Shorebreak 2012

Dear Team,

Spring Break is just days away. We are leaving Monday night and will drive through the night. We'll arrive at camp on Tuesday around noon. We've been working hard to get things packed and organized this week, so we can enjoy some rest before the retreat and be able to enjoy Easter. It's been really good to reflect on the death and resurrection of Christ as we get ready to head to camp. I'm praying students will fall in love with our Savior and embrace what He did for them on the cross.

Would you join in prayer for the upcoming week?! I've listed out a few requests. I really appreciate you taking these needs before the Lord and partnering with me for the Gospel through prayer.

Students: We are bringing 54 students from our community (that’s about 20 more than we were anticipating!). We are really excited about each of the students the Lord has drawn to camp this year. For several of them, Shorebreak will be their first event with us - it’s pretty cool to have so many new students joining us. Some of our students don’t personally know the Lord yet. Some of them have made a profession of faith at one time, but aren’t currently growing or walking with the Lord. Several do know the Lord and are excited for continued growth. Many of these students are praying for their peers who aren’t yet believers and are looking forward to sharing their faith with others. On Friday night our Ramstein student led praise team will lead the entire camp in worship during the evening program. They are really excited about the opportunity.

Would you pray that God would ...

- Begin preparing the hearts of all the students to hear His word

- Remove any noise and distractions for students as they process the speaker’s messages and engage in discussion with their peers and small group leaders after each talk

- Unite our group and that students would genuinely enjoy being with each other

Staff: We have 9 staff from our community. For the guys we’ve got AJ, Anthony, Shaun and Shawn. And for the gals we’ve got Emily, Heather, Nikki, Valerie and myself. We will each be leading a small group and spending intentional time with our small group students.

Would you pray for...

- Endurance for the week

- Patience as we deal with teenagers

- Wisdom to speak the truth in love as we point students to Jesus and encourage them in their faith

On Friday morning, I'll be teaching a seminar called "Baggage." I'm going to talk about how living in a mobile military community impacts us relationally. My hope is to give students insight into themselves and prepare them as they transition into college in the states. I'd appreciate prayer as I finish up the talk and that I'd communicate clearly with students.

Safety: We will be traveling from Ramstein to camp by bus. It'll take 12-14 hours to get there.

Would you pray for ....

- a safe bus ride

- good weather, we’ll be along the coast of the Adriatic Sea (we’re hoping for some sun!)

- fun and injury-free recreational time, beach tournaments and free time afternoon activities as students spend time with one another and staff

Thanks team!! I'm looking forward to sharing highlights with you when we return.

Blessings,

Beth

March Update

Where in the world did March go. One of my middle schoolers told me about their upcoming April fools day shenanigans, and it dawned on me that they were talking about tomorrow!? Yikes. Time is flying by. Here's a quick recap of two of our March events and some prayer requests for our spring break retreat.

Indoor Skiing

A few weekends ago we took a group of high school students to an indoor skiing hall in France (just under 2 hours away). It was pretty cool - and a great place for beginners and not so good skiers. They offered both skiing and snow boarding. I'd never been in an indoor ski place before and it's cool. You don't have to worry about wind or extra coldness. It made for a fun day with students and it's definitely going to be a repeat event... like in July when we want a break from the heat!

^ The left side of the picture, in between the red barrier and wall is the bunny hill. To the far right is the "big" hill. There was a pully thing that pulled us to the top - it took 4 minutes to get up there.

Mad Hatter Tea Party

Last night Heather and I got some of our middle school gals together for a Mad Hatter themed tea party. It was super fun! Heather and Jess decorated the place and it looked amazing. The girls thought is was pretty cool. As we sat down at the table, the girls were really impressed with fancy tea cups and cute dessert-y foods. They thought it was special.

