Our regular Wednesday night youth groups ended just about 2 weeks ago and that is always bittersweet. I miss seeing the students regularly, yet I am so excited for our summer events!
This marked my first year as the Youth Ministry Associate, in charge of the junior high programs and it was nothing short of an incredible year. I am proud of these students in so many ways. They accomplished amazing feats (see the Sound Off for Hunger blog post). They sustained a sponsorship for a girl in Zambia through weekly donations. They welcomed new friends and deepened relationships in small groups.
We made a few amendments to Crash this year, including the first Youth Council-a leadership team comprised of two students from each small group. Additionally, each student was placed on one of four teams-Danceformers, Holy Flyers, Hawtobots and Purple Pickled Platypus, who competed each week for points and the Danceformers were our champions! Finally, each of our leaders shared a weekly two-minute testimony correlating with the night’s topic.
This year at Crash we had a lot of fun, laughter and overall good times. However youth group is so much more than that. We learned together, grew together and served together forming a community that is more than a weekly gathering. We are a part of something bigger, a Story that is bigger then us, yet distinctively involves each of us and it is my prayer that throughout this year these students were able to grow in their love for each other because they know God first loved them.
Thank you to all the leaders who faithfully walked with these students each week-Kirsten, Abbey, Molly, Katy, Maddy, Sam, Maggie, Charlie, Zach, Ryan, Henry, Andrew, Adam, Andrew and Tobin. And thank you parents for all that you have done and for the opportunity to partner with you in your child’s faith journey.
-Nicole