Save the Date!

It's time for another coffee house! Woot woot!

We have really been working to grow our ministry through our coffee houses by inviting friends, families, and other youth groups to join us.  We have slowly but surely been growing the event, and we are really excited to see what God has in store for us this time!

Our next coffee house will be Friday, April 19 at 7:00. As always admission is free, and we will be having live bands, coffee, food, and fun games! Below is our flyer for the event!

The Good News About Easter

It is Holy Week, and our YOMS are praising God!  Last night we met for the last time before Easter Sunday.  We took the opportunity to read the story of the crucifixion and resurrection in order to reflect on Jesus' act of sacrifice for us. 

What an incredible gesture of forgiveness that God bestowed when he sent his son to die for our sins!  We got into a great discussion about forgiveness and referenced some pretty harsh situations in which it would not be easy to forgive.  For instance, some of our youth brought up families of the victims of school shootings.  One shooting in particular was the one that occurred in the Amish school house.  We were all amazed at the ability of the family members to forgive the shooter, and we got to thinking--how did their forgiveness affect all of the people who heard the story?  Could their forgiveness have helped to relieve some of the suffering that the shooter's family must have been feeling? Were there people who watched the story on the news and became so moved that they decided to forgive someone in their own lives? Through our discussion, we realized that by forgiving others as Christ has forgiven us, we are spreading his word through our actions.  We can actually touch people's lives and move them to understand Christ's teachings. 

When Jesus died on the cross, he not only showed us forgiveness, but he showed us the greatest love possible.  He loves us SO MUCH, he would die for us.  That is incredible news.  We read the verse, John 3:16-17 again in order to hear it with renewed awe.  This is a verse that we hear over and over in the church, but the news never gets old! "For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.  God sent his son into the world not to judge the world, but to SAVE the world through him." I had to bold the word "save," because it is so important.  He did save the world, and he saved us, and that is why this Sunday we can rejoice in Jesus' victory over death and over sin in our lives. 

We hope that you all have a joyous Easter!!

Summer 2012 Mission Trip!

We are excited to announce our Summer 2013 Mission Trip. This year we will be heading to Washington, D.C. at the end of June to serve in the city for a full week. The YouthWorks! Organization, who hosted us for both our Arizona and Tennessee trips, will again be hosting our youth this year. So why are we heading there? As the United States capital, Washington D.C. is home to some of the country’s most fascinating political and historical treasures. Monuments, museums, memorials and government buildings draw approximately 15.4 million visitors to the city each year. While this city is rich in history, there are present-day residents who struggle with poverty and homelessness. Your group will serve metro-area residents through volunteering at organizations that serve the children, elderly and homeless populations of this great city. Look for more updates about this ministry opportunity soon!

Messiah Coffee House 11/30

Come Join us Friday November 30th for our Coffee House event! We will be having live music, food, coffee, and games. Doors open at 7pm and admission is free. Invite your friends!

Puerto Rico Mission Trip Update, Friday 6/29

Greetings again from Ponce! We had a great start to our day this morning and some very exciting plans to head up to Toro Verde Adventure park. We were up early, had a healthy breakfast, cleaned our bunks and bathrooms, and were all ready to head out when we found a nice flat tire on one of the rentals.

After trying to change the tire and put on our full size spare we decided to track down our Team Effort leader, Carly. After getting directions to a nearby Texico we headed over to see what we could do about our flat. While waiting to hear if our tire could be repaired we heard a man getting fuel shouting over to us. He was yelling "Hallelujah" and "Praise Jesus" while laughing. He came over and spoke in Spanish with Carly for a few minutes, walked in to the mechanic and also spoke with him. He apparently has seen our group working around the city, along with the other youth ministries here, and was praising the work we have been doing. The mechanic had our flat repaired and gave our rental a quick inspection as well, all free of charge. And so we were back to our campsite and on our way up to Toro Verde, only slightly behind schedule.
         
We had a great drive up through the mountains and into Orocovis, which is towards the center of the island. Once we arrived at Toro Verde and harnessed up and headed into the park for our rainforest canopy zip lining tour. We flew across eight different zip lines through the tropical treetops, all of various speeds and lengths. The longest of which was a bit over 2,600 feet in length and over 900 feet over the valley. We enjoyed a bit of hiking and climbing in between the platforms, as well as some breathtaking views.
              
After our adventures at Toro Verde we drove back down to Ponce. We had a nice dinner in the town square and walked around town for a bit as well. Afterwards we called it an early night after our long day.

We all are looking forward to seeing everyone when we return, and can't wait to share our experiences with you all!
God Bless,
Dave, Keith, Lauren, Maya, and the YOMs

Puerto Rico Mission Trip Update, Thursday 6/28

Hello again everyone! We had another amazing day down here in Ponce that we would love to share with all of you. We began our day this morning by praying and praising God before breakfast. After sharing our meal with our fellow youth ministries and the Team Effort crew we gathered up our work site materials and headed off to the mission house.

