December 2005

Hi All,
Recently Diane and I experienced something unlike anything we had ever seen before. We took a group of the older youth and some of their friends to the Relient K concert in Des Moines. We had both heard of a mosh pit but that is where our knowledge ended. Imagine hundreds or even thousands of teenagers standing around. Now everyone push towards the stage. It is like a grain of sand trying to go from top of an hourglass to the bottom. Crowd surfing and stage diving are the next thing that you will see. By now many of you may be asking what this has to do with God. A lot. The majority of the kids that were at this concert likely do not go to church or have a relationship with Jesus. That is exactly the crowd that the bands that played at this concert wanted. They are using their music to reach a lost generation. For the parents out there that are wondering the group did take their name from the old Chrysler K car. A quote from their website gives a little more insight in the group:
‘As for the messages behind such sparse pre-production sessions, Thiessen turned to the basic root of his personality, a combination of satire and seriousness that runs the gamut between relationships, geography, faith and the weather. "It’s my personality to be cheesy and tell dumb jokes," he admits. "For the last four of five years, I’ve taken all the puns I think of on a daily basis and plant them in a song. Besides that tone, this record also has personal ties. There’s a lot about making mistakes, failing, how amazing grace is and picking yourself back up."
"We’re not trying to hide anything with the songs on this record, just to get what we feel out there," Thiessen summarizes. "We’ve also found it to be the hardest thing in the world to say ‘Jesus’ in a song and not be cheesy, so we definitely have our own way of singing about spirituality. But in the end that’s who we are and what we believe in. We hope between that and the music, it connects with someone out there."’
That would explain the names of their songs, "Chapstick, Chapped Lips And Things Like Chemistry" and "Life After Death And Taxes (Failure II)" as well as many others. Like many of the Christian artists today this group is reaching out in a way that is relevant to their audience.
Next year we are partnering with other youth groups in the area to help fight world hunger. How? By participating in World Vision’s 30 Hour Famine. In 2005 World Vision had a goal of feeding and caring for 37,500 children. How have they done so far?
Current status: $11,614,701
Number of children fed and cared for: 32,263
What is the 30 Hour Famine (from the 30 Hour Famine website: www.30hourfamine.org)?
The 30 Hour Famine puts hands and feet to your desire to help students live a life of Christian compassion.
It will unite youth group members like never before. And the impact will last long after the Famine event is over. It can be the spark that fires up a person for a lifetime of reaching out to neighbors in need, whether they're across the street - or around the globe.
How does the Famine work?
It's really quite simple. First of all, the materials are provided, free of charge, by World Vision. Before your "Famine Date" (February 24-25, 2006 is the next National Famine Date, but your group can hold yours anytime) youth group members raise money through donors and sponsors to help the millions of starving and hurting children in some of the world's poorest countries, offering them a hope they could not otherwise have. The groups then go 30 hours without food, so that they can have a real taste of what hunger is like. During this time they engage in different activities, from community service projects to volunteer work to study, depending on how each group plans their own event. Afterwards the money raised is sent in to World Vision, and we put it to work in areas like Kenya, Sudan, and here in the United States.
What does it take to help a hungry child?
Only $30 a month, just $1 a day, will feed and care for a child. Your group members can start by asking twelve people they know to donate $30 - that's one person for each month of the year. When they've done that, they will have raised $360, enough money to feed and provide necessary care to a child for a whole year.
This year, thousands of groups in more than 21 countries - more than 1 million teens - will unite with one goal in mind: to help children living in some of the most deplorable conditions on earth.
Countless lives will be impacted and saved. So get on board now. This can be the single most effective event you're a part of all year to make a difference in peoples' lives. And this means both in your community, and around the globe. Shake things up, and join the winnable war to save kids lives.
If you are interested in helping with the Famine, the 2006 Summer Youth Mission trip, or anything that the youth group is doing, let us know, as we would love your help. We have been gearing up over the past few months and next year will be packed with worship, events, and fellowship.

Because of Him,

Terry and Diane

A conversation with God
Hi God. We just celebrated Thanksgiving and we have so much to thank you for. Thank you for our families, our homes, our schools, our friends, and so many other things. Thank you for letting us live in the United States where we are free worship you along with so many other freedoms. Lord, work in this great country and help us to help it be a country that believes in You. We also thank you for Hus Church and all of it members (our spiritual family). In Jesus name, Amen.

"4 Because of thirst the infant's tongue sticks to the roof of its mouth; the children beg for bread, but no one gives it to them." Lamentations 4:4 NIV