End of the School Year
The end of the school year always brings a mixture of emotions to my life. A sense of relief that my Wednesday nights are a little less hectic is primary. A sense of loss for the seniors who will be leaving for school, military or vocation closely follows. Then a feeling of nostalgia hits me that reminds me of where we started the school year and how we got to where we are now. And the last emotion that hits is the excitement for August when we start all over again.
The Crossing
I can still taste the cake we ate for the celebration for the end of the school year. We had a group of 10 - 15 students ranging from 4th grade to 6th grade attend our after school program this spring. We went through most of the story of God's people and promises from the creation until the creation of the church in Acts in 8 weeks. When asked how they felt about the experience one students said, "... it went too fast!" I agree, we just got comfortable with each other and now the school year is over. We will be spending the summer "re-tooling" this outreach ministry and hopefully make it into something that will make a larger splash in our east side neighborhood. One of mine and Dave's goals this summer will be to communicate more with Lucas Elementary faculty in hopes to create a stronger relationship between the church and the school.
Junior High
Herding Cats.... Yup, that's what Junior High ministry can seem like. Luke Meyer has done an outstanding job pouring into the lives of five local 8th grade boys. I can describe Luke's ministry with these marginalized young men as being that of a solid example of positive Christian manhood. His teaching, encouragement and discipline in their lives has helped them become a little more focused on what really matters, Christ. This summer all of these boys will be transitioning into High School. The new challenge for the Junior High will be the roll over from The Crossing. All of the 6th graders who would be coming to Junior High this fall will be female. We will need more female volunteers in the warehouse this coming fall!
Senior High
This year the Senior High ministry was focused on building relationships within the group. We were working with a remnant of the students who were part of the group before the transition here at The River. Through building trusting relationships with the students we developed a trust and comfort level for teens to invite friends to come and learn more about God and His grace and His love for us. We had a great time this year volunteering at the Big White House in Coralville throughout the year and serving hot cocoa downtown to students and the homeless during the fall. We went to Breakaway in Des Moines with 5 students who all made decisions for Christ at the event and we also tied for third place in the volleyball tournament! We are already prepared with our program curriculum for next school year and are excited for the growth that we see God preparing us for this coming fall.
Pastor Steve