I (heart) TRIBE!

Friday, Sept. 17th - 8:00 p.m. TILL Saturday, Sept. 18th - 7:00 a.m.

Don’t miss this incredible all-nighter with all of your friends! It’s actually not a “lock-in” because we will be going ice skating (at Tranquility Park) and bowling (at Western Bowl) late into the night. We’ll have lazer tag at the church, food, inflatables, open gym, movies, games, and a ton of fun. The cost is $15 through Sept. 15th ($25 after the 15th). Flyers are available in the Tribe room or at Brookside’s information table. 7th & 8th graders only please. Doors open at 7:30 p.m. Please brings socks (for bowling) and a sweatshirt (for ice skating—it will be cold!).

To register online, click HERE.

For more information or if you have questions, contact Carly at cpruch@brookside.net or call Brookside at 895-1484.

Topic Review

So last night we wrapped up our “On A Mission” series taking about having Intimacy with God. We are all (if we are serious about being Christians) on a mission to lead both ourselves and others to have an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ. He is the one, true God—the Creator of everything. We are deserving of hell because of our rebellion against God, and yet Christ took what we deserved. He paid the price; He took hell for us! So we now find life IN HIM, but only IN HIM. Colossians 3 says “our life is now hid with Christ in God.” But so the question is, “how do I have a relationship with Jesus?” Well, just like any relationship, silly! You talk to Him (yes, even out loud); you hang out together; you acknowledge His presence because He is always with you.

Announcements

1.      NO TRIBE THIS SUNDAY due to Labor Day!

2.      LOCK-IN is Sept. 17^th – Ice skating, bowling, laser tag, food – be thinking of someone you can invite. Our goal is 275 students.

3.      Applications for the Servant Leadership Team are in the Tribe room – for those of you who want to lead, fill one out!

4.      New Youthwalks are in the Tribe room for the month of September! Grab one!

Topic Review

Tribe was AWESOME last night! It was great to get into groups, finally, and start to get to know each other better. Last night, we talked about “experiencing community with others” as a part of our “On A Mission” series. One of the primary purposes of Tribe is for students to experience real, authentic community. We want Tribe to be a GREAT community for ALL junior highers/middle schoolers, through a movement of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We are far from perfect, but we want Tribe to be a place where we care more about others than ourselves and where we reach out to others in their pain. We are all individuals (obviously), but we come together to form one unified community.

Announcements

1.      Tribe this Sunday @ 10:45! If you’re new to Tribe, check out Tribe on Sundays!

2.      LOCK-IN is Sept. 17^th – Ice skating, bowling, laser tag, food – be thinking of someone you can invite.

3.      Applications for the SLT are in the Tribe room – for those of you who want to lead, fill one out!

Woo-hoo! So Tribe has officially launched for the 2010-2011 school year! It was great to be back together last night and to see everyone again. 7^th graders, we are SO EXCITED to have you in Tribe! I really hope you are having a great time and are looking forward to making some new friends this year. Even more than that, I hope that you desire to know Christ more…. I hope that you realize that Jesus loves and accepts you more than any other person ever could! He is always thinking about you even (Ps. 139:17-18). Remember what we talked about last night: God wants us to have fun and enjoy life. But in Christ, fun never involves being selfish towards others. Real fun comes in putting others first.

Announcements

1.      Tribe this Sunday @ 10:45! If you’re new to Tribe, check out Tribe on Sundays!

2.      LOCK-IN is Sept. 17^th – Ice skating, bowling, laser tag – Flyers are in the Tribe room – invite lots of friends!

3.      Grab a Youthwalk if you haven’t – a great way for you to stay connected to God daily

So we made it home safely, again I’m sure with much protection from the Lord. We had an amazing trip! Parents, if you’re reading this, you should be very proud of your son or daughter! We fed the homeless and prayed with them, did an outstanding VBS for inner-city kids (and loved on them as best as we could), visited some wonderful folks at a nursing home, talked to people at the beach about Christ, and did lots of other odd jobs. Thank you for your prayers. It was obvious to us that some of the things that happened on this trip had the obvious hand of God in them. It is truly a priviledge to be a part of leading these trips. But the real test starts now… as I reminded the students on our return trip: This trip is really a “boot camp” toward a larger objective: reaching our own worlds for Christ. This was just one week; but as of now, our lives are lived here in Omaha, NE. So students, let’s be sure to show Christ to the world HERE like we did in Chicago.

