Over the Horizon

RETO Week 5: RETO FINAL

WOW!!!! The final week of EL RETO was A-MAZE-ING!!! Words cannot describe how content I am with how things finished. Everyone had a blast, the Lord was worshiped and adored, youth were filled and favored by His Presence, and a winner was named!!

What an awesome 5 weeks it has been. In total, 83 youth participated in the event and were challenged weekly to fight the good fight of faith with Jesus as their Grand General. Many more youth and adults were touched as well as they watched on each week, participated as staff, or attended the final week and watched the Holy Spirit move in their children or family members. There were many people in attendance on Saturday who normally don't set a toe in the church at best, and at worst are adamantly against the Christian church. But they were there because their kids were participating and they wanted to see who would win! Well, they got more than they bargained for as they heard the truth of the Gospel and experienced first hand what it is to be in the Presence of the Almighty! WOW!

Well, on with the report. Week 5 took place in the new church. The day started early with The Israelites cleaning the sanctuary floor, sweeping up leaves, and helping to set up chairs and sound & lighting equipment for the afternoon's activities. This was their chores activity for having received the most votes at the end of Week 4. All this was much more involved setup than usual because the final week always involves worship and a message, and the whole church and any family members or friends of participating youth (as well as anyone else who wants to come) are invited to come and watch. So, we had to be ready for them! There were way too few chairs, but it was great to see so many people in attendance and enjoying themselves and the event!

(left) Ruben and Chuy working on light fixtures; (right) The Israelites cleaning and setting up chairs

(left) More lighting work; (right) The band testing the sound (Goyo on drums, Sandy on bass, Mily on vocals, Jay on electric guitar, Riki on acoustic guitar)

A before shot of the sanctuary as the band tests sound...it's big, but let me tell you that space was in full use!

Before starting the event we had our weekly staff meeting! What a great group of staff we have for this event! Here's a shot of Mily and Luis leading that meeting.

In the afternoon, we kick-started once again with attendance. Then instead of having a devotional time with their team Sargent as usual, we gave them time to paint their faces and get all wound up to present their Military Chants! We also took advantage of this time to take some team pictures! This took longer than expected, but it was the last day so we weren't too uptight about it! We purposely started an hour earlier for this very scenario so we knew we'd still end at a decent hour at night! Yea for good planning!!

(left) The Favored; (right) The Israelites

(left) Conquerors; (right) The Powerful

(left) The Lord's Squadron; (right) The Banners

(left) The Warriors; (right) THE Conquerors

After face painting and team pictures, we jumped into the presentations and judging of their Military Chants. I have to say that THESE TEAMS DID SUCH AN EXCELLENT JOB!!! Some of the teams really battled all five weeks trying to put together their chant. Some of them had issues with team members wanting to take over leadership, others had problems with team members not attending, and others just weren't too in to it. But in the end, every team participated and did a GREAT job!! Their lyrics and movements were really creative, and it was truly fun to see what they came up with!

Their mission was to come up with a Military Chant that incorporated not only coordinated movements but also lyrics that had to to with the theme of EL RETO 2009 (Fight the Good Fight) as well as the Bible story they were assigned in Week 1 (from which they took their names). Some of those Bible stories were darn obscure as far as trying to write lyrics for a military chant, but they did it and they did it well! They were told that they could use music, or not, but that they would be judged on 1. The incorporation of the RETO Theme and their Bible story, 2. Coordination and quadrature (the use of their space and moving well together), 3. Creativity, and 4. Participation and Animation (Excitement of team members).

Our judging panel: (L-R)Abraham, Pastor Goyo, Ismael (guest judge), Mari, and Faith

I had hoped to take video of each of the chants, but in the end I simply forgot. However, I at least have some pictures of each team...they are in order of their final points!

1st Place = The Warriors

2nd Place = The Favored

3rd Place = THE Conquerors

4th Place = Conquerors

5th Place was a tie between The Israelites (white) and The Powerful (red)

6th Place = The Banners

7th Place = The Lord's Squadron

After the Military Chants were presented and judged, we moved into the service portion of the afternoon. Mily and the worship band did a great job of leading everyone in some stirring praise and worship, which was followed by a stellar message given by Abraham Aguilar. He is the father of some of our youth, one of which is the captain of the Conquerors (orange team). They live in Ruiz, about 45 minutes away, but they have been faithfully attending our church since they were invited by youth from a different church entirely to attend a youth event in May 2007!!! Their three children are youth leaders, members of our worship band, and have been captains in EL RETO! It was such a pleasure to hear Abraham preach for the first time.

He spoke to the youth about Fighting the Good Fight of Faith...about really waging war against the influences and temptations in this world that would seek to enslave them or even worse, destroy them. I wish I could go into more detail, but I was figuring out points from attendance and military chants so that we could announce winners when the service was over, so I didn't get to hear much of the details. But when the service was over, everyone was saying what a stirring message it was and how they had been challenged!!

When Abraham finished his message, Pastor Goyo led everyone in a time of ministry at the altar. He shared a simple gospel message, and invited youth leaders to come and pray for the youth that were coming forward with needs or in a desire to commit themselves to the Good Fight or to Christ for the first time. It was so amazing because as ministry time went on, Team Sargents started praying with their teams as a group and then with individual members of their teams. Finally, Pastor Goyo asked any parents to come forward as well as any youth leaders present and he tasked us all to hug the youth. If there were parents there, then they were to hug their children; if we were youth leaders who did not have children there, we were to hug the others. He challenged us to let them know how proud we are of them, how much we love them, and most of all how proud the Lord is of each of them and how much HE loves them. What an emotional and impactful time that was for us all. The tears definitely flowed, but hearts were opened and touched!

Finally, when ministry time was over, the band came up and led us in one more stirring round of the song "Eres TodPoderos". Now, I wish I knew the title of that song in English. Literally translated it is "You are All Powerful". However, I don't know if the song exists in English. The lyrics speak of how the only reason for our breathing, for our living, the only Truth we know is the Lord God who is All Powerful, Great and Majestic, Strong, Invincible, and there is No One like Him! As the band began to play, Mily invited all the youth to come forward and join arms across the sanctuary and move as one before the Lord as they praised once again. It gave me goosebumps to watch and hear! I did a head count, and there were 65 youth standing there at the altar, dancing and jumping up and down before the Lord in unison praising His name!! It was awe-inspiring! I took a video, and here it is!

When the service ended, Mily announced the winners of the Military Chants and then we moved moved into our Armageddon portion of the evening which began with the revelation of the Hidden Treasures, also known as Grenades. When they were hidden, we only put a number inside each one, and their treasure was to be revealed at the end of the event. So, Luis called all the teams to formation, torches and all, and then called the Sargents of teams that had found Grenades to go up on the stage. At this point, they moved into the voting room where they were to open their Grenades. Then according to the number found inside, they received a sealed envelope which contained the revelation of their prize. With envelopes in hand, they then went back out on the stage, and Luis called the Grenades in a predetermined order and the corresponding Sargent was allowed to open his envelope and read the prize to the crowd.

