Getting to know some guys!

Hey supporters!

Club last week, the 9th, was so great! It was incredible how the Lord answered prayers. Earlier that day I sent you all a pray request list including some things like technical stuff at club, silence during the talk, clarity in the talk, and belly laughter. That night our friend Travis was able to play guitar leaving me freed up to MC the night which aided in everything flowing throughout the night. You could hear a pin drop during the talk, even during my jokes, just kidding. The first thing the other leader Karen said to me after the talk was, "It was SO clear!" And I'm happy to say that I laughed and kids laughed really hard! Not only this, but afterward at Chick-fil-a I had a great time with guys I've never really had the opportunity to talk to before. It was crazy how the Lord answered prayers last week!

So last night was the last club of 2009 and club was pretty small, BUT Alex Fiore was there, Brady, Tanner Bair, Terry Powers, Hunter and Luke as well as a good amount of other guys. Club was pretty ackward, especially when the gogggles broke and it took about 15 minutes to fix them while everyone was waiting for the skit to start, hahaha. But I laughed, and to my surprise kids definitely laughed hard! Tiffany, the other leader, gave her testimony and did an incredible job! I got to give Billy, Tanner, Taylor and Terry a ride home. Which was awesome. While I was praying at the school the other day I started dreaming about the school being turned upside down and the incredible work the Lord will do there. I started to imagine camp trips and clubs and campaigners and the whole school being impacted. It's really exciting. I dropped Terry off last and told him how at the last school I was at there were 80-100 kids at club. He was like, "Oh my god!" and I said, "You said it man" haha. No I didn't really say that, but I said Westminster could be bigger. I think God's gonna use Terry in a huge way, but only God knows!

Club was awesome!

Hey supporters!

Thank you so much for your prayers this past Wednesday. They were not in vain. Sorry for the delay with the update, but club went so well!

We didn't have a huge turnout, but Travis played guitar which freed me up to just hang with guys and have a blast and it was incredible! I was able to be up front and MC the night, which was a lot of fun, and I really did laugh hard and so did kids.

I gave the talk about the Cross and I just want to tell you that you could hear a pin drop the whole 15 minutes. Also, one of the leaders said it was crystal clear and I got good feedback from the rest of the people I talked to. Hopefully the Lord will use it in the hearts of kids.

I finished the talk by saying this, "Just like Christmas gifts aren't meant to stay under the tree, this gift of God was meant to be opened. 1 Peter 3:18, 'For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God.' I want you guys to think about two questions: one, do you know anyone who loves you as much as this God? And two, Do you want to?"

After club at Chick-fil-a I got to hang out with some guys and have great conversations with fellas that I normally don't really get to talk to and I think some steps were definitely taken in those friendships.

Thank you so much for you prayers! They were felt! While I have you, please pray for Campaigners tonight that it would be a blast, that kids would be loved and encouraged and challenged. And please pray for our last club this Wednesday as Bailey Wolfe shares her testimony. I know these prayers work so I'm not too ashamed to beg. Thank you so much!!

Club Tonight!

Hey supporters!

Tonight we have club at Ashton Emily's house and I will be giving the talk about Jesus going to the cross. Last week I talked about Sin and this week I will tell them more about the greatest gift ever given.

Please pray for tonight. Some guys won't be able to be there that have been bringing a good amount of folks to club, so please pray that kids would still make it out. We struggled with technical stuff in club last week that provided some pretty akward moments so please pray that no matter how big or small club is that we wouldn't even notice cause the aroma of Christ and joy of Him would be so overwhelming. Please pray for kids to belly laugh, but during the talk we would be able to hear a pin drop. Please pray that the Lord would prepare kids hearts to hear this story the gospel, which literally means, "Good News."

Our team knows we can do nothing apart from Christ, John 15:5. Nothing. Please pray we would be reminded of that, our stress relieved and that everyone there would be reminded of this incredible, reckless love the Father has for us. Also, please pray for conversations after club.

For my talk I ask that you would pray that it would be concise, clear and covered with my own gratefulness of what he's done for me.

We will be singing How Deep the Father's Love For Us tonight before the talk and after the talk. As that song goes, "Why should I gain from his reward? I cannot give an answer, but this I know with all my heart, His wounds have paid my ransom." Please pray this would would strike kids in the depth of their hurting and aching hearts. And please be reminded yourself of this incredible forgiveness and love poured out for you.

