It's that time of the year!

The time has come...

We've talked about it for weeks...

This day will guarantee to give you that warm fuzzy feeling...

The 2ND ANNUAL

UGLY CHRISTMAS SWEATER CONTEST!!!

December 15th - 6:50 pm-8:10pm (aka The Point)

There will be a grand prize for the best Christmas Sweater. This prize is the best prize we have ever given. It's better than the Walmart Truck Tie and the Pirate ornament given earlier this month.

So go into your closet and find that sweater that your great-aunt gave you. If it lights up, makes noise, or is just painful to look at, the better.

We will also have snacks, drinks, games, songs, and the telling of the Christmas story.

Invite your friends, schoolmates, neighbors, and other people who enjoy a fine sweater.

Tacos, Ties, and Trinkets (Jewelry)

This Wednesday, December 1, will be a day of many firsts and some lasts.

This will be the LAST DAY of the afterschool program. We will begin the afterschool program after the New Year. Our meal will be mexican food. We will be playing games and decorating different parts of the youth room in the Lighthouse.

This is the FIRST DAY of the Christmas activities. After the afterschool program we will be having youth choir at 6:00pm. We will then be having The Point Service at 7:00pm.

Don't forget to bring your canned foods (see post below).

This is ALSO the FIRST DAY of our Christmas outfit contest. Go into your closets and get out your Christmas ties and jewelry. You must wear the ties/jewelry during The Point. We will be judging on craziest, ugliest, and most festive. So if it plays music or lights up make sure you bring it!

If you are going to be a part of the afterschool program, make sure that you bring your tie/jewelry to school. We will NOT be making any trips to any houses to pick items up.

Unlock Your Heart-athon

The votes have been counted (a total of 6 votes), and its official. The teams for the canned food drive will be random. If you would like to know what team you are on, I'll have a team list printed out or if you just can't wait, e-mail me.

The rules are pretty simple.

Each canned food will be one point. If you bring in a higher quality food (something that costs more) more points will be added. If you bring in cans that are expired you will have points taken away.

All of the canned goods will be given to the new ministry "Unlock Your Heart". The actual giving of food to those in need is so much more important than the contest. Take time to pray over the food that it will bless others and that God's name will be glorified.

Oak Ridge Youth Poem

This is a poem written by someone in our church.

Oak Ridge Youth

There's not a better place of youth than the ones that I see here

There's a place deep within my heart, where I will always hold them near

Concerts, dinners, cleanups, to help those who might need,

The will of God they are doing, with kindness, they plant a seed.

With maturity and generosity, they come and then they gave,

The love of Jesus to the people as they glorified His name,

They may think they're not important, they don't play that big of a part,

but the youth are SO important, for the youth are where it starts.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving Week!
We will NOT be having the Afterschool Program or OMEGA Choir this Wednesday.

We will still have The Point Service at its usual time of 7pm. Try to bring one friend to this service.

We will also be starting our bathroom item and canned food drive this Wednesday!

If you are not getting our weekly e-mails, send me an e-mail at oakridge.youth@hotmail.com

It's Thanksgiving Charlie Brown

This Wednesday the youth will be having a special Thanksgiving edition of The Point Service. We are going to have a lot of food. We are preparing food that will be safe for people who have peanut and tree nut allergies. If you have another allergy besides those please let me know ASAP.

We will also be having some games and will be starting our own Thanksgiving traditions. So bring your friends, enemies (remember last week's leson?), and some Pilgrims if you know of any.

The afterschool program and choir practice WILL still be happening at their usual times.

November/December Dates

November 10th -

Afterschool Program 2:30-6:00pm - Meal: Sloppy Joes
OMEGA Choir - 6:00 pm
The Point - 7:00 - 8:10pm

November 17th -
Afterschool Program 2:30-6:00pm
OMEGA Choir - 6:00 pm
Special The Point Service: Youth Thanksgiving Meal 6:45-8:10pm

November 24th -
NO AFTERSCHOOL PROGRAM
OMEGA Choir - 6:00 pm
The Point - 7:00-8:10pm

December 1st -
Last Afterschool Program of Year - Meal - Tacos/Mexican
OMEGA Choir - 6:00 pm
The Point - 7:00-8:10
- Jewelry/Tie Contest -
Prizes for 1. Most Christmas 2. Ugliest 3. Craziest

December 8th -
NO AFTERSCHOOL PROGRAM
OMEGA Choir - 6:00 pm
The Point - 7:00-8:10
- Dress as your favorite Christmas Movie Charcter

(i.e. Buddy the elf, misfit toy, etc.)

