Well, well, well...It has been a LONG time since I have last posted.  Things here have been crazy!  Over the last month and a half I have flown to Michigan, driven to Tulsa, and nearly pulled all of my hair out.  Youth ministry is incredible though.  For those of you who read Krista's posts you know that God is at work here in Harrison.  We have been 20-25 students and average about 15-17 on Wednesday nights.  Our students have done an incredible job bringing lost friends to church with them! 

We have had another student (possibly 2) sign up for camp since Krista posted.  That brings the total 16 or 17.  We have 5, maybe 6, girls going which is definitely good for our group.  The "Bear Cave" is unbelievably crowded on Wednesday nights.  Another cool thing that is happening is some of those students are finally getting to the Sunday services as well.  Here is the best part of all...you can see these students really growing! 

As I said earlier, I flew to Michigan a while back for a pre-project visit to our work site.  In case, you don't know, we are going to Jackson, Michigan on a World Changers mission project.  It is going to be incredible! 

Also, we have 3 adults who have started getting involved in our Wednesday night Bible studies.  There are also 3 college students who want to help with Sunday night small groups!  God is providing the help that we need.  With that being said, Krista has been a huge help in this ministry.  Without her I know that things would be CRAZY!  I love you Krista and thank you for investing your lives into these teenagers.  We also just celebrated our very first anniversary!:)  Our year anniversary here at Bear Creek is June 1st...coming up quick!!!

We look forward to seeing all of you GA people soon...

overwhelmed- rendered powerless especially by an excessive amount or profusion of something...

i heard a song during a world changers mission trip a few years back called "overwhelmed"...God is so awesome!  i can't explain everything that He is in the midst of doing.  i see lives being changed...hearts being changed...eternities being changed...

i am so excited about what God is doing....thank you God for rendering powerless...you are my power!

Things continue to go smoothly in the world of youth ministry.  I am constantly amazed at the greatness of our God!  God has blessed us so much.  I find myself wondering how God could ever choose me to do something as important as teaching youth the word of God.  The youth group is really connecting and it is so cool to see kids from all walks of life being brought together through the power of God's love. 

On Friday night we had 5 guys stay the night after our Kidnapped Gnomes event.  It was crazy...they were up until like 4:30 AM playing video games.  I bet them in all of the sports games but they smoked me at James Bond.  It was so much fun! 

I am coaching a 5th-6th grade girls Upward basketball game.  We are 2-2 right now.  The girls are hilarious!  It's all about fun!  I look forward to talking to all of you soon...

Life is moving at a rapid pace right now.  Sometimes I think that I am not going to be able to keep up!    We have a lot going on in the youth group right now.  As Krista mentioned in her post we have started a new format on Sunday nights.  We are really excited about it.  Since almost every one of our students are new Christians, we wanted to create an enviornment in which they can better learn.  We saw results after just one meeting! 

We are also starting a Bible study on Friday nights at our apartment.  This Bible study is going to be designed for the ones who are wanting to get deeper...to start feasting on the meat instead of the milk.  We are so excited about the growth we are seeing in some of the teenagers.  Benny and Brian have come a long way!  They are getting baptized on January 29th.  My first dunkings as a youth pastor!  We have challenged the youth to start memorizing scripture so that they might "hide" God's word in their heart.  Benny and Brian have both memorized three of four verses!  I pick them up twice a week from school and hang out with them.  They do not have a "father figure" in their lives and, while I do not come close to being that, it has given them a chance to bond with an older guy.  Kind of a cool thing...

I stay excited thinking about the ways that God are using you guys!  I love you!