Our very own Victoria Couser is that lovable red head Annie in this years Xenia High School play! I am planning on attending the Friday night show and it would be really cool if a number of us go together to support her!
When: March 30
Meet: @EBC @630pm
Time: 630-11(ish)
Cost: $10
In the past week something strange has happened across all of social media. A video has been flying from through Facebook, Vimeo, YouTube, and it’s been on the news from local, the national, and even the Daily Show. It has been viewed over 70 million times in a week! That’s ridiculous. So what is it about?
The video was produced by a charity called Invisible Children. The non profit was started by 3 people who went to Africa 10 years ago and discovered hundreds and hundreds of children sleeping in a bus stations, sewers, under buses, and alleys. They found out there was a man out there named Joseph Kony who, with help of his followers, have been kidnapping children to make them into child soldiers or sex slaves. The children would sleep in cities in large groups because there was safety in numbers. The movie, ‘Invisible Children’ can be rented from the Greene County Library by requesting it here.
10 years later another video by Invisible Children has shown up and exploded all over the world. The video is calling for the arrest of Joseph Kony this year. The video was created to make people aware of what has been going on in Africa for over 20 years. The video has also brought its fair share of controversry which we can talk about if you feel like you have questions or concerns with this video. It’s always good to ask questions and double check anything you are presented with. God gave us all minds and I think He expects us to use them!
All that to say, the video has created a response around the world and here in Xenia. I was surprised to see KONY’s name all over my Facebook page and after listening to students and watching their outrage at the tragedy in Africa and support for the cause it was too much and I felt we needed to talk about it.
So tonight’s Chaos was about KONY. It was also about the tragedies here in Xenia. Do we care as much about the issues and pain here in our area as we do with an important issue in Africa?
You can see the notes from tonight here in our Chaos Bulletin.
Christians are not called to sit in pews and simply listen! We are called to be doers! We are called to get out into our world to make a difference. That means helping with causes around the world which is amazing but sometimes easy. The real test is when we get involved in local causes that may affect our friendships, our cool factor at school, and may make our life harder but this is what God is calling us to! This is what Jesus did!
Tonight we talked about the issue of Bullying in Xenia. Do we care about the suffering here in town as much as we care about the horror of what is going on in Africa? Do we care that people are dying here because they feel unloved, misunderstood, and lonely? You can see the trailer of a new movie coming out that talks about this very issue here.
13 million kids will be bullied this year. Can you help stop it?
Here is the KONY video that everyone is talking about. My challenge to you is to feel outrage at what is going on Africa, find out more information, and do something but my challenge is to feel the same outrage her in Xenia at the horrible things our friends, neighbors, and classmates face everyday!
We’ve decided to hold a Last Supper April 3rd at Chaos. We will need some help with this. We want to have a dinner so that means we need some volunteers to help by bringing food to share! This is something new we are trying so help us make it awesome and a new tradition!
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We just finished our high school weekend retreat this past weekend and the obvious question is ‘how did it go’? I never know how to answer that question so I thought I would steal the answer from one of the participants Facebook post. He is not a regular attender. He came with us to Velocity and has attended a few other things we have done so we are always psyched when he joins! So here is what he said…“Just spent the weekend in Detroit with an awesome youth group!
Let’s see if I can sum up our adventures within this status…
1) We met a friendly, drunken, hockey fan at Little Caesars.
2) We helped serve at a shelter for those who were suffering from drug addictions, among other things.
3) We received hugs from, and learned the life story of, the guy that ran the shelter.
4) We were welcomed to the ghetto.
5) One individual carried around a cup of pickles for a few hours.
6) We did graffiti, because we are hardcore Christians……dawg.
7) Played many games, including Nouns in a Bucket and Mafia.
8) Went to IKEA for a “prayer labyrinth”. (I had never been to an IKEA before. It was everything that Liz Lemon said it was, and MORE!)
All in all, an excellent weekend!”
Can’t beat that description. Also, you can download our Retreat Book to see what we did.
Cedarmania is fast approaching and we need to know who is going! If you know you are going you must tell us by TOMORROW!!! We have to call Cedarville and tell them how many we are coming. This is not one of those events that you can wait until the Thursday before and then all of sudden decide to go. We have to know by March 7th whether or not you are going!
Tomorrow is the deadline. We will have permission slips and flyers tonight. You can signup tonight, Facebook us, or email the Youth Group address (ebcsojourn@gmail.com). Don’t miss out because it is always a blast!
When: March 16-17th
Time: Friday 7pm-Saturday 630am. We usually drop you off at your house in the morning.
Cost: $25 or $35 if you want a shirt.
We have gained some great Cedarville Youth Leaders and they are willing to put their lives on the line for the sake of the Ministry. My hats off to them because I wouldn’t risk it!
For those that are interested here is what we will doing this weekend as we talk through some Spiritual Disciplines.
Please pray for us as we go on this weekend and feel free to join us in Xenia as we do the sessions in Detroit. You can view the schedule when you click on the parent letter. You can view or download the session packet by clicking on ‘Retreat Book’.
The only switch will be the IKEA labyrinth. We will be spending some time on Sunday practicing the discipline of prayer. We will be using the IKEA store as our labyrinth but you can easily use Walmart, the Mall, or some other store as a prayer walk.
By the way, This is where we are going…
We are doing another Super Summit in March. We have had two of these already and I really thought they went well. So come out and help us as we think through what we are doing and build a calendar that reflects where, as a group, want to go. I will come into the meeting with some ideas and with at least 2 months worth of teaching topics. These will not be set in stone. Here are topics I want to cover and you to think about.
Route 56-I will have a basic teaching plan for the next two months so we need to consider worship songs, possible dramas, and special events. Can we do some unique things on Sunday mornings? Should we consider having a special Route 56 event outside of Church? if where?
Chaos- I will have a teaching plan for this as well. Are there other topics we should cover? One question to ask is What does the bible say about…and fill in the blank. Can we do anything new? if so what? I am looking for new teachers and leaders as well as someone to help run games.
Elevate-Again, I will have some teaching topics but I am open to other ideas. What are events we can do?
Service Projects-if you have an idea then please start doing some research and bring in a well developed idea. don’t just say, we should build an orphanage in Africa. Ask questions such as is there an organization that can help us, how much do we need to raise, what country, how can best support this need? What are things we can do here locally?
When: March 10th @ 1pm
Where: EBC Youth Room
Who: 7th grade and up (parents are welcome)
High School Elevate will be canceled on March 4th because we will be returning from the High School and I will more than likely be dead to the world. So take the night off, do some homework, enjoy your family and watch PBS to increase your knowledge. See you next week!!!
