Youth Encounter

Check it out! Posters, Video Clip, Pictures, Logos, Brochures!

Don’t forget: Standard Registration Deadline is November 30, 2005! YouthWorks sites are filling up quickly! Sign up today! For more information, visit www.edge-event.com.

Sounds Like Love Concert Updates
November 13 at St. Andrew's Lutheran Church
Susie Anderson

John Jacobson, guest conductor, who is well known for his high energy, creativity, inspiration, and his work with the Disney and Macy's Parades, will direct 500 high school students from 30 churches and seven states in the culmination of a weekend of singing together at Sounds Like Love, hosted by St. Andrew's Lutheran Church. Reservations and tickets ($5) are available at St. Andrew's on Sunday mornings or by calling 651-762-9138. St. Andrew’s is located at 900 Stillwater Road, Mahtomedi, MN 55115.

Getting Ready for Events Season
Meet the New Directors
Kelly Dotson

The Events Division is currently gearing up for the kick-off of the 2005-2006 season! The first Quakes of the year are fast approaching. Seattle and Niagara Falls are November 4-6, and the first Construction Zone of the year is in Kansas City (November 11-13). We are excited about this year’s Quake theme of “Stand on the Rock” (Matthew 7:24-27) and the Zone theme of “REAL” (Ephesians 4:15-16).

If you haven’t registered for an Event yet, you can now do so online! If you register for a winter or spring Event by November 1, you will qualify for the Early Bird discount, which saves you $15 on the standard price. For even more information, you can visit our website (www.youthencounter.org/quakes or www.youthencounter.org/zones) and also learn about all of the fantastic speakers and musicians we have contracted for this year’s Quakes and Zones.
[CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL STORY]

What Are You Doing in 2006-07?
Considering Team Ministry
Jeff Rowdon

Here at Youth Encounter, we have been asking the question, “What does the church need today?” For years, we have been putting together ministry teams of young adults that have traveled the world sharing about God’s love for us through music, skits, puppets, faith talks, and especially through relationships. They have traveled around loving people in churches, schools, nursing homes, detention centers, prisons, and any other place that folks would have them. It’s been an amazing time of seeing God use ordinary people to change the lives of others in extraordinary ways. I have been fortunate to be a part of these ministry teams, and now I have the amazing privilege of recruiting others to do the same. We want to be a ministry that keeps asking what the church needs and to continue to equip our teams in new ways to help meet those needs.
[CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL STORY]

I Can Hardly Fathom How Good Our God is to Us
Read Excerpts from North East's Online Journal
Captive Free North East

North East is (l-r) Elise Chesley, Kevin Shangle, Amanda Whittaker, Evan Anderson, Jenn Breitweiser, Ty Dietzler, Martha Leisch

Everything has been going really well this week. We've had a few bookings, all of which have gone fairly smooth. We had a really good service last night doing this campfire/communion service outside. The sun was out and there was a bit of a breeze and there were clouds painted all over the sky. The host families have been amazingly giving; I've never seen the servant heart of Jesus in so many people.

One thing that has really impacted me this week is the amazing power of prayer. I think we all overlook prayer. So many people say, "All you can do is pray" when in all actuality, that's the single most important thing you can do for someone or a situation. Prayer is our hotline to God. The more we use it, the more open we feel to come to the Lord with EVERY request or praise that is in our heart. "Come to the Lord in prayer and petition in every situation." I think that pretty much sums it up. There have been so many answered prayers in my life in this week alone, I can hardly fathom how good our God is to us.
[CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL STORY]

God Definitely Proved My Fears Wrong
Read Excerpts from Cross Fire's Online Journal
Cross Fire

Cross Fire is (bottom l-r) Kelsey Erickson, Shauna McInerney, Bethany Schwartz (top l-r), A.J. Smith, Penny Kelley, and Jacob Djondo

I decided on New Year's Eve 2004 to drive three hours to Princeton, Illinois to spend the night with my good friend Emily Heine, who was on Kindred last year. Little did I know that my last minute decision to visit a friend was God starting to plant a seed for my life. I loved Princeton, and I loved getting to know the Kindred team. I had a heart-to-heart that night with Emily, and we talked about what God is doing in our lives and how we see God leading us.

