Sunday evenings (during the school year) students have a fun and safe place to hang out, get to know other believers their age, and to grow in their faith. The night kicks off with a time of hang-out either in our gym, playing some crazy game, or in our youth room equipped with a pool table, ping pong, video games, and more. After hang-out time and snacks, the students gather in our living room style space to study God’s word and learn to apply it to their lives.

Middle & High School, 6th-12th Grade 4pm-6pm

High school playing 9 square in the air

High school playing 9 square in the air

Middle school students playing Gaga ball in the gym

High school students voting on what game to play in the gym

Our group had a great time competition in the group relay competition tonight. Our of about 20 groups we came in second place. Of course our super competitive students were disappointed to not take first but we were proud and they had fun. Many students are already saying they aren’t ready to leave and are having a great time!

We had a great day in down town Nashville today. The students enjoyed seeing the buildings and the different atmosphere.

Tonight after worship and teaching we were able to participate in a more personal, individual time for God to speak and our students were receptive to God speaking. The first station they were asked to highlight a verse in Romans that stood out to them on a giant plexiglass of the entire book. The second station they were asked to circle up in small groups to pray for one another. Some of our students took time to share with one another what their friendships and this trip has meant to them. The third station they were given an opportunity to write a name of someone that needs to know God on a big wall. The final station they were able to write their struggles with the flesh (things of this world) on a board with chalk and then write what that would look like if the Holy Spirit helped them with their struggle.

We had some awesome opportunity to spend quality time sharing and praying for one another. During small group we had a great conversation about relationships and how God gave us each other to love, support, and encourage one another in life. We talked about the importance of good, quality friends and how we can experience and share God’s love with others through these friends.

There are several students who are experiencing the love of God for either the first time or first time in a long time and it has been amazing to watch. These students are brutally honest and authentic and God has been speaking to them all in individual ways. Our conversations and questions have been real and God is moving in their lives.

We are looking forward to being able to see downtown Nashville tomorrow and to continue to experience God’s love for each of us.

Our students demonstrated their athletic talent once again with winning the basketball tournament! They represented us well not only with their skills but their sportsmanship as well. We had to compete against ourselves in the first round before playing against the other churches and finally the camp staff for the championship.

We had our final day of work and were able to get a lot of great work accomplished today. Our group worked hard to finish painting the doors and to paint the walls around the windows. Through out the day our students would take breaks to play with the kids and just love on them.

When it was time to leave it was a tough goodbye for not only the kids but out students too. One of the little kids said as we were leaving “Mitchell you forgot something” and after a “what” the little kid said “to give me a hug.” It was amazing watching our students bond with these little kids in just a fed short days.

We are extremely proud of how hard our students have worked to serve this apartment complex and the kids!

Tonight was another super powerful teaching for our group! Brian spoke on knowing what it means to sign up to be a follower of Christ. As we walked through Luke 14:25-33 he pointed out that to be a follower of Jesus we are called to 1. Love Jesus supreamly, 2. carry our own cross and live sacrificially, and 3. to renounce for Jesus’ purpose.

Brian asked some really hard questions like, “you’re going to give your life to something / someone so why not give it to the one who already gave his life for us?” And “are you willing to live like that and are you in?” 

It was a tough message for some of us and yet a refreshing and honest reminder for others. We had two students stand up to say unashamedly they are living their lives for the gospel! In our small group we talked deeper about what it really means to love God more than anything, or anyone else in our lives. 

We also had some great conversation like “does God really have a purpose for our lives when we have free will?” It was a great challenging and thought provoking night.