Newsletter Archive

TueTuesdayAugAugust18th2009 Now What? (Part 1)

Posted Tuesday, August 18 2009 @ 3 PM

Youth Missions Team,

When we returned from Ohio we talked about the question, "now what?" I think we all recognized that we needed to keep the missions trip going here in St. Mary's County. Well, here's your first opportunity - our youth ministry will have its last Nicolet Park Outreach day this coming Saturday, August 22.

This time we want to broaden the focus to include the teens in the park. In addition to preparing a lesson/play and games for the children we will also make an effort to reach the teens. My thought is that we can have one group focus on the kids, another group focus on spending time at the skate park (talking with the youth and skating), and another group spending time at the basketball courts. The skate and basketball groups could spend time getting to know the people there and then invite them for the free food. The kids team would play with the kids on the playground and invite them to the food plus to join us for the kids lesson and games after they eat.

We will meet at LBC @ 1pm and return around 5:15pm. We will leave to go to Nicolet Park a little earlier to give the groups time to mingle with the people before lunch is served.

Please RSVP to this invite by Thursday if you would like to join me. I'll be inviting some other youth so we may have others not a part of our team. Let's start reaching those estimated 67% who don't know the Lord in SMC.

In His Name,
Pastor Allen

SatSaturdayAugAugust1st2009 Reporting for Duty!

Posted Saturday, August 01 2009 @ 11 AM

This is just a reminder that tomorrow's worship services will feature reports from both missions trips as well as some local missions efforts. Josh Reichard and I will represent our team/trip at both services. I would like everyone to wear their Urban Hills shirts to identify themselves as team members. That's all the rest of you will need to do. Just attend whichever service you normally come to in your UHC shirt.

Keep your eyes and ears peeled for upcoming opportunities to continue being on mission. If you want to join the MS youth at Nicolet Park that will take place Saturday, Aug. 22.

In His Name,
Pastor Allen

WedWednesdayJulJuly15th2009 63, 62, 61....

Posted Wednesday, July 15 2009 @ 1 PM

We are now less than 63 hours from hitting the road to Cincinnati. Lets lift each other, Urban Hills Church and the other Powerplanters up in prayer.

Bring Stuff Early
I would like to strongly encourage all of us to bring anything we can early so we can leave as fast as possible on Saturday morning (yes, we're really meeting @ 6:00AM). Feel free to bring sleeping bags, pillows, air mattresses, etc. tonight to Rev'd Up or during the day Thursday or Friday. You may want to text or call ahead to make sure someone's there to let you in. Also, please turn in payments, forms, etc. before Saturday AM as well. Anything that makes the departure easier will be helpful. Some of you have done this during the week - thanks!

Welcome Brian Gass
Brian and his family host our Journey High School Ministry group on Sunday nights. He has been on missions trips to Mexico with LBC and is looking forward to joining us in Ohio. Please thank Brian (and his family) for agreeing to come with us at short notice.

Ministry Projects Update
More emails have been flying between folks at Urban Hills Church and myself. It looks like they will be providing us with UHC t-shirts to help people identify us with that church. Also, it looks like we may be visiting some local businesses to hand out candy or other spots to help spread the word about this new church.

Kings Island
Surprise! The team voted to add Kings Island to our Friday plans which will require each youth to bring an extra $25 for their ticket. We will go that night from 5pm til closing. Please be prepared to give me this money when you arrive on Saturday morning or before.

Forms for Adults
Adults will need to have the PowerPlant Participant Form filled out, but it does not need to be notarized. Youth must have this form notarized.

I think that's all. Please contact me if you have any questions.

In His Name,
Pastor Allen

SatSaturdayJulJuly11th2009 1 Week to Go!

Posted Saturday, July 11 2009 @ 12 PM

Believe it or not, in one week we will be on our way to the Cincinnati area and PowerPlant to work with Urban Hills Church. Things are starting to take final shape and they are looking good. God has some great things in store for us. Here's the latest...

