Jan12 - Macomb News

Happy New Year From Macomb!

LAST MONTH: Like many of us this time of year, December was a flurry of events as well.

YFC raised $520 for the Salvation Army kettle drive, ringing bells for them a total of 6 times!

We had great fun combining junior and senior high, when the older kids performed “The Reason for the Season” for the younger. We hosted our Annual Christmas Free Pizza Lunch, serving nearly 100 kids! We started off Christmas break with a huge pancake breakfast with many treats, candy and pancakes, bringing smiles to many! Finally we ended the year with a Teen New Years Eve Party: NYE @ YFC. We incorporated many New Year’s traditions from around the world – from Sicily, where the only pasta that should be eaten is lasagna; to Spain, eating 12 grapes for the 12 upcoming months; to the US, a kiss a midnight (the milk chocolate kind, of course).

THIS MONTH: Campus Life returns with its New Year’s Eve party on Tuesday, Jan 10th, and focusing how unlike the calendar, Jesus renews us daily, not annually. Information about Believe has been emailed out. Anyone that needs additional information should contact Lauren.

Just this past week, we hosted Finals $2.00 lunches. Wednesday: Mac & Cheese, Thursday: Tacos and Friday Pizza lunch. Delayed Start Weds was the first day of finals. We hosted pancakes on Weds until finals start – and then offered lunch. We also offered a light breakfast Thursday and Friday – so that students could come study, ask others for help – or just unwind before finals.

LAST YEAR: We had an amazing year!!! How blessed are we to make connections with so many awesome students! We have helped build relationships – between leaders & students, between junior and senior high students - among students, in general. We have had some deep talks, in depth studies and grew our prayer lives.

THIS YEAR: We look forward to keep doing what works well, trying new ideas, investigating God-sized ones. All the while, prayerfully seeking God’s wisdom and insight. We are open to whatever God wants us to do… and we know we need to hold on for the ride – because it’s going to be amazing!

YFC Macomb Tidbits

the approximate number of…

15 ... volunteers connecting with kids in a week

85 … forks used in one week

150 … kid connections in one week

160 … plates used in one week

180 … pancakes made during one pancake breakfast

576 …of drinks distributed in one month

600 …kid connections in one month

1 The One it all matters for

OUR PRAYER: This is our prayer for the coming year – we ask that you join us: We continually ask God to fill [us] with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives so that [we] may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with

all power according to his glorious might so that [we] may have great endurance and patience, and giving joyful thanks to the Father (Colossians 1: 9-12)

Pizza Lunch Partners

Jan 13 Industry Assembly

Jan 20 First Christian

Jan 27 Wesley UMC

Jan12 - Macomb News - photos

Jan12 - Bushnell Beat

Bushnell newsletter info for Dec.

“Our fight is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world, and against the spiritual forces in the heavenly realms.” Eph. 6:12

It was the perfect time for Bev to share her testimony with the middleschool teens. She had been helping for a couple of months now, and she was ready. As she wore some of the clothing she used to wear, which contained many places for chains to be placed and held. She told how God had helped remove some chains in her own life. She told how God had replaced those chains with love and a desire to serve Him. She then challenged the teens to let go of the chains that bound them and let Christ have 1^st place in their lives. Many teens responded. Several indicated that they wanted to trust Christ as their Savior. A couple admitted that they were not ready yet. Still others indicated their need to recomitt themselves to Christ. Praise the Lord for how He is working through not only Bev, but all of the leaders that are giving of their time to serve Him through Youth for Christ! God has place a unique bunch of volunteer leaders together to reach out to the teens in Bushnell, and I am very thankful.

Your prayers and time spent in prayer is so crucial to the open hearts and minds of the teens we reach in Bushnell. The enemy is pushed back by your prayers and God is able to reach into their lives because of your prayers and those of many others. I don't understand it all, but I do know that prayer is where revival starts. It often leads people to repentance and opens the door for the Holy Spirit to work in a person's life.

One of the ways we serve the community is to collect canned goods for the annual Christmas Basket Give-away, sponsored by the local ministerial association. A concerted effort to cover the entire town of Bushnell and Prairie City is made possible with the partnership of the local Varsity Club and FFA students at BPC high school. The Varsity Club puts out bags and collects the food in Bushnell and several students and I collect the food in Prairie City. We all help package the food at the local Rec. Center and distribute it the weekend before Christmas. Around 120 families are helped by all of the generous donations from the community.

Will you please pray for:

ñ continued vision to reach teens in Bushnell

ñ for God's spirit to convict teens and lead them toward the cross

ñ for several new students to sense the need to dig into God's Word and find His ways

ñ for the faithful volunteer leaders that are working with the teens on a daily basis

Thanks so much for your uplifting before the throne of the one and only true God!

The Rodeffer's

Upcoming events

Jan. 14 – 16 Faith Bible Camp Sr. High Retreat

Jan. 16 – nursing home visits with teens

Jan. 20-21 – YFC Volunteer Conference

Jan. 28-29 – Faith Bible Camp Jr. High Retreat