Report 10

Record of Ministry Activities:

Planning meeting with leaders about Purity Retreat: 2 hours

Total: 2 hours

Personal Reflection:

This week was not full of much ministry for me because of thanksgiving. I was home for most of the week and was going to come back Sunday night to help decorate the church and annex for Christmas but was sick and decided to stay home. However we did have a planning meeting for the Purity Retreat we are planning for in February. I am very excited because this retreat isn't going to be about how to find a husband/wife, nor will it be directly about sex. We are taking the concepts of Who God is, how He loves us, what he intended for us to be, and his design for us, for marriage, and for the family. Our youth group is a wide variety of kids who come from many different backgrounds. Therefore, instead of either introducing new things to the kids (some probably have very little understanding or knowledge of sex), and instead of scarying the students or making sex an "evil/bad/horrible" thing, we are going to talk about how God created us and what he intended for us. I am so excited for this. This is something I wish I would have received in high school. To know that God created me uniquely and special, to understand He has a plan for me and He loves me more than I can comprehend, I think that would have changed the way I looked at myself in high school. We will also through in the concept of respecting ourselves and others. We will also probably break out into small groups and go a little further with these conversations. I'd like to talk to Kyle about me talking at the purity retreat either with the high school girls or to everyone. I would want to talk about God's intent for the family because I have come from a family where sex destroyed our family (my dad cheated on my mom for years and left us for another woman...we had no knowledge of any of this until he decided to leave). I hope I'd be able to. We also talked about sending a letter to the parents letting them know what we will be talking about and making some suggestions as to what they can be talking with their children about. I thought this was a good idea, as long as we can word it right. I am excited for this retreat and I pray it goes over well.

Spiritual Reflection:

Things are going well still. I am realizing more and more just how much God loves me and I'm working at my relationship with Him. My intent this week and the rest of the semester is to dive in in my personal time with God. I'm really excited about the devotionals we got in Chapel yesterday and I think this will be a great contribution to that time with God for me. I look forward to seeing what God has in store for me to finish out 2009.

I'm also thinking about the future as graduation is only 6 months away for me. I really am talking with God about what direction He really wants me to go in the Ministry, as well as where he was me to go live. I'm excited and scared all at the same time. All I can do is pray and listen. I can't wait to see where I'm at this time next semester!

So this is my last blog this semester! Thanks for going with me through all of this. Thanks for the comments and the prayers! They were and are greatly appreciated! Many blessings to you! God Bless!

Report 9

Record of Ministries:

Sunday School prep: 2 hours

Sunday School: 1 1/2 hours

Worship: 1 hour

Youth Group: 2 1/2 hours

Total Time: 7 hours

Personal Reflection:

This week has once again gone pretty well. I didn't have any specific task I had to do for this Sunday, but Friday afternoon Kyle text me and asked if I would teach Sunday school on Sunday. He said he would be there, but that he thought it would be good for the students to hear from me again, just so they aren't always hearing from him. I thought this was a good point because I remember being in youth group and hearing our senior pastor preach Sunday mornings and then lead youth group Sunday nights and it was very frustrating. Through texts, Kyle asked me to maybe continue our discussion from last week and so I decided on a topic then, but didn't have time until Saturday night to plan it all out. I was given 2 illustration/story books for youth ministry just last week and put them to use for Sunday school! We defined "relationship", and talked about not missing first base (establishing a relationship with Christ). The discussion went well and I felt like the students really liked what we talked about. Towards the end of the lesson I read Psalm 40 and if you haven't read it, i suggest you do it now, or if you have, you should refresh your mind and heart on it. In the lesson we talked about establishing a relationship with Christ, and finished by looking at the end...eternal life with Jesus Christ. Overall, it went very well!

Sunday night the leaders met a half hour before the students showed up and we talked about decorating for Christmas and prayed for the students and the discussion that was just about to happen. Kyle talked about our image and our uniqueness. Each of the leaders got with 2 students and we asked the questions: "What is unique/special about you?" and "What are some things you don't like about yourself?" This was a great way to get the students to talk because they had to talk! I was with 2 girls I have never really talked with and it was so exciting to open up with them and they open up with me! Kyle's main point was that if we are looking at others and judging them/talking about them behind their back about their personality/looks then we may need to examine ourselves and see if we have a problem/issue with God and how he created us. This was a really good point i felt like, but a hard one to take on. We also talked about how we are created just a little bit under the "heavenly beings" (that being angels or God himself, not very clear) but how that is much better than being created just a little bit higher than tadpoles. I think the students really enjoyed this topic.

