Prayer & Praise (Nov 22-28)

- We are laying plans to take a group of our students to Boston next summer for “Good News Across America,” a two-week mission trip to help jump-start evangelistic and discipleship ministries to children in partnership with the local churches of Boston.

To this end, I recently found out some news: beginning January 10, Southwest Airlines will begin offering non-stop flights from DIA to Boston Logan. No need for layovers in O’Hare or anywhere else! Praise God for this wonderful development!

- On a more sober note, here is an excerpt from an e-mail I recently received from CEF HQ: “[When] we heard the news about the shootings at Ft. Hood, we immediately began praying for our workers on the base and the chaplains as we considered the comfort they would be providing to the base community in the coming days and weeks.

“There are seven elementary schools on the base at Ft. Hood ... Good News Clubs are in four of the schools and Party Clubs are held in every school. The week after the shootings Good News Clubs were underway.

“David Powell ... shares, ‘I want to praise God for allowing us to have ministry established at Fort Hood, Texas. One of our staff, Caron, was on post, meeting with the chaplains, when they received word of a mass casualty incident. The chaplains quickly deployed to the scene and the surrounding hospitals. The next day Caron received e-mails from the schools in which we are doing clubs asking for prayer. They were feeling the pressures of helping the children process the attack. We are working with the chaplains and support groups to pass out CEF’s “Do You Wonder Why?” booklets to the children and families.’”

Please be in prayer. Thank you.

Prayer & Praise (Nov 15-21)

- In October, I wrote here that my long-term project with CEF’s student ministries in Denver is staffing. We are looking to hire a team of five student ministry coordinators to help build the ministry in different regions of the metro area.

I have spent the past few weeks doing research on job design and job satisfaction. Simply put, I want to create great jobs for these student ministry coordinators! Please pray as I begin drafting the actual job descriptions and lay some groundwork for our initial recruiting efforts in the spring.

- Praise God for the children in our Good News Club at Mt. View! Today we are doing the story of Noah with them. Pray that Hannah, Kayla, and I would clearly convey the things that God wants them to hear.

Thanks for praying!

Prayer & Praise (Nov 1-7)

- Praise for a great weekend trip to Kansas City, Oct 23-25! I got to see some dear friends and enjoy a few days away from my work and school responsibilities. It was a great time and I can’t wait to go back next year!

- The first week of Good News Club at Mt. View Child Care (two weeks ago now) was a little hectic. Hannah, Kayla, and I ended up being in a large room where it was hard to get an already rowdy group of kids to focus. Last week we had no club due to the heavy snowfall. I’m happy to report that things this week went much better! We were able to do a better job engaging the kids in both games and the lesson, and keep things more organized, all at the same time.

After the lesson, I got to do some counseling with two of the children. One had questions about how to control his reaction when his brothers made him angry; I was able to pray for him and talk with him about how he could depend on Christ for help. The other child had questions about the origin and nature of the Bible; I was able to offer some preliminary answers and ideas, and directed her to 2 Tim 3:16 and 2 Pet 1:21 for more.

Thanks so much for your prayers!

Prayer & Praise (Oct 18-24)

- Tomorrow (Tuesday, Oct 20) is our CYIA fundraiser night at Chick-fil-A for folks down south: all day at River Point shopping center and 5-8pm at the Southwest Plaza food court. Pray that it would be a great success, and that we can make much progress toward finishing off our budget for the 2009 calendar year.

- This Wednesday, Oct 21, I will start teaching a Good News Club at Mt. View Child Care with Hannah and Kayla, two of our team leaders from the summer. Pray that (1) we will clearly communicate the gospel in our words and deeds, and (2) we will be able to build some great relationships with the kids over the course of this school year.

- This weekend, Oct 23-25, I am traveling to Kansas City to visit friends and attend a conference at my church there. The conference is called “Proclaim!” and is being led by Ravi Zacharias and Wade Bradshaw.

The description on CCEFC’s website says: “Join us as we wrestle with the reality that actions often speak louder than words, but words speak more clearly than actions.” I am really excited about this! Also, praise God for the opportunity to relax and spend time with friends.

Thanks for much for your prayers and support!

Prayer & Praise (Oct 11-17)

- Four of our summer missionaries (pictured above) finished strong in the 30-hour training course, “Teaching Little Kids,” which wrapped up last week. Please pray for them to have many great opportunities to put into practice all that they learned, reaching preschoolers with the good news of Jesus!

- Tonight (Monday, Oct 12) is our CYIA fundraiser night at Chick-fil-A for folks up north. Next week we are doing one down south. Pray that these would be a great success, as we look to finish off our 2009 calendar year budget!

- Last year I helped teach an after-school Good News Club at Centennial K-8 in Denver. However, we were not able to get a room again this year, so I have not yet been involved with teaching children this school year.

Last week, an opportunity opened up for me to help teach a Good News Club at Mt. View Child Care in Denver. I will be teaching with Hannah and Kayla--two of our summer missionaries--and we will be starting next week. Mt. View has 40-45 elementary-age children enrolled, most of whom are unchurched.

Praise God for this opportunity! I am really excited about getting to (1) reach unreached children with the good news of Jesus, and (2) continue working with two of my team leaders from the summer.

Thanks for your prayers!

Prayer & Praise (Oct 4-10)

- Our first of two Christian Youth In Action (CYIA) fundraising nights is coming up on Monday, Oct 12, up in Thornton. The CYIA families up north are busy inviting their friends and family to come eat dinner at Chick-fil-A that night. Please pray for it to be a great success!

- Pray that I would do a good job of balancing our short-term and long-term projects for CYIA. I am finding that it can be easy for me to get focused on one and lose sight of the other.

My main long-term project is staffing. Specifically, we want to hire five CYIA coordinators to build the ministry in different regions of the metro area. This fall I am working on developing the actual positions and job descriptions, brainstorming on recruitment strategies, and coordinating with our headquarters in Missouri on the human resources side of things.

So pray that I will be able to do a good job this fall of executing both our short- and long-term projects concurrently.

- On Sunday, Sept 27, I got to teach the jr. high/high school at my church. Praise God for this opportunity to connect with some of the students there! I will be teaching the jr. high two more times this fall.

Thanks so much for your support in prayer!

Prayer & Praise (Sept 27 - Oct 3)

- This past Saturday, we began a 30-hour training course called “Teaching Little Kids.” The course equips students for teaching and ministering to preschoolers. Four of our summer missionaries are taking the course, which is very exciting! They meet three times a week for two weeks during late September/early October. Please pray for them to engage deeply with the content and get as much out of the course as possible.

- Our budget for Christian Youth In Action (CYIA) covers promotion & recruitment in the spring, general operating expenses in the summer, and development work in the fall. We have received $4,290 to date, leaving us presently with a shortfall of only $650 for the 2009 calendar year. Praise God for this great progress!

During October, we are having fundraising events at Chick-fil-A on Monday, Oct 12 (Thorncreek shopping center), and Tuesday, Oct 20 (River Point shopping center & Southwest Plaza food court) to help raise the remainder of the funds. Please pray that these events would be a great success! With $650, we can pay off the last of our expenses from the summer and cover the rest of our development work this fall.

- Praise God for the growth I have seen in our team leaders this year! I have seen each of them grow in so many ways in who they are as a person and who they are in Christ. To see the difference in who they were at the beginning of summer vs. who they are now (among their peers and in all their fall activities) is such a blessing. This is what it’s all about: transformed lives!