Cell Phones and Students

Have you every fought over cell phone usage with your student...i.e. overage charges, excessive texting? Cell phones are very helpful but we need to always remind our students that what can be a great attraction can be a great distraction for both parents and students. It can distract us from relationships, time with God, etc. This short list may help you as a parent in working though cell phone trials.

A few ways to protect your student from a cell phone meltdown:

1. Discuss the potential issues and ramifications of inappropriate texting. Once things are sent there is no getting them back. It is posted forever!

2. Remind them that cell phones and even computers are a privilege and not a right. (I can remember when no one had a cell phone...scary) Set up random checks of texts and websites visited.

3. Consider cell phone curfews. Have your student turn in their cell phones at night.

4. Talk with your student often. Be there for him/her. They need you and they need to be able to talk openly with you.

5. Pray for and with your student. Lifting up your concerns and fears to Jesus is still your most powerful tool.

Are there set rules in your home about cell phones?

Are there specific limits, boundaries, and consequences?

by the way this is our 100 post! Bells and whistles, and streamers can now commence.

Video Announcements-11.1.09

In case you missed rpm last night. Here is the news for you.

Video Anoucements for 11-1-09 from 72 Students on Vimeo.

New Series Starting This Weekend

Repost this and pass it on to others.

"Everybody Wants to go to Heaven"- Teaser from Josh Britt on Vimeo.

Hope you will make it this weekend starting at 4:45pm. Come and invite a friend.

Announcement Video for 10.24.09

In case you missed sunday, check out the announcement video.

Video Announcements for 10-25-09 from Josh Britt on Vimeo.

Can't wait for this sunday when we start our new series. Promo is coming in just a few minutes.

Video Announcements-10.18.09

In case you missed it.

Video Announcements for 10-18-09 from Josh Britt on Vimeo.

Check out 72student.net for more details on various events.

Parent : Student Discussion

The discussion is set up to help parents and students to talk about what was talked about in rpm. I believe this could provide for some great discussion. If you decide to use it, let me know what you think. This is just another resource to help you connect as a family. Enjoy!

Real Talk

This week’s study deals with preventing spiritual collapse. All of us probably know someone who once seemed to be spiritually strong, but now is far from the Lord and in a mess. During rpm we talked about several steps that led to Peter’s failure. We will take some time to talk about how to keep it from happening to us. An important concept needs to guide our thinking, It is this: For a Christian, spiritual collapse is never a blow-out, it’s always a slow leak, Even if it appears that someone just suddenly messes up by having an affair or committing a crime, there are always steps leading up to it.

Set the stage, then read Mark 14:27-51, 66-72.

1. Have you ever made a major mistake and then wondered how you could have been so stupid? (Think about a personal story to tell, then let your student share some of their stories. It might be a blown play, a “dumb” relationship, a forgotten assignment, or whatever.)
2. Why are we often blind to our faults or mistakes until it’s too late? How is it that we don’t prevent more mistakes than we do?
3. Spiritually, what sins do people often commit without seeing their mistakes –or the consequences—until it’s too late?
4. Why do you think Peter so grossly overestimated his spiritual strength? One minute he was ready to die for Jesus, the next he was denying him. Why?
5. What similar tests come our way that expose whether or not we’re as strong spiritually as we may claim?
6. What tips could you have given Peter for maintaining his spiritual strength?
7. If a person has already had a major spiritual collapse, how can they recover? How did Peter come back?
8. How does accountability fit into a plan for preventing spiritual collapse?
9. How can we work together to keep ourselves growing and spiritually fit?

Facts about False Religions

I get asked often about various facts about cults, false religions, etc. Here are a few short facts about various false religions.

Atheism: believing there is no God.

Buddhism: philosophy of life founded by Siddhartha Gautama who lived about 563-483 B.C.

Hinduism: belief system based in India. No founder or final truth.

Judaism/Kabballah: Ancient religion focused on the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Jahovah's Witnesses: founded by Charles Taze Russell in the late 1800s.

Universalism: belief that God will save all people regardless of faith in Christ.

Wicca: pagan belief system that is focused on the cycle of nature.

New Age: Mix of eastern religions, occult, self-help, and astrology.

Scientology: founded by science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard in 1954.

Mormonism: established in 1830 by Joseph Smith.

Islam: estimated 1 billion muslims worldwide. jesus is simply considered a prophet.

Secularism: basing life's meaning on the here and now.

John 14:6

Jesus answered, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. The only way to the Father is through me."

Remember there is only one way to Heaven and it comes a relationship with Jesus Christ the risen Savior.

A great book you might want to check out is Dare 2 Share: A Field Guide to Sharing Your Faith to help you in sharing your faith with people who believe in various false religions.

