Dec08-Bushnell Beat

How are your holiday seasons? Ours are kind of crazy. Between visiting family, hunting, basketball, school, and YFC activities, it seems as if we hardly have time to breathe some days. Is there some way around all of this? Pray and listen for God’s voice. That is hard isn’t it? I need God, like I need water! Without Him life is meaningless. I am so thankful for His gift of redeeming love through Jesus. Let’s praise Him with all of our hearts this Christmas season.
From a youth ministry perspective, it is so exciting to see the eagerness to learn at Depth Charge. Teens today need an influx of God’s Word into their lives, just like every follower of Christ. Most of these teens have not been raised with the background of the bible before them every week in Sunday School. We encourage teens to find a church home, read God’s Word on a regular basis, and put the Word into action. That’s when others see a difference and ask why they do what they do. That gives teens (and us) an opportunity to share the message.
Something a volunteer and I are working on is helping the homeless in the area. Please pray with us that God will be pleased and the teens that choose to get involved will be changed from the inside out.

Prayer requests

Our family has been very sick lately, especially Michelle.

Teens to be affected by the power of the Holy Spirit

Schedule of Events
CL-M (Jr High)-Mondays @ 6-8 pm

Depth Charge-Wednesdays @ 8 pm

Teen Lunch-Thursdays @ 11 am

CL (HS)-Thursday @ 7 pm

Dec08-Banquet

The 2008 Youth for Christ Banquet was held on Friday, November 21st at the WIU Grand Ballroom from 6:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m with a little over 200 attending.

Thank you to the area churches and individuals that donated baskets. The basket auction raised almost $1800 this year alone.

Also, a big thank you to:

all the corporate and individual underwriters, table hosts, Kelly Barsi and our basket committtee, Becca Pettit for her wonderful truffles, Checkrow Community Church Praise band, Amanda Miller (our soloist), Rick Selk (our speaker), the CL & CL-M studentvolunteers, and so many others that helped to put together this year’s event.

The Attic, Barsi-Depoy Tax Business Serv./Copy Pack & Post, Bushnell Banking Center, Clugston-Tibbitts Funeral Homes, Dodsworth-Piper-Wallen Inc., Edward D. Jones & Co., Farmers & Merchants State Bank, First Bankers Trust Company, First State Bank, Heritage Farms Grain & Dairy, Inc., Larry A’s Pizza, Martin-Hollis Funeral Home, MidAmerica National Bank, Midwest Control Products, Nelsons Clothing, Nostalgia Decorating, Pumo Insurance Agency, and Western Illinois Shotokan Karate Clubs

Tye & Jill Adair, Fred & Eloise Caspall, Richard & Beth Ann Ferguson, Charles & Wilma Hess, Steven & Phyllis Hess, Don & Joy Hubner, Ed & Karen Kuras, Bernard & Kay McCance, Richard & Christine Myers, David & Rheta Paisley, Mark & Cynthia Rauchert, Charles & Debbie Schade and Morris & Mary Vos

Dec08-Praises/Prayers

+ Praise for all the help that came forward for the banquet. It was such a blessing.
+ Pray for Kayleigh Jump and her family as they prepare for the arrival of their new baby at the end of December.
+ Praise for the fun and fellowship that continually happens at CL & CL-M events and meetings. May this open doors to discuss Christ’s love with each of the students involved.
+ Pray for safety in the winter month’s ahead.
+ Pray for the Macomb and Bushnell staff as they continue to reach out to new and continuing students.

Nov 08-Banquet Reminders

The Annual Youth for Christ Banquet is almost here!!
Friday, November 21st
6pm doors open/auction begins 6:30pm meal served
If your plans have changed, lost the reply card, etc., DON’T WORRY!!!
just call us at 333-0111 or email us at yfc@macomb.com as soon as possible.

Don’t forget the Gift Basket Auction!
If your church is putting together a basket, please contact Kelly Barsi (Macomb)at 833-5996 (days) or 833-1480 (evenings) or Vicki Reimolds (Bushnell) at 772-3062(evenings) if you haven’t already. This will aid us in planning for enough tables.

