Jan10-Bushnell Beat

There is not much better news in life, than for a person to tell you. “I have been saved by God, really.”

That is exactly what happened the week before Christmas at Campus Life. I received a text message on Thursday night just before we began our meeting. I believe the young man was prompted by a former student’s testimony the night before at Depth Charge. Thank you, Addie. Pray for this student as he embarks on a journey to know God and follow His direction in life.

A sledding adventure and pizza may not seem like a lot on the surface, but it goes deep in building relationships with teens. Due to these releationships when it comes time to talk about serious things in life, teens listen. Over the Christmas break, Mark Rauschert (one of YFC’s faithful adult leaders) and I took some teens out to his grandmother’s farm north of Avon. Fun was had by all, even the dog.

As far as our house projects go, we are nearing completion. We didn’t quite get done over break, but we are very close to being able to move in. Also, we have a signed offer on our home that we need to sell. However, it is contingent upon the other party selling their home by April 1. Please say a prayer for this to happen. We are hoping to move sometime in the next few weeks. We have only a bit of drywall, wiring and plumbing left. Also, a lot of cleaning. :)

Thank you for supporting Youth for Christ in another great year of ministry. May God give you wisdom and insight to the challenges of life as we serve him in 2010.

Todd Rodeffer and family

Nov09-Bushnell Beat

What a rainy year we have had! Wow. It truly is unbelievable, but since we lived through it, we can now tell our children and grandchildren about the wet year of 2009. Rain is good and we need water to live. Like rain, we need God to live spiritually. If we follow Christ, God promises to provide for our needs, but does not promise a picture perfect life.

We are definitely less than picture perfect when it comes to ministry in Bushnell, but we have had some amazing things happen in the last month. At our Campus Life meeting three weeks ago we presented the gospel, with two teens saying they wanted to make Christ their King! Five others rededicated their lives to Christ, acknowledging their need to walk more closely with Him. Thanks to the time our leaders put in working with the teens and sharing life with them, teens are seeing the light and their need for God in their lives. However, there are still others that need to make that decision to follow Christ in their lives. Continue praying.

A couple of weeks ago, we had a trip to Fort Wayne Indiana called Go M.A.D. (Go Make a Difference). Eight teens, 3 adult leaders and myself drove, built relationships, talked about life, worshipped, dug deep and sought God. Two teens went that do not know Jesus. Please continue to pray for them. Out of the other six (2 new believers this year), two made decisions to begin going to church. Luther Whitfield, our speaker for the weekend, challenged teens to surrender to God’s plan for their lives and begin learning how to live our lives for the glory of God.

Since Michelle and I knew she was pregnant with Andrew, our oldest son, I have been praying for his classmates to be saved. This year Andrew is in 6^th grade. About 10 of his classmates have been coming to CL M (Campus Life Middle school) this year. Pray that God would give them understanding of the gospel and how it relates to living out their lives. They are young and still very impressionable. It is neat to be able to minister with my son and his classmates.

If you can, please consider some kind of financial gift at the end of this year. It would really help us at a needy time. Your prayers are coveted and are what keep us going through hard times and difficult circumstances in life. Many of the teens we work with in the Bushnell area do not have a church family or support team.

May the Lord find favor with you,

Todd Rodeffer

Nov09-Macomb News

We at YFC would like to start off by thanking all of you very much for this past year of support, whether through prayer, time, or monetary support, without which we would not have been able to complete the task that we have accomplished. Here at YFC our mission statement is: “To participate in the Body of Christ in the responsible evangelism of youth. Presenting them with the personal work and teachings of Christ and discipling them into the Church.” This is a great opportunity to make the Kingdom of God grow and to bring some of the most vital people in God’s Kingdom to know who Jesus Christ is and what he has done for them. Our goals as a national organization are quite large this year and we need your support now more than ever. YFC looks to reach up to 5,000,000 young people in 2010 and engage them in a productive relationship with Christ. We do this by reaching out to the young people in our schools, and our community, that may not already know who Christ is. To do this, the staff at YFC find it very important to go out among them in their environment, and step out of our own comfort zones to reach students in theirs. We get this idea from Jesus Christ himself, in multiple examples of selfless acts, where He steps out and touches peoples’ lives.

I would like to inform you of just a few ways in which we go out among the students to minister to them. One of the first steps we take is to meet the students where they are. This is where we believe going into their world is the most important. To be a part of their lives, we join the students at sporting events, musicals, school concerts and other school affiliated activities. After making initial contact with the students, we must find a non-threatening way in which to break down the negative stereotypes that these students may have built up against the Christian community. We do this through group activities that they might enjoy. As the stereotypes and initial walls they have built up are broken down, we open ourselves to answer questions that they may have and continue to show them the love of Christ. As we build our relationships with the students, we will begin to disciple them into a life with Jesus Christ, and they will begin to show Christ to other students on their campus, and in their world.

