Breakfast

by Amanda

It’s 7:15 on a Wednesday morning. Carly is a freshman at Louisburg High School. As she sits next to me, she says, “Do you know what the special is for today? I sure hope it is biscuits and gravy!”

For the past several months, 8-12 students from Louisburg High School have been meeting each Wednesday morning at a local restaurant to fellowship with one another and study God’s Word. The owner has graciously offered the daily special FREE of charge for all those who come.

Jonathan and I have been leading the group through a study on the Character of God. It has been encouraging to see the students grow in their understanding of who God is. Last week, we talked about what characteristics of God are the most comforting to us. Several of the students mentioned the different characteristics found in Psalm 33. This Psalm reveals that God not only sees all the things we do, but God understands and knows our motives.

It is amazing how God is using this study to teach Jonathan and me. We have been reading a book in preparation for parenting (it is never to early to start). In this book, the author constantly reminds us that our heavenly Father doesn’t just care about what we do, He cares about our heart’s motive. As we parent, we need to reflect this concern with motive as we train our child(ren). It is an exciting challenge to help our child(ren) understand that all actions should flow out of a heart of obedience to a God who knows our motives.

Merry Christmas,

Jonathan and Amanda

December Prayer Requests

YSMD — Keep praying for the development of YouthFront School of Mission and Discipleship. This month there are several details to arrange. We really would like to solidify the name of the school, create marketing tools, and start contacting mission organizations to plan the trip to Africa or Asia.

Support Finding — Almost finished! We are now focusing on preparing for the School, but we still need the last 5% of our funding to come in.
Club 121 — We just had our last meeting of this calendar year. Around 85 students showed up to go ice skating at Crown Center. Pray that we would develop deeper relationships with students. Also, pray for boldness to introduce ourselves to students we do not know. Finally, pray that the Lord would raise up student leaders who would have a passion to display Christ to their classmates.

Camp — The decision has still yet to be determined with our camp role. We should have a meeting within the next week, so pray for wisdom, unity, and clear direction. Also, pray for the recruitment of summer staff. There have been several trips made to local colleges to recruit students. We need several college students who love Jesus with all their hearts, and want to see that love passed on to teenagers.

Fellowship — Please keep praying for us in this. We still have not found a church home, and the process of visiting different churches has made fellowshipping with other believers difficult. Pray for deeper relationships to form quickly.

Christmas Travels— Pray for protection as we travel to and from Ames, IA. Also, pray we would be a blessing to those we spend time with.

Night Strike

Twenty feet above my head police lights blink so bright the stars are covered over for an instance with flashes of red and blue. In the woods, 100 feet away I hear the faint sound of three kids singing, “Mary had a little lamb,” and a man on a mega phone yelling, “You in the blue, you’re through.”

Is this a strange dream? No. This month at one of our Club121 outings we played a game for which YouthFront is famous….. a game called “Night Strike.” Students look forward to it every year at camp. So, when they heard we were planning it for a Club121 outing, they were ecstatic. Over 80 students attended this particular Club121 event. We’re excited to see so many people involved in the area. We want to see Louisburg become a place where Jesus is talked of fondly on the street corners and where students pray and seek God’s will together during break times at school.

Pray for us.
Jonathan and Amanda

I'm Going to be a Daddy!

We’re pregnant!

It’s hard to believe we’re going to have our first child. Ever since we found out, our excitement for entering into the “parents” chapter of our lives has been steadily growing.

Right now, Amanda is 18 weeks along, which means she is due on April 11th, 2008. On Thanksgiving, we’ll be halfway done with the pregnancy!

November Prayer Requests

YSMD — Keep praying for the development of YouthFront School of Mission and Discipleship. We are waiting to pour ourselves completely into this until our support is fully raised. Pray for united vision and recruitment of students. Pray that we will reach our support goal soon.

Support Finding — Almost finished. Pray contacting people would be easy. Pray for 100% funding.

Club 121 — We have loved getting to know the students of Louisburg. Pray that we will know how best to equip and challenge them. Pray that their hearts would grow more and more in love with Jesus and that they would be looking for ways to pour their lives into others.

Camp — Pray for our decision regarding camp roles. Since we are pregnant, we must be wise concerning which roles we will take on. Pray for wisdom. Also, pray for the recruitment of summer staff. We need college students who love Jesus with all their hearts, and want to see that love passed on to teenagers.

Fellowship — Please keep praying for us in this. Pray especially for close friendships for Amanda. Also, we are still looking for a church near us to which we can be committed.