The Lord's Squadron had Grenade #1 ...

"Congratulations! Your team has won 1000 points toward your final score!"

The Israelites had Grenades #5 & #6...

(#5) "Congratulations! Your team is cordially invited to participate in a movie night at the Christian Center Church on an evening that has yet to be determined."

(#6)"Congratulations! Your team is cordially invited to participate in a game night at the Christian Center Church on an evening that has yet to be determined."

THE Conquerors had Grenade #3...

"We are very sorry, but your grenade has just exploded. Therefore, your team loses 1000 points from their final score."

Grenades #2 and #4 were told that the time had still not come to reveal their prizes and were instructed to return their sealed envelopes to Luis. Then Mily went up on stage and began announcing the final scores from 8th place to 1st place. It was a very exciting moment. In the end, the order was:

8th place = THE Conquerors (purple) with 737 points

7th place = THE Favored with 741 points

6th place = The Lord's Squadron with 1,650 points

5th place = Conquerors (orange) with 2,039 points

4th place = The Banners with 2,157 points

3rd place = The Warriors with 5,024 points

2nd place = The Israelites with 5,798 points; 1st place = The Powerful with 6,294 points

There was much rejoicing among The Powerful at this point, but the event was not over yet, and although they had won the five week event in regards to points, they still could not claim a decisive and final victory. There were still 2 grenades left to reveal! Luis called forward the Sargents of the teams that had found Grenades #2 and #4, and called them in a predetermined order to reveal their prizes.

Grenade #2 went first. Pedro, Sargent of The Warriors read...

"Congratulations! Your team is cordially invited to participate in a game night at the Christian Center Church on an evening that has yet to be determined."

Then Jesus, Sargent of The Favored, read Grenade #4....

"Congratulations! Your team has won the opportunity to challenge the winning team and conquer EL RETO 2009!"

Well, you can imagine that The Favored were truly coming to understand just how Favored they really were....all the way in 7th place, and there they were with the opportunity to win the whole thing in the end!

At this point Mily explained what THE FINAL BATTLE would be: a Paintball Target Shoot! We made a target on a camoflage flag, which we will later turn into the flat for EL RETO 2009, and we mounted it over in the Education Wing courtyard. Mily then explained that The Powerful automatically started with 5 free shots since they were the first place team. What followed next were several activities in which each team had the opportunity to win shots for THE FINAL BATTLE.

The first activity was voting. Just as they had done every week, the other 6 teams formed up and one by one went into the voting room to vote for one of the two team remaining teams: The Powerful or The Favored. For every vote they received each team received a vote. In the end they each received three votes and therefore 3 shots. The count was then The Powerful with 8 shots and The Favored with 3.

The next activity was balancing on one foot. Each team chose one member to come up on the platform where they had to balance on one foot with their eyes closed and their hands firmly clasped behind their backs. The first one to open their eyes, drop their foot, or use their hands to balance would lose. In the end The Powerful won this activity and received 5 more shots. The count then stood at 13 shots for The Powerful and 3 for The Favored.

Next came the Bouncey Ball Race. One member was chosen from each team to race on the bouncy ball around Mily and back to the starting line. The first one to cross the finish line would win 5 shots. The winner was The Favored. The count then was The Powerful with 13 shots and The Favored with 8.

The final activity was a Trivia game. Mily asked them 10 questions, and the Sargent had to whisper the answer to a staff member who then relayed the answer to Mily. They then received 1 shot for every correct answer. In the end both teams answered 8 questions correctly for 8 shots each. The final count then was The Powerful with 21 shots and The Favored with 16.

At this point, we moved over to the Education Courtyard for THE FINAL BATTLE!!! Jay had the paintball gun all primed up and ready to go. It was drizzling slightly, but not enough to cause problems. Each team chose one member to shoot the gun, and Jay showed them how to work it, while I made sure the audience knew to keep a safe distance from the target and to please keep a hold of any small children running around so as to avoid injuries! There was also someone holding a spotlight on the target so they could see to aim. The target was made of rings (like any target) each with its own point value ranging from 5 points in the outermost ring to 100 points in the bulls-eye. The first to shoot was Jesus, Sargent of The Favored. He shot all his 16 shots, and then Goyo, Sargent of The Powerful, stepped up and shot his 21 shots.

(left) Jesus shooting at the target; (right) Goyo shooting at the target

Mily, Sandy, and I then ran off to talley up the scores. At first we thought the difference was 5 points, but when we finally got things added correctly, final score was 585 to 510, a difference of 75 points!!! We called everyone back into the sanctuary, and Mily called the two teams up to the altar.

She did such a great job of infusing an unbearable suspense into the announcing of the winning team, but in the midst of a dead silence, she finally yelled out....

THE POWERFUL!!!!!!

The Favored played a great game, and they had a great attitude about the entire event. They knew they had given their all and had sucked all the marrow out of every ounce of fun to be had in this event. They had enjoyed it for all it was worth, and their words in the end were, "AND WE STILL GET TO GO TO TACOS!!!!" Luis spent a few minutes reassuring Jesus, Sargent of The Favored, and encouraging him, and then he presented the winning team with their prize options: 1. Going to the movies in Tepic, 2. Bowling, 3. Going to the beach, or 4. Going to either El Salto (a really awesome natural swimming hole) or to the local pool which has some cool water slides. Their choice was a movie in Tepic!

After the event, all the kids had Sandy taking pictures of them as memories. Here's a fun pic of me with some of the guys! I love these kids!!

We still have to schedule that outing for The Powerful as well as the Taco dinner for The Favored, a movie night for The Banners and The Israelites, and a game night for The Israelites and The Warriors. There's lots of fun to look forward to, but most of all we are excited to see how the Lord uses this five week experience to totally revolutionize the lives of the 83 youth that participated. Next week it's back to regular LIFE activities (that is the name of our youth group), but we certainly hope that they will never return to how their lives were before EL RETO. Instead we hope they will move forward Fighting the Good Fight of Faith and living in the Abundant Life that their Grand General, Jesus Christ, has extended to them!

Three cheers for EL RETO 2009: FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT. Here's to an even more exciting EL RETO 2010!! If you would like to financially support EL RETO, please click here to make a safe, fast, and easy online donation to "Cofradia Youth: EL RETO"! Regardless, thank you for you prayer support, and please keep lifting us up as we continue onward in the good fight of faith here in Cofradia!

RETO Week 4

Well week 4 of EL RETO was a total blast and a great success! I was totally stoked that this week we started things off by getting ahead of schedule and finished the evening spot on with the schedule that we had made up for the day! And it was a very full day!

