ccco youth fellowship

YF/PE Winterlude this Friday 17th (Worship Training, Getaway)

2012-02-14T14:16:00.006-05:00

Thanks for being a part of a fantastic Rock the River student launch on Friday, there were about 950 people with us on Friday! This event was designed primarily to let everyone know about Rock the River and build excitement for everything that's ahead of us! The next main parts of RTR is No Other Name on Apr 6th and then the FM 4:19 conference on May 4th-5th. Check out the Rend Collective Experiment who will be joining us then as well! Thanks for another energetic and interactive Sunday School too, it's been fun with the devotional sharings and discovering godly wisdom and character in Proverbs together!

This Friday (17th), we will be skating as Pure Energy and YF together on our annual Winterlude outing, we'll meet at the Yan's. The Yan family has graciously opened their home to us and we will be meeting there and being picked up there as it is conveniently close to the canal! Meet at the address in your e-mail at 7:15pm to 7:30pm, please make every effort to be on time because we would like to leave as a full group from the home to the canal. Please bring warm clothing, extra socks, skates (bag to carry those skates), money for beavertails (optional), gloves... well winter clothing, use your God-given common sense :)

This Friday (17th), prior to YF will be the final worship training session in this series 5pm - 7pm, we will have some sharing from auntie Salina regarding teaching children, Tim and Manson will be sharing on the logistics of working together as a worship team. If you signed up for this, please make every effort to make it and if you are interested you are more than welcome to join! If you need a ride from church to auntie Salina's house for Winterlude, please let us know as soon as you read this! :)

This Sunday (19th), we'll continue with a 'devotional thought' and our series through Proverbs, last week we looked at godly leadership and characteristics of God that we should pursue, this week we look at harmony in relationships.

In your e-mail is the soft copy of the Getaway form that many of you received last Friday! There is a beautiful poster prepared by our own Priscilla as well (a portion of it is on the form too). The deadline for registration is March 4th, please get your forms and cheques payable to 'Ottawa Chinese Youth Ministerium' in as soon as possible.

Preparations and meetings are ongoing for all the Getaway committees, hope things are going well!

No one has given a very definitive answer on the Ski trip at Cascades on the 25th, $15 rental, $15 lift, $11 lessons, $6 helmet and $10 bus, this is literally last call.

Prayer: Please continue praying for the personal things you know about (whether shared publicly at YF) or trusted to you by a brother or sister, also pray for our Elders/Deacons meeting this Thursday night where we lay out ministry plans and budgets, pray for unity in what is essential, liberty in things that are not and that God would give us leaders wisdom and discernment.

Let us know how we can be praying for you and when you would like to catch up!
See you all on Friday!

YF RTR Student Launch at Cedarview Alliance Church this Friday 7pm-10pm (10th)

2012-02-07T11:44:00.003-05:00

Thanks for a real awesome weekend, it was another packed one with Pastor Cam speaking with us before YF regarding worship (funny story, as he was preparing that talk at Starbucks, a woman whipped out a urine sample at the table next to him, pretty gross actually), then at YF we had a great relationships talk from the gospels, where we examined how relationships whether single or married would be drastically different if governed by softer hearts. Getaway practice on Sat went well, I trust your committees are moving along well :) Then we had a wonderful time of small group and congregational prayer in 202 on Sunday, please continue to pray for revival in individual lives and the church!

This Friday (10th) will be the student launch of Rock the River at Cedarview Alliance Church 2784 Cedarview Road (directions), you've heard about this for months :) It's free admission and we'll have Nine O Five as the band and Mark Miller will be the speaker. Please invite everyone in your fellowship groups at school, have them tell their youth pastor and increase awareness for this eight-month ministry! I've attached the letter sent to your parents and a revised form. Please have your parents fill this form and it will count for 4 separate events!

This Sunday (12th) we'll be continuing with the devotional sharing and then our lesson in the book of Proverbs.

Upcoming:
The 3rd and final worship training session in this series will be held on Feb 17th 5-7pm again at the church.
There is a ski trip on February 25th if you are interested, let me know NOW... $15 rental, $15 lift, $11 lessons, $6 helmet and $10.

Suggest a time that we can catch up and let us know how we can be praying for you!

See you all on Friday at Cedarview!

YF Relationships Talk this Friday (3rd) Worship Session, Getaway & More!

2012-01-31T14:06:00.002-05:00

Thanks for an amazing weekend, there was a lot going on and continues to be! I was especially touched by the worship evening on Saturday night and it was a privilege to speak on worship as the process helped me rediscover some areas I need to address in my own life. The Lord also encouraged me about how He is raising a special generation with you guys! :) Sunday school was really positive as well and a great interaction in Proverbs and situations we all deal with daily!

This Friday (3rd) will be a relationships talk, these talks (2 planned) will cover everything from love, relationships, sex etc. Everywhere you look, there are so many messages about sexuality and undertones about what a relationship is. Is it all helping develop a healthy understanding of how love, relationships and sex fit into God's plan for our lives? Yes, Maybe, not at all? Was Christ counter-cultural to the audience he was speaking to in the gospels? Bring your Bibles as we'll look into Scripture, have a lot of group interaction and discover together a deeper understanding for this God-given passion for intimacy.

This Friday (3rd) before YF (5pm-7:30pm) will also be our second worship training session in 202. Dinner starts at 5pm for those that have signed up (or let Karen know) and the talks begin at 5:30pm with a short worship time from Tim. "What is the heart of worship?" Who and Why we worship?" Pastor Cam, (a guy I met at our 'free Starbucks meetings':) is from the Biker's church. His bio http://wp.bikerschurch.com/?page_id=241 is pretty ridiculous, just the way I like it. Auntie Salina will also be sharing on working and relating with children in "Who Knows? Knows who?"

This Saturday (4th), the Getaway worship team will be meeting at EACO at 1:30pm-4:00pm for another practice, I've enlisted some worship lovers (Manson and Michael) to help too :) See you guys there! There is a promo meeting on the 12th I believe, check with your promo leaders.

This Sunday (5th) will continue with the devotional thought (which is sometimes, not always better than) the lesson and Proverbs :)

Upcoming:
Attached in the e-mail is a Rock the River letter and form for your parents about the journey and the RTR student launch that is coming up Feb 10th at Cedarview. Get your student groups at school involved (startline etc.) tell them to get their youth pastors on board! There is a ski trip on February 25th if you are interested give me a shout asap so I can let PDave know... $15 rental, $15 lift, $11 lessons, $6 helmet and $10.

Let us know how we can be praying for you or if you have time to meet up!

TLDR: Read the bolds. and we love you.

See you all on Friday,

YF Bible study this Friday (27th)

2012-01-24T13:28:00.000-05:00

Happy belated Chinese New Year from New Brunswick! The kids are loving the chaos of having cats, dogs and cousins around all the time. We got up at 5am Ottawa time for our nephew's hockey practice... I tell ya, that's why Levi won't be playing hockey. I know a few of you are smack dab in the middle of exams right now, so hopefully last Friday was a breath of fresh air and you guys had some fun. We've got a packed weekend for you guys coming up.

This Friday (27th) will be our study in Philippians. We'll be studying through the 4th chapter of Paul's letter to Philippi. It's been awesome going through this letter with you guys and having a couple of occassions where the YF would facilitate the discussion and share their own testimony of God's faithfulness. Please bring your Bibles, pens, willingness to participate and change.

This Saturday (28th) will be our worship and praise night. Karen and her team have been praying and preparing this worship initiative for you guys for quite some time. They have a tremendous heart for worship and have opened this event for everyone who is interested so feel free to invite friends as well. I'll be sharing a testimony on worship as well and next week (3rd) P. Cam will be sharing as well.

This Sunday (29th) we'll be continuing Sunday school in our series in Wisdom from Proverbs.

Keep in mind: Worship nights (28th, Feb 3rd), Rock the River student launch (Feb 10th) get your student groups at school involved (startline etc.) tell them to get their youth pastors on board! Getaway worship practice on the morning of Feb 4th, all Getaway teams keep in contact with your leaders for meetings. There is a ski trip on February 25th if you are interested give me a shout asap so I can let PDave know... $15 rental, $15 lift, $11 lessons, $6 helmet and $10.

Let us know how we can be praying for you and help us set up a time to catch up!

See you all on Friday!

YF Games Night this Friday (20th)

2012-01-17T14:42:00.000-05:00

"I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." I hope that you were encouraged on Sunday and pray Paul's prayer in Ephesians 3 for those surrounding you. The love of Christ surpasses knowledge and has to be experienced, by us and through us. We had a good class in Proverbs on Sunday, guarding our tongues because they can set a whole forest ablaze in James and Jesus shows that they are an indication of our heart "for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks" Mt 12:34

This Friday (20th) will be a games night in the Youth Room. With examinations looming for some of you, this may be a good time to just enjoy each other's company with games. Please bring various board games (Risk, Apples to Apples, Dutch Blitz etc.), friends and snacks etc. Our family will be out in New Brunswick so, we'll miss you guys this weekend! You'll be in more than awesome company with each other, Brad, Rae-Anne, Emily and Jeff. Jeff will be teaching Sunday school this Sunday (22nd).

Upcoming: Next week (27th and 28th) will be YF Bible study and Worship and Praise night on Saturday! The worship team has been preparing in prayer and practice for these events, I'll also share a short message on Sat as well. Other sessions include Friday, February 3rd, 5-7pm with guest speaker Pastor Cam and Friday, February 17th, 5-7pm How to work together as as worship team.

Getaway teams continue to meet, the youth pastors will be meeting tomorrow to finalize some Getaway details so stay tuned ;) Keep praying for all the different teams involved. Rock the River student launch is on Feb 10th, there is a ski trip on February 25th if you are interested give me a shout asap so I can let PDave know... $15 rental, $15 lift, $11 lessons, $6 helmet and $10.

We would love to set up a time to meet with you guys, coffee, hot chocolate, bubbletea, it's all good. Let us know so we can schedule a time when we get back.

YF, Pure Energy, AWANA have been cancelled this evening (13th)

2012-01-13T13:11:00.000-05:00

All C&Y programs (AWANA, Pure Energy, YF) have been cancelled this evening (Friday, 13th) due to the dangerous conditions outside. As a church, we take the safety of our children, youth, parents and volunteers seriously and would encourage everyone to stay at home this evening. There have been several calls this morning from concerned volunteers and parents, we feel the same way. Please help us get the word out.

YF Bible Study this Friday (13th)

2012-01-10T14:59:00.001-05:00

Thanks for an awesome Leadership retreat, our place was packed over the weekend! Saturday we were able to go through Scripture, the vision of our youth fellowship, discover our spiritual gifts and plan ahead for our upcoming year. Looking forward to an awesome 2012! I've attached a follow up to the retreat in the e-mail.

This Friday (13th), we'll be continuing our Bible study in Philippians. Please bring your Bibles and be willing to participate.
The Word of God well understood and religiously obeyed is the shortest route to spiritual perfection. And we must not select a few favorite passages to the exclusion of others. Nothing less than a whole Bible can make a whole Christian. - AW. Tozer

This Sunday (15th), it has been awhile, but we'll pick things up in Proverbs. Hope you guys treated Jeff well while I was at the Vietnamese church :)

Getaway teams have begun to meet, I know the worship team has a meeting this Saturday, please keep up to date in your various teams.

As announced the past few weeks, the Worship nights organized by Karen and her team will be taking place on Saturday, January 28th, 2012, 7:30-10:30 Praise night + dessert and discussion, Friday, February 3rd, 5:00-7:00 with guest speaker Pastor Cam and Friday, February 17th, 5:00-7:00 How to work together as as worship team?

Let us know what to pray for and help us schedule a time to catch up soon!
See you all this Friday!

YF Leadership Retreat this Weekend! (6th and 7th)

2012-01-03T18:22:00.003-05:00

Hope you all are enjoying your awesome Christmas break! I'm thankful for the 2011 year we got to have together as YF. I was reminded this morning by a youth that for some of you, you've shared that meeting together is the highlight of your week and I pray that YF can continue to have that attitude and love for each other as we move into 2012. It takes a willingness from all of us to have that attitude towards each other and I'm still encouraged that we can trust each other enough to share our joys and pains together, keeping each other in prayer.

This weekend (6th and 7th) is the YF Leadership Retreat weekend at our home, address in your e-mail (6th and 7th)! The Friday night is a fun gathering where we can enjoy each others company, chat, play games etc. Please arrive at regular YF time (7:30pm) and bring snacks, board games, wii-motes, drinks etc. If you are staying for leadership retreat, be picked up by 4:30pm on Saturday. Please bring Bibles, writing utensils, paper, toiletries, towel, warm sleeping bags and games. For Leadership retreat, please let me know you are coming ASAP as we are purchasing stuff for breakfast and lunch for the Saturday. You are all encouraged to attend leadership retreat and get involved in serving. Begin praying and asking God how we can love Him more and be a better fellowship, brainstorm some ideas for YF in advance. As members of YF, we'll discuss the ideas you have, share the vision of YF, explore your spiritual gifts and figure out some various roles you can take part in to run retreats, coffeehouse, mission trips etc. Attached FORM must be filled out for leadership retreat.

This Sunday (8th), I'll be preaching at the Vietnamese church so Jeff will be teaching a Bible study that is close to his heart, so please be attentive, ready to discuss and be challenged. :)

Let us know how we can be praying for you and if you'd like, suggest a time for us to chat!

See you all on Friday and Saturday!

No YF this Friday (30th), Enjoy Christmas season with family!

2011-12-27T16:55:00.000-05:00

Thanks for a meaningful weekend to celebrate Christ! We were able to witness 7 brothers and sisters (including 4 YF and 1 YF alumni!) get baptized on Sunday as well as put together meaningful gifts for the clients of St. Luke's Lunch Club on Friday. If you would like to help distribute the gifts, feel free to come to church tomorrow (28th) at 11:30am to 12:30 to distribute them from church to St. Luke's. It's not an official YF event so make sure with your parents if you are able to come :) No YF this Friday (30th), enjoy Friday night with your family! Remember Leadership Retreat will be from January 6th to the 7th at our place, the registration form is included as well as details and has a portion for each participant to sign (not just the parents). I've attached the form as advanced notice :)

Grace and Peace to you this Christmas season!

YF Christmas Gift Preparation (23rd) this Friday and Short Practice

2011-12-20T11:26:00.002-05:00

Thanks for a great weekend! Eugenia really opened up her heart sharing her testimony on Friday along with Maria and Rachel who led a meaningful Bible study in a powerful passage from Philippians. Then on Sunday the Holy Spirit was really present in our Sunday School. My heart was heavy and then so many of you took promptings from the Spirit to open up. A lot was shared in that space and we prayed and each of you committed to praying for what was shared in that room. A reminder to keep all of that information in trust. The Spirit is really working in our fellowship and teaching us to listen each day. We had a good 14 of us attend the Getaway meeting at OCAC as well, if you weren't able to make the meeting but would like to serve on worship, promo/reg, or small groups/rec let me know! "I have seen You in the sanctuary and beheld Your power and glory. Because Your love is better than life, my lips will glorify You." Ps 63:2-3

This Friday (23rd) we'll have the special opportunity to prepare gifts and cards (w/ AWANA and Pure Energy) and be a blessing in our community. For the past few weeks we've been collecting many fun items on a wishlist and a couple of us will pick up more items this week! On Friday, we will separate these gifts and prepare cards in preparation of delivering them on the morning of the 28th. Please bring as many gift bags or gift boxes as possible and any crafts/stickers you may have that can help decorate the cards. We'll also have a short practice for a lighthearted Christmas presentation that we'll have on the 25th with AWANA and Pure Energy. For those who have entered the secret gift exchange, please bring your gift as well. There will be refreshments for all of us as well.

This Sunday (25th) will be Christmas day! Jesus, Lord at thy birth... it'll be a morning of worship where we can also witness several young people in YF identify themselves in the death and resurrection of Christ. Encourage these brothers and sisters as they will commit to allowing the Spirit to work in their lives and follow Christ. It is a 10:00am service and there will be no Sunday School

Leadership Retreat will be from January 6th to the 7th at our place, the registration form is in your e-mail as well as details and has a portion for each participant to sign (not just the parents).

