Utah Team Report

Monday night I journaled:

"Aching legs.

Feet worn sore.

Backs strained.

Laughter spreading contagious.

Repetitive brush strokes.

Long hours.

United team.

Hearts full.

Smiles inerasable.

He answers prayers for restoration, for strong voices, for growth in coaches, for kids (111!), for sufficient help, for united team, for patience, for energy. The days aren’t without failures, imperfections, and strife. But as He continues to work on us, He supplies us with sufficient grace.” 

The report today is the same. It has been a very different week from our group’s missions trip two years ago to Juneau, AL, or our at-home missions trip last year, but the verdict is the same—God is still exceeding our expectations. He is still faithful. He continues to answer prayer. We prayed for the right amount of workers, and we get exactly the right amount of help from Alpine—the right amount of guy coaches for the overload of young boys and just the right number of girl coaches. We prayed for personal spiritual growth, and every night as we debrief, we hear story after story of God’s work in our hearts. Kids are opening up, making decisions to follow Jesus, and loving every minute of Sports Camp. We asked for energy, and God has miraculously seen us through. We prayed for good relationships with Alpine and God is doing it! So keep praying!
The last two days of Sports Camp are yet to come, a couple more work projects on the way, more interactions with Alpine church. We anticipate that the best is yet to come!

 “Every step we are breathing in your grace.
Ever more we’ll be breathing out your praise.
You are faithful. God, you are faithful!”
(Never Alone, Matt Redman) 

 -- Report by Lauren Reavely for the team

Mega Sports Camp Registration is Now Open!

Kids entering 1st - 6th grade in the Fall are invited to “Go the Distance” Mega Sports Camp for a week of sports fundamentals, character building, cool lessons that help Bible truths come alive, and whole lot of fun! There is no charge to participate but an optional Mega Sports Camp t-shirt is available for $10. Sports Camp will take place at New Life Church Robinwood, 19915 Old River Drive in West Linn, on June 20 - 24, 9 a.m. to noon. An evening Sports Camp will be offered at the future home of New Life Wilsonville, 27960 S.W. Canyon Creek Road in Wilsonville, on August 8 - 12 from 6 - 9 p.m. For a brochure or to register online visit:

http://newlifenw.com/special/2011sportscamp/2011sportscamp.shtml

Juneau Team Update #1

Sports Camp in West Linn ended at noon and the Juneau Mission Team was at the airport by 3:00 to prepare to depart for Alaska. Before we departed we had a brief time of praise for what God did at Sports Camp this week. Here are a few of the things we praised God for:

• God helped us with challenging children. They grew through the week, and so did we.
• A few days into Sports camp we all felt drained, now we feel recharged for what God will do this week in Juneau.
• The rain didn't stop us from having a great last day of Sports Camp.
• About 25 kids responded to the gospel invitation this week, and we believe about 10 of those truly understood the gospel and trusted Christ for the first time!
• We could go on and on, but just know that we saw God work in incredible ways this week!

Our plane travel was mostly smooth (0nly a 30 minute delay in Seattle) and we arrived safely in Juneau at about 10:00 last night. This morning the team is showering up, eating breakfast, and preparing for a day of prayer walking and canvassing in "The Flats". This is the area where there has not been a new gospel initiative in 40 years. Please pray for us that God would open doors for the gospel, that His Spirit would lead us to pray, that we would be protected from evil, and that we would come into contact with lots of kids who would want to come to sports camp next week.

We will try to update this blog late each night, so check back tomorrow for updates, praise reports, and more things to pray about!

Sports Camp Off to Great Start

New Life Church's Mega Sports Camp got off to a great start. In West Linn, yesterday morning, 57 excited kids played basketball and soccer and heard the good news about Jesus Christ! In our first ever sports camp in Wilsonville last night, 22 kids had a great time playing soccer and hearing that same gospel message. Of those 22 kids, none of them had ever attended New Life Church before!

In West Linn, the Juneau Mission Team in is running the Sports Camp and preparing for their departure to Juneau on Friday. In Wilsonville a team of committed adult volunteers is doing a great job working with the kids.

Please pray that both teams of volunteers will proclaim the good news with boldness and clarity. Pray that God would draw many children to Himself.

Sports Camp is Underway!

Here are some pictures from the West Linn Sports Camp. Looks like great fun.

Sports Camp Success!

Our 5th annual Mega Sports Camp was a terrific success! When you hear, "Sports Camp", you might think the week was all about sports. And... we did have a lot of fun playing soccer and basketball. But there were many more important wins than scoring goals and making baskets.

Last week about 85 kids each day heard the good news that God has a "Game Plan" for their lives. They memorized Jeremiah 29:11-12 and learned how God used Moses in accomplishing His Game Plan for the Israelites. On Thursday the kids heard how they needed to trust God's plan like the Israelites did when the blood of the lamb spared them from death. We talked about how The Lamb of God shed his blood for their sins so that they could be saved if they would trust in Jesus as their Savior. Fourteen children prayed a prayer of faith and talked to their coaches about following Jesus!
Another success was the ministry service of over 30 committed volunteers. A team of high school students and adults joined together to provide a great week for our children of learning about sports and discovering God's game plan for their lives. All of these volunteers gave up their precious time and energy to serve God. One volunteer even took a week of vacation from work to serve!

We celebrated the successes of the week at our award ceremony on Friday afternoon and again at the All-Church worship service on Sunday, but why don't you take some time now to thank the Lord for His blessings last week!