Spiritual Reflection:

This week has been a struggle for me as far as time alone with God goes. I have realized that when I get busy spending time alone with God is the last thing I'm doing. The lesson in Sunday school was just as much a lesson for me as it was for the students. I'm really challenging myself to be intentful in my relationship with God. I have been challenged to think about the things I am thankful for and I'm really opening my eyes to those things. I am thankful for amazing friends here at IWU who are dedicated to getting through hard times together. I am thankful for an amazing group of leaders I get to work with at Hanfield. I am thankful for my family. I'm looking forward to thinking more and more about what I am thankful for as this week continues!

Happy Thanksgiving! :D

Report 8

record of ministry activities:

• prep for sunday school 2 hours
• Sunday School 1 1/2 hours
• Youth Group 3 1/2 hours
• meeting with youth group leaders: 2 hours
• met with other small group leader and one small group student: 1 hour

Total: 10 hours

Personal Reflection:

Ministry this week has been well. I did the Sunday school lesson and we talked about how God speaks to us and we needing to be in tune with God in order to Hear what it is He is trying to share with us. I feel it went over well. I got to use a clip from Facing the Giants (I don't mind admitting, i love this movie!) so i was really excited! There wasn't much discussion which i realized if i could've got more questions into the lesson there would've been more discussion with the students.

Youth group went well. We are continuing to talk about Evangelism but we are at the basics right now, talking about who is Jesus and what is the Gospel and Good News. This is good stuff, but we have trouble getting many of the kids to talk to us even in break out groups where there is only 5-7 of them in a group. We talked about this afterwards as to how we can fix this situation. We are looking to changing the seating around a bit, taking a step back and going over even more basic stuff, as well as maybe doing snacks and a lesson first, and then games - just to see what gets them more talkative. We all still feel like the Holy Spirit is moving, this week it was just frustrating because we didn't get a lot of feedback from the kids.

We are continuing to meet outside of the church every other week to discuss ministry stuff. We finally got somewhere with small groups this week and Erin and me got to start ours (only 1 girl showed though). We also are still talking about doing something with the high school in the next few weekends and then we are going to plan a scavenger hunt with the youth in the spring. We are also planning a purity retreat (but we are being careful with calling it purity...thats just the name right now). I love all the planning and it'll be cool to see all of this take place. I feel like we have done a ton of planning this semester for things that are going to take place next semester and I cannot wait.

I'm frustrated with small group because we talked with like 8 girls and only 1 showed. I am ready for this to take off, but we won't do that till January, but i want to meet with the girls a bit before then and get to know them in that setting. It'll be good though, i know!

Spiritual Reflection:

Things are continuing to go well for me. I am continuing to see God work in many ways. I am so excited for some of the ministries I'm involved in real soon and can't wait to see how it all turns out. I'm excited for thanksgiving and Christmas and excited to see what God is going to do through all of that!

Have a good week!

Report 7

Record of Ministry Activities:

Sunday School - 1 1/2 hours

Worship - 1 1/2 hours

Youth Group - 3 1/2 hours

Meeting with Erin - 1 hour

Preparing Sunday School lesson - 2 hours

Total Time: 9 1/2 hours

Personal Reflection:

This week has been great in ministry. I love working with the students and leaders and I feel like the ministry is taking off. We continue to meet before the students get there and pray. we pray for one another, the one who is speaking, and for the students. For Sunday school we finished up a DVD series on Joseph. We took a look at Genesis 49-51. I encourage you to take a look at it sometime this week. We talked about lonliness, but also about turning to God and letting God work in and through us. Worship was great with a sermon on My God, My Gospel (making it your own relationship with Christ, not anyone else's). The Eastbrook football team joined us in worship because the head coach goes to Hanfield. They got to stand up front and sing Happy Birthday to their coach. The cool part was at the end of the service, Coach went to the front and was praying..it was evident God was really working in Him and He was very dependent on God. Some of his family and friends surrounded him. There was also a young girl who accepted Christ into her life for the first time which just brought and amazing emotion too me. At youth group, this week Kyle let Chris Kleman (one of the leaders) who goes to IWU teach the lesson. God really spoke through Chris. It is so cool to see how God is working in the Youth Ministry right now because we have changed things up a bit and are noticing God...for instance, we go to Him and invite Him in each time we meet. In the lesson, Chris brought up the personal relationship with God that it takes for us to Evangelize. We will probably continue with this, this sunday. After youth group, we went into the church for a time of praise and worship. The students got to hear a few testimonies of how God speaks to people. Kyle asked me to teach this sunday in sunday school and God laid it on my heart to talk about how He speaks to us and how we need to tune into Him. I'm excited for this lesson and what God is going to do next week!

