UTurn

VBS - Camp EDGE!!

"Camp Edge" was a blast. We had tons of youth helping this year!! Check out the rest of the pics:
VBS Helper Photos
 

Mission Monday Pics

Thanks to Kelly Colosimo for taking pics this week - the youth camera is acting up right now.

Anyway, you can check 'em out here:  Mission Monday Gallery

We had groups @ the Pregnancy Help Center, Boys and Girls Club, and the Port Ministry in Freeport. Join us next week for work @ Safe Haven, Port Ministry, and the Boys and GIrls Club again!!

U-TURN Preview

We had a great time last night for our first U-TURN preview!
Here's a pic of Emily (Our surprise ministry team leader) surprising Collin with a FREE pizza!

   Lots of friends
+ lots of coffee and snacks
+ a surprise
+ great music
+ a great set of videos
+ a great drama
+ the Bible
_____________________

= tons of fun!!!!

In addition to the surprise that Emily gave Collin, our own 'Aint Nancy' and Patti served up some great coffee drinks and snacks. Our band played a few songs and rocked out a bit. Our new drama team performed a great little drama about second chances (sort of like the movie "Click") and our new video crew (MmmHmm Productions) rolled out a few videos of their own. They also ran all the sound/video for the evening. The theme of the night was based on U-TURN and Repentance. There was a video clip from the pilot episode of an old MTV show called "My So Called Life" and we also covered the Prodigal Son story. It was a great start to a ministry with incredible potential!

You should check out the pics here: U-TURN Preview

Here are the videos too:

Superbowl Party

On and Off and On again, our Superbowl Party ended up being a lot of fun! The Pierson's (Mikulencak's aunt/uncle) hosted us and they had a huge TV. It was a great way to watch the game. (See how the TV dwarfs Madison?) We had plenty of food too. Check out more Pictures here.

New Coffeehouse and T-Shirts

This Sunday, we'll be opening up our new coffeehouse. Nancy Mikulencak will be with us every Sunday Night to serve in the snack bar/coffeehouse. In addition to the coffee and special drinks, she'll also have baked goodies, candy, popcorn, chips, etc. You guys should bring a little extra $$. We are not trying to make money so prices will be very reasonable, but the first $$ we make will go to pay for Derbie (Our Compassion International Child) after that, it'll go into the regular youth budget.

Also, next Sunday, February 1st, we'll begin taking orders for our new U-TURN T-shirt designs. There are more to come, but here's the first design. It will be available in a few different colors too.

Gatlin Elms Coffeehouse Concert

We'll have an amazing night of music with the Gatlin Elms Band on Feb 15! Join us in the youth center from 5-7pm and bring some friends! We'll have all your favorite coffees/snacks, some great music, and a perfect atmosphere for just chillaxing with friends.

After winning a local contest, the Gatlin Elms Band opened up for the legendary band Foreigner this past year. They also fill in for the Robbie Seay Band at his church here in Houston. You can check out their music on their myspace page.

New Small Group Ministry

We kicked off our new small group ministry with a big breakfast  in our newly rearranged youth center yesterday! Breakfast tacos, pancakes, cinnamon rolls, fruit, juice, and milk all accompanied a time for us to meet with our groups and new teachers. It was a great day!

Here's the breakdown:

7-8th grade girls - Serena Andrews & Liz Walzel

7-8th grade guys - Mike Pelton

9-10th grade girls - Linda Neumann

9-10th grade guys - Josh Johnson

11-12th grade girls - Robin Pelton

11-12th grade guys - Bruce Neumann

Alternates/Substitutes - Mr. Kim Bowers, Steve Leshikar, Tonya Ilseng, Kelly Colosimo

Next Sunday we'll launch into the new (Christ) curriculum written by the guys over at Student Life Bible Study. We'll be focusing our attention on the works of Christ during this year and then in the next two years we'll cover the Old Testament and the letters of Paul. During the 6 years our students attend youth Sunday School, they'll go through the entire Bible twice!!

Check out this video about the Bible!

Click on the picture to play or right click and select "Save as" to download. It's a pretty big file so it may take a few minutes.

Big Event

We had a great time with all the other churches in Lake Jackson this past Sunday Night. It was cool to see everyone together - we weren't Methodists and Baptists and Prebyterians and . . ., but we were Christians all together under the one name of Jesus that night. We played together, ate together, and worshipped together. Good stuff. The churches that participated are: First Methodist, Chapelwood, Brazospointe, Willow Drive Baptist, First Baptist, Hope Fellowship, First Presbyterian, and probably a few others (my mind is going) Anyway, check out some of the pics here: Big Event

Coming Events

If you need more info or have questions about any of these events, call Steve - 979-415-4522.

Oct 31 - Halloween Costume Party - (after the football game) 10:30pm - midnight @ Nancy Mikulencak's house. 539 Sycamore. LJ

Nov 9 - The Mess - Messy fun event @ U-TURN. 5-7pm. Wear clothes that can get dirty.

Nov 15 - Thanks in Action

Nov 16 - The Big Event - 1:30-8:30pm. We'll join youth groups from area churches (1st Baptist, 1st Presbyterian, Willow Drive, Chapelwood, Hope Fellowship, Brazospointe) and go to "The Grand Event" in  Houston. It will cost $25/person plus money for snacks once you're there, but we'll spend lots of time there and the whole place is ours.

Dec 13 - Annual Christmas Progressive Dinner - We'll travel from house to house celebrating the season with more food than you'll ever be able to eat and a fun gift exchange.

Dec 5-7 - Forest Glen "Fixed" Retreat - This will be a great weekend to get away and "fix your eyes on Jesus." Retreats are also good places to get to know everyone else in the group. You won’t want to miss this one. Forest Glen has lots of great activities including: the Blob, canoeing (Not sure if we can do those in Dec), basketball, archery, etc. They also have an island for campfires. Sign up by Nov. 23rd. Download the registration form here: 2008 Fixed Retreat Brochure.pdf here or pick one up from the youth center door.

Band:

We will have the band (Greenhouse Effect) join us to lead us into worship. Check 'em out on youtube playing around at a fall festival a few years ago.

 

Speaker:

Hans Googer will be the speaker for the weekend. He’s great! Funny!! He was one of Steve's youth many years ago and has been involved in all kinds of ministries since then. He is about to finish his seminary degree at Dallas Theological Seminary and is also a pretty amazing guitar player. You can check out some of Hans' teachings on the Refuge podcast on itunes. Just look for Hans' name in the description section. He taught June 22, June 29, July 13, & July 27 of this year.

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Retreat Theme: "Fixed"

The teaching times for the weekend will be centered around Hebrews 12:1-2 "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus." Hans will take the "Fixed" theme and teach three topics: No other Name, No other Gods, & No other Commandment

 

 

Fall Retreat Rescheduled

Hey guys - this one is gonna be amazing! We'll be going to Forest Glen camp near Huntsville Dec 5-7th. The band "Greenhouse Effect" will lead our worship times (See them goofing around here.) Hans Googer will be our speaker. You're gonna love him too - he's funny and an incredible guitar player too. Be sure to turn in your registration form no later than November 23rd. To find out more details, you can pick up a registration form on the youth center door or download it right here: 2008 Fall Retreat Brochure.pdf  

Don't let $$ keep you from coming. Let us know and we can get a scholarship for you. We'd love to have as many people as possible join us for this incredible experience.

If you've got any questions, don't hesitate to call Steve @ 979-415-4522.