February 2005

Hello All,

Many things have changed; many things are the same. 2004 was a year of change for the Youth Group. We have gone from a structured curriculum to a theme inspired by Matthew 28:19-20:
19Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. (NIV)
The theme is mission. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines mission as:
(2 a: a ministry commissioned by a religious organization to propagate its faith or carry on humanitarian work b: assignment to or work in a field of missionary enterprise c (1): a mission establishment (2): a local church or parish dependent on a larger religious organization for direction or financial support d plural: organized missionary work e: a course of sermons and services given to convert the unchurched or quicken Christian faith
The Youth Group continues to help at 1st Presbyterian Church with the Sunday Evening Meals Program for which we thank Hedy Benesh for getting us involved with. Lesa, the assistant Director for Cedar Rapids Mission of Hope came and visited us and going into 2005 we will begin volunteering our time to help them. The purpose of Mission of Hope is to... "Be the Church" as it provides food, clothing, transitional housing, worship services, Bible studies, emotional support, and spiritual direction to those who have been previously incarcerated. As we go forward we will be looking for more opportunities to send out so that we might share our faith and also help those that are in need.

The Youth Group continues to go to the KWOF Christian Skates at Super Skate, I even tried to limbo at the last one. That may have been a mistake as I hit the bar on the first pass and fell flat on my back. For some strange reason I can still hear Coulter laughing. We also took the older youth to two concerts last year. The first was in Newton with Silers Bald, Barlow Girl, and Todd Agnew. The last one was in Waterloo and featured Todd Agnew, Rebecca St. James, and Newsboys.

Many ideas were worked on and as we go in to 2005 will hopefully be realized. One of which was just realized on January 29th as we painted the Youth Room. They got to choose the colors and they also got to do the work. With the colors that they chose (shades of blue and green) we now have heaven and earth in the room as God's love and guidance filled the room and our hearts. It is their room and they should be comfortable in it so we are now looking for a sofa or 2 and some big comfy chairs. We look forward our movie nights returning this year.

They also started praying for countries where being a Christian is not only dangerous and illegal, but where it can mean loosing one’s life. Amazingly it is in these countries that Christianity is growing faster than anywhere else.

Take some time and check out the Youth Group section on the website, which is now at www.huschurch.org. Just go to the ministries section and click on Youth Group.
As some of you may or may not know, I start back to school on February 8. I will be working towards finishing my degree and also choosing the seminary that I want to attend. It will be a long road ahead and I am looking forward to walking down it, knowing that even when it gets a little tough God will be there to carry me if I need him to. God bless each and every one of you.

Because of Him,
Terry and Diane

Receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior
"God, I know that I am a sinner. I believe that Jesus Christ died as the punishment for my sins. I believe Jesus rose from the dead and has the power to forgive my sin and change my life. Forgive me. I want you to come into my life. I want you to change me. I want to live my life for You and to follow the plan You have for my life. I believe that in praying to You now that You have already forgiven me, and I thank You for answering my prayer, in Jesus' heavenly name I pray, amen."

"31So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” (Matthew 6:31-34 NLT)