YouthFront Camp West - Days 3, 4, & 5

Around an hour and a half ago we all arrived home safely after another amazing week at YouthFront Camp West with our Fusion 5th-7th graders and leaders!  Multiple kids fell asleep on the 3-hour car ride home, the activity of the week seemed to finally catch up with them last night and today.

Camp really does seem to be some of the best ministry of the year.  We had some amazing laughs together this week.  At random times of the day we also had some amazing conversations listening to kids questions about God.  Last night we spent time asking each other "is Jesus enough?" or if we were chasing after something else to satisfy us.  All of us learned and went deeper with God during that discussion.  I was so proud of our group and how they focused on Jesus this week.  We have great kids at Horizons!

If you missed out this year, make sure to plan on coming to camp with us next year!  It will be one of the most spiritually impacting experiences of your life.  Plus of course one of the most fun, with paintball, the blob, the water slide, hype, and more!  

Thank you to the YouthFront Staff for all of your year-round work to make this week what it is.

Thank you to Kelso, Hoob, Emily, Kyle, & Chris for taking time this week to experience camp with our Horizons students!  Fusion is so lucky to have you.

YouthFront Camp West - Days 1 & 2

Our Fusion 5th-7th graders and several Fusion leaders are on another trip down to YouthFront Camp West this week!  We wanted to shoot you a couple of updates with details from our time:

• Only one mini van missed a turn on the way down!  This resulted in them missing the best lunch on the planet... Chik-Fil-A!!!  But they eventually found a place to eat, and joined us at camp only a short 20-minutes after the rest of us arrived!

• It took like 3-minutes to realize how much we missed this place...  the camp rocks!!!  YouthFront is a leading organization in the nation for Youth Ministry.  Camp West is specifically targetted at middle schoolers, and they do an amazing job in their programming.  They have a strong influence on how Fusion operates year-round.

• The air-conditioner in the guy cabin broke down till about midnight last night.  It was around 95 degrees out yesterday, and there are 21 guys in that cabin.  It was NOT pleasant... but it was a memory.  Seriously though, we could have filled the pool with sweat.

• Tonight the topic of camp was brokenness.  Hillary Berger tweeted a great quote that summed up the night's theme: "The brokenness you experience does not mean God has left you.  God is right with you in the midst of your brokenness."  Can't wait to continue on with the story of Joseph this week!  We are still just getting started!!!

• A special thank you to Ron, Pam, Dayna, Kelso, Holly, Merry, & Mike for driving us to and from KC this week!  You showed the amazing support Horizons has for our kids!

Check back here for another update towards the end of the week!  And keep our group in your prayers, church camps have a unique position in their impact on students' faith! 

Getting Pumped for VBS!

Last night at my daughters’ gymnastics class I wore my Horizons VBS volunteer shirt. I was caught off guard when a lady came up and told me that she thought she recognized me.

She said, “You were at Horizons VBS weren’t you? That is our FAVORITE VBS!”

She and her children were invited by one of her friends that attends our church and she was going through a difficult time in her life. Someone close to her had just passed away. She was hesitant to come.

She said, “I reluctantly brought the kids, but was so thankful that they had a blast and it was just what I needed!”

Thanks to all of the volunteers that do what they do to really make a difference in others lives. It really made me think about the people we come in contact with every day. We really do not know what someone else is going through and one interaction you have with them can make a HUGE impact on their lives! She told me that her children cannot wait to come back this year! She also asked if the “two guys” would be back J !

I loved the conversation, and was thankful that God gives us a glimpse of the impact that we are making in Lincoln, NE! Thanks Horizons!

Nicole

Pray, Play and Pizza Day!

Here are some pictures from our Pray, Play, & Pizza day for 5-year-olds and Kindergarteners that happened a few weeks ago! We had a blast getting together on St Patty’s day and celebrating! Thank you to our Preschool/Kindergarten DiscoveryZone Team for putting on this special event!