After spending a lot of time deciding on what type of tea to try and after loading it with sugar and cream , one girl began to sip her tea. Heather asked her how it was, and she said good. We looked at each other knowing she didn't like it, but was trying to be polite and drink it. Heather told her she didn't have to drink and that there was punch available. She said, "oh good, I think I'd like that." haha! It was cute to watch the girls practice being polite and lady like.

Our friend and co-worker Jennessa taught a lesson on modesty and did really well. She gave each of the girls a rose and reminded them of how special they are to God and how they should dress in a way that honors Him and protects them.

I like my middle school girls. : ) They've been faithful in coming to Bible study this year. Earlier this year we went through some Beginning and Growing in Jesus books. Last week we began a new study called "How do we know the Bible is True?" So far, we're off to a good start. The study raises a lot of good questions about how we got the Bible and why we can trust it.

Coming Up... Spring Break!

Shorebreak, our annual Spring Break retreat is one week away! It's coming up fast. I was anticipating about 35 students. As of this weekend, we have 55 students signed up! Whoa, 20 extra teens!? We are excited!

The theme is "The Illusion." We'll be looking through the book of Ecclesiastics and the life of Solomon. The speaker will challenge students about the things they are pursuing - popularity, materialism, etc. and how often they pursue those things thinking they will end in satisfaction and fulfillment. He will challenge them instead to pursue things of eternal value - i.e. a relationship with Jesus!

Today we met for a day of staff training, to prepare our volunteers for the retreat. We are extremely blessed to have some great, very solid staff this year. I'm confident that our students will be loved well.

Would you begin praying for students. Of the 55, I've got 30 girls. At least a third of them either don't know Jesus as their savior or aren't currently walking with the Lord. The remainder of the students do know the Lord. Would you pray for them as they process the speaker's talks and think through how they can grow in their faith and minister to those around them.

One morning at camp I'll be teaching a breakout seminar on being a Third Culture Kid. I'll focus on moving and transitioning. I'm going to spend time talking about saying goodbye and some of the things they might encounter as students move back to the states and transition to college. Would you pray for me as I finalize my talk this week? Pray that God would give me wisdom into knowing what students need to hear and that I'd be able to communicate well and encourage students.

THANKS for praying!!

The Ultimate Superhero

During Escape, one of our volunteer staff wrote a poem to share with our students. It's GREAT!!

The Ultimate Superhero

Superheroes, can you name them all
Do they come to your rescue when you call
There are so many - Let me tell you why
No one super hero can cover your life

Superman's weakness was kryptonite
So what happens if the enemy brings that to the fight
Wonder Woman with her lasso and invisible plane
can she help you when school is driving you insane

Batman has cool gadgets and things
but he's only human, he's got a few dents and dings
When you need a super hero are you left standing alone
Do you text them or call on your I-phone

Spideman, well he's human too
if he's tied up across town who rescues you
Aquaman, king of the sea?
I don't do water so he's no help to me

Now I don't mean to burst your bubble
But will these super heroes get you outta trouble?

Let me tell yall about a man I know
I call him the Ultimate Super Hero
He raised up from Gallilee
and he always walks beside me

Supernatural power is in His hand
He's the creator of every man
He's the master of the sea
If He commands still it will be

What super hero do you know
That walked thru the fire with
Shadrach, Meeshach, and Abidnego
No burned flesh or even smoke inhalation
Causing the Devil huge frustration

The Green Lantern with his green light
But it was God that illuminated the night

What super hero was virgin born
and walked the earth in human form
Was hung on a cross; yes crucified
forgave us, hung his head and died

A crown of thorns is what He wore
Just to settle sins wretched score
On the third day he rose again
My God, My Father, My best friend

Faster than a speeding train
He rescues me from my pain
Leaps tall buildings in a single bound
He saved my soul, I was lost but now I'm found

Cloud by day, Fire by night
He gives us victory in every fight
Xray vision, He sees it all
Telepathic power, He knows before I call

CPT America, Oh Please
Can he supply all your needs
God holds the devil, your enemy at bay
He is the potter, we are the clay

As costumes go He doesn't wear tights
He doesn't arrive with flashy lights
He's rather quiet as super heros go
There's no way you can't disturb His flow

A super hero, yep, three in one
God the Father, Holy Spirit and Son

So when you think a Super Hero you need
look to the Heavens, your soul He will feed
He's stronger, He's faster, He's always right
He holds my hand, he paid the price
Take heart my children let your faith take flight
God the ultimate super hero will save your life!

