Another Way to Support our Mexico Team ’18 // March 4 & 11

Our team of 20 is making preparations for our trip to Rocky Point, Mexico, March 26-30 . . . we are about one month away!

Many in our church family offered their support by purchasing a Build Hope shirt. We sent in our second order last week and between the two orders we purchased almost 80 shirts. The sale of those shirts will generate approximately $500 for our team. Thanks to all who ordered shirts.

Our group, along with help from our church family, has provided concessions at a Karate Tournament in late January and continues to provide concessions at our Upward Basketball League. Our Upward families are generous in not only buying items, but also donating toward our trip.

Many of our team members have sent out support letters to family and friends to assist with the fundraising part of our trip.

There is another way our WCC family can support our team. On Sunday, March 4 and Sunday, March 11 we will have the Green Buckets set out around the Ministry Center. Anyone who desires to give toward the trip can use the buckets for that purpose. This is, of course, on top of what individuals and families give to the church. We don’t want to take away from the support that is already going to ministries and missions in our community and around the world. We are grateful for the support that so many have already shown us. If you desire to help with trip, the green buckets are another way to do that.

Below is our team for ’18. I’m excited that we have a dozen high school students, a few returning members from our ’16 trip and even family members participating in our adventure together.

Please keep this group in your prayers as we prepare to serve in Mexico.

’18 Mexico Team
Rachel Barker
Angela Blouse
Jacob Blouse
Zach Davis
Ken Driscoll
Lauren Ellis
Andrew Garrett
Megan Halloran
Matthew Horn
Cory Huffman
Drew Huffman
Christian McCamish
Beth Puckett
Talent Sagraves
Shane Streber
Terri Streber
Nathan Twine
Calvin Walls
Jeff Walls
Tony Brackemyre

Honoring our Grads 2015

Each year near the end of May, we take a few minutes at the start of our worship service to recognize our high school graduates. For the past few years I have put together a brief video of our high school seniors. It’s been a good way to get their faces in front of the congregations since many in our church family don’t know all the graduates personally (and another way for mom and dad to use those senior pictures!). I created the video on Animoto and love how easy it is to put together.

Congratulations to the class of 2015!

1MISSION Project About to Launch

Our IMPACT students are partnering with 1MISSION to raise money to build a home for a family in Mexico. I had a phone conversation yesterday with a representative from 1MISSION and our campaign will launch in the near future.

We had the opportunity to kick off our fundraising last Saturday at a karate tournament hosted at our church. In just one day, we were able to raise $500. This weekend we start offering concessions for our Upward basketball games.  While I don’t envision we will raise all that we need through our concessions, it should give us a great boost toward our goal.

We are looking to get the word out to our friends and church family and invite a lot of people to play a small part in reaching our goal.  1MISSION encourages students to give up birthdays, to run a race or create a project to help raise funds for family in needs.

We have a new link to our campaign page – IMPACT 1MISSION Campaign page.

The link may not be live right now, but I will keep everyone updated when our campaign launches.  Hope you will be involved!

IMPACT to Partner with 1Mission

IMPACT Student Ministry is kicking off 2015 with a partnership with an organization called 1MISSION. We learned about 1MISSION through our involvement with Christ In Youth at their junior high BELIEVE Convention and Summer MOVE Conference.

1MISSION is an organization that gives people living in poverty the opportunity to earn a house by serving in their community. The leaders of 1MISSION are Christ followers and their overall vision and mission are driven by a commitment to modeling Jesus’ passion for serving the poor. By partnering with 1MISSION, we have committed to raise $4000 by the end of April to build a home for a family in Mexico. Later this month we will find out the specific family we will be serving.

While 1MISSION works within the communities to help families, our role will be to support them by raising the funds needed. We are encouraging our students, small groups and church family to come up with ways to raise the necessary funds.

One way we will accomplish this is through our Upward Concessions. For a number of years, our church family has organized an Upward basketball program for the kids and families in our church and community.  About three years ago our student ministry began hosting a concession stand during the games. This year’s concessions will support 1MISSION.

We are asking two things of our students and families – to donate items to the concession stand and to volunteer to serve

We are also encouraging our students to come up with creative ways to reach our $4000 goal. Here are a few ideas:

• Donate Your Birthday. One thing 1MISSION encourages students to do is donate their birthdays. Rather than ask for gifts for a birthday, students can ask friends and family to donate to 1MISSION.

• Share Our Campaign Site with Others. 1MISSION will provide us with an online campaign page that students can share over social media. When the site goes live in February, people can donate directly toward our $4000 goal. Here’s a sneak peek at our Campaign Page.

• Be Creative. Perhaps a small group will offer child care to families and donate the money to 1MISSION. Maybe a student will create a hand-made product where the proceeds will benefit 1MISSION. We know our students are creative and want to encourage them to come up with ideas they can run with either with their small group, a few friends, with family or just on their own.

I’m looking forward to see how God will move within our students and church family to provide a home for a family we may never meet face to face.  $4000 seems like a pretty big number to reach in four months, but I’m anticipating some exciting things taking place in the coming days.

Here is a brief video that gives an overview of 1MISSION and the work they are doing.  Please feel free to join us as we embark on this adventure.

<p><a href=”http://vimeo.com/37929298″>More Than A House</a> from <a href=”http://vimeo.com/1mission”>1MISSION</a&gt; on <a href=”https://vimeo.com”>Vimeo</a&gt;.</p>

Honoring our Grads

photo credit: HckySo via photopin cc

Each year we take a few minutes during our Sunday morning service to honor our high school graduates. It’s an exciting time for the seniors and their families as they celebrate the completion of high school.

The last few years I have put together a brief video of our graduates as we start the recognition. Many in our church family don’t know all the graduates personally, so it’s a good way to introduce them. I created it on Animoto and love how easy it is to put together.

Congratulations again to all of our grads!