TNBFT

Hey everyone! Last week we had TNBFT, which stands for The Next Big Fusion Thing. We had some inflatables, played some gold rush and other games, painted nails, had a giant video game room, a just dance room and some karaoke. Plus we had a giant whipped cream fight with all the leaders and all 268 students that were in attendance! it was insane! I still found whipped cream in my ear the next morning, or should I say my puppy Oliver found it. Besides all the crazy fun we had a concert with a gospel presentation where a bunch of students stood up to accept Christ. Not just stood up, but filled out some information so we can follow up with phone calls to make sure they connected to Fusion. It was an awesome night! the thunderstorm couldnt even keep us from having fun, haha. told some students to just start praying when the rain started and they thought that meant no whipped cream fight. looks like their prayers were answered.

Fusion Camp

This past week was Fusion Camp! And it was incredible. We took 197 middle school students to camp michindoh for a week. While it was exhausting, it was totally amazing to see God move. 32 students stood up to accept Christ the first night, and God continued to move in the lives of our students all week. The guys in my cabin opened up about all sorts of issues they are facing. It always breaks my heart to hear stories from students about bullying, and divorce, and everything else that they deal with. Those were the two biggest issues facing the guys in my cabin. 7 of the 12 come from broken homes, and all but 1 of those 7 said they had no relationship or wanted no relationship with their dad. Most also had bad relationships with step-dads. Just breaks my heart. Divorce is not a part of God's plan, and there are some deep wounds. Sherry Haueter gave a great talk on parents, and we had some great discussion and had some breakthroughs afterwards.

Been Awhile

Hello again everyone! Sorry it has been awhile since my last post. This summer has been a full one. Ministry during the summer is totally different than ministry during the school year, especially student ministry. Students are not in their normal routine and it can be very easy for them to disconnect from church and worse from God. Part of what I've been working on is keeping students connected.
I also had the opportunity to go teach for a whole weekend in Kidville, which is our 1st through 5th grade ministry, that was tons of fun. It was also the same weekend of  my first Fusion Teaching Video. linked here if for some odd reason you want to watch it   http://vimeo.com/24755806
Also in two weeks is Fusion Camp! We take 195 middle school students to Camp Michindoh for 5 days! It is going to be incredibly fun, and even more incredibly tiring! Luckily I have some vacation time saved up from Starbucks so i can take not only that week but also that next monday off to recuperate.

Crazy Weekend

This past weekend was a very emotional and busy weekend. My week started by finding out Dave Jester, the father of one of my best friends, Adam, was not doing well. Dave had been battling cancer for around 5 years, and passed away last week. So Keshia and I headed up to Michigan friday for the visitation, and I stayed Saturday for the funeral. It was nice to see some old friends, but an emotional time saying goodbye to Dave, and hurting for my friend Adam and his family.
Also Saturday night we had a Fusion Girls Night, which was a huge success. Over 50 girls came, and had a great time. I am so proud of my female volunteers for pulling of a great  night, and for taking the opportunity to connect with our girl students. Some great conversations happened that night. I was unable to make it there due to the funeral, which I was sad about but obviously my priority was in Michigan.

Then we had to switch from grieving to celebrating because Keshia graduated with her Masters on Sunday! It was a great day of celebration. Both of our parents and Keshias brother and girlfriend came down. We got to hang out and have dinner later that night together. I am so proud of Keshia for this accomplishment, she has worked extremely hard to make this happen. Going to school full time, working full time, and dealing with me full time was not easy. I am so proud to be her husband. God is definitely working in her life. Please be praying for us and we figure out what comes next. She has some meetings and interviews coming soon. We will keep everyone updated.

Thanks everyone for your support! All of this would not be possible without you. Thank you sooooo much!

Ninja Night

This past Saturday we had a Fusion Dude Night, with a Ninja theme. We play this game called Ultimate Ninja and it is one of our more popular games. So I came up with a way to do a tournament and we played it at Dude Night. We also had a ninja dress a like contest, which went over better than expected. We had 21 middle school students there, and over half had costumes on, and some of them were very impressive. It was also hilarious to see big groups of middle school guys coming in the building dressed like ninjas as adults were leaving after the 7 oclock service. lots of weird looks, which is awesome.
this saturday we have girls night, full of nintendo wii dancing and nail painting. our female leaders are great and have put together a fun night.
Sadly it looks like i will not be at church saturday because of the passing of Dave Jester, a great man who is no doubt laughing with Jesus right now.

Easter Weekend

Hello again. This past weekend was a crazy one. Easter is always a fun season celebrating the death and resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus. It is crazy to think of the incredible sacrifice that Jesus made for us. If you haven't already take a moment and just reflect on that. I was able to take a few moments this past week and stop and reflect on the sacrifice made by our all powerful God so that we could be saved and be in relationship with Him. Every time i think about it I can't believe it.
We did not have any of Fusion services for Easter. Overall we had nine services and that would have been too much, and they would not have all been well attended. Plus the kids ministry needed extra help so we sent all of our volunteers down there to help out. Which also meant that I spent 8 out of the 9 services  in the kids ministry. I was able to attend a service with Keshia, which was great! Then I went and hung out with 5th graders! My goal was to help make the transition from CedarVille (kids ministry) to Fusion easier. So putting a face to the leaders in Fusion will hopefully help with that.
It was a tiring weekend for sure, but one where God moved in the hearts and lives of many people. Over 700 people stood up to accept Christ!

Moral Trifecta

This weekend at CedarCreek we are talking about the moral trifecta, abortion, homosexuality, and premarital sex. All three are fun topics to talk to middle school students about, but all three are very necessary. We are posing the question do you live cultures way, or God's way? If you live God's way what does he say about these three topics. It is crazy to think about the things these middle school students are already involved in, and the things that they hear, see, and are taught through media, friends, and our culture in general. We saw some walls broken down tonight at both of our Saturday services, and are expecting God will move tomorrow at all three of our Sunday services!!