Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Thank You Guys!
I just want to say thank you to those of you who have gone with us to the beach the last three weeks to show the love of Jesus in simple and practical ways. It is such a joy to serve Jesus with you and to touch lives through our example and simple acts of kindness such as giving away free food and drinks, and playing volleyball and basketball with kids from our community. Jesus said, "And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward" (Matthew 10:42). What we have done may not seem like a big deal, but to God is is special and important. Jesus also said, "I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink. I was hungry and you gave me something to eat" (Matthew 25:31-46). You have made the Lord glad through your faithfulness! I am very proud of you, and I am really excited to see you learning the joy of serving. May this become your lifestyle, not just some youth event. Amen!
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Reach The Beach 2
Last night 15 of us from Planet Impact went to Sunken Meadow State Park for our second week of Reach The Beach. We gave away 80 free cheeseburgers and sodas. We also walked around and picked up trash on the boardwalk. The leaders of this community event were once again highly complimentary of our teens, and were so grateful for our willingness to serve and bless the teens of our community. We are glad to serve the Lord by serving our community. As we were riding home in the shuttle, I took some time to debrief with our team and to pray. It was a great night. So great, that we have decided to go back again next week and give away free pizza! Our kids are learning the joy of service! May fruit remain!
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Reach The Beach
While meeting with the Youth and Community Alliance of Smithtown (a group I recently joined comprised of people who care about the youth in our community) in June, I was looking and listening for opportunities for our youth ministry to get more involved in the community. One event that caught my attention was a summer program sponsored by the Suffolk county police department at the beach designed to give students a safe place to hang out during the evenings. I volunteered our youth group to come down a few evenings and give away free food and drinks as an act of kindness and to show people the love of Jesus in practical ways. On Tuesday night a group of about 12 of us loaded into the church shuttle along with a grill, a table, freebies, hot dogs, and sodas and headed down to Sunken Meadow State Park to bless and serve the youth of our community. There was a group of about 30 young people and a dozen adults present. The fact that it was a fairly small group was nice and enabled us to spend quite a bit of time meeting and talking with them. Many of the kids said that they would come by and check out our youth group sometime. More significantly, some of our kids actually made new friends! I was especially blessed by Sarah, one of our girls, who met a young lady and they were hanging out together the entire two hours we were there. Before we left it was a beautiful sight to see them exchanging phone numbers. I was also really blessed when Kevin (the director of the event) commented that we had some really great kids and how much he enjoyed having us around. That was a high compliment! Next week we are going back and will be giving away cheeseburgers.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)