We will have a few devotionals throughout the weekend brought to you by myself and a few of my friends. This will be a good weekend of relaxation, bonding, and spiritual growth. Let me know as soon as possible if you are interested in attending. More information to come!

Camping at MCYC is like this, only without the mountains and river. However, there is a lodge with table tennis!

Also… I have to postpone our trip to God’s Helping Hands this weekend. They are closed for the holiday.

Next up on our schedule of awesomeness is Illuminate 2010, a fantastic youth conference just north of us at the Rochester Church of Christ in Rochester Hills, MI. It features David Skidmore and Sean Algaier, who were with us at Winterfest. The conference will also feature Pat Pugh, Patrick Mead, and drama groups “One Time Blind” and “Ambassadors”. This event is always well done and gets better every year.

We will be leaving for Illuminate on Friday, March 19 at 5:30p and returning late on Saturday, March 20. If enough people want to stay, we will worship at the Rochester Church of Christ on Sunday morning. The keynote speaker and the worship group continue the theme of Illuminate (“Drive”) on Sunday morning. The cost of $35 for Illuminate covers the cost of 3 meals on Saturday and pays for the performers and speakers. Bring extra money for food on Friday night and a possible lunch on Sunday. Let me know if you want to go to Illuminate as soon as possible! Click here for an Illuminate information booklet. You must be able to view .pdf files. Call me with any questions!

Note: There will not be any cars on fire at Illuminate... I hope...

As you should know by now, Winterfest is coming up next month (Feb. 18 to 21 to be precise). Hopefully, you have already paid the $50 deposit. This is a deposit meaning there will be more costs later. The total cost for 3 nights hotel stay at the beautiful, new renovated Edgewater Hotel and 3 day pass to Winterfest is $117. Anyone who has participated in fund raisers will not be paying that much (obviously). The church covers the expensive transportation.

The deposit insures that you have a spot in the van and a hotel room. I need the deposit by the end of January so I can know if I need to cancel a van or hotel rooms. Make checks payable to the Roseville Church of Christ.

Our last fundraiser for Winterfest will be a Murder Mystery Dinner that takes place on Saturday, Feb. 6 at 7pm. The teens will be making the meal and serving it while guests watch the show and attempt to choose the murderer among the various on stage personalities. The theme is Italian so the food and the bad accents will be Italian. Tickets are being sold for a suggested donation of $7. It should be a fun night and will help lower the cost of Winterfest. See me (John) with any questions about this event or Winterfest! (or anything else!)

Who done it? Why that's elementary my dear Watson!

If you are interested in attending the reunion, I would like to know as soon as possible. The cost for the weekend is $59 per camper and $25 per adult. If you went to Elevate, it is only $40 for you to attend winter camp. The price includes lodging, meals, horse rides, and most activities. Remember that funds are always available for those who are in need of assistance. Don’t hesitant to contact me or a church elder if you need financial help!

We will leave on Friday evening and return Sunday afternoon. If you have further questions, contact me at your earliest convenience. You can visit mcyc.org to learn more about the camp if you are unfamiliar with it.

No... We don't sleep in igloos for winter camp, but wouldn't that be awesome?

Remember the pizza cook off next Sunday, the 13th. We will be meeting on Saturday the 12th at 6:30 to prepare food and decorate. Those participating will receive funds for Winterfest proportional to the amount of work accomplished.

Also remember the holiday party on Dec. 18th at 7:30 in the Allen St. House. Bring a gift that is no more than $5 and $5 for food. I hope that a lot of you can make it. Contact me (John) with any questions you might have. Have a blessed holiday season!

We also have a possible opportunity to assist Amy Henderson’s home church with preparing a meal for the families at Solid Ground, a shelter across Gratiot from the Roseville church building. If all goes as I hope, we will be meeting at Solid Ground at 3:00p for assist with meal preparation. I will have final details on Sunday!

The Pizza Cook-Off, announced this past Sunday, will be rescheduled for Sunday, December 13. For anyone who doesn’t know, this event will be just like the soup/chili cook-off with people from the Roseville church preparing pizza and a few Italian dishes. The pizzas will be judged. Donations will be collected to benefit the youth group’s trip to Winterfest.

If you are a parent or sponsor, let me know if you’d like to be involved in this event. We could always use the help!

I have yet to make a decision about which cider mill that we will be attending. Please write, call, text, or whatever to give me your votes. I would like something a little less commercial with animals to pet and amazing cider/donuts/etc. We will meet at the church on 9a on Saturday the 31st to leave for Blake’s Orchard and Cider Mill.

This is John, coming to you from your web browser of choice (it better be Safari or Google Chrome!). I finally put together a semi-solid list of events for the rest of 2009. I say semi-solid because not everything is completely confirmed. If you want an updated list, click on “Major Events” on the side bar or “Calendar”. Events are subject to change based on a variety of circumstances. We have a small enough group that it’s possible to accommodate the majority. I find this to be more important than having a calendar that is completely set months ahead of time.

Here is the tentative list of events:

Oct. 9-11: Fallfest
Oct. 18: Mexican Fund Raiser (we are meeting on the 17th for prep.)
Oct. 24: Cider Mill Trip (details TBA)
Oct. 30 @ 7p: Halloween Party (bring $4 for food)

Nov. 8: Pizza Cook-off (we are meeting on the 7th for prep.)
Nov. 20: YMCA Lock-in (this could change… the YMCA peeps are very difficult to contact)
Dec. 4: Milwaukee Bucks @ Detroit Pistons (Game starts @ 8p, Price: TBA)
Dec. 18 @ 7p: Holiday Party (bring $4 for food and a gift to exchange that costs under $6)

Remember that we have classes on Sundays and Wednesdays. We also meet every Tuesday for games and food. We will have a few classes at the Solid Ground family shelter on Thursdays. We will also be helping out at God’s Helping Hands and other charitable institutions. If you have service suggestions, let me know.

This will be a fantastic fall! Come to as many activities as possible!

P.S. Shirts are ordered and on the way! The initial shipment of orange youth group shirts should be here soon. The shirts will cost $10 a piece. I am trying to find the least expensive option for the Doug shirts. Currently the lowest price is $20. Let me know if you can afford that and I will order them!

Roseville Youth Group Fall/Winter 2009 Events

It’s that time again! Service week! Woooooo!

In lieu of an expensive mission trip, the Roseville  youth group is performing acts of service in the community and enjoying fun activities right here in the metro Detroit area! So this this week we’ve been baking for the people of the Roseville Church of Christ. Last night, we took a trip to C.J. Barrymore’s for mini-golf and go-karts. We ended the night with a stop at Sonic, one of my favorite places for refreshments.

The rest of the week’s schedule will go as follows:

Wednesday (tonight): Painting the Allen St. House at 3:00p and having Bible study at 7:00p (Bring clothes for painting and some money for food)

Thursday @ 3:00p: Painting the Allen St. House (Bring money for food)

Friday @ 9:00a: Canoeing in Ann Arbor ($11 each for canoe, $22 for kayak, bring money for food/bubble tea/etc.)

Saturday @ 11:00a: Finish painting the Allen St. House, pick up some trash on the 11 mile service drive (Bring money for food)

E-mail me (John) at epsilon_rc@hotmail.com, text, or call me if you have any questions. I hope to see you all there for all of these great and worthwhile activities!

You gotta work, work, work it out!!!