The Amazing Race

The Amazing Race Scavenger hunt was simply AMAZING! We raced all over Centerville looking for our clues and getting them on camera. Matty K brought some questionable answers back with him but we all had a good time. This will for sure be an annual event!

Paintball '07

Junior High Fall Retreat

We had a great time at the Junior High Retreat at the Marmon Valley Horse Farm. Here are some videos and Pictures from the weekend!

Rain

On Wednesday night, we watched the video Rain from the nooma series. It is a fantastic video about when the storms of life come, we need to make sure that our life is firmly footed in Christ(clip above).

I have been thinking about those statistics i shared with you all week. They say that between 70% and 92% of high school students today will talk away from Church within 4 months of graduating high school and leaving their parents home. 60% percent of you will come back. It scares me, but it also drives us as your leaders to help you guys discover more of the life God wants for you. To help you firmly ground yourself in Christ so that you will be able to stand up against the storms once you are out of our youth program. Know that we are care and love you guys.

This is gonna be a fantastic year guys. We are going to grow alot together this year. Remember what I promised you Wednesday. We as adult leaders are going to do everything we can do help you grow in your walk with Christ. But you need to do your part. Come be part of what we are doing. Commit to be there Wednesday nights,small groups and Sunday school to discover more of what God has for you. I promise you that it will be worth your time. You will not regret it. And remember...

DIVE IN!

Peace,

JON

My Weekend at the Sr. High Retreat- Joanna

Spending the weekend at Marmon Valley Farm with the Senior High youth was incredible! I had so much fun riding horses (once I got over my fear of falling off), doing the ropes course and hanging out with everyone. One the most difficult activities that we did over the weekend (at least for me) was the tire ropes course. There was a zip line that ran from one tree to another. They had set up five tires that were hanging from the line about two feet off the ground and three feet apart. Our task was to get from one tire to the other WITHOUT TOUCHING THE GROUND! I was thinking it was going to be almost impossible for me. I watched as every single person that went before me swing from one tire to the next. Then it was my turn. I am pretty positive it took me twice as long as it did everyone else. I almost fell off eight times. Oh, and it's Thursday and my arms still hurt a little.
Saturday night, Matt spoke on loving others as God loves us. He challenged us to love others as Jesus did, forgetting about ourselves. Sunday morning we woke up, hopped on a wagon and had a "Chuck wagon breakfast." We all got on a wagon that took us to a place in the woods, where the Marmon Valley staff made us breakfast over a campfire. After breakfast, Jon spoke and reminded us that we should focus on our relationship with Christ first and foremost. Sports, boyfriends, girlfriends and other things can control our lives and get in the way of what is truly important. He reminded us that our relationship with God and glorifying Him should be our first priority.

Sunday afternoon we spent the day playing Frisbee, doing the "straw maze," which was on the upper level of the barn and hanging out. When we left Marmon Valley, we went to Young's Dairy and had ice cream. The weekend was such a great time to get away from the stresses of our lives and focus on building relationships with each other and God. We were challenged both physically and spiritually. With each task we were given we learned that we could not complete it without good communication and encouragement. It was a challenging weekend for me but I loved every minute of it.

Joanna

Pictures from the Sr. High Retreat

We had a great time at the Sr. High Retreat last weekend. Here are some pictures from the weekend. You are not going to want to miss this retreat next year.

My Weekend- Emily

This past weekend on the retreat I had a great time. I had a fun time with all the fun activities, but I also had a good time with the Lord. In my life I am so busy that I barely have time to spend with God. Over the weekend we had almost an hour of just time to spend by ourselves with God. It was really nice.

There was a bunch of things to do. We rode horses; it was a lot of fun. Except my horse tried to decapitate me, we were riding on a trail and we had to duck under a tree over our heads. Well my hood on my sweatshirt got caught, but my horse kept going. But my hood came undone, and I was fine. There was all the fun farm animals and we played with the rabbits, and Becca wanted to buy one.( but she didn’t, Jon wouldn’t let her) we played with the horses and goats. There was a warthog and he made a lot of funny noises. Matt K. taught us a card game and we all became addicted.


The boys played an intense game of ultimate Frisbee. The farm had a barn and in that barn the upstairs of the barn was a hay maze and you had to crawl around in it. They also had a bunch of hay that we all laid in. We went on a hayride and had a campfire at the top of a hill. We told our embarrassing moments, and Matt k. told his life stories. We had a campfire breakfast out in the woods.

We did this activity coarse and it was fun. We had to balance on a board, we had to lift people up in the air and pass them through a “spider web” with out letting the “spider” fall. He kept making it harder on us. We had to blindfold two important players. Then nobody could talk except Matt S. then Jon, Matt K., and Kyle all lost one arm. It was a hard task to do. Then we all had to climb across a line of 5 swinging tires without anyone touching the ground. That was very hard to do also. Some people struggled and some people found it easier. But everyone cheered each other on.

We stopped at an ice cream place and Jon got us all ice cream for free with mountain dew cans. I lost my voice this weekend and I had a good time. I was very tired but I was glad I went.

Emily

Jr. High Game Works

On September 21st, the Jr. High went to Gameworks in Cincinnati for an all night event of video games, food and so much more! Here are some great pics from the night!

Car Bash

Welcome to our first blog.



Here is a great video from the Car Bash. what a great time!



Here are some cool pictures from the night.