Oops

Well,

Yesterday I discovered that we made a couple major errors on our last newsletter. The biggest of which is that the template refers to "OUR MINISTRY IN MINNEAPOLIS". Well, in case you didn't know... we're in Kansas City. Often when we are putting together newsletters, we use a template from previous years. I liked the colors of last year's January newsletter, so we decided to use it again.

We've been known to have a few spelling errors here and there, but nothing this major. In all honesty, its a little embarrassing, but I'm sure most people who write newsletters as often as we do make the same mistakes sometimes.

Oh well, its worth laughing aboutt..... about.

Jonathan

Beginning the Third Trimester!

I thought you might like to see a picture of my wife's belly! We're do April 11th. This month we found out about yet another couple who is pregnant with us. The total is now 9 couples who will be embarking on the journey of parenthood in the next 7 months.

YouthFront Mission Institute

A new name!

The ministry we have been preparing to launch for YouthFront has now been officially named YouthFront Mission Institute (YMI).

YMI is coming into existence in order to equip college age students with spiritual depth, a world perspective, and a love for mission focused fellowship. We hope that the things they learn during this semester long program will affect them for the rest of their lives.
Since Christmas, we have been working on many of the details; from pursuing contacts overseas to looking through curriculum options to developing applications and brochures. By the end of this month, we should have a complete info packet ready to hand to potential students.

We have two large needs we’d like you to pray for. First, we need a missionary contact who can partner with us during the overseas portion of the school. It’s important that they be able to handle a group as large as ours. A second need is for another couple who has a passion to be a part of this new ministry. We need them to share in the responsibility of discipling students and leading the trips. Pray for us!

Prayer!

One of our goals this year is to pray regularly for those who are supporting our ministry. In Scripture, several times Paul talks about praying for the ones who are supporting his ministry. We would like to be like Paul in this. Will you send your prayer requests to Amanda at aphilgreen@youthfront.com.

January Prayer Requests

YMI — Our biggest requests are mentioned in the blurb above. Things are really starting to roll. Pray that details would come together seamlessly, and that students would find this appealing.

Club 121 — The first Club121 of the new year happened this past Sunday. Pray that students who don’t know Christ would entrust their lives to Him. Also, please continue to pray that God would raise up student leaders who would have a passion to display Christ to their classmates.

Camp — It appears that we will be taking on a larger camp role than we had initially planned on. Specifically, I (Jonathan) will be the Cabin Leader Supervisor at YouthFront Camp South. Unfortunately, this job takes a lot of work both before and during the summer. In light of our central role in YMI’s launch, we need God to either send more laborers who can share in the responsibility, or we need supernatural strength and diligence. Pray! Pray! Pray!. Also, pray for the recruitment of summer staff. We need several quality college students who love Jesus and want to pass on that love to teenagers.

Fellowship — It has been exhausting looking for a church home. Please keep praying for us in this. Pray for wisdom, patience, and unity. Also, pray deeper relationships would form quickly.

Christmas Travels— We had a wonderful Christmas in Ames and Kansas City. Thanks for praying for our physical and spiritual safety.

Family — Amanda is just starting the third trimester. Pray that she and the baby would remain healthy. Also, pray that God would be preparing us for the role of parents, and that we would enjoy our final months as a 2 person family.

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.