Find Us Faithful

Before I write my blog post,
I want to ask you to say a special prayer
for my daughter.

She is very emotional and afraid.
She is on her second week of shots
and has had 2 sonograms and will have
another on Friday and then another on Monday.

Next week will probably be the egg retrieval and implantation.
Then the waiting begins.  Her husband is out of town this week.
She's got a busy weekend, almost too busy to deal with
all she is dealing with.  Prayers please...

She will sing again.

I shared earlier with you about our

35 year-old journey with young people

and the dream of a Christian Life Center.

This is the JELO (J. Emory Lindsey Outreach) Building.

No longer the NazShack.
it's the LOFT,
(Living Our Faith Together).

The chairs were donated.
The teens designed the room.

Chat corner.

Our Youth Director's wife and her group of girls

painted and covered the seats. 

Activity Wall

Chalkpainted Prayer Request Wall

Platform

In the NazShack we signed the wall.
Now, it's a table.

The Pool Hall.

No Cellphones during Bible Study

A peak from above to make sure the kids are all in!

 Youth Today.

What??? No food in the LOFT?
You have got to be kidding.

Zac's mom, my cousin, caught the vision
and was chairman of the JELO committee.
The JELO name was her idea.

Richard is sharing his testimony tonight.
He leads the Sr. High Praise and Worship Band.

See the guy in the cast?
We taught his daddy.

The girlies were hiding.
I said, "No WAY! Not when you post selfies all over Facebook!"

Girls just wanta have fun.

Gotcha!

We have gone through several decades of youth.

I want to show you some of our first groups.

Current Youth Director, Monty Sanders

This sweet 12 year old was in our second youth class.

That was then.

I think it's pretty cool that the hands of Jesus are reaching out behind Monty.
We are the feet and hands of Jesus.

This is now:)

He came to us after losing his daddy in an accident.

David took him under his wing.
After graduation from high school,
he became a youth leader.

Three years ago, David stepped down as Director 

and Monty filled his shoes.  

Youth of the 70's and 80's.

Sometimes kids get lost in the shuffle.

God gives them to us for a season

and we don't see them again until they're grown.  

Youth from the late 80's.
Anthony, the guy on the left was killed the week after this photo was taken.
He was saved the month before.

This was the most difficult time in our youth ministry. 

I will never forget my daddy's words at the service, 

"Satan meant it for harm, but God used it for the saving of many souls."

It was a year of rapid growth.

It was the year of my Ann Kiemel crusade. 

Every youth in our youth group was saved that year. 

We have more pictures of the kids from the 90's than 

any group because our kids were teenagers. 

Afterglows, almost every Sunday night after church.

Volleyball every Sunday and Wednesday.

Youth Softball every Monday and Friday.

White water rafting

Team Building

Always another generation to come behind. 

The millennium, early 2000,

was a strong group, following in the footsteps of 

those who came before them.  

 It was this generation of youth who saw the fruits of our labor

and had their own youth house, 

the Naz Shack.

The church purchased a house and rented it 

out until it was paid for and it became their hang-out.

This is our son's best friend.

We adopted him from the First Baptist Church.

Chad went with him, he came with us. 

We called them both Bazarenes.

He is now a youth pastor near Atlanta

and recently spoke at our youth retreat.

My daughter works for Trevecca Nazarene University.
My nephew is now a youth.
My niece will follow close behind.

He plays bass and keyboard for the Jr. High Praise Band. 

They won 2nd at Top Nazarene Talent at 

Trevecca Nazarene University 

against 11 other districts in the Southeast, 

including South, Central, North Florida, Alabama North and South, 

Kentucky, Mississippi, South Carolina, North Carolina, East Tennesse,

and Tennessee.

He won first in Early Youth Keyboard and 2nd in graphic design.

The Early Youth Mime Group won 3rd.

This event is held every year with talent in all sports, 

music, drama, puppets, speech, prose and poetry,

math, painting, drawing, multimedia, graphic design

and as many categories as you can imagine. 

It's a busy three day event.

God continues to grow the church.  

Our youth now enjoy their own space

and a gymnasium that has been operational since September. 

My parent's vision lives on.

May All Who Come Behind Us Find Us Faithful,

Bonnie:)