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Issue 6, Volume 5, March 2007
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Vol. 5
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February 20, 2007
Vol. 5
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January 23, 2007
Vol. 5
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Issue 3, Volume 5, December 2006
December 6, 2006
Vol. 5
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Issue 2, Volume 5, November 2006
November 27, 2006
Vol. 5
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Issue 1, Volume 5, October 2006
October 25, 2006
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The Journey to Team
How Do You Know When God Calls You to Go?
Jeff Rowdon
This article is a repeat
of an article we published last year around this time. It is so powerful a
story and is such a great reminder that I found myself wanting to use it
again. Some of the article has been
revised since its first publishing. I
hope that it excites you for how God works through people to accomplish His
purposes.
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The story of how I got on
team includes many God moments, but I will include only a few. I have
known about team ministry for years. In fact, I’ve known about it ever
since a couple of co-workers from Riverside Lutheran Bible Camp went on
team. Even my program coordinator at Riverside, Dan Scharnhorst (Captive
Free West Coast ‘89-‘90, ‘90-‘91), has a history with Youth Encounter.
The actual “pushes” to go on team came through people in the twelve months
prior to me officially becoming a team member.
During the summer of 2002 I was working my last summer at Riverside Lutheran
Bible Camp in Iowa, and I had the opportunity to see Jason Van Hove (Kindred
‘98-‘99). Kindred is one of Youth Encounter’s international teams that travels
to South America. I had known Jason a long time but hadn’t seen him in a
number of years. I told him that I was graduating in May of 2003, and the
question inevitably came, “What are you going to do?” I told him I had
considered doing team--Kindred, in fact. He asked me which countries
Kindred was traveling to. When I told him Peru and Bolivia, he told me
that I couldn’t wait. I should go now.
[CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL STORY]
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Covenant Rides Again
Be a Part of a Summer VBS Team!
Cathy Pino
Once again, we are in the midst
of recruiting for Covenant, Youth Encounter's Summer VBS Team. If you are looking for a great way to share
the Good News with young people this summer, we'd love to chat with you! The Summer VBS Team will begin training on
June 29 in Minneapolis and will hit the road for a five-week tour of the
Midwest. We are still looking for young
adults who love Jesus, enjoy relational ministry, and have a heart for hanging
out with, playing games with, singing songs with and sharing the Gospel with
elementary school students. If that
sounds like you, give us a call at 1-800-659-6884, ext. 8338, or email Cathy
Pino at summerteam@youthencounter.org.
For more information on Summer VBS Teams, check out our website, www.youthencounter.org.
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Book a VBS Team at Your Church!
If you are
interested in booking this year's Summer VBS Team to lead your Vacation Bible
School program, please call Cookie Stam at 1-800-659-6884, ext. 8461, or e-mail
her at cookie@youthencounter.org. For
more information on Summer VBS Teams, check out our website, www.youthencounter.org.
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It's Time to Pay Attention
God May Be Calling You to a Side By Side Crew
Emma Kasiga
So
you still want to go overseas and serve this summer…
You
know that no matter how many times you do want to tell yourself that you are
already too late, God is still calling you. Definitely, there is still plenty
of time for you to listen to God’s call and sign up for that service that God’s
been wanting you to be a part of for a long time. And it is about time you pay
attention.
Well,
as you are seriously pondering and considering, I will tell you what’s been
going on with the Side By Side crews. We have two groups from Michigan that are
planning to go on separate trips to India. The first trip is from North/West
Lower Michigan Synod under the leadership of Pastor Jamie Brunning, who will be
heading to the Kalrayan Hills (in Tamil Nadu, South India), while the second is
a crew from all over the United States, who will be traveling to Hyderabad and
Bapatla areas (Andhra Pradesh, South India) under the leadership of Shawn Smith.
They will be meeting and training in Michigan instead of Minneapolis.
[CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL STORY]
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Youth Create 2005
New Workshops Offered This Year!
