Final Invite

I hope you all enjoyed your week at camp. I know I sure did. I think Steph wins with the most sleep after camp. She went to bed at 7pm on Saturday and didn't get up until noon today. At least she is well rested.

I just wanted to invite you all (parents and students) to come to Oasis this Wed. night. We will be sharing testimonies, watching the camp video, and worshiping our God together. I hope to see you all there.

P.S. For tons of Summer Camp pics, go the youth site (fvbcstudents.com) under helpful links and visit Mr. Strands pic site. You won't be disappointed.

Later

It's all over

What a week we've had. We are packing up the last of the luggage now, and beginning the wait for the bus. Hopefully it will be along shortly. We had a great time last night at the closing session and the Lip Sync. I was very impressed by how the students performed. Every person on every team participated well. Even students that had been shy and independent during the week were smiling and excited to be there.

For the lip sync, Green took first with a great performance of Gaston. That secured the win for the week and green will be proudly displaying their trophy during the next year in the youth room.

The final session and the testimonies were truly a blessing. So many students were challenged by the teaching and the music. Many students referenced the song "I Surrender All" as particularly challenging. The last verse states, "Take all my hunger for all that's forbidden, every desire, and sin I keep hidden. Search me and know me, I want to give to you a life that is holy and sanctified through You. So I surrender all to You."

Praise God from whom all blessings flow. I couldn't be happier with how God directed this week to go. See you on Sunday.

Wow, can it get any closer?

Sorry, no pictures at the moment, but a few things to think about and enjoy.

This morning we had a particularly worshipful time together. We sang about the Precious Blood of Christ, "O the precious blood, that flowed from Mercy's side, washed away my sin when Christ my Savior died. O the precious blood of Christ the crucified. It speaks for me before Your throne, where I stand justified."

We were confronted with the redemption of Christ through the example of a dirty prostitute being brought into the house of God, clothed with a beautiful wedding dress which covered her dirty clothes, and then married to Christ. What a great God we serve who is gracious to bringing declared enemies to be with His family.

Everyone finished with the workshops and the feedback from them is very positive. The students seemed to really appreciate Frank Pasquale's workshop of purity in the spiritual disciplines. Especially challenging was his testimony.

After that we spent the day playing games in the gym (in which the Red team dominated). No injuries to report. Currently we are watching the teams perform their lip syncs to practice for tonight. So far, they have been very entertaining. I'll post more tonight on the final totals for the teams. Here is where they are right now

1st- Blue with 658,000
2nd- Green with 635,500
3rd- Red with 622,000
4th- Yellow with 619,000

As you can see, it is still anyone's game with a 75,000 prize for first place in the Lip Sync.

On a more spiritual note, the students seem to be responding very well in the small groups. Many of them are acknowledging sins and areas for growth that will hopefully produce a lot of fruit in the coming days. Keep praying that the energy holds out for them and for Jordan and I as we are both functioning on about 3 hours of sleep today. God is being gracious and getting us through the day and we are looking forward to our bonfire/ testimony time later tonight.

Keep praising our gracious God for what He is doing with the students. More to come tonight...

A Quick Points Update before bed

Good evening. Things are winding down here on day four. I have the point totals for the teams, and I'll have more pics from the days events to come tomorrow morning. Here are the standings (and man are they close)

1st place- Green "Dyno-Mites" at 568,000
2nd place- Yellow "Yak Attack" at 567,000
3rd place- Blue "The Chill" at 565,000
4th place- Red "Red Cross" at 480,000

Red is still within grasp. 1st place for Lip Sync is worth 75,000 points, with a whole day of activities ahead of us. Keep praying and I'll keep you posted.

Slip & Slide

The Soapy Tarp has come and gone, and surprise surprise, no one got hurt; a first for soapy tarp day. Jordan and I were on the verge of canceling the event because we left the tarp at church, but after praying about what to do, God provided an inexpensive tarp from Walmart, and the day turned out to be a lot of fun. We had all the traditional games... the Refrigerator box, the tug-o-war, and steal the bacon, plus a few new games. The red team had a pretty good showing, and we'll have to wait and see how they do tonight. Everyone is outside playing in the soccer tournament. I think I'll take a nap to make up for the 12 hours of sleep I've received this week so far.