December 15th -
NO AFTERSCHOOL PROGRAM
OMEGA Choir - 6:00 pm
The Point - 7:00-8:10
- Ugly Christmas Sweater Contest

December 22nd -
NO AFTERSCHOOL PROGRAM
OMEGA Choir - 6:00 pm
The Point - 7:00-8:10 pm
- Special Youth Christmas Service

December 29th -
NO YOUTH EVENTS

Sticking up for Thanksgiving

If you turn the radio to 93.3 fm, you will find that they are playing Christmas music. Now I know that there are many mixed reactions to hearing Christmas music this soon. Many of you welcome the idea of Christmas while the rest of us (aka the sane people), think that Thanksgiving is not Pre-Christmas. We all love celebrating the birth of Christ, but listening to "Rockin' around the Christmas tree" while we still see Halloween decorations can be a little weird.

So with all of that being said, keep checking back on this website for weekly updates on important things coming up. The holidays are fast approaching and as a youth ministry we have a lot of things planned. The events/dates are finalized. We understand that you may not be able to attend all of the activities but also keep in mind that these will be excellent opportunities for you to invite your friends to church!

Get Ready...

Tomorrow is the big day.

On October 30th at 10am we will be meeting at the Mobile Units to start our meal ministry for Latonia Lakes.

We will be making enough sandwiches, chili, and pies to feed over 200 people in the neighborhood. If you would like to be a part of this ministry we welcome all the help we can get.

If you have chili or pies to donate you have a couple of options. Please pick the one that is easiest for you.
You can:
1. Drop off your container (i.e. crockpot) on Friday night or Saturday morning. Please make sure your container is identified so we can give it back to you ASAP.
2. Pick up our containers on Friday. I will have our 16-32 oz containers at the Lighthouse. If you would rather take these containers, fill them up at your house and bring them in you are welcome to do so. We ask that you leave a little air space in the containers to avoid spilling.
3. Cook your food on Saturday. If you need a stovetop bring your supplies to the church and cook your chili here.

We are asking that all donations be at the Lighthouse by Saturday @ 10am. If you need help transporting please let me know.

If you would like to come a little earlier, I will be getting to the church around 7:30 to prep our food stations.

Thank you again to all of those that have helped with their donations, work, and prayers.

It is very exciting to see the church being the hands and feet of God. Our goal is to serve our neighbors and share Christ's love. Remember to continually pray for this ministry as well as the people involved (workers and recipients).

Modesty Rebelution

Last week during The Point, I made a reference to the "The Modesty Survey".

This was created by two twin brothers that are very well known throughout the Christian community. Alex and Brett Harris first became widely known for writing their book "Do Hard Things" (We have copies of this in our youth resource library).

They began promoting a phrase, The Rebelution (Rebelling and Revolution). Instead of limiting themselves because of their age they have pushed forward to stand up for what they believe in.

The Modesty survey is an excellent tool for parents and students of any age or gender. It interviews hundreds of males on things dealing with modesty. We did our own little survey this past Wednesday but I encourage you to check out this website to find more. Some answers may surprise you. Some points you may agree or disagree with.

Hopefully it reminds you how important it is to honor God in all that we do, including how we dress.

The website is: www.therebelution.com/modestysurvey

Meal Ministry

On Saturday, October 30th we are going to be going out through Latonia Lakes passing out meals to the residents.

The Middle Schoolers will be making sub sandwiches and chili.

The High Schoolers will be making homemade pies.

We will be meeting at the church at 10:00 am. If you can't make it until later, you are still welcome to come, we'll be there all day.

On Monday, October 25th we will be going throughout the Lakes to tell them about the meal. We'll be meeting at the Lighthouse at 5:00pm.

This is a great opportunity to learn how to cook, but more importantly to show God's love to the people of Latonia Lakes.

The Point Prize

This Wednesday we are holding a competition on who can bring the most visitors to "The Point" will win a fabulous prize.

