Rock Solid

Are you rock solid?That was the challenge Caleb offered to the Teen Night crowd on Friday evening.

Being rock solid begins with having a life founded on Christ. Caleb illustrated the parable of the wise and foolish man.
Digging into the Word....

An invitation to come to the cross...
Darrell & Julie closed with a time of prayer for recent high school graduates Dora, Darius, and Edwin.
Steph made the yummy snacks -- rice krispy treats and Jello cake.

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We praise God for a wonderful Spaghetti Dinner on Saturday evening. Generous givers provided much-needed funds for this summer's Teen Camp.

Kids Klub Water Games

After several weeks' lessons of Bible stories that involved Jesus and water (check it out...there are quite a few!), we had an evening of water games for the children.

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Impact Group 5.23.11

On Monday evening, Impact Group met at Jeff & Trisha Chupp's new home for a cookout and swimming.

These photos are misleading, because there were actually LOTS of teens enjoying the pool!

King of the Grill (aka Jeff)

Team FUN 5.20.2011

Team FUN met Friday evening.

Matt taught the lesson.

Who doesn't love an ice cream cone?

Graduation Time

Here are photos of a few of "our" high school graduates this year. Congratulations, Juan & Dora!

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for wholeness and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope." Jeremiah 29:11

Hopefully...more photos to come soon of the rest of "our" graduates. Don't want to leave them out!

Praises!

On Sunday evening, Aim Right staff and volunteers gathered for their monthly potluck and also celebrated the arrival of this intern couple: A.J. & Jewel Miller, from Berlin, Ohio.

While it's always exciting to welcome new faces to Phoenix, with A.J. & Jewel, it was familiar faces we welcomed. A.J. served as an intern from 2004-2006, and Jewel (then a Swantz) served from 2005-2006. It was while serving with Aim Right that A.J. and Jewel discovered they shared more in common than just a heart for inner-city children and youth, and the rest, as they say, is history. A.J. and Jewel were active in kids ministry in Ohio before moving to Phoenix and anticipate facilitating a satellite location of Aim Right to work with kids in the Sunnyslope area.

Just for fun, here are some shots of A.J. and Jewel from around 6 years ago:

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In addition to God calling A.J. and Jewel back to Phoenix to serve, there's another praise to report: First Things First Foundation awarded Berea Mennonite's youth group a $1,000 scholarship to assist with expenses for their upcoming missions trip (next month) to help with Aim Right's VBS. Praise God for His provision -- of personnel needs as well as financial needs!

Kids Klub 5.11.11

Funny face time with Joel!

I was pinch-hitting for Kelsi on Wednesday evening and taught her class of 5-6 year old's. Praise God for His enabling, because I did not feel like a very qualified substitute. A few reasons:

- These kids LOVE Kelsi. Love, love, love her. In fact, as soon as we arrived at the church on Wednesday evening, several of her students exited the van, yelling "Kelsiiii!" as they raced to find her, not yet knowing that she wouldn't be there.

- Often, there are over 20 students in the class. They are 5 and 6 years old. And they are energetic. We've discussed dividing the class into two, but these kids have a special place in Kelsi's heart, and she'd rather just keep teaching all of them.

The Bible story was on Jesus' miracle of turning water into wine at a wedding, so the kids ate layered wedding cake (aka stack of peanut butter crackers), mints (M&M's), and punch (juice) during the lesson.

Then, a little project of coloring and taping on tissue paper for the water and wine. I had a great helper (Dora) who isn't pictured, but she was a wonderfully patient tape dispenser!
We ended with "Water, water, wine" (duck, duck, goose) outside.

Kelsi is back in town now, and I'm sure her students will be excited to see her again. I know that God has used her in special ways to touch many children's lives over the past Kids Klub season, and it's been neat to see how God has grown her passion for working with children not just in Phoenix, but also in Indiana when she returns home. God bless you, Kelsi!