Time with Students

Body Language

Body Language

The school year is wrapping up and summer is almost here. We have been spending a lot more time with students recently, ending the semester on a fun note. Through this time and the shared experiences it brings we remember how joyful it is to lead them each week. Sometimes we hang out together at the local ice cream shop or embark on a town wide scavenger hunt. Whatever it looks like, these experiences allow us to get to know and love the students we serve.
 
It is especially rewarding to sit back and see current students and faithful leaders connect and reach out to new students that come to Campus Life. We have been blessed this year with remarkable college age leaders who engage the lives of students. 

The ability to connect with students is limited for our leaders because they are hardworking college students trying to balance jobs, Campus Life and a full class load. Without the commitment of Christ-loving college students it would be extremely difficult to connect with all the students. 

As Campus Life transitions from the school year to summer fun, we are looking forward to being able to connect with even more students as school winds down for college students and hopefully more time opens up for us to have more life-giving experiences with Eureka students.

Thank you for praying and encouraging us as we do more ministry this summer. 

Dear Community, We Need You

We are looking to develop our Community Support Team. The Community Support Team is a group of local adults who guide and protect this ministry, as well as provide practical help with snacks & supplies, along with praying and investing financially so Campus Life becomes a sustainable ministry in Eureka.  

Contact Taylor with any further questions about the CST.

Neighborhood Hope Dealer

Keep Encouraging

Keep Encouraging

The other day someone told me a few teenagers they talked to, said I was the person they looked up to the most as a Christian. The humble side of me tried to play it off, but the hope dealer in me yelled “YES IT’S WORKING!”. Where many of us grew up, the people hurting the neighborhood were looked up to, because of all they owned and their lifestyle. Pimps, dope dealers, thugs, gamblers,etc were some of our heroes. 

In today’s HOOD, some have the same heroes but most of us have no hero’s. It’s getting harder and harder to find people we can model our lives after, who we believe are trying to do the right thing. One of my goals in ministry is to eliminate the excuse, “I don’t know a real Christian!” I try to live out loud in front of everyone in my path. I try to obediently let God use me to share the Good News of Jesus Christ. I try to stay open with my victories and failures, struggles and goals to help others see the hope and love that only comes from Jesus. Prayerfully, the youth will stop looking up to the DOPE dealer and instead follow me, the neighborhood HOPE dealer! I can truly said “Follow me as I follow God” because all my hope comes from Him.

It takes all of us to serve and lead our teens, and I am so proud to be on this team with you. Your prayers, funding, wisdom, and support push us forward in this mission! Hope for the hopeless is what we are trying to plant in the city. Thank you for all you do and live Romans 1:16!

Thank you to all who attended the Banquet

A special thank you to all who attended the City Life banquet! We give God all the glory for doing what He always does. It was a beautiful night and your prayers and support arehonoring God and reaching teens with this ministry!

Summer is Here

Jobs Partnership

Jobs Partnership

This past Monday night at club we had the opportunity to talk to our students about the LGBT community and God’s response to people who identify in this group. Our discussion that night really made an impact into how we ought to live with and treat members of the LGBT community.  Students had many questions, and the dialogue really stirred their hearts as they considered God’s heart.  

We are pleased to announce that City Life will have two summer staff joining our already amazing team: Karen Jackson and Matt Wallace.  Karen has served faithfully for the past 2 years as an adult leader in the ministry and will be diving-in even more this summer.  Meanwhile, Matt has just begun to discover what City Life is all about over this past month.  We are so very excited to have these two serving alongside us this summer and can’t wait to see how God will use these servants in the lives of students.  

Another amazing reality is that Jay Pearson will be easing back into ministry throughout the course of summer, coming back from lymphoma this past school year.  In honor of the hockey playoffs, we will be skating at full strength soon!  We invite your prayers this summer as we continue to pursue students with the love, grace, and truth of what it means to follow Jesus. 

Special Invitation to Give:

This summer we have two experiences we are hoping to bring City Life Students to:

  1. Justice Trip to Philadelphia (June 12-19)  cost per person $400

  2. YFC Camp to Lampe, MO (Aug 1-7) cost per person $575

Would you consider a special gift to send an urban teen on one of these trips?

