching these clubs

5) Wonderful board members who are passionate about the ministry

6) The church who allows us to have an office space for free

7) Churches who sponsor the GNC programs

9) The growth of the children in the GNC's

10) God's abundant blessings in every aspect of the ministry

Thank God with us for all he has blessed us with and will continue to bless us with.

"Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." -1 Thessalonians 5:18

Spiritual Growth

Hey Everyone!

          Did anyone else see snow this morning? It was a sudden reminder to us that winter is on it's way! Having said that, we are looking back and realizing that we are already over two months into our Good

News Clubs. The club that we are teaching is the 5th and 6th grade group and it is amazing to see how much they are growing and learning. During our lessons every week we get asked questions such as "how did satan sin when there was no sin?" and "the wise men weren't at the manger scene?" Aside from the regular teaching materials we are also teaching them the attributes of God. The first couple weeks we taught them that God is omniscient and watched with joy as they wondered at such an amazing ability. We are very blessed to have these children in our lives and we hope that you are blessed by what you hear about their growth. Have a blessed Tuesday everyone!

Summer Already?!

Hey Everyone!

  

     We are finally done with our two classes we have been taking (and yes, we passed) so we are excited to have a little more time on our hands to focus on some other aspects of the ministry. One of those aspects is the summer ministry program. I know, it is crazy that we are working on things for the summer before Thanksgiving, but that is just the way these things work.

     Right now we are in the midst of planning for a teen winter retreat which we are calling "Breaking Ground". The point of this retreat is to inform teens about what CEF® is and the role they can play, as well as build relationships with them and show them from our experience how fun and rewarding missions can be. Just as you have to break ground before building a structure, we want to "break ground" in the lives of these teens and get them to see the great need of people all around them-the need for salvation. Once the ground is broken we can then build into their lives by equipping them with the tools and the training they need to reach those in their own community.

      Yesterday Steven spoke at a church, encouraging people to get involved by becoming hosts and drivers for the 5-Day Clubs®. We are so thankful for the people who have stepped forward already with a desire to get involved! We also spoke to the teens encouraging them to become summer missionaries, and to our absolute joy, we spoke to three interested individuals at the end of the service.

     We ask that you would pray us as we go around speaking to churches and youth groups, that God would give us the words to say and that people would be burdened to get involved. We have been praying for ten summer missionaries for next summer, so we ask that you would pray this prayer with us! 

Thanks for your prayers and support, we love you all!

In Christ,

Kayla 

     

Above All We Could Ask or Think

Hey Everyone!

          Sorry for the month of silence. Entering a new season of ministry tends to suck up a lot of time at first, but it is so worth it! Over the past couple weeks we have been blessed to teach at two fantastic Good News Clubs ®. The one that was started at the Mars Primary/Elementary school has grown to almost 70 students! The other one that we have been doing is at the Mars Centennial school and we have about 16 students registered. We are so excited about these clubs and the excitement of the children and can't wait to see what God is going to continue to do throughout the school year. Please pray for more workers to teach these clubs. As the numbers grow we need more teachers to accommodate them, so pray that God would burden the hearts of some people from the area to come and help.
          Also, as we have already mentioned, we have started some Christian Ministries Institute classes that CEF requires us to take. It's hard to believe we are already in week five of these classes. Pray for us as we finish them up in about month that we will be able to balance work, school, and our relationship with each other.
          Thank you everyone for your prayers. We are still so excited to be here and are in awe of how much God has blessed us. We know that God will do exceedingly abundantly above all we could ask or think (Eph. 3:20).

In Christ,
Steven and Kayla

Just a little update

    Summer ministry is over, all the 5-Day Club paperwork has ceased, and we starting the school year. Our last little bit of summer fun will take place this evening as we have a little cookout with our two summer missionaries, but tomorrow starts with Good News Club training!
    Tomorrow morning from 8am-12 we will be teaching a four hour training class on how to teach a Good News Club as well as lead a child to Christ. Please pray that we will have many teachers come out and also that God would give us the words to say.
    Another big prayer request we have is for us as we start Christian Ministries Institute classes on Monday as well as a support training class. These three things combined are going to suck up huge amounts of time, so pray that we are able to balance work with classes.
    Finally, we need your support. We need more than just prayer; we need people who are willing to back up this ministry and us with faithful, monthly donations.

In Christ,
Steven and Kayla

2500 Miles Later

Good morning friends! This summer is going by way too fast. While driving our missionaries to a club this past week we all suddenly realized there is only one week of clubs left after this week at the farm show.
     For all eleven years that I have been teaching 5-Day clubs, it has always been a sad feeling to realize the summer is almost over-not because summer means no school and lots of fun, but because I loved teaching children about Jesus and and building relationships and memories. I have been blessed this year by our two missionaries because I have seen the same passion and excitement in them that I had as a summer missionary. They don't want the summer to come to an end either!
    Please pray that God will continue to develop and encourage these girls (Becky Shirey and Angelina Gottron) even after this summer is over, and that their passion would stay alive. We are already excited for next summer! We are praying for ten summer missionaries next year-pray with us!
    Aside from the summer ministry, we have also been working on the Good News Club© (GNC) ministry for the upcoming school year. We are overjoyed to report that we have opened one up in two new schools, Mars primary/elementary and Mars Centennial. That makes a total of three GNC on this fall fall including Moraine elementary and we are working on getting a fourth ready to go in January.
    So what we need is for you to cover this GNC project in prayer! We have a training scheduled for August 24, for those who are going to be helping/teaching at the GNC. Pray for us as we study and teach, that God would speak through us. Also, pray that we would have many excited volunteers. Finally, pray that the children come. God is going to do great things.