-Leslie Dillard, Escape 2012

Recent/Current Reads

I enjoy reading - which is funny, because as a kid I really didn't like to read. My downfall with reading: I like to dabble in a lot of books at the same time and don't necessarily read them cover to cover. This past school year, I've enjoyed (an am still enjoying) reading a number of books... here's the rundown.

> Beginning and Growing in Jesus - middle school girl's Bible studies

This is a great middle school curriculum from Youth Specialties.

> Women of the Bible, Victory Over the Darkness & From Creation to the Cross - high school girls Bible studies/career practicum students

Victory Over the Darkness is a good book on spiritual identity. We went through it last semester. During that time, we were doing a dating/relationship series in youth group. The book seemed to cover some of the same topics, so I found it good for processing the issues with the girls.

This semester we're doing a study of the Old Testament and looking at different women as we came across their stories. I've used the Women of the Bible and Creation to the Cross to help me prep for my studies each week. Note: Creation to the Cross is a great Old Testament survey text if you're looking for one!

> The Year of Living Biblically & Radical - personal reading

The Year of Living Biblically is super funny! It's written by a secular Jew in New York. He's a big time magazine editor and he attempts to follow all of the laws laid out in the Bible (both OT and NT). I read through Radical with a book club. It's an easy read with challenging applications.

> Teenage Girls & Impact - youth ministry equipping

I've never taken a youth ministry class. While in Portland, I was able to attend a few youth worker training conferences, which I found helpful. Sometimes I feel super inadequate as I wade through teenage girl land and try to figure out how to help and encourage students. Teenage Girls and Impact have been helpful resources for me as I grow as a youth worker.

> Slaves, Women and Homosexuals & A Basic Guide to Interpreting the Bible - personal reading/theology and Bible understanding knowledge and growth

These are hermeneutic books (Biblical interpretation). Roles for women in ministry has been a huge topic among my high school girls this year. It seems I'm asked about women at least once a week by a student. As a women in ministry, it's an issue I've spent a good amount of time thinking and praying through. I've read a lot of books on the topic, from various spectrums. I'm currently reading Slaves, Women and Homosexuals because many people are following the author's redemptive or progressive hermeneutic. He looks at "trouble" passages in the Bible over slaves and women and what does that mean for us today. How can we figure out what is contextual/cultural in the Bible and what is the eternal truth? How can we determine what the text's meaning is? These are good books!

> NIV and The Message - The NIV is my preferred reading Bible and I've been using The Message in my quick (3.5 month read through of the Scriptures)

Podcasts:

I also really enjoy listening to a few podcasts. My go to is Mark Driscoll from Mars Hill Church in Seattle, WA. I like his "Religion Saves, and 9 other misconceptions" - the humor one is really great! He's currently preaching through his new marriage book. While I'm not married yet (or in a relationship), it's been a interesting series so far. I also listen to Matt Chandler from the Village Church in Dallas.

A MARVELous Escape!

Hi Team,

Thanks for praying for Escape - it was a great retreat.

Here's a few highlights from the weekend...

A few of my girls stayed behind to talk after the Gospel was presented on Saturday night. As I was chatting with them about what they were wrestling with, one of them said to me, "I don't think I've ever actually prayed to receive Jesus, can you show me how to do that?" After we finished praying and opened our eyes, I saw that she was crying so hard that all of her super hero face paint/make up was smeared and running down her cheeks - she had the biggest smile on her face! It was super cute. During our worship session the following morning, she turned to me and said, "today I don't feel like I'm just singing along, I feel like I'm actually singing to God." Praise the Lord!