Andy Stanley @ Catalyst Conference

Notes from Andy Stanley's Catalyst Talk

We are leaders because we want things to be better.

Leaders always leave a mark!

Question:

What mark will we leave?

We will often never know what mark we made until long after we have left our mark.

Overview:

Joshua 23:8, 11; 24:15

Main Text:

Joshua 5:13-15

Question:

Are we willing to be a part of His story?

God take full responsibility to those who are wholly devoted to Him-Charles Stanley

Whose mark is this about anyway?

I don't just authority, but I am under His authority.

Big Idea:

Living to make my mark is to small of a thing to give my life for, but His mark is worth it!

Listen to the New David Crowder Album

David Crowder Band is one of my favorites. Their new album Church Music released today. You can check it out here!

Listen Here

Let me know what you think.

New Series Starting This Weekend

We are starting a new series this weekend at rpm. You don't want to miss it. Everything kick off at 4:45pm. A rebel is what all believers should be. Every follower of Christ should love, live, and act like Jesus. The problem is that most people don't live any different which make them just like everyone else, not a rebel. This new series will help you embrace this idea of being a rebel. We will look at various rebels in scripture. If you have been a believer for a long time or have never known Christ before this will be a great series for you. Let's start the rebelution

All Pro Dad

I read an article in today from LifeWay's Living With Teenagers magazine. The article was highlighting Tony Dungy. He has been a very successful coach and father even through the lost of one of his sons. The article shared 10 principles that I believe are excellent for fathers. I hope you will begin to put these in play in your lives at fathers.

10 Ways to be an All Pro Dad

1. Love Your Wife
2. Spend Time with Your Children
3. Be a Role Model
4. Understand Your Children
5. Show Affection
6. Enjoy Your Children
7. Eat Together as a Family
8. Discipline with a Gentile Spirit
9. Pray and Worship Together
10. Realize You're a Father Forever

Live these out and you will make a huge impact in your kids' lives. Let's make a difference.

Ways to Connect with Students for Leaders

Time outside the church with students can be one of the greatest times of relationship development. Josh Griffin on his blog this week had a guest blogger with some great ideas about how to connect with students outside of church. Parents can even use this to get involved in their student's lives. These 12 ways to connect are divided into three main categories, each category moving to a deeper level of relationship.

Ways to meet new kids and hang out with current youth group kids
1. Volunteer coach a sport at a local school – Coaching gives you a chance to meet dozens of kids. I had the opportunity to coach track this past Spring and I still have kids who call or text me for advice or just want to talk.
4. Tutor for free – Some schools have after school tutoring, volunteer for that in a subject you know well.

Connect and develop relationships with kids
5. Ride with a sports team to away games – Great idea from the guys over at YL Help
6. Help a student work on a project or hobby – Especially helpful during science fair season, or other big school projects. Participating in their personal hobbies are great ways to connect, too.

Disciple kids/transfer life skills to kids

11. Invite a student to help you lead a certain event, then evaluate it afterward – This is a great way to transfer leadership skills through hands-on learning. For example, I invited one kid to help me lead a video game night, asking him to consider “What do video games have to do with Jesus?” During our debrief time (which ended up going just as long as our video game time) we talked about video games as a means to build relationships and how relationships are key to evangelism and discipleship. I bet he learned more through that experience than any youth talk.

12. Be a student of God and invite a kid to learn with you – Pray with a kid, or listen to a sermon together, or read the Bible together. Be an avid learner and invite kids along to learn with you.

There are plenty of other ways to connect with kids. How are you planning to develop relationships with kids this new school year?

Nick Arnold is the youth pastor at New Hope Community Church in Sunland, CA. Hit up his blog at http://ministryallies.com and his Twitter @nickarnold.

Click Here to see the complete list. Tons of great ideas.

Prayer Can it Really Change Things?

I believe it can. Prayer is the most powerful communication device to speak with and hear from God. I wonder what would happen if students began to become burdened in prayer for their friends, classmates, administration, and campuses. What if everyday of the week all over the country student were praying for their schools. Watch the video below and then click the link below to see how you can begin to intercede for your campus.

Claim Your Campus from Ryan Humm on Vimeo.

Claim Your Campus is a movement of students praying for their schools.

Will you join the movement?

Student Drop Out Rate and How Parents can Help

One of the most disturbing things about church is how fast students are leaving "it" after they graduate from high school. The topic of student drop out is huge in the student ministry sector. If you haven't heard about this problem before I want to enlighten you about this problem. I feel at this point parents have the greatest ability to help break this trend. I believe as we partner together to help students learn how to know what they believe, serve others, share their faith and disciple others person this epidemic could be overrun. Check out this article about how parents can make a difference in this fight.