But ultimately we have to understand that there is no prize that is better than our friends hearing the gospel.

If you would like your friends to be a part of the After School Program I need either 1. A permission Slip or 2. A note/phone call from the parents of the visitor.

New E-mail address

We have a new youth e-mail address. If you have any questions or comments about things that are going on, e-mail us at OakRidge.Youth@hotmail.com

If you would like to be on our e-mail list just send us an e-mail and you will receive announcements and information every other day.

Marching Band @ SK

What does funny hats, rifles, sousaphones, and a field that shares it's name with an element from the periodic table have in common?

Simon Kenton Marching Band Competition!!!

If you have never been to a marching band competition before this will be an awesome, amazing, and tubular (yes tubular is coming back) event to go to.

You will see that Marching Band is more than half-time shows.

But most importantly you will get to see our very own Christopher and Sarah and others perform at the end of the competition.

If you would like to go with us (for free), please e-mail or send me a text.

SHARP Group Members Wanted

Good afternoon everyone!

Just wanted to let you guys know that we started our SHARP accountability groups last night. If you were not able to join a group, please e-mail me at OakRidge.Youth@hotmail.com .

Also just another reminder that we are working on Days 1-5 this week (Day 1 today!).

SHARP

This summer, while at camp, we as a youth group experienced something amazing. During that week we saw a lot of spiritual and emotional growth among our students. One of the desires we had was to build upon that growth.
Enter SHARP groups.
Based on Proverbs 27:17, we are beginning our accountability groups this Sunday night at 6:00 pm (after band practice).
We had a similar program before (small groups) and on the surface it may look like the same program but our focus will be on something totally different.
SHARP groups will be specifically about growing as an individual through daily devotions, prayer, and transparent behavior.

If you feel like you have so much to say but nobody will ever listen, this will be a great group for you to join. You will be pushed to do things outside of your comfort zone, and will be expected/encouraged to keep up with your daily devotions given to you each week.
If you have any questions our first meeting will be this Sunday, September 26th at the Lighthouse.

SYATP - Reveal - September 22nd

See You At The Pole (aka SYATP) is coming back fast!!!

For those who have no idea what is going on...

On September 22nd, nationwide, Christian students will meet at the flag pole located on their school grounds before school starts. As a group the students will then pray. They will pray about their school, teachers, lives, and other things that affect them. I cannot tell you how amazing it is to see dozens (sometimes hundreds) of students coming together to pray to God.

This years theme is "Reveal" with Matthew 6:9-13 as the scripture we are focusing on.

At Oak Ridge we will be providing a breakfast to anybody that would like to have some. We will be meeting at the Lighthouse at 6:00 am (yes 6am, that is not a typo) with breakfast. If you attend Simon Kenton we will be providing transportation (via church van) to the school. We wish we could give everybody a ride but we have so many students that go to so many different school. We chose S.K. because more of our students at Oak Ridge attend S.K.

That night we will be meeting up at the Lighthouse at 6pm and travelling to New Banklick Baptist Church for a SYATP Recap/Celebration. Many churches will be coming together to talk about what happened that morning. If you would like to meet us that is fine. The service starts a little bit before 7pm. Steve McDaniels will be leading worship and I (Bro. Thom) will be giving the message. This will be an awesome event to bring your friends!!!

To Recap...

See You at the Pole (SYATP) = Students praying and worshipping around school flagpole.

Date: September 22nd - Wednesday

Breakfast: 6am - Lighthouse

Transportation: For students going to S.K.

Recap Rally - Meet @ Lighthouse at 6pm. We will try to be back at the Lighthouse at 8:45pm.

Recap Location - New Banklick Baptist Church

World's Tallest Flagpole - 525 feet, North Korea

Morning Prayer and Afternoon Fish

Hey Guys,

I just wanted to let you all know about different opportunities you have to fellowhsip with believers at your school.

I will try to put as many schools as I can find or know about. Here a couple I have so far...

Summit View Middle School - has a morning prayer service every TUESDAY before school in the multi-purpose room.

Twenhofel Middle School - has a morning prayer service every WEDNESDAY near the front entrance of the school.

Simon Kenton High School - has a morning prayer service EVERYDAY. Ask Christopher for the location.