But before I go into details let me just announce that this week we broke our record for total number of youth that have participated. The grand total after week 4 is 83!!!! That means we beat our record by 11 youth!!! (Last year's record was 72.) Pastor Luis told us the other day in a leaders' meeting that he had been praying that EL RETO this year would touch 80 youth! Looks like the Lord is meeting and exceeding our prayers yet again! Praise Him!

We started the day off taking attendance followed by a few announcements. We then sent the kids off to their devotional time. This was also the last week to contribute coins to their penny wars, so we made sure to have all the bottles out and ready for their deposits.

Pallets and Penny War bottles used to mark where they should line up for formation

Something interesting happened this week. Several of our youth, including two of our team captains, were required by the high school to play in a soccer tournament on Saturday. This meant that they were not present when we started attendance. They did finally arrive right before we sent them to their first RETO activity, but they were not there for devotions. This has happened before with other teams, and the most fascinating thing happens each time. Someone on the team steps up and starts taking the leadership until the team captain arrives. The second week it was the blue team (The Banners), and the entire team banded together to lead themselves. This week we noticed this with the red team, The Powerful. Jazmin, a young lady of 16 who became a Christian in January and just recently was baptized, stepped up and started improvising a devotional for the team, even to the point of leading them in prayer when they finished!

(left) Jazmin; (right) The Powerful about to pray at the end of their devotional time

This week was Martin's to plan. He decided he wanted to have a mini race for the kids to find trucks assigned to their teams that would take them to Santa Fe where they were to participate in a Rescue the Flag tournament. This is almost exactly like Capture the Flag, but in our case they were rescuing their own flag from the other team's territory instead of trying to steal the other team's flag. So, during devotional time, we told the Team Parents what truck they were going to be waiting in and where.

After devotional time, they moved on to their rehearsal time for their Military Chant which will be presented this coming Saturday at the FINAL RETO. During this time, several of us went around asking to borrow their team flags for something. We then sent the flags with Martin to Santa Fe. When that was over, we called them back to formation. Most of the staff had already headed either to Santa Fe to be ready for when the teams arrived or to their designated trucks parked at different locations around the base. In fact, all the trucks were in places visible from the base, but they had to pick the right truck. So, I handed the clues to the team captains, and within seconds of opening them the base was a ghost town!

The eight "stolen" flags waving in the wind in Santa Fe

Their clues were as follows:

The Ford (picture below) was waiting in front of the Clinic (outside one of the base rear gates) for Conquerors (orange team) and The Banners (blue team) who were given the following clue: "The way to success is through health and holiness. Look for your Team Parent in a truck waiting for you there, and continue on to the next CHALLENGE."

The Nissan (no picture) was was just outside the other rear gate around the corner from the Clinic waiting for The Lord's Squadron (brown team) and The Favored (yellow team). Their clue read: "Holiness is the doorway to health. Look for your Team Parent in a truck waiting for you there, and continue to the next CHALLENGE."

The long box GMC and Hugo's truck (one of our team parents) (pictured below) were just up the street from the Nissan in front of the Preschool/Kindergarten waiting for The Warriors (gray team) and The Powerful (red team). Their clue said: "A..B..C; 1..2..3; La Carrera (means race as well as career) always starts at the beginning. Look for your Team Parent in a truck waiting for you there, and continue on to the next CHALLENGE."

The Chevy 4X4 (pictured below) was in front of the Police station next door to the base waiting for The Israelites (white team) and THE Conquerors (purple team). Their clue read: "Help! Help! Look for your Team Parent in a truck waiting there to help you arrive at the next CHALLENGE."

Once a team arrived at their designated truck, their Team Parent gave them this clue (the same for all teams): "THE MISSION: Your flag has been captured! Go to Santa Fe and battle to Rescue Your Flag!"

We gave points for the order that the teams arrived, and then they were divided into pairs to play the first round of playoffs of Rescue the Flag. Four play-off games took place simultaneously. The four winners then played two simultaneous semi-final games, and the two winners of those games played for the championship, while the teams that lost in the semi-finals played for 3rd and 4th place. Points were given according to their place from first to eighth. The kids seemed to have a great time, and they all set about to figuring out their strategy as a team and putting it into play. It was a lot of fun to watch too!

 

(left) The Israelites (white) and THE Conquerors (purple) getting to play their play-off games; (right) The Warriors (gray) gearing up for their playoff game with The Powerful (red) and The Favored (yellow) in the background doing the same

 

(left) The Warriors & The Israelites; (right) The Favored & Conquerors

 

(left) The Banners (blue) after quickly defeating The Squadron of the Lord (brown) in their playoff game; (right) Members of THE Conquerors (purple) in their playoff game against The Powerful (red)

 

Pictures from the championship game between The Powerful (red) and The Warriors (gray)

While we were playing we noticed a massive storm front moving in from the distance. Thankfully, the tournament ended before the storm arrived, and we loaded up in all the trucks and headed back to Cofradia to the New Church where the teams went immediately to their Squadron Time with their Team Parents. In the meantime the rest of us staff set up the sanctuary for THE AUCTION!! We did this for the first time last year, and it was such a hit that we decided to do it again this year! However, while we were setting up that storm caught up to us and it started pouring! It didn't stop raining, thundering, and lightning until almost 9 pm that night, and just after the Auction started we actually lost power until the next morning! But the show must go on, and so must the Auction!!! And so we did with a megaphone in hand and the teams all crowded in around the platform (so we could hear them above the sound of rain on the aluminum roof).

A great shot of the storm moving in from the distance. Those fuzzy columns are the rain pouring down on some poor unsuspecting town!

 

Four teams during their Squadron time

Before starting the Auction, we offered The Favored (yellow) a chance for a CONQUEST since they came in last in Rescue the Flag. They were given the option of a Conquest of Mind, a Conquest of Strength, or a Conquest of Talent. They chose the talent and were instructed that one member of their team had to demonstrate a talent for ONE judge who would decide if it was good enough to win the prize or not. Beto got up and sang a popular worship song a capella in the megaphone for all to hear. As a result they won 250 points towards their total points which would help them greatly in the auction!

Beto singing "Generacion Que Danza" for Mily

In the Auction, each team is given a pallet of their color and a slip of paper that reveals their total points to this point including the points they won from Rescue the Flag. Mily was the auctioneer, and she did a FAB-U-LOUS job of riling up the kids and getting them really into it and excited! Then we bring out a closed Tupperware box (not transparent) with the item for auction inside. THE ITEM REMAINS UNDISCLOSED UNTIL AFTER IT IS PURCHASED. The teams then begin bidding points to purchase the item still not knowing what it is.

Once the item is purchased, the team captain comes forward to open the box and find out what they have won. However, before he does so, we give him the option to stick with what they bought or open a different box with a different item in it. Once the captain chooses, we remove the discarded box back to the auction store room to be auctioned or offered as an option later. The captain then opens his chosen box (either what he purchased or the option) and reveals what they bought with their points. Here's what we auctioned this year, who bought each item, and how many points they spent!!

