Weekly Update: April 29

Weekly Update: April 22

Weekly Update: April 16

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Weekly Update: Youth Sunday, YMT Update, Help Wanted

Mission Trip Update

We have recently discovered that our partner organization in Port Sulphur has lost funding to complete any further rebuilding efforts. After they finish the homes they are currently constructing, they will transition to a new stage of ministry and assist the church in long-term ministry. Unfortunately, without the rebuilding projects, there is not sufficient work for our youth this July.

Since we discovered this last week, we have been feverishly working on a new site for YMT '09. We are leaving no stone unturned and eagerly anticipate discovering who our new partner will be. We invite your prayers as we continue to seek out a new work:

• Pray that God will open the doors for the work He would have us to do this summer.
• Pray for our partners in Port Sulphur and all those who have still not returned home.
• Pray for our new partners, that God will prepare the place for us to serve so that our youth will experience a great ministry in July.

Thank you for your prayers for our Youth Leadership, our friends in Port Sulphur and our potential new partner.

Why the Resurrection Matters

Easter week provides an obvious opportunity to talk with teens about the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Our cultural response to the holiday runs the gamut from ignoring it altogether, secularizing it for the sake of marketing and festivities, scorning it, and—perhaps—over-spiritualizing the day.

It may sound odd to say that we could over-spiritualize Easter, but it happens in two ways. When we place such a large spiritual emphasis on Easter that it makes our everyday walk with Christ seem meager by comparison, we can communicate to our kids and teens that it’s safe to keep Jesus on a special shelf instead of bringing Him into every moment of our “real lives.”

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