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| Upcoming Student Life Events... |
Shift Winter Retreat 2010 Plan B
Parents –
How are you doing? I have some good news and some bad news. We’ll start with the bad news. I just received a phone call from Bonclarken Conference Center and they have decided to close down their entire camp for the weekend due to the possibility of an ice storm coming through tonight and tomorrow. They just don’t want to take the risk of trees falling, loss of power, etc. with a camp full of people. So the SHIFT Winter Retreat is officially cancelled for this weekend. We looked at the possibility of rescheduling but the only availability was after Spring Break and that won’t work for our schedule with Confirmation. That’s the bad news.
The good news is we are currently working on taking most of the same elements from this weekend and putting on a “Disciple Now” style weekend here at the church instead! The weather here calls for rain Friday with cloudy skies on Saturday, so weather should not be an issue here. We’ll still have the games, entertainment, worship, small groups, the messages, etc., it will just be held here at church. We’ll meet here Friday night to check-in at 6:00pm and will finish up Friday night around 10:00pm, at which point we’d like to send groups of friends (cabins) to one of their homes. I’ll talk more about that in a second. We’ll start back up Saturday morning at 9:00am, finish up at 11:00pm, send everybody home, and conclude our weekend Sunday morning with middle school SLAM “the Wire” at 9:30am and a small group time from 11:00am to noon. We’re hoping to accomplish all of the same goals that we would at camp only making lemonade out of lemons by having it here.
I’m not 100% sure of the reduced cost of this now that we aren’t going to camp, but I would guess this would put the price of the weekend at around $60 instead of $160, which means we would refund the difference to all of you once we know the exact number. That’s probably good news for a lot of us as well!
Now here’s where we would need your help to pull this off. We’d like to maintain the bonding element of “cabins” even though we won’t be at camp. So we are looking for some “host” homes for Friday night where your child and their friends could come sleep for the night. You would be responsible for hosting them (getting them to and from church Friday night and Saturday morning, snacks and breakfast, place for all of them to crash with their sleeping bags, etc.). If you are willing to do this, please let me know and I’ll start organizing who is going where. Each host home would have between 6 and 10 kids. This would only be for Friday night. Second we are going to need some help to transport all of us down to Malibu Grand Prix for some fun Saturday afternoon. We’ll leave the church around 1:45pm and return around 4:30pm. If you would be willing to help out here, please let me know.
Here’s a revised list of things to bring (please DO NOT let them bring cell phones – this is a huge distraction for them at this age!): sleeping bag, pillow, toiletries, a couple of changes of clothing (we will be playing some sporty type games, including some on the field Saturday), small bills for drinks, snacks or for extra stuff at Malibu.
Again I know this is not ideal, but I think we can salvage this weekend and still make it a winner. Bottom line is we want all of the students to have a blast, we want them to bond with one another and with the leaders, and we want them to go deeper in their relationship with Christ. I’m confident that can still happen.
If you could please pass this along to any friends of yours who have students going on the retreat who may not be on our email list, that would be great! Let me know if you have any questions. Thanks and God bless!
Serving Christ Together,
Aaron
Aaron Young
Director of Student Life Ministries
Sugarloaf United Methodist Church
1795 Old Peachtree Road
Duluth, GA 30097
678-684-6003
Summer Missions Training Starts --
We're going to be starting our team training meetings this coming Sunday, January 31st! These meetings are crucial to our success and effectiveness while serving on the mission field so please make them a priority! Our level 2 teams (New Orleans, New York City & Tijuana) will all be meeting from 2:00-3:30pm. The New Orleands team will be meeting in the old Student Life Center (current Arts Center). The New York City team will be meeting in the current Student Life Center. The Tijuana team will be meeting at Aaron & Kimberly's house. The level 2 teams (Panama & Costa Rica) will be meeting from 7:00-8:30pm. The Panama team will be meeting at Stuart & Paige's and the Costa Rica team will be meeting at Aaron & Kimberly's. The level 4 Peru team will be meeting from 4:00-5:30pm at Aaron & Kimberly's. The level 1 teams (Chattanooga & Louisville) will start training in March. Don't forget that attendance at these meetings is mandatory!
ALTÆR Service Project -- January 30
We're heading down to Atlanta for our monthly service project this Saturday. We'll be meeting at the church at 8:45am and should return by about 2:00pm. Be sure to bring money for lunch on the way home. We'll be working with the "Adopt a Block" program as we go door-to-door praying for the communtiy, delivering food, and cleaning up the neighborhood. Space is limited so if you want to go, see Andy.
Fresh Start Confirmation
We're excited about the over 50 7th and 8th grade students who started the Confirmation process this past weekend. We'll move in to week 2 of our class this coming Sunday as we tackle the issue of God's existence and what God desires from us. Don't forget to check up on your students to make sure they are staying on top of their "Case for Christ" reading for the week.
