Apr 08-Prayer Requests & Needs

• Pray for wisdom as the Board continues to seek God’s plan for YFC.
• Pray for the students as the school year comes to a close.
• Pray for good weather and many golfers for our Annual Golf Outing. The golf outing committee is in full gear. If you can help out on the day of the outing, please contact Deanna at 309-333-0111.

Mar 08-Message from Greg Monaco

Many people are fascinated by the “end times” – the events that will lead up to Christ’s return - and not all of them are Christians. For your information…

-Over 1 million books in the fictionalized apocalyptic Left Behind series have now been sold.
-Hollywood movies like The Omen, End of Days and The Prophecy have been blockbuster hits.
-Surf” the net and you’ll find websites selling Bible Prophecy related items, including an End-Times Roadmap!

Many who spend a lot of time in this area of study are honestly interested in what God is trying to tell them and this lost world about His plans and our destiny. For some prophecy buffs though, end times are an interesting whimsy – a fiction, or a fantasy, or even entertainment.

In a way, how teens deal with their mortality is similar. Most of the youth I’ve met have a strong belief of their invincibility. That’s why when a teen dies a tragic unexpected death; others in their circle are so shaken. At a distance, they might acknowledge that death exists, but for them, it is only other people who die. It’s a fiction, or a fantasy, or even entertainment.
So, what’s my point?

The end times may be immanent, or they may be centuries away. But death is not. As a matter of fact, teens are only 70 or 80 years away from their end time, but still they do their best to deny it.

I feel a greater urgency today than I ever have as I see my grandchildren growing up in a world where there are fewer and fewer opportunities to hear the Good News… and they are being raised in a home and a church where the Gospel is shared repeatedly.

More and more of the youth that we are reaching through YFC don’t have parents who can tell them, don’t have teachers who share with them and don’t attend any church with regularity - let alone a church where Christ is proclaimed clearly.

So please, pray with me for the youth within the reach of Western Illinois Youth for Christ… and for the 175 other chapters we have across the U.S. and the 98 other countries around the world where YFC is reaching out to over 11 million young people.

After all, there is only so much time left.

Greg Monaco is the Regional Field Specialist for the Great Lakes Region of Youth for Christ. Greg is working closely with the Board as we search for a new Executive Director and Macomb Ministry Director. Greg can be contacted at yfcmonaco@yahoo.com.

Mar 08-Upcoming Events-Golf Outing

Glimpses of 2007's outing









6th Annual YFC Golf Outing
Sat., May 17th, 2008

Location: WIU’s Harry Mussatto Golf Course
Time: Shotgun start 8:00 am

It may be March, but we’ve got GOLF on our minds!
It’s only 7 weeks away!!

We are planning a great day of glorious golf, fantastic fun, great prizes and even more players.

Mark your calendars and join us! Brochures will be available by April 1st.

Mar 08-Bushnell Beat

Since writing to you last month a flurry of spiritual activity has taken place. Two more students have come to know Jesus as their Savior, a high school female led 2 of her extended family members to Christ, and a young man told his whole family about Jesus, for which he was ridiculed. In addition to this, teens are serious about holding onto God and being His missionaries. Numerous teens held to a challenge to share the Gospel with a friend within 48 hours of the Dare2Share Conference. Praise the Lord!

I have seen an increased depth at our Wednesday night meetings the last couple of months. That is due in part to the happenings at Dare2Share and through some Sr. High student leadership. I am very grateful to God for letting me experience such awesome wonders.

We had one of our best-attended Souper Duper Soup Supper’s ever on March 7 in Bushnell. Close to 200 people were served by 25+ teenagers that worked alongside more than a dozen adult volunteers. Two senior’s and an 8th grader talked about how God has made a difference in their lives over the last year. One of them is applying to Moody Bible Institute and the other is planning on attending Blackburn College this fall. I am very proud of these young men and how they have taken their relationship with Jesus to the next level, choosing to let Him direct their lives.

Please pray for wisdom in deflecting and defeating the coming attacks by the enemy. I know they will come and have already seen evidence. I just pray for steadfastness and discernment in dealing with them.

Last, but not least, Michelle and I had a wonderful time in San Diego for the National YFC Staff Conference. The weather was rainy and around 60, but we were still very thankful for the chance to get away together. We would like to thank all of you that gave so we could attend and the few people that watched our children while we were away. It is always good to get refreshed and bring back a clear sense of direction. I felt like this conference got us back to the basics of our mission.

Thank you for all of your financial support over the years. If you do not currently give to Youth for Christ, please consider partnering with us in the next year. Thank you also for your lavish prayers and spiritual battles you have fought for the Kingdom of God in Bushnell, IL.

May God Bless you richly for your perseverance,

Todd Rodeffer

Mar 08-YFC Newsletter Online

The YFC newsletter is now online!!
www.yfcwi.blogspot.com
You can now find all the same photos and articles

from the YFC newsletter online.

Our newsletter mailing is closing in on 1000 recipients,

which is awesome!!!

Of those, only about 100 receive their newsletter by email.

To be better stewards of our finances and our environment,

we’d like to ask you to consider switching from paper to email.

With the newsletter online, you will receive an email letting

you know the YFC blog has been updated

and just a link to the above website.

That’s right, no more bulky attachments!!!
If your interested in switching to email, just

drop us an email at yfc@macomb.com.

Mar 08-Prayer Requests & Needs

• Pray for continued guidance as the Board continues to search for more Board members, a new Executive Director and Macomb Ministry Director.

• Pray for the students of Macomb Campus Life during this time without a Ministry Director.

• Needed: A few more people willing to help with our annual golf outing. We’ve got a few people on board, but a few more helping hands would be appreciated.

• Needed: Bushnell and Macomb people willing to help assemble newsletters once a month. Give Deanna a call at 309-333-0111 if you can help occasionally.

Feb08-Message from Greg Monaco

A group of baboons is a troop, ants are a colony and otters are a romp. Each name reflects on the character of the animal a little, doesn’t it? I wonder what a group of Christians might be called. Look at this excerpt from a book called The Barbarian Way by Erwin McManus:

But my favorite of all the group designations is the rhinos. Rhinos can run at 30 mph, which is pretty fast when you consider how much weight they are pulling. Running at 30 mph is faster than a squirrel or a used Pinto would go. Just one problem with this phenomenon. Rhinos can only see 30 feet in front of them. Can you imagine something that large moving in concert as a group, plowing ahead at 30 mph with no idea what is at 31 feet? You would think that they would be far too timid to pick up full steam, that their inability to see far enough ahead would paralyze them to immobility. But with that horn pointing the way, rhinos run forward full steam ahead without apprehension—which leads us to their name.

Rhinos moving together at full speed are known as a crash. Even when they're just hanging around enjoying the watershed, they're called a crash because of their potential. You've got to love that. I think that is what we are supposed to be. We become an unstoppable force. We don't have to pretend we know the future. Who cares that we can see only 30 feet ahead? Whatever is at 31 feet needs to care that we're coming and better get out of the way.

We need to move together as God's people, and become the human version of the rhino crash. The future is uncertain, but we need to move toward it with confidence. There's a future to be created, a humanity to be liberated. We need to stop wasting our time and stop being afraid of what we cannot see and do not know. We need to move forward full force because of what we do know. We may not be able to see what's at 31 feet, but we don't have to be blind to what is right in front of us. There's a world that desperately needs God, a world filled with loneliness, hopelessness, and fear.

Pray for us here at YFC, that we become a Crash here in Macomb and Bushnell.