Into Eternity...

Many of you have likely learned about infinity in math class.  The basic idea is that any number you can come up with positive or negative can have a number following or preceding it respectively.  Others of you may have discussed infinity in terms of philosophy, such as Hilberts Grand Hotel.  I want to take a moment and think about infinity in relation to time and eternal destination (which is in its nature, an opinion on infinity).

Because of our limited position in time and space, it is hard to imagine what a timeless eternity will be like.  We will be able to praise God literally forever.  Another wonderful thing about eternity is that we will also be able to spend forever with other Christians.  

-tangent story that brings me to this-

God has blessed Kayla and I so much, that it is obvious that we are to be serving Him in Butler County.  He provided a place to rent from an incredibly nice old couple, He provided a car through some friends at church, we got all the furniture we needed and a dishwasher for extremely cheap to free, we got a washing machine for 25$, and a dryer for free.  We responded to a Craigslist ad about a dryer, and I got a call the next day from an older man.  Not recognizing the number, I figured it was one of the dozens of CEF contacts I had called in the past few days so I answered “Hello, Steven Tini, Child evangelism Fellowship.”  The man asks what the organization is, and I explain to him that we are a para-church organization that reaches out to children with the Gospel.  It turns out that he and his wife are both Christians, and they decided to give us the dryer for free.  When we picked up the dryer, I had a chance to sit down with them to thank them for their kindness.  We talked about Moody Bible institute (they listen to Moody Radio), life in Chicago, what I do in CEF, and various other things.  They were very pleasant and it was wonderful to encourage them with what is going on in the ministry, and for them to bless us by providing a dryer.

Kayla and I are so extremely grateful for all the people who have been a blessing to us the past few weeks and months.  In eternity, I will have an infinite amount of time to spend with each person who has been a blessing, an infinite amount of time talking to the people of the Bible, an infinite amount of time hearing the stories of every other Christian through the ages, and best of all, an infinite amount of time praising God from whom all blessings flow.

-Steven

While we are on the topic of eternity, I thought I would take the time to mention something that has been an encouragement to me this morning. Before heading out the door earlier today I took a minute to check my Facebook and I saw a status from one of our summer missionaries that said this:

"So thankful that I have the opportunity to not waste my summer by going places or spending worthless hours at the mall or with friends, but that I'm able to serve God with all my heart this summer. Looking at eternity instead of meaningless things. The reward is SO much greater."

    After reading her status I had to stop and think to myself, do I have that kind of focus? Am I willing to joyfully give up things that give me brief pleasure in exchange for things that will matter for eternity? The very end of her status is really what I need to focus on, and really what every Christian should be focused on: Looking at eternity instead of meaningless things BECAUSE the reward is SO much greater! Lets all try living for that reward that surpasses anything that this world has to offer.

-Kayla

Today is the Day!

Hey Everyone!

    Today is the day! Our first club of the summer starts at 10:30 this morning. Please, please, please, be praying for us today as we travel and teach. As I mentioned before, we have two summer missionaries, but one of them had a missions trip this week and we didn't find out till last minute. Having said that, we have to jump in this week and teach clubs while juggling office work.
    There is a saying that is quite popular among our CEF family that says: Be ready for anything! This is so true-things change last minute all the time and we just need to be ready for it. This is where we really need to rely on God and be willing to go with the flow, otherwise Satan will use it to bring us down and hinder the ministry.
    So in short, please be praying for us today/this week as we try our best to go with the flow and trust God to get us through and to help us get everything done that needs to be. Also, be praying for this children, that their hearts will be open and that the family of God will grow!

                                                                                                                                In Christ,
                                                                                                                                      Kayla and Steven

Praise God!

    We are truly blessed to be a part of the staff here in Pennsylvania. After 8 days of a rigid schedule we are certainly glad to be home, but very thankful for the time spent getting to know the teens being trained, as well as time spent in fellowship with other staff.
    Thank you all for praying for us and the teens this past week during CYIA®  (Christian Youth In Action). We are happy to say that there were no traumatic incidents, we didn't lose anyone, and there were no serious sicknesses to report-Praise God!
    While I am on the topic of praise, Wednesday evening we had open air (open air is when the teens share the Wordless Book with children in public places) at two parks where some churches got together to hold carnivals. Upon returning back to the camp, we had testimony time and found out that we had shared the Gospel with 172 children and 27 of then made the decision to accept Christ!
    So again, we are thankful to all of you who have been faithful in praying for us and the ministry. It was evident at training school that we have a strong army of prayer warriors. Please continue to pray for us as the summer unfolds and we are hit with all kinds of responsibilities.

Pray...

...for our missionaries Becky Shirey and Angelina Gottron that they would stay spiritually strong, safe, and healthy. Also pray that God would speak through them and give them the words to say as they teach all summer.

Becky Shirey and Angelina Gottron at CYIA.

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...for us as we try not to go crazy with all the work we need to do as we concentrate on summer while planning for the fall.

...for us as we try to raise support. Pray that we would be able to raise $3,000 a month. (if you would like to contribute please see the "support team" tab up at the top).

...for our search for a church, that we would find one that we both like and that has people our age (Married people our age would be a plus).