(left) The item up for bid sealed inside it's box with the option begin brought out in another sealed container; (right) "Let the bidding begin..."

(left) Riki, captain of The Lord's Squadron spending 750 points to win 500! (right) The Banners won a movie night here at the church for a mere 960 points!

Conquerors spent 950 points and won a tasty cake. Coincidentally, it was the birthday of one of their team members (the one with icing on his face), so it was a fitting purchase even though they had no idea what they would win when they gave their winning bid!

(left) The Favored spent 830 points and won a 3L bottle of coke! (right) THE Conquerors spent 990 points and won the opportunity to take away 200 points from another team. They chose The Powerful. However, they were also forced to choose item #1, #2, or #3 as their purchase. In the end they wound up with a bag of gumball nuts.

(left) The Lord's Squadron spent 960 points and won the final clues to each of the SIX hidden treasures; (right) They also spent 970 points on the next item which was a bag of marshmallows!

(left) Conquerors spent 1,120 points and won Immunity from Chores; (right) The Favored spent the last of their points (950) to win an all expenses paid trip to Pilas for a great taco dinner! They ended the Auction with 6 points left to their names!

(left) The Banners spent 900 points and won 500 points toward their Penny Wars final score. Then they spent 1,020 points on the final item which was a bag of animal crackers and a bag of orange slices.

As we neared the end of the Auction and realized that the rain, thunder, and lightning were not going to let up, we decided to change the location of Armageddon to the sanctuary where we were holding the Auction. Normally we do it in the open courtyard area of the education wing, but with the storm that just wasn't an option. So, Luis took one of the boxes (no longer in use) and ran quickly for all the torches, the voting jar, the paper, and everything else we needed for Armageddon, and he set up the voting room in the storage room we were using for the auction items.

When the Auction ended we called the teams to formation and handed them their lighted torches. We then proceeded with Medals of Honor and punishments (yes there were a couple). Then Luis shared a short message about Armageddon and retired to the voting room and began calling the teams in one-by-one. Since the Conquerors (orange team) bought immunity from chores in the Auction, no one could vote for them. In the end, The Israelites received the most votes (five) and were granted the privilege of doing chores. As the rest of the teams were dismissed the Israelites came up to find out what their chore assignments would be and when. I informed them that their chores will be completed this coming Saturday at 8:30 in the morning as they help us clean and set up for the FINAL RETO in the new church.

Formation for Armageddon

(left) A member of The Israelites receiving a Medal of Honor; (right) The Favored receiving their punishment.

(left) Voting; (right) The final vote count

Then I proceeded to hand them clues for the hidden treasures. I also explained to them that there are TWO NEW TREASURES that were hidden prior to week three, and that the two clues for those treasures were included in the clues that I was given them right then. Man, did their eyes light up!! Rumors have been going around that three of the four clues had been found before the second week of EL RETO, and that the fourth had been found before week 3. We have yet to confirm or deny these rumors. However, this has discouraged many of the teams from looking because they have believed the rumors. So, when they found out there were two more to look for, they were very excited!

Anyway, week 4 was a blast, and the torrential thunder storm only added to the uniqueness of the week's events! It has been such a blast participating in this event all month, and we're all excited to see the culmination of it all in Week 5: EL RETO FINAL where the teams really will fight THE FINAL BATTLE with their Military Chants and the final challenge that will decide the winner of EL RETO 2009: FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT.

Please keep us in your prayers as we see to final details for the final week of EL RETO. Also please pray that the Lord will be preparing hearts to receive him as there will surely be a gospel presentation and an invitation to know Jesus Christ as personal Lord and Savior. The number of kids participating this year has almost doubled since week 1, and most of the kids that have joined up since week 1 are non-Christians and have never participated with us before. This is a great opportunity, and we are praying in faith for a great harvest before it's all over. And most of all, pray for a consistent and constant follow-up in the lives of these kids: that their experiences this month will be the method of learning great life lessons and of being drawn closer to the Lord, and that those who invited friends will be faithful to continue investing in those lives!

If you would like to financially contribute to EL RETO, either for this year OR FOR NEXT YEAR, please click here to make a safe, easy, and fast online donation to "Cofradia Youth: EL RETO". Thank you!!

RETO Week 3 Gladiators Video

I uploaded a short video clip of the Gladiators from Week 3. Just click on the image to see video.

This video is of The Powerful running through the obstacle course as the Conquerors throw water balloons. They earned points for every time they hit one of The Powerful team members with a water balloon, whether it busted or not.

RETO Week 3

Well, EL RETO Week 3 was another success. This week was our GLADIATORS week, which is always a blast. Not surprisingly, it rained most of the afternoon. Apparently it has rained every year on GLADIATORS week...go figure. It doesn't matter much though because in Gladiators, the kids have to run through an obstical course while one team at a time takes turns throwing water balloons...so one way or another they spend the afternoon very wet!

Again, we kicked off the afternoon taking attendance and then with a short devotional time led by the team Sargents.

 

(left) The Warriors getting ready to pray at the end of their devotional time; (right) The Israelites during their devotional time.

However, before sending them to practice their Military Chants, we called them back to formation and proceeded to hand out some punishments that were not handed out last Saturday during Armageddon. Several teams had members who tried to cheat during Basic Training and the banquet, so those team captains had to choose their punishment out of a little black bag. Most lost points...anywhere from 100 to 200 points; however, one team picked out a slip of paper colored red. This piece of paper symbolizes grace, and Luis took the time to remind all the kids participating that God's grace has removed from us all punishment that we deserve as a result of our sin. Because they picked this slip, that team was free from punishment. What a great teachable moment, and believe me they got it!!

 

(left) Royer receiving his punishment on behalf of his team; (right) The Israelites practicing for their Military Chant

Once their practice time was over, we loaded everyone up in the trucks and headed to the church facility in Arrayanes. Earlier that morning, we the planning team went out there and filled 1600 water balloons and set up the obstacle course using table, metal supports, a tarp, and tires left over from Basic Training (week 2).

 

All of us filling balloons (L-R): me, Mily, Mary, Luis, Horacio, Martin, Chuy

   

Setting up the tables for the obstacle course (left) and the ring where the teams throw balloons (right).

   

Setting up the tarp for one of the obstacle course elements.

When we arrived in the afternoon, the first thing we did was give each team one tube of black face paint, and one tube of their team color. Their mission: to come with a design for their team and paint everyone's faces with that design. Then the captains were given the chance to tell our three judges what their design represented before being judged. The winner of this mission received immunity from chores later in the afternoon.