Terry Meinders

            Well, it’s late afternoon on Wednesday and I’m waiting for dinner so I’ll put my 2 cents in on this blog.  The others have filled you in on some of what we are doing so I’ll just hit on 2 things that have been highlights for me.

            First, was our Sunday experience at Willow Creek.  I have heard a lot about the church but had never been there so I was amazed.  It is a huge facility and is kind of a combination of a convention center, theaters, cafeteria, etc.  The grounds are also amazing and they even have a lake…..I wonder if there are fish in it?  I kind of wondered if the service would be more show than worship but it wasn’t, at least for me.  The worship service was as awesome as the rest of the place and it was so neat to worship with our group front and center, in the 3^rd – 7^th rows.  I love worshiping with our kids at Brookside and it was even more special at Willow.  Brad filled you in on the rest of the stuff going on there so I won’t go into that.

            The other thing that has been a highlight for me has been our small group (group #2).  Michael, Cindy, and I are the older kids and the younger kids are Lindsey, Christa, Hailley, Laura, Missy, Gabe, Luke, and Ben.  Tamara, who is an AIM volunteer from North Carolina, has also joined us.  She will be a junior in high school and is a great asset to our team.  These kids are great to be around because they really love and want to serve God and because their attitudes are inspiring.  They are all hard-working and accept the challenges we are facing with prayerful enthusiasm.  Parents of these kids should really be proud and I’m glad that I get to spend time with them this week and at other times throughout the year.      

Student’s Stories

Luke Watne

So far the trip has been awesome! God has really moved me on this trip. Today I had kinda a mix day. First, my group, ( Cindy, Lindsey, Christa, Gabe and I ) Went to Ms. Stepp’s house to clean the siding and wash the porch floors.  It was kinda hard because we had soapy/ dirty water and a small brush and we had to brush all of the dirt out. Then we had lunch as a full group which was sandwiches. ( Meat/ Pb & J ) Next, we went to the place where we were having VBS.  We played Duck Duck Goose, and Hangman, then sang songs. I think the kids like the Deep and Wide song where we went Hmm and wide, Hmm and wide, Etc… We did our skit which went pretty well. Then we did the verse (Timothy 2:4 God wants all men to be saved.) Which was all the words of the verse on separate (purple ) pieces of paper, which we mixed up, having the kids to put them back in order. J I hope that we changed their lives. Then we went outside, and played soccer/ monkey in the middle. We had juice and found out someone got hit by a bus. L We prayed in the car for the guy who got hit… We think he’s ok. (By the way; it was  none of us, but still… ) We came back for free time/ dinner, (chicken casserole ) Then worship, and wrapping it up with some Ultimate Uno. Love You guys!!! See you on Friday!!!

Ashley Meinders

My trip has been great! It has been awesome to see God move in my life and the lives of the people on my team and the people we have served in some way!  First of all, I am in group one with Leslie and Jack as my leaders. The members of my team are Ethan, Sean, Sadie, Jake, LaRee, Ruth… and I of course! That is just some vital info for you so you know who I am talking about when I say my group… Or something of the nature!  So anyway…

