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