Remember there are so many needs to pray for this Christmas season, pray for those who come to mind.
Let us know how we can be praying for you throughout the week as well, if you would like to meet, please help us set a concrete date :)

See you all on Friday!
Merry Christmas!

YF Student Bible Study this Friday (16th) Getaway meeting (18th 1-3pm)

2011-12-13T15:25:00.001-05:00

He must become greater, I must become less... John 3:30 Very convicted from Luke 12:47-48 (12:35-53 for context) this morning, read if you made it this far in the e-mail.

This Friday (16th), we have the privilege of looking into Philippians 3:12-21 facilitated by Eugenia, Rachel and Maria. It's significant to note that a sister feels a special burden to lead this passage this week. As we see God transforming our peers and what He is doing in their lives, my prayer is that God increases our faith as He uses these three to teach us. You all have a voice: We want to encourage everyone in YF to share stories of how God is working in your life and consider facilitating a Bible study. Please bring your Bibles and a desire to participate and be changed. Next week (23rd) we will be getting together with the children from AWANA and junior high in Pure Energy to put together our Christmas gifts for the community!

This Sunday (18th) there are a couple of things going on. We'll have our GETAWAY 2012 launch meeting at OCAC from 1pm to 3pm. Lunch will be provided. Getaway is a student dreamed/fueled event. Our desire is to equip and empower youth to discern the theme, lead the worship, promo/registration, activities, small groups and games! Please commit to taking part in this planning meeting! We'll also continue our study in the book of Proverbs.

Leadership Retreat will be from January 6th to the 7th, the registration form is included in the e-mail as well as details and has a portion for each participant to sign (not just the parents).

Our Christmas initiative has been going well, but still require donations on the list to prepare the gifts! Please contribute any amounts of the following: Toothbrushes, floss, towels, deodorant, socks, kleenex, cough drops, candies, key chains, toilet paper, candy canes, notebooks, pens, travel mugs, etc. There is a display of boxes on the second floor which we will pack and write encouragements on the 23rd of December.

Drop a quick e-mail to update us on how we can be praying for you and if you'd like to set up a time to meet.
See you on Friday!

YF Bible Study this Friday (9th)

2011-12-06T16:13:00.001-05:00

I've heard a lot of great things about the girls night, I was told that the volume was a constant fever pitch loudness and lots of laughter was had! The guys were well fed and had some pretty hilarious endurance tests and some had complained of physical pain in the aftermath.... all in all, good times :) It was encouraging to have our second monthly intergenerational gathering at Sunday school. We had a time to pray/share what was happening in our lives in our groups and hopefully a time to get to know each other. One challenge that struck a chord in our group was "without faith it is impossible to please God" and asking ourselves how faith is being cultivated in our lives or if God was calling us to something that required faith in His promises.

This Friday (9th), we will be continuing our study in Philippians at church. Last time, Wardrer shared his testimony while Aaron and Marcus facilitated our discussion on Philippians 2:1-11. It was pretty awesome to see our own youth teaching and the active participation of the group! This week (9th) we will look at the other half of chapter 2 and next week (16th) Maria, Rachel and Eugenia will be sharing with us! Please bring your Bibles and a willingness to learn and be continually changed as a result.

This Sunday (11th), we will continue our Wisdom series in the book of Proverbs. Keep praying for those who are preparing for baptism this Christmas, the classes have been going underway and wrapping up soon.

Our Christmas initiative has been going well, but still require a lot of donations on the list to prepare the gifts! Please contribute any amounts of the following: Toothbrushes, floss, towels, deodorant, socks, kleenex, cough drops, candies, key chains, toilet paper, candy canes, notebooks, pens, travel mugs, etc. There is a display of boxes on the second floor which we will pack and write encouragements on the 23rd of December :)

Let us know what's been going on and if you'd like to set up a time to meet.
See you on Friday!

YF Guys / Girls Night this Friday (2nd)

2011-11-29T14:37:00.002-05:00

Had a great time at gym night, I know many of you are busy during this season at school but hopefully it gave you a chance to burn some of that anxiety! :) Thanks for the participation at our Wisdom series in Sunday school which we got to have with Pure Energy. We shared from Proverbs 10 and focused on honoring parents, diligent work, accepting correction and heeding discipline as godly attributes. I hear that some of you are still doing great in your discipline of reading and prayer each day, please continue encouraging each other as we are all in this together. An attitude of prayer for my whole week and yours: "Your prayers should be to recognize the reality and depth of your inner being and to ask God to meet you there. For Him to come and abide in this realm of your hopes, values, joys, hurts and loneliness." A verse from the passage I read yesterday resonated to my innermost being: "why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare." Isa 55:2

This Friday (Dec 2nd) is the long awaited guys/girls night. The girls will be meeting at Shelly's and the guys will be meeting at the Ling's place (addresses are in the waiver form).
FOR THE GUYS: Meet at the Ling's place between 5:30pm-6:00pm and bring $8 to help offset Hot Pot costs. Also please bring sauces (soy, sesame oil, chili) and gas stoves and gas. We'll also have some hilarious games and challenges :) Pick up time is 9:30-10pm

FOR THE GIRLS: Meet at Shelly's between 7:00pm-7:30pm. Please bring fruit for the fondue (ie. some apples, oranges/clementines, a pineapple, some kiwi, strawberries, bananas, grapes, etc) snacks, drinks, games, sleeping bags and pillows (if you are staying) and hygiene stuff for the morning. Pick up is 10am on Saturday or before 11pm on Friday.

This Sunday (Dec 4), we will continue our Wisdom series in the book of Proverbs. The quote I shared last week from Lecrae really illustrates how our search for wisdom should look like "Seek wisdom as desperately as you would seek your lost car keys while you are late for work." How desperately do we thirst for God or long for heavenly wisdom? Let's keep it up!

A good number of you are planning for baptism this Christmas so please pray for them as they go through baptism classes in the coming weeks.

Keep gearing up for our Christmas giving initiative. We have lists set up in the youth room and the downstairs hallway of what is needed. Please contribute as much as you would like :) No such thing as too much of course. We'll be putting those together on Friday the 23rd.

Let us know how we can be praying for you or if you would like to have tea/coffee/catch up soon!
See you all on Friday!

YF Gym Night this Friday (25th) with PE, H2O

2011-11-22T12:42:00.003-05:00

Honestly, I was really encouraged this weekend! I pray that the Spirit was speaking to you throughout the 'Teaching' Bible study and discussion on Friday and that you would take seriously your role in being a student and teacher of His Word. May we learn to crave it as newborn babies crave milk. Pray for God to bear fruit through the student ministry focus and message on Sunday and that more friendships would develop. I read a quote yesterday from Lecrae "Seek wisdom as desperately as you would seek your lost car keys while you are late for work" haha hopefully that's our attitude in our journey in Proverbs. "Let your praying this week be for a true sense of being heard. Do not particularly pray for feeling or specific answers. Rather pray for the quiet confidence that you are in conversation with your Heavenly Father." Pray for a clearer vision of God's truth, a greater faith in His power and a more confident assurance of His love. Ps 46; 2 Cor 12:7-10; Gen 32:22-31; Phil 3:7-12; John 4:1-26; 1 Cor 2:6-16; Jer 17:5-10; Job 42:1-6

This Friday (25th), is Family Gym Night so we will MEET at St. Patrick's High School Gym 2525 Altavista Dr (directions) from 7pm - 10pm (form in your e-mail). We have access to one gym from 7pm until 8pm and access to all three gyms from 8pm to 10pm. Please feel free to come as early as 7 to just chat/catch up with one another or use the first gym. We will be joined by Pure Energy, h2o and CCCO as well! Please go directly to St. Pat's High school. This is free access so feel free to invite any friends that would love to get an evening workout and meet new friends. Bring your running shoes and sports clothes. Just in case, they do not open the supply room, please bring any basketballs, badminton, sports equipment you may have.

This Sunday (27th), we will continue our series in the book of Proverbs. Please also keep in your prayers our church AGM meeting which will take place on Sunday and we will be electing Elders and Deacons to join our church leadership. This is a serious matter so please pray that we would be seeking the Spirit.

Baptism opportunity this Christmas, I'm having a class this Friday before YF so please let me know as soon as possible if you would like to be baptized this Christmas. Baptism is an act of obedience which symbolizes being baptized into His death and buried in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead, we too may live a new life. (Romans 6:3-5).

As I mentioned on Sunday, I met with Maxine from Saint Luke's and they are absolutely pleased to partner with us in our Christmas initiative. Please begin assembling your items and putting aside any boxes/gift bags we can use. We will be putting them together with AWANA, PE and YF on Dec 23rd.

The next week (Dec 2) will be the long anticipated guys/girls night, so keep the ball rolling on that end.

Let us know how we can be praying for you!
See you all on Friday!

YF Basic: Teaching this Friday (18th) and Sermon/Sunday School

2011-11-15T13:54:00.004-05:00

It was an encouraging to hear of the Lord's work in Wardrer's life and to have Marcus and Aaron teach from Philippians 2. It's great to see that this generation cannot be sold short, you have the gifts and abilities to equip, strengthen and encourage each other in the faith - not only your peers but us as adults. Continue; as Paul told Timothy, to set an example for believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity. The Lord was also doing something special in our hearts on Sunday as we witnessed that God is doing something tremendous as Asia is the catalyst in bringing the gospel to the whole world. Many h2o and youth were in tears as God was doing these amazing things, please continue to pray for how we can all get behind missions. Gratitude is our focus this week, it is not something that is attained by default but must be cultivated in our lives. "Rise, O Lord, into Your proper place of honor, above my ambitions, above my likes and dislikes, above my family, my health and even my life itself. Let me decrease that You may increase..." - Tozer in the Pursuit of God

This Friday (18th) we will be continuing with the fifth installment 'Teaching' in the Basic series we started almost a year ago. Every word in Scripture is God-breathed with the purpose of teaching, rebuking, correcting and training us to do good works. If these words are meant to inspire and give life to us then why do many feel like reading it is an additional chore to do each day. That it is more of a duty than a privilege? Maybe if we begin to see the Bible for what it is, a holy book that contains vast riches and the keys to understanding how Jesus lived and how He wants us to live, we will begin to crave God's Word as a newborn baby craves milk. Please bring your Bibles and a willingness to have our minds renewed.

This Sunday (20th) I will be preaching the English sermon from Luke 9 and will have a special focus on next generation ministry, please remember this in your prayers and ask that the Spirit would continue to change the culture in our church and cause us to grow. After the service, Sunday school will be continuing our journey through the wisdom in Proverbs.

Baptism opportunity this Christmas, I'll already be doing baptism class with a candidate this week so please let me know as soon as possible if you would like to be baptized this Christmas. Baptism is an act of obedience which symbolizes being baptized into His death and buried in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead, we too may live a new life. (Romans 6:3-5).

For Christmas, I had the chance to meet with Maxine from St. Luke's this morning and we will have the privilege of doing something special for the Christmas season with them. More details on Friday and Sunday.

A quote from 'Thoughts in Solitude' by Thomas Merton that impacted me: "There is no neutrality between gratitude and ingratitude. Those who are not grateful soon begin to complain of everything. Those who do not love, hate. In the spiritual life there is no such thing as an indifference to love or hate. That is why tepidity (which seems to be indifferent) is so detestable. It is hate disguised as love."

Let us know how we can be praying for you or if you'd like to set up a time to catch up.

See you all on Friday!

YF Testimony and Bible Study this Friday (11th)

2011-11-08T15:15:00.000-05:00

Last Friday was a blast! Having both groups together for those games was awesome, special thanks to Rae-Anne and Brad for brainstorming some creative games! It was really awesome to see our whole English congregation interacting inter-generationally and praying together on Sunday, I pray its the start of something special with deeper relationships as a body of Christ. This has been in the idea factory for awhile and its cool to see it starting up, lets keep an open and willing spirit to pray together. I'm in the 51st week of this devotional and it focuses on celebration. Prayer this week should focus on the joy of the present, too much time is spent in anticipation of vacations, weekends etc. We should start seeing the joy in breath, water, food and people now! "Father it is so easy for me to live automatically, so that nothing touches me or moves me. Give me the fullness of living in the now. In the name of your Son, who loved children and flowers and people, I pray. Amen." Ps 66; 2 Chron 20:20-30; Gen 12:1-9; Mt 21:1-11; 1 Chron 16:1-36; Ps 98; Gen 35:1-15; Rev 22:1-17.

This Friday (11th), we have the special opportunity to hear our brother Wardrer's testimony of the Lord's work in his life as well as looking into Philippians 2:1-11 facilitated by Marcus and Aaron. May the Lord continue to increase our faith as we witness what He is doing in the lives of our peers and teaches us through them. Each of you has a story to tell, please consider sharing your testimony or how God has worked in your life at an upcoming fellowship. Please bring your Bibles and a desire to participate and be changed. Next week will be our guys/girls night so lets plan ahead!

This Sunday (13th) we will be continuing our journey through the wisdom in Proverbs. We'll be looking through chapters 8 and 9 to actively seek God's wisdom.

Baptisms! There is an opportunity for baptism coming up this Christmas. Baptism is an act of obedience which symbolizes being baptized into His death and buried in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead, we too may live a new life. (Romans 6:3-5).

Cook off this Saturday, I know a couple of you have confirmed your interest in the cook-off this Saturday, please reply today if you are interested because there were some details that I missed on the morning that I was speaking at OCAC. We need to have a set team, cooking supplies and a presentation.

Let us know how we can be praying for you or if you'd like to meet up!

YF + PE Group Games this Friday (4th) in Room 202

2011-11-01T14:59:00.002-04:00

Thanks for participating in the Next Gen Family Feud event last Friday! A lot of you guys were getting perfect scores in the gameshow which illustrates that many of the ideals are extremely hard to practice consistently in the family dynamic. May God give strength, wisdom and patience to parents and strength, wisdom and patience to youth as well we continue to strive to be healthy God-loving families. It was a serious, yet sometimes funny (with honest input) study of Proverbs 7 on Sunday, some grave warnings, but godly wisdom to be mindful of at all times. Identify some of these vulnerable areas of temptation and address them in practical ways, guarding both heart and mind. My devotion focuses on Awareness this week. The Bible is full of God's mighty outpouring of love and miracles. We become conditioned to look for God in the phenomenal events in life. We need to pray and become more aware of God in the ordinary and common things of life. May the Spirit persuade us to look for him in all things and at all times. Ps 63, Jn 4:4-42; Mt 13:1-23; Mk 8:27-30; Jn 9:1-41; 2 Cor 4:7-18; Rom 8:18-27; Dan 2:20-23.

This Friday (4th), we will have an evening full of fun, games and food in Room 202 with Pure Energy! Brad and Rae-Anne have been planning a fun night of group games which will be sure to be a blast... as Brad said on Sunday, it won't have balloons (Popaballoonapalooza) or lots of relays so stayed tuned! Feel free to bring extra drinks/snacks and your friends along, 7:30pm this Friday in the Next Gen room!

Next Friday (11th) will also be amazingly awesome as Aaron and Marcus will be working together and teaching us from Philippians 2:1-11 (with some background help as well :) and our brother Wardrer will also be sharing his testimony to YF on that night. Jesus worked with and through His disciples all the time and I pray that the Lord would continue to increase your faith as you see Him work through each other and yourselves as you continue to serve Him in this fellowship! Then as you mature, continue to disciple those younger than you! Each of you has an amazing story to tell and every pair of youth that will lead Bible studies will have the help that is necessary to work through these experiences :) This will be awesome! Our guys/girls night will be on the following Friday (18th).

This Sunday (6th), we will be committing our time to prayer along with the brothers and sisters in the English congregation. As we focus on praying and becoming a house of prayer, this is an opportunity that we discussed as Pastoral staff for the church to pray with and for each other in an inter-generational environment. We want to create a more natural culture in which brothers and sisters of all ages can get to know one another and pray as a family of Christ.