Parent Class for Fresh Start Confirmation
If you would like to know more about what your student will be studying, or if you would like to get to know some of the other parents, then this is the class for you. The class will coincide with your students class and Aaron's talk will be video cast simultaneously to the class room. It will be located in the main building in the Theater Sunday School class room. Click here to register.
SHIFT Winter Retreat -- February 5-7
This year for our middle school winter retreat we're heading up to Flat Rock, North Carolina to Bonclarken Conference Center, one of our favorites, for this amazing weekend away together. The cost is $160 and the final balance is due this coming Sunday, January 31st. We also need a current Student Life medical release form, as well as a Bonclarken release form turned in by the 31st. We'll be meeting to leave on Friday the 5th at 5:15pm. Please be sure your student has eaten dinner before they arrive (or bring a sack dinner with them). Things will be a little chaotic when you arrive. First drop off your luggage by the apporpriate church bus (guys or girls luggage). It always helps if you make sure to have your child's name on all of their bags. After you drop off your luggage please proceed to check-in where we'll check you off and make sure you have all of your forms turned in. After that parents are welcome to leave or to stay and see us off. We'll return on Sunday the 7th around 7:00pm.
Fundraising Opportunities
Kroger Gift Cards
Do you buy groceries at Kroger? Well now we have a program where you can earn 5% of your Kroger spending back towards your student’s mission trips or camps. All you have to do is buy Kroger gift cards through Student Life and then just shop like you normally shop at Kroger paying with your gift card. For example my family typically purchases at least $400 worth of groceries from Kroger each month. Now instead of paying with our credit card, we’ll simply write a check to the church and buy $400 worth of Kroger gift cards from Student Life. 5% of that, or $20 in this case, will go into my fundraising “savings” account (just like we have for the Young Life raffle tickets and the Pumpkin Patch) to be used towards a future mission trip, camp, or Student Life sponsored event. I’m still spending the same amount on groceries as I always have. Now I’m just making it stretch 5% further. In the example I just stated, my family would “save up” $240 over the span of a year. And if we had family, friends, or neighbors purchasing gift cards in my child’s name, we could earn even more.
The Kroger cards are available in $100 increments. We are now selling Kroger cards Sunday mornings from 9:15-9:30am, 10:30-11:00am, and 12:00-12:15pm from Big Al's in the Student Life lobby. You can also purchase cards Wednesday & Thursday nights prior to SHIFT & ALTÆR from Aaron or Ryan.
Pumpkin Patch
Our annual Pumpkin Patch fundraiser will be held October 13-31. All of the profits will be split evenly according to number of shifts worked per person. Be sure to sign up your whole family to work a shift and earn even more. Each shift is 2 hours long. Stay tuned for more details as sign-ups get closer.
Young Life Raffle Tickets
We'll be selling the Young Life Raffle Tickets again this year for $10 each. For each ticket sold $7 will go into your accont and $3 will go towards Andy's Young Life efforts at Peachtree Ridge High School. Stay tuned for more details.
Parents Night Out
Following the success of last year's "Parents Night Out" fundraisers, we're planning on having these again in the 2009-2010 school year, probably one in December and one in February. Stay tuned for more details.
Annual Parking Lot Sized Garage Sale
This year's Garage Sale will be on Saturday, May 8th. Be sure to be storing up all of your old stuff in the attic and basement for this fundraiser. Remember you're responsible for pricing, organizing, selling, and cleaning up all of your own stuff. We'll have a donation truck available after the garage sale to take whatever you want to get rid of.
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January 2010
SHIFT starts back up -- January 13
ALTÆR starts back up -- January 14
ALTÆR Winter Camp -- January 22-24
Fresh Start Confirmation begins -- January 24
SHIFT & ALTÆR Service Projects -- January 30
Missions Training Day 1 -- January 31
February
SHIFT Winter Retreat -- February 5-7
ALTÆR Service Project -- February 13
SHIFT Service Project -- February 20
Missions Training Day 2 -- February 21
March
Confirmation Service -- March 6
Student Life Sunday -- March 7
Missions Training Day 3 -- March 7
30 Hour Famine -- March 19-20
Sharp Top Cove Work Crew -- March 26-28
April
SHIFT & ALTÆR Service Projects -- April 17
Missions Training Day 4 -- April 18
May
Garage Sale Fundraiser -- May 8
Freshmen Overnighter -- May 14-15
Missions Training Day 5 -- May 16
last SHIFT -- May 19
first ALTÆR for new freshmen -- May 20
ALTÆR Service Project -- May 22
New Orleans (level 2) Mission Trip -- May 30-June 5
June
Tijuana (level 2) Mission Trip -- June 5-12
New York City (level 2) Mission Trip -- June 5-13
Chattanooga (level 1) Mission Trip -- June 6-11
X-Treme VBS -- June 14-18
Costa Rica (level 3) Mission Trip -- June 19-29
Louisville (level 1) Mission Trip -- June 20-25
July
Panama (level 3) Mission Trip -- July 3-13
Peru (level 4) Mission Trip -- July 2-16
High School Wilderness Trip -- July 18-24
SHIFT Summer Camp -- July 26-30
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At Student Life we believe in Christ's Commission to "Go and make disciples of all nations...". We believe that all followers of Christ are called and equipped to be his hands and feet. We also believe in developing those gifts and callings at age-appropriate levels, which is why we've developed a 4-tiered missions approach for our students. The goal is for our students to take ever-increasing steps of faith as we challenge them with more and more intense missions experiences as they grow in their relationships with Christ.