S.K. also has an amazing Christian club that meets every FRIDAY afterschool. It meets in the Chorus Room. This club started in 2001. If you have any questions about the club ask Christopher Setters (he's in charge of "I" week) or me, Bro. Thom (I was the first leader of "F" week.). Every week has a different idea or theme represented by the acronym F.I.S.H.

F-Focus - This is a time for members to have Bible studies and to FOCUS on who they are in Christ as well as what their purpose is as a witness for Christ.

I - Inspire - Usually this week has a speaker that comes in to share a message.

S - Share - This week is a time of testimonies, stories, struggles, and/or what God has said to you so far this week.

H - Hook - This week is BIG. We encourage you to invite your friends this week. There is usually pizza and drinks. It is during this week that the gospel presentation is presented.

The main purpose of FISH is to reach others for Christ. If you ever need a ride after FISH let me know. Don't let that stop you from coming!!!

Are you ready for some football?!?!

This Saturday (September 4th) we will be attending two football games to watch some of our youth in action.

The Simon Kenton Junior Varsity will be playing (aka dominating) at S.K. around 10am. If you are interested in attending this game, just meet us at the Frisch's in Independence, (by Kroger), at 9am. We will be eating breakfast and then attending the game to cheer on our guys, Luke Stone and Hunter Gregory.

Later that day, Twenhofel and Summit View will be in an epic battle. The game starts at 2:30pm at Dixie Heights High School. If you would like to attend THAT game we will be meeting up at the Lighthouse around 1:30pm. This game will be unique in that we will have students represented by both schools. Josh Ball will be playing for Twenhofel, and Zach Stone will be playing for Summit View.

Some of you may be asking...

1. Can I go to both games?

2. What about lunch?

3. Will going to this make me cooler?

4. How much will this cost?

5. Should Bro. Thom shave his beard?

The answers to those questions are as follows:

1. Yes

2. If you go to both games, lunch will be provided.

3. This will make you 73% cooler.

4. Breakfast is free. The game is free. Lunch will be free (to those going to both games).

5. Why mess with perfection?

So to sum up this obnoxiously long post...

2 Football games - 10 am, 2:30 pm

3 Teams - Simon Kenton, Twenhofel, Summit View

4 Students represented - Luke Stone, Hunter Gregory, Josh Ball, Zach Stone

Absolutely free.

Breakfast @ Frisch's.

Lunch @ Lighthouse.

If you need a ride to Frisch's let Bro. Thom know ASAP.

A Relevant Update: A lot of beginnings

Hey Guys,

Well it's that time of the year again. All of our students are now in school. Last week Walton started and today, Kenton County Schools started.

We know that there is a lot on your mind right now. Between your schedules, lockers, syllabi, first day outfits (unless you were like me and had your mom pick them out for you), and seeing all of your friends it can be a little overwhelming.

Be assured that you have many people praying for you individually. School can be a lot of fun, but it can easily be very stressful. That's one of the purposes of our service "The Point". It will be a great place for you to just hang out with your friends with no responsibility. We meet on Wednesdays at 7:00 pm in the mobile unit.

We have also started a praise band practice. We are meeting at the Lighthouse at 5pm on Sundays. If you play an instrument or would love to learn come check us out.

Finally we are also re-starting our Afterschool program. This will meet on Wednesdays starting on September 8th. This program is completely free. The only requirement is a signed permission slip signed by you and your parents. We will pick you up from your school and take you to the Lighthouse. You will be given dinner and free time to work on homework or just hang out with your friends before "The Point" starts @ 7:00pm.

I know this is a lot of information all in one post, (and there is more to come) so we have created an informational flyer for you and your parents that describe all of our programs and ministries that we will be going this year. To get one, ask Bro. Thom.

I hope you all are having a great day so far. I can't wait to hear the stories!

Back to School Party!

Hey Guys!

This Wednesday, August, 11th, we will be having our Back to school party. We will be having free food and games. We will also be showing the movie "To Save A Life".

If you need a ride, please let Bro. Thom know before noon on Wednesday.

The party starts at 6:00pm and will be over at 8:45-9:00pm.

"To Save A Life" is rated PG-13 due to references to drinking, suicide, sex, and other teen issues. This is an excellent movie that will leave you with a lot of questions on whether or not there is more to life than what we see.