Is this the first time you have heard about this problem?

How does it make you feel as a parent or student?

Have you seen this happen to anyone you know?

This Sunday at RPM & Fuel Groups

This sunday, August 16, we start a new series called: NEXT

This will be our first time back together on sunday nights. I hope you will come and invite a friend. It will be a great time to hang out and learn more about the one who made us. Doors open at 4:45pm. The snack shack will be back in full force with drinks, chips, and candy for purchase. We will have a new check in system up and ready to go. We will kick off with worship in the auditorium at 5:15pm and then head to fuel groups after that at around 7:15pm. If you bring a guest or you are a guest you get to go to the After Party. This will be a great time to get to know people without the pressure to share your deepest secrets and to find out more about 72students.net. Everything will end around 7pm. I really want to encourage you to come and bring a friend. It will be a great time as we kick the student ministry year.

Reason's to Come to the Parent.Student Connection

Reasons to Come to the Parent.Student Connection

• Free Food
• Great Conversation
• Find Out More Info about 72students
• Get the Inside Scoop
• Get to meet the fuel leaders
• Get to meet the other leaders
• Get to meet other parents and students
• Learn more about your student(s)
• Vision for the future
• Programming Info

If any of these interest you please come. No reservations necessary unless you need child care. Go to 72students.net to find out more.

Parent:Student Connection Cookout

Parent:Student Connection Cookout

Date: August 9th

Time:5-7pm

Location: The two-story building on The Brook Campus

For More Info: Call Josh Britt @ 837.6633 ext. 107 or check out 72students.net

The Parent:Student Connection is to help parents and students to connect and understand more about our student ministry and each other. We will be sharing some of the upcoming events that are going on as well as resource parents with materials to help them grow closer to their students. This event is for the whole family. We will provide dinner and a great time together. Childcare is provided free of charge for kids 6th grade and under. Childcare must be made in advance by emailing josh@thebrookchurch.com or by signing up online at 72students.net. This will be a great time for us all to connect with each other. I hope you and your family will make it.

What has been going on with Josh this summer?

This summer has been crazy! God has been doing so many things.

1. We found out Michelle is pregnant with our 4th child, which is due February 2nd. Reality...it will probably be a few weeks before that. We are getting ready excited.
2. I spent 12 days in Guatemala doing missions with our students and adults. It was truly an amazing trip. God challenged me to think about all I had and how I would be a better steward of what my family has.

   MX09 Guatemala - recap from Josh Britt on Vimeo.

3. Spent a weekend in July speaking and leading worship for FBC Decatur in Panama City Beach, Florida. It was a blast getting to hangout with those students. A plus to this event was my family being able to come with me.
4. After Speaking and leading worship we had the opportunity as a family to vacation a little long in Panama City. We had a great time at the beach and at the "kitty cat" pool.
5. Spent a week at Super Summer Alabama leading worship and teaching in one of the schools. It was a great week with several 100 students growing in their depth and knowledge of God. It was an amazing camp experience. It impacted the students that went. We hope to take several more students next year.

Wow!!! Summer isn't even over yet. You can follow the craziness in our lives at twitter and through our student ministry blog.

10 Commandments of Purity

Here are ten great things for dads and moms to help keep their marriage pure and on the right track.

The 10 Commandments of Purity

1. I shall have no other human relationship before Michelle, including our children.
2. I shall remember our date night and keep it holy.
3. I shall honor Michelle on anniversaries and special days so that I may live long in the land the Lord has given me.
4. I shall not take the covenant of marriage in vain.
5. I shall not ride in a car or eat in a restaurant alone with a member of the opposite sex.
6. I shall not travel alone.
7. I shall not counsel a woman with the doors closed.
8. I shall not share the details of our marriage with others.
9. I shall not watch, read or expose myself to sexually explicit shows, books, websites, etc.
10. I shall remember the implications of committing adultery.

excerpt from Ed Young Jr. Blog

Are there any commands you would add to this list?

1 Billion People are Going Hungry

Since our trip to Guatemala there have been several articles about the least that have really gotten my attention.

According to the United Nations food officials 1 billion people are going hungry. Think about that again 1 billion people. That number looks like this 1,000,000,000. This is about 1/6 of the total population of the world.

What will the church do in response to this? I think we need to read Matthew 25 again. Pray with me about how God will use our student ministry to make a difference when it comes to the least of these. I want to serve Jesus more today then yesterday. Lets act now!

What do you think about these numbers?
How do you think the church can respond to make a dent in this number?

Guatemala Highlight Video

I get pumped every time i watch this. So many memories! What's your greatest memory from Guatemala?

MX09 Guatemala - recap from Josh Britt on Vimeo.

