Are you ready! This summer we will be going on a missions trip back to Puerto Rico! Are you in? This will be an awesome chance for us to minister to the people of Puerto Rico. We are really excited about this trip and we are praying that God would be preparing the way for us to have an impact on the lives of the people we interact with, and that He would impact our lives as well.

Is God leading you to go with us? Please pray about your involvement in this trip. We want you to go if your desire is to serve the people of Puerto Rico. We don’t want you to go if you are looking for a vacation or a chance to get away. So, please pray about this trip. Don’t just sign up because it sounds cool. Talk about it with your parents and see if this trip is for you.

WHEN?

July 22-29, 2011

WHERE?

We will be going to Arecibo, Puerto Rico.

WHO CAN GO?

This trip is for students that are currently in grades 9-12. We have space for 12 students, once all the spaces are filled, we won’t be able to take any more, so if you want to go, make sure you get your application in and sign up to meet with Pastor D right away.

WHAT WILL WE BE DOING?

Students will spend four days serving with local ministries and programs that seek to address the very basic needs of residents. We won’t know exactly what we will be doing until we get to Puerto Rico

WHAT IS THE COST?

The cost for the trip will be approximately $1300. It may be more, it may be less, but it will be somewhere around there. Once we have our team together, we will be able to determine travel costs and a final amount. If you plan to go, start saving your pennies because a $60 deposit will be due on September 15th.

WHAT DO YOU NEED TO DO NOW?

First, you need to pray about this trip! Then, you need to fill out the application form included with this letter, have your parents fill out the consent forms and sign up to meet with Pastor D to talk about the possibility of you going on the trip. This meeting will be an interview about you going on this trip with us. You need to turn in your application form by Sunday, September 12th.

Once we have our team together, we will be getting more information to the team members as well as holding training sessions.

Our new teaching series for both groups as well as our small groups is called “Say What?”. We will be going through four difficult sayings of Jesus.

Here’s how it all works. On Sunday, you will pick up a sheet with questions on it to use in your small group time. Try and spend some time preparing before you arrive, that will make the discussion time go much better. Then during your small group, write down interesting things that come up during your discussion. On the following Sunday, we will discuss what we learned as well as some new insights about the difficult saying.

Also, you can download the study questions right here if you happen to miss youth group on Sunday. If you have questions, please contact Pastor D.

Week 1 – “I am the way”  - study questions

Week 2 – “The way is narrow – Depart from me”

Week 3 – “Consider the cost”

Week 4 – “Take up your cross”

This Sunday, August 8th, we will be having our annual Water Night! There are some things you need to know before you come.

• You need to wear appropriate clothing. That means you should wear shorts and a 
t-shirt. If you want to wear a swimsuit underneath that is fine. White shirts are probably not a good idea.
• Your clothing should be able to get dirty and wet.
• You will want to bring a change of clothes and a towel. We will have a lesson after the games, so you will want to be comfortable!
• HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS: We will start the fun at 7 P.M. so that we can enjoy a little more warmth and sunshine. We will still end at 9 P.M.
• JR. HIGH STUDENTS: We will meet at our normal time of 4:30 – 6:30 P.M.
• Come ready to have fun!

If you have questions, please contact Pastor D at the church office (515.733.5360).

The high school group has been invited by the Waids to spend a day at Little Wall Lake, tubing, swimming, laughing, eating and bonfiring (I made up that last word) on Saturday, July 31st. The fun will start at 2pm and will go into the night (after the bonfire).

Bring a towel and a swimsuit (a modest one please, 1 pieces or tankini’s, or wear a tee shirt and shorts you can get wet in).

Waid’s address:
2727 Little Wall Lake Dr.
Jewell IA 50130

Here’s a map

www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjnxGH-BRaw

Our evening session was great, as Geoff Stafford spoke about what it means to be meek. He gave us a new understanding of the word, how it doesn’t mean weak, but rather someone with a meek spirit is strong and able, but allows God to direct their lives instead of always seeking their own glory and victory. We had a great conversation after the session, and it was great to hear the questions the students had. Then it was time to relax and get ready for bed. I’m excited about what Thursday will hold for us. Thanks for your prayers!

Today was our third day of the Challenge trip.  Don’t worry parents.  The title does not mean that more trouble happened and one of your precious children is dead.  Yet.  We all woke up tired from our previous days trips.  But God still worked despite that.

Here’s what my title is getting at.  The theme for tonight’s session was Mourn.  (As I stated earlier, we are going through the Beatitudes in Matthew Chapter 5).  We are called to mourn because of the sin in our lives, the sin in our churches, the sin in the unbelievers around us.  But it starts with what’s in us.  So many times we become calloused in our hearts toward sin.  The sin in our lives doesn’t really bother us.  It’s just something natural that we do.  Bad.

