Another Teen Night

As auction day nears (12 days!), the camera is taking more photos of inanimate objects than anything else.  Nevertheless, a few photos of Teen Night on Friday also made it onto the camera. 

 

Caleb and growing-like-a-weed Carter Reed welcomed youth and introduced the guest speaker, Jeff Skeens.  Jeff is a graduate of Phoenix Seminary and works with CityServeAZ.  He and his family are also renting the house (known as the "guys house" for many years) on the Aim Right property.

 

Jeff shared about the Holy Spirit and God's desire to have a relationship with each person.

 

 

Afterwards, there was food, Rec time, painting projects, and basketball.  One teen painted this on her canvas:

 

"He loves me at my lowest."

 

A good reminder for us all!

 

Teen Night and Pancakes

Teens had the privilege to hear from two guests on Friday evening.  Matt Overholt (below) shared briefly about the work going on at New Horizons Ministries in Colorado, where their primary focus is caring for children of incarcerated mothers.  He challenged teens to believe that God can change their hearts to make a difference right where they are in Phoenix.

 

 

Pastor Jon Shepherd from City of Grace spoke to teens about forgiveness -- what it is, who deserves it, and the consequences of withholding it.  Youth had some great questions and comments; this topic had their wheels turning!

Now on to pancakes...

 

With the New Horizons group in town and wanting to serve in various ways, we planned a free Pancake Breakfast for the community on Saturday, February 14.  Our "advertising" extended to our Kids Club and Teen Night families.  Quite a few children and teens came, along with a few moms.  Probably close to 60 people enjoyed the free pancakes, juice, and coffee.

Thursday, February 12

What is this wretched, wrinkly bulge?

 

 

One of the challenges of having a 1920's building as a ministry center is the maintenance.  We discovered rust-colored water on the Rec bathroom floor on Wednesday afternoon (just after our New Horizons guests had arrived).  All the usual looking down  -- under the sink, by the toilet, etc. -- didn't help too much, but when you looked up:  Oh, my!  It was a strong paint job that was keeping the bulge intact. 



 

The New Horizons group treated kiddos to an afternoon of fun after school.  Between 20-30 children and teens came for games, snacks, crafts, and play time in the brinca brinca.

Welcome, New Horizons!

They left snowy Colorado near midnight and drove straight towards Phoenix sunshine and warmth, arriving yesterday afternoon. 

 

We're so thankful for the New Horizons Ministries Thrift Store workers who have joined us for a few days of service.  First on the agenda:  Kids Club!

 



 

"Sam" and "Amy" helped tell the story of Jesus calming a storm.

Children learned a new song about the fruit of the Spirit.

 



 The evening ended with cupcakes and playing outside.

 

Today, the group had an early start -- 7:30 a.m. Mobile Pantry -- followed by brunch, then miscellaneous work projects at Aim Right North.  They'll finish out the day by opening our Rec Center for activities and crafts after school.

Matthew 1:21

Since Caleb issued the Faith Challenge to teens, I have been trying to encourage various ones in their Bible reading.  If you're going to read over 200 chapters, it's much more doable if you start in February than wait until the last minute in April.  At some point I realized I should take the challenge, too, not just tell others to do it! 

In starting my reading from the Amplified version, this rendering of Matthew 1:21 made me pause and ponder: "She will bear a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus [the Greek form of the Hebrew Joshua, which means Savior], for He will save His people from their sins [that is, prevent them from failing and missing the true end and scope of life, which is God]."

There's no joy in failing at something or missing out or being left out.  But that's what sin offers, as it deceives, chokes, and ultimately brings death.

It's the Savior-Son-Jesus that says, "I want to give you life.  True life.  I don't want you to miss out on really living and experiencing freedom and forgiveness from your sins."

A Spring Ranch Day

Bill Perdue opened the afternoon by praying, "Lord, if there's not a smiley face on someone here, we pray that there will be by the end of the day..."

 

I'd say that God answered that prayer, whether it was through a muddy desert hay ride, some goat petting, horse riding, or a hot dog slathered with Reed's secret chili recipe. 

 

A fun time was had by all!  (More pics of the day are on Facebook)

 

These guys admitted that a dirt court isn't their preference, but in the middle of nowhere in Buckeye, it worked just fine.

 



 

Bill greeting our group, a mixture of Aim Right teens and Aim Right North teens

 

Who knew?  You can rent a trailer from U-Haul and use it for hay rides!  (Bill and Wanda's trailer was being borrowed by someone else, but they were kind enough to rent this one for the day.)

 

Teens requested one last hay ride before heading home.

Growing Faith

Caleb challenged teens on Friday evening to grow their faith through spending time in God's Word.

 

 

Here it is:  Faith Challenge 2015. 

1) Memorize the names of the books of the New Testament. 

2) Read the New Testament. 

3) Complete by April 10 to be eligible for a day trip to the Grand Canyon.

 

When teens met on Monday evening for a Game Night, it was encouraging to hear that at least one teen had already begun the challenge.  She had been reading the book of Matthew and had questions like, "What does it mean to be the salt of the earth?"