Thank you for your loving and adoring prayers for my little mission field I've been called to. Real quick, I walked through the empty hallways of Westminster High School today and I know this...your prayers echo through those places where kids are and will impact lives forever.

Thank you.

North Bay update

Hey teammates!

North Bay was so awesome! I have never been so tired in my life. Friday when we left I was feeling sick, but as soon as I left to go to the bus I felt great! I know this was an answer to prayer!

One of the things I prayed several times this week was that kids would continue to sign up right up until we left on the bus. Friday night we are 10 minutes from leaving the parking lot on the bus when Taylor Robinette grabs me and says I think we have a late sign up. The short story is 20 minutes later Brady Udovich shows up and comes with us on the weekend! I thought immediately of what I had prayed and it was crazy to see the Lord answer prayers like that.

Friday night the kids were up very late therefore we were up late, which I think caused me to feel pretty sick Saturday. Saturday night during club I had a headache so bad that I left club because I thought I was going to throw up. However, I ended up getting some water and felt much better after Entertainment night.

The kids had a great time this weekend and I think were really brought closer to the Lord. Brady and Tanner heard the gospel for the first time so please be praying for them.

Thanks supporters!

Great club and North Bay this weekend!

Our third club on Wednesday was a hit! It was our biggest yet with 40 kids and energy was running high. I gave the talk about Jesus calming the storm and said that sometimes it seems that Jesus' eyes are closed like they were in the boat, but his heart never is and he knows our lives and is able to calm our storms.

North Bay is this weekend!!! Please pray for the kids going. We have...

1. Taylor Robinette
2. Aaron Carback
3. Billy Brown
4. Myles Stanley
5. Nate McCalister
6. Tanner Bair

I'm almost positive every guy going knows the Lord so this will be more like a Mt. of Transfiguration type trip haha. It's going to be such a blast to get to hang with these guys and see them grow.

Please pray that these guys would really grow this weekend and our friendships would deepen as well. Please pray that if any of them don't know the Lord that they would meet him this weekend! On a side note, I'm feeling kind of sick so please pray that my sore throat would go away and I would have energy to go to the max this weekend. And finally, please pray that I would dominate in dodgeball and basketball so I might make much of Christ and glorify him haha. Just kidding.

Thanks for your prayers and support!

Second YL Club

Our second club was great last night! We had a smaller group, but some new faces! The North Bay skit to sell the weekend went really great(thanks to Billy Brown and Taylor Robinette) and we had our camo T-shirts for the weekend done which looked great.

I did the talk and I think it went well. It got good feedback from kids and the other leaders.

I talked about belonging and how we want to be thought about. I used Facebook as an example of something we do to feel a part of something and to be thought about. At the end I tried to tie it together by saying something like, we are all being invited to follow Jesus just like he invited Levi. We are content with just scraping by with Facebook friend requests when the greatest invitation of all time is awaiting us! This great adventure and life with Christ is better than anything you got going. Then I said when you go home tonight and get on Facebook and see your friend requests, I would just ask you to think about the fact that Jesus Christ, the creator of the world and of YOU, is requesting you to be with him. What do you say?

Thank you so much for praying for it! Also, we got another North Bay deposit in!!! Myles Stanley, who is the man!

You are the greatest team I could ever ask for. Thanks a ton for your support and faithful prayers.

One down, hundreds to go!

We had our first club of the year at Westminster High School last Wednesday!!

Westminster had a few clubs last spring and it kind of tapered off, and kids ended up going to South Carroll's club. This year kids are so excited to have their own club!

Last week about 35 kids were there. It was so awesome! We did the dizzy bat game which is always a winner, and songs went so well! Kids sang loud, and our Campaigner kids did such an awesome job loving their friends and leading by example to bring the energy level of club up.

There were some new faces there, a few of which were on the list of names we pray for every week at Campaigners. The quarterback and offensive lineman on the varsity football team showed up which was awesome!

It was such a blast. The perfect house for it at Billy Browns house, who invited so many people and now many of his friends are interested in North Bay! The club was a perfect momentum builder for the semester.

I did the talk and I think it went well. It was an intro talk and then I talked a little about Jesus healing the man with leprosy. It got good feedback thankfully.

We have our second club tonight! I am giving the talk again about Jesus calling Matthew. I'm going to try to stress the feeling of belonging that everyone wants and that Jesus offers. I will also talk about a relationship with Jesus being better than anything they've got going.

