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WE NEED YOU!  THERE IS NO "YOU"TH GROUP WITHOUT YOU!

We have been noticing a steady decline in attendance at youth group meetings and have had to cancel several planned servant events- caroling at nursing home, making tray cards;  fundraisers for New Orleans- making sub sandwiches, valentines date night babysitting as well as fun events- ice skating due to lack of youth participation.  We know that due to busy schedules we are not all going to be able to participate all of the time - believe us we know!

We found an interesting article online by a youth minster that addressed that same question and asked if youth groups are now being seen as electives.  "Our post-modern, determine your own values and reality has finally trickled its way into the local church.   And now Church, youth group, and actually any spiritual discipline are firmly on the bottom of the pecking order.  This means that if homework, sports, vacation, being tired, practice, fill in the blank don't conflict then both students and their parents might consider attending some gathered Christian event like church or youth group.  For adults, this elective version of church involvement doesn't really have any short term consequences to their faith.  Most Christian adults had some incredible experience in late high school or college and are maintaining that faith as they go through the rest of their life.  They can take months or years off of church and fellowship and still have a mostly intact faith...These adults have had a significant faith encounter in their youth, but are not helping their own kids participate in the very activities that God used to grab a hold of their hearts when they were younger.  And unlike their parents, any significant break in community makes it next to impossible for the adolescent to ever really enter the group later.

Students are relational animals and will only participate in an environment where they have friends and feel welcomed and cared for. Even the least cliquey youth groups on the planet still have relationships and those relationships have history.  If a group of students spend a year doing youth group together, bible studies, go to the movies, go roller skating and skiing, and go on a mission trip together, there develops a history.  A student who chooses youth group simply as an elective and misses out on these memory making events will naturally feel on the outs, and once they feel on the outs there is little incentive for them to commit.

For the sake of their children, adults need to model that commitment to Christian worship and fellowship is not an elective.  This goes against every cultural trend.  But for the sake of our kids, for the sake of the students we are called to love and care for, may we help the adults in our lives go old skool in their Christian understanding.  As much as faith in Jesus is about a "personal relationship" it can only be worked out in community.  And community only happens with students through a safe environment that is authentic, consistent time together, building memories, and spurring one another on toward love and good deeds!" "What Happens When Parents and Kids See Youth Group as Simply an Elective?" Average Youth Ministry. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Mar. 2014.

We believe that our youth in our church are worth it and deserve the chance to get together, have fun, laugh, hang out with other kids who believe the same things as they do and that the youth group should not be an elective.  Won't you help us build these memories with your kids?

On another note, we also need the commitments of those who are planning on going to New Orleans to understand that we cannot rely on a few to raise the funds for all of us.  We all need to put forth the effort in the fundraising and that in order for each of us to go we need to raise- $2000.00 a person before January 2016.  We all need to pitch in! 

With that being said, we hope to see you all at our next youth group meeting - Sunday, March 30 @ 7:00 p.m. in the community building.

Gerry & Michelle Eickhoff

Upcoming "You"th Events:

COS "You"th Spring Fling - Hayride/Bonfire!

Hotdogs, s'mores and hot chocolate will be provided.

When:  Saturday,April 12

Time:   TBA - please look in the bulletins for times

Where:  Meet at the church to travel to the Karrow's Farm

What to bring:  Something to sit on - folding chair, blanket
Who can attend:  Grades 6-12, your entire family and bring your friends!! 

Please sign up in the narthex so we can have an idea of how much food to get.  Please include your guests that you will be bringing with you!

COS "You"th Group Meetings

Every 4th Sunday/7:00 p.m.

Date: Sunday, March 30

Time: 7:00 p.m. - until we are finished

Where: Community Building

What to Bring:  Bible, Snack to share with the group and your friends!

Discussing: Commitment letters to New Orleans; to do a Bake sale or sell Little Caesars Pizza kits for New Orleans; Begin planning for May car wash and June 1950's Drive-in Fundraiser; Planning May's group activity - Fishing - where - know of anyone who has a pond?