Stuck in the Middle

Herding Cats or Herding 5^th Graders – You Decide

A couple weekends ago I volunteered to be a “leader” for the 2012 Stuck in the Middle conference for Horizons’ youth in the 5^th-8^th grades. It basically consisted of me chauffeuring kids to and fro, keeping tabs on their whereabouts, and bunking up with them at Great Wolfe Lodge. Six kids to a room anyone? Although we all survived and had a great time, this story isn’t so much about me or “my” kids that weekend but about the great youth leadership at Horizons’ Church.

In case you don’t know, Horizons has fantastic programs for our kids. Everything from the nursery and toddlers to DiscoveryZone to Fusion and Confirmation to Hang Time to VBS breathes throughout Horizons Church. Of course, this doesn’t happen on its own. Horizons’ staff and volunteers, along with the kids, make this a great success.

Even though, I’m going to leave numerous people out due to space, I’d like to tell you my perspective of some of adults I worked with that weekend, how they are impacting the lives of our children, and how they look out for them when they’re away from home.

Chris Berger - After shaving Chris’ head in church last year our relationship has been a bit tenuous. Ok – not really. Chris impressed me this weekend when he announced to the group of our 70+ kids to clean up their mess. We had just gotten done eating walking tacos (chips, beef, lettuce, tomato, etc.) and the tiled floor of this church was pretty messy – ok, it was trashed. This mess had spread up the stairs to the upper level of the church too. I believe Chris put it like this, “every one of you will pick up every shred of food on the floor. We wouldn’t want someone treating our church like this and we certainly won’t be treating their church like this”. To the kids’ credit it was cleaned up in no time. A great lesson on respect and responsibility.

Derek Steinacher – We had had a long Friday night and were half way through the Saturday events. Some of adults and kids were complaining of headaches and scratchy throats. I mostly just wrote it off to the smoke machine they were using during the extra loud worship music (remember earplug next time). I won’t tell you how but Derek came up with the idea that maybe we were all a little dehydrated (ok he did have this epiphany after coming out of the bathroom). He and I discussed it a bit and Berger went on a bottled water run for everyone. This seemingly minor incident made me realize the attention to detail Derek provides not only to the group that weekend but throughout the year.

Nicole Feather – In a previous life, Nicole was probably a doctor. She took control of the medications kids needed to take and monitored kids with diabetes and other conditions. Playing mom to 70+ kids (and maybe a few adults) is definitely one of her Holy Spirit gifts. I didn’t get to spend much time with Nicole during the weekend itself except for one memorable occasion. I apparently looked like I needed a hug late, late Saturday night after all the kids were down. She recruited Kyle (I’ll exclude the last name to protect the innocent) to administer said hug. Now by my nature, I’m not much of a hugger except with my wife and son. Kyle proceeded with the typically manly bear hug I expected but it then turn into more of a nuzzle. I’m not sure if he was weeping or wiping his nose on my shirt towards the end of our embrace, but I’ll certainly be on guard the next time I’m around that guy!

Jill, Karen, Theresa, Traci and many others kept us fed with 3 squares and loads of snacks. I haven’t had Lucky Charms and Pop Tarts for breakfast in years. If I don’t see either of those for another year it will be too soon. However, the walking tacos and spaghetti were excellent! Thanks so much for the grub!

Finally, Chris and Heidi McInerny – I think I latched on to Chris early on as I really didn’t know what I was up against. He gladly gave me a few tips on making sure the kids buddy up, keeping the hotel room as a quiet zone (I didn’t do so well on that), and encouraged me to get involved in what the kids were learning. However, it wasn’t until our Saturday night debrief that I really saw him shine. After a full day of the conference and a couple hours of the water park, about 15 of our kids got together with a few of the leaders. After the kids settled down, it was amazing to me how “CMac” got the kids to open up and discuss what they loved about the weekend. The kids that had earlier been glued to their ipods and phones were now articulately describing the weekend, what impact the stories of bullying had on them, and the new closeness they felt to God. I realized at that point I have a lot to learn about youth ministry. As parents, we are blessed that Chris and Heidi take the time to be in our kids’ lives.