So to start off the week, on Monday, we did the orientation in the morning as a group, then in the afternoon my group kicked off VBS! We were a smidge late to VBS, so we had to go and split up into 3 groups- 1 would take the even floors in the apartment complex, -1 would take the odd floors, -1 would stay in the main lobby and be there if the kids show up.  The group that took the even floors- only did 5 floors and then gave in to the heat of the building (they only had central air in the lobby), so it was quite warm in there! The group who was to take the odd floors- Jack, Ally, Sean, Me- went all the way to the end to floor 23 and was hanging posters and knocking on doors to see if there were any children who could go to the VBS downstairs!  It was hot and I think that %90 of that building was Russian and elderly… So like maybe %45 of the people’s doors we knocked on had no children. %35 of the people had children. And the remaining %50 of the people were at work and didn’t answer!  I realize that was more then %100… Please forgive me!  Then we came back and had dinner, worship, and the game Hot Seat! Hot Seat is a game where someone sits in a chair, on stage, and 5 encouraging comments are shared about that person! It is very fun! Then we finally went to bed at 10:30pm!

Then today, Tuesday June 22, 2010, we awoke at 7:00am! We are kinda tired… did I share that fun fact with you??? Well now you know! So today, my group got ready (breakfast, hygiene, etc.) then we were off to the Nursing Home. To talk, play, and share God’s love with the elderly! It was really fun! I was mostly with this lady named Vivian. Vivian was a believer and had children and at least 2 grandkids! One of her grandkids was in Saudia Arabia in the war. The other one, that we heard of, was a girl studying to be a doctor.  She did elaborate on the family but she only had 4 teeth and so it was kinda hard to understand her! J I felt compassion on those people in that nursing home, because only %60-%75 of those people have family who visits them. I just feel good that we probably brightened up their day! I hope we made a lasting impact on their hearts and lives! After the nursing home, we went back to our base site (Philadelphia Church) and had lunch! Luke Watne elaborated on what lunch consisted of! Then we took off for the beach (It was REALLY just a lot of sand and then Lake Michigan! It is so big, you feel that you are really at the ocean!) We just went around and were led by God to see where HE wanted us to go and who to talk to!  We stayed there for about 2.5 hours and then went back to church for some free time, daily debrief, dinner, worship, HOT SEAT, and then free time for the rest of the evening! Right now we are all (mostly) downstairs, I am writing to you… MY FANS! ; some people are writing their encouragement cards, but most people are playing more Ultimate Uno! I hope that you enjoyed hearing from me and that it gives you an insight to our lives here in Chicago. Thanks for reading! We love and miss you all so much!

God Bless,

Ashley Meinders J

Sean McAndrews

            Today, (on June 22^nd) My team went to the nursing home for the morning ministries. Jake, Ethan, Ally, and I went to play cards with a lady named Phyllis. We first played a game of Rummy. I don’t know what she was thinking if we wouldn’t notice but she would cheat in a middle of a game (it was hilarious).  Anyway we talked to her for a little bit and she had a husband, but he died and she had a couple of brothers and sisters but they all past away. Then we played Yahtzee.

Later after lunch our team went to go to the beach. We first got there and did an A.T.L. Then we went to talk to people, First the guys (Ethan, Jack, Jake and me) went to talk to this homeless guy who was hanging out there. We talked to him and he was deaf and he couldn’t talk. But he gave us a note in Spanish, and pointed to a dollar bill asking for money and did a motion but we didn’t understand so we think he waved for us to go. After that we saw Leslie get into a good conversation then me and Ethan went to talk to this guy and he did not want to talk to us. So after Leslie was done me and Jack went to talk to this guy named John. He was from Africa and while Jack and I sat down he put down this book that said [is there a creator and does he care about you?] and Jack’s first question was what he thought of a creator. Anyway he had different mixes of religion and thought that when you die your soul goes to the creator but your spirit goes to the Earth into a human. So as we talked to him he was almost rethinking himself about what he believed. But after an hour we had to go and went back to the church. Anyway, we’re doing well; miss everybody.

