Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Update on Velocity Student Ministries

Hello everyone!

Pastor asked me to write in order to give you an update of what has been going on recently in Velocity Student Ministries. It has been a great year for us so far, and we are expecting it to continue to get better and better!

We have added many kids to the youth services over the last few months. We tend to average about ten more per week compared to our numbers this time last year. God is doing amazing things in the students! We usually average about 5 rededications every Wednesday night and 3 salvations a month. Five have been filled with the Holy Spirit this year.

The students are getting more involved by taking ownership in their youth group. One of the areas of involvement is our greeters. We have a group of fifteen youth that rotate in on a weekly basis. Every Wednesday night a team of three greeters waits at the door with smiling faces and warm handshakes for every student who walks in the door. We also have a team of row hosts- what we’re calling our “point guard ministry.” They are looking for students to invite into their rows and in addition, are looking for students who did not attend that week so that they can contact them by phone. They also are asked to, in a friendly way, try to help keep the distractions to a minimum during worship and while I am preaching. They even bring gifts once a month to make sure the students know that they are highly valued. This is a ministry that the students enjoy. Only the ones who have proven themselves faithful and participate on a regular basis are asked to be involved in this area of ministry.

As well as continuing to cook meals and oversee the kitchen duties, Brandi is organizing what we are calling the guest reception. This is a time after the worship where new students are asked to be seated. We then all come around to shake their hands and let them know how glad we are to have them with us. Afterwards, we ask them to go into children’s church for a welcome party where they watch a DVD that talks about Velocity Student Ministries and answers some frequently asked questions.

We also have implemented a drama department. The drama skits that they have done have been a great help in getting the messages across to the students.

Our youth band is thriving and we have recently added several new youth to our worship team. They continue to grow in their ability to lead in worship each week.

We have also implemented a discipleship program called Turn Life, which is a program we adopted from Oneighty in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The students sign up for an eight week course that deals with several topics including salvation, the Word of God, operating in the overflow, the power of our words, authority, and witnessing. After service, they come into children’s church for twenty minutes and are taught a short and powerful illustrated lesson. Then the students take home a CD and corresponding workbook. Every week they get a new CD. After they complete the course, we will have a graduation where the students will take a zero pledge that states that they promise to abstain from drugs, alcohol and sexual relations until they are married. Our first graduation is scheduled for the first week in April.

Our recent trip to Acquire The Fire was incredible. We packed the bus with 41 students and seven adults. Everyone got involved and all were inspired to live radically for Jesus.
We are looking forward to this summer and a lot of the kids are already excited for summer camp. As you can see, we’re touching hearts and changing lives in our ever increasing and thriving youth department. Thank you for your prayers and support!

Sincerely,
Pastor Dave