Apr09-Bushnell News

Our big event in the last month was Dare 2 Share. We had 23 teens and 7 adults go to St. Louis from March 27-28. Some of the teens learned a lot and were able to constructively share the gospel with theirfriends. One young lady even had a friend trust Christ right on the phone. I made a call to one of the high school student that I have been praying for this semester. He didn’t put his full faith in Jesus, but understands the gospel truth. On Saturday afternoon we got to share the gospel with hurting people onour mission of collecting canned goods for a local mission. We also prayed with people and engaged them about their spiritual beliefs. This is always a good chance to get out of our comfort zones, grow our faith, and help people along the way. We also had a few teens that were in an out of the meetings and were distractive on the trip. Pray for them, as they have not all trusted Christ as their Savior and need guidance in their lives. Also, pray for our volunteer leaders and myself as we comeup with a plan to meet their needs and bring order into their lives.
In the last month our high school ministry has been talking about things that disconnect us from each other and God. I want to say thank you for praying for our meeting on pornography last week. The guys really opened up and realized some of the future implications it can have. All of them said they wanted a “new car”, not a used one, when it comes to getting married some day. It’s great to have a prayer team to lift us up! Send me an email if you are not on my prayer team and want to be and I will put you on the team. A really neat opportunity to explain what Good Friday is, happened with one of my son’s friends. We were driving along on Good Friday and Andrew shared a little bit what it was about and then I finished. By the end of the ride Andrew’s friend said,“Oh, I never knew that.” It was cool. Now he knows. Pray that God will open up his heart and reveal Himself to this young boy.
Our family is growing and on the go a lot. We have wonderful extended family and get to see them regularly. I even had a chance to visit my home church over Easter and attend service there. It was great to see some friends and people that I really appreciate building into my life as a youth. Thanks be to God for how He works in our lives.

Upcoming trips events:

May 8 – Jr. High guys campout

May 9 – Jr. High girls campout

May 10 – Baccalaureate May 17 - Graduation

May 18 & 21 End of year CL meetings

Apr09-Youth Advisory

Macomb Youth Advisory Committee - Reminder
All churches in the Macomb area are invited to join this committee. Several local pastors and leaders will meet once amonth during the summer beginning May 12th at 10:15 a.m. During these four meetings we will discuss viable options for the future of YFC, possible obstacles, and if YFC can continue primarily as a volunteer organization. Feel free to call or email the YFC office if you have questions regarding the process, or if you would like your church to be represented at the advisory meetings.

Apr09-House Repairs

Request for help:
Recently the facilities committee has reported to the Board a list of repairs needed at YFC house. If anyone would like to help us out with a specific repair or would like to donate to a specific project, please feel free to contact the office by phone or email.
- repair hole in kitchen floor and replace kitchen flooring

- need new (back) door that enters kitchen (door & frame)

- kitchen needs to be painted

- entire downstairs (except kitchen) needs new carpet

- wheelchair ramp to back door needs work or needs to be removed

- front foundation of house needs to be repaired

- side door of garage needs to be replace (wind damage)

Mar09-7th Annual Golf Outing

Mark it on your calendar!
7th Annual YFC Golf Outing
Sat., May 16th, 2009

Location: WIU’s Harry Mussatto Golf Course
Time: Shotgun start 8:00 am
Come enjoy a great day out on the links!

The golf committee is already gearing up for an awesome event. This year, we are having a $15,000 Hole-in-One 50/50 Split Contest on Hole #3 as well as auxilary hole-in-one prizes on the remaining par 3 holes. We’ll still be offering mulligans and closer tees, but adding one additional way of improving your score.

The day includes a light breakfast during registration, 18 holes with cart, a gift for each participant, snacks and beverages during play, a catered grilled lunch, prizes in various divisions and raffle prizes.

Get a foursome together from your church and compete for the Traveling Church trophy. Scotland Trinity will be doing their best to repeat their win from last year. Brochures will be available by April 1st. Feel free to contact us at yfc@macomb.com orDeanna at 309-333-0111. We’ll be glad to drop one in the mail to you.

