We packed up, had breakfast, painted our faces blue, did quiet times, rocked out at worship, took a group picture and then hit the road. The ride home was a bit rough with torrential rains, hail, wind, and a few downed trees, but we made it safe and sound. Despite the crazy weather, it seemed many of the campers took a much needed nap in the van before returning to their eager parents. God truly blessed our Middle School Camp experience this year. It was a great trip with a great group which I am excited about repeating next year.
In case you were wondering, here is some info you might want:
Songs I remember Unhindered playing:
Student Life website: www.studentlife.com
Friday, July 17, 2009
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Thursday Camp Day 4 - Finale
Today was the last full day here at Student Life Camp 09. Many of us agreed is was overall the best day yet. There was fun, there was amazing worship, there was great teaching and some great group discussions. Many of our group have felt God tugging at their heart in some way to connect more with Him. Many feel called to step up their service to God, dedicate time to learning about Him or just praising Him more with their life. I thought a group trip down to Sonic after our final Family Group Meeting was a great way to end the evening. I want to encourage you to ask your kids for details of how they have seen God move this week. I bet some of them will surprise you! It is my prayer that our spiritual high would be sustained throughout this next year. Despite the fact that we have to leave, I can't wait to see you all tomorrow at the Hub. Thanks again for the honor of being your kids youth pastor.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Wednesday Camp Day 3 - Be A Cat
Today was water day and it was FUN! You know it is going to be a good day when you start off by locking yourself out of your room only to find that the night before Scot had accidentally taken your keys to his room (crisis averted). We started off with yet another breakfast in the dining hall followed by quiet time. The morning session led to some great discussion in family group. After lunch we went out to the rec field for a bunch of water games. After water day we had fun at free time, dinner and the evening session. Another good family group discussion, late night and pizza party (guys only) and it was off to bed. The first picture was taken from Student Life's website today.
Check it out: We were group of the day on Monday. This is a copy of the text from Student Life's blog so you can see their interview.
The first time at camp is always scary, but the students from Lifepointe Church in Raleigh, North Carolina are having a blast. The students at Lifepointe are most excited about hearing Unhindered this week. Students also enjoy the humorous videos shown during Celebration. Lifepointe brought thirteen students to camp this week.
This week at camp students hope to experience a closer encounter with God. Also, Paige, a middle school student, said, “I hope to make it less about me, and more about God this week.”
Students at Lifepointe believe that their size sets them apart from other groups at camp this week. The students are more like a family than a group, which they love.
Student’s favorite part about their youth ministry is the ability they have to go online and submit questions anonymously. Then during their Sunday night youth time their youth minister Todd Fischer, answers them.
Check it out: We were group of the day on Monday. This is a copy of the text from Student Life's blog so you can see their interview.
CAMP • 7.14.09
 |  |
This week at camp students hope to experience a closer encounter with God. Also, Paige, a middle school student, said, “I hope to make it less about me, and more about God this week.”
Students at Lifepointe believe that their size sets them apart from other groups at camp this week. The students are more like a family than a group, which they love.
Student’s favorite part about their youth ministry is the ability they have to go online and submit questions anonymously. Then during their Sunday night youth time their youth minister Todd Fischer, answers them.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Tuesday Camp Day 2 - Pressed Like Olives
Nick, Scot and I are bringing you the daily update. The day has been long and full of fun and randomness: 7:00 am breakfast, supreme court justices, Stupid Ninjas at lunch, unifying rec time, ice skating, a case of lost and found, family time, pirates at the dome, keyboarding ninjas in the courtyard, and a pizza party at midnight. David Nasser and Unhindered lit it up tonight with an amazing retelling of the crucifixion of Christ at amazing detail. It caused us yet again to slow down and ask, "why we are here?" We just want you to know that we are having a great time and learning a lot.
Stupid Ninja Game in the corner...
Stupid Ninja Game in the corner...
