Wednesday, April 30, 2014

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:) 





12 comments:

  1. Wow - what a wonderful post! It's a testament to your parents and all those who followed them, and a testament to God's faithfulness. I'm sure that more lives will be changed with this new tool!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I pray that everything works out for your daughter. I have a blog friend who has been dealing with this same issue. As of this week, she just announced that she is pregnant. If you wish to share her journey with all of the ups and downs, here's the link: http://www.thewordofanerd.com/2013/08/babyfixit.html

    The main blog is http://www.thewordofanerd.com/. She is a Christian blogger too.

    Also, it's so amazing to read how the ministry has grown over the decades.

    ReplyDelete
  3. The growth history was fascinating! Truly! The building looks great and I particularly love that chalkboard paint prayer request wall. Chalkboard paint is awesome. Saying prayers for you daughter, praying she will find peace.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Btw, thank you for your prayers and kind words!!

      Delete
  4. Thinking and praying for your dear daughter. Thank you for sharing your wonderful work, it's a blessing for so many.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Lovely post...the Loft is a wonderful place! Sending prayers for your daughter!

    ReplyDelete
  6. SO nice stopping by to visit with you today! I have so enjoyed perusing many of your posts. A sweet, God-honoring blog :)

    Kindly, Lorraine

    ReplyDelete
  7. Bonnie...praying everything goes well for your daughter and that she can rest in the sweet peace that only the Lord can give! Also, I have to tell you this post was so cool! What a great place for the young people! And then I saw it...what used to be the Naz Shack...and the wheels started turning...then I saw Trevecca and I thought OH WOW! My son graduated from Trevecca in 2004 and never came home to NC...Nashville has that effect on people! I attend a Nazarene church in my area and we have many Nashville connections through the church. Maybe we can "talk" later in an email!

    ReplyDelete
  8. What a wonderful post!!! Thank you so much for making me smile. Your youth are very lucky to have a special place to go. Thank you for the smiles..I feel bad about the young man who was killed..praise God he was saved..Blessings

    ReplyDelete
  9. Who says Church's can't make a difference!? Look at all the wonderful things that have come out of the outreach. Praise Jesus there are folks with the ability to see these things through. My outreach is different but we all work together towards the common goal of bring more souls to Christ.
    God bless you and yours for all you do! ~:)
    PS: Oh, and prayers for your daughter that all will go smoothly. May it please the Lord God to give them children. ((Hugs))

    ReplyDelete
  10. What an wonderful post. I agree that sometimes kids get lost in the shuffle. Thank you for touching so many lives.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Prayers for your daughter, Bonnie... I know you are worried about her. Bless her heart.

    Wonderful church ministry --and such great memories and photos you have... I love it when young people have a SAFE place to go to for healthy, Christian fellowship... God Bless everyone who works with teens.

    Hugs,
    Betsy

    ReplyDelete

I love the friendships I have developed through blogging. Visit and comment and I'll be sure to drop by and talk to you.