Sunday, July 10, 2011
IMPORTANT Update From Jared Re Flight Info
Parents, today is going extremely well. It is hard to believe that the week is over already. We have a FLIGHT INFO clarification. I had said that we would pick up at SDFC unless Steve Cobbs trumped that plan. He did. So, we need you to pick up your children from the San Diego airport. We are scheduled to land at 1:30pm. Please help spread the word and carpool with each other to save effort and gas. At the end of a long week this seems like it'll be a good move, Lord willing. Thanks for all you do. -Jared
Sunday Morning, July 10th From Jared
Hello NYC Blog Followers, amen for today! I feel like the whole week had built to this current 24 hours. Last night I addressed our youth group with the fact that some of them still havent opened up. They are still holding out and testing the waters waiting for someone to jump first. I explained that everything this week has prepped them to be able to have tough conversation today. They wasted no time. Some went out, found people, and confessed huge things. We have given them a list of tough questions to ask each other. Please pray that today will bring incredible healing. Amen for this time we have had together. Thanks for your prayers and support. -Jared"
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Saturday, July 9th NYC
Today, the second to last day of the conference was another great, fun day. The kids had a bit of a break today.. no morning service, and no seminars... It was "tourist" day today. So our family took off on a tourist adventure as well... and what do you know... we ended up in the same exact spot they were having their scavenger hunt! In the whole city, we ended up on the same street at the same time (some of us). I got a quick picture of one of the groups who was running to and fro.. it is below on the painted horse. I tried to get others... but they were all about running around and not posing for my slow iphone maneuvers... haha.
The service tonight was another power-packed hour and a half. The organizers of the event got up and gave some pretty great statistics of the service acts that happened on Wednesday. $120,ooo worth of goods were donated that filled 7 semi-trucks. 33,000 man hours were given on 240 project sites across Louisville (from painting, cleaning out yards, houses and charities, to making bracelets to raise money for autism). On the last night a plea was given to support a child, and 1,476 children were sponsored. And throughout the week, 240,000 meals were packaged up for the needy. Pretty impressive figures. Louiseville will not forget the students who came to NYC in July of 2011.
Tonight's message came from Mark Matlock. He was another talented speaker, who kept the kid's attention. His message was about Jesus healing the blind man on the Sabbath Day and the Pharisee's reaction to it.... being upset that he would "work" on the Sabbath, he must not be of God. He challenged us to not be blind to Christ... the bigger picture. He talked about getting so obsessed with one aspect of God, that we forget the others... The Pharisees were so obsessed with holiness, they made all the rules and laws to follow it, but forgot about the Love. We can do the same thing. Maybe we can get so consumed with God's love, that we don't stand up for anything that is wrong anymore... etc. He said having sight is not enough... we must have "insight" and sometimes our "insight" might make other's uncomfortable, and might make us outcasts. We have to be prepared for that.
Then the evening was finished off by a rockin' concert by the David Crowder Band. He gave it his Texas flare, and even did a few hymns in "hoe-down" style, like "I'll fly away"... with a lot of clapping and thumping. It was very fun. I'm going to try and include a clip from my iphone below (not sure how it will upload) of his final song.
It has been an action-packed, highly intense, tons-of-content, major challenge type of week. It will be interesting to see how the teens come home and break it down and live it. I have been truly blessed by the speakers, but even moreso, by observing the fun our kids are having. I had hoped to get some of their personal testimonies... but no one wanted to stop having fun for even one moment and text me anything... they were going non-stop! I don't know if they even slept! I'm sure Jared will have lots of video and testimony when they get home. We are heading out to Ohio on a family trip directly after the sersvice tomorrow, so I don't know if I will post anything, unless it's relevant to our kids. Thanks for listening/reading my observations. We have amazing kids, and we have to trust that God has a plan for each one of them, different and unique in it's purpose. They have heard powerful truth this week, that has been planted somewhere inside of their hearts!
OH! And on a final note... I asked Skitch/Eric if there had been any "incidents" of misbehavior with our kids at the hotel... and he said that there had been one incident by some teens from a different church ... someone threw a towel at a maid, and the pool had to be closed down. That's IT! Whew! For those of us with boys, we can all breathe a deep sigh of relief. Of course... there is tonight... =)
Blessings!
Michelle
The service tonight was another power-packed hour and a half. The organizers of the event got up and gave some pretty great statistics of the service acts that happened on Wednesday. $120,ooo worth of goods were donated that filled 7 semi-trucks. 33,000 man hours were given on 240 project sites across Louisville (from painting, cleaning out yards, houses and charities, to making bracelets to raise money for autism). On the last night a plea was given to support a child, and 1,476 children were sponsored. And throughout the week, 240,000 meals were packaged up for the needy. Pretty impressive figures. Louiseville will not forget the students who came to NYC in July of 2011.
Tonight's message came from Mark Matlock. He was another talented speaker, who kept the kid's attention. His message was about Jesus healing the blind man on the Sabbath Day and the Pharisee's reaction to it.... being upset that he would "work" on the Sabbath, he must not be of God. He challenged us to not be blind to Christ... the bigger picture. He talked about getting so obsessed with one aspect of God, that we forget the others... The Pharisees were so obsessed with holiness, they made all the rules and laws to follow it, but forgot about the Love. We can do the same thing. Maybe we can get so consumed with God's love, that we don't stand up for anything that is wrong anymore... etc. He said having sight is not enough... we must have "insight" and sometimes our "insight" might make other's uncomfortable, and might make us outcasts. We have to be prepared for that.