Parents: We will be having a screening of the movie just for you on Monday, August 9th at 6:30pm in the mobile unit, next to the church. This will give you an opportunity to watch the movie and discuss issues raised by the movie.

So to sum up...

Event: Back to school party, free food, games, awesome movie

When: Wednesday, August 11th - 6-9pm

Where: Mobile Unit next to church, 6056 Taylor Mill Road

What to bring: Friends!

Parent info: Pre-screening on Monday, August 9th. 6:30pm

Spare us from the bowling puns...

Hey Youth and Parents,

We are having our last summer field trip this Wednesday, August 4th at the Superbowl, located in Erlanger. We will be leaving the Lighthouse at 3:00 pm. We will be returning to church at around 6:00 pm in time for our worship service, The Point.

If you need a ride to the Lighthouse please let Thom know ASAP. Once again, this activity is free and dinner will be provided before we get back to church. Please spread the word.

The following week we will be having our back to school party on August 11th. We will be showing the movie, To Save A Life. Please invite your friends for this special time. This is an awesome movie that will provide a great opportunity for good discussions.

More details coming soon!

A little rain never hurt anybody...

Good morning everyone!

Yesterday was pretty rainy but as you can tell from the photos it didn't stop our campers from having an awesome time. We had kids catching fish, playing soccer, and shooting hoops in spite of the rain.

Afterward, they took a lot of our kids inside and had a time of games and dancing (and yes that is a man dressed in a chicken costume.) Then we finished the day with slurgefest.

We are coming home today, we should be back around 2 at the latest.

We will also be posting some AMAZING photos from slurgesfest.

Good morning (rainy) campers!

Good morning everyone!

Our students are ready to go this morning. They slept really well last night. It looks like its going to rain off and on today but the staff hear is doing an excellent job at preparing.

The kids Bible study leader, Spencer, has turned into a hero for some of them. They have enjoyed shooting poisonous darts at one another, as well as turning each other into moose.

Keep them in your prayers that the kids are safe and refrain from injuries.

More photos and stories to come soon!

Bazookas and blobs...

So its late afternoon and we about to head to worship. The kids are full of energy (they decided that since this camp is shorter they would squeeze as much fun out of it as possible).
We blobbed and swam in the lake. The students then went back to do their TAWG's (Time Alone With God).

Some of the guys had an amazing time in their POI - bazooka ball. It's like Paint Ball minus the paint and with larger balls. I will have to brag that our kids dominated the game, winning 4 out of the 5 games.

We are focusing tonight on how God is Father of our lives (sound familiar youth?).
Keep our kids in your prayers. Tonight the Gospel will be presented. Pray for the speaker to be clear and the students to be receptive.

More pics coming soon!

Crossings Camp Jr.

Hey everyone,
The kids and I made it safely to Cedarmore yesterday afternoon. Once again I am amazed on how early everyone woke up this morning, (the guys were up at 6am!).
Unfortunately we are not getting good cell phone service but I will try and do multiple updates this week.
The kids are very excited and ready for an awesome day of camp!

PPPPPPPPPPutt Putt!!!

This Wednesday we will be having another WAC (or WBC, or summer days, or whatever!). We will trekking across Kenton County (taking the van) to play the fabulous of game of minature golf.

We will be leaving the Lighthouse at 3pm and will be returning at 6pm for dinner. The cost for Putt Putt and dinner is $0 (free). If you want to buy a drink at the Putt Putt place you can bring money for that.


We will have prizes for the best and worst score.

If you need a ride to the Lighthouse call me, text me, or e-mail me at thomasamuelbrown@hotmail.com Try to contact me BEFORE noon on Wednesday.

