WE HAVE MOVED!

The Wooster Grace Students Blog has moved! We've been rearranging some things and cleaning house. Now you can view our blog and read about life in Student Ministries at 

www.woostergracestudents.org

Decorating the Student Ministries Office

It's done!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Thanksgiving Part 5

Well, it's the end of Thanksgiving 2009. What a good day with family. I hope your day was pretty incredible and that you didn't eat TOO much ;) 

Family is a good thing. It makes sense that God would make it this way. Looking forward to seeing everyone back in Wooster on Sunday. 

I'll leave you with the best commercial I saw all day. It's a classic.

Thanksgiving part 4

Thanksgiving Part 3

My parents are getting the meal ready. Almost done!

Thanksgiving part 2

Now, we're playing scrabble. My brother and sister-in-law are coming over at 4pm. I am royally losing at scrabble. Yep. Loser. Oh wait! 14 points! Still losing...

Thanksgiving

Soon

In HSM yesterday morning, we discussed eternity and if we are ready to enter eternity. For the unbeliever, he must make a decision to follow Jesus to spend eternity in heaven. But what about the believer...is HE ready to go to heaven? Many of us aren't. I know I don't feel ready. There are so much we want to do; so many dreams to be fulfilled. Still, if we are to love God with all of our heart, wouldn't that include desiring heaven and to be in his presence.

We ended the morning service with a drama some of our students participated in to depict what it will be like worshiping around God's throne. They did it to the song "Soon" by Brooke Fraser. The chorus says:

I will be with the One I love
With unveiled face I'll see Him
There my soul will be satisfied
Soon and Very Soon

Soon from Wooster Grace Students on Vimeo.

Take a Cue

The other week, an 8th grade boy came up to my wife and handed her some money. Amber was unsure what it was for, since it was too early for our Pizza Fundraiser forms, and nothing else was coming up that required money. So she asked him what it was for.

He said he had gotten a financial gift and wanted to give some to Monopa, the teenage girl from Thailand that Middle School Ministries adopted last year and support. Amber looked down to see how much was there, thinking it to be $5 or even $10, and saw that he had handed her $90!

Because of this student's generosity and willingness to give out of the blessings that he has received, a 14 year-old girl in Thailand can eat, have shelter, and hear about Jesus! What a heart for obedience and thanks mom and dad for no doubt modeling that for him to see. I was touched as well as challenged in my own life to be giving out of the many blessings that I have received and we could all probably take a cue from this 8th grader and his willingness to be obedient and give to the Lord.

- Josh Atkins

Grace College Visit

Every fall, the HSM (High School Ministries) team travels to Grace College so that Nick can teach a youth ministries class for College freshman and sophmores. It's a good time to recharge as a ministry team and plan for the coming year, too. We went last week (November 3-5) and had a great time. Some of the highlights included:

- having college students over for dinner on Tuesday night.
- training to-be youth pastors and leaders in how to reach students in the youth ministry class.
- driving down to Indiana University to watch the Hoosiers play the Grace Lancers.
- Steak 'n Shake late at night.
- Playing wii at the guest house.
- Seeing Grace College with all the Autumn foliage (beautiful!)
- The roadtrip itself!
- brainstorming fun and creative series for HSM in the spring.
- Stopping at Starbucks for Steve :)

Anyway, the list could go on but we figured you might rather enjoy some pictures, so if you have a minute, view our trip.

Welcome to the Family

As most of you know my job here in Student Ministries is half 'administrative' and half 'ministry.' This means that I get the best of both worlds. I get to work at my desk and do a lot of behind the scenes work (PPT, office stuff, etc) and then I also to get to break free from my desk and hang out with a lot of cool people! And although I'd much rather be out and about with students all day every day, there are things here that just have to get done to have a successful smooth running ministry. I was reminded yesterday that my job at my desk can be so fulfilling even though it's not the preferred half of my job......