 

(left) The Favored; (right) The Israelites

 

(left) Conquerors; (right) The Lord's Squadron

 

(left) The Powerful; (right) The Banners

 

(left) The Warriors; (right) THE Conquerors

Once the face-painting was over, they headed out to the sports court/obstacle course to begin the Gladiators mission! Each team was given three buckets of water balloons to throw at the seven remaining teams who took turns running the obstacle course one at a time. The teams running the obstacle course were given up to one minute to pass 6 of their team members all the way through the course. Time was marked with a portion of music taken from "Saber Dance" by the Henry James Orchestra. I'll post video soon, but for now here are some pics...

 

 

Then when Gladiators was over, while we some of us headed back to Cofradia to prepare for Armageddon, the teams debriefed in Squadron Time with their Team Parents. I'm told that all of the teams had some really excellent conversation about their experiences that day and there were some great teachable moments that came out of that time. We the planning staff are looking forward to hearing from the Team Parents in the staff meeting this coming Saturday afternoon.

We ended the afternoon with Armageddon as usual. The teams were called in one at a time, and then Medals of Honor and punishments were handed out. After this, Luis shared a short word about our theme verse this year and what it means to "Fight the Good Fight". Finally, the teams were called in to the voting room one by one as resounding music from Glory, The Last of the Mohicans, and Legends of the Fall played in the background.

 

(left) The voting room; (right) Staff ready to hand out torches to the teams as they enter silently

The Favored won the face painting contest, so they were granted immunity from chores on Sunday. However, in the rest of the voting, it seems that some alliances have started to form between different teams; as a result The Banners received SIX votes and was therefore granted the privilege of doing the chores. This week, their mission was to clean up all the trash from the water balloons, sweep the sports court, the Sunday school palapa, and the church office in Arrayanes.

(left) The Israelites casting their vote; (right) The votes...6 for The Banners (Los Estandartes)

If you would like to financially support EL RETO, click here to make a fast, easy, and secure online donation to "Cofradia Youth: EL RETO". Thank you!

Baptisms!!!

Exciting news here in Cofradia....JAZMIN, ROYER, BETO, NORMA, AND JESUS GOT BAPTIZED TODAY!!!!!!

 

(L-R) Pastor Goyo, Royer, Jesus, Beto, Jazmin, Norma

I'm especially excited about Royer and Jazmin. As you know, Jazmin has been wanting to get baptized since Februrary, but her parents would never let her. They told her no this time too, but when I went to get their final answer on Friday, her mom said "Well, let me talk to her dad. He was going to let her but recently he changed his mind. He's busy right now so come tomorrow and I'll talk to him." So, I went on Saturday, and her mom came out to me and Jazmin and said, "Well, it's her decisions." Jazmin of course enthusiastically said "YES!" She has been all smiles and a little speechless about the subject ever since. But today, after the service was over, I asked her how it was, and her response was a slight pause, a big smile, and then quietly said "It was sooo..COOL"

 

Royer's baptism is pretty exciting too. He has been coming to youth group for several years, but it wasn't until last year at camp that the Lord really got a hold of him. However, over the the last year he had sort of disappeared quite a bit. Well, this year he went to camp again, and he came back totally on fire and ready to trust the Lord with his dream to be a youth leader. He has been really consistent ever since. He's a captain this year in EL RETO, and he's doing a great job! Now, he's baptized, and you could tell that he was really excited about that step of faith!

Beto is another young man who is taking huge steps in his faith. He gave his life to Christ a couple of years ago at a Christian concert we all went to in Tepic, but he got really discouraged and sort of set it all aside for quite a while. Well in the last 6 months, something changed in his heart, and he too has been really gung-ho about his growth. He too went to youth camp and came back even more pumped up for the Lord. He has been participating in EL RETO with great enthusiasm, and he is constantly peppering us leaders with questions about different spiritual matters. It's really great to see!

 

Norma has been walking with the Lord for quite a while, but her husband was baptized several months ago. I don't know much of her story, but I'm guessing she felt it was time she followed suit!

 

Jesus (Chuy) wasn't originally signed up to get baptized today, but when the pastor asked if anyone else was interested, he stepped up with the biggest grin on his face. You could tell that he has been wanting to do this and finally just decided to step up and do it! He's a great kid! He went on our missions trip to Oaxaca in April, and he was profoundly changed by that experience. He's a captain in EL RETO for the first time this year too, and although he's struggling a bit, he is not giving up!

 

It was a very exciting day all around, and I just had to let you all know!! Keep these folks in your prayers. As our pastor reminded us all today, when we take steps of obedience, the devil steps up his opposition and difficulties are bound to arrive!

RETO Week 2

Alright! Week 2 of EL RETO = CHECK! It was an interesting week and definitely more challenging. This week's theme was "Basic Training", and it turned out to be exactly that, especially for us as staff as we dealt with last minute curve balls in the planning. But God is amazingly awesome, and in the end it was obvious that the youth were having a blast and God's grace was poured out over all!

We started the week with the call to formation so that we could take attendance. When all was said and done we had 54 youth participating this week, and 20 of them joined up this week. For about half of those 20, this is the FIRST TIME EVER that they have participated in anything related to the church or youth ministry activities!!! This is the real purpose behind EL RETO: to reach out to new youth and bring them the gospel! It's great to see our youth "getting it". What was also neat was to see several of these brand new youth in church on Sunday morning with Bibles and sitting in the first three rows of the church THE ENTIRE SERVICE. They were attentive and respectful and even stayed put during the prayer and ministry portion of the service! What great opportunities!

So, now after week two our grand total for EL RETO 2009 is 74 youth!! That is a new record! And we're only in week 2. Please keep praying that the Lord will continue to bring in more youth and that they will continue to arrive each week until the event is over!

After formation and attendance, we sent them off for a short devotional time led by their team Sargents. Then they were given 45 minutes to start brainstorming, planning, and rehearsing for their Military Cheer/Chant. This is a project that was assigned to each team on the first day of EL RETO. It will be presented on the very last Saturday. In the past their challenge has been to make up a skit relating their assigned Bible story. Last year, they had to make up a choreography and new lyrics to the theme song. This year, since our theme is military, they have been challenged to come up with a military chant. They can use music, they can include costumes or face painting, whatever their creativity comes up with. But their chant must have group movements, and it must relate to the theme for this year's RETO ("Fight the Good Fight"), and if they can incorporate their Bible story then even better. We're excited to see how these turn out!

 

Formation & Attendance...The bottles you see in front of each team are for the Penny Wars. Each team can deposit their coins, and each coin has different point values. Some coins even take points away from other teams!

When rehearsal time was over, Sandy handed sealed envelopes to each team captain along with a pencil and sent them to load up two teams to a truck. We then headed to Paso Real for "BASIC TRAINING" which included the infamous BANQUET!! The sealed envelopes given to the captains contained a menu where the captains had to write down the names of each team member that would be partaking of each dish in the banquet. Those were handed to Sandy upon arriving in Paso Real, and then the fun really began!