One other girl in our Gospel night circle said she had already said "that" prayer (to receive Christ), but didn't feel like she had done a very good job of growing in Jesus and asked if there was a prayer for that. I prayed with her and she rededicated her life to the Lord. It was cool to see her desire to get back on track with Jesus and begin growing in her faith.

To help students remember the Gospel, AJ, Anthony and Heather dressed up and lip synced to LZ7's "Four Points" song. AJ and I heard LZ7 at Flevo (a Christian music festival in Holland) - they're a British band that sounds sort of like the Black Eye Peas. Our students LOVE them! Click here to hear the song. Their "Light" album is great and they'll be coming out with a new album in March.

Thanks for praying for our two experiential learning times, I thought they went well. These activities are always hit and miss, as some middle schoolers are just too concrete of thinkers to make the real life connections we hope for. However, many do get "it" and it's fun to watch them connect the dots.

^ Leading students in the "Laser Shot"

I spent our two afternoon times of free time going ice skating and swimming with some of our students. It made for fun times with them.

A stomach bug went through camp. Between 3 students, we had 4 throw up incidents in the middle of the night - all boys (nice for me, but unfortunate for AJ). Put on your middle school mindset: Our unofficial song for the weekend was ... "I think I'm going to throw up, I think I'm going to throw up, I think I'm going to throw up... my hands to the Lord!"

Thanks for praying for the Multnomah team - they did great! Many of them expressed interest in coming out with us in the future. Many of the students shared testimonies to encourage and challenge our kids. Our speaker also did an awesome job connecting with students. Students seemed to understand his messages and took to heart the words that were shared.

^Super Hero night ... I was Clay Matthews (my favorite Packer!), AJ went as Aquaman, we also had Wonder Woman, The Red Skull, Spiderman and The Hulk.

THANKS for praying for Escape - it was clear God was at work and His fingerprints were on everything.

Escape - T minus 5 Days!

Hey Team, Only 5 days until Escape!

The camp theme is "Marvels." We'll be looking at Christ as the ultimate superhero, capable of defeating all evil. It doesn't matter what sorts of "powers" we have, we'll never be able to save ourselves from the traps of this world. Jesus is the only person who can save us from our sins.

Prayer Points -

1. Our Students - we're taking 28 students to Escape this year (13 girls and 15 boys). Our group is pretty young, primarily 6th and 7th graders. Many of them are churched students, however, a lot of them are still wrestling with what it means to have a personal relationship with Lord - aside from their family's church participation. It's my prayer that they will take ownership of their faith and begin to experience Jesus personally!

Going away for a weekend is a great way for students to grow together as a group. Please pray for unity within our group. Pray that the common middle school cliques/attitudes wouldn't be present in among our students and they would have eyes for one another.

2. Our Staff - we've got 4 adults and one teen volunteer helping us out this year. We are super blessed to have great volunteers! They are giving up their weekend to come and love on students, engage in spiritual conversations and point them to Christ! Each staff will have a small group of students who they will lead in discussion after each chapel session and help them personalize and apply the speaker's messages. Would you pray that the Lord would give them energy to get through the weekend, patience and grace to deal with students it's late and they're tired and wisdom to know how to encourage students with their relationship with the Lord.

3. Our Camp Team - Mark Wilson, our CSM director will be speaking throughout the weekend. A team of students and their professor, from Multnomah University, will be leading various components of camp. They'll be helping with small groups, late night games and worship. Please pray for both Mark and the Multnomah team as they travel from the states this week. Pray they wouldn't experience delays and that they'd get over jet lag quickly, and that they'd all connect with our students.

All of the Multnomah students are youth ministry majors. Some of them are nearing graduation and considering their future plans. Some are seriously considering Cadence and this trip is serving as a taste and see. Pray that God would use this weekend to open their eyes and draw them to CSM in the future!