Monday, July 13, 2009
Monday Camp Day 1.1 - Late Night
It seems like it has been a whole day since the last post even though that was only a few hours ago. Let me start by giving you a mental picture of the event. Liberty's campus is very picturesque with mountains all around. We are staying in really clean three story hall style dorms. They are awesome but it seems the guys AC is not working so pray for some cool weather. If you walk down a ridiculously long staircase you arrive at the dining hall. The dining facilities are huge and the food is pretty good. About a block up from that is the main meeting center for the camp. It is a small basketball arena but it really nice inside. That's enough about the buildings, now for the good stuff. To start our evening off right, we got a healthy dose of humor when the camp rules were delivered. Seriously, ask your kids to tell you about the flannel board video with the flames and dinosaurs! The band who is playing is called Unhindered (www.unhinderedworship.com) and they have one goal in mind: to get every single person in that arena worshiping God. So far they seem to be doing a good job. Here is a picture I took of our group. I blurred it so you can't tell who is who, but you get the idea
They also started a series of powerful skits aimed to get the kids to think about their level of faith, how real it is to them and how they might share it. David Nasser did a great job walking the kids through Isaiah 6:1-5 showing that even in the midst of all the woes of our lifes, God is still in control, He is still holy and he will always desire to "ruin" our lives (remove any obstacle we hold closer to us than Him). We finished the night out with a little Lifepointe time outside in the cool mountain air, playing silly games and talking about the days events. I challenged them all to think about why they are here and to consider what they wanted to get out of this. I got a great bunch of responses which proved many of their hearts are open to listening to God. If you contact them, please help push them to answer this question.
Last but certainly not least, I have a way you can send your kids a note. The basic gist is that you send an email to the camp, they print it, I pick it up and hand it to them. If you want to send them a note, see some more camp pix, watch the message videos or just read another camp blog visit this site and click "EMAIL A STUDENT."
http://camp.studentlife.com/experience/?cn=09LIBU01
They also started a series of powerful skits aimed to get the kids to think about their level of faith, how real it is to them and how they might share it. David Nasser did a great job walking the kids through Isaiah 6:1-5 showing that even in the midst of all the woes of our lifes, God is still in control, He is still holy and he will always desire to "ruin" our lives (remove any obstacle we hold closer to us than Him). We finished the night out with a little Lifepointe time outside in the cool mountain air, playing silly games and talking about the days events. I challenged them all to think about why they are here and to consider what they wanted to get out of this. I got a great bunch of responses which proved many of their hearts are open to listening to God. If you contact them, please help push them to answer this question.
Last but certainly not least, I have a way you can send your kids a note. The basic gist is that you send an email to the camp, they print it, I pick it up and hand it to them. If you want to send them a note, see some more camp pix, watch the message videos or just read another camp blog visit this site and click "EMAIL A STUDENT."
http://camp.studentlife.com/experience/?cn=09LIBU01
Monday Camp Day 1 - Road Trip
Student Life Camp has officially begun! Our little group of twelve set off for Liberty University today at 9 and arrived at 12. We are all checked into our dorm rooms, up to speed on the camp rules, excited about worship tonight and ready for dinner. I am excited to spend a week with a great group of teens as we seek to strengthen friendships, offer worship to God, have tons of fun and grow to a more passionate relationship with God. To all the parents out there, thanks for sending your kids here with us!
Here are a couple pictures from lunch that I hope will make you smile... (Check out Holly's crossed eyes in the second pic)
Here are a couple pictures from lunch that I hope will make you smile... (Check out Holly's crossed eyes in the second pic)
Thursday, July 9, 2009
MT09 "After The Final Shovel" - Post Trip Updates
Our mission trip team was part of ASP's week 2 summer program. Here is an update on what future groups (week 3&4) have achieved since we have been gone. Thanks to Haley from ASP for the updates. I will post more as they become available.
ORANGE: (Fairly Oddparents)
Week 3 continued digging four feet out from the patio. They almost completed the digging necessary to lay the first course on the retaining wall, so Week 4 will finish digging and then they the first course. After that, Week 4 will continue digging in order to lay the second and potentially third courses.
Week 4 finished the majority of the rough digging on this project. They also laid the first and second courses of the first tier of the Great Wall of Wyoming County. Week 5 will continue working on the first tier of the wall.
PURPLE: (Catdog)
Week 3 finished the foundation by shimming the piers under the house and the girders under the addition. They also finished framing the underpinning and installed blue foam. Inside the house, they removed the kitchen ceiling and insulation in order to reinforce the trusses. Week 4 will begin by installing a rooster roof over the kitchen then installing new insulation and ceiling tiles. After that, they will move into the living room and repeat the process in that room.
Week 4 installed the rooster roof above the kitchen, added lathing strips inside the kitchen for the ceiling tile, and made progress in framing out and installing foam and tin on the underpinning around the side of the house and the addition. They also installed vents in the underpinning and built the first of two access doors. Week 5 will finish the underpinning, remove the insulation from the living room, reinforce the trusses in the living room, and start digging a trench from the water tank in order to lay new PVC piping.
YELLOW: (Rocket Power)
Week 3 finished digging the drainage ditch and installed the corrugated pipe drain tile as well as 14 tons of gravel. The drainage ditch is now complete, so Week 4 will begin repairing the bathroom subfloor by digging new foundation piers under the bathroom so that two girders can be installed to support the floor.