Cathy Pino
There are
some exciting new changes in the works for Youth Create 2005. This year the schedule will include two new
workshops: "Ministry and the Movies" and "Fun With
Computers." The former will
examine the use of film as a ministry tool.
The latter will involve such skills as creating Power Point
presentations and computer slide shows.
And of course, Youth Create will still include workshops on worship
leading, songwriting, puppet ministry, dance, visual arts and drama. This year's week o' fun will happen June
19-25 and is open to all high school students—i.e., those going into ninth
grade in the fall of 2005 through seniors who will graduate in the spring of
2005, and of course, everyone in between! Also, there's still time to get in on
the Early Registration Discount for Youth Create. Register by April 30 and receive $20 off per student. AND if you come with a group of five
students or more, you can also qualify for the Group Discount of an additional
$20 per student. For more information, check out our website, www.youthencounter.org,
or email Cathy Pino at youthcreate@youthencounter.org.
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Meet Fuller Still
Minneapolis Band Mouths Off
Kate Tripoli
What do Team alumni do when they’re not on Team
anymore? They form a band! Over a year ago, Gail (Bichlmeir) Brecht (New Vision 2000-2001, Captive Free Coast to Coast 2001-2002), Josh Brecht (Cross Fire 2000-2001 and 2001-2002), Graham Peterson (Captive Free South Central 2000-2001, Captive Free South West 2001-2002), and Justin Rimbo (Captive Free South
Central 2000-2001, Cross Fire 2001-2002) combined their eight years of relational music ministry experience,
songwriting talents, and deep love for God and God’s people. The result was
Fuller Still, a new band based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Members of churchnoise.com and featured musicians
at two of Youth Encounter’s junior high Quakes this year, they talked to us
about the joys and challenges of starting a new band and trusting God.
Who are you?
GB: Gail Brecht. (If you're curious, I'm the
one with the really long hair. Yep, the girl.)
JB: I am Joshua Brecht.
GP: My name is Graham, like the
cracker.
JR: My name is Justin, like the cracker.
Why did you decide to join this band?
GB: I wanted to share the voice, music, and
stories that God has given me. It's a great group of talented people who just
live for Jesus and rocking out. Plus, I'm married to Josh, so I'm kind of stuck
in it now!
JB: I decided to join the band because I knew that
Justin would need someone to fix his bass and all of his toys. Also because I
love to play music and I can’t ever get enough of it!
GP: Justin told me to.
JR: I
decided to join the band because I was the one who started the band, and if I
wasn't in the band that I started, I'd probably get pretty jealous of the
people who were in the band. I asked the other members to be in the band,
because I figure, if I'm going to be in a band, the other members had better be
pretty good. You know, to cover up my mistakes. And they are. So I'm
glad they're here. In the band.
[CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL STORY]
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Quake Memories from the Journey So Far
An Event Ministries Director Reflects
Jennifer Noyes
When
I was thirteen years old, my youth director took me to Chicago for my very
first Youth Encounter Quake. The theme that was tie-dyed onto the banner was
“More Precious than Silver.” Pastor Bill Yonker was the speaker and Captive
Free was there, like usual. I, of course, had a crush on all the guys in
Captive Free. I bought a silver ring from a man named Mike Kawas because I
vowed to remind myself that I was “more precious than silver” every time I put
the ring on.
As
I type this article, the silver ring is on my finger. Mike Kawas and his wife
are still selling jewelry and olive wood. Bill is still one of our beloved
speakers, and I still remember how God’s love changed my life forever through
that first Quake experience. The only differences between seventh grade and now
are 1) my weight and 2) that I no longer have crushes on the guys in Captive
Free. (Okay, maybe a few more things have changed, but those are the two that
stand out in my head.)
Since
that first Quake, I have been blessed to participate in more than thirty-five
Youth Encounter Events. At each one, God has shown me more of who He is, how
deep His love for me extends and how wonderful it is to be in Christian
community. So this month, I thought it would be fun to remember some of the many
people and moments that have come from the Quakes I’ve attended this season.
[CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL STORY]
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We Hope They Will See Christ In Us
Read Excerpts from Watermark's Online Journal
Watermark (in Denmark)
DENMARK! WOW! Hi everyone.
It is truly an amazing experience to have the ability to write to and for you
all here in Børkop, Denmark. Well, we all arrived safely in Copenhagen,
where we met our contact Poul, then went straight to work. We've been
recording our CD this past week, and what an experience that has
been. It has been ups and downs, as I'm sure you can all imagine,
but it's been great 'cause God has taught us a lot so far.
It always seems to me that
when I get myself tied up in frustration or anxiousness about anything, whether
it's about missing a note or messing up on my instrument, that he sends me
something to remind me to just STOP. The other day I was really struggling with
my voice, especially on a Danish song that I wasn't too comfortable with my
wording (Christian and Anders, you know what I'm talking about) but when I
was in Poul's office doing some work on his computer, I looked outside and God
really gave me just what I needed. Outside the window were all of these
beautiful puffy coastal clouds; being from the coast, that made me feel right
at home. There wasn't only that--as if to be a racer's finishing line,
there was a bright rainbow that crossed the whole sky. Sometimes God
just reminds me that no matter how cluttered or crazy our life can be, there is
still so much to rejoice in and so much to give thanks for. God is GOOD.
[CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL STORY]
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Dios, Danos Paz, Danos Fuerza, Danos Amor
Read Excerpts from Kindred's Online Journal
Kindred (in Ecuador)
Today was our first HUGE
day! After a quick 8 a.m. devo, we piled into the cars and headed to a school
out in the campo (country). The
program was for about thirty kids. We started with some fun sing-a-longs, but
all we got from the first two songs were blank stares. It was pretty
frustrating, and my natural instinct was to just grit my teeth and plow through
the program so that it could be over. And then I looked at the faces of these
kids, and I was reminded of the privilege I had to share Christ with them.
These kids didn't go to a Christian school and don't hear about Christ's love
and grace on a daily basis. And here I was about to waste an opportunity to
show Christ's love. It was at that moment that my smile was no longer fake. I
was able to muster up the will to go out to where the kids were sitting and
encourage them to participate. That was all it took! They loved us from then on
and clung to every word and action. They were amazing kids. Many of them gave
us their cookies as a thank-you for coming!
[CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL STORY]
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We Are Always Connected to God
Read Excerpts from Captive Free North West's Online Journal
Captive Free North West
I really want to talk
about the past weekend. We went to Coos
Bay, OR. I had such an awesome time
there. We did a Family Night Program
and Sunday morning worship. Both things
went so well. We had so much fun
hanging out with the youth beforehand, and they got Audrie and Daniel a
birthday cake. Andrew shared about how
we are all connected to God. I really
got something out of it. Sometimes I
forget that we are connected to Him. Andrew was saying our belly
button reminds us how we were connected to our mother, so when we
look at our belly button, we should also remember that we are always connected
to God. Sunday afternoon, I got to go
to the ocean and climb on the rocks with my host family. It was so beautiful. It made me want to live on the beach. My host family also took me to the botanical
gardens. It was so neat to think that
it was January and there were roses blooming.
I loved it. My host family in
general was really great. They taught
me a new stitch for crocheting and I spent most my day off making a scarf. I had some awesome chat with them,
especially with my host sister Lisa.
She was really cool and, Lisa, if you're reading this, I'm still praying
for you and I know that if God calls you, anything could happen!
[CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL STORY]
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Caps for Sale
And Water Bottles!
Ryan Veil
February
is almost over, which means that spring is upon us! Check out the new merchandise at www.youthencounter.org
and click on “store.” Some of the new spring
products include stylish water bottles and * brand new* Captive Free
baseball caps!
Don’t
forget to pick up this year’s Captive Free or International Team CD! Each of Youth Encounter’s thirteen traveling
teams recorded their own CD this year.
Call 800-659-6884 x8489 to get yours today!
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