The speaker took a picture of Jesus and to the horror of the audience smeared mud all over it.  Our sin is the same.  It starts out a little at a time and then we begin to enjoy it, but then before long we stand back in horror and look at the mess that we have made of it all.  And we can’t clean it back up.  The speaker tried with a rag to clean it but it simply smeared.  He eventually took one of the car window washers you find at gas stations and scraped it clean.

We are called to complete repentance in Christ.

I’ll say, I personally was wondering when this conference would become more than just a conference.  Where it would be a bit more than fun and where God would just come down and move.  Tonight was a taste of that.

So yeah.  Challenge is going awesomely!!!!  Keep us in your prayers for the rest of the week.  Today is only Day 3.  We have 4 days left.  I will assure you right now that when you get your children back there will be a change.  Challenge is definitely a place where God works.  I was here two years ago and my life was completely switched around.  So please.  Continue to pray.  God is working and he will work.

God Bless!

Ben Brown, official blogger of the Harvest Challengers.

Also, if you would like to listen to the main sessions, you can go to the official Challenge website and listen there. And don’t forget about our Challenge photos on Flickr

Yesterday we set out from the church at 6AM.  It seemed to be going well, when an hour and a half later the tire on the right front of the van blew.  At that point everyone was now awake those who had been sleeping.  D, using his expert Nascar skills was able to safely get us to the side of the road.  We spent the next 45 minutes changing the tire.  When we finished, Alex said, “Well, that’s good.  The worst thing that could happen has already happened to us.”  So when we got back in the van, D turned the key and the engine would not start.  Thanks Alex.

We called the car rental company and they promised to send a mechanic out to help us.  2 hours later we got a call from him that he didn’t think a jumpstart would help so he wasn’t coming.  (I won’t go into detail about the crazy drivers who nearly hit us many times on the side of the road, like the one semi that was driving past the white line into the “lane” we were in and then realized what was happening 30 feet from us).  D called back the rental company and they made sure he came out this time.  So half an hour later he came out and looked at the car.  He told us it wasn’t the battery, it was the  Fuel Reset Button.  When there’s jolting action to a car, the fuel is shut off to the engine.  After explaining it to us and then looking for a while, he told us who couldn’t find it and then left.  We kept looking, found it and headed out.  It was now about 10:15.  The tire popped at 7:15.

So now the going was good.  For a while.  Becky was not wearing her seatbelt while lying down in the van.  Then one of students got the idea that she should be wearing her seatbelt.  So he loosely wrapped it around her ankles and she shrugged it off.  Then he tied it again around her ankles more tightly now.  ( I can’t seem to remember what student it was who did it.  I think his name started with B and he was 15.  Quite an eccentric character.)  Becky didn’t this time to get it off.  I think she fell asleep even.  Well, what this Ben character didn’t know was that the belt would lock so you couldn’t pull it out and as her legs hung, the rope tightened.  So now we had a girl trapped in a seatbelt.  (really none of this would have happened if she had simply been obeying the law.  I think God was trying to tell her something.  Maybe.)  When Becky woke up she realized she was in a lot of pain and the seatbelt would not come off.  Not good.  So after the kids tried to get the belt off and failed, D decided to stop and get her out.  He couldn’t so now her feet are amputated.  Just kidding. D got her out and it was quite a painful experience as described to me by Becky.

We got back on the road, but at noon, we had to stop in Iowa City because the car rental company wanted to change the tires on it now.  ( A bit too late I think).  So we had lunch and an hour and a half later we were back on the road until we got to Chicago.  I was so happy.  We got to Chicago at 6Pm, 12 hours after we had left.  (It is supposed to be a 6 hour drive)  We met up with Jill’s sister and traveled around the city with her, along with eating Chicago’s deep dish pizza.  Great time.

So yeah, as our first day going out, I will use Braden’s one word quote to describe the day.  “WOW.”–Braden.   It was a great, fun, painful, and trying day, but God got us through it.  This morning, Sara was quite excited it was a new day, hoping there wouldn’t quite as many adventures as there were yesterday.  Well, I know God has adventures for us, but I to am hoping that they aren’t similar to the ones we had yesterday, but much better ones.  Pray for us as we enter the first session today at 7pm, (an hour ahead of Iowa time) and the rest of the week.  I will end this blog session and find something else to do on this car ride.  I will probably write a story that‘s even more exciting than this one.  See you all later!

–Ben Brown, blogger of the Harvest Challengers

Also, don’t forget to check out our Flickr site to see pictures from our trip!