Please pray for tonight! That club would be so much like heaven we would have to stop and just say ,"wow!" Also that it would be so fun and life giving that kids would fully think and know that no man could put something together like this. And please pray that kids would sign up for North Bay. Our goal is 60 kids, but we are extremely short of this. That's okay, but we just want to get a good base of relationships throughout the schools.

Finally please pray that kids would meet Christ.

Thank you so much for you support! This would not be possible without you! I will be with kids tonight, loving them, encouraging them and talking to them about Christ, thinking about you guys being with me there, because you are my partner in this.

Campaigners and North Bay

The other night we had Campaigners and it was rockin! A lot of kids have been coming which is great and I bought a Dry Erase Board which has been solid.

Here are some pictures from the other night!





We also have North Bay coming up. We set a goal as a team to take 60 kids to Fall Weekend, and we have a lot of kids that want to go, but no one signed up yet. Please pray that kids would make it onto the sign up sheet and deposits would come in. This could be a HUGE momentum builder!









Thanks supporters!

Carroll County is about to blow!

Hey partners, teammates, supporters and friends!

Sorry it's been a little while. As the title of this blog suggests, I have quickly learned that Carroll County Young Life has potential to soon erupt to the degree of nuclear proportions.

The other night we had Campaigners and as I have been getting to know the kids I am quickly learning that these kids have such an incredible heart for the Lord! One of them Billy Brown(to the right) has one of the biggest hearts for the Lord I have ever witnessed. While we were talking about some of his friends he has been inviting he said the following. "I invite the guys every week, but they always have an excuse or they will say, 'yea I will come next week,' but they never do." Then Billy said the following and the look on his face was pure compassion and love for his friends, "I just tell them like...please come....please. Just for me come once!" I immediately wondered if I have ever had a passion this great for anyone to come to hear about Christ. By the way Billy is a sophomore at Westminster.

Billy isn't alone either, Aaron Carback has introduced me to the entire Cross County team and is so full of life it's hard to imagine why everyone doesn't just follow him everywhere he goes. Taylor Robinette goes to McDonogh high school and is so sold out for his friends to meet Christ it's ridiculous. Craig Bowen is on the basketball team at Winters Mill and knows everyone in the school, literally. Miles, Nate and Travis are all getting to know some of the kids in Campaigners and are going to be used by Christ in a HUGE way! And these are just some of the guys that show up to Campaigners every week.

Thank you for you prayers! Please pray that our team (to the left) is brought to a deeper place in Christ and that we would be able to love kids limitlessly without fear and unashamed. Please pray that we would know when to start club. We have been getting up to the school and games a lot and we have met so many kids it's awesome! Please pray that we would be able to take 60 kids to North Bay on November 6th-8th (this is out goal and prayer).


Thank you so much supporters! I could not do this without you. Your prayers and support are making this happen! You truly are teammates with me.

Now that's country

So we had Campaigners last night at the Stone's house who live on a farm. Within 20 seconds of being out of the car me, Taylor Robinette and John Wilmer were literally chasing and catching chickens. No lie.

We had a great time in The Word, and The Stone's hooked it up with a bonfire and dinner. I've been able to meet so many guys at the school (thanks to your prayers) and I've been able to really get to know well some key guys, who have an incredible heart for Christ and for their friends.

We wanted to do a game before Campaigners so naturally we decided to do a Chicken carrying relay race which Heidi Stone caught on tape! My team won of course, and then we busted into an acoustic rendition of Free Fallin, which only I sang...at the top of my lungs...and I could hear the fire crackle it was so quiet. I'm really loving Carroll County!

Thank you so much for your support! I feel incredibly loved every time I think of the team behind me as I'm doing ministry up here.

Enjoy the video!

Movin on up!!

My move to Carroll County has gone successfully! Thanks to you! I also had my first day of official, full-time, out of college work on Monday. Also thanks to you!

I told my mom the other day that it's hard being in a position where I'm financially pressed all the time, at least for now, but on the other hand it's such a blessing. It has truly been one of the most humbling experiences to open up each of the support letters. I have felt so cared for and loved it is overwhelming.

I will be updating this hopefully more often than not, and hopefully have some fun things up here too and not just updates!

Thank you so much my incredible partners and supporters!!