Tips for Parents and High School Grads

Tips for Parents and Grads

Right now many students are preparing to head off to college away from home. Below are a few tips for parents and students as they prepare for departure.

Tips for Parents

1. Arrange time for goodbyes

encourage your student to spend some extra time with siblings. This can be a great time to take a trip together.

2. Make lists and go shopping

Help your student(s) think through their needs when they leave. Go shopping together. This can be a great time of bonding before they leave.

3. Communicate confidence

Many students can seem very confident but can be struggling inside with fear. Instill in them confidence in their abilities both past and present. Remind them of past victories in their life, especially when they thought they might fail.

Tips for Graduates

1. Walk a mile in their shoes.

Remember this is hard for them. Your parents will be struggling with confidence that they prepared you well. They have guided you for 18 years and it can be a little scary for them. Keep that in mind as you prepare to leave.

2. Look forward to family goodbyes

These last few months can be very meaningful before you leave. You will want to spend time with all your friends before you leave, but don't forget about spending time with family as well.

3. Be others-focused

Everything can begin to focus around you...when are you leaving...when can we get together...etc. It can be easy to become self-centered. Make sure you keep your focus on others. This is the Jesus Principle.

Hope these are helpful for you as you prepare for the great departure. We love seniors!

keep talking.

More Trip Stats

With the help of others we thought of several other stats from our Guatemala trip. 

helped with feeding 250 children two different times at the feeding center in Yalu. 

handed out about a 1000 stickers and pieces of candy. 

Gave out dozens of doses of Immodium and dozens of bandaids.

Loved on tons of children at Hermano Pedro who wouldn't not haven't gotten out of their bed

took 27 and brought 27 back. 

It was amazing trip. We should have the highlight video later this week. 

Thanks so much for all the support. 

Guatemala Trip Stats

Trip Stats 

• 9 houses renovated in Yalu 
• One complete build in Cuidad Veija better known to us as the Kairos Construction project. 
  
• 10 students and adults who were sick at some point during the trip. (I won't mention their names or what the sickness was...t.m.i.)
  
• Served 500 Hotdogs at the block party at Yalu.
  
• Handed out over 500 pounds of food at Kairos School. Each family got a bag of food to take home after the family evening program. 
  
• Climbed Pacaya-a3 hour hike. Man were we out of breath. 15 of us made the climb. 12 went to a tour of a coffee plantation. 
• Four Block Parties/Family Programs-Yalu, Kairos, School in Cuidad Veija, Hermano Pedro.

Did I miss anything? I am sure there is more that I didn't think of. comment and we will add it to the list. 

Perspective from Yalu House Building

Video by Jan Owen

Gutemala Housebuilding in Yalu from Jan Owen on Vimeo.

Auto Mariscos! (aka guatemalan waterpark)-June 13

On Saturday we got the opportunity to take 15 orphans from Amor Del Nino to the Auto Mariscos, which translated to english means "auto seafood." Hmm something lost in translation there, but I think it leans more to the fun side of sea creatures than to the edible side. But the excitement and fun the kids were having was definitely not lost in translation. With almost the whole team there we were able to really treat the kids to a great day playing in the wave pool, the kiddie adventure area, and the slides, having a huge lunch for all of us, plus we got in a little relaxation of our own. A big thanks should go to Todd and Mike who went to Kairos School instead and finished out a build on a wall and desk for the computer room! Of course it was incredibly special for me to see to see all of Fernanda's little Amor Del Nino friends who she spent the second year of her life with having so much fun: Hannah, Jose, Adrianna, Gladys, Danni, Jaunito, Letty, Jenny... Barbi, Sheila and I fought over Shayla most of the day, I don't think she ever got put down, she was just too much fun. Sheila eventually won out and held Shayla all the way out to the bus even helping her get dried off and dressed. I am holding tight to the memory of Sheila holding Shayla before we left and their contentment and happiness together as part of the fun and love we all shared together at Auto Mariscos that day.

This trip has been an amazing blessing to me and my family. It has truly been like watching a dream turn into reality right in front of my face. I never would have thought that in less than a year from completing our adoptions and developing a heart for Guatemala that I would be a part of leading a team back to serve there. And to serve in such amazing and selfless ways. Thanks to everyone who sacrificed to go and to those who sacrificed to send us.

-Bill

Amor Del Nino Painting-June 12

At 7:45 we left to go to Amor Del Nino to help paint walls. A lot of us turned into blue and yellow smurfs. Afterwards we played with all of the kids and babies. we went to Cairos school for a Father's Day celebration. We had puppets, a drama, an evangelistic message and food. The kids did a power lab song, from last years VBS, and a song they made for their fathers. We got down-poured on for an hour. when we came back to the hotel, a few of us fell asleep, well i did, and a few went out to eat. It was a great day!

