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Dear youth and parents,

Hello from Disciples Crossing!  I'm here serving as the keynote speaker for Niner's Camp, a week-long experience that helps our 9th grade youth learn different forms of prayer and spiritual practices to help them discern how God is calling them to be in the world.  It's an amazing camp that relies heavily on multipe periods of prayer and silence throughout the day to help youth grow closer to God, and I have been continually amazed at how comfortable these campers have become with silence and solitude here in this beautiful place.  Each day's theme has worked together to help the campers make this transition, starting out with Foreword (thinking about our own stories and how they intersect with stories in the Bible, then Inward (learning to be silent and clear distractions to create space for God), Upward (learning forms of communal prayer and practicing worship to draw closer to God), Outward (serving others and working for God's justice), and Onward (learning how to practice discernment and exploring God's calling for our lives as we leave camp).  Though I'm sad for this amazing week to end tomorrow, I'm looking forward to being with you again on Sunday.
 

Jessica (the camp's co-director) and I before the camp squaredance on Wednesday evening.

Read on for info about CYF Conference, a Chi Rho outing to Main Event, Vacation Bible School youth volunteer meeting, and more!

Grace and Peace,
Russ 

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