Post Camp/VBS Blues

Now that our lives are getting back to normal after having 2 wonderful weeks with Camp and VBS, we need to remind ourselves that how important it is to keep going.
We've seen God do a lot of amazing things but we need to keep pushing ourselves to see more. God is far bigger than 2 weeks out of the year. It's impossible to shrink Him down and say that He is only capable of working 14 days out of the year.
Here are some tips to get you past the Post-Camp/VBS-Blues...
1. Continue reading! Read your Bible (duh!). The youth also have a growing library in the Lighthouse that has many devotions, Bible studies, and Christian literature that can help you grow... but most importantly... READ YOUR BIBLE!!! If you are having trouble start in the Book of John.
2. Pray Pray Pray! Continue to pray. "Pray without ceasing" (see number 1). Use a journal, pray outloud, do whatever it takes for you to have a dialouge with God, but most importantly LISTEN. It's a conversation not a wish list! To see some pretty amazing prayers, read a chapter of Psalms.
3. Grow with others! Come to "The Point" on Wednesdays (6pm), or Sunday School on Sunday morning (9:45 am). Those are great times to grow with others. We have a growing community within the youth group and it is a perfect place to be accepted as well as lifted up. By going you will hear the word of God as well as have discussions on how to apply it to your everyday life.

There are obviously more things that you can to get over the post-camp/vbs-slump. You may get frustrated and at times feel burned out, but I want to encourage you to keep going.
Nobody ever climbed a mountain by standing still.

Day 3 - Tubular

Once again, before I start with some of the fun stories I have ANOTHER announcement!

We have a new brother in Christ!!!

This week we have had 5 students come forward professing their faith in Jesus Christ for the first time in their lives. Praise God again and again and again!

Last night a large group of our students had the courage to confess hard sins to one another. We as a youth group have decided to create and accountability network for encouragement and strength.

It's amazing to see the depth and maturity of their decisions. Their goal is to make this a one week thing that dies when they go back to the "real world".

As you can see from the photos our students have no problem finding sometihng fun to do.

Zippity Doo Dah

Here is a video of our girls going down the zip line. Check it out!

Day 2 - haircuts and even more awesome-ness

Good morning everyone,

Once again we have some awesome news. After an amazing worship service, Pastor Jay spoke about being a part of God's family. We had another young lady really respond to this message and accepted Christ as her personal Lord and Savior. So with this camp experience we have had 5 students added to our brothers and sisters in Christ.

We also had a little fun with hair today...

Our mission offering is going toward India. Last night we were able to Skype with an orphanage in India that was created to help stop the murder of female babies. We learned that when the people of India have a girl, many of them are not able to pay the dowry for them to be married. They avoid this shame by boiling or poisoning their child. Our offering goes to help provide food, education, medicine, and most importantly the Gospel.

Some of our guys were given a challenge for India. If they were to get a mohawk haircut (with parent permission), there would be a donation of $20 given to India. The pictures pretty much speak for themselves.

We have more photos to check out. Just click on the slideshow in the top right corner.

I hope you all are having a wonderful day.

Day 1 - Our even more awesome afternoon/evening

Good morning!

I have to start with saying this...

Last night we had 4 of our students make decisions to accept Christ as their personal Lord and Savior!!! Praise God!

Our camp pastor Jay spoke a very powerful message on how God is our ultimate Father. He focused on how He is both a good and a great God who loves, provides, and saves.

Our students are very excited to see how God is moving in their lives. Continue praying that they continue to seek God.

In other news, our students had a blast doing their POI's/activities. You can see pictures of them on zip lines, climbing towers, tubing, playing basketball, and more.

We have multiple people taking pictures so you may need to re-check some of the photos because we have photos from the first day that we just got loaded today.

I'll keep you guys posted with pics and stories.

Day 1 - Our Awesome Morning

Good morning everyone,

Last night we had an amazing night of worship. It's an awesome sight to see 500+ students singing praises to our Lord. We met the Camp Pastor Jay Ridenour. He's from Boston and its very easy to see how well the students are already connecting with him.

I've loaded a few photos we have taken so far. At the end of the week we are going to load all of the camp photos to web album for you to download.

Okay, now to the good stuff...

We eat breakfast at 8 am. Any parent knows that 8 am during summer break is hard if not impossible to have your child up and eating breakfast. However, this morning the males were awake,showered, and ready to go by 7 am. (A couple went running at 5:30!). The girls were up and about at 7:15.

The students have enjoyed camp so much already that they were outside early in the morning before everyone else was awake or ready playing cornhole and tossing a frisbee. THIS HAS NEVER HAPPENED BEFORE!

It just reminded me how amazing and surprising our students can be. They are getting plenty of rest (they went to bed at 11:15!) and are still able to enjoy the wonderful activities at camp.