All in all, I’d say it’s easier to herd kids than cats. The adults I mentioned plus the others that I left out really love Horizon’s kids and love the way events like this bring them closer to God. Their joy and satisfaction is seeing the kids love Him. It may be a bit cliché but in the end I think the best we can hope for is that our kids come away loving and knowing Jesus and loving each other. Thanks to Horizons church, its staff and volunteers, our kids have a great head start.

Steve B.

Parents Night Out

Want to Christmas Shop Without Your Kids or Have a Date Night?

Horizons' Youth Ministry will be hosting a Parent's Night Out on Friday, December 16th, to help raise money for our youth mission trip and summer camp.

Who: Any parents that want a night out or still need to get some Christmas shopping done, want a date night or movie night!!

What: Childcare for infants thru 10 years old

When: Friday, December 16th, from 6:30-10:00 p.m.

Where: Horizons Community Church, 3200 Grainger Parkway, Lincoln, NE

Why: For a chance to have a Parents' Night Out while also supporting a great cause!

How: Register Here. Registration will be open through December 16th or until spots are filled. Prices are: 1 child-$15, 2 children-$20, 3 children-$30, 4 children-$40.

Other details: We will have a fun night planned for the kids at the church including games, crafts, play time, movies, and snacks. Children should have dinner before coming (or bring it with them). When you register, be sure to indicate your child's name, age, and any allergies. All adults providing supervision will have completed a background check and Horizons Safe Sanctuary training. Questions? Contact the church office at 420-6600 or nicole@horizonschurch.org. Save the date and plan on a great night out!

Brenda's Thank You

Dear Horizons Church,

We give thanks to God always for all of you, making mention of you in our prayers: constantly bearing in mind your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the presence of our God and Father. (1 Thessalonians 1:2-3)

I can’t help but smile every time I walk through my house or yard, the evidence of your work and labor are everywhere.

The flooring strip that covers up the cracked flooring that used to bug me every time I walked into the kitchen.

The wonderful shelf above the dryer that helps me keep the supplies in order and out of reach of kids and cats.

The coat rack and table that Don made. I no longer have to stumble over coats, backpacks and shoes. It is just beautiful, the first day we used it, Adriyanna was running all over the house looking for her jacket in a panic. Wanting the keys to my van cause she thought she may have left it in there. I looked at her and said Adriyanna remember the coat rack! Oh yeah! It feels good to have a new organized departure!

The new front screen door and fixed doors at the other entrances. It is so nice to not have to tie the back screen door shut and not to have to listen to the doors flap against the house in the wind. WE All are still getting used to doors that really work, what an amazing gift.

The new gate on the porch is amazing with wheels that really work and don’t scrape the paint off. It looks so awesome and is so easy for the kids to operate.

The yards– the people who worked on the yards did an amazing job, the tree and shrubs look beautiful. I appreciate so much the effort taken to keep the things I love, they all have sentimental value to me each representing a person or kido from the past 10 years of ministry. Loving the rock on the flower beds, have dreamed about that for at least the past 11 years. I am so thankful for the people who worked in the back yard cleaning up all the trash and junk fighting through the sticker plants. I am grateful for the way all the trash was hauled away, you could have left it for me to handle but you even planned that out, what a gift! It all looks so clean and pretty or as Theresa would say “loved on”. Every time I drive into the driveway I can’t believe I live here.

Thank you to the guys who braved the ladders and cleaned the gutters. That is a source of overwhelming panic when I think of cleaning them myself so I am so grateful.