This morning, we had a tie for the first students to the dorm, and wouldn't you know, it was between Jacob and Emily Chally. Both received 20,000 points for their teams, giving red and yellow a good boost for the day. Doug Dunton (Jr.) found Chester the Chicken as well (our running hide and seek game with the rubber chicken) and earned another 50,000 points for yellow. The tide can turn very quickly, and I'll keep you posted on how things turn out.

That's it for now. I'll try to get some pics of the upcoming Villian night. Adios...

Go Red! Makin' a good effort

The Wheel-barrow races were "so-chill"



Smile for the camera



No arms make for great face-planting falls

Another One Bites the Dust

What an exciting, energizing, redongculous day we have had. It is so refreshing to begin each morning with worshiping God privately, then moving right into corporate worship with other believers. We introduced a new arrangement of "And Can It Be" to the students and they seemed to really enjoy it. There's nothing like seeing young people singing the old Hymns with all their hearts.

Today we had the same morning as usual, and almost everyone made it... Mr. Sterling forgot to set his alarm clock and our Marine in training didn't quite make it to morning worship either. Oh well, at least they're getting some sleep. Everything went very smoothly and you could feel the excitement growing as pool day approached. After lunch we moved into the large indoor pool they have here at IWU. It is olympic size and had a diving board over the 12 ft. deep end. We had relay races, splash contests, and of course, the jump or dive contest. We said that a belly flop was worth an automatic perfect ten, and several took advantage of that. I think Matt Stern took the cake by getting at least 15 feet in the air before smacking into the water. Other than some very red skin (ironically for the guys on the red team who belly flopped), there were no injuries, at least in that event.

Our first injury and hospital visit did come at last. Thankfully, it wasn't too serious and turned into a badly sprained ankle. You see, Matt Massey was getting a little too involved in the Walley-ball game in the gym, but not nearly as much as Amanda Clare. Amanda was coming down from a spike and got tangled up with Matt's ankle, and it twisted. He went to the hospital, just to be sure it wasn't broken, and he is back with us now.

The parent's night was incredible. I almost thought Jen Clare walked into the cafeteria when Jordan walked in. However, she wasn't the closest. I posted the pick of the top finalists below.

Here are the standings for today

Blue in first place
Green in a close second
Red a little more distant third
Yellow bringing up the rear.

Your kids are behaving wonderfully. You should all be proud. I have received and passed on all of your notes and emails, and they have been received with embarrassed smiles all around. Thanks for your prayers and encouragement. More to come later.

Crazy raft games

I was a little scared at how accurate they were... AnthonyGlosson took first place, Robert Massey second, and Whitney Dunton third

Ouch, bonus points for pain



Are you as perceptive as a youth leader?

It is So Early, but Jacob was Earlier

The unpleasantness of the alarm did not even compare to the unpleasantness of the hot water of the shower on the sunburn. I moseyed along to breakfast, and what should I find, but a small contingency of students already at the student center for breakfast at 7 am sharp. As I inquired as to who was the first, I found that young Jacob Chally was waiting at 6 am to be sure of getting 10,000 extra points for the red team. Needless to say, he was the first in line; a picture of dedication and putting his team before himself.

Today we continue with workshops and look forward to pool day this afternoon. There will be more to come later. Make it a good one.

Worshipping together


Some aggressive gaming


Go RED (this is for you Chris)


The winners of "Sports Night"

The soccer ladies


The whole sports night group

The Fun Continues

We are drawing to a close of our first full day, and boy was it full. We awoke this morning to the joyful noise of rain drops falling, but God ended up giving us a beautiful sunny day, and my red face and arms are proof of that. The students enjoyed morning worship, their workshops, and a hearty meal, all before noon. The workshops on Dating, the Importance of the Local Church, Being Lights, and pursuing Spiritual Disciplines generated some great discussion and were hopefully challenging to all the students.

As we moved on to the afternoon team activities, I was wondering if their seemingly endless energy would hold throughout the day, and I wasn't disappointed. They all endured the riggers of our obstacle course and, so far, no injuries to report. The teams struggled with a huge knot to start and had to figure out word puzzles, get hit with water balloons, and navigate a mine field blindfolded (don't worry, the factory told us the mines were all duds). The yellow team is now in the lead with blue and green neck and neck for second, followed by red within striking distance. There are still a lot of games to play. If you would like more details, leave me a comment on what you'd like to know and I'll do my best to cater to your desires.