Week 4 dug and poured footers under the bathroom and set sonotube piers. Week 5 will build two girders to support the floor and then move into the bathroom to replace the subfloor.
ORANGE: (Fairly Oddparents)
Week 3 continued digging four feet out from the patio. They almost completed the digging necessary to lay the first course on the retaining wall, so Week 4 will finish digging and then they the first course. After that, Week 4 will continue digging in order to lay the second and potentially third courses.
Week 4 finished the majority of the rough digging on this project. They also laid the first and second courses of the first tier of the Great Wall of Wyoming County. Week 5 will continue working on the first tier of the wall.
PURPLE: (Catdog)
Week 3 finished the foundation by shimming the piers under the house and the girders under the addition. They also finished framing the underpinning and installed blue foam. Inside the house, they removed the kitchen ceiling and insulation in order to reinforce the trusses. Week 4 will begin by installing a rooster roof over the kitchen then installing new insulation and ceiling tiles. After that, they will move into the living room and repeat the process in that room.
Week 4 installed the rooster roof above the kitchen, added lathing strips inside the kitchen for the ceiling tile, and made progress in framing out and installing foam and tin on the underpinning around the side of the house and the addition. They also installed vents in the underpinning and built the first of two access doors. Week 5 will finish the underpinning, remove the insulation from the living room, reinforce the trusses in the living room, and start digging a trench from the water tank in order to lay new PVC piping.
YELLOW: (Rocket Power)
Week 3 finished digging the drainage ditch and installed the corrugated pipe drain tile as well as 14 tons of gravel. The drainage ditch is now complete, so Week 4 will begin repairing the bathroom subfloor by digging new foundation piers under the bathroom so that two girders can be installed to support the floor.
Week 4 dug and poured footers under the bathroom and set sonotube piers. Week 5 will build two girders to support the floor and then move into the bathroom to replace the subfloor.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
MSC09 - Coming Soon
We are only a few days away from Middle School Camp 2009! I am excited about our first ever middle school camp and the adventure that awaits at Student Life. I will post updates here as the trip progresses (if internet is available) so you can live vicariously through us. - Todd
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
MT09 - Post Trip Thoughts
It has been over a week since we got back and I just wanted to write to update everyone on the end of the trip. We left the ASP center for an adventure in the wild outdoors at ACE Adventure. We had a blast playing on the inflatables in the lake, racing through the mud obstacle course and camping in some very nice tents. As we sat around the fire singing praises to our King and felt the exhaustion of our bodies, I couldn't help but reflect on how God had worked in the hearts of our teens and leaders on the trip.
Although there were no sermons delivered, no small group times with well planned out questions or mandatory quiet times in His word, God was still moving. He revealed himself in individual conversations, in moments of worship, in the strength of a rock, in the beauty of nature and the hearts of some of our families. I am reminded as a pastor that our God is in control of this ship we call Lifepointe IGNITED and He will find a way to move even when it would seem the opportunity is not there. Our God is a jealous God who seeks after our hearts removing all other obstacles from His path. I am so blessed to be a part of watching this happen. Praise to you God!
Get your passports ready for next year: MT10
-Todd
Although there were no sermons delivered, no small group times with well planned out questions or mandatory quiet times in His word, God was still moving. He revealed himself in individual conversations, in moments of worship, in the strength of a rock, in the beauty of nature and the hearts of some of our families. I am reminded as a pastor that our God is in control of this ship we call Lifepointe IGNITED and He will find a way to move even when it would seem the opportunity is not there. Our God is a jealous God who seeks after our hearts removing all other obstacles from His path. I am so blessed to be a part of watching this happen. Praise to you God!
Get your passports ready for next year: MT10
-Todd
Thursday, June 18, 2009
MT09 - Thursday - Day 5
"Teen Talk" Thursday started off great,
beginning with the delicious pancakes we ate.
Off to the work sites not to be late,
team orange used Taco Bell as motivational bait.
The Orange crew sweated as the dirt flew,
Yellow played in the mud too.
Purple dug holes like they always do,
but after all, they are the best crew.
Orange said "Don't taze me bro."
Team Yellow rode 4 wheelers yo,
Purple saw spiders and said whoa
Santa arrived and said Ho, Ho, Ho!
Our mission trip team has a horrible stank,
and the 12 passenger vans are growing quite rank.
Tonight is our picnic by the river bank.
I hope we get to let the music crank.
The teens lead the charge to finish the week strong.
Monday through Wednesday felt terribly long.
This morning we woke up with a very loud song.
Even still, I can't believe the week's almost gone.
Thanks for your comments and all your prayer,
Its good to know that you all care!