Mar09-Introducing one of our newest board members

My name is Jeff Gantner. Last month I attended a board meeting for Youth for Christ and was voted on. About five years ago through my church, we opened a youth center on the square where I helped run and assisted the youth pastor with concerts. I have always had a burden for teens in the area and feel Macomb needs a positive place for them to hang out. When my two children were young, my wife and I volunteered as team leaders, and helped with fundraisers. I look forward to being a part of the YFC board.

Mar09-News in Macomb

A few weeks ago at Campus Life we talked about why God came to Earth in human form. In the end, we decided He chose this approach because He wanted to give us a glimpse of who He is in a way that we could understand and not be afraid of. For many people today, reading the Gospels gives them that glimpse into the heart of God that draws them into a relationship with Him, but for many others, the Jesus of Scriptures still seems distant and irrelevant. That is why we try to follow Christ’s example by giving the students at YFC a glimpse of God that they can understand. Our prayer is that bit by bit, they will grow to understand Him, and then to trust Him, and finally to build their own relationship with Him.

In the last month, we have had quite a few new students attend Campus Life and/or other activities such as, open mike nights at Café Aroma, or the 6-8th grade overnight. We also have a good group of students who have been attending very consistently. We are seeing them open up and grow, slowly but surely.

We have a few upcoming events on the calendar. During spring break, we will be helping to sort donations at the Crossing’s thrift store (date TBA), and another day, we will hang out at the YFC house for the afternoon. March 27 & 28 is Dare to Share, a conference in St. Louis to which we hope to take some students. In the more distant future, we hope to attend AgapeFest, a music festival on May 1 & 2.

Our students would be grateful for any opportunities to earn some of the money for these trips, so if you have any projects you need help with, please contact me at (217) 836-1733 or Kayleigh at (309) 335-7904.

Thank you for all of your prayers and support!

Mandy Johnson

Mar09-Bushnell Beat

Two Wednesday nights in the last month, we have had teens asking how to be saved. An evening when I was sick and one of our volunteers was leading Depth Charge, a young lady put her trust in Christ. A couple of weeks later a young man asked how to be saved. There is nothing like being able to share with another human being how they can spend eternity with Jesus forever! God is amazing.

In our high school campus life we have been discussing relationships, which is a popular subject. The last couple of weeks we have shown the movie “Fireproof” in order to facilitate discussions. It seems like a revelation when teens understand the big lie of the media and entertainment. This movie was produced and distributed for Godly purposes. Others are just trying to get their money. It was neat to see their reaction when they realized this fact. Also, it seemed as though the content of the movie really set in and demonstrated the difference God can make in a relationship. Please pray that teens will truly consider these fundamental values when choosing a mate.

Our biggest event of the year in Bushnell is our soup supper. This year was our 10th annual Souper Duper Soup Supper. Over 25 teens came out to serve soup and drinks to area supporters of Youth for Christ on March 6. Twenty of them signed up to do labor in exchange for help with their trip and event money. (i.e. Dare 2 Share) We had quite a few new people attend this year and our best support to date. We give thanks to the Lord for his protection and provision for this ministry in Bushnell the past 10 years.

Finally, we have a transition in our lives ahead of us the next few months. We have purchased a property north east of Bushnell, where we plan to move this summer. There is much to be done in the mean time. The property is a way for us to save some money over time and something that we have been thinking about doing for a couple of years. We are excited about the change of venue and if anyone has any time to help we would not turn it down. We are so thankful for the place we now live and know it will be a blessing to a family in the future.

May God continue his work and be glorified in all we do.

Please Pray for:

Dare 2 Share coming up at the end of the month.
YFC finances
Our family transition to new house

Morgan Pic : Morgan Lindsey, a new volunteer at Bushnell CL M

Big Group JV pic: a typical junior high campus life night