Patrick (from Jericho Road) has a brother who is organizing an evening of praise, worship and presentation. We are invited to play a couple of songs. It's on Saturday November 12th, 2011 at 6:30PM at 1401 Blair Place (Wells Salvation church), if you are able to play a song or two, make a team and all funds raised will support an orphanage, Feeding program, education sponsorship program, and a training center for widows in Kampala-Uganda

Never too early to start thinking of Getaway 2012 and our meeting in Dec where we will discuss theme and student leadership teams.

Let us know how we can be praying for you and if you'd like to catch up!
See you all on Friday!

YF Next Generation Family Feud this Friday (28th)

2011-10-25T15:03:00.003-04:00

That was a lot of fun last Friday! It was an amazing blessing to interact with Patrick and the housemates at Jericho Road last week. They shared how encouraging it was to witness joyful enthusiasm as you served. Because we had such fantastic participation (in numbers and attitude), we finished quickly and had a chance to have discussion groups. It was our privilege to serve and Patrick even mentioned another opportunity that I'll outline later in this e-mail. I've been focusing on lifestyle this week and our prayer focus can be this "when Jesus said that he was the Way he meant more than the Way to the Father. He was also telling us a way to think, a way to act, a way to react, a way for all of life. This week pray that you will truly be in the Way." Ps 15; Deut 5:1-32; Galatians 6:1-10; Matthew 25:1-13; Romans 13:1-14; John 15:1-17; Mark 12:28-34; Luke 11:33-36.

This Friday (28th), YF will be joined by youth from other churches and their parents for our Next Generation conference "Anti-Family Feud". All parents are encouraged to join as this event is meant to be a Game Show Presentation for Ages 9-99. Even if your parents are unable to join, join us anyways! We will be joined by other churches and youth as Pastor Jeff's ministry focus is bringing awareness of the second generation to Chinese churches. He is also hosting workshops at our church Saturday for leaders and concerned parents: "The Role of the Church in Raising the Next Genaration", "Raising Your Kids Between Two Cultures", "Raising a Godly Genaration" More details can be found on our church website. Bring your Bibles and parents at the regular 7:30pm time in the upstairs sanctuary.

This Sunday (30th), we will continue our series in Proverbs. 2 Chronicles 9:23 says "All the kings of the earth sought audience with Solomon to hear the wisdom God had put in his heart." May we eagerly desire wisdom as we saw last week wisdom will protect and watch over us (Prov 4:6).

Patrick (from Jericho Road) has a brother who is organizing an evening of praise, worship and presentation. We are invited to play a couple of songs. It's on Saturday November 12th, 2011 at 6:30PM at 1401 Blair Place (Wells Salvation church), if you are able to play a song or two, make a team and all funds raised will support an orphanage, Feeding program, education sponsorship program, and a training center for widows in Kampala-Uganda.

Had a great time with many of you on Wednesday (26th) as we went to the Met fair and Starbucks. Continue to seek the Lord and counsel from your parents as you discern your future.

Remember to keep up your daily Scripture reading and prayer, "Lord, let me put right before interest; let me put others before self: let me put things of the Spirit before things of the body: let me put the attainment of noble ends before the enjoyment of present pleasures: let me put principle above reputation: let me put you before all else. Amen." - John Baillie - A Diary of Private Prayer Let us know how we can be praying for you.

See you all on Friday!

YF Serving at Jericho Road this Friday (21st)

2011-10-18T13:20:00.004-04:00

Even in this colder weather your participation in last week's Bible study provided enough people to fill the room with warmth! It was awesome to hear about how the Lord has been working in our sister Laura's life. Please continue to pray for her and allow the Lord to teach us from her example of faith as well. Let's continue to reflect on desiring to have the affection of Christ Jesus for others and growing in our understanding that to live is Christ. Thanks for thoughtful sharing during Sunday school as well. My devotion has been focusing on the theme of compassion which encourages to echo this prayer all week "Loving Father, teach me to love and care for those that need you today. Those who are passed over and do not feel love unless I love them for you. May Christ's love for others be felt through me today. In your name and by your power I pray these things. Amen." Lk 6:27-36; 15:1-10; 10:25-37; 11:1-44; Jn 15:9-17; 11:1-44.

This Friday (21st), we have the privilege to continue serving with Jericho Road Ministries at 10 Crerar Avenue (Google Maps directions) from 7:15pm - 9:15pm. This is an amazing compassionate ministry and you can read about how they began and what they stand for at http://www.jerichoroad.ca/. During Discipleship week we spent a morning doing some labor outdoors and it was rewarding to see the final product. May the Lord use us as a blessing this Friday. Please arrange to meet at 10 Crerar and be picked up from there, bring clothing that you don't mind getting dirty (or paint drops) on. The form to give your parents is attached.

This Wednesday (19th), there is a Christian University Fair at the Metropolitan Bible Church that a few of you had expressed interest in. It is from 7pm - 9pm.

This Sunday (23rd), we will continue our series in the book of Proverbs. Throughout this journey we have focused on the fear of the Lord as the beginning of wisdom, how He leads us and the rest of the series will focus on meaningful issues of life like the Lord's path, how to treat others and handle the resources we have been given.

Coming up: Next Generation Conference (28th) Familiy Feud event with parents!

Remember to keep up your daily Scripture reading and prayer... there is so much pain and joy to be shared in our lives. "Compassion is the sometimes fatal capacity for feeling what it is like to live inside somebody else's skin. It is the knowledge that there can never really be any peace and joy for me until there is peace and joy finally for you too." - Frederick Buechner

Let us know how we can be praying for you this week or if you'd like to catch up!

See you all on Friday (and some on Wednesday)!

YF Bible Study this Friday (14th)

2011-10-11T10:30:00.002-04:00

Hope everyone had a meaningful weekend with family to remember God's goodness this Thanksgiving season. My prayer focus this week is that the presence of Christ would be so present in our lives that it will determine what we think and do. When the Kingdom is placed first, all things in our lives will be given the proper attention. "Lord, deliver me from the small loyalties of habit or tradition that would keep me from larger loyalties of the Spirit. Through Jesus, who understood the deeper meaning of freedom. Amen" - John Killinger. Time for some reading: Psalm 33, Deut 4:32-40; Phil 3:1-14. Please continue in your devotional plan as well.

This Friday (14th), we will be continuing our Bible study series in the book of Philippians. The apostle Paul emphasizes joy in the life of the Christian despite sharing in the fellowship of His sufferings (suffering he asks for in his prayer!). Prior to our study, we'll also have a testimony of how the Lord has been working in the heart of our sister Laura and drawing her to missions. I've asked her to share with YF and pray that it encourages you to see a young sister (who has been with you for the last 3 years) with a heart for missions. As you may already know, she has returned from El Salvador where the Lord enriched her faith and is planning on going to Chile.

This Sunday school (16th) will be flexible, I have a lesson prepared in our journey in Proverbs but also a possible discussion on an issue that is becoming closer to my heart. I'll bring both to Sunday school and pray that the Lord will speak to us either way. We will also set aside time at the end of class to pray for one another and I'll share with you a prayer initiative that our church will focus on.

Next Friday (21st), is a blessed opportunity to serve an amazing ministry (Jericho Road) at Crerar Ave. During Discipleship Week over 20 of us did some pretty hard (and rewarding) work to help serve the clients there and there is some more work that needs to be done next Friday evening. Don't worry, it's indoor work :) I've attached our outdoor activity form for next week.

Coming up: Next Generation Conference (28th) Family Feud event with parents!

This week, a representative from the churches involved will be getting together for us to plan Getaway 2012! Pray for us and begin thinking of what theme you would like to bring to the table at the student leader meeting that we'll let you know about in the coming months. Our desire for the Getaway is for the students to dream, pray, and work together as the body of Christ.

It's also great to meet with you during the week, if your schedule is swamped and you can't meet up, let us know how we can be praying for you!

See you all this Friday!

No YF, Awana, Pure Energy or Alpha this week

2011-10-04T12:57:00.005-04:00

It was amazing to see such an overflow of people last Friday at the gym! A lot of new faces and a lot of fun despite the lack of some equipment :) Thanks for making this Fall such a great one so far, lots of participation in our retreat, studies and Sunday school and lots of individual commitments to growing through Scripture reading and prayer! My week's theme is 'commitment' and daily reading is Psalm 101 and I've been reflecting from Mark 10:17-31 and John 12:20-33. You can also read your daily Proverb as well (mirror the day like discussed in Sunday School). As we journey together on a deeper prayer life and consistent Scripture reading, we should also see a deeper commitment to Christ. It's a lot easier to be committed to our own interest so our prayer (and my prayer for us) should be like Thomas A Kempis "Write your blessed name, O Lord, on my heart, there to remain so engraven that no prosperity, no adversity, shall ever move me from Your love. Amen."

There is no church Friday night activities this weekend, the C&Y programs and Alpha are cancelled for adult volunteers, children and youth to spend with their families over the long weekend. Enjoy your time with family and friends this weekend, if you have the time feel free to meet up with each other or even help out with the Ottawa Food Bank as an individual or family activity.

Auntie May forwarded this need for anyone that is willing and available this Saturday to help out:
"As you may know, we are mid-way through our annual Thanks for Giving Food Drive here at the Ottawa Food Bank. And, to help keep the momentum going, we are looking for volunteers to get involved during the Thanksgiving weekend. Saturday (Oct. 8) and Sunday (Oct. 9).
For more information or to sign up to volunteer email volunteer@theottawafoodbank.ca."

I'm excited to catch up with a couple of you this week, please let us know when you are available to share what God is doing in your life or if you need prayer.

Grace and Peace to you.

YF Gym Night at St. Patrick's this Friday (30th)

2011-09-27T11:58:00.003-04:00

May you continue in that prayer of Philippians last Friday, that you would grow in love, knowledge and depth of insight and have the affection of Christ for others and live a life as a servant of Christ. Some of you have also been reading the corresponding Proverb chapter to each day since starting Sunday school, thanks for doing that in addition to your daily reading and may each of us keep growing in wisdom and pursuing the path that God has called us to. I'm excited that as each of you continues to study Scripture that you will get a more complete picture of who God is. That will continue to flesh itself out on our trips, serve events, coffeehouse, and fellowship. My focused prayer from this week's readings is this: "Believe that God desires your life to be lived in liberty and dignity. Ask Him to free you from desires, worries, habits that tend to imprison you. In your prayer this week try to come to know that real control over your bondages and yourself is found in surrender to God."

This Friday (30th), we will be meeting at St. Patrick's High School Gym (directions) from 7pm - 10pm. We have access to this fantastic facility with Pure Energy, h2o and CCCO as well! This is free access so feel free to invite any friends that would love to get an evening workout and meet new friends. Please sign the waiver form attached to your e-mail. Bring your running shoes and sports clothes. Just in case, they do not open the supply room, please bring any basketballs, badminton, sports equipment you may have.

This Sunday (2nd), our journey through Proverbs continues... two weeks ago we focused on how essential wisdom is and how the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Last week, we spoke about how God desires to lead us, throughout the series, the Bible will cover every meaningful aspect of daily life is how we should treat others, handle money, which life path to take etc.

"Almighty God, give me rule over indolent desires. Save me from any waste of life. In some devotion set me at liberty from myself and give me to see my life as a charge from you to keep and to understand. Amen." Robert Wicks
Galatians 5: 13-25

Let us know how we can be praying for you or if you want to pray or catch up sometime.

See you all on Friday at St. Pat's.

YF Bible Study in Philippians this Friday (23rd) Proverbs (25th)

2011-09-20T15:12:00.001-04:00

Thanks for an amazing weekend! The camp was fantastic and your participation was great even if there were a few sleepy head nods during that last Sunday session :) God's desire to move you on to spiritual maturity is stronger than you believe. If you continue to seek His face then he will shape you into the image of Himself. I was reading this quote in my devotional this morning: "Prayer is the way in which the soul is infused by the power of the Spirit. If one continues to pray in confidence and strength despite all outer diversions and inner discouragements, there will be a gradual change in one's disposition. The effect is neither rapid nor magical - growth, whether physical or spiritual, takes time and is unobtrusive when viewed on a day to day basis..." Things that would shatter us emotionally or cause jealousy and anger will begin to fade away and be replaced by genuine compassion and care. If you have time in addition to your daily quiet time: Ps 37; Phil 3:12-21; 1 John 2:3-17

This Friday (23rd), we will begin our Bible study series in the book of Philippians. Paul wrote this letter from prison and was deeply committed and thankful to the church in Philippi. Throughout this series, our goal is that each of us will learn how we can tell the difference between true joy and happiness and how true joy comes from knowing and living for Christ. Please bring your Bibles, 4 color pens and a willingness to participate and grow.

Next Friday (30th), CCCO will have access to the St. Patrick's gym again! This is a fantastic facility with lots of equipment for almost any sport you would want to play, feel free to invite friends - it's free!

This Sunday (25th), our journey through Proverbs continues... we started last week with a focus on how essential wisdom is and how the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Throughout the series, the Bible will cover every meaningful aspect of daily life is how we should treat others, handle money, which life path to take etc.

As always, let us know how you are doing, some of you are new to YF and I want to emphasize how real, down to earth our team of leaders is. You can ask us questions about life, faith etc and we'd be glad to know how we can pray for you. One verse that really helps shape my view on fellowship and discipleship is 1 Thess 2:8 "We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us."

See you all on Friday!

Everything you need to know about Youth Fall Retreat this Weekend (16th-18th)

2011-09-11T15:24:00.002-04:00

That was a hilarious game on Friday! The teams did well (for the most part, haha) as a lot of riddles were solved and loads of screaming and running away from ninjas. Congrats to the winning team, you have explored Chinatown well!

This weekend is the Fall Retreat! We already have 22 Sr. High students registered and the Jr. High forms have been building up too! We are looking forward to a great weekend of spiritual growth, fellowship and fun! The junior and senior high will join for the activities and free time but will have separate teaching times. YF will be focusing on praying like Jesus as the Bible teaches as well as setting aside time to listen to the Lord and reflect on Scripture. Pure Energy will focus on Jesus and the significance of the resurrection.

Important details:
1) Departure times: Rides will leave from Church around 5:45pm on Friday (16th) and we hope to arrive at Galilee before 7:30pm. We'll leave Galilee at 2:00pm on Sunday to be back at church before 4pm.
2) Dinner is NOT provided on Friday night (there will be a snack though), Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner is provided on Saturday with Breakfast and Lunch on Sunday as well.
3) Forms and registration fee ($90 to 'CCCO' memo: Youth Fall Retreat) is still needed from those who are coming but have not yet submitted them.

Things to Bring (and NOT to bring):
Essential things to bring: Bible, pens, papers, special health devices, sleeping bags, warm clothes, outdoor clothes (and change of clothes depending on weather), towels, toiletries, worship music (guitars if leading), form/cheques if you forgot, bathing suit - if you are crazy
Additional things: board games, group games, basketballs, footballs, baseball gloves and balls etc.
Things NOT to bring: ipods, media players (videos, music, movies etc.)

If you have any additional questions, please e-mail me as soon as possible or call the church office. An alternate number is in your e-mail.

See you all this weekend (5:45pm at church on Friday!)

YF Sherlock Holmes Scavenger Hunt this Friday (9th) & Return Fall Retreat forms

2011-09-06T11:24:00.003-04:00

Hope everyone had a refreshing long weekend to spend with family, a lot of the grads are also settling in to their new campuses. Summers are always great times to fellowship, do mission trips, service opportunities and catching up but it's time to look forward to a fresh Fall and new school year! We have a youth pastors meeting to set out some city wide opportunities for the year and Jr. High meeting as well to set out PE calendars and that's always a reminder for me that Fall is here (because at YF we don't stop :)

This Friday (9th) please meet at church (Rm. 202) no later than 7:30pm to begin our Sherlock Holmes (clues oriented) scavenger hunt this Friday (9th). It'll be an adventure around Chinatown. Each team will be given a package of photo clues with questions on each that need to be answered. The team that completes the most photo clues will win but there are some ninja's that you'll have to watch out for... they'll dock you some points if they catch you split up or unaware of your surroundings. We'll get back later for refreshments and fellowship. This is just a fun way to kick off our Fall, welcome our new students and begin our Fall semester together.