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
MT09 - Wet Wednesday
Just for fun we took a silly, I haven't woke up yet, this is my bed head, photo.
Orange Team: Got dirty in the mud, smashed 725 cans, found a chicken coop, and a pot of nasty beans.
Purple Team: Began framing for skirting under the mobile home, Jennifer cut a lot more rebar, and Dan got chased out from under the house by a huge spider (vowing never to return again).
Yellow Team: Had a break through moment when the ditches were connected, had ballin' hamburgers, and Caroline was attacked by a giant worm.
Todd's note: Tonight is culture night so we are in for bluegrass music and some more good eats. Spending time with other groups here just affirms what a special thing we have here at Lifepointe. I am so proud of these students and leaders, their efforts, their attitudes and their conduct. I am glad that this is not just an event free of bad things but rather an trip filled with positive things. On an unrelated note, who knew Tanner could play patty cake so well?
Orange Team: Got dirty in the mud, smashed 725 cans, found a chicken coop, and a pot of nasty beans.
Purple Team: Began framing for skirting under the mobile home, Jennifer cut a lot more rebar, and Dan got chased out from under the house by a huge spider (vowing never to return again).
Yellow Team: Had a break through moment when the ditches were connected, had ballin' hamburgers, and Caroline was attacked by a giant worm.
Todd's note: Tonight is culture night so we are in for bluegrass music and some more good eats. Spending time with other groups here just affirms what a special thing we have here at Lifepointe. I am so proud of these students and leaders, their efforts, their attitudes and their conduct. I am glad that this is not just an event free of bad things but rather an trip filled with positive things. On an unrelated note, who knew Tanner could play patty cake so well?
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
MT09 - Tuesday - Day 3
This update is brought to you by Hallie, Dean, and Dan the man with a plan who came here in a van from Japan ;](later replaced by Maureen and joined by Sam) As we embarked on the third day of our sick-nasty conquest we encountered several tremendously gargantuan boulders, putrid smelly septic tanks, and mountain-made hot-dogs.
Team Orange, building a retaining wall, experienced lots of rocks and dump truck loads of dirt. The man whose retaining wall we are building, told us more about himself and how life is in the Appalachian Mountains. Tanner finally conquered his arch nemesis boulder and we found the worlds most remote taco bell :).
Team Purple is working under a trailer putting in footers and foundation. It poured on our tiny heads and Jennifer did her rain dance to Brittany Spears. :/ Unloading cinder blocks and 80-pound cement bags were labor intensive. Jennifer also cut rebar with a skill-saw, screaming the whole way! Our trailer owner came and spoke with us while we worked.
Team Yellow, more digging! Lots of rocks, lots of dirt, lots of fun. They got to talk to their family a lot more. The father came out of his shell and gave them lessons on how to dig West Virginia style. Massive productivity improvements followed. Sam and Eddie showed their lack of teeter totter skills, kittens attacked the crew, and they scarfed down some mountain chili dogs.
[Todd is taking over the blog now] We finished the night off with an amazing worship lead by our teens for the entire group (80 people), ice cream, and good fun. Tomorrow a few of our students are going to lead a devotion for the group (LB1, LB2, HK, SK & TW). I can't tell you how proud I am of them. They are doing more than just rebelling. They are living the life they were meant to live. I can't wait to see what happens as the week moves on. Thank you to all those who supported us and made this possible.
Team Orange, building a retaining wall, experienced lots of rocks and dump truck loads of dirt. The man whose retaining wall we are building, told us more about himself and how life is in the Appalachian Mountains. Tanner finally conquered his arch nemesis boulder and we found the worlds most remote taco bell :).
Team Purple is working under a trailer putting in footers and foundation. It poured on our tiny heads and Jennifer did her rain dance to Brittany Spears. :/ Unloading cinder blocks and 80-pound cement bags were labor intensive. Jennifer also cut rebar with a skill-saw, screaming the whole way! Our trailer owner came and spoke with us while we worked.
Team Yellow, more digging! Lots of rocks, lots of dirt, lots of fun. They got to talk to their family a lot more. The father came out of his shell and gave them lessons on how to dig West Virginia style. Massive productivity improvements followed. Sam and Eddie showed their lack of teeter totter skills, kittens attacked the crew, and they scarfed down some mountain chili dogs.
[Todd is taking over the blog now] We finished the night off with an amazing worship lead by our teens for the entire group (80 people), ice cream, and good fun. Tomorrow a few of our students are going to lead a devotion for the group (LB1, LB2, HK, SK & TW). I can't tell you how proud I am of them. They are doing more than just rebelling. They are living the life they were meant to live. I can't wait to see what happens as the week moves on. Thank you to all those who supported us and made this possible.