Emily McCoy

Make sure to check the pics page on 72students.net

Flooding in Antigua

At the end of the Father's Day program at Kairos School it began to rain. It rained so much while we were their that the streets of antigua started to flood. It was the beginning of the second great flood. We had to take an alternate route home because the main roads were flooded so bad. It was definitely another experience to add to the long list from guatemala. I wonder how Noah felt?

Hola Alabama

We Look Forward to Seeing all of our Friends and Family soon. Some students and adults may decide to stay. I hope everyone is cool with that.

hotdogs and hardwork

Hola from Guatemala! Yesterday was pretty incredible. I was with the group that went to Yalu. There were about 15 of us that went there and then we split up into 3 groups and worked on different houses. My group, consisting of Phil, Bill, Jessica, Bobby, and I, first went to a house that had just a little bit of stuff left. That one didn't take very long. After that we walked down this really big hill heading to the next site. I am not the most sure footed person but luckily all of us made it down ok. We were really excited when we saw the house we had to work on, because compared to the others that people were working on it was fairly simple. We had about 3 hours to work on it and got 2 of the 4 walls done. So hopefully that one will get finished up tomorrow. The other 2 groups both got about half way through their houses so I really hope that tomorrow there is enough time for them to all get done.

After the house building we walked over to the church for the block party that we were throwing for the community. That hill we had to carefully walk down earlier, yea we had to walk back up that. I am gonna blame the fact that all of us were out of breath when we reached the top on the altitude :). The block party was pretty awesome. We planned to do our puppets, our skit, a few songs, and then feed everyone. We were expecting a pretty good mix of people but mostly it was a lot of kids and a few women that showed up. We started out with singing. It turns out it paid off to down load the spanish songs that we were doing and listen to them on my ipod cause Jan was sick that day so Sue Ann called me over to help them sing. The kids seemed to like it and were clapping along with us. While the singing was going on we were also working on selling all the clothes we brought with us. We couldn't just give them away cause that would have created mass chaos so we sold every thing for 1 Q each and gave the proceeds back to the feeding center. After that the puppets performed all their songs. The kids really seemed to enjoy that also! After the puppets we did the skit "God's Love". We did this skit awhile back in church except this time the words were in Spanish. The message of the skit is really cool. It portrays people with their different problems, alcoholism, anger, lust, and abuse taking their problems to Jesus and Him washing them clean. It is a really powerful skit but I think it might have been a little over the kids heads. Hopefully some of the moms that were there got something out of it.

After we finished the skit Omar gave a message to the people. I am sure it was excellent, but I don't speak Spanish so I haven't a clue as to what he was saying. While he was giving the message we were working on setting up food to give out. We had hot dogs and chips. We brought 500 hot dogs, countless bags of chips, buns, and ketchup. It started out pretty well cause we already had some plates set up with everything on them but after those first ones went it was a little chaotic trying to get things ready for all the hungry kids. Poor Josh cooked 500 hot dogs with only a machete to flip them with. After awhile it started getting dark, but luckily Bill had a little helmet light so Josh was able to wear that to see the dogs. I am really hoping somebody got a picture of that cause it was pretty funny :).

So my job in our whole assembly line thing was tearing open the buns because some of them weren't precut. To anyone that thought I was crazy for going on a mission trip with acrylic nail, I just want to say that they really came in handy for getting those buns open :). When our lines were finally looking like they were getting a little smaller it started to rain. At first it wasn't bad, just a few sprinkles, and we were able to continue serving the food. Luckily it didn't start to pour until we were about done. We quickly gave out the rest of the dogs and saved the sound system from getting wet, so God was looking out for us.

The block party was a really amazing experience. If we would have thrown that party anywhere in the States, there definitely would have been at least something left over but there was not a scrap of food left. It really puts into perspective how blessed we are because we would have wined about not knowing what kind of meat was in the hot dogs or just simple little things like that, but these people just ate it all up. The bus drivers were trying to get us to hurry up and leave because they were worried about the road conditions, which didn't inspire us with much confidence, but luckily we made it back to the hotel safely.

This morning I decided to go to the coffee plantation instead of the volcano primarily because I am a good daughter and went to get my mommy her coffee but also because I really didn't want to be ready to go by 7 am to spend all day hiking :). The coffee plantation was really cool. The guide told us the history of coffee and then showed us all the different stages in the manufacturing process. It is pretty crazy. Six and a half pounds of freshly harvested beans only makes up 1 pound of the final product. While we were there the owner of the plantation was walking around and he talked to us some. I am betting it was pretty cool for Phil to discuss different roasting temperatures and stuff like that with someone who is a coffee master. All of us got to try some of the coffee, which was very yummy, and we all stocked up on the coffee.