Gabe McAndrews

            Today on June 22, 2010 we had a great Godly time working with others using compassion. We first went to the same house that we went to yesterday. The woman that we pulled her weeds and also cleaned her ceiling and deck floors name was Mrs. Stepp. She was really nice to us but she had to go to a funeral today. Luke, Cindy, Christa, Lindsey, and I all had a great time trying to walk back to the church. We got lost in the middle of nowhere. Luckily one of our leaders from the church picked us up and took us back to the church. When we were walking we encountered a woman who lost her dog named Wesley. I think God led us to her by also getting us lost. It all ended up fine. My group went to an apartment and did a vacation bible school for the kids. It was really hard to keep them under control and teach them but we finally got to meet them. I met a really nice kid named “Io.” We sang songs, did our Bible story skit, a craft, and then played some soccer together and other games. We are having a great time and I will be back soon.    

-Gabe

Hello Parents (and friends and anyone else reading this)! So it’s currently 5:06 p.m. Monday afternoon. Didn’t get a chance to write yesterday, so I’ll fill you in a bit. Parents, most of the students got a chance to call you yesterday to wish dad’s a happy Father’s Day… so they filled you in on some of this. We went to Willow Creek Community Church yesterday morning for church. What an experience! Don’t know how you feel about mega-churches, but we had a blast! It was “church done well” in my book. It was “DadFest” and man, they did a great job celebrating dad’s. Mike Singletary gave a great sermon, besides a cool skit, a cool “stomp”-like drumming deal, and some words from pastor Bill Hybels (we sat in the 3^rd row… I just wanted to reach out and shake the guy’s hand!). After checking out their youth rooms, we went outside to their parking lot for the Dadfest experience—free hot dogs, popcorn, ice cream, & bottled water; a huge car show display and TONS of people! After a short time there, we headed to downtown “Chi-town.” Had a late lunch at the infamous Giordano’s pizza (it’s amazing), and then to the Navy Pier for an hour or so.

We arrived at our base church, Philadelphia Church, about 5:30 yesterday. It’s an old church right off of a main street (used to be a bank at one time…we were trying to crack the vault in the basement). This isn’t near the skyscrapers… think, uh… more like the Benson downtown area of Omaha. People are always walking the street, and it’s a cool environment. The guys and gals are in their separate areas (obviously), and each group is sharing 1 shower! (ha) But it hasn’t been bad. The AIM staff is wonderful (Joyce, Pat, & Jim), and—side note—Jim was our worship leader last year in Texas; so it’s great to be with him again. We had orientation this morning and then headed out to do ministry this afternoon. One group started VBS, one group did some clean-up projects here at the church, and one group did sports evangelism at the beach. The ministry went well and relationships were started—some seeds were planted and hopefully, they will be watered. God has been good; we’re excited to see what he has for us the rest of the week. This has gotten too long, and it’s dinner time… I will try to have students write stories tonight or tomorrow. So long for now. Please continue to pray for us!

Brad

Well, day 1 has gone well. We left Omaha this morning by about 9:40 and had a great day of driving (well…. as great as can be when you’re in a van for 8 hours). But no rain, no getting lost, no sickness, and really, no trouble of any kind. I was thinking as we drove that we always tend to take things like “safety while driving” for granted. I was thinking about how our Lord works supernaturally; and so, much protection could have been provided (by Him) and many problems might have been avoided (because of Him) but we will never know it. I was just thinking, ‘we must give the Lord credit for this.’ All good things are from above (is that in James 1?).

We rolled into Elgin Evangelical Free Church in Elgin, IL about 8:20 p.m. It’s a really nice little church. Mark Kato, the associate pastor here (youth & children’s), let us in, and it was cool to visit with him a while. He has to sleep here tonight, too; so it is cool to see the sacrifice he is taking for us to stay here. We are grateful for any church who let us sleep in their facility on a Saturday night before services the next morning. It is cool to see the ministry of other churches, and especially that of other E Free Churches (which, if you didn’t know, is Brookside’s denomination). The students are playing around a little before bed in the gym, and some of the girls are playing a CRAZY game of ultimate uno (always a good time).

Well, it’s bed time. I must sign off. We are eager for church at Willow Creek tomorrow and to get to our base church site tomorrow afternoon. We are praying for the continued guidance of the Holy Spirit as we seek to serve and love others in the name of Christ. Sorry this is so long! Goodnight. J