The concrete work-I am thankful for all the people who came out the Friday night before work day, You all worked so hard not letting the dark of night, the wind and chilly weather keep you from getting the job done so that concrete could be poured the next morning. I am so grateful for all the concrete work done around the house I know that I will see a big difference in the spring and summer and hopefully there will be a lot less moisture in the basement. We are excited about the bigger patio and hope to use it for more outdoor ministry with our neighbors and new kids. I also have to laugh when I walk past the air conditioner unit where a lot of concrete was poured, there are handprints on the house and I haven’t had the heart to wash them off yet, I love being reminded that you all truly were here.

The new Bike Shed is so cool, we actually got all our bikes in it this week. Now I can use the garage for the van this winter. It is so cute and so easy for the kids to put their own bikes away. Before we were either keeping them in the garage or hauling them in the basement which was a super pain and always cut our bike riding season short, now we can bike whenever we want without much hassle. Thank you so much.

I also want to thank Susan and all the ladies who brought food. You all were a huge blessing. I have had small work groups over before and always felt overwhelmed about food. It was so nice to have all that taken care of. I know it was a huge blessing to the people who worked but it also was a huge blessing to my kids. They don’t usually have that kind of food or that much food at the tips of their fingers so they took full advantage of it.

Thank you to all the people who sacrificed financially to make all of these things and more happen. I do not take that for granted. I know you all work hard for your finances and probably have things you could have used them on for yourself.

Thank you so much to the Mayers, Pickerings and Samuelsons. They served beyond the call of duty coming before, during and even after everyone had left to take care of the remaining details. I had so much fun laughing with all of you.

Thank you Krissa for organizing everything and reading between the lines in my vagueness.

I just am so grateful and so blessed. With all of the wonderful things that were done though, that isn’t even the thing that stands out the most to me about this whole experience. In the opening verse it talks about a Labor of LOVE. I have to say that is exactly the way I would describe that Saturday. It was overwhelming to see so many people each pitching in to get a very big job done. The thing that made it different was that everyone was there to do a job but you all had time to interact with each other and laugh together. I have been around many hard working people who were so focused on getting the job done they didn’t have time to interact with people. It was a task to them. One of my friends stopped over to see what was going on and all she could do is stand there with her mouth open and say, “WOW this is what a church is supposed to look like, I can’t believe this, it just gives me chills”. I love how several of you took time to show our kids how to do some of the jobs, it would have been easier to ignore them or tell them to run along, but you didn’t. They learned how to hammer, find studs in walls, drill, smooth out concrete, help with lunch, etc. They were shown such kindness, love, patience and work ethic. They don’t get to witness that very often and I think for that I am most grateful. When people come to the house now they are so proud to show everyone what they got to work on. I have been praying for a long time they would experience what it means to be part of a church family. Can’t put a price on that. I am still overwhelmed with how generous, considerate, caring and encouraging you all have been to me.

It would not be a true thank you without giving God the praise and glory. Through all of you He has reminded me of how big He is and how He is in every detail. Things that got done, I know, came from Him because many of the things were things I had only told Him. Many of the supplies that were left over just happened to be things that we were in need of. He renewed my hope in church and people through you all. He reminded me of His hope and friendship through you. He reminded me that I am not alone, that He is holding my hand and leading me, and has it all figured out. He is an awesome God and I know that without Him none of this experience was possible. He moved in ways I don’t think I will ever be able to communicate.

I pray that as time goes on you will not forget the power you all have in Christ, the difference you all are capable of making through laboring in love together. You have and can change lives through Christ. I pray that this experience has shown you that even in Lincoln, NE there are people who need to feel the Hand of Jesus. Serving people isn’t always about spending a whole lot of money or doing a whole lot of work. Sometimes it’s listening to a neighbor who is having a hard time and needs some hope. Sometimes it’s telling a waitress she is doing a good job when she is clearly overwhelmed. But mostly it is asking God to give you eyes to see the things He sees and then doing something about it. I have been a witness to your amazing hearts and know without a doubt God has big things in store for all of you.

Blessed beyond Explanation,

Miss Brenda

And the Obasi Kids