Also, return your Fall retreat forms this Friday at YF! Fall Retreat (16th - 18th) is an amazing time to draw closer to the Lord and each other. Our desire is to learn to pray like Jesus prayed. He modeled an intimate relationship with God and our time in Scripture will teach us more about relying on the Lord and acknowledging Him in all our ways! Retreats are always refreshing and FUN too as we can enjoy lots of activity and free time! It's also refreshing to get away from the internet, video games and constant distractions that often provide little value to our lives. We hope to see all of you there, bring your forms on Friday!

Sunday school will also begin this Sunday (11th) in Rm. 202 following our English service.

See you all on Friday! Let us know how we can be praying for you.

A prayer from my devotional to focus on this week: "Almighty God, my Father, I call upon You and request of You that Your love may be found in me Your servant. I know not how to love as I ought; but You who are Love can reveal it unto me. Show me the way to Love. Amen." God will teach us how to truly love others if that is our desire. Is it? If you'd like read Psalm 82 along with your regular Scripture reading each day this week.

No YF this Friday (2nd) RETURN FALL RETREAT FORMS this Sunday (4th)

2011-08-30T14:14:00.000-04:00

Thanks for a great YF grad sendoff last Friday, it's always joyful/sad to see the grads move on. Each graduating class is so unique and each person brought unique gifts, personalities and service to the fellowship. There is never an adequate way to say goodbye but it's more of a 'see you later' :) Remember to encourage grads in their next chapter of life and grads remember to always give back to those younger than you. Grads: remember to free yourself up for Thursday or Friday afternoon to get together to share and pray!

This Friday (2nd), there is no official YF program for the labor day long weekend, so we are calling all youth to enjoy the last summer weekend trip with family and friends! I know a lot of you will be vacationing or transitioning to your new school this weekend as well. Have a blessed weekend with family!

Please return the Fall Retreat form (attached again) this weekend (as soon as possible), it won't take long to fill out! It will help in organizing enough vehicles to drive us to Camp Galilee for September 16-18th. If your parents are available and willing to drive, please let me know as well. It'll be a big help from chasing down lots of people to drive :)

Next Friday (9th), we will have a kick off Sherlock Holmes event. Where we will split you (and friends) into teams for an evening of picture clues and problem solving! Each team will receive a pack of picture clues of Chinatown and will have to deduce the rest :)

Upcoming:
Next Sunday (11th), Sunday school will resume. Be praying (and on the lookout) for opportunities to serve and be an ambassador for Christ. I've contacted several community shelters, ministries, drop-ins etc about opportunities in the Fall and at Christmas, let me know if you know of any as well. We will likely have more opportunities to help with Jericho Road and perhaps even another One Homeless Night.

Let us know how we can be praying for you and if you'd like to meet up!

YF Mission (24th) and Grad sendoff (26th) (Fall Retreat form attached)

2011-08-22T19:05:00.002-04:00

Thanks for a great discipleship week! I'm always flabbergasted (in the positive way) by how many of you faithfully showed up each day to participate and serve. Not to mention that was probably the greatest ratio of homework completion in the last six years! We got to learn more about Jericho Road and the fantastic ministry they carry out in the city as well as revisit the Ottawa Mission. Above all, may we all submit to the Spirit, Scripture and sincerely seek the Lord in these matters on how we can mature as godly men and women.

This Wednesday (24th), we have the opportunity to serve at the Ottawa Mission again. Last week we had 23 of us serving in the kitchen, cleaning the community, sorting clothes, preparing food, organizing the laundry room etc. We have a similar opportunity to help out again this Wednesday morning from 9:30am to 11:00am. Please meet at the Richtree market at Rideau at 9:15am again.

This Friday (26th), you are welcome to join us at our new home for the grad sendoff! It's the last YF of the summer and we would love to have you over for an evening of games, chats and just enjoying each other's company! Feel free to arrive anytime after 6:30pm bring snacks, board games, Wiimotes etc. The address is in your e-mail.

Here is the Fall Retreat form! It'll be awesome! :)

In your e-mail I've forwarded an encouragement from our sister Carmen who joyfully attended Disc week and contributed a lot of godly wisdom to our discussion. She also provided some additional resources for guys and girls to read.

see you all on Wed and Fri :)

YF Discipleship Week Reminders (15th - 19th)

2011-08-15T13:28:00.002-04:00

Thanks for all the wonderful participation this morning! We definitely need to humble ourselves to God's heart and purpose when we deal with our mutual servanthood as men and women.

- Tuesday (16th tomorrow) we will be serving with Jericho Road ministries (10 Crerar Ave at 9:15am), we had 23 of us this morning, so we will likely divide into different groups to serve most efficiently. We'll be learning more about Jericho Road and serve in any way we can.

- Wednesday (17th), we'll be helping out at the Ottawa Mission and we have another opportunity to help there on the 25th as well.

- Monday (just passed), Thursday and Friday we will be meeting in the basement sanctuary.

This letter has the details, times and places to meet as well. Please have it signed by your parents if you are under 18 so they are aware of where you will be on the outings.

See you all week!

Coming up:
Also book September 16-18th as our YF Fall Retreat!!! This is a great kickoff retreat to build relationships within the group as a new generation of YF enters. I'm happy to say that Camp Galilee was gracious to us and we are set to head back to Renfrew for our Fall Retreat :)

YF Basic: Fellowship Bible study and discussion this Friday (12th)

2011-08-09T15:11:00.002-04:00

Had a great time with you all at Emily's last Friday, it was great to see so many of you able to join us for some Marco Polo, weird swimming competitions, old school soccer baseball, barbeque dinner, snacks and the like. Special thanks to Emily and her aunt for opening up their beautiful backyard for us to crash for 6 hours (which passed incredibly quickly!).

This Friday (12th) we'll be continuing our BASIC series with Fellowship. Two months ago, we went through the Holy Spirit study and discussion which brings us to the 4th in the series with Fellowship. We'll wrestle with what the Bible says about fellowship, is the church a place where individuals gather once a week to sing a few songs and listen to someone talk about God? Or is it the people themselves, sharing a common mission in the world? What would happen if we start to view church the way God designed it... perhaps we might show others a glimpse of who God is, and begin to impact the world as He intended. How do we work towards that ideal fellowship together? Please bring your Bibles and be ready and willing to participate.

Next Monday through Friday (15th - 19th) will be our YF Discipleship week. This letter provides more details regarding our service opportunities for your parents to sign. Our theme will be "Manhood and Womanhood as defined in the Bible" This week will not only help you grow as a godly man or woman but also allow you to articulate what it is to look for in a potential spouse as well. As always, we will have a few local community service opportunities lined up.

Let us know how we can be praying for you!
See you all on Friday!

Coming up:

Also book September 16-18th as our YF Fall Retreat!!! This is a great kickoff retreat to build relationships within the group as a new generation of YF enters. I'm happy to say that Camp Galilee was gracious to us and we are set to head back to Renfrew for our Fall Retreat :)

YF Outdoor Pool Party this Saturday (6th) at Emily's

2011-08-02T15:48:00.003-04:00

Trust that everyone had a fantastic long weekend with their families! Regardless of whether you were out of town, at the Mando retreat, or in Ottawa, I hope you had time that was dedicated to your families. :) We focused on Matthew 13:44-46 and had a challenging yet encouraging discussion based on this parable. Although many of us have grown up in church, some were unfamiliar with a term that Jesus often used 'the Kingdom of Heaven'. It's important that we learn more about the kingdom of God as it was central to what Jesus taught. May we learn to joyfully lay aside our own agenda and get wrapped up in God's will for His kingdom to come. A common theme in my devotion this week highlighted that the one thing that separates a Christian who is growing from a Christian who is stagnant is the matter of obedience. Discipleship week is coming up extremely quickly, I've attached the discipleship week letter for your parent's consent to help out at the Ottawa Mission and Jericho Road Ministries. We have opportunities to help in a variety of ways over the course of the week and an additional service opportunity the week afterwards (Thursday 25th).

This Saturday (6th), YF will be having a pool party at Emily's place! Her backyard is completely available to us to enjoy the in ground pool, patio and barbeque for dinner. Dinner will be provided for you guys! Even if it rains, we'll have plenty to do indoors with games, movies, food etc. Feel free to invite your friends! Come to enjoy not only the beautiful weather and the pool, but the chance to be together in fellowship, talk, laugh etc.

Time: Saturday (6th) from 3:00pm to 9:00pm
Address: Address, Google map directions in your e-mail.
Bus directions (from Emily): Easiest bus stop would probably be the park and ride (at Eagleson) However there is one close to Cadence Gate (just outside the Great Canadian Superstore).
We can pick you up from the bus stop if you need us to.
Remember to BRING: Bathing suits (one piece or dark t-shirt), TOWELS, sunscreen, extra clothes, extra food/snacks.
Oh.... and no peeing in the pool! We'll have a dye that activates with urine, so we don't want to embarrass anyone :) Am I bluffing?

Let me know if you guys want to meet up during the week to catch up!
See you all on Friday at church!

Lots of stuff coming up, don't forget to keep these dates open!!!
August 15th - 19th Discipleship Week 9:30am - 12 noon each day (Letter and Snippet for parents is attached). We will have a comprehensive look through Scripture as we seek God's wisdom on what it means to be a godly man and a godly woman. "Manhood and Womanhood as defined in the Bible" This week will not only help you grow as a godly man or woman but also allow you to articulate what it is to look for in a potential spouse as well. As we do each year, we will have a few community service opportunities lined up (we have a couple at the Ottawa Mission already).

August 16th we'll be learning about Jericho Road and helping around with a few of the houses.
August 17th and 25th we will be helping out at the Mission... the 25th is NOT during Discipleship week, but will be the week after it. We will also be helping out at Jericho Road (date to be confirmed soon!)

Also book September 16-18th as our YF Fall Retreat!!! This is a great kickoff retreat to build relationships within the group as a new generation of YF enters. I'm happy to say that Camp Galilee was gracious to us and we are set to head back to Renfrew for our Fall Retreat :)

YF Bible study (Red Letters in Matthew 13) this Friday (29th)

2011-07-26T14:58:00.002-04:00

A huge special thanks to Emery and uncle Trent for the unique privilege of hearing from this brother's suffering through the Rwandan Genocide. He shared important lessons about making God honoring choices in life, forgiving those who have wronged you and being thankful in your circumstance rather than complaining. On Sunday, we got to hear from 4 peers in our YF share about what the Lord did and taught them throughout the Ouje journey of prayer, preparation and ministry. We were also blessed to hear from uncle John and Jesse all the way from Newmarket. There will also be plenty more sharings from youth/adults to read in the next CCCO-K book. I was definitely ministered to this weekend!

This Friday (29th), we will be reading from Jesus' parables of the hidden treasure and the fine pearls in Matthew 13. What does He mean when he talks about the treasure and pearl? What is He bringing attention to and what does it mean for our lives? There is a lot of wisdom and truth that the Lord is communicating in these short parables and we'll have some time to read, scratch our heads, discuss, interact, be challenged and pray. Please bring your Bibles/pens to room 202 as we get together this Friday and hopefully it'll be nice enough for us to have YF outside! ;)

Something I read this morning that needs some reflection on our part - Jesus talks about two sources of error: "Jesus answered them, "You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God." - Matthew 22:29 English Standard Version

Last chance for summer baptism, please let me know yesterday (yes, yesterday) if it's your desire to be baptized! Baptism is an act of obedience which symbolizes being baptized into His death and buried in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead, we too may live a new life. (Romans 6:3-5).

Let me know if you wanted to set up a time to update on your joy/pain, ask an impossible question, pray about stuff etc.

See you all on Friday at church!

Lots of stuff coming up, don't forget to keep these dates open!!!
Remember to book your calendars for August 15th - 19th Discipleship Week 9:30am - 12 noon each day. We will have a comprehensive look through Scripture as we seek God's wisdom on what it means to be a godly man and a godly woman. "Manhood and Womanhood as defined in the Bible" This week will not only help you grow as a godly man or woman but also allow you to articulate what it is to look for in a potential spouse as well. As we do each year, we will have a few community service opportunities lined up (we have a couple at the Ottawa Mission already).

August 17th and 25th we will be helping out at the Mission... the 25th is NOT during Discipleship week, but will be the week after it. We will also be helping out at Jericho Road (date to be confirmed soon!)

Also book September 16-18th as our YF Fall Retreat!!! This is a great kickoff retreat to build relationships within the group as a new generation of YF enters. I'm happy to say that Camp Galilee was gracious to us and we are set to head back to Renfrew for our Fall Retreat :)

YF Testimony from Rwandan Genocide this Friday at church (22nd)

2011-07-19T14:53:00.003-04:00

Had a great time at the Ma's for the waterfight last Friday!! It was definitely the largest scale water fight I've ever been a part of. The idea of sharing (sharing!) resources definitely went out the window as the guys and girls each purchased their soakers and balloons to hoard! :) Thanks to the Ma family for opening up their home for the mess we made, the girl leaders for some great games and everyone who brought food for the whole group! Jeremy has a lot of photos up of the event and it was a good time of eating, soaking and hanging out!

This Friday (22nd) we will have the unique opportunity to hear a testimony from our brother Emery at the church. He is a survivor of the Rwandan Genocide (for more information on that, here is a link to the Wiki entry). Luke's Dad actually shared about this brother with me and we both felt that his testimony would be beneficial and inspiring for the YF to hear. So it's our blessing to welcome him to YF this Friday and hear how God has worked in his life and how the Lord had His hand on him throughout this painful chapter of history. Please bring your Bibles and pens.

This Sunday (24th) will be our YF Ouje sharing service, I've had the privilege of reading the 8 sharing submissions so far, it's been incredible how much God teaches each person and how everyone took away a different lesson by the same Spirit. Our team will be leading the worship and sharing throughout the service. Uncle John is even travelling up from Newmarket to hear from our youth and to share briefly as well. Please pray for the service and that the congregation would be encouraged by God's work in Ouje and inspired to continue supporting and going on missions.

Remember to let us know how we can be praying for you and drop me a line if you are dropping by to catch up/pray.

See you all on Friday!

Ongoing/Remember these dates!!!
Summer baptism is coming up incredibly quick. If you have been prayerfully considering baptism, please let me know RIGHT NOW! Baptism is an act of obedience which symbolizes being baptized into His death and buried in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead, we too may live a new life. (Romans 6:3-5).

Remember to book your calendars for August 15th - 19th Discipleship Week 9:30am - 12 noon each day. We will have a comprehensive look through Scripture as we seek God's wisdom on what it means to be a godly man and a godly woman. "Manhood and Womanhood as defined in the Bible" This week will not only help you grow as a godly man or woman but also allow you to articulate what it is to look for in a potential spouse as well. As we do each year, we will have a few community service opportunities lined up (we have a couple at the Ottawa Mission already).

August 17th and 25th we will be helping out at the Mission... the 25th is NOT during Discipleship week, but will be the week after it.

Also book September 16-18th as our YF Fall Retreat!!! This is a great kickoff retreat to build relationships within the group as a new generation of YF enters. I'm happy to say that Camp Galilee was gracious to us and we are set to head back to Renfrew for our Fall Retreat :)

YF Waterfight Extravaganza this Friday (15th) at the Ma's at 4:30pm-9pm

2011-07-12T16:10:00.003-04:00

Last Friday, we read, studied and discussed John 14:15-31. Over the last couple of years, it's been amazing to see you living with a greater awareness (and hopefully dependence) on the Spirit. We have a wonderful Counselor, Helper, Comforter, Advocate, Guide and Friend. The Spirit teaches us and guides us into a deeper relationship with God as well as reminds us all that He has taught. Where has God been working around you? How can you contribute to what He is already doing? Pray about an opportunity that's been on your heart and mind

This Friday (15th), we'll be having a Waterfight Extravaganza event at Hillary and Alyssia's place (address in your e-mail). Invite your friends! The girls have some amazing games planned which will culminate in a huge waterfight. We will begin YF at 4:30pm so it'll give us a lot of heat. Forecast is optimistic for Friday (sunny!) We'll also be having a Bring Your Own Dinner (or money to chip in on something)... so we can enjoy the day together. Following supper, we'll have an informal time of games and hanging out!

