Message to Volunteers and Staff, Our Campus Life Kickoff

I want Thank you for a great night. I am not sure I have been a part of controlled chaos quite like that. I could not get a count but I am sure we were over 100. We accomplished what we set out to.
We got a lot of kids we have never met before. You can’t really put a price on that
I felt like we re-engaged a bunch of kids we have worked with in the past and have grown distant.
Our regulars got to have a night they will not forget.

So I am happy with the results. I was taken aback by how rough the group was. It was rough even for us.
The swearing was at a major high
The girl who won the 100 dollar gift card had it stolen, I have canceled the card and she will get a new one.
The lack of respect when I was trying to speak was at an all time high as well.

You have heard me say in the past that I am patient with stupidity and do not put up with rebellion. I don’t mind kids talking or being distracted. But I don’t want to put up with the F bomb and stealing, I won’t. With that in mind our group is going to focus on small groups even more than it has in the past. We did our event to throw out the net and now we need to draw it in and really dig into their lives. We are on a strategic journey and the next step is to inspire them to be Christians.

I am excited about what we are about to do with the Book of Hope. The next 6 weeks we will be using the book of hope extensively in our meeting and small groups. That will take us into Christmas where we will present the Gospel in a very tangible way.

The night cost us about 425 dollars and I am pretty happy with it even thought there was a lot not to like about the evening. I have to remember, sinners sin, that’s what they do and our job is to love sinners even when they are unlovely. I am not doing this because these kids love me, I am doing it because Christ loves me an loved me when I was un-lovely.

I have to thank all of you for the amazing job you did cleaning up the place. I was overwhelmed with the amount of mess there was and at a quarter to 9 it was pretty much done. You worked very hard and we need to be as small a burden as possible to the custodians at First Assembly. I don’t have to say anything, you just take it on yourself to do it. That’s because you are the best of the best and this ministry would be impossible without you.

Don’t be discouraged, all we do is love them where they are at and live an example of God’s love. He is the one that will change them.