Our level 1 mission trips are for students entering their 7th or 8th grade. They are 6 days long (Sunday through Friday) and for the last 6 years we've teamed up with an organization called "youthworks" for these trips. We've sent teams to Bayou La Batre Alabama, Birmingham Alabama, Savannah Georgia, Bluefield West Virginia, Cincinatti Ohio, Chattanooga Tennessee, Newport Tennessee, Marvell Arkansas, and Raleigh-Durham North Carolina. These teams generally stay in schools or churches and are involved in a number of different ministries: kids' club, home refurbishment, elderly homes, soup kitchens, etc.. Summer of 2010 we'll have 2 different level 1 mission trip opportunities to Chattanooga, Tennessee as well as to Louisville, Kentucky. The cost is generally between $300-$400.
Our level 2 mission trips are for students entering their 9th grade year or higher. They are 7-8 days long (Saturday through Saturday or Sunday through Sunday) and for the last few years we've offered two different options each summer. One is with Amor Ministries to Tijuana Mexico where we camp out at the Amor base alongside other church groups and build homes for impoverished families on the city's periphery. Our other level 2 option has been with C.S.M. (Center for Student Missions) to various American inner-cities. In the past we've served in Washington D.C., San Francisco, Chicago, and Philadelpia. Our time is spent working in soup kitchens, after school programs, food banks, rescue missions, elderly homes, hospitals, AIDS feeding programs, and with the homeless on the streets. At the end of our weeks serving we usually add on a day of fun at a local amusement park before heading home. The cost for our level 2 mission trips is between $600-$700 for the inner-city trips and between $1000-$1300 for our Tijuana trip. This summer of 2010 we are going to be offering 3 level 2 mission trips: Tijuana, New Orleans, and New York City.
Our level 3 mission trips are for students entering their 11th grade year or higher. They are 11-13 days long and are much more outreach oriented. Students are challenged to share their faith through one-on-one interaction, testimonies, dramas, english classes, youth camps, kids' clubs, Bible distribution, etc. The goal is that as students become more comfortable talking about and sharing their faith they would bring that experience home with them and do likewise here. The past few years we've teamed up with missionaries in Costa Rica and the Czech Republic that we've developed relationships with over the years. In Costa Rica we serve with the local YWAM (Youth With a Mission) base in the coastal state of Guanacaste. In Czech we've worked alongside a ministry called "Caleb's Heart". These trips cost between $1200-$2500 and students send out support letters to raise the necessary money and prayer support to make our trip successful. This summer of 2010 we'll be offering two different level 3 mission trips: Costa Rica and Panama.
Our level 4 mission trips are for students entering their 12th grade or who just graduated. They are 14-16 days long. The past couple of years we've sent teams to Peru and South Africa. Our level 4 trips are similar to our level 3 mission trips ministry-wise but the students are now in charge of planning all of the outreaches. They preach. They teach. They plan all of the kids' ministry, the youth camps, the worship, etc. They become our "partners" in ministry as we serve alongside each other. These trips cost between $2500-$3000 and students send out support letters to raise the prayer and financial support needed. Summer 2010 we'll be heading back to Peru where we'll be ministering for a week in Lima as well as a week in Cusco high in the Andes.
For all of our mission trips we have mandatory team meetings. For our level 1 mission trips there are 3 training meetings. For all others there are 5 or more. At these meetings we not only bond together as a team, but we also prepare for our ministry by preparing our hearts. We have various assignments as well for each mission team: memory verses, books that we read together, research on where we're going, etc. The training meetings are an essential aspect of tilling the soil of our hearts for what God has in store for us on the mission field. For this reason failure to attend or to do the necessary assignments will result in termination from the team. We start our team training in late January and meet Sunday afternoons or evenings every few weeks until summer hits.
Our mission trips are an essential discipleship tool in our process. Year after year we've seen incredible growth in our students. We've also seen God use our students in powerful and awe-inspiring ways. Our desire is that God would "ruin" our students so that they understand that there is no better life, no matter where they end up and what they end up doing, then one spent in serving Jesus by serving others.
We'll have our annual Summer Missions Parent Meetings on both November 11 & 12 where we'll go over more specifics regarding each trip we'll be offering summer 2010. Applications and $100 non-refundable deposits ($200 non-refundable for all trips involving airfare) will be due mid-November. Training begins in late January. Payments will be stretched out from December through May to make it easier to budget financially. Also take note of all of our fundraising opportunities and start now!!! Our mission trips are an investment in the world and in your students' future.
For any questions please contact Aaron at aaron@sugarloaf.org.
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