{The following has been written as a thanks to the volunteers and leaders of our youth ministry}
Youth ministry isn't always easy. There's many ups and downs. When you're working to make disciples with any people group I'm sure it can be tough, and I think this especially true when working with teens. They're at the age that can feel extremely confusing as they try to figure out and decide who they want to be. Sometimes we see great results and impact. Other times it's hard to tell if we'd made any impact at all.
It's not easy to keep sowing seeds when you don't always see the fruit you desire to feel affective. But we keep sowing seeds. We keep developing relationships and teaching God's Word.
We appreciate every leader that's been a part of Cross Over Youth Ministry over the past year. Nothing that has taken place would have or could have happened, had it not been for your hard work, prayers, encouragement, and cooperation. You've had different jobs and responsibilities, but you've all been apart in making our ministry a success.
I would like to take a brief moment to review some of the events and happenings of 2007:
//We challenged our students to have an experience with God, we taught them about the life God rewards. We discussed violence and the affects of bullying.
//We've organized and hosted lock-ins for our young men and women, where we played games, ate, hung out, and just laughed all night long. We've spent many hours creating an atmosphere to build godly relationships with our students.
//We worked together to organize creative fundraisers to raise funds for our Mission's Trip, including our "free cookie give away".
//A small group from Cross Over went to the Inn Ministry (for battered women) help them by cleaning up their grounds.
//We played a game that we called the "Amazing Race" where the teens ran all over the church grounds on a wild goose chase following scripture related clues to figure out their next destination.
//We organized and hosted Jacksonville's first city-wide Dodge-ball Tournament for high school students. Mickey did an absolutely amazing job from start to finish as project manager. We had over 80 students representing from over 8 different high schools across the city come to compete. It was a huge success.
//Through the success of our tournament, we launched our new site on MySpace (www.myspace.com/crossover.events). We've met and ministered to many students outside of our church through the site. Our team of writers post weekly blogs discussing various issues and how to overcome through God's Word and we've had almost 2000 views since it's start. That's teenagers, in the privacy of their own home, purposely coming back on a regular basis to read the next article.
//We took a team of 14 to Guatemala for a 9 day Mission's Trip. Tony & Arlene were our project managers, working diligently for months to organize the trip and help the group raise the funds. It was an amazing trip as many in our team walked in God's anointing for the first time. The teens found a passion for Jesus and His calling that they'd never known before.
//We held a series of "fire side chats" with the young men and women, separately, teaching on sexual purity and warning about some of the negative aspects of media and bad influences. The teenagers asked questions as well as gave their own thoughts to their fellow students.
//We held an 8 week video Bible study course that taught extensively on the foundations of the Bible. We took the graduating class on a trip to Busch Garden's.
//In November we had a theme called "the Basics", where we discussed some of the basic fundamentals of being a Christian, such as Christ's character, prayer, worship, and relationships.
//We donated our time in the fundraiser competition for the Shoe-box Ministry winning the competition with the Usher's sending one of our leaders on a mission's trip to Guatemala in December.
None of this would have, or could have taken place with our your hard work and involvement in our ministry.
Thank you.