Time: 4:30pm - 9pm
Address: Directions in your e-mail
Stuff to bring: Friends, Water guns, bathing suits, colored shirts to wear over bathing suits, balloons (we'll have some but the more baloons, the more chaos), towels, clean change of clothes, Dinner, or stuff to cook etc. board games to play afterwards etc.

If I'm missing anything, maybe Hillary can fill in any special requests from the host :)

Also, since your schedules are more flex in the summer, it's been nice to have people dropping by for a quick talk. I just had a visit this afternoon too! If you'd like to drop by for a chat, just drop me a quick e-mail and we'll set up a time to catch up and pray.

Ongoing / Looking forward:
Summer Baptism! If you have been praying about baptism, please let me know as soon as possible! (as in yesterday...) Baptism is an act of obedience which symbolizes being baptized into His death and buried in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead, we too may live a new life. (Romans 6:3-5).

Remember to book your calendars for August 15th - 19th Discipleship Week 9:30am - 12 noon each day. We will have a comprehensive look through Scripture as we seek God's wisdom on what it means to be a godly man and a godly woman. "Manhood and Womanhood as defined in the Bible" This week will not only help you grow as a godly man or woman but also allow you to articulate what it is to look for in a potential spouse as well. As we do each year, we will have a few community service opportunities lined up (we have a couple at the Ottawa Mission already).

Also book September 16-18th as our YF Fall Retreat!!! This is a great kickoff retreat to build relationships within the group as a new generation of YF enters. I'm happy to say that Camp Galilee was gracious to us and we are set to head back to Renfrew for our Fall Retreat :)

See you all on Friday!

YF Bible Study (Red Letters in John 14) this Friday (8th)

2011-07-05T14:29:00.001-04:00

Praise God for an amazing week of ministry in Ouje, regardless of whether you were on the team, praying/fasting for us, helping with designing the cookbook, supporting us in any way, you were a part of this mission trip. I pray that we would all develop a heart that resembles Paul. This passage came to mind and I shared with the team: "I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me - the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace." - Acts 20:24. In the coming weeks, we will have sharing in the various congregations about how the Spirit worked in Ouje this year. Also thanks for the honest, heartfelt sharing after the Furious Love documentary, God has been using that film to bless, teach and transform many young people in our church.

This Friday (8th), we will look into Jesus' teaching on the Holy Spirit in John chapter 14:15 and onwards. How does the Holy Spirit direct and fuel service? How can we rely on the Spirit to do God's work though our broken selves? If you are anything like me you know that we are no better than the people around us, the apostle Paul even considered himself the worst of all sinners but that's how God can display His glory. He demonstrates unlimited patience (1 Tim 1:15-17) and begins to transform us and accomplish His purposes through us regardless of our brokenness. We'll be differentiating between what we think of as counselor and what the Holy Spirit's role is as Counselor. We'll also have a short time of sharing and reflection based on response to this passage. I can already see the fruit of the Spirit in your lives and this will continue to increase as we understand the Holy Spirit's role and how He desires to lead us. Please bring your Bibles, 4 color pens and a willingness to learn the very words of God Himself.

There is a baptism opportunity in the lake that is quickly approaching. If you have confessed that Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior, I would encourage you to seriously pray about baptism. Baptism is an act of obedience which symbolizes being baptized into His death and buried in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead, we too may live a new life. (Romans 6:3-5). Please let me know as soon as possible.

Remember to book your calendars for August 15th - 19th Discipleship Week 9:30am - 12 noon each day. We will have a comprehensive look through Scripture as we seek God's wisdom on what it means to be a godly man and a godly woman. "Manhood and Womanhood as defined in the Bible" This week will not only help you grow as a godly man or woman but also allow you to articulate what it is to look for in a potential spouse as well. As we do each year, we will have a few community service opportunities lined up (we have a couple at the Ottawa Mission already).

Also book September 16-18th as our YF Fall Retreat!!! This is a great kickoff retreat to build relationships within the group as a new generation of YF enters. I'm happy to say that Camp Galilee was gracious to us and we are set to head back to Renfrew for our Fall Retreat :)

Let us know how we can be praying for you and if you want to meet up to talk about anything!
See you all on Friday,

YF Spiritual Warfare and 'Furious Love' this Friday (24th)

2011-06-21T16:53:00.001-04:00

Thanks for your honest sharing, appreciation and time of prayer last Friday. It was refreshing to hear from children & youth volunteers and the next generation about how we can be a faithful church. Thanks for joining our devotional sharing, time of thanksgiving, games and prayer. Please encourage all who have helped you grow in your walk with Christ and do the same for others. Our mission team had a sincere time of prayer on Sunday and please join us in prayer, if you are not physically joining us - sister Salina is organizing a prayer and fasting chain throughout the week.

This Friday (24th) we will be watching a documentary entitled 'Furious Love,' this film was strongly endorsed to me and I can see why. It depicts the reality of the spiritual war that we are born in to and the effects of unconditional love. This film has been watched by a few brothers and sisters who have all shared the profound impact on their lives and took away a greater awareness of the spiritual battle and how we have to love as Christ did. The film deals with some mature issues and you are free to leave at any time. We will have an alternate activity for those who are not comfortable with the film. The film's distribution does ask for a love offering to be taken (more details from the website and an excerpt: "please understand that this decision is not in the least way motivated by greed. Movies cost a lot of money to make, and filmmakers need revenue to make more movies that you want to see." They suggest a $5 donation.

This Sunday (26th) our mission team will be leaving for Ouje until July 2nd. Please be in prayer for the Spirit to be sovereign over the community, those attending the camp, the preparations etc. Our young people led Bible studies on Sunday as part of their devotion sharing for the trip. Pray for the messages, Bible studies, crafts, worship, travel, games, testimonies that will be shared and all the relationships to be built. This Wednesday (22nd) we will be praying for the Ouje trip and you are all invited to join us if you are able!

Sunday school will continue (26th) with our Old Testament journey focusing on the book of Daniel, what can we learn about how Daniel took a stand and stood out for the Lord, Pure Energy will join you in Rm. 202. Broskie Winston will be leading you guys.

If you have been prayerfully considering baptism, let me know as soon as possible. Remember to book your calendars for August 15th - 19th Discipleship Week 9:30am - 12 noon each day. As we do each year, we will have a few community service opportunities lined up as well as a comprehensive look into Biblical manhood and womanhood. How we can grow as godly men and women of faith.

As mentioned before, please be in prayer for each other, the trip and let us know how we can be praying for you or if you would like to meet up.

See you all on Friday!

YF + C&Y Worker appreciation night this Friday (17th)

2011-06-14T17:16:00.000-04:00

Thanks for all those who participated in the gospel skit, A/V tech, and service for the 'indoor' worship service on Sunday. The Lord ministered to me throughout the service and spoke through the worship, skit, everyone who served behind the scenes, preparation, sharing and the fellowship lunch outdoors. Thanks for participating in the Relay for Life last Friday, uncle Eric mentioned that a significant amount was raised this year through fundraising and the snacks! It was a good time of fellowship with meaningful conversations and prayer. On Sunday, we shared about the wonderful answer to prayer that unfolded before all who were present. What a privilege we have to be the body of Christ and support one another as a family. Please continue to pray for Pastor Cal and his family during this difficult time with his family.

This Friday (17th), please join us in the Lord's Garden (at 118) to honor our C&Y volunteers for an appreciation night. Please arrive slightly earlier than usual (7:00pm). Our appreciation night will begin with supper for the children and youth volunteers earlier in the evening. Take a break from your exam studies to join us for a fellowship time of games, sharing/encouragement and food. In attendance will be some of the uncles and aunties who have ministered to you since you were in children's programs like FKC :) This will be a great time for YF to have fun with these loving brothers/sisters who have invested into children and youth ministry, to discover how important they see this ministry and enjoy the outdoors. C&Y ministry could not run as it does without the loving support of amazing adult volunteers!

This Sunday (19th), we will be encouraged by the devotions that YF peers have prepared for the upcoming mission trip. They have prepared Bible studies that they will share at Ouje.

Following Sunday school (19th) there will be a Ouje team meeting for prayer and updates, also the recipe book is looking to be finalized ASAP, nag for those recipes one last time :) Vehicles/drivers/adults are confirmed/booked, Bibles have been donated, praying and fasting chain will set up, messages and recipe book are coming along nicely, we need to be faithful in the remaining preparations for crafts, games, prizes, worship, devos etc.

If you would like to be baptized at our annual summer picnic, let me know as soon as possible

Remember to book your calendars for August 15th - 19th Discipleship Week. As we do each year, we will have a few community service opportunities lined up as well as a comprehensive look into Biblical manhood and womanhood. How we can grow as godly men and women of faith.

Let us know how we can be praying for you guys and if you'd like to catch up!

See you all on Friday!

YF Relay for Life this Friday (10th)

2011-06-07T15:24:00.004-04:00

Thanks for making the time from your exam studies to look into Scripture and discuss the transforming power of the Holy Spirit. We asked some challenging questions on Friday. Are we allowing the Holy Spirit to transform our lives and our church? Are you quenching the Spirit's work in your life? This is what God wants for us, the Holy Spirit wants to lead us. He wants to lead us into something deeper, but do we believe it? I've seen the Spirit do supernatural work in your lives, continue to allow the Spirit to change aspects of your life that you could not on your own. May your life display God's glory as it has during Ouje trips, outreach events, your life at school etc. It's been an awesome weekend, I met with many of Jr. High parents and they have expressed deep desire to raise a new generation of passionate believers. We continued our journey in James during English service and focused on how seriously God takes sin in Sunday school through the example of Achan.

This Friday (10th), we encourage you to make it a priority to take a break from exams and join us in fellowship at the Relay for Life at the Nepean Sportsplex field. Each year we reserve this evening for church families to participate in the Relay for Life. Cancer has had an impact on all of us, some of us have lost loved ones or been through a difficult time where a family member, by God's grace; was able to fight cancer. Whatever the case, please join us for the evening at 7:00pm and leave at whatever time is convenient for you (uncle Eric suggests after the candle ceremony at 10pm) some people often stay overnight. The closet OCTranspo Park and Rides are at Woodroffe/Baseline and the other at Woodroffe/Fallowfield. It's no cost for the event, your presence will show your support. Please bring your running shoes, clothing in preparation of the weather (colder in the evening), frisbees, footballs, baseball gloves etc. It is a very recreational time, where you can gather together for the fight against cancer as well as having a lot of time for meaningful talks, fun and fellowship.

Message from Jeff regarding fundraising and directions:
If you are hungry, bring some money because uncle Eric will be selling snacks and beverages to help fundraise more for cancer. All proceeds will go toward Relay for Life so it's a good opportunity for those who couldn't donate (or want to donate more) to pitch in some loose change. If you can bring some toonies along, anything helps!
There is massive construction at the intersection of Woodroffe and Hunt Club. If your parents plan on driving you to the event, please tell them to avoid going down Hunt Club because you cannot turn left or right onto woodroffe (which means you have to take a massive detour). They can instead, take the 417 and get off a Woodroffe Avenue. Then go all the way down that street and get to the Sportsplex without trouble. It will save much heart ache.

This Sunday (12th) is our English Outdoor Worship in the Lord's Garden, there will be a barbeque/picnic time following the service so there is no Sunday school this Sunday, make use of this time to deepen relationships and get to know each other.

Please remind your parents to submit a recipe for Ouje (or two - main course/dessert). It's been at least 4 weeks of collecting recipes and we have not received nearly as many as anticipated.

Let us know how we can be praying for you guys and if you'd like to catch up!

See you all on Friday!

June 17th C&Y Worker appreciation night
June 26th - July 2nd YF Ouje Mission Trip
July 15th YF Waterfight (location still to be confirmed - volunteer your backyard! If you don't live in the water ban that is)
July 22nd Special guest sharing
August 15-19 YF Discipleship week 9:30am - 12pm each day

YF Basic: Holy Spirit Bible study and discussion this Friday (3rd)

2011-05-31T14:35:00.004-04:00

Thanks for a great discussion in Sunday School regarding Samuel and living with your ears open. Some have coffee with the Creator while others just unplug their ipods on their daily bus rides, whatever the case - do your best to incline your ears to hear what the Lord is trying to say to you. We are so used to asking and requesting things from God but don't often stick around to hear what He has to say. Like that 'friend' that does all the talking making you feel unimportant in the relationship. Continue in your daily reading of Scripture, if you don't have a plan - I have one for you! Remember to congratulate and pray for the beautiful new couple (Andrew and Karen!) as they embark on a new life together. I was at the wedding rehearsal on Friday but I heard that gym night was fun for all who participated.

This Friday (3rd), we will continue our discussion series in BASIC with 'Holy Spirit'. This is a series we started way back in January but this is only the third installment because of our packed schedule. The last two Bible studies and discussions in this series have been awesome times of interaction with 'Fear God' and 'Follow Jesus'. In 'Holy Spirit' we'll discuss some pretty heavy questions like what is the chuch? Is it broken? Can it be different? If all we had was the Bible as our guide and we were to read it and then start a church, what would it look like? So take a break from your exam studies and please bring your Bibles, writing utensils and a willingness to participate and be changed.

This Sunday (5th), we will be continuing our journey through the Old Testament with a study of sin and how seriously God takes it. We'll be diving into the book of Joshua to get an idea of how sin opposes who God is and what our response to it needs to be.

Our Ouje team had another meeting on Sunday and we still need a lot of participation in regards to the submission of recipes, please remind your parents to submit a recipe for Ouje (or two - main course/dessert) if they have time.

I'll also be speaking during the English service this Sunday, so please keep me in your prayers. Let us know how we can be praying for you guys and if you'd like to catch up!

See you all on Friday!

June 17th C&Y Worker appreciation night
July 15th YF Waterfight (location still to be confirmed - volunteer your backyard! If you don't live in the water ban that is)
July 22nd Special guest sharing
August 15-19 YF Discipleship week 9:30am - 12pm each day

YF Gym Night this Friday (27th) CH followup

2011-05-24T15:15:00.000-04:00

What a weekend! It was such a joy to witness how you all worked together for the same purpose of displaying God's glory. Our sister Salina wanted me to pass this encouragement to you, please read it in full because I couldn't have said it better myself.

Dear YFers,
Well done! Good job! ....... Did you hear God been repeating that to you on Friday evening?
I wasn't at the coffee house on Friday. But Manson shared of his joy when he came home after the coffee house, Pastor Francis shared the excitement with the Cantonese congregation this morning; Pastor Josh shared with the C&Y core team this amazing evening in the C&Y meeting this afternoon.
I certainly felt overwhelmed hearing all these. God works in amazing ways all the time in you and through you.
In preparing for this evening program, I know many of you served in the front stage, and yet still many of you served quietly behind the scenes. And together you all served Jesus in joy and to the glory of God.
Remember, the little things you do.... the sacrifices you make..... may not always be noticed by others -- but God sees every one of them and smiles.
Thank you all and Praise God for your love to Jesus.
Well Done! Good Job!!

Praise the Lord for this weekend, all the preparation in the various ways, prayer, decorations, sound, powerpoint, tech, food, games, apple skit, mc, overall program, prizes, leaders, setting/cleaning up, music, testimony etc. As auntie Salina said, many details may not always be noticed by others but the Lord knows your heart and the desire you had to bring glory to Him through the coffeehouse. From your sharing, your friends had a great experience and some were profoundly impacted while others had many questions. Please use these weeks of followup to continue the discussion (about the songs, skits, videos, testimony) with your friends at school or wherever you hang out. The greatest encouragement to me is the fruit in your individual lives, the fact that your faith expresses itself through love for those around you. That's the vision of our youth min that students would be transformed by Christ and develop a passionate faith that is rooted in Scripture; so they would dynamically shape the people and culture around them.

This Friday (27th), will be GYM NIGHT at St. Patrick High school along with other brothers and sisters from the church! This gym is absolutely fantastic and HUGE with nets/equipment for basketball, floor hockey, volleyball, badminton etc. so bring your friends. We’ll meet at St. Patrick High School (Google directions provided: 2525 Alta Vista Drive, Ottawa, K1V 7T3). Please arrive at 7:15-30pm (or earlier if you need to change) and we have the gym booked from 7:30pm until 10pm. Please bring appropriate clothing and footwear (no boots). The consent form is attached. If you need a ride to and from church let me know ASAP otherwise meet at the gym.

