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!