After that we went to a monastery. It was pretty cool. This place was home to the first Catholic monk that they sent from Spain to Guatemala to evangelize. After that we went to a market, which of course I really enjoyed cause it's SHOPPING :). The rest of the afternoon our group spent just relaxing at the hotel and shopping a little more. Aside from all the sickness going around, this trip has been pretty awesome!

-Callie

check pics page to see updates on pictures. some video footage will be up soon as well.

Big Day

it' 8:34am here in antigua, guatemala and we are about to disembark on our trip to kairos school. yesterday in Yalu was a good day, we finished two houses fully and we're about 3/4 done with the third house. today we've planned to host a block party where we will be playing music and giving a puppet show. hopefully i will be one of the few to not get sick, anyways i'm off to go play my guitar for guatemalan kids at a public school. Everything is awesome here. I might just stay!

Alex Stampley

Make sure to check the pics page everyday.

Hailstorm!!!!!

hailstorm guatemalan style. It came up all of the sudden while we at Hermano Pedro. It was crazy. Very Loud!

Hope you Enjoyed!

Never Complain About Laundry

We will never complain about putting things in the dryer again. This was the biggest clothes line every. Laundry Amor Del Nino Style!



What do you think?

Tiffany's Guatemala experiences.

June 6th 2009. We all had to wake up really early in the morning [early as in we didn't even get to eat breakfast, we had to stop at a gas station to get breakfast] We road in our crazy driven vas up a mountain to Amor Del Nino. Amor del nino is an orphanage with about fourty-five children. Every kid had a story and they were all sad. It was difficult to try and understand how any mother could leave any of those adorable children just anywhere. One of the babies there was very lucky to be alive. Her mother had her in a bathtub and left her there. After we left Amor Del Nino [which took a while because the van was having difficulty getting up the mountain] we went back to the hotel for a short time and then left walking many blocks to go see a church and some ruins. The ruins were absolutely beautiful everyone spent some time alone just reflecting and thinking and praying and such. We left there and walked around a couple of blocks [in the very hot hot heat] to Hermano Padro [i think i spelled that right...not the greatest speller in english which makes spelling in spanish ALOT more difficult lol] anyways Hermano Padro. It is a special needs hospital where most there have Cerebral Polocy [or however you spell that as well lol] It was pretty much indescribable. Those there were wow....its something i dont think i can describe. There was one man there who was twenty something and he was curled up in a crib. It was very sad. We are going back today. Some of the CP people that were in there wheelchairs or walking around were amazing. they were so full of joy, despite the fact that they were different, and crpippled. When we visited the women we found they loved jewelry. When we were at the ruins alot of us bought necklaces from an old lady and we left Hermano Pedro without them because the women just loved them. Alex also got a girlfriend there. He sat next to a woman and she was lovin on him ;) [watch out Staci!]. Yesterday was pretty much amazing and i am so glad i was able to go here to Guatemala.We have only been here for a couple of days and its already the best. I think all of us are gonna be different people after all ten days of this trip. I love it here in Guatemala it is amazingly beautiful and everyone should go there and love on the children and people here.
ADIOS!

-tiffany.

Guate-ever - June 5th

Today was pretty exciting as we all went in the mission field and many of us for the first time.
We split up and sent one group to Kairos school and one group to Yalu.
The Kairos group, got acquainted with all the students and played some games and had some fun with the kids. It was a short school day. We began to setup the computer lab and it looks like later in the week we may build a desk and a wall to further geek it out. The kids were so excited about us being there and the computadores! One part of the Kairos group went to house building project in the same area. They assisted the Guatemala masons as they begain laying cinder block.
The Yalu group had their first try at converting corn stalk homes to Tin homes. Yes you read that right. We have bought 100 beams and 100 sheets of tin so far to help convert these folks homes from cornstalk walls to tin walls and improve their roofs. Like Phil said...are we really having an economic crisis back home.... kinda puts things in a different perspective. 2 houses were completed many more to go.

check out pictures from June 4th

check out pictures from June 5th

We Are Here!-Day 1

We have made it to Guatemala! God was so good in our travel. Everyone has been doing well. We have now learned that Delta is not merciful to oversized mission group bags. Please pray for them. Tiffany R.  almost left here passport on the plane after we landed in Guatemala. Thankfully the nice flight attendant found it for her. Everyone had their first taste of Pollo Campero. Yum, Yum! We will begin to post pictures and possibly videos later tonight or tomorrow. Thanks so much for your love and support. God is going to do great things here in Guatemala. 

Guatemala & Church

Just wanted to remind you about a few things. 