Impact the Kingdom, One Life at a Time

Some past and current YFC Campers

Some past and current YFC Campers

This is a bittersweet time of the year for me.  We get to celebrate the senior class but it is also when we say goodbye to their involvement with IVC Campus Life as high school students. Whether it’s been through sporting events, choir recitals,  musicals, trips, small groups, Track Inn breakfast,  Hardee’s lunches, cookouts, YFC Camp, or Campus Life club…I have loved being a part of their lives these past 4 years and will continue to be one of their biggest fans, even after graduation!

The hard part is trying to keep in touch with students after they leave high school. They go away to college, get jobs, get married, move away, or start families. They get busy with life and sometimes I don’t know if Campus Life had a lasting effect of loving them toward Jesus.

This past week, we all lost one of these former students, Jake Fishel. Jake wasn’t just a Campus Life student, he had been a part of Northwoods Church’s youth ministry from 1st grade to college age. Jake had many Godly people lead and mentor him in his life. Campus Life was just one of them. It was in the back of a bus on the way home from YFC Camp in 2012 that Jake said yes to Jesus. He made some dramatic changes, passionately followed Jesus (just ask those who were around him) and impacted the lives of hundreds by loving them toward Jesus!  I will miss Jake Fishel! Does Campus Life impact students?  Most times I don’t know, but I can tell you that each student has impacted me toward the Kingdom, …one life at a time!

YFC Camp 2016!

We are headed to Clearwater Cove, MO - YFC Camp from August 1-7.  We are bringing 32 high school students at an actual cost of $575/student.  That’s a lot of money!  I need help raising scholarship $ to bring the cost down.  Please consider helping by designating IVC-YFC Camp scholarship on the attached form.  It’s an incredible week where I’ve seen transformations & changed destinations!  Thank you!!

His Puzzle Pieces

My wife is a puzzle person and I watch her collect, turn, and imagine where the pieces all go. I know the box has the picture on the front, but with all the pieces in a pile, I can’t see it. My wife has completed many puzzles in her life and has developed the skills to understand the process. Patience to group the similar pieces together, and figure out what parts of the puzzle she can put together first.

In recent months, God has set me in front of a 1,000 piece puzzle with no box and is guiding me to what the picture should look like. I am not a puzzle person but GOD IS and He is giving me a glimpse of His glorious picture. My relationships with City Life leaders and teens, fundraising, community meetings, and a God-size vision that is challenging me to trust Him are the various pieces of the puzzle I am trying to put together. The Holy Spirit is guiding my hands to place the pieces slowly. The puzzle is a long way from being completed. Trusting and resting in God gives me the perseverance to fit in where I should, because I’m a piece of the puzzle too.

Ephesians 3:20-21 says “Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” Please pray these verses with me, that I will trust God to see what the picture will look like.

As 2015 ended, we told all who would listen, “YFC finances are behind”. We prayed and we asked for a generous December. And Then … It Happened. People gave a bunch. We finished our 1/2-year budget of $485,000 ahead by 2%. Thank you, friends. Thank You, Jesus! We hope you will continue generously, because Jan-March income is typically lower than the rest of the year. Wow. That was big. Happy New Year!!!

- Dan L

Monday is the Day!

The Big Day!

The Big Day!

“Monday is the day! Can you bring a camera?” He texted out of the blue one night, after many weeks of waiting. We showed up at the courthouse a week later, not knowing what to expect but excited none the less. 

I haven’t attended many court hearings but I'd imagine very few go this well. Both sides were in agreement, full of anticipation and it almost seemed unnecessary to have a preceding.

The judge asked: "Young man, is this what you want?" 

Kevin answered: “Yes, it is.” 

The judge then asked: "And Mrs. Smith, do you agree to raise Kevin as you would your own son?" 

She quickly answered, “Of course, he's already been living as my son.”

A few quick signatures and the adoption proceedings were over.  After nearly a decade in the foster care system, Kevin had found a forever family with his aunt. Family can have many forms, such as an aunt caring for a nephew as her own son.