Currently everyone is outside playing a huge game of capture the flag. I am enjoying a rare quiet moment in the chapel, contemplating camp and what God has done so far. We read together this morning from Psalms 120-121. It was great to focus on how God is our refuge and that we can look to Him whenever we need help, and even when we don't look up, God is still there.

Finally, I have to say what a privilege it is to worship with your children. Seeing their faces light up over truths like justification, God's grace, the seriousness of sin, and the wondrous love of Christ lifts my heart and makes me want to cry out with joy to God for His faithfulness and for the glory He is receiving. Keep praying for us. More to come in the morning...

Casey having some fun with the Dyno-mites
(ps., if you leave a note for your student, I'll try to put some pics of them online for you)

A funny picture of Erin taking a funny picture

80% Chance of FUN!!

Day 2 has arrived. Just a few thoughts from last nights events.

Every team performed nicely and it was great to see the excitement building for what looks to be a great, even, dare I say, a redonculous week. Here are the standings as of this moment.


Blue Team (The Chill) is currently in first place after a nice performance of their cheer.

Yellow Team (Yak Attack) is in second after a great effort and a very artistic rendering of a Mongolian Yak on their flag

Red Team (Red Cross) is in Third place and hopes to make a strong come back today

Green Team (Dyno-mite) is only a few points behind bringing up the rear.

Today looks to have more surprises with the huge obstacle course. There is also an 80% chance of rain (which is actually 100% because it's raining right now). Hopefully, that will let up by the afternoon, but 85 degrees and raining is kind of refreshing.

This morning we read from Psalm 120-121, the first two Psalms of Ascents. Perhaps you could read through them and pray that God would be made more real to the students today as they think about forgiveness and God's protection.

Everyone chilling before the session

Some good old-fashioned worship time

More to come later. Make it a good one.

Day 1 is almost over

I'm sitting out in the lobby at 9:30 contemplating the day God had for us. The band and I left at 6 am this morning to set everything up, while the rest of the group left just a half hour later than scheduled (a new FVBC record for summer camp). I heard that the bus ride, although cramped, was uneventful and very, very, long. I called them at around 2pm, expecting them to be over halfway here with our first meeting only an hour and a half away, and Moriah informed me that they were just leaving from lunch, a grand 3 hours away still. Oh well, God obviously had different plans than we did for today.

At 4pm, everyone arrived, safe and sound, and we began by praising our great God together in worship. It was so encouraging to see everyone starting out quietly, but eventually praising God and even clapping. I was blessed by their worship and I hope they were blessed as well. The speaking also was a privilege. Pastor Bob McNutt spoke to us from Romans 8 about trusting in God. He began with foundation of having Christ as our friend first in order to overcome any enemy.

For the rest of the evening we have team cheers/ names/ flags/ dances to watch and laugh at, then off to bed to do it all over again for 5 more days. I should post some pictures later before I hit the hay. Keep praying for us and stay in touch. Don't be afraid to comment. I'll read them to your kids if you would like.

That's it for now...

Summer Camp Here We Come!

FVBC's Summer Camp is officially upon us and I personally can't wait to go! We are looking forward to a great week in God's Word, fun games and good fellowship. Please pray for us while we are gone. Specifically, please pray for...
- our hearts to opened to what God wants to teach us
- safety in our travel and during the games
- unbelievers to come to a saving faith in Christ
- God to make Himself known through the teaching and worship

For all of you who are staying home (parents, other students, etc.) here is some info you might like to know...
- Feel free to email Josh at j.huff@fvbc.org with any notes you want read to the students, or just post a comment on this blog (you do not have be a Blogger member)
- We are staying at Indiana Wesleyan University. Their address is 4201 South Washington Street, Marion, IN 46953. Unless the students have a note from you, they are not bring their cell phones. But if you do need to get in touch with someone, contact the church for Josh's cell phone number or call Indiana Wesleyan at (765) 674-6901.

If there are any questions that are not answered in this blog, check out the Summer Camp information page on the youth website, call the church or leave your questions in the comments.

This blog will be updated each day, Lord willing, with info about the day and pictures, so check back during the week!