First...tomorrow evening at 11pm our group will be meeting to head to Atlanta to fly out to Guatemala. We would love you to pray for us while we are away. Pray that a great movement of God will be seen because of the faithfulness of all involved. I know God is going to do awesome things while we are there and even after we are gone. Check for daily updates at 72students.net

Second...beginning this sunday we will be doing one service during the months of June and July. The service will be at 10am. If you could do a few things to help us out. Get here early, park far away, sit close to the front, and scoot to the middle of the rows. This would help us make guest feel welcome and keep row congestion down. You guys are awesome! 

Lastly...our next rpm on the road will be June 17th at Heritage Provence Pool. We will post directions on 72students.net as soon as we get them. 

Texting Crazy

Do you every feel like all you do is text? Or at least that is all your students does? Check this article out. it has some great info for you as a parent. Have you noticed any changes in your student as they have started texting.

What is the average texting rate per month for your student or even yourself as a parent? 

Kids and Questions

Have your students ever asked things like this?

RPM on the Road this Summer

Overview:  
This summer we are doing things a little different. Instead of meeting on campus we are meeting in various homes around the community. Every week we will meet at a different location. This will give us a great opportunity to hangout more and enjoy more discussion. There will be a few things we have at every location. First, there will always be food. We know with hectic schedules even during the summer it can be hard to get something to eat so we are taking care of this for you. Second, the format will probably change somewhat every week. This will give everyone the opportunity to get to know each other better. At several of the houses they have pools, which we will enjoy. The only thing we ask of you is for the guys to not wear speedo style swimsuits and girls to wear a one-piece or a dark long cover up. This will all help us to keep our focus. 
 
Everything kicks off at 6pm with Food. Even if you come late it is okay. We want you to be a part. The ending times will vary a little depending on the activity. 
 
Locations:  
Check www.72students.net for various locations and directions.

New Series Starting Wednesday

DTR: Defining the Relationship is our new series starting this wednesday night. These words can be exciting and devastating for people depending on how the relationship is defined. Everyone spends time defining their relationship whether it is with the opposite sex or defining whether someone is their best friend or not. In this series we will talk about defining the greatest relationship of all. This series will give you answers on how and why you should define the relationship. Come and bring a friend!

May 6th: Defining the Terms (Show your team or school spirit by wearing your favorite team or school get up.)
May 13th: Having the Talk (free food at 6pm)

Location: The Brook; Bottom Floor of Two Story Building
Time: Doors open at 6pm, Everything Starts at 6:30pm and ends at 8:15pm
Who: For students in grades 7th-12th

questions for families

We want to know how we can help you as families. Here are three questions that can help us understand how we can help your family.

Three Questions:
1. What’s going on in your family and your kid’s life right now that would help me and the youth leaders know how to best work with your student?
2. How can the student ministry support you and your family better?
3. How are YOU doing spiritually right now?

If you will email your responses to josh@72students.net

Parent Only Session from Wednesday, February 18

Notes from the Parent Only Session minus the answers to the questions from Josh and Michelle. I'll try to post a somewhat shortened response to each of those questions later. Some of the stuff we didn't even get to due to time.

Parent Only Session

(Josh) Share Stats
(Michelle) Share what questions kids asked

(Josh) Who is responsible for teaching your kids about sexuality/sex?

Group Question:
What are some of the sexual lies you’re kids’ are exposed to?

GREAT AND GODLY SEX STARTS BETWEEN THE EARS BEFORE IT’S BETWEEN THE LEGS.

When (the devil) lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. John 8:44

(Michelle) What are your students learning relationally/spouse, our bodies and others, and media?

Media is wrecking the family.

Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. John 8:32

WHAT SATAN DOESN’T WANT YOUR KIDS TO KNOW ABOUT SEX

• YOUR BOD BELONGS TO GOD.

Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body… 1 Corinthians 6:13

porneia (por-ni'-ah); illicit sex including adultery, incest, premarital sex, or any extramarital sexual arousal.

Big Idea:
Purity is the pathway to intimacy!

(Michelle) Do I tell them about my past?

WHY STAY PURE?

1) SEX IS STICKY.

Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never! Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, "The two will become one flesh." 1 Corinthians 6:15-16

2) SEXUAL SIN IS MESSY.

Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. 1 Corinthians 6:18

(Josh) What if my child has made a mistake?

3) SEXUAL PURITY IS AN ACT OF WORSHIP.

Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God-this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind… Romans 12:1-2

Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me…Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. Psalms 51:10, 12

When our view of God increases our desire to focus and worship him increases.

(Michelle) Talking about sex/sexuality is a process – not a “talk”, must revisit in over and over.

Commit to pray.

Question:
What can you do today to better worship God with purity?

Internet Security for Parents and Students

Here is some of the info from our parents only sex talk on wednesday night. comment if you have any questions.