Kevin also knows the family of Christ through Youth for Christ. This is demonstrated to him week after week by our team of leaders and students in Pekin. And people like you who continue to pray and give to make all this possible. Thanks for being a part of the family.

As 2015 ended, we told all who would listen, “YFC finances are behind”. We prayed and we asked for a generous December. And Then … It Happened. People gave a bunch. We finished our 1/2-year budget of $485,000 ahead by 2%. Thank You Friends. Thank You Jesus! We hope you will continue generously, because Jan-March income is typically lower than the rest of the year. Wow. That was big. Happy New Year!!!

- Dan L

New Opportunities

Learning God's Ways

Learning God's Ways

We are excited about a new opportunity with a program called Jobs Partnership. This faith-based 12 week program started last week for 12 students from City Life along with 2 of our adult leaders. The goal is to instruct students on various topics needed to help improve their personal life and workplace performance. Pray with us to see hearts and attitudes change towards life, others and work through this opportunity.

I wanted to say thank you to those of you who responded to our fundraising campaign in December.  For City Life Peoria, we were able to raise an additional $1,450/month for 2016.  We had 64 people either increase their current contribution to City Life Peoria or jump on our support team for the first time.  What a blessing! We love partnering with you to reach the teens of this city.

Jay Pearson, my ministry co-laborer, is doing well these days. Can you believe he has made it through 6 rounds of chemotherapy over the last 4 months? Well, he is kicking cancer’s tail. Next up is a stem cell transplant procedure scheduled for February. This proactive step is to help limit the possibility of any sort of return for the cancer. This is a rather lengthy process and we invite you to keep him and his family in your prayers still…thanks!  

Finally, I ask you to pray for a student named “Samantha.”  She is a senior in high school and expecting her first child in February. Pray that God will use relationships around her, including our City Life leaders, to support, love, and help her as she navigates her new reality of motherhood while finishing up high school this semester.  

As 2015 ended, we told all who would listen, “YFC finances are behind”. We prayed and we asked for a generous December. And Then … It Happened. People gave a bunch. We finished our 1/2-year budget of $485,000 ahead by 2%. Thank you, friends. Thank You, Jesus! We hope you will continue generously, because Jan-March income is typically lower than the rest of the year. Wow. That was big. Happy New Year!!!

- Dan L

In 2016, I plan to...

Family Picture

Family Picture

A friend at our health club told me he hates January because the place fills up with “New Year’s Resolution People”. Then with satisfaction he told me, “by February it’s back to normal.” How sad.

Our team did some review of 2015 and commented on these words … “I learned. I experienced. I celebrate. I want to say.” That exercise helped me see God’s continued faithfulness, as well as pause to reflect on how hard life is for some.

Last year, more than ever, I realized the ups & downs of teen ministry. Every household has challenges. Some are crushing. Some are minor. Others are shameful to the point of desperation, and even suicide. All struggle. Our efforts to put “loving Christian adults into authentic Christ-sharing relationships with lost teens” means our team is deep in the midst of some huge messes. Messes that steal hope, unless the light of Jesus Christ arrives.

In the midst of these messes, our Staff and Ministry Leaders aren’t usually convinced that “they have what it takes”. We often feel inadequate to walk with teens in difficult places. In our heads, we know that Jesus is the answer, but in our actions, we can get to thinking, that we must be the answer. Pray we’ll grow deeper in Him.

Here’s our 1st 6 months financials - July 1 to Dec 31:

     - Expenses (Budgeted/Actual)    $486,253 / $491,184

     - Income (Budgeted/Actual)    $485,000 / $496,514

I am profoundly amazed and deeply thankful for the remarkable generosity of many many people. Please keep praying and investing. We are beginning to build Bloomington/Normal YFC ministry. Thank YOU!!!

As 2015 ended, we told all who would listen, “YFC finances are behind”. We prayed and we asked for a generous December. And Then … It Happened. People gave a bunch. We finished our 1/2-year budget of $485,000 ahead by 2%. Thank You Friends. Thank You Jesus! We hope you will continue generously, because Jan-March income is typically lower than the rest of the year. Wow. That was big. Happy New Year!!!