   

(left) The Conquerors (purple) and The Warriors (grey) loaded in the truck and ready to go! (right) The basic training relay course

BASIC TRAINING began with a timed relay race. The first station was PUSH-UPS. They had the choice to do five with both hands or three with only one hand.

 

The second station was the TIRES. They had to run in place inside 2 tires placed side by side, completing 20 steps before moving on.

 

The third station was the ARMY CRAWL. Here they had to crawl on their bellies underneath twine that had been wrapped around a series of sticks.

 

The fourth station was THE BAT. Here, they had to spin around 10 times bent over with the bat to their foreheads.

 

The fifth station was JUMP ROPE. They had to jump 15 times.

 

The sixth station was THE DEATH CRAWL. This was taken from the movie Facing the Giants. Only two team members had to do this one. One player had to carry the other on his back while crawling on his toes and hands over a distance of about 5 meters.

 

The last station was THE TEAM WALK. In this activity there are two planks of wood, and the entire team stands on top of them with one foot on each plank. They then have to move as a team on top of the planks over a distance of about 5 meters.

 

(left) The Favored (yellow team); (right) Conquerors (orange team)

 

(left) The Warriors (grey team); (right) The Banners (blue team)

 

(left) The Powerful (red team); (right) The Lord's Squadron (brown team)

  

THE Conquerors (purple team)

Upon completing the last station, we wrote down how long it took the team to complete the whole relay, and the team who finished in the least amount of time won!

Once the relay was completed, they moved on to the banquet. This year, the food items weren't so extreme, but they weren't necessarily easy either! Sandy, who planned this entire week's agenda, chose to go with a sweeter slant to our dishes. In this activity, the assigned team member comes up to the table and when the signal is given begins to eat their dish. Usually, they are not allowed to use their hands. A staff member is assigned to each team, and when the team member can present a clean plate and clean mouth the staff member signals that they have completed their dish. Points are awarded for the order in which they finish. At the end of the banquet, the team with the most points wins!

Here is our menu for 2009:

1."Canyons" = 2 cream filled HOSTESS CUPCAKES

2. "Staff" = 26 large MARSHMALLOWS

 

3. "Sargent Sweat" = 3/4 of a plastic cup of PURE HONEY

4. "Navy Food" = 1 TWINKY filled with PEANUT BUTTER & CATCHUP

 

5. "Explosives" = 2 pieces of TRIDENT GUM with 2 RITZ CRACKERS, and then they had to BLOW A BUBBLE.

 

6. "Gas Bomb" = 1 can of DR. PEPPER using 2 straws, 1 inside the cup and 1 outside the cup

 

7. "Exotic Salad" = sweet & sour salad made of sliced dill pickles, maraschino cherries in their juice, and green olives with anchovy filling...ALL MIXED TOGETHER!

 

8. "Training Under Fire" = 1 individual bag of HABANERO CHILE CHIPS

 

9. "Mud Fight" = 3/4 of a plastic cup of HERSHY'S CHOCOLATE SYRUP

10. "Cosmic Bomb" = 2 pices of SMINT GUM (gum together with a mint) chewed for 10 seconds, and then they had to down a cup of ICE WATER

11. "Jungle War" = The last plate had to be consumed by the entire team....ANIMAL CRACKER CEREAL (1 kilo animal crackers with 2 liters of milk)

   

The Banners (blue team...Los Estandartes), led by Royer, won the banquet and therefore won the first two clues to the four Grenades (hidden treasures). The Powerful (red team...Los Poderosos), led by Goyo, finished last in the banquet and therefore won immunity from doing chores on Sunday.

Due to some kinks in our planning and the fact that a couple of the dishes took a long time to complete (longer than we anticipated), we finished BASIC TRAINING late. So, when it was all done, we headed back to Cofradia straight to the new church for ARMAGEDDON. The teams filed in, silently, and stood in formation as Luis allowed staff to hand out Medals of Honor (there were quite a few this week!!) and then explained more details about Armageddon. Finally, each team filed in to vote for who would do chores on Sunday. This time The Israelites (white team..Los Israelitas), led by Jesus (Chuyeke), received the most votes for chores. On Sunday afternoon they had the privilege of washing the base vehicles as well as all the tables and tubs used for the banquet the day before which were caked in animal cracker cereal! They did a magnificent job with the trucks and the tables and tubs and left them all brilliantly clean! In the end, they too received the first two clues to the four Grenades.

 

All in all, though more challenging for us as a staff, this week's RETO was a ton of fun. It was far more active, and the kids were really into it all. They played with great attitudes and were even cheering on other teams while waiting for their turns. They are excited about inviting friends and family members to come participate, and they themselves are participating with a renewed vigor that is refreshing to experience! What a privilege it has been to be part of this event so far. And we're only through two weeks!! I can't wait to see what the next three weeks hold in store!

Please keep us in prayer as we put finishing touches on week 3, and please keep the youth in your prayers this week as they invite more friends and prepare themselves for the challenges that await them. Please also pray that the Lord will continue to prepare their hearts and minds for the mighty move He wants to do in each one of their lives!!

If you would like to be part of this event financially, please click here to donate online for "Cofradia Youth: EL RETO". Thank you!

RETO Week 1

Week 1 of EL RETO (THE CHALLENGE) was a great success!! I have to say that looking back at least year, this year's first week was much more relaxing! There were a ton of details to take care of ahead of time, but I remember last year that when the big day arrived I felt stressed and unready for the event to begin. This year, however, on Friday around mid-day I just felt this great peace settle over me that I was READY. And when Saturday came around, there was no rushing or harriedness. Things went smoothly, basically according to our time schedule, and all of us felt VERY relaxed and ready. And it showed!! What a praise to the Lord that is!!

Like I said, it was a great success! On the first day we had a great orientation time with the staff and were even able to assign certain weekly jobs during that orientation instead of in the middle of activities. Youth started arriving at 3:45, and Sandy and I were waiting for them at the registration table ready to get all their info and assign them to teams. There was a great air of excitement on the base as everyone signed up and chatted about last year's RETO and what this year's would be like and what team they would be on, etc. Just an interesting note: we started this event with 54 youth!!!

 

 (left) The sign says "Register here...in order to be part of a team :)"; (right) Mily with the pallet & Penny War jar for the Grey team, her weekly attendance assignment

At 4 pm, EL RETO began with Mily doing the orientation. She presented our theme title, explained all the rules, presented the formation song (the song we put on when we want to call them all back to order), and the medals of honor (awarded by staff members at the end of each day's activities to students who have demonstrated a high level of encouragement and/or leadership or a really great attitude). We then explained the background behind our theme title, theme verse, and theme image, and then we presented the staff and took our staff picture.

   

(left) Mily doing orientation; (right) RETO 2009 Staff -- what a handsome bunch!

Our theme this year is "Fight the Good Fight." It comes from 1 Timothy 6:12, which says,

"Fight the good fight of faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses."

