Saunders

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We just finished our beach retreat with the teens on Monday and I thought I’d give you a little report of all that happened…well…some of what happened. Its teens…trust me; you don’t want to know everything as you might not be able to eat later on.

We had 41 teens head with us to the beach. This was by far our biggest retreat probably by over 10+ teens. 16 of these teens that came on this retreat came for the first time.

Our 2 goals this week were:

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Thank you for praying for our trip! God was good to bless us and take care of us throughout our journey! For those of you who would like to know the "nitty gritty", there are some details below. For those of you who would like the "nitty gritty" in 3D, come to our service on Sunday night (Aug. 14th) and hear and see our teens as they share with you what God did in and throughout this trip!

Day 1: Ministered in the Richmond and Atlanta Airports as we sang praises to God while waiting. Other people around us started joining in song, thanking us afterwards, and even spent some time praying with us.

Day 2-3: Got to Denver...a day late. Come Sunday night to find out why. We decorated the church for VBS. This took a ton of our time. Also did some canvassing in a neighborhood, handed out ice cream and played some kickball all in an attempt to invite kids out to the VBS.

Day 4: VBS started up and went great and also had the teen service that night as well.

Day 5: VBS and recoup time. The free afternoon allowed our teens (and very old Youth Pastor) to get some rest.

Day 6: VBS finished today. A young soul came to know Christ as their personal Lord and Savior!!! Cleaned up the entire church and then left for a teen camp. Teen camp had over 30 teens there and many were unchurched.

Day 7: Finished teen camp and headed back to get ready for Sunday.

Day 8: Did teen SS, did children's church, sang in the morning service, ran the entire afternoon service, changed, took off to help with their church plant, and participated in the evening church plant service.

Day 9-10: Took a breath, and enjoyed God's creation as we took in some sights of Colorado.

Day 11: Came back to good old VA

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As odd as the title may sound, it is actually quite apropos. This last week we have done some crazy, odd, goofy, funny, and abnormal things in youth group and all for a good cause. What have we done? Glad you asked!

Wednesday we had our Summer Kickoff. We met in the blocked off church small parking lot (apologies to those who always park there but we valued your car more than we valued your habitual parking route) equipped with towels, a volleyball net, and 1500 water balloons. Yes, 1500.

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I'm currently sitting at my computer trying to finish up the message for Sunday and couldn't help but write a few things before we get to the Lord's Day. This Sunday we're going to do something a wee bit different and for a good reason. There have been some difficult times around us. Earthquakes, tsunamis, tornados, floods - all of these have filled the media and our minds and rightly so. Lives have been devastated. Not only have tough times impacted those in the world, but even here at Immanuel we have families going through their own crisis. Lost loved ones, families who have just learned of "bad news" from their last doctor's visit, to those who have been jobless for over a year - all of these things can cause those outside of Christ to wonder, "Where is God in all this? Is there a God at all?"