This Sunday (29th) we will be entering into Samuel's story from 1 Samuel during Sunday school. Through reading Scripture and understanding what it must have been like for this amazing guy who anointed both king Saul and David in the OT, we should learn to live with our ears wide open.

Following Sunday school, our Ouje mission team will have a meeting to pray and plan from 12:30pm - 2:00pm (max), please bring your own lunch. You've received details about this in a separate e-mail. We haven't received much participation in regards to b/sisters submitting recipes so remember to hound your parents for them :) and their cell groups!

Continue to pray for friends, each other and us adult leaders :)
Let us know if you would like to meet up or how we can be praying for you.

Until Friday,

Upcoming (mark your calendars):
June 10th YF Relay for Life
June 17th C&Y Worker appreciation night
July 15th YF Waterfight (location still to be confirmed - volunteer your backyard! If you don't live in the water ban that is)
July 22nd Special guest sharing
August 15-19 YF Discipleship week 9:30am - 12pm each day

YF 'Despicable Me' Coffeehouse this weekend (20th, 21st)

2011-05-17T15:47:00.002-04:00

Many brothers and sisters are praying for you guys and that the Lord would be glorified through the coffeehouse! It was great to spend time in dedicated prayer on Sunday, please make it your priority to pray for coffeehouse this week! Remember what was shared at Sunday school through the miracles and testimonies of all the men+women in Scripture. We serve a God who is bigger than we could ever realize, pray for your friends and that all your preparation and labor would be for His glory this weekend!

This Friday (20th), will be the final day of praying, preparation and dress rehearsal for the 'Despicable me' coffeehouse. This Saturday (21st) will be the Coffeehouse, please arrange within your teams what time everyone needs to arrive early on Saturday. The YF coffeehouse exists to welcome your friends, being ambassadors of Christ and learning to work together with respect for one another. Please ensure that everything that is needed (props, dress, decorations, instruments, powerpoint, skits, files on USB etc.) will be arranged for Friday night so we can have a full dress rehearsal for Saturday and go through the flow of coffeehouse. The basement sanctuary is booked for YF to use for music, practice or skits, Rm. 202 will be available earlier (if you would like additional time to prepare) as well.

The followup to our coffeehouse will be Gym night on the following Friday evening (27th).
This Sunday (22nd), our journey through the Old Testament will resume as we will resume in more detail the experiences of Elijah in 1 Kings. Next Sunday (29th) we will continue our study in the book of Joshua.

Pray for your friends, each other and ministries (coffeehouse, ouje etc).
See you all on Friday and Saturday!

YF Coffeehouse prayer/prep/practice this Friday (13th)

2011-05-10T14:14:00.000-04:00

Last weekend, the Ouje team gathered to pray and do some preliminary planning for the trip. We are working out the messages, devotions, worship, games, crafts and transportation. We ask that regardless of whether you are part of the mission team or not, please join us in prayer for the Cree youth. We have a lot of work to do as we anticipate what the Lord will do in Ouje this summer! Thanks for all the prayer and dedication you've invested into the coffeehouse, last Friday we had several groups working at various aspects of the program. Learn to treat one another with grace and patience as we work towards the same purpose.

This Friday (13th), we will continue praying, preparation and practice for the coffeehouse. We will only be 1 week away from the coffeehouse! The YF coffeehouse exists to welcome your friends, being ambassadors of Christ and learning to work together with respect for one another. Make sure that everyone involved will be here, with all materials ready to practice/prepare. The basement sanctuary is booked for YF to use for music, practice or skits, Rm. 202 will be available earlier (if you would like additional time to prepare) as well.

This Sunday (15th), our journey through the Old Testament will resume as we discuss some miracles from the life of Elijah in 1 Kings. Please bring your Bibles and a willingness to renew your mind and be challenged by the Spirit. This series has been fun trying to engage ourselves in the characters of the Old Testament.

Here is a free download of 'Abide in Christ' by Andrew Murray (part of the church's reading campaign for May). It's a weighty read that is meant to supplement your daily Scripture reading. If you have not started reading you can begin on day 10.

Fire us an e-mail to set up a meeting time!
See you all on Friday!

YF Coffeehouse prayer/prep/practice this Friday (6th) Ouje meeting/Abide in Christ

2011-05-03T15:11:00.002-04:00

I really appreciated the sharing and fellowship last Friday as we discussed following Christ. The first thing the Lord invited the disciples to do was to follow Him and the last thing He said was to make more followers of Christ and to usher more people to live under the authority of God and to be like Him... may that be your desire as you interact with your sphere of influence each day. The life that Jesus calls you to live is one that is filled with blessing and privilege - the things that He says to walk away from are things that were going to destroy us anyways. Some of the verses we discussed: 1 Tim 6:6-10; Mk 10:21; Rev 6:15-17; Mt 7:13-14; Mt 7:21. In Sunday school we continued our journey in the OT and took a careful look at the wisdom from the book of Proverbs, we saw that Scripture clearly spells out consequences to our actions but warns us to be alert and wise. We also encouraged you to ask your parents or a trusted adults some questions about their mistakes as a youth and what godly advice they can give you about how to avoid those mistakes.

This Friday (6th), we will begin praying, preparation and practice for the coffeehouse. Please keep in mind the purpose of the event - welcoming your friends, being ambassadors of Christ and learning to work together with respect for one another. By this Friday the event will only be 2 weeks away! We've secured 3 rolls of newsprint for decorations team to work on (hoping to get 3 more this week). The basement sanctuary is booked for YF to use for music, practice or skits, Rm. 202 will be available earlier (if you would like additional time to prepare) as well. If you are leading a committee - please ensure that all involved will be there and ready to practice/prepare. Our aim for the evening is to confirm the program and run through a rough draft of the flow of the evening. Each committee, please commit to prayer individually and together on Friday. Maria has offered to prepare invitations on a request basis, please let her know! Our brothers and sisters in the Good Morning CCCO group have made other arrangements for the 21st morning to allow for YF to decorate, many thanks to them for their thoughtfulness.

The Ouje mission team will be meeting at 6:00pm this Friday (6th) prior to YF. Commitment is required for meetings leading up to Ouje, so please bring your own dinner and prayerfully consider how the Lord desires to work through you for this important trip. I've talked with a couple of our h2o students who also love Ouje and they will be joining us this Friday for our Ouje meeting as well. It's key to ensure that your exam schedules are rearranged (if need be) as soon as possible!

Some of you have expressed interest in taking part of the church's reading campaign on 'Abide in Christ'. A free download of 'Abide in Christ' by Andrew Murray can be found here. As I've mentioned before, this is not to be read like a novel, but daily reflection accompanied by Scripture reading. Andrew Murray's prayer "I pray earnestly that our gracious Lord may be pleased to bless this little book, to help those who seek to know Him fully. I pray still more earnestly that He would, by whatever means, make the multitudes of His dear children who are still living divided lives see how He claims them wholly for Himself, and how the wholehearted surrender to Him alone brings unspeakable joy and glory." You can read 2 days today to catch up so that May 3rd you will be reading day 3.

As usual, drop us an e-mail to let us know how we can be praying for you or if you would like to catch up over lunch/bbtea etc.

See you all on Friday!

YF Basic: Follow Jesus Bible study and discussion this Friday (29th)

2011-04-26T15:05:00.002-04:00

That was quite the weekend... Thanks for all who were able to worship with our CCCO family on Friday morning, it was a time to remember the crucifixion of Christ and His death at Calvary and it was a blessing to witness the rich creativity of the brothers and sisters as we worshiped the Lord through song, drama and communion. We had 28 youth attend No Other Name, it was moving to see a thousand students from across the region gather for No Other Name. Thanks for taking part in various workshops and discussions! I know that these are treasured times of fellowship where there is time for reflection as well as sharing and deepening your relationships. We also shared in the joy of witnessing brothers and sisters be baptized at our Easter worship! Please remember our responsibility as the body of Christ to disciple and encourage them in their walks with the Lord.

This Friday (29th), we have waited a long time to continue our Bible study and discussion series in Basic with 'Follow Jesus.' Our last discussion of 'Fear God' was very interactive and we enjoyed hearing from many of you as we wrestled with how we should fear God as it is the beginning of wisdom. Please bring your Bibles, (4 color) pens and a willingness to share, be challenged and changed. As always there will be a time for fellowship before and after with refreshments. On a personal note, I am extremely encouraged by you students! There have been life changing events in our group recently with deeper walks with the Lord, new relationships with the Lord as well as big breakthroughs in various lives! Please continue to pray for each other as you build your friendships. It's been a busy season, getting registration/money in for NoN, Ouje, planning for coffeehouse etc. Thanks for your faithfulness in all of these things!

This Sunday (1st), we will continue our Bible study series in the Old Testament as we intentionally enter into the rich wisdom of Solomon and the book of Proverbs. Feel free to use the time directly after Sunday school to organize details regarding coffeehouse and what can be prepared for the following Friday as we will have YF's in preparation/practice for Coffeehouse. Please remember that we will not have access to the basement sanctuary the morning of coffeehouse, so make preparations with that in mind so we can finish most of the decor the day before during YF. Please keep in mind the purpose of the event - welcoming your friends, being ambassadors of Christ and learning to work together with respect for one another.

Continue to pray for the Ouje team, we still need additional drivers and adults to participate in this trip. I'll notify all of those who have applied this Friday and Sunday. Check your exam schedule to see if June 26th to July 2nd overlaps with your last exam and make arrangements. Please pray for all the preparation that needs to take place for the trip.

I've absolutely loved speaking at your various schools. It's nice to get an idea of your daily surroundings and see the faces of friends that you've talked about or fellowship with at your schools. Let me know if you would like me to share at your schools as a testimony, topical workshop or Bible study. Let us know if you would like to catch up/pray and how we can be praying for you.

See you all on Friday!

YF No Other Name this Good Friday (22nd) at Sacred Heart High School

2011-04-19T14:28:00.002-04:00

Thanks for your participation and sharing at our Bible study on faith and doubt. Brad had it on his heart to share with you for quite some time as he has experienced depth in both categories throughout his pilgrimage with God. Please reflect on Paul's encouragement in Phil 4:8-9, this is a verse that Brad and I have talked about when he had shared about this topic with me months ago. Brad had also included 1 Cor 10:12; 1 Pet 5:8; John 20:24-29 and Mk 9:24.

This Friday (22nd) will be Good Friday which means we will come together for No Other Name at Sacred Heart High School! (directions) As mentioned on the site: We will come together "to sing His glory, be challenged by His Word and shout His name in praise, His name and No Other Name. Good Friday is the only day in the calendar year that is still only about Jesus. Therefore, there is No Other Name." 25 of you have already registered and paid for the event, IF you have not registered you must do so as soon as possible on the site (http://www.noothername.net/registration.html) and pay the regular price of $36. Please arrive at Sacred Heart High school anytime between 11:20am-11:40am and look for an adult leader outside.

Remember that CCCO has our Good Friday service which begins at 10am and is scheduled to end at 11pm. Please join your families to worship on Friday and arrange car pools and your own transportation to Sacred Heart High School afterwards!

The YF Ouje-Bougoumou mission trip team has been confirmed at the last C&Y core group meeting. I'll be letting each of you know within the next couple of weeks. We still need additional drivers and adults to participate in this trip. Check your exam schedule to see if June 26th to July 2nd overlaps with your last exam and make arrangements. Please pray for all the preparation that needs to take place for the trip.

It's encouraging to see Coffeehouse planning for May 21st is well underway. Please remember that we will not have access to the basement sanctuary the morning of coffeehouse, so make preparations with that in mind so we can finish most of the decor the day before during YF. Please keep in mind the purpose of the event and learn to work together with respect for one another.

As always, please let us know how we can be praying for you AND let each other know how they can be praying for you! We need to trust each other and learn how to love one another in community.

See you guys on Friday at CCCO and then Sacred Heart!

YF Bible study 'Faith & Doubt' this Friday (15th)

2011-04-12T14:54:00.003-04:00

Thanks for participating in the 30 Hour Famine this weekend! I know a lot of you shared about hurting stomachs and parents even shared how difficult it was for some of you, but it's always good to remember that this experience was not even a glimpse of what others endure. The money you raised will go toward providing desperately needed clean water to many people! I just spent the whole morning organizing all the forms, tracking sheets, donations and depositing the money with the pastors this morning and we raised just shy of $6000!!! (under two group names). You guys continue to amaze me by your willingness to serve in various ways (whether it's Ouje, coffeehouse, community service, discipleship week stuff, leading things for retreats etc.). You really set a great example for youth and show that anything is possible when students are passionate and desire to make a difference!

This Friday (15th) will be a Bible study on faith and doubt that Brad has been preparing! It's an issue that each generation faces but seems exponentially present during youth years (at least for Brad and I!) so it's been on his heart to share with you guys! Bring your Bibles and a willingness to participate and share.

This Sunday (17th) the coffeehouse committee shared with me that they would like to get everyone on the same page for coffeehouse and continue to organize roles, we'll also be ready to continue our series on the Old Testament with the book of Proverbs.

No Other Name is coming up quickly!!! It's April 22nd. I've received payment from 21/25 of you guys, so you know who you are :) Any cheques should be made to 'No Other Name' as I am collecting the early bird group fee. Get it in on Friday please.

For those that have applied for Ouje-Bougoumou this year, I've scheduled a C&Y meeting for deciding the team and confirming details, drivers needed, adults needed etc. Negotiate your exam schedule if it overlaps with your last exam. We will take the next couple of weeks to prayerfully consider assembling the team. Please pray for everything leading up to the camp.

Start praying about who you can invite to the coffeehouse on May 21st.

Hit us back with what is going on in your lives and what we can be praying about!

See you all on Friday!

YF 30 Hr. Famine at EACO this Friday&Sat (Everything due on April 8th)

2011-04-05T11:55:00.002-04:00

Thanks again for another great weekend, I heard the smoothie bar/movie was a lot of fun. I had a great relationships talk with the junior high students as well. Thanks for your great participation in our second Sunday school series of the Old Testament. I've enjoyed it so far, remember you can always submit questions about anything/everything and we'll address them periodically in Sunday school. We took a look at Exodus and how these covenants have played out in salvation history and dipped a bit into Hebrews as well!

This weekend is the 30 Hour Famine at EACO (4 Thorncliff Pl) from 7pm Friday(8th) to 7pm Sat (9th), we'll be having a lot of fun with icebreakers, worship, prayer, games, movies, service projects and of course a lot of free fellowship time! I've attached a form that you MUST complete for the famine in order to attend/sleep over. I've heard from many of you that you've been faithfully raising awareness and funds for 30 Hr. Famine. Pray that World Vision would be faithful stewards as they distribute these funds to those who need it most.

Stuff to bring (PAY ATTENTION)
Signed and completed waiver form (attached)
All used and unused fundraising forms/money
$5 for supper
Your registration fee for No Other Name ($26) if you are attending
Ouje applications
Bible, clothes for the night and day, cameras, sleeping bag, pillow. hygeine items such as toothbrush, comb, shampoo, deodorant. (instruments and equipment if you are on the worship team)

The details:
7pm Friday night at EACO (4 Thorncliff Pl) to 7pm on Saturday night, $5 for supper on Saturday

Leave this stuff at home
ipods, mp3 players and the sort. no alcohol, tobacco or weapons of any kind permitted. Cell phone use is only to call parents/emergencies

Ouje-Bougoumou mission trip applications are due this Friday!! If you have not yet submitted your form, please prayerfully consider this opportunity not only to serve but to grow! These trips have been highlights in my 5 years of youth ministry, I've seen several youth accept Christ, the Spirit move and breakthroughs in our own youth who attend to share the gospel and serve. Retreats and discipleship weeks are fantastic but I pray that you would consider taking steps of faith in applying for Ouje. Please take time as you answer the questions on the form.

No Other Name money is due this Friday, please submit it to myself or one of the Pure Energy adult volunteers this Friday. If you have said that you are coming, you are on the hook for $26 as you are already registered for the early bird deadline.

