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.

Oct 08-Message from Greg

Yesterday---------------------Today

Bell-bottoms-------------------Pre-ripped jeans

Platform shoes-----------------Uggs

Polyester----------------------Micro fibers
Dance Fever-------------------MTV Podcasts
Summer Camp in Wisconsin--- Mission Trips to El Salvador
Goofy crowd breakers--------- Hosting “on-line” chat rooms

In the 1980’s The Barna Group did a survey and found that if a person did not accept Christ by the time they graduated from high school (18 years old), the chances dropped significantly that they ever would. Today, that age has dropped to 14!

So, in Bushnell, IL and Macomb, IL, YFC runs clubs just for junior high and high school students. Besides introducing them to the Jesus of the Bible, one of their regular endeavors is to teach the kids to serve, then give them opportunities to do just that in their homes, their community and even beyond Illinois.

According to the U.S. Dept. of Commerce (2002), there are two million new Internet users each month and by far (90%+) children and teens between 5-17 use computers and the Internet most.

So, if you look at YFC’s national website (http://www.yfc.net/) you will find supervised chat rooms where teens can go to discuss issues – especially spiritual issues. Todd, Kayleigh and Amanda all utilize the internet, e-mail, cell phones - and probably a few things this old guy doesn’t even know about - to post meeting and event schedules and communicate with volunteers and regular attendees of YFC ministries.

Geared to the Times, Anchored to The Rock

This was the first motto of Youth for Christ: circa 1950. You know – it still works today.

Pray for your Macomb and Bushnell staff, as they serve God by communicating His Love and Hope in ways that catch the eye, seize the ear and sting the conscience of young people in our world today. In other words, help them stay “geared to the times, but anchored to the Rock.”

Oct08-News in Macomb

Kayleigh

Mandy

We are very excited to have a small but great group of students attending Campus Life regularly. The highschool students have been learning that their lives are important, even influential because of what Jesus can do in and through them. We are having a great time getting to know the students and sharing our stories and God's Story with them as well.

Campus Life Middleschool is an even smaller group, with only one student currently in attendence. She is a great girl and has been helping us brainstorm about how to get more students involved with CLM. I'm sure that she will be bringing some friends along with her soon!
We also have a great group of volunteers faithfully serving alongside us every week. Jasmine, Sharee, and John have been a huge help. We are so thankful for their willingness to use their gifts and abilities to help reach out to the students here in Macomb.

Calendar of Events:

Mondays 6-8pm CLM for all 6th-8th grade students (Please notice that 6th graders are now invited to participate in CLM!!!)
Tuesdays 7-9pm CL for all 9th-12th grade students

Saturday, October 18 Paintballing with Bushnell
Thursday, October 30 CLM "Not Your Average Halloween Party" 4:30-8:30pm
Friday, October 31 CL Bonfire & Hayride with Bushnell

November 7 & 8 Go Mad

Oct08-Bushnell Beat

One moment we are talking about paintball, and the next we are talking about heaven. That’s exactly what happened a couple of Mondays ago while driving a student home from Campus Life M (Middle School). “Doug” asked, “What does it take to get to heaven?”. Over the next few minutes, the gospel was shared and “Doug” had a clearer understanding of what it meant to believe in Jesus. He said he believed and had already read half of the small New Testament I had given him a couple of weeks prior.

PRAISE THE LORD! I believe “Doug” is in the process of beginning his journey with Christ. He understands the gospel and is trying to grasp the meaning of living for Jesus. He also went on our Junior High campout we had the following weekend, where he had the chance to deepen his relationship with God and experience the creation first hand.

Since “See You At The Pole” a couple of weeks ago, there is a serious effort underway to pray for the school, the country, and fellow classmates. Please pray for the students that are attending and leading the “before school prayer meeting” as they will face persecution. Pray that they will be given the words to speak, just as Peter was before the Sanhedrin in Acts.

If you are someone in the Bushnell-Prairie City community receiving this newsletter and do not know much about YFC, please give Todd a call at 309-333-6186 and he would be glad to visit with you over a cup of hot chocolate. Thanks for everyone’s continued prayer and financial support of this ministry to teens.

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

Friday, October 31 CL Bonfire & Hayride with Macomb

November 7 & 8 Go Mad

campout..........................................jello bobbing for hotdogs