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.