"Be Still and know that

God is God"

I confess to being an avid outdoors-man and love being out in the woods. How many of you enjoy the sound of the wind in the trees or a creek bubbling merrily along its way? How peaceful, even haunting, the many sounds of the animals and birds in the woods. No matter the reason that brings us outdoors, many are the times we find ourselves distracted from our first reason for being there (hunting or fishing) because of the beauty, sounds and even antics of God's creation surrounding us.

Consider the barking and scurrying of a squirrel, the hooting of an owl, a possum or raccoon lumbering by, a turkey or quail picking their way through the grass, the jackhammer sound of a woodpecker, the sound of small birds in a bush, or the glimpse of a coyote or bobcat. How many of you have be enthralled watching these at their work and play that the real reason you're there say deer hunting, sort of fades into the background? Fact is there has been more than one occasion when I have lost or nearly lost the opportunity to fill a tag due to being wonderfully distracted by one of the other creatures named above (I suspect a conspiracy). You may think of me in this article, like a possum I recently observed, to be guilty of aimlessly wandering; I assure you I am not. A Scripture comes to mind:

            "Be still, and know that I am God..." (Psalm 46:10)

DISTRACTIONS are all around us, some of them in and themselves are good and enjoyable. We all know there are "bad things out there" that can separate us from God and from hearing His voice in our daily lives. But there are also many "good things" that can distract us from knowing God or from serving Him as we ought.

Here's another list; television, video games, movies, cell phones, internet, hobbies and sports (Ouch! even hunting), wealth and money, friends and family. In there proper place and with proper amount of involvement these can be good. But all these can be overdone to the point that we make them the "gods" of our lives. When we do this we become distracted: separated from God our Creator and from the true reason we are here. One of the smartest things (in a devilish way) which Satan has done is to create competing voices, sounds and activities to try to shut out the voice of God. I fear that one of the hardest things for the 21st century people of all ages to do is to "Be Still and know that God is God". We fear to quiet our mind and heart; but this we must do on regular basis or we will indeed forget Whose we are and what we are doing here in the first place. 

Dear Church Family & Friends,

Whether it is a friend, family member, the neighbor down the street, or our own personal experience, we have all been touched by cancer in some way. We all have the power to make a difference in the fight against cancer.

That's why I have chosen to fight back right here in our community by participating in the American Cancer Society Relay For LifeŽ. I know that you care about finding an end to cancer, and I hope you will join our RELAY REVELERS at this year's Relay For LifeŽ on Friday, June 13 - Saturday, June 14 at California Trail Middle School- 135th & Pflumm in Olathe.  Please talk to myself, Christine Fauss - Co-Captain or any of the team members from last year and we can help you get signed up or type in the web address below and join us online.   We need at least 15 team members on the team.  You will be asked to pay a $10 team commitment fee, help us raise money to fight cancer (each member has a goal to raise $100) and to walk for about half an hour at the relay.   If you are not able to attend the relay, you can support our team in other ways: praying for us as we make our commitment to fight cancer, pray for us during our walk, or help our team by making an online donation.

By taking part in Relay For LifeŽ, we have a chance to join 3.5 million people from across the country to celebrate the lives of those who have battled cancer, remember loved ones lost, and fight back against a disease that takes too much.

Also from now until April 15 - Luminaire are sale for $5 instead of $10.  Relay For Life participants and donors remember loved ones lost to cancer and honor those battling the disease by dedicating Luminaire bags.  Luminaire bags are transformed and illuminated after dark at every local Relay For Life event. Each Luminaire is personalized with a name, photo, message or drawing in memory or honor of a friend or loved one who has been affected by cancer. Luminaire can also be dedicated in support of a Relay participant. Each Luminaire candle represents a person. They are our mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, friends, coworkers, and so many others.  You may purchase these on our web-site as well and we will get you a Luminaire to decorate as you wish.

At the event, we'll camp out overnight and take turns walking around the track to raise money and awareness to support the American Cancer Society's lifesaving mission. There is an incredible ceremony to celebrate cancer survivors and caregivers that starts off the night, and a moving ceremony to honor and remember those who have fought the disease.

I can truly say Relay is unlike anything else you'll ever experience. It's a night full of fun, hope, and remembrance. Together, we can celebrate, remember, and fight back. Please join me.

Thank you,

Michelle Eickhoff, Team Captain        

To join Relay Revelers go to: http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR?fr_id=59606&pg=team&team_id=1615407