We did a Head Start Retreat in Ocean City, NJ when I got back. We took our Action Team students there to do beach and boardwalk evangelism. There were a lot of cool opportunities to talk to people about our faith and to challenge our students and help them grow in their relationships with Christ.
Sadly it no longer looks like this after hurricane Sandy = (
Me, Katie, and Josh (our new staff guy)
There was a drawer with goofy sunglasses in the house we stayed at, so we took a picture with them!
Another thing that we have been doing is a new meeting we creatively named "Cru" (after our name). This is a once a week meeting where we really key in on our Action Team students to lead. Every other week they lead the games, lesson, and everything else. During the weeks in between, some of our staff help prepare the students for the next meeting they lead, while the others do a staff lead Cru meeting. So far it is going really well and it has been a great opportunity to challenge our leadership students to lead Bible discussions, but also to share their faith with the students that come out!
Student lead game: 4 players, two with bread & Fluff (marshmallow cream) on their heads and their partners had to toss gummy worms on top... then they had to eat it... messy messy!
Trash can game... everyone tries to make everyone else touch the trash can without touching it themselves... the 3 football players from Morrisville took everyone else out first.
The Annual Bulldog Dinner is another big event we had. For this we invited students out from the high school sports teams, cheerleaders, and band. We partnered with a local church to feed them a spaghetti dinner, had a local guy share his testimony and I gave the Gospel presentation. Then we let them hang out in the Solid Rock Youth Center afterwards.
Praying before athletes started showing up
Football players starting to arrive
Me giving the Gospel presentation using the diagram we learned in Hungary
Hanging out in the Youth Center afterwards
Other than these types of events, I have been working a lot on networking with people at Harry S Truman High School. A lot of this has been trying to connect with students on campus or in the Bible club there, but also teachers, coaches, administrators, parents, community members, and local churches. At the beginning of the year, I planned out what I wanted to see happen there this fall. One of those things was a soccer team chapel because a student from the Bible club was really interested in reaching his team for Christ. After talking it through with him, we approached his coach about doing it. He seemed very positive about it because Truman sports have a bad reputation of having a bad attitude and he thought this would be a good way for them to grow in those areas. To launch this sort of chapel we will usually come in and give a non-spiritual team motivational talk, and then invite students out to a non-manditory pizza party where we can talk about Christ. I was all set up to give the talk, but then the day before, the coach told me he wanted to ask for permission from the athletic director first. I was a bit bummed out, but still excited about the possible doors that could be opened if I had a positive conversation with the athletic director. I spent several weeks struggling to connect with him, so I finally connected with a guidance councillor at the school who is a Christian. I asked him if he could connect me with the athletic director and he said he would. Finally, after a couple of weeks, we heard back. He told us that we had gotten permission from not only the athletic director, but also the superintendent of the school district! Sadly however, we heard back the week after the soccer season ended... I can see now that though "my" plan had been to do a soccer chapel, God had another plan. In His plan, I was able to connect with the coach and get to know him a lot, but also to meet several soccer players and parents. In addition to that, I made some connections with people high up in the administration. Also, because of the guidance councillor, I was given the opportunity to give a motivational speech to students with behavior issues on "success amongst difficulties" during the school day. Though I cant see the whole picture, it is exciting to see connections being built and I look forward to seeing where they may lead in the upcoming months!