Safe Eyes is one resource that we highlighted. Safe Eyes is a monitoring software that has tools for both personal and mobile devices. You can check out more info at Safe Eyes

Here is another resource that a family in our church uses. It has some great stuff.
Here's what we're doing at my house instead of using Safe Eyes. On my
wireless router, instead of using knology's DNS servers, I'm using
OpenDNS's DNS servers (check them out at ). If
you open a free account with them, you can tell them to not allow adult
sites. If someone at my house tries to go to an adult site, they will
get a "blocked" message in their browser.

There are advantages and disadvantages to using OpenDNS vs. Safe Eyes.

Pros:
- OpenDNS is free
- You go to 1 place to handle all computers, laptops, PSPs, iTouch
iPods, etc. that use the wired/wireless internet in your house.

Cons:
- OpenDNS is not monitoring software - you can't monitor what your kids
are saying with IMs, on FaceBook, etc. (However, you can completely
block MySpace/FaceBook/etc. if you would like.)

You could also combine the two - use OpenDNS to block adult sites and
use Safe Eyes to monitor everything else.

check this resource out at OpenDNS

Comment and let us know if you decide to use any of these or if you know of any other resources.

Parent SEX Talk

Wednesday night we are hosting the parents during our wednesday night worship gathering for students. It will be an amazing time. Make sure you get your parents there. Doors open at 6pm and ends at 8:15pm. Don't worry students you will be out of the room while Michelle and I are talking to your parents, so breath a sigh of relief and invite them to be there. See you wednesday night!

who's got talent?

We are looking for someone who can do this to a song on wednesday night. Who has the gift? Comment if you can!


Cadbury Eyebrows from Nils-Petter Lovgren on Vimeo.

Sex Series

Does the word “sex” make you uncomfortable? Does sex make you think about “hurling” when you process talking about it with your student? Did you just get a lump in your throat?

We want to help and affirm the teaching you as parents are giving your students on this topic. God has much to say about sex in scripture. Just to name a few.

Applicable Scripture on the Topic: Ephesians 5:3 Colossians 3:5-6 , 1 Corinthians 6:12-19

We believe sex is a special gift from God only to be shared with our husband or wife. Our desire is to help you and your students clearly communicate about sex no matter how weird you may feel about it.

Over the years the Church has stayed silent on this topic for far to long relegating sexual education to primetime media. Our desire as a student ministry is to seek to have open, real, and clear communication about sex and sexual issues and how it relates to students and families. This series will tackle topics such as Biblical Foundation of Sex, Guys and Girls Only Issues, and Parent and Student issues. We believe this is a vary necessary topic as so many students are faced sexual pressure everyday. This series is beyond talking about just don't have sex. It will look at the importance of waiting and the fact that not having sex has less to do with getting pregnant or a disease. Waiting has to do with trusting God with your future and making wise choices.

Andy Stanley and Stuart Hall said it best, Purity paves the way to Intimacy. We really have a desire for every one of our students to wait until marriage for any type of sexual relationship with anyone. Sex is way beyond a physical activity. We want our students to understand what could be missed by mistrusting God. We also want students to understand their significance in Christ and His desire for them to experience a intimate relationship at the right time. There is so much pressure on our students these days and we want to help them combat the pressure by seeking God with all their hearts.

I want to encourage you to allow your students to participate in this incredible series about God’s design starting February 4th at The Brook on Wednesday Nights. Doors open at 6pm and everything gets cranked up at 6:30pm. I would also like to invite you (parent) to come meet with us on February 18th at 6:30pm in Building Four. There are no reservations needed. We would love for you to come with questions and an open heart. God wants your students to seek out purity, just as I know it is your desire as well. I consider it a great privilege and honor to work with your students during this journey. We want to support you. I want to encourage you to comment or email me if you have any questions. I believe this could be one of the best series we have ever had in our student ministry. I am praying that it will help you and your student open up a new chapter as it relates to relationships and sexual issues. I am praying for you.

Wednesday Night Schedule

February 4

Biblical Foundation of Sex

How do we know that sex is for one man and one woman?

Defining sex-masturbation, oral sex

Sex is a gift from God

Sex is a choice

Shift the thinking about sex

Sex is a wait issue not never issue.

February 11

Guys and Girls Only

Differences in guys and girls

Things we do now are going to affect our sexuality and the future of it.

Guys Only with Josh Britt

Issues for guys only

pornography

Girls Only with Michelle Britt

Issues for girls only

Self Image Issues

February 18

Parent/Student Q&A

Parents Only Session-Helping your student develop their sexuality and conquer their struggles

Students Only Session-Helping your parents understand your sexuality and the struggles

Large Group with Q & A

February 25

Panel Discussion

Commissioned to Purity