Monday, June 15, 2009
MT09 - Monday - Day 2 Intro to the sites
By now you are all wondering what we are doing up here in the mountains. We have no cell reception and no way to contact you (except amazingly we have wifi!). Right now, I am sitting between two really cool people. Sam is so clean. Lauren E smells real bad. We have had a long day of work at three different sites and we are all waiting our turns to get to the showers. Here is a breakdown of our teams:
1. The orange team was digging out a mountain to install a railroad retaining wall. It is an overwhelming task but there were too many smiles and laughs to count. We spontaneously broke into song, hi-ho, hi-ho its off to work we go and then named ourselves each after our favorite dwarf. (Orange Team: Dan R, Hallie, Jemma, Lauren A, Lauren E, Tanner, Todd)
2. The yellow team was digging a very long ditch to make a french drain. There were tons of rocks so it felt like a chain gang out there. Shady in the morning but hot in the afternoon. The owner of the house blared bluegrass all day to complete the Appalachian experience. To quote Sam, "Digging is not really fun, but at the end of the day, it feels good to help people." (Yellow Team: Caroline, Dean, Deanna, Eddie, Kevin, Sam, Tina)
3. The purple team had the most technical job. Crawling into a 3' tall crawl space under a mobile home digging foundation holes was a bit dirty to say the least. Due to a broken saw, they cut rebar by hand with a hack saw. What fun! This is one group of tough cookies. (Purple team: Brandon, Dan C, Elizabeth, Jennifer, Maureen, Paul)
1. The orange team was digging out a mountain to install a railroad retaining wall. It is an overwhelming task but there were too many smiles and laughs to count. We spontaneously broke into song, hi-ho, hi-ho its off to work we go and then named ourselves each after our favorite dwarf. (Orange Team: Dan R, Hallie, Jemma, Lauren A, Lauren E, Tanner, Todd)
2. The yellow team was digging a very long ditch to make a french drain. There were tons of rocks so it felt like a chain gang out there. Shady in the morning but hot in the afternoon. The owner of the house blared bluegrass all day to complete the Appalachian experience. To quote Sam, "Digging is not really fun, but at the end of the day, it feels good to help people." (Yellow Team: Caroline, Dean, Deanna, Eddie, Kevin, Sam, Tina)
3. The purple team had the most technical job. Crawling into a 3' tall crawl space under a mobile home digging foundation holes was a bit dirty to say the least. Due to a broken saw, they cut rebar by hand with a hack saw. What fun! This is one group of tough cookies. (Purple team: Brandon, Dan C, Elizabeth, Jennifer, Maureen, Paul)
MT09 - Sunday Day 1 - The trip to nowhere
We set off from the theaters to travel to Wyoming County WV to a little town of Brenton. The trip was full of fun: We almost ran over a small flock of geese, we sang a song about bananas, we held our breath through a bunch of tunnels, passed some gas (or at placed blame), we missed a few turns, we traveled down some crazy roads but we arrived safely about 6:15pm. They saved us some dinner, we grabbed our bunks, had a intro meeting, they took the leaders to their houses and then sent us off to bed. These are big rooms with lots of people in them. (I was so glad that in my room of about 25 guys no one snored!). More tomorrow night!
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Important Dates
Make sure you save the dates:
March TBD: Spring Event - Raleigh, NC
June 14-21: High School Mission Trip - Mountains of VA (www.asphome.org)
July 13-17: Middle School Camp - Lynchburg, VA (www.studentlife.com)
More info coming SOON.
March TBD: Spring Event - Raleigh, NC
June 14-21: High School Mission Trip - Mountains of VA (www.asphome.org)
July 13-17: Middle School Camp - Lynchburg, VA (www.studentlife.com)
More info coming SOON.
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Weekly Devotionals Now Online
We have added weekly online devotionals to the tools that we provide to help you grow closer to God. Just as you can subscribe to get the news from this site by entering your email in the upper right of this site (http://ignitednews.blogspot.com/), you can also subscribe to have the weekly devotional delivered directly to your inbox in the upper right of that site. Check it out at http://igniteddevo.blogspot.com/
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Posts (Atom)
"Light This World" (the one they had everyone jumping to) by Unhindered
"Father Will You Come" by Unhindered
"I Am Free" by the Newsboys
"Healer" by Hillsong (Nothing is impossible for God song)
"We Shine" by Fee
"Holy Is the Lord" by Chris Tomlin
"Amazing Love" by Billy James Foote
Unhindered's website: www.unhinderedworship.com
Unhindered has a new album, "Be," coming out soon.
David Nasser's website: www.davidnasser.com