Yesterday I was tasked to put together a list of contact info for all of the people that have committed their lives to Christ for the first time in HSM this year...As I read through the names, my heart turned to mush and I was overwhelmed. It's so cool workin' here getting the opportunity to read through this list of names...recalling their very own personal story of when and where and how they met Jesus -- and how their lives changed and are changing. Let me share with you the first names of all the students (that we know of) that have embraced a life with Jesus since the beginning of November last year......

alissa
kyle
megan
jessi
lauren
skylar
tiffany
ashley
brandon
tim
jake
erica
abby
zach
andrea
emma
brienne
lexie
katie
sarah
jamie
annalise
cassii
nicholas
cassidy
matt
kaila
amber

Welcome to the family, guys.

Post Game Review!

by Pastor Nick

Post Game is now a few weeks removed but what a great night it was. Over 200 students and leaders landed at the Student Ministry Center at Grace to hang out, have fun, & discovered more about who we are at Grace.

I arrived at 1pm to discover 6 people already working tirelessly to set up. There were 7 of us who worked from 1pm until well after 1am to make this a sweet event. What did we do?

• Set up the Karaoke station
• Put down the thousands of proverbs on the floor for confetti decorations
• Set up the lighting
• Helped the band do sound checks
• Displayed the prizes
• Blew up hundreds of balloons for the mezzanine
  
• Turned on all the gaming stations
• Put the hoops down in the gym for basketball
• Set up the tunnel entrance for the SMC
• Got the sumo wrestling ready to roll
• Organized the registration
• Prepared the food (and oh was there some food)
• Prayed together for the evening

All of that because we wanted to see students bring their friends and find a place to connect together. In total over 100 people came who were not on our roster of 300 high school students at Grace. That translated means 100 people who had never been to Grace before visited our facility. They had a great time, watched a nice band The Colission, & heard me share about how our lives have been changed by knowing Jesus Christ.

So that's it, right? It ended at midnight or a little after...we just had a party? No, it didn't really end then. Actually on Sunday we saw a number of visitors return for our HSM service and 2 students made first time decisions to follow Jesus Christ!

Praise God for His faithfulness & thanks for praying. Post Game 2009 was a great success!

Student Leadership this Sunday

In High School Ministries, we have a core group of students who desire to be leaders among their peers. The group is open to anyone who applies. Last month we began our year in training on how we can not only act as leaders on the outside, but also be leaders on the inside.

It all begins and ends with an intimate relationship with God. As a part of our monthly gatherings, our students are working through Henry Blackaby's Experiencing God. They're learning a series of realities about knowing the will of God. These realities are:

1. God is always at work around me.
2. God pursues a continuing love relationship with me that is real and personal.
3. God invites me to become involved with Him in His work.
4. God speaks by the Holy Spirit through the Bible, prayer, circumstances, and the church to reveal Himself, His purposes and His ways.
5. God’s invitation for me to work with Him always leads me to a crisis of belief that requires faith and action.
6. I must make major adjustments in my life to join God in what He is doing.
7. I come to know God by experience as I obey Him and He accomplishes His work through me.

Pray for us this Sunday as we will be meeting at 4 and talking more about what it means to be a leader. If you're a high school student who is looking for more in your walk with Jesus Christ, come out to Student Leadership.

~ Ben

Excited about what God is doing!

by: Rachel J. Snyder

I was sitting out in the Student Ministries Center this week with a high school girl. We were drinking a cup of cappuccino and talking about life and quite frankly how it's way too much fun sometimes and how it really isn't fun other times. She was pouring out her life story....all of her struggles....all of her family's struggles and just a heap of other stuff that life has thrown her way in just 17 years of life. After we talked for almost an hour...I asked her a simple question...."What does Student Ministries at Wooster Grace mean to you?" At first she didn't quite understand the question, but after thinking for just a minute she said something that I won't easily forget. She said:

"Student Ministries at Grace is somewhere that I fit in. Where people are welcoming and nice and friendly. I've made more friends here than anywhere else, real friends...that care about me."