Nine months later, I have a team of my own, and we were privileged to spend part of our first week on the road in Princeton, Illinois, at the same house I visited on New Year's Eve. I began to realize how incredibly blessed I am as I spent the night in the same bedroom where the heart-to-heart with Emily took place, but this time I was with my new teammates. How incredible it is to see how God has worked in my life over the last nine months!
[CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL STORY]

The Power of Faithful People
A Story of Servanthood in Tanzania
Adam Mellen, 2004 Global Work Crew Leader to Tanzania

The 2004 Global Work Crew side by side with a Chagga congregation

It has only been two weeks since I returned home from Africa, but it already seems like a lifetime ago. I cannot, in words, truly sum up the experience I had in Tanzania, but I know that my life has been changed forever.

Our mission to Africa took us to the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro to work with a people group called the Chagga. They are a semi-westernized tribe who first heard the Gospel in 1888 from a German missionary. Since that time, the Gospel has spread throughout the entire people group, and today 80% of the Chagga are faithful followers of Christ. It was our job upon arriving to help advance the building of a home for a pastor who was currently living in a chicken coop, so he could be close to his people.
[CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL STORY]

The One Question You Should Never Ask
Taking Responsibility for Youth Ministry
Tiger McLuen

They said it so casually, almost in passing. That’s what was so alarming to me.

I met them on the third day of a national Christian youth conference—thousands of teenagers had gathered from all over the country for this triennial event. It involves extensive travel, fund raising, and pre-event publicity. The event’s structure included a morning Bible study, mid-day workshop sessions, and an evening general session.

They were a young couple, working together to shepherd their church’s youth group. I saw them outside the venue, looking tired. I asked them how their kids were enjoying the event. Their response startled me.

“Well, we haven’t really gone to any of the things except the evening sessions,” they said. "The first day we tried the morning Bible study, but we haven’t gone to anything since.”

“Why,” I asked, “would you bring your kids to a national event and not have them attend the planned activities?”

Their answer was all-too-familiar: “We don’t really want to make the kids do anything they don’t want to do.”
[CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL STORY]

Global Offering Recipient: Feed My Starving Children
Over $64,000 Raised by Last Year's Event Participants
Kate Tripoli

Youth Encounter extends its partnership with FMSC for another year

Every year, Youth Encounter receives an offering at Events that goes to help a ministry serving disadvantaged children overseas. We are pleased to announce that we raised $64,752.69 to support Feed My Starving Children through the generosity of the thousands of Event participants during the 2004-2005 season.

Feed My Starving Children is a Twin Cities-based organization which uses volunteers (many of whom are younger than 18) to package delicious, nutritious, culturally acceptable meals that are sent to children in need all over the world in an effort to reverse the effects of starvation on their bodies. The dry meal that volunteers pack consists of rice, high protein soy nuggets, vegetables, vitamins, minerals and flavoring. Each easy-to-prepare small pouch of food provides six highly nutritious meals (at a production cost of only 17 cents per meal) and has earned rave reviews from all over the world.
[CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL STORY]

Youth Encounter Joins Shop4Zero Internet Mall
Contribute to Youth Encounter and Get Cash Back While You Shop
Brett Koopman

As a part of our growth campaign, Youth Encounter has initiated a new fundraising project. The program is SHOP4ZERO, a growing Internet mall that contributes to non-profit organizations as it gives cash to its members for their online shopping and services.

As we further our ministry of proclaiming Christ and changing the lives of youth worldwide, we are so pleased about this tremendous opportunity. You, our faithful supporters, are now able to contribute toward Youth Encounter while at the same time earning a cash-back bonus from all your normal shopping. This additional funding resource is provided to Youth Encounter with no extra expense for you and at the lowest prices on or off the Internet.
[CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL STORY]

Event T-Shirt Discount Available at the Online Store
Use the Enclosed Coupon Code to Save!
Ryan Veil

Check out the brand new Youth Encounter Online Store! It’s been updated with all the new products for this year and runs like a dream. You can get the latest Youth Encounter apparel, CDs, water bottles, and more!

Are you going to a Quake or Zone this year? Well, if your group orders ten or more of this year’s Quake or Zone t-shirts before the Event you are attending, you can be eligible for over a 20% discount! Keep an eye out for your group’s pre-Event packet for more information, or go to www.youthencounter.org and find the coupon on the information page of your particular Event. You simply order on the new online store and use the coupon code EV2dd. You have the option of paying online with a credit card or sending in a check. (If you pay by check, orders will not be sent until the check is received.) Take advantage of this great deal today!

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