We would like to once again thank you for your time and previous offerings, and would like to ask you for continued support and prayer. As I am sure you all know, we are very appreciative of any and all help that you are willing to give. We just ask that as you consider supporting us for this upcoming year that you pray and let God lead you in your offering.

Thank you and God Bless, Ken Krueger

Current Macomb Schedule:

Fri. Dec. 4th - Pizza Lunch - University Baptist

Fri. Dec. 11th - Pizza Lunch - Maple Avenue Christian Church

Fri. Dec. 18th - Pizza Lunch - Macomb Assembly of God

We are also planning to get Campus Life-High School meetings up in running in January. If you have (or are) a HS student that

is interested in Campus Life, give us a call at the office. Ken would love the chance to get to know the students of Macomb High.

Save the Date - Annual Banquet 11/20/09

Believe it or not, our 18th Annual Banquet on November 20th, 2009 is only 3 weeks away. As in the past, it is being held at WIU’s Grand Ballroom. Doors open and silent auction begins at 6:00 p.m. Dinner is served at 6:30 p.m.

If you are interested in hosting or organizing a table, be sure to send us an email or call the office

at (309) 833-3026.

Be sure to come early and check out our Annual Basket Auction. The baskets themes ranged from Chocolate Lovers to Christmas to Movie Night. If your church is interested in putting a basket together or would like to donate towards a basket, please feel free to contact the YFC office or Kelly Barsi at 255-7010 or Vicki Reimolds at 772-3062. Dropoff locations are Barsi-Depoy Tax/Copy Pack & Post in Macomb or Bushnell First Presbyterian Church.

New in Macomb

In our search for a staff person to work with directly with MHS students God has led us to a young man with maturity and a heart to reach teens for Christ. Ken Krueger is a senior at WIU and lives in the Campus Students for Christ house just west of campus. He is majoring in Biology, has a leadership role in the campus apartments where he lives and has a desire to be a youth pastor someday. We are excited to welcome Ken as a part of Western Illinois Youth for Christ team.

Friday Pizza Lunches in Macomb continue with different churches sponsoring each Friday.

So far Scotland Trinity, 1st Baptist, The Crossing, University Baptist, Macomb Assembly

of God and Maple Avenue Christian Church have sponsored the lunch.

If your church would like to sponsor this lunch please contact us to get a spot in 2010. We will be rotating churches each week throughout the school year. This gives youth leaders and people in the church that feel a calling to reach out to teens another opportunity for contact with teens during the week. All persons are welcome to attend each week.

Current Macomb Schedule:

Fri. Nov. 6th - Pizza Lunch - Scotland Trinity

Fri. Nov. 13th - Pizza Lunch - First Baptist

Fri. Nov. 20th - Pizza Lunch - The Crossing

Fri. Dec. 4th - Pizza Lunch - University Baptist

Fri. Dec. 11th - Pizza Lunch - Maple Avenue Christian Church

Fri. Dec. 18th - Pizza Lunch - Macomb Assembly of God

We are also planning to get Campus Life-High School meetings up in running in a few weeks. If you have (or are) a HS student that is interested in Campus Life, give us a call at the office. Ken would love the chance to get to know the students of Macomb High.

SYATP Macomb

Bushnell Beat

In Bushnell, I had quite a week in ministry a week ago. The week started off strong with a good afternoon contacting teens at the Jr. High after school and a fun-filled and good discussion night at Campus Life M on Monday night. Then we had one of our best BAMA (Bushnell Area Ministerial Association) meetings on Tuesday morning with prayer for the community and forgiveness for the community. Then Wednesday evening at Depth Charge 3 male teen stepped up and let me know of their desire to do a bible study lesson. Also that night a teen told me of his decision to go straight after a long addiction. Thursday at Teen Lunch we had some teens

try some hot peppers from a couple of our local pastors gardens. That was amazingly hot! They each got $5. Thursday night at Sr. High Campus Life we had about 25 teens and very good discussion about out life stories. Is yours staying the same, getting worse, or improving? Then, what happens when God gets involved in your life? Since God never changes, He will always be

there for you no matter what you go through. Then it hit.

Recently we have had teens and adults in the community be drug down by, what I believe is demonic influence in the sexually immoral realm. Through our ministerial association we have learned that Bushnell used to be a red light district a long time ago, and the seeds that were sown then are still being reaped. Several stories have surfaced over the past week or two and it seems like Satan is really gaining ground. I know God is bigger. Please pray with me and the other pastors for wisdom, compassion and strength to be what God wants us to be in our community and in the lives of the people involved. Specifically pray against the spiritual darkness in this area for Bushnell. God can still use what the enemy intends for evil and in the end use

it to gain glory for Himself. The story is not over yet!

We have a weekend trip coming up at the beginning of November, called Go M.A.D. Please pray for this outreach weekend. Pray for the teens that go to be overwhelmed by the spirit of God and turn to Him for answers in life.

You are so great to have as part of a deep roots ministry team, reaching out to teens in the Macomb and Bushnell area. Keep up the prayers. God hears and answers them according to his perfect time.

Reaching teens for Christ,

Todd Rodeffer