Coffeehouse is coming up on May 21st! That'll come in a blink of the eye. We encourage the student leadership team to focus on the progress thus far. Start praying about who you can invite to the coffeehouse too!

Let us know how we can be praying for you or if you would like to meet up!
See you all on Friday and Sat!

YF 'Despicable Me' this Friday (1st) NoN, Coffeehouse, Ouje

2011-03-29T15:11:00.000-04:00

Thanks for all your prayers and encouragements, our baby girl arrived early and we are cherishing this blessing! Your love, Lord, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies Ps. 36:5. I was overjoyed to hear about an amazing time of sharing last Friday! I was told it was extremely encouraging to hear of how the Spirit has been working in your life and how God has been speaking to each of you lately. Know that our God truly is mighty to save. Please continue your commitments to read His Word and spend time in prayer each day. Special thanks to Jon Lam, Tim Lee, Brad, Luke, Laura and all the h2o students who helped paint and clean up last week - the room looks fantastic! Thanks to all who committed to completing the Experiencing God course. Last Sunday we had the privilege of starting a new series in the Old Testament, we started with Adam and Eve and really entered into their story and the consequences of sin. We saw how immediate the impact of sin in our lives and how it affects them individually and everyone around them. It was a really good start and we look forward to continuing that with you guys!

This Friday (1st), in anticipation of the coffeehouse - many of you requested to watch Despicable Me to brainstorm ideas for the coffeehouse. There will be snacks in the next gen room but feel free to bring MORE snacks and your friends. Shelly, Rae-Anne, Brad, Emily and Jeff will be joining you guys this week as I'll be doing a relationship talk in Pure Energy next door.

This Sunday (3rd) we will be continuing our new Sunday school course where we study some fundamental stories in the Old Testament. We'll continue where we left of after Adam and Eve and peek into the book of Exodus. Throughout the series we'll step into the shoes of people like Samuel and Esther. Throughout this course, we'll have a larger picture of the God who keeps promises, does marvelous miracles and forgives His own when they make horrible choices.

No Other Name (April 22nd, Noon to 10pm), I am registering our group for $10 savings this Thursday evening by 9PM. I already have several people written down to attend, if you do not let me know by this Thursday by 9pm, you may still register as an individual on the website http://www.noothername.net for the full $36. Let me know by Thursday to pay $26 instead.

30 Hour Famine will be held April 8th-9th at EACO. The fundraising forms were handed out at the Getaway, last Friday and Sunday, DO NOT LOSE THEM (they are marked legal fundraising documents so be sure to treat them with care). If you do not have forms, we will give them to you on Friday.

The Mission trip to Ouje-Bougoumou will take place June 26 - July 2, the forms are attached in this e-mail. This year the firm deadline is April 8th. This form will take some time to reflect and answer questions, please don't take this opportunity lightly and prayerfully consider your participation.

It looks like planning for coffeehouse e-mails and organization has commenced :) It's coming up May 21st! Always remember the purpose of the event. The student leadership team has been fantastic so far, please continue to focus on why we are running the event as it takes a lot of invested time and resources but it's always been worth it! Prayerfully begin to invite your friends so they can book the date!

Let us know how we can be praying for you!

See you all on Friday!

YF Sharing and Fellowship this Friday (25th) (Ouje forms again)

2011-03-22T15:27:00.002-04:00

God is good, all the time. This weekend is seriously beyond words, when people have asked me how it went - I can't even begin to describe how awesome the Lord is. How the Spirit has been working in your lives has been incredible and a tremendous blessing for me to witness. I am really thankful for all the prayers, tears, laughs and late talks that we were able to share. Your prayers for each other, the relationships that you invested in, serving in worship/games/promo/devos/small groups etc. the initiatives you took were amazing. We have some new siblings in Christ and pray that as a fellowship we could continue to sharpen one another and commit to honoring the Lord through the Word and prayer. Remember these moments, testify to how the Lord impacted you through Getaway and these past few weeks/months/years.

This Friday (25th) we will have some time to share about what the Lord has been teaching you through the Getaway, originally we were going to discuss Basic: Follow Jesus or spend some time working on the youth room but we wanted to have a space where we can share what God has been speaking into our lives and inspire and encourage faith in one another. We strongly encourage you to commit to share what the Lord has put on your heart this Friday to edify our fellowship. Let's "proclaim what the Lord has done" just as it said in P.Rob's memory verse. I firmly believe that Spirit has been doing incredible things in the lives of YF, so please come ready to share and be open! We will also have a lot of time of fellowship and snacks with PE while asking some people to help drill the couch legs on.

This Saturday (26th) we will be painting the Next Gen room, we will need a couple of volunteers to help us with this task. This is a great way to serve the church and the generations of people who will fellowship in this room. I'll ask again on Friday, but please let me know if you are available to serve in this way (we will join you!)

This Sunday (27th) we will be beginning a new Sunday school course examining some fundamental stories in the Old Testament, we have a longing to know where we came from and make sense of our world and ourselves. My prayer is that you would encounter the God who keeps promises, does marvelous miracles and forgives His own when they make horrible choices. We will dig though Adam and Eve, Samuel, Esther and more...

30 Hour Famine forms were handed out at the Getaway, DO NOT LOSE THEM (they are marked legal fundraising documents so be sure to treat them with care). If you do not have forms, we will give them to you on Friday. The event is April 8th-9th at EACO.

Ouje-Bougoumou (June 26 - July 2) forms are attached in your e-mail, firm deadline is April 8th. This form will take some time to reflect and answer questions, please don't take this opportunity lightly and prayerfully consider your participation.

Remember to let me know about NO OTHER NAME before April 1st for $10 savings! I already have 20 of you registered, please bring $26 cheques payable to 'No Other Name' before April 1st.

Coffeehouse is coming up on May 21st! That'll come in a blink of the eye. We encourage the student leadership team to focus on the progress thus far. Start praying about who you can invite to the coffeehouse too!

Anyone missing a pair of black/white Adidas shoes (size 7.5)?

Woah that was a long e-mail! I'll be meeting with quite a few of you in the coming weeks, but let me know if you want a time to catch up!

See you all on Friday!

YF Getaway Retreat: Know my Voice - Ten Four this weekend (18th-20th)

2011-03-14T12:13:00.003-04:00

It's here! YF Getaway Retreat at Camp Galilee!!. Our focus this year is "Know my Voice - Ten Four", we will spend some time in John chapter 10 focusing on knowing God's voice and responding to it. Many of you have been working extremely hard in your various planning committees to prepare for the retreat, I pray that you have grown throughout this process. Please continue to pray for all the various teams, leaders, pastors and Pastor Robin Mckee as he will share God's Word with us this weekend!

The Details:
Please meet at OCAC (a 2 minute walk from CCCO [directions]) at 4:50pm on Friday, April 18th - buses will depart shortly after. Please prepare to be picked up around 4:30pm Sunday, March 20th from OCAC.

Stuff to bring:
Bible, writing utensils, clothes for the 2 days and 2 nights, paper or notebook, appropriate clothing for both indoor and outdoor games and activities. cameras, sleeping bag, pillow. hygeine items such as toothbrush, comb, shampoo, deodorant. (instruments and equipment if you are on the worship team)

Leave this stuff at home:
ipods, mp3 players and the sort. no alcohol, tobacco or weapons of any kind permitted. Cell phone use is only to call parents/emergencies, no texting the person beside you... try speaking to them face to face (it's a new idea! :)

*** Ouje-Bougoumou forms are attached in your e-mail, firm deadline is April 8th. This form will take some time to reflect and answer questions, please don't take this opportunity lightly and prayerfully consider your participation.
** Remember to let me know about NO OTHER NAME before April 1st for $10 savings! $26 instead of $36.
* I'll be handing out 30 Hr. Famine fundraising forms this weekend too.

Ongoing:
There are baptism opportunities this Easter service, if you have been praying about baptism please let me know as soon as possible! :) I spoke with Lisgar's Christian group (fantastic group). I want to serve you and your schools too! Let me know if you would like to catch up and pray together too!

Upcoming (mark your calendars):
30 Hour Famine: We are doing the 30 Hour Famine this year! I've asked the other pastors and they are down. April 8-9th!
No Other Name: April 22 http://www.noothername.net/ $26 before April 1st, $36 after April 1st
For those who are prayerfully considering missions in Ouje, our dates would be June 26th - July 2nd. There is potential that the trip could be longer than previous years, but that is the Teen Camp date. Pastor Enoch and I hope this doesn't overlap with exam dates as it has in previous years.

See you all on Friday!!! Pray for the weekend!

YF Gym night this Friday (11th) at St. Patrick High School

2011-03-08T11:37:00.003-05:00

Couches got delivered this morning for the youth room!!! Looks better already!!! You'll see on Sunday as we have gym night this Friday!

Thanks for a great night during Family Feud, the parents that I spoke with were really enthusiastic and had a blast playing games with you guys! Jon Lam said It was really a precious sight to see parents praying/sharing with their children at the end of the evening, I totally agree! I particularly loved the Item memory game a lot, Emily was saying that was always a HUGE hit at her church! :) Parents loved Bird and Perch... just a great night!

This Friday (11th), will be a GYM NIGHT at St. Patrick High school along with Pure Energy, h2o and other brothers and sisters! Once again, this gym is fantastic with nets for basketball, floor hockey, volleyball, badminton etc. so bring your friends. We’ll meet at St. Patrick High School (Google directions provided: 2525 Alta Vista Drive, Ottawa, K1V 7T3). Please arrive at 7:15-30pm (or earlier if you need to change) and we have the gym booked from 7:30pm until 10pm. Please bring appropriate clothing and footwear (no boots). The consent form is attached. If you need a ride to and from church let me know ASAP otherwise meet at the gym. GETAWAY is next week!!! WOWZERS!

This Sunday (13th) we will be continuing our study of the 'Experiencing God' course. Last week we focused on 'Encounters with God Require Faith' from unit 7, this week we will be in chapter 8 'Adjusting your Life to God'. We may also spend time with PE in moving up the foosball table/cleaning up the floor and taking down the Christmas lights in the Next Gen room too!

See you all on Friday!

Remember to let me know about NO OTHER NAME before April 1st for $10 savings! $26 instead of $36.

Ongoing:
There are baptism opportunities this Easter service, if you have been praying about baptism please let me know as soon as possible! :) I'll be sharing at the Lisgar Collegiate Christian club this week and I'm available to the rest of you as well, I really want to know how I can serve you and your schools too! Let me know if you would like to catch up and pray together too!

Upcoming (mark your calendars):
Getaway: Know my Voice. Ten Four (March 18-20).
30 Hour Famine: We are doing the 30 Hour Famine this year! I've asked the other pastors and they are down. April 8-9th!
No Other Name: April 22 http://www.noothername.net/ $26 before April 1st, $36 after April 1st
For those who are prayerfully considering missions in Ouje, our dates would be June 26th - July 2nd. There is potential that the trip could be longer than previous years, but that is the Teen Camp date. Pastor Enoch and I hope this doesn't overlap with exam dates as it has in previous years.

YF Family Feud this Friday (4th) Getaway Forms due this Week!

2011-03-01T14:46:00.002-05:00

Thanks to Ray and Esther who opened their home to us and displayed amazing hospitality for Winterness on Saturday! They are simply amazing and even had like 20 pairs of snowpants on hand for us haha! It was a great time and a big thanks to all the adult helpers who organized, cooked, and drove for this great time in Montreal! Praise the Lord that we are all in one piece! :) On Sunday, we spoke about transformation by the Holy Spirit, we have to intentionally be transformed from the inside out. This will change how we see and respond! We also had the opportunity to discuss some preliminary plans for our upcoming coffeehouse!

This Friday will be Family Feud (4th) with your parents!! We've asked each youth to bring one of your parents and have them bring their 'A' game :) There are many important purposes of the gathering this Friday that we will address during the evening. You will be in teams (pairs) with your parents for a variety of 'competitions' and games! Nothing embarrassing, don't worry :) If your parent is not able to come, don't let that stop you from coming - we will pair you up with an adult leader. We will also be joined by our Pure Energy brothers and sisters who are also encouraged to bring their parents. We'll also have refreshments as well :)

This Sunday (6th), we will be continuing our study through Experiencing God, unit 7. Getaway: Know My Voice - Ten Four forms are due this Sunday as well!!! Please return the attached form with cheque payable to 'OCYM' or 'Ottawa Chinese Youth Ministerium' before this Sunday!

Ongoing:
There are baptism opportunities this Easter service, if you have been praying about baptism please let me know as soon as possible! :) I'll be sharing at the Lisgar Collegiate Christian club next month and I'm available to the rest of you as well, I really want to know how I can serve you and your schools too! Let me know if you would like to catch up and pray together too!

Upcoming (mark your calendars):
Getaway: Know my Voice. Ten Four (March 18-20). FORM attached in e-mail "Get your forms in by March 6th.... March 6th... the price is $115, $115, one fifteeeeeeeen."
30 Hour Famine: We are doing the 30 Hour Famine this year! I've asked the other pastors and they are down. April 8-9th!
No Other Name: April 22 http://www.noothername.net/ $26 before April 1st, $36 after April 1st
For those who are prayerfully considering missions in Ouje, our dates would be June 26th - July 2nd. There is potential that the trip could be longer than previous years, but that is the Teen Camp date. Pastor Enoch and I hope this doesn't overlap with exam dates as it has in previous years.

See you all on Friday!

YF Winterness this Saturday (26th) No YF on Friday

2011-02-22T13:23:00.000-05:00

It was great to pack our room on Friday to study and reflect on John 10 and Psalm 23, we shared about how important it is to recognize Christ as our Shepherd and have that relationship with Him where He guides, protects and knows us. Can we tell the difference between His voice and a strangers? At the end we asked you which was currently your biggest need: the need for direction/purpose, the need for protection from thieves/robbers, the need to know Him more. Some of you were praying about playing a shepherd like role in a younger Christian's life, imagine what it would look like if every generation of believers did that. We read from Psalm 23 and meditated on that passage as each of us highlighted how the Lord spoke to us in that passage.

This Saturday (26th) is YF Winterness, this is a day of winter fun as Ray & Esther have opened their home for us again (same place as Fall Retreat in 09)! There will be skating, snow games, hot tub, bonfire etc. Bring appropriate winter clothing/boots, skates, modest swimwear (for hottub) etc. For those that have registered meet at CCCO (116 Empress) at 8:30am on Saturday morning and arrange to be picked up no later than 9:30pm. YF is Saturday this week so there is no program on Friday night, next week will be Family Feud on Friday, March 4th as usual.

This Sunday (27th) we will be interacting with the lesson "What is Happening when you Pray?" from chapter 6 of 'Experiencing God'. Some passages you could read in advance include Eph 3:20-21; 1 Cor 2:10-12 and the death of Lazarus in John 11:1-45.

Ongoing:
There are baptism opportunities this Easter service, if you have been praying about baptism please let me know as soon as possible! :) I'll be sharing at the Lisgar Collegiate Christian club next month and I'm available to the rest of you as well, I really want to know how I can serve you and your schools too! Let me know if you would like to catch up and pray together too!

Upcoming (mark your calendars):
Getaway: Know my Voice. Ten Four (March 18-20). FORM attached in e-mail "Get your forms in by March 6th.... March 6th... the price is $115, $115, one fifteeeeeeeen."
30 Hour Famine: We are doing the 30 Hour Famine this year! I've asked the other pastors and they are down. April 8-9th!
For those who are prayerfully considering missions in Ouje, our dates would be June 26th - July 2nd. There is potential that the trip could be longer than previous years, but that is the Teen Camp date. Pastor Enoch and I hope this doesn't overlap with exam dates as it has in previous years.

See you all on Friday!

YF Bible study: Red Letters-the Shepherd (18th) this Friday

2011-02-15T13:07:00.003-05:00

It was fun to skate the canal together last Friday! It was fun to skate/talk and enjoy the beavertails and hot chocolate, a big thanks to uncle Eddie and auntie Salina for hosting us, feeding us and letting us get their front hallway all slushy and messy!