This morning I was given the "blessing" (if you want to call it that) of being the YMOD (Youth Minister of the Day). Our kids were so excited to see me get attacked by some of the staff. They also are enjoying this bright orange vest I have to wear everywhere I go.

Well, I hope you are enjoying your week like we are because it has only been a couple of hours and our students are having a blast!

I'll continue to keep you all posted!

Camp Day 1 - We're Here!!!!!!!

Hey Everyone,

After 5 hours in church vans and a couple of potty breaks we have finally made it to Jonathan Creek. The kids were super pumped and ready for an awesome week. Continue to pray for us that 1. We stay healthy and safe and 2. Lives will be changed this week.

Today is Miss Leah Painter's birthday and the staff had a wonderful surprise for her. During dinner they got a Mexican hat and poncho and decorated Leah for her birthday song.

Did I mention it was in front of 200 campers? They sang and then made her do a mexican hat dance.

I do have an important point for anybody that needs to get in contact with me. My phone service is not doing so well down here so if you need to get a hold of me call me on my sister Emily's phone (I have it) at 859-750-1700. I am so sorry about the change but I would feel more comfortable having a phone that has a more dependable service to it.

So to sum up... van rides + 5 hours trip + prayer + mexican hat dance + wacky photos = awesome 1st day of camp.

I'll talk to you tomorrow!

For Parents - 3-2-1 Contact

The first day you may be celebrating having an empty nest for the week. By day 2 you see an empty bed and you start to miss your kids. Instead of driving 5 hours to see your child there are a couple of options that may benefit you.

1. Check this website for daily updates. I will be putting pictures, stories, and other daily information.

2. Send your child some mail or packages. Here is the address:
Jonathan Creek Camp
ATTN: Your child's name, Oak Ridge Baptist
3043 Beal Road
Hardin, Ky 42048

3. View the camps blog. On here you can see photos, read about daily events, and even e-mail your child. Just visit here http://http://www.crossingscamps.org/atcamp/jonathan-creek/index.php

Despite what they may say, your kids do enjoy hearing from you.

Only 2 more days....

More Camp Info - Only 10 days away!!!

Just a reminder that students need to go online to www.crossingscamps.org and fill out their medical release forms and POI's.
Also if you still need to pay the remaining balance try to turn it in by this Sunday.
If you have all of that just make sure you look over the camp packet on what to bring and get ready for a week of awesome fun!

Just keep swimming...

Last week we were planning on swimming at the Setters' pool. Unfortunately
1. There was issues with the weather and
2. Bro. Thom just got out of the hospital the day before and was unable to be there.

We have decided to reschedule the swimming adventures to this Wednesday.
If you need a ride please contact Bro. Thom at his cell, (859) 866-8812 (please make arrangements before 1pm that Wednesday.
We will be meeting at the Setters' house around 3pm. We will be returning back to the church for the meal meeting at 6pm, and The Point service at 7:00pm.
If you have any questions feel free to call or e-mail me.

WAC ATTACK IS BACK JACK!!!

Summer brings lots of new things... fresh cut grass, no school, sunburn (spf 100 is what I have to use, seriously), and WAC. Although technically we changed the time to before church services we are still going to call it WAC (until we think of a better name).

WAC is a time where we as a youth group go out and do something fun together.

Our first WAC will be this Wednesday, June 16th. We will be swimming at the Setters' house. If you need a ride, or directions just call or text me at 859-866-8812.

We ask that girls wear appropriate bathing suits. We will be meeting at the Setters' house from 3-6pm. We will be providing dinner. This is completely free so we invite you all to come on out!

Fundraiser Episode II: Attack of the Clothes

This Saturday, May 29th. Will be our 2nd and final installment of the the fundraising.
The last fundraising event was incredibly successful. It was a little chilly, but that didn't stop us from raising over $1400.
Our goal this week is to top that!
For anyone who wishes to work we will be meeting at the church at 9am. Please try to be on time. We will be ending whenever we get everything packed up (after 5).

We will be changing what we are going this week. There will be NO babysitting. We will focus mostly on the car wash and the yard sale. The biggest change will be the bake/food sale. It was so successful that we are going to try and do more with it.