Commissioning, Cookout & Team Report
Don't forget that tomorrow the team will be commissioned in a brief prayer ceremony at the beginning of the 11:15 Worship Service. I know it's summer, but please dress appropriately for going before the church.

I will have a church van ready to give a ride to my house for anyone who wants one. We will leave as soon as possible after the 11:15 Worship Service (probably around 12:45pm). Since I will need to return the van to the church I can bring people back to LBC if that's better for anyone.

Our team and the Mexico Team will be presenting brief reports on our trips on Sunday, August 2. Please make every effort to make yourself available for one of the worship services that day.

Travel Itinerary & Ministry Plans
Sat., July 18 - Meet @ LBC 6AM (yes, that's AM)

Sun., July 19 - Visit & worship with Urban Hills Church (business casual dress, NOT Sunday Best)

Mon., July 20 - Place door hangers & prayer walk in selected neighborhoods

Tues., July 21 - Free Car Wash for afternoon/evening commuters

Wed., July 22 - Place door hangers & prayer walk in selected neighborhoods
Picnic in local park with folks from Urban Hills Church

Thurs., July 23 - Place door hangers & prayer walk in selected neighborhoods

Fri., July 24 - Creation Museum, Kings Island (?), stay extra night at FBC Mason (PowerPlant Host Church)

Sat., July 25 - Return to LBC (Tentative - Leave 8AM)

NOTE: We will not be visiting Cedarville University as originally planned.

Meals & Special Activities (Creation Museum, Kings Island)
Everyone will need to bring money for six meals over the course of the trip. Powerplant provides 2 meals per day (usually breakfast and lunch), but we are responsible for the other meal. LBC will provide breakfast on our travel days and dinner on Friday. Urban Hills is providing lunch on Sunday and dinner on Wednesday. This leaves our team members with 2 meals on travel days and 4 meals the rest of the week. Any extra money you want to bring for snacks, incidentals, etc. will need to be in addition to the meal money. I suggest $50-60 for meals.

On Friday I've made arrangement for our team to visit the Creation Museum just outside Cincinnati. LBC is going to cover the cost of admission. We will be there from approximately 10AM until sometime Friday afternoon. There is a "sister" amusement park of Kings Dominion (called Kings Island) in Mason, OH where we will be staying. They have $25 tickets that can be used after 5pm. The choice for the group is whether or not to add this cost to our trip. Please let me know at the cookout tomorrow.

DVD Make Ups
If you still need to make up any of the Gospel Journey videos I can make them available to view during the day (10AM-4PM) next Tuesday & Wednesday. Please contact me in advance to set a viewing time at the church.

Need a Man
Unfortunately, the two men who had planned on coming with us earlier have been forced to cancel by unanticipated circumstances at their workplaces. I have contacted several additional men and I have not been able to find any who could free themselves up for the week we are in Ohio. I have one man who is interested and I'm just waiting to confirm that he's able to join us. Given our ratio of 11 guys and 6 girls I would prefer to have two men in addition to myself and the 2 ladies who are serving as female leaders. If you know of anyone I might contact to invite please let me know ASAP. Thanks.

In His Name,
Pastor Allen

ThuThursdayJulJuly9th2009 9 Days

Posted Thursday, July 09 2009 @ 3 PM

Team,

This is just a quick correction to an error in yesterday's update: the cookout on Sunday is from 1-4pm (not 10-11am). All other information is correct (I think...)

In His Name,
Pastor Allen

WedWednesdayJulJuly8th2009 10 Days & Counting...

Posted Wednesday, July 08 2009 @ 2 PM

We're a little over a week away from leaving on our journey to the Cincinnati area. I hope you're all getting excited about what the Lord may have in store for us, the church we work with, and the people we reach. Here's some important information for everyone...