Our desire this year is to instill in these youth that in Christ the victory is already ours. However, it is a daily battle to live in that victory, to take ownership of it, and to not allow the lies, condemnation, and accusations of the enemy to have any room in our minds and hearts. So, with that in mind, we chose for our image that of the raising of the flag in Iwo Jima. However, we edited the image so that the men are raising up the cross instead of the American flag! It is a battle to get to where we raise up our symbol of victory. And it takes a lot of sacrifice, but it is worth it, and with Jesus Christ as our Commander, we will surly walk in victory for all eternity!

Because of this military theme, we have adopted some military terms for different aspects: Teams = Squadrons; Captains = Sargents; Filipos = Medals of Honor; Hidden Treasures = Land Mines or Grenades; Valley of Decision (last year's term) = Armageddon; Chores = The Last Battle; Final RETO = The Ultimate Battle; etc.

 

Our Medals of Honor (Filipos). They are little lapel pins that we made. We've never given out anything but points before, but with our military theme this seemed appropriate. We were very excited when we found camouflage buttons!

When all the orientating was over, we assigned the teams to their captains and also presented their team parents. This is something new this year: the Team Parents. This year at the end of activities and before our final voting ceremony (Armageddon), we will have Squadron time where the teams will debrief their experiences of the day during a guided discussion led by our Team Parents. The purpose of this is twofold: 1)to ensure that the kids are not only having fun each week but also absorbing the life and spiritual lessons that are overflowing in each week's activities, and 2)to evangelize the new youth who do not know Christ.

 

Team Captains (Left to Right): Ruben, Goyo, Riki, Jesus Orozco, Abraham, Royer, Pedro, Jesus Corrales

After assigning teams, we moved on to our Color Wars. This was where each team competed to win their team color. This year we did a trivia game based on a popular Mexican TV program "100 Mexicans say..." In this game, we asked a question that had a variety of possible answers. Each answer was awarded a point value based on how common a response it was. The teams then had to give one answer each, and the team who responded with the most common response won the color. With their color they were given an Identity Packet. This contained a t-shirt of that color for the team captain that must be worn every week, 1 container of black paint and 1 of colored paint, paint brushes, and a Bible story that related a battle. The team then had 1 hour to familiarize themselves with the Bible story, choose a name for their team that relates to the story, and decorate their flag so that it contains some sort of design related to their name, the Bible store, and the overarching RETO them of "Fight the Good Fight". The teams were also allowed to exchange their colored paint with other teams, so they ended up being very colorful.

Available colors this year were White, Yellow, Brown, Red, Blue, Purple, Grey, Red

   

   

   

 

Then each team had to present their flags and names with a brief explanation for each, and three judges awarded them points based on whether or not their name related to their story, creativity, brevity of the explanation, and participation. Here are the results.

Los Consentidos (The Favored -- literally, "The Spoiled")

Their story was from Joshua 10 when Joshua commanded the sun and the moon to stand still so they could win their battle against the enemy. Jesus is captain of this team, his first year as a team captain, and he explained that they chose their name because as God showed his favor to Joshua (or spoiled him) by granting him the power to command the sun and the moon because he was God's chosen servant. They explained that we too are under the save favor because of Jesus Christ. In the end of the story, their enemy was defeated when God sent a landslide of rocks down on top of them. So, on their flag they showed on side as being the people of God, covered by the blood of Christ and God's spoiling favor, and they included their names in red to indicate that they are part of God's chosen. Then on the other side is the enemy, those "who fight only for themselves" with a ton of rocks falling on their heads!

Los Israelitas (The Israelites)

Their story was taken from Genesis 32 when Jacob wrestled with God and refused to let go until God blessed him. This is when God changed Jacob's name to Israel. Their captain is also named Jesus, and he explained that they chose as their key verse Genesis 32:28 which says, "Then the man said, 'Your name will not be Jacob. Your name will now be Israel. I give you this name because you have fought with God and with  men, and you have not been defeated." They explained that the Isrealites were the people of God, the descendants of Jacob, and that they as a team are also part of that people of God, and they take verse 28 as their promise that they will no longer be defeated. Their flag design is of a warrior together with their names since as the people of God, they also are warriors.

Conquistadores (Conquerors)

Their story was taken from Joshua 14 when Caleb took possession of the land Moses had promised him back when he had been a spy. Abraham, their captain, explained that their key verse is the promise that Moses had given Caleb: "Surely the land on which your foot has trodden will be an inheritance to you and to your children forever, because you have followed the Lord my God fully." They take this as a promise to each of them that if they follow the Lord, he will give them victory in whatever they set about doing. Their flag, therefore, has their name, a shield (of faith), and their names.

Los Poderosos (The Powerful)

Their story comes from Judges 15 when Samson killed 1000 men with nothing but the jaw bone of a donkey. Their captian, Goyo, explained that from this story they came up with a team motto: "To win is power"; so they chose their name to reflect that motto. Their flag bears their name and the reference of their story along with a drawing of the Bible with a sword going through it to indicate that the Word of God is their Power, and with God on their side, they will win!

El Escuadron del Senor (The Lord's Squadron)

Their story is the battle of Jericho from Joshua 6. Riki, their captain, explained that they took their name from how the Israelites had to march in their battle formations (Squadrons, like our teams are being called this year) around the walls of Jericho for seven days. Their flag bears two crosses with a sword in the middle, symbolizing that they are in the army of the Lord. They two wrote their names on the flag.

Los Estandartes (The Banners)

Their story comes from Exodus 17 when Joshua fights the Amelikites. Before the battle, God instructed Moses to go up on the hill overlooking the battlefield together with Aaron and Hur and to raise his hands to God in prayer. God said that as long as Moses' hands were raised, Joshua would win, but any time he dropped his arms the Amelikites would win. So, Aaaron and Hur accompanied him so that they could hold his arms up when he got tired. And Joshua won the battle!

Their captain is Royer, who has been involved in our youth group for several years, but only in the last 1.5 years has really started to allow the Lord to change him. He came back from youth camp this year with the realization that his dream is to be a youth leader and recognizing that although he has a long road ahead of Him with God and a little bit of faith, his dream will come true! So, now he is a captain!

He did a great job of organizing the presentation and assigning others in the team parts of that presentation. They explained that their name comes from Exodus 17:15 which says "Then Moses built an altar and named it The Lord is My Banner." They explained that we are all banners for the Lord that testify to who He is and His power. The crosses symbolize Jesus Christ as our commander, and the hand symbolize His covering and glory over and in us. The hills with the sun represent the day that Jesus comes back for His people and the Ultimate Victory.

Los Guerreros (The Warriors)

Their story comes from Judges 6-7 when God sends Gideon into battle with only 300 men chosen because they lapped up water like dogs. Their captain, Pedro, explained that their name came from Judges 6:12 when the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon as he was pressing his grapes into wine and said, "The Lord is with you, O valiant warrior." Their design is of their name; swords, which represent the sword that each man carried into the battle; a drum, which represent the sound of battle; and a lantern, which God used to confuse the enemy army leading to their retreat and defeat.