I met with Erin (another leader) tonight who is just a year or two older than me. Her and I will be leading the sr. high girls small group and we plan to meet with them next wednesday! I'm excited to meet up with them. We also talked about having a party just for the senior high youth. We are talking about doing a picture scavenger hunt and planning for that. it was great to meet with her and get to know her a little more, but also to get these plans in line. I think we will make a good team and we are on the same page about small group.

Spiritual Reflection:

Things are on the up this week. What we are talking about in Sunday school and then at youth group, I am also taking in. God is working in me in some amazing ways. I have seen my prayer life in the last month or so just take off. I have seen my willingness to step up and say something when I feel like God is asking me to, take off (especially this week). I think since I am learning a lot, not only in my relationship with God, but also about myself, I am beginning to open up a little more in the ministry I take part in. I am beginning to share things and feelings about my parents divorce with the students and leaders, I haven't really shared with anyone other than my family or best friends. I am seeing how God is using me and it makes me so excited for ministry. I am really seeking out God this week to hear His voice, since that is what I am speaking about in Sunday school. I am really excited about what all I'm learning and am excited to see where else it goes!

Report 6

Record of Ministry Activities:

*3 1/2 hours = Sunday School and Worship service

*2 hours = Youth Group

*2 1/2 hours = Meeting with Kyle and other youth leaders

Personal Reflection:

This week was good, with fall break, I had felt a bit disconnected from the group, but on Sunday when I was finally able to be with them it was great! I had the chance to teach Sunday school which Kyle had something all ready for me (afterwards he realized and agreed with the kids that he'd already done that with them) All it was was watching a short video and discussing it. I didn't have enough time to watch it through a prepare something myself because Kyle didn't ask me until Friday and some of the kids got to sunday school early before I had a chance to prepare. It was good though because we spent some time discussing Pride since they briefly touched on that subject in the video. Then we prayed and then played a game together. It was nice to have that community. The worship service was good, and we as college leaders (or college aged leaders) are trying to rebuild the "youth section" at church and keep the community going. Its a blast getting to work with these other men and women of God.

Sunday night was good too. I went early because we have been meeting before hand to talk about what we are going to do and pray about it and pray for the kids before they show up. This continues to be a blessing. We started the night off by playing the Wii, Euchre and any other games they could think of or get their hands on. We haven't been doing any organized games because the kids are not interested (this is cool because its completely different than what we did last year). Right when Kyle was getting the kids rounded up and ready for discussion, I had looked at my phone and realized there was an emegency back here on campus that I needed to get back to and be with my housemates. I talked to Kyle and he thought it best I leave so i missed the discussion but i heard it went very well.

Tuesday we met as leaders and talked more about small group, a possible jr. high party and a separate sr. high party (which me and another leader are going to meet up and talk about planning), and also about how to contact students about upcomming activities. It is so cool to be a part of these meetings because I'm realizing how important it is to stay connected with your leaders. Also, I learn different "managerial" activities. It is a good time of learning, ministry, and fellowship.

Spiritual Reflection:

Things are tough right now...I'll just be honest. Like i said I needed to get back here on sunday and be with my housemates because an emergency arose. If you would, please be praying for me and the girls i live with, that would be amazing! I'm realizing that ministry happens outside of the church too...ministry for me is taking place with my own family and friends. I'm realizing I'm learning more and more about how to be a pastor as well as how to react in difficult situations. I'm learning that truly leaning on God is all we can do, and pray, when the situation is out of our hands. Things are tough, but they are beginning to look up!

Report 5

Record of Ministry Activities

• RAM Camp with IWU and E and D class
• Sunday Night Youth Group - 3 hours
• Meeting with Youth Pastor and other leaders/volunteers - 3 hours

Total time = 6 hours

Personal Reflection

This week for ministry has been great. RAM Camp went over so well. I stepped up and actually led a team-ops group (breakout group) and it was so much fun, so challenging, and so rewarding. It was great to be in fellowship with all of my classmates as well as the students and youth pastors/volunteers who were there! It went over well!

Sunday night i went to youth group. My plan was to meet with Kyle at 5 (youth group starts at 6) and go over my midterm evaluation, but he had other plans. First he was asking my opinion about a person and then we talked about that situation a bit. Then I found out he actually asked all the leaders to meet him there and then we just met real quick and then spent some time in prayer over the nights session. I believe this is something we are going to do on a regular basis and I'm so excited about it. It's cool to see how God works, if only we go to Him in prayer in the beginning. Eventually students came and we had a blast just playing uno, euchre, and wii for about 45 minutes to an hour. After that we had a follow up discussion/talk about what we talked about last week. It was cool to hear some of the kids speak up about it. We were missing some students because of the swine flu and Monday night I found out one of the students there was confirmed with a case of H1N1 monday...this stuff is kind of aggravating (not the students, just the swine flu craziness). After youth group I talked with one of the girls Jeni about a situation she is going through...it was great getting to talk to her.