This morning we were actually not even scheduled to head to our work site, however our youth were so motivated that we convinced our staff leader to bring us back to work for the first half of the day. While at the mission house this morning we worked like crazy to complete our two murals on the front of the house. Several of our youth also worked to clean up the work site and organize some of our materials from the week. The youth also touched up some of the trim, shutters, and the door out front. However, what was most uplifting today was hands down the amount of people stopping by to check out our work. We had so many people just stopping in while walking down the street, people stopping their cars to look, take pictures, and pass along their encouragement to us!

Once we finished up at our work site we headed back to our campsite, then to the local park again. At the park today we held a cookout and invited everyone throughout the neighborhood. The two work crews who were at work sites next to the park had also invited all of the people they had met throughout the week as well. While there the youth got to hang out with some of the neighborhood kids and pass out some soccer balls, hula hoops, bubbles, and other toys.

After the cookout we were given some time off for the afternoon. We headed South West to the Cana Gorda beach, which is a national park in the coastal town of Gaunica. We enjoyed relaxing on the beach, playing some games, and swimming in the beautiful blue waters. After our brief trip we headed back over to Ponce for dinner and our evening worship service.

During our service we gathered to sing our praises, pray together, and discuss the the topic of carrying around our past sins as baggage. After service we gathered in the town square for a candle light prayer together. We wrote our extra baggage, our sins, upon shipping tags and nailed them on a huge wooden cross together. We prayed for each other and asked God to help us let go of our past sins.
 

Tomorrow we look forward to what God has in store for us, and for some time together on our free day. Thank you all for your continuing encouragement and prayers!
God Bless,
Dave, Keith, Lauren, Maya, and the YOMs

Puerto Rico Mission Trip, Tuesday 6/26 and Wednesday 6/27 Update

Hello Everyone! We are all alive and well still here in Ponce. I was not able to pick up a wifi signal yesterday, so sorry for not sending out an update! The weather has been getting a bit hotter each day, but it hasn't slowed down our youth in the least bit.

We began our day on Tuesday with our usual morning meal and prayers together with the Team Effort staff and the other youth ministries. After breakfast we gathered up all of our tools and supplies and began our walk up to the mission house work site. We began by caulking up the rest of the exterior of the home. The girls were climbing on ladders all around the house and got the entire place weather proofed in the morning hours! We also had a crew working to restore the front of the house. They scraped all of the loose paint and damaged concrete from the exterior. They used putty to repair the railing and facade of the house. In the afternoon the same group primed and sanded to prepare the front of the home for painting on Wednesday. The rest of the youth worked on the interior of the home to complete the floor joists in the living room and one of the bedrooms of the house. Our work site leader, Tim, was praising our youth all day for their hard work!

After washing up from our work day we walked down to Primera Iglesia Metodista Unida de Ponce, the church hosting Team Effort, and joined everyone for dinner. Afterwards we played a few games of Basketball with some of the local children.

In the evening we had our usual worship service run by our awesome Team Effort staff. We gathered with our youth to discuss our day and experiences, then returned to the church for a prayer service with the local parish members. We were treated to a unique service of intimate prayer and traditional praise music at the church. It was a great experience our youth will not forget!


On Wednesday we followed our same routine in the morning and headed off to the mission house. We had been asked to come up with a few possible mural ideas to be painted on the lower portion in the front of the house. After gathering in front of the mission house for some prayer and devotional time we searched for some inspiring scripture. We began by sketching out our ideas in pencil and began painting this afternoon. Our youth worked together to agree on two verses which we be written in both English and Spanish. They also drew and painted together to begin what will be a beautiful mural on the mission house.

After a short break for lunch at the park we headed back over to the mission house to continue our mural. While several of our youth worked on the mural the rest of our crew kept busy as well. One group taped off the front of the home and gave a fresh new layer of paint, while others continued to work inside on the floor joists and re-supporting the walls. Throughout the workdays we have also been having lots of visitors, both from the church and people just passing by. Several have given compliments on the work we are doing on the home, but most have commented on the uplifting impact our young people are having in the community. They enjoy seeing the love of God through the work our youth are doing here.

At the end of the day we ate another delicious meal and the church and hung around afterwards for our worship service. After a bit of devotional time and discussion with our Messiah group we headed back up to the town square. While there we joined the Team Effort staff for some home made ice cream at a local shop and hung out in the town square.

We all hope you are doing well back home! We cant wait to come back and share some of our stories with you all.
God Bless,
Dave, Keith, Lauren, Maya, and the YOMs