LOS Conquistadores (THE Conquerors)

Their story comes from 2 Samuel 5 when David conquers Jerusalem and makes it the location of his palace and royal reign. Their captain, Ruben, explained that their name comes from David's conquering. Their flag is decorated with a large shield (a royal as well as military symbol). The letters and their meanings are as follows: F=Fuerza (Strength), P=Passion (Passion), C=Corage (Courage), V=Valor (Valor)

When these presentations were completed, the teams were sent out for their Squadron Time with their Team Parents, and then they made their way to the New Church for Armageddon. This functioned exactly like last year's Valley of Decision. Each team filed in silently and in formation, the captain receiving a lighted torch upon entering. Then Luis, our acting youth pastor, explained what Armageddon is in Revelation 16. This was followed by a time for handing out Medals of Honor as well as punishments which are given for cheating, lack of respect, or fighting (which is simply not allowed). Finally, each team filed one at a time into the voting area to vote on which team would do chores on Sunday afternoon. The red team, The Powerful, received immunity for winning the name/flag presentation, so no one could vote for them. In the end, The Favored (Los Consentidos) received the most votes and was assigned chores for Sunday afternoon.

 

(left) The teams all lined up in their formation as Luis explains "Armageddon" and awards Medals of Honor; (right) Staff lines up and ready to give torches to each team as they file in SILENTLY

  

(left) The voting room (future home of women's restroom); (right) A team Sargent voting for The Favored

On Sunday when they arrived, they had to sweep the New Church sanctuary floor before the women's volleyball event. Once they were finished, they were given the first set of picture clues to the four hidden treasures. I'd love to show you those clues and tell you what the treasure are, but there are youth participating in the event who read this blog, so for now it will remain TOP SECRET!

All in all, the first week of EL RETO was a smashing success. We as staff were all incredibly pleased by the attitudes of all the captains as well as their team members. As I've talked with youth I've encountered since Saturday, all have said that they had a really good time and are looking forward to the next RETO event this coming Saturday, September 5. It's going to be a blast and a really packed day!! So, check back next week for more updates!!

Thank you for your prayers. Keep lifting up those hands for all the staff and all the participating youth this week as we anticipate a mighty move of God on behalf of each one!

EL RETO 2009/THE CHALLENGE 2009

THE CHALLENGE starts tomorrow, August 29!!! The theme this year is "Fight the Good Fight" from 1 Timothy 6:12, which says,

"Fight the good of faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses."

Our desire this year is to instill in them that the victory is already theirs, but that does not mean that the battle is over. We must fight to actually take hold of our victory, walk in ownership of that victory living it out day by day. They have to DO something, GET UP, ADVANCE and take back what is rightfully theirs through Jesus Christ: life abundant, joy, victory, purpose, fulfillment in Christ! 

Please keep us in your prayers. We have a record number of staff, and we're praying for a record number of youth to participate. Steve and Gena will not be with us this year, since they are in the US right now. However, we have a great team of core leaders who have done a great job of pulling together a fantastic month of fun, challenge, and teachable moments! Keep coming back here for weekly updates!

If you desire to help support THE CHALLENGE financially, please send me an email, and I will provide instructions for how to do that. Thank you again!!

Student Leadership Retreat 2009: "Operation : Edification"

Well, we have less than a month until our student leadership retreat which will be July 13-15. We'll be headed to Mazatlan once again, but this time we will stay at the new YWAM base there (a converted hotel). We need to raise a good chunk of change to pay for this retreat, so if you'd like to help, then just let me know. Here is a pamphlet that Steve created! We're all really excited!! Thank you for your prayers and support!

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Oaxaca Report

Well, our first ever youth missions trip was a slam bang, blessed success!! PRAISE THE LORD! We had such an amazing time, and we all came away from it with amazing lessons learned and precious moments where we could see God just reaching down in tangible ways to change our lives and those of the youth in Oaxaca. Thank you for your prayers and your support! We definitely couldn't have done any of this without you!

Here is what I shared in my recent monthly report:

We kicked off April with our youth missions trip to Oaxaca, April 3-11. It took us 25 hours to drive there and 19 hours to get home. We all fell in love with the area and the people. Our days started very early (to prepare our meals), and they typically ended well after midnight, but we never really noticed the fatigue. We were too energized to let that slow us down!

We worked with A.M. missionary Jeffrey Simons to kick-start a para-church youth ministry in an indigenous village called San Juan Guelavía. During the mornings, our youth leaders (Martin, Mily, and Sandy) led leadership workshops with local youth who have been involved with Jeffrey’s ministry. During this time, the other half of our team headed to a local home to do construction: they prepped the home to have a cement floor poured. When it came time to pour the floor, they were helped by all the workshop youth in an effort to put into practice one of their discussion topics: Service.

 

Each afternoon for three days, we put on THE CHALLENGE to draw in new youth. The youth were divided into three teams and given the chance to pick a name from a Bible story we provided them and then make their team flags. They spent time in get-to-know you activities on the first day, and then the race really began. They raced to put together a paper person blindfolded with only the screamed instructions of their teammates guiding them; they did relay races including our famed Coke Race and Olympics (tooth-pick javelin throw, paper plate discus, and balloon toss); they battled to be King of the Circle, they threw water balloons at a huge bull’s-eye in an effort to win big points by nailing their team captains; and they shot M&Ms out of their noses trying to make it into a bucket five feet away. And throughout it all there were devotions and Biblical messages to teach them who God is, how He loves them, how to know Him, and find their identity in Him. On the last day of THE CHALLENGE, we had a hot-dog social, allowing all the youth to just spend time hanging out, playing games, and enjoying hot dogs. That evening culminated in our awards ceremony where we presented awards for the winning team, the Olympics winners, the King of the Circle, and recognition of the local student leaders. It was such an incredible time!

 

Our last day in Oaxaca was spent seeing the sights. We started by visiting the ruins of Monte Alban, and then went down to the historic center and spent time shopping in the market. WOW! So amazing! We finished the evening with a great dinner at a restaurant in the heart of the historic center, and then we headed home to pack and clean for our trip back to Cofradía. What a week! Our youth were changed, and they are all looking forward to going back next year!

 

If you would like to read Steve's report, then go here.

You can also read testimonies from our youth team members by clicking on the following links!

Abraham's Testimony

Chuy's Testimony

Martin's Testimony

Mily's Testimony

Ruben's Testimony

Sandy's Testimony

And finally, Sandy wrote her own report of our trip, and I thought you might like to read her perspective. So, here it is. If you would like to see it in full-screen mode (so as not to strain your eyes reading the teeny print), just click on the arrow in the upper right hand corner of the document.