Monday we met as leaders with Kyle. This was a great time of fellowship...i hadn't laughed that hard in weeks! The other volunteers I'm working with are great. We covered a lot of topics and are in the process of planning retreats (a "you are special; you have value" retreat for guys and girls - we will just split them up for talks but go together and have meals and stuff) and activities and revamps for the rooms. Its an exciting time for our group and we are so excited to see where it takes us. I've been given the go ahead for small groups, i just need to wait for Kyle to get me a list of names of the students so I can reach just more than 3 girls in this small group. One of the leaders, Erin, will be helping me out and I'm so excited to get it rolling. I'm actually supposed to go to the church soon and help Kyle out with getting a list of names together.

Spiritual Reflection

As I have stated in previous weeks things are really difficult right now. I talked with Russ today for my midterm meeting and I realized just how spent I am. I am pouring out all i've got and all my emotions into a friend situation, school, work, and the ministry and I've poured myself out to a very thin lining. I'm so glad Fall Break is here so i can go home and hopefully recoop by collecting my thoughts and myself! I have struggled finding the time to spend in the Word myself, and I'm hoping that this weekend will help that get back on track. I have really been learning to look for God and i am seeing him in so many cool and amazing ways. I'm also learning the importance of prayer because with my emotions spent and all, prayer is just about all I can do. I'm really leaning on God for some directions on some issues and I can't wait to find out the answers and do the actions and get moving forward! I think this weekend for fall break will be a nice way for me to relax and regather myself.

Have a great break!

Report 4

Record of Ministry Activities:

• Sunday School - 1 1/2 hours
• Youth Group - 2 1/2 hours

Total: 4 Hours

Personal Reflection:

This week was very laid back in our youth ministry since we were just coming off of the retreat. We had Sunday School and Youth Group on Sunday like we normally do. In Sunday School Kyle had a lesson planned, but he decided not to do anything. We are in the awkward time between switching gears/curriculum and so its easy to just not do anything. I shouldn't say we didn't do anything, because we were in fellowship with one another. We were all laughing and have a good time and I realized that at two points I said something that really could have been taken the wrong way. I talked with my mom about this later Sunday and I realized that the kids probably never really noticed it and I know Kyle never said anything to me, so thats great! I learned to watch what you say and how you say it (more particularly) from that incident. One of the girls I got to know on the trip joined us in Sunday school this week, which was great! Lynli was a good addition to our Sunday school class! I hope her sister is there this coming Sunday.

For youth group, Kyle had a former student, Jeni, who is now a sophomore at Purdue come in and share what God had been laying on her heart about evangelism. It was very good stuff and the youth were so excited for something different. The structure went very well. We are realizing that we may not need to plan a group game because this group of students are good with hanging out. I'm sure we will always have something for a backup though. Jeni presented very good information to the kids and the leaders stepped up and helped the kids understand that Evangelism isn't always easy, and that some people struggle with just walking up to someone, giving them a survey or asking the questions pertaining to a walk with God, and then talking to them about God. I, on the other hand am a very relational person and I try to evangelize through my daily actions and my relationships. One girl, Jenny, who was the sister of Lynli, came Sunday night and she was in tears by the end of the time. She has a friend who is pregnant and she just really feels like she doesn't have a support group at her school. She lives a good ways from Hanfield, but we assured her that we were here for her. There were tears, and lots of prayers with her, which was a such a amazing ministry opportunity. It was so cool to see God move like that. I'd never seen so many kids want to talk or have questions about this stuff like they did that night. All in all it was a good youth group night - one of the best i've had there in awhile.

Afterwards, some of us leaders sat and talked about some of the kids situations and also about ideas for the next couple of months. Kyle presented the idea to me about doing a girls retreat one weekend. I loved the idea and want to get this rolling because I know it will be so good for our girls!

Spiritual Reflection:

This week has been pretty good. I really saw God work and move in some amazing ways this week and especially this weekend. I am learning a lot about who I am as a child of God, as well as someone who is looking to be in Pastor role very soon. I'm learning that sometimes its okay to be angry with God, as long as we talk to Him about our frustrations. Sometimes the key is just to say "I don't understand!" and in a second its okay, because I know God's in control and he does understand. I am easily frustrated and I'm learning to deal with this in a way that is healthy. I'm in Theology II this semester also, so I'm learning a lot and being able to say, "this is what I believe..." or atleast, "this is what i'm leaning towards..."