Nov 08-Macomb News

Hello everyone! A lot has happened with our Macomb CL students since our last update. Our annual Go MAD (Make A Difference) trip was November 7-9. We had one student and one volunteer who were able to attend with me. We caravan’d all the way to Fort Wayne, IN, along with the Bushnell CL group for the action packed weekend.

The conference kept us busy with their morning and evening sessions which included skits, a band, a speaker and a cookout on Saturday evening with fun activities for the students. We did have some free time to ourselves during the conference. We were able to spend time together and build our relationships. During our free time on Saturday afternoon, we decided to do some random acts of kindness and help the cleaning staff at our hotel. We spent about two house helping them clean and replace towels and toiletries in the rooms. Even though there was a bit of a language barrier with most of them speaking Spanish, the staff appreciated and thanked us for our help. We were just happy to show them the love of Jesus through a servant’s heart.

During our Saturday evening session, we had some amazing things happen, our student rededicated her life to Christ. Pray that she will have the confidence to make a stand and share her faith in her school and with others. We also spent some small group time with the Bushnell group where we got to share some deeper parts of our lives, and why Christ is so important.
I thank God for the decisions that the students made for their lives this weekend and the fellowship and conversations that we were able to share. ~ Kayleigh

Upcoming Events:

Nov 24th 5:30pm-8:00 Thanksgiving Meal for staff, volunteers, CL & CL-M students. We will provide turkey. If you would like to donate a side or a dessert,please contact Kayleigh @ 309-335-7904 or Mandy @ 217-836-1733.

Dec 6th 9am-6pm Christmas shopping trip in Peoria for CL & CL-M

Calendar:

Monday nights CL-M 6pm-8pm

Tuesday nights CL 7pm-9pm

both at the YFC house

Nov 08-Bushnell Beat

The majority of the teens our team of adult’s work with in Bushnell, come from a home without their biological mother and father. Some have been physically abused, some sexually abused, many verbally abused, and still others emotionally neglected. Many of them turn to each other for friendship and love. We are trying to be a life resource for them, so that they can hear the truth and have a caring adult in their lives. If you can, please join our financial team of givers supporting the Bushnell ministry. Thanks!

All of your prayers are truly appreciated! If you would like to join our bi-weekly email prayer team, please shoot me an email at bpcyfc@yahoo.com. We had some crazy events leading up to our Go M.A.D. trip. The enemy really wanted to mess things up. First, I began praying in early-October for 15 students to go. We were around 9 with a week to go. Suddenly, a week before the trip there was interest by a few more teens. At Campus Life, a day before the trip, we had a scuffle between two teens and other hurt feelings. One teen was injured trying to break up the scuffle. I knew right then, there were powers working against this trip. On Friday, November 7, 16 teens showed up to go, along with 4 volunteers. We had a very open weekend, though not without it’s troubles either.

The speaker, Arthur Wilson from Fort Wayne, IN, shared his story of how he was molested by his father as a child. It wasn’t until he was in his twenties that Arthur learned to forgive his father and receive God’s forgiveness through Christ. Now he has a wife and 3 children that he is having a positive influence on. This hit home with several of our students. Two young ladies recommitted their lives to Christ, both touched by the loving hand of our Savior through the Holy Spirit. It was a joy to rejoice with them and talk about their decision with them. They have a great opportunity to stand up for Christ within each of their peer groups.

Later that night, we got together as a group and everyone had a chance to share how they had been spiritually impacted by the event. Many shared how God had worked earlier in their lives and how Go M.A.D. had helped to remind them of God’s importance in life. Also, all of the teens were happy to get away from Bushnell for the weekend. In fact, one young man had not ever been to Peoria, IL, let alone Ft. Wayne, Indiana. I am thankful for the opportunity to speak truth into the lives of young people. Praise God!

Nov 08-Prayer Requests

+ Praise for all the help that has come forward for the banquet. It has been a real blessing.
+ Pray that the banquet be a wonderful time of fellowship and focusing on 2009.
+ Praise for the fun, fellowship, bonding, learning, and decision making that occurred at Go MAD this past weekend.
+ Pray that students who commited themselves to Christ at Go MAD continue seeking Him.
+ Please pray for the Macomb and Bushnell staff as they continue to reach out to new and continuing students.