Remaining Schedule Reminder
We have four remaining "official" team activities left before we go to Ohio:

Saturday, July 11 (1:30-5:30pm) - Nicolet Park Children's Outreach
We will meet at LBC at 1:30pm to do some basic prep before going down to the park together. We should return around 5:15-5:30pm. Everyone on the team agreed to participate in one of these dates so those of you who missed June 13 (like me) should be planning to participate this weekend.

Sunday, July 12 (10-11am) - Last "Gospel Journey" Team Class
Brought to you be the letter "L" for "Life that's eternal means we'll be with Jesus forever."

Sunday, July 12 (11:15am) - Mission Teams Commissioned
Since we have class at 10am we will particpate in the commissioning near the beginning of the 11:15am service. Please dress appropriately (no jeans, shorts, t-shirts, etc.) for being up front and be ready to go up when called.

Sunday, July 12 (1-4pm) - Team Cookout & Prayer Meeting
The whole team is invited over to my house for a cookout and prayer meeting. We do have a small pool that can fit 2-3 at a time so your welcome to bring your one-piece or shorts swimsuit if you'd like. The Acker's will provide the meat and rolls. We would like the team to chip in with the other stuff. Here's a suggested list (swap with someone else if you want):

Drinks (1 bottle each)
Nathan Tenney
Adam Wyman
Sarah Orr
Tim Shores
Casey Payne
Jessica Gass

Dessert (1 per family)
Matt Rog, Autumn Rog
Alex Dooley, Matt Dooley
Schyler Firestein, JoAnne Mankowski

Sides (1 per family)
Seth Benefield
Joshua Reichard
Philip Lindsay, Kaitlyn Lindsay, Lucinda Lindsay
Caleb Morris
Alexa Parillo

DVD Make-Ups
If you need to make up missed Gospel Journey videos I will be able to make them available to view during the following times. Please contact me in advance to confirm. DVDs may be viewed at LBC: July 9 & 10 (10am-4pm), July 11 (Noon-1:30pm) or July 14 & 15 (10am-4pm).

Travel Plans
The final details are being worked out and an itinerary will be worked out by the end of the week.

Adult Team Members
Some changes are being made due to conflicts in some adult team members' schedules. I will let everyone know in the next day or two what the final adult leader roster is.

In His Name,
Pastor Allen

TueTuesdayJunJune2nd2009 Meeting Reminder & Stuff

Posted Tuesday, June 02 2009 @ 2 PM

Update - June 2, 2009

Welcome to the newsletter for the Youth Missions Team. This will be the primary way I get word out regarding any new information and updates about the trip to Cincinnati. So, here goes...

Meeting Reminder
All youth team members and their parents are asked to attend a special meeting & kick-off for the Youth Missions Team Study. Adult team members are also encouraged, but not required, to attend. Note that we have a new start time of 7pm. We will meet for an hour until 8pm. The youth will view the first video in our study series while I meet with parents to go over details on the trip. Everyone is welcome to show up early as our new summer program, Rev'd Up, will be starting that night at 6:30pm.

Meet the Team!
All of the applications have been turned in and the adults have been selected so I'm very excited to introduce you to the team. Here they are...

Youth - Seth Benefield, Joshua Reichard, Philip Lindsay, Matt Rog, Adam Wyman, Caleb Morris, Alex Dooley, Nathan Tenney, Tim Shores, Casey Payne, Matt Dooley, Autumn Rog, Schyler Firestein, Alexa Parillo, Kaitlyn Lindsay, Sarah Orr, Jessica Gass

Adults - Allen Acker, Scott Stringer, Dave Morris, Terry Tenney, Diane Reichard, JoAnne Mankowski, Lucinda Lindsay

Meet the Church Planter!
We finally received our project assignment a couple weeks ago and I'm very pleased to say that we have been matched up with Pastor Ed Blackledge and Urban Hills Church. This is the planter I was personally hoping to work with during PowerPlant. You can learn a little more about Ed and the church he is planing at www.urbanhillschurch.com.

In His Name,
Pastor Allen