Then the evening was finished off by a rockin' concert by the David Crowder Band. He gave it his Texas flare, and even did a few hymns in "hoe-down" style, like "I'll fly away"... with a lot of clapping and thumping. It was very fun. I'm going to try and include a clip from my iphone below (not sure how it will upload) of his final song.
It has been an action-packed, highly intense, tons-of-content, major challenge type of week. It will be interesting to see how the teens come home and break it down and live it. I have been truly blessed by the speakers, but even moreso, by observing the fun our kids are having. I had hoped to get some of their personal testimonies... but no one wanted to stop having fun for even one moment and text me anything... they were going non-stop! I don't know if they even slept! I'm sure Jared will have lots of video and testimony when they get home. We are heading out to Ohio on a family trip directly after the sersvice tomorrow, so I don't know if I will post anything, unless it's relevant to our kids. Thanks for listening/reading my observations. We have amazing kids, and we have to trust that God has a plan for each one of them, different and unique in it's purpose. They have heard powerful truth this week, that has been planted somewhere inside of their hearts!
OH! And on a final note... I asked Skitch/Eric if there had been any "incidents" of misbehavior with our kids at the hotel... and he said that there had been one incident by some teens from a different church ... someone threw a towel at a maid, and the pool had to be closed down. That's IT! Whew! For those of us with boys, we can all breathe a deep sigh of relief. Of course... there is tonight... =)
Blessings!
Michelle
Friday, July 8, 2011
Our Kids End the Day with a Flash Mob!
Tonight at 9:45 in the Exhibit Hall, they pulled off a great Flash Mob. I'm sure you will see vidoes of this on facebook, and once we get home at church... (I won't ruin the fun... but the last photo shows a glimpse).
The week is going great. Every time I run into a teen, and ask them one on one, if they are enjoying the event, without exception, they light up and tell me they are glad they are here. And I have been seeking them out.... and looking them in the eye. I've been asking them what their favorite part has been. Many have said the whole thing, and many have paused not knowing which thing was their favorite so far. For a few one of their favorite moments was yesterday morning with Reggie Dabs. His message was gripping. One wild coincidence thing, is that it seems every time Scott and I walk into this HUGE arena to sit down, we sit within eyesight of our teens. Tonight we were above them, and it made my heart full to see them all engaged and worshipping. There was not much boredom going on. And this... the 5th hour and a half service so far, on top of seminars all day long. The organizers of the event, have done a great job of including video and music throughout the services, and they are never boring.
The theme today, centered on communion and compassion. Tonight's speaker, Stewart Williams, was born in South Africa, but lives in Canada. He grew up under Apartheid, and was another gifted communicator. He spoke of why it is so hard for us to give up our dreams and hopes and trust God. But yet ...in reality, our dreams and hopes pale in comparison, in size, and in significance, and in blessing, to the dreams and hopes he has for us. We need to trust Him in this. His was another story (the third!) of great pain and separation with his entire family dying except him. And, how Christ has used this in his life to make him into the man he is today... re-inforcing Francis Chan's point... that God loves us through great pain, so that we may love others through it.
It's late... enjoy a few pics of the evening. Pray for the youth leaders and students for health and strength amidst very long, energetic, and emotional days. They are having a blast... but be prepared for tired pups when they get home!
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Thursday, July 7th NYC
Today the kids got blessed by some amazing speakers. The morning session speaker was Reggie Dabbs, one of the countries most sought after motivational speakers for teens. He is a large black man, who could tell stories like no other, and had the house in hilarious laughter and then in tears. At the end the altar was filled with hundreds. He spoke of his own brokenness when his mother gave him up to a foster home at 8 yrs old, and the life's lessons that led him to Christ through that.
interesting sessions and lots of play time in the Exhibit hall, where all of the Nazarene Universities have booths and activities for the students. Also, each University is giving away a $40,000 scholarship, to be raffled off on the last day. Mid-America has a big wooden box, where an artist is creating something beautiful out of broken items that students are feeding through a hole in the side of it. The unveiling of this is to be on Friday night. Our PLNU booth is very laid-back with lots of video gaming, Wii and Kinnect for entertainment, set against a huge mural of the ocean out of the 
Nease Hall lounge. It's a little like sitting in a living room at home, and has become a base station of sorts for our church teens.Tonight another very powerful speaker, Francis Chan, (the first photo below) gave a serious and profound message to the kids about the significance of our lives here on earth, and how short they are, in comparison to eternity. God created us, and loves us, and shapes us through trials; comforts and guides us in them.. SO THAT... we may go and do this for the world around us. We are created to receive his love, and then give it away. It's a simple truth, but one of the most important truths in the bible.
It's been a great time so far, and I hope you are in contact with your teen a bit, and getting a taste of what they are experiencing here. According to the youth leaders, everyone is beginning to get tired, because they are staying up late to talk. And, even though they are getting up at 9 am, it is still like 6 am at home. There is not a lot of down time for them. Pray for health and strength for the youth kids and especially the leaders who are overseeing it all, and staying up til the last one goes to bed!
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