Bocce Begins

Competition was fierce this last Thursday as the Bocce ball summer league began. Team Grayson/Rachel displayed the precision of surgeons as they dominated the field, finishing the night with a perfect record. Team Crystal/Jessica also finished the evening with a perfect record… ending the night with zero wins. Overall everyone had a ton of fun, and lots of laughs. Bocce ball play will continue at 6 p.m. this Thursday night at Hammerle Park. All are welcome to come and play. Bring your set if you have one and spectators are definitely encouraged. If you think you have what it takes to withstand the intense pressure and fierce competition of the Bocce ball summer league get a partner and join us for a really fun time.

Utah Mission Team Video #3 - Sports Camp verse

Here's the verse that the kids memorized in two days!

Utah Mission Team Update #5 - Sports Camp

How can I summarize our Sports Camp experience in Utah? First the facts: (1) there were on average about 25 kids each day, (2) we did soccer and basketball, (3) we talked about teamwork and sacrifice, culminating in the story of Jesus, (4) we had kids from a couple LDS families, as well as kids from the church and the community, (5) four kids wanted to believe in Jesus for the first time.

There were several transformations associated with Sports Camp. Kids were very cold towards the activities and their coaches in the beginning. You can see from the pictures that that clearly changed. Our team was also fractured and on edge after a stressful start to Sports Camp and the inevitable relational grind of having been in close quarters with one another for 5 straight days. Our debrief session tonight confirmed that God worked a miracle to unify us, not only for Sports Camp, but in everything else we did today. Thanks for your prayers! Lastly, Young kids lives were changed as they heard the gospel message of Jesus Christ. Four boys genuinely expressed an interest in trusting Jesus for salvation for the first time. There was also a young LDS girl who was wrestling (in a VERY good way) with the difference between the gospel we were preaching and the message she had been taught growing up. These were amazing results from a camp that only lasted two days. We praise God for his accelerated work in and through us!

Please pray for those who showed signs of being affected by the gospel message. Pray also that the seeds that were planted would bear longterm fruit. Continue to pray for love and unity amongst our team members, and that our presence at Alpine Church would enhance the ministry that God has already blessed them with. We are convinced that many are interceding for us because we see God's hand at work. Keep it up, and THANK YOU!!!

Utah Mission Team Video #2 - Slaughterball

This is SLAUGHTERBALL!!!

Utah Mission Team Update #4

Yesterday was all about getting ready for Sports Camp. We checked out the park we would be using, we passed out fliers in the neighborhoods surrounding the park, and we spent a good portion of the evening decorating our vans and making signs for publicity purposes, as well as doing any last minute work to prepare. We started the day by getting a lesson on how to engage LDS people from Scott Creps, which was very timely considering our door-to-door experience.

Please continue to pray for the energy and attitude of our team. Also, pray for the impact of Sports Camp on the ministry of Alpine Church.

MEGA Sports Camp 2008 Video

Here's a video that was made to feature youth working with kids at Sports Camp. Enjoy!

Sports Camp Pictures

There are over 400 pictures from Mega Sports Camp 2008 on the Ignite Youth Ministries Gallery. Click here to check them out.

5th Quarter: Pizza and a Movie

Attention high school students! Come join us across the street from WLHS at New Life Church for Pizza and a Movie after we beat Lakeridge :) All are welcome, so invite your friends.

MEGA Sports Camp 2007 Pictures (Update)

Sports Camp is HERE!!!!

New Life Church's MEGA Sports camp is underway. It all started yesterday with 34 kids and attendance increased to 48 today. Today is basketball day!

And we haven't forgotten you parents - come by for coffee, conversation and more every morning at 9 AM. See you tomorrow! You can check out more pictures here.

Remember to pray for MEGA Sports Camp 2007!

Tug-O-War

Click here to see pictures from last Wednesday's tug-o-war extravaganza for both the high school and middle school groups. High school vs. middle school, guys vs. girls, leaders vs. students, one on one, we did it all! By the way, you might ask Scott Haugen why there is a hole about the size of his shoulder in the wall across from the Manna Cupboard.

Cosmic Bowling

Here's an update from high school group's Cosmic Bowling excursion. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. Everyone seemed to have a psychedelic time...including Sponge Bob!

Cosmic Bowling

If you're a high school student, don't miss this STELLAR opportunity to meet and get to know other students, have a great time, and stay out late.

WLHS Wins. NLC Celebrates

If there was consensous about anything going into Friday night, it was that WLHS was the underdog in their home game against Clackamas. The early score even reflected that mindset as Clackmas pulled ahead in the first quarter. However, that sense of security was short lived as WLHS scored a steady stream of unanswered touchdowns. The grandstand erupted with cheering with every step towards victory.

Meanwhile, most of the high school students wandered the track in search of God knows what. Relationships were nurtured, jokes were told, and yes, there was even a bit of flirting. After the game, more than 30 students piled into the church for pizza and a movie. Many were regulars, but many were also new faces. Smiles and laughter were plentiful as friends hung out and conversed, and others got comfortable in the high school room for a theatre quality setup.

All in all it's safe to say that God's love was expressed in some creative ways as newcomers expressed their thankfulness, not only for the evening, but for all that the church does for high school students, opening its doors for Coffee Cart, Young Life gatherings, etc. Thanks NLC for your ministry to high school students.