4. Experiential Learning - AJ and I are leading 2 experiential learning times during camp. They will be times for students to do something active that will serve as an illustration for some of the camp messages. Please pray that our activities will go well and that they will help students understand the messages.

5. Weather/Travel - Winter finally arrived in Germany last week. It's finally cold enough that the snow is sticking to the ground. Please pray that we'd have good weather while at camp and wouldn't have to deal with closed roads or really bad/wet/cold weather. Pray for safe travels!

Above all, pray that the Lord would be glorified through Escape and that His Gospel will be proclaimed well! Psalm 86:10, "For You are great and do marvelous deeds; You alone are God."

THANKS so much for taking these requests to the Lord. It's a huge blessing to have you as part of the prayer team. Thanks for joining me in reaching our students with the Gospel!

Looking forward to sharing camp highlights with you when we return!

Blessings,

Beth

January Update

Happy New Year!

January is in full swing, and already half over. I dropped my parents off at the airport on January 5th, after spending 3 weeks with them. Our time together was really great, I enjoyed being able to spend Christmas and New Years with them. After the Christmas break, I hit the ground running. We're off to a good semester.

Follow your heart ... THAT'S NOT TRUE!

In his commencement address to Stanford graduates, Steve Jobs encouraged students to follow their hearts. The message students received wasn't a new one - it's one they'd heard from childhood through subtle and not-so-subtle Disney movies. Society says, "If it feels good, do it." For the past two weeks, we challenged this teaching at youth group and encouraged our students to turn to the Word of God and cling to His absolute Truth, rather than trust our own hearts and feelings. We want our students to submit themselves to the Lord's ways instead of relying on our limited understanding. So, in an effort to teach them to recognize the lie of following their heart, we told them to say (or shout, because that's more fun middle schoolers) "that's not true" whenever they hear the phrase.

This week we're transitioning to a Bible walk through series at youth group.

"This may sound like a stupid question ... but what exactly is salvation?"

A sixth grade girl asked me this question during Bible study last week, which sparked for a great conversation!! Her question reminded me of the necessity to define basic church words in middle school friendly terms.

Last semester we looked at who Jesus is and this semester we're looking at what it means to follow Him. The first lesson discussed the price of salvation - it's free, but it's going to cost us our lives as we trade in our ways for His ways.

WOAH man

My high school girls have been eager to read through the Old Testament and study different women that we come across. So far we've covered Eve and Sarah. A few of the girls are reading Old Testament stories for the first time, and it's been super fun to see their excitement and curiosity. They had no idea there were so many bizarre stories in the Scriptures. I've gotten a few "woah, that's crazy" remarks from my girls so far, and look forward to more.

Crazy Commitments

I'm not always big on New Year's resolutions, but each year I typically desire to be more disciplined in my Bible reading and attempt to read through it. This year I did the same thing, and even checked out a few online reading plans for ideas. Well, I threw those out the window a week ago. Two high school students were super eager about wanting to read through the Bible -quickly. And by quickly, they decided to try and finish the entire Bible before track season starts - in March. My co-worker decided to do it with them. I agreed to make up their reading schedule and give them a check-off chart. After doing that, I decided it's been awhile since I committed to something crazy... and reading 17 chapters of the Bible everyday for nearly 3 months is crazy, but worthwhile. So I committed. So far, so good. It's amazing how the hunger and desire for growth among students spurs me on!

ESCAPE: Marvels

Our middle school outreach camp is coming up fast! It's February 17-20. Our theme this year is Marvels, a super hero themed camp where we'll look at Jesus' and His marvelous works. So far, we've got 26 students signed up. Would you begin praying that God would prepare the hearts of these students. Some know the Lord, some come to group each week with questions but haven't become followers, and some simply haven't expressed an interest in the Lord.

Thanks for joining me in prayer and supporting ministry at Ramstein!

Blessings,

Beth