All I could think was "Wow, I hope that's what Student Ministries at Grace is for every student that walks in our doors!" I'm so thankful to be a part of a church that values students enough to build a Student Ministries Center where students feel welcome and loved. Thank you for making an eternal impact by praying for our students and our ministry in their lives. We couldn't do it without you.

A Different Kind of Hero

We just heard about how to be a Different Kind of Hero and maybe you were one of the people who said that they would pray for us in Student Ministries. If so, first of all, THANK YOU! Working with students, we need all the prayer we can get. : ) And to help you pray for us, here are some specific ways that you can be praying for Student Ministries.

- Middle School Fall House Party - It's going to be October 24th at the Roseler's house and will be a chance for 7th and 8th grade students to bring their friends that need to hear about Jesus. It is on a Saturday night so that hopefully a student can say, "Hey, why don't you come to church with me tomorrow" and there's a natural way to invite them to our service. Pray for new faces, a good turnout, and sunshine. For more details, click here.

- High School Postgame - This is our High School Ministry's BIG outreach for the Fall. They have put a lot of work into it already and are excited about the chance to use the building that we've been blessed with to reach local high school students. You can pray about possibly promoting the postgame at the school you're most affiliated with. You can pray for boldness for students to invite their unsaved friends. And overall pray for a GREAT night where students who don't know Jesus can come and spend time with people who do. For more details, click here, or just scroll down this blog a little bit.

There are plenty of other ways to pray, but here are the MAJOR things coming up in the Student Ministries world. Thanks for being a part of a GREAT morning, and thank you SO MUCH for committing to praying with us and for us.

- Josh

Today's the day!

Today is the day! It's Student Ministries Sunday. You may be a new visitor to our blog or a regular viewer. Either way, we're glad you're here and are so grateful for your prayers and support. Stop by the blog all this week to learn new things about Student Ministries. 

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday!

Student Ministries Weekend

T-minus 10 hours and 45 minutes.

I absolutely LOVE Student Ministries Weekend. Here is an easy-on-the-eyes list of reasons why I can't wait until tomorrow.

- High School Praise Band - Students using their gifts to lead adults, other students, me, in worship is a sweet sight. I got to sit in on their practice last Sunday and it was a great time watching them laugh and have a great time singing, playing their instruments, and worshiping God together. Mike Lee, the Praise Band coordinator, has done a GREAT job with the students and I know they'll do a great job tomorrow.

- Pastor Bob Doerr (RAD) speaking - Being in meetings and listening to RAD talk about the the message for tomorrow, I know it's going to be good. He's been working out some sweet details with us as a Student Ministries team and rest assured you're not going to want to miss it.

- Just a Glimpse - For the rest of the church, this is one weekend a year where they get to experience what those of us who work in Student Ministries get to experience EVERY DAY. Students finding Jesus for the first time. Students using their gifts to glorify God. Adults loving students and helping them along in their faith journey. There's NOTHING like working with students. And for one morning, the rest of the church gets just a glimpse.

Can't wait.

T-minus 10 hours and 12 minutes.

- Josh

Wooster Football

This coming Thursday, we have the awesome privilege of feeding the Wooster Football Team. Since, I've attended a lot of their Friday night games by now, it's cool to finally serve them.

When was the last time you gave back to your community in a significant way? Everyone has the ability to start somewhere and do something special and show the love of Jesus. You could throw an open house at your home for the people on your street or rake all the leaves on your block one Saturday. You could visit a local nursing home and just sit and listen to people's stories. The sky's the limit in how you can be like Jesus.

Wooster Grace Students sure isn't perfect and we're conscious of how many needs there are in our community, many of which we're unable to meet. But we realize that we need to start somewhere, and then maybe...maybe we can change something for the cause of Christ.

- Ben