So to recap,
Fundraiser episode II
Time : 10am - 5pm (9am-6pm for workers)
Goal : Over $1400
Where: Church parking lot
Who: Anybody and everybody going to camp. The people who work will get fundraising money and then everybody else will get the leftovers (if there are any).

We ask that EVERYONE where colored shirts with sleeves. (You can roll the sleeves if you want.)
We also ask that girls (and definitely guys) not wear shorts that are shorter than fingertip length.

They may take our lives... but they will never take OUR (florence) FREEDOM!!!

May 28th.

Florence Freedom game.

The youth are attending a fun and very entertaining game of baseball. This will be a great night for people who:

Love baseball
Hate baseball
Have never been to a baseball/sports game
Enjoy having fun with friends
Can't spell basseball.

If you are listed above we would love to have you come out this Friday, May 28th.

The cost is $9.00 Bring money for food/drinks.

The game starts at 7:00. We will be leaving the Lighthouse at 6:15pm.

See you all there!!!

Rain rain, go away...

Due to the weathermen all agreeing that we will be having rain storms this Saturday we are CANCELING the Mega Fundraiser.
We are rescheduling it for May 8th.
This Friday April 23rd, we STILL will be meeting at the Lighthouse to organize and price the donations we have so far.

Fundraising...THIS FRIDAY!!!

Well it's almost here. I checked the weather and all of the stations are calling for showers on Saturday. If it's raining we OBVIOUSLY wouldn't be able to do it (the car wash would be too easy). I'll let you guys know if we need to cancel or postpone the event. It's still a little early and the weather may change, so check back here to find out what's going on.

Guys/Girls Night Out

We are having another Guys/Girls Night out on April 16-17th.

We are meeting at 8pm at the Lighthouse. The girls and guys will then go out and do whatever they want to do. The guys are showing interest in lasertag. The girls are still undecided.

The girls will be staying at Linda Setters (Bro. Chris's mom, Sarah and Chris's Grandmother). The guys will be staying at the Lighthouse for the night (constructing Fort Awesome : The Sequel).

After a night of hanging out and fun, we are going to wake up, go out around 10 am, and pass out flyers about our upcoming fundraiser. We will eat lunch and then dismiss. So a basic schedule breakdown will look like this...

8pm - Arrive at Lighthouse

8:30 pm - Leave for fun activities

11:00 pm - Come back to Lighthouse/Home

12:00 am - Go to sleep.

12:30 am - Really... go to sleep.

1:00 am - Okay... for real... we are going to sleep.

8:00 am - breakfast

10:00 am -meet up at Lighthouse

12:15 pm - eat lunch

1:00 pm - Go home

If you cannot make it the whole night you can still help us out the next morning. If you have to leave early, that is fine as well. Any questions, ask Bro. Thom.

The Point

We have totally reconstructed what we do on Wednesday Nights. We would normally have small groups on that night but that has been moved to Sunday so that we can launch our new program "The Point".
The Point begins at 7:00pm at the mobile units (next to the main church building). We have a wonderful time with hanging out, music, skits, games, and messages. It is EXTREMELY laid back so don't feel like you have to change who you are to attend. We encourage everyone to invite their friends for these awesome nights of fun and faith.

Fundraiser Episode 1

On April 24th we will be having our FUNDRAISING EXTRAVAGANZA!

To help lower the cost of camp we will be doing MULTIPLE fundraisers at the same time. For anybody that is going to camp we have a job for you!

There will be...

Babysitting

Car washing

Rent-a-youth(ing)

Food selling

and more!

We will be meeting up that Saturday around 9am.

Help us get the word out!

OneNight

We had our 4th One night service this past Wednesday at Hickory Grove Baptist church. It was an excellent service with a lot of singing, "fellowship", and balloons.

This week we talked about what it means to be in "fellowship". Many times when that word comes up we automatically think of calling Snappy or getting some potato salad. We looked at the first chapter of 1 John and talked about having true, genuine fellowship with God and other Christians.

The final One Night service for the year is going to be May 5th. If you haven't been able to make it to one, come check us out. It's a great way for you to meet with other Christians from your school.

Youth Choir

We are starting a new youth choir. If interested please come to Lighthouse at 6:00. No experience necessary! Small groups will happen afterwards at 7:00.