This Friday (18th) we will be continuing our study of Jesus, this time as our Shepherd in John chapter 10. We'll spend some time in fellowship, explore God's Word, make personal applications and have a time to focus on God through reflection. This will be a fruitful time in Scripture as we underscore how foundational Christ as our Shepherd is. Bring your Bibles and I pray that each of us would come with an open heart and an anticipation that the Spirit would speak to you.

This Sunday (20th) we will be chapter 5. unit 1: God Speaks in Different Ways, those who have been studying through Experiencing God devotionally have found that the Spirit uses it to renew their minds and hearts. I ran out of copies to distribute but feel free to purchase them at Salem! It's never too late to start.

Getaway worship team, we have a meeting this Saturday (19th) @ CCCO 9:30am - noon, I trust the other Getaway teams know their meeting dates as well :)

There are baptism opportunities this Easter service, if you have been praying about baptism please let me know as soon as possible! :) I'll be sharing at the Lisgar Collegiate Christian club next month and I'm available to the rest of you as well, I really want to know how I can serve you and your schools too! Let me know if you would like to catch up and pray together too!

Upcoming:
Montreal Winterness on Feb 26th - Return FORMS ASAP (attached) There will be skidoos, skating.... and winter goodness as well as meals, transportation etc. I`ve attached the Waiver form to your e-mail and promo (produced by Brad and Rae-Anne!) so please get those back to us ASAP as we need to arrange for rides. This is a perfect event to invite your friends to YF as well!
Getaway: Know my Voice. Ten Four (March 18-20).
30 Hour Famine: We are doing the 30 Hour Famine this year! I've asked the other pastors and they are down. April 8-9th!
For those who are prayerfully considering missions in Ouje, our dates would be June 26th - July 2nd. There is potential that the trip could be longer than previous years, but that is the Teen Camp date. Pastor Enoch and I hope this doesn't overlap with exam dates as it has in previous years.

See you all on Friday!

YF Winterlude this Friday (11th) meeting at the Yan's + Winterness forms

2011-02-08T12:54:00.003-05:00

This last weekend was such an amazing encouragement to many! Uncles and Aunties have been overwhelmingly encouraging about you guys! They had many positive and encouraging comments regarding your service on Sunday preparing the lunch, cleaning, setting up tables/chairs, removing decorations, cooking etc. Be sure to continually thank our aunties and uncles for all the work that they do as we have much to learn from them. It was clear from all the workshops, sharings, dinners, lunches and the services all throughout this weekend that the adults of our church love and support you guys as the next generation!

This Friday (11th) we will be skating/walking on the canal along with Pure Energy to enjoy Winterlude!! we will be meeting at uncle Eddie and auntie Salina's place at 7pm (address in your e-mail) and picked up by 9:45pm. We will skate together in groups, complete with ice sculptures, hot chocolate and just enjoying each other's company. Submit the attached form If you have not submitted it at gym night. Bring warm clothes, skates and some money if you plan on eating beavertails etc. :)

Winterness forms are due this weekend (forms are attached)! We need to know the number so proper transportation and food can be provided.

This Sunday (13th), We will tackle the second lesson from chapter 4 in our "Experiencing God" workbooks. Those who own the book are encouraged to complete and meditate on each day's lesson (5 days in each chapter) throughout the week. As mentioned before auntie Salina, uncle Youlian and our very own Brad shared about how the Lord used this curriculum to completely change their lives as they listen to the Spirit.

Also, please remember that I would love to come and share at your Christian groups in your schools, please let me know your schedules and if you'd like to come and share. As always, I would love to catch up and pray for you if you are free (the leaders would love to meet&pray with you too).

Upcoming:
Montreal Winterness on Feb 26th - Return FORMS ASAP (attached) There will be skidoos, skating.... and winter goodness as well as meals, transportation etc. I`ve attached the Waiver form to your e-mail and promo (produced by Brad and Rae-Anne!) so please get those back to us ASAP as we need to arrange for rides. This is a perfect event to invite your friends to YF as well!
Getaway: Know my Voice. Ten Four (March 18-20).
30 Hour Famine: We are doing the 30 Hour Famine this year! I've asked the other pastors and they are down. April 8-9th!
For those who are prayerfully considering missions in Ouje, our dates would be June 26th - July 2nd. There is potential that the trip could be longer than previous years, but that is the Teen Camp date. Pastor Enoch and I hope this doesn't overlap with exam dates as it has in previous years.

See you all on Friday!

YF Next Generation Ministry Night this Friday (4th) at church (Winterness forms again!)

2011-02-01T13:59:00.002-05:00

First of all, thanks for your great participation in the Fear God discussion. I know that the Spirit was teaching us on Friday night and pray that you would continue to ask the Spirit to teach you what it means to fear Him. It was great seeing such a large group contribute to the discussion. In Sunday school, we continued with the second week of Experiencing God which began on page 38. We focused on the difference between being self-centered and God-centered. For those of you with the books, please continue up to page 66.

This Friday (4th) we will have an evening of games, worship and a message from Pastor William Wan regarding Next Generation Ministry. Pastor Wan has shared with us what he will be sharing and it will be an incredibly edifying message for you as young people as well as addressing adults and parents. Bring your Bibles and open hearts as Pastor Wan will share from God's Word with us. Afterwards, we'll enjoy some healthy snacks (mmm), refreshments (and some less healthy snacks for diversity' sake, hehe).

This Sunday (6th), We will tackle the first lesson from chapter 3 in our "Experiencing God" workbooks (complete up to pg. 66 this week). Those who own the book are encouraged to complete and meditate on each day's lesson (5 days in each chapter) throughout the week. As mentioned before auntie Salina, uncle Youlian and our very own Brad shared about how the Lord used this curriculum to completely change their lives as they listen to the Spirit.

Also, please remember that I would love to come and share at your Christian groups in your schools, please let me know your schedules and if you`d like to come and share. As always, I would love to catch up and pray for you if you are free (the leaders would love to meet&pray with you too).

Upcoming:
Montreal Winterness on Feb 26th - Return FORMS ASAP (attached in e-mail) There will be skidoos, skating.... and winter goodness as well as meals, transportation etc. I`ve attached the Waiver form to your e-mail and promo (produced by Brad and Rae-Anne!) so please get those back to us ASAP as we need to arrange for rides. This is a perfect event to invite your friends to YF as well!
Getaway: Know my Voice. Ten Four (March 18-20).
For those who are prayerfully considering missions in Ouje, our dates would be June 26th - July 2nd. There is potential that the trip could be longer than previous years, but that is the Teen Camp date. Pastor Enoch and I hope this doesn't overlap with exam dates as it has in previous years.

See you all on Friday!

YF BASIC:Fear God this Friday (28th) (Montreal forms)

2011-01-25T12:52:00.003-05:00

I hope everyone enjoyed the exercise and gym time on Friday, it's a good time to take a break from exam studying and build relationships with PE and h2o! We are praying for you as we know that most of your exams will be wrapping up this week. Shelly's been finishing up a lot of those bookmarks next to me and the English is done and Salina has made a Chinese bookmark that a couple of the adult leaders will help glue as well... thanks for working on those as well. There will also be an insert in the bulletin for the youth room in the bulletin this week. I still have 3 more copies of "Experiencing God" for you to do as a devotional course while we are journeying through them for Sunday school. Please claim them when you want. Maria has shared that she is having a hard time limiting herself to one lesson a day at a time. :)

This Friday (28th), we will be having a discussion on the Fear of God. It is clear in the Bible that the Fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. Is it possible we have dangerously misunderstood? This discussion will begin with Francis Chan's BASIC: Fear God as a partnership with Flannel (group which produces Nooma). Here is a link to the official trailer. Please bring your Bibles and a willing heart and mind to interact. If the Fear of God is the beginning of wisdom than it is of the utmost importance that we are desperate to understand what that means. Francis Chan is the author of 'Crazy Love' and 'Forgotten God', books that have profoundly impacted my relationship with the Lord, many of you have received them as baptism gifts etc.

This Sunday (30th), We will continue in our "Experiencing God" workbooks (complete up to pg. 37 this week). For those who have the workbook, please diligently work through these exercises each day. As mentioned before auntie Salina, uncle Youlian and our very own Brad shared about how the Lord used this curriculum to completely change their lives as they listen to the Spirit.

I've confirmed with the C&Y core group and our Day trip to Montreal (Feb 26th) is approved for those who desire to go! There will be skidoos, skating.... and winter goodness as well as meals, transportation etc. I`ve attached the Waiver form to your e-mail and promo (produced by Brad and Rae-Anne!) so please get those back to us ASAP as we need to arrange for rides. This is a perfect event to invite your friends to YF as well!

Also, please remember that I would love to come and share at your Christian groups in your schools, please let me know your schedules and if you`d like to come and share. As always, I would love to catch up and pray for you if you are free (the leaders would love to meet&pray with you too).

Upcoming:
Getaway: Know my Voice. Ten Four (March 18-20). OCBC is hosting Saturate again on the 29th of this month (Saturday evening) and I've been invited to share, you are more than welcome to join.
For those who are prayerfully considering missions in Ouje, our dates would be June 26th - July 2nd. There is potential that the trip could be longer than previous years, but that is the Teen Camp date. Pastor Enoch and I hope this doesn't overlap with exam dates as it has in previous years.

See you all on Friday!

YF Gym night this Friday (21st) at St. Patrick's High School

2011-01-18T14:02:00.004-05:00

[Thursday edit: Please bring sports equipment (if you have a basketball etc.) in case it is not all provided like last time. also, had a meeting with the other youth pastors and discerned the following theme for Getaway based on your input: "Ten Four: Know My Voice" Based on John 10:4 which encapsulates what our top three themes were (but in reverse order). Knowing God then the relationship leads to knowing His Will then dynamically shaping the people (taking over) and world around us. But it all starts from knowing His voice.]

Thanks for your full participation in last Friday's Red Letter study of the sermon on the mount and our Sunday school on "Christ as our Model" as part of 'Experiencing God'. I pray that the Spirit would cultivate within you a deeper desire for the Lord and His pleasing and perfect Will. Thanks for those involved in Getaway leadership as well, various committees are already collaborating in preparation for the retreat.

This Friday (21st), we will be joining Pure Energy, h2o and brothers and sisters at St. Patrick's for gym night! This is a fantastic gym facility with nets for everything (even hockey!) so bring your friends. We’ll meet at St. Patrick’s High School (Google directions provided: 2525 Alta Vista Drive, Ottawa, K1V 7T3). Please arrive at 7pm (or earlier if you need to change) and we have the gym booked until 10pm. Please bring appropriate clothing and footwear (no boots). The consent form is attached. If you need a ride to and from church let me know ASAP otherwise meet at the gym.

This Sunday (23rd), I'll have the copies of "Experiencing God" workbooks available for you for this term of Sunday School. Please diligently work through these exercises each day. I've heard from a couple of brothers/sisters about how the Lord used this curriculum to completely change their lives as they listen to the Spirit.

Upcoming:
For those who are prayerfully considering missions in Ouje, our dates would be June 26th - July 2nd. There is potential that the trip could be longer than previous years, but that is the Teen Camp date. Pastor Enoch and I hope this doesn't overlap with exam dates as it has in previous years. Also, remember that I'd love to speak at your Faith groups in your schools, share my testimony or brief devotion. For those that are interested, OCBC is hosting Saturate again on the 29th of this month (Saturday evening) and I've been invited to share, you are more than welcome to join for an evening of worship and testimony.

See you all on Friday at St. Patrick's! Invite your friends, admission is free!

YF Bible study: Red Letters (14th) this Friday (GETAWAY meeting on Sunday 16th)

2011-01-11T13:09:00.002-05:00

Thanks for all the input during devotion, sharing of spiritual gifts, vision and ideas during the Leadership Retreat this weekend! It helps to hear from you in regards to everything that is being planned for the year, thanks also to auntie Ivy and Leon for opening their home for YF for the games night, all the food, hospitality and the overnight stay!

This Friday (14th) we will be continuing our series on the Red Letters (Jesus' teachings) that started before the Christmas break. We studied the Beatitudes from the sermon on the mount last time and will study from where we left off last time. We had a really good discussion the last time during the Beatitudes and discovered the depth of Jesus' teachings. Bring your Bibles and please bring an open heart as we invite the Spirit to teach us what the implications of these words have in our lives.

This Sunday (12:30pm at OCAC, 16th) will be our Getaway meeting, prayerfully commit to coming and serving in Getaway (LUNCH is provided, translation: Free food for you 12:30), this meeting was originally scheduled before Christmas but had to be postponed because of the weather/driving concerns.

Next Friday (21st) will be a joint family Gym night with Pure Energy, YF, H2o, well everyone! It will be at St. Patrick's High School (2525 Alta Vista Drive, Ottawa, ON K1V 7T3) from 7:00 to 10:00 pm.

"Try to make your prayers this week be of praise and adoration. Don't let yourself begin from your needs of from within the context of your life. Instead begin your prayer against the backdrop of the greatness and majesty of God: Our Father... hallowed be Your Name..."

Let us know how we can pray for you or if you would like to meet up!
See you all on Friday!

YF Games this Friday and Leadership Retreat (7th and 8th) at the Cheng's

2011-01-04T15:34:00.004-05:00

I'm sure you are all excited to be back into the routine of school (at least some of you may genuinely be excited, haha IB a nerd today, IB your boss tomorrow *crickets*). I pray that this holiday was a time of rest and family for you this year. In my devotion this morning I read a line that stopped me in my tracks - "There is much to be said in the Christian life; but it is God who is to do the speaking. Pray for silence both in mind and spirit so that you may hear His voice. If He spoke to you in a whisper, would you be quiet enough to hear Him?" In our age of where there is always background noise and our ipod is the soundtrack of our lives, I pray that we can all learn to listen for His voice through a tech detox or rehab.

This weekend is leadership retreat! This Friday (7th) will be a normal YF gathering where we can play games, catch up and fellowship with each other. Please bring your board games, snacks, wiimotes and games. Those who are staying for leadership retreat stay until 4pm on Saturday. Please bring Bibles, writing utensils, paper, toiletries, towel, warm sleeping bags and games. For Leadership retreat, please let me know you are coming ASAP as auntie Ivy and uncle Leon have graciously offered to prepare snacks and meals for us! If you let me know you are coming, bring your form on Friday. Please commit to serving in leadership, everyone is capable of serving in different ways - perhaps you have never served as a leader but you have a gift that is not being shared in the body, please prayerfully join us. Pray in advance this week and brainstorm some ideas you have for YF, us adults need your input because we trust in your knowledge and wisdom about high school students (you are all in high school and know students best). As leaders and prospective leaders of the YF, we will discuss our ideas (come having thought of some), vision, look into Scripture and discover the roles you can play while working together to plan student run teams and events.
The address and forms are attached in your e-mail.

My prayer for 2011 is the same as 2010, that this year will be marked by the Lord working in our families, our fellowship, our church and our city. We can't do that without each of you praying and discovering how you can be a part of the Lord's plan.

See you all on Friday!

YF Christmas Caroling this Friday (17th) +LRetreat Form

2010-12-14T12:42:00.001-05:00

Friday we started a series on the teachings of Christ beginning with the Beatitudes, thanks for your thoughtful participation and discussion. It's amazing how Christ calls us to see the world (and life) in a radical new way. In sunday school, we encountered Rahab the prostitute who was credited for her faith for sheltering the spies.

This Friday (17th) YF and Pure Energy have the opportunity to share the joy of Christmas with our neighbors at 100 Empress! Our children's ministry has prepared crafts to distribute and some of you have volunteered to bake cookies to distribute next week as we sing carols. If you are able to bake cookies, we need a few more people helping with that and even if there are leftovers I'm sure we can take care of it during our refreshment time :) Speaking of refreshments, we'll head to Rm. 202 after the caroling (9ish) for some refreshments/gift giving and Ugly Sweater judging.
Songs: Away in a Manger, Silent Night, O Little Town of Bethlehem, God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, Joy to the World etc. I'll have the lyrics provided for each group.
Gift giving: We had people draw names last week to be a secret "gift giver" to others so remember to buy a gift $5-$10 limit. If you missed last week and would like to give/receive a gift, then let me know and maybe we can get even number matches ;)
Ugly Christmas Sweaters: Rae-Anne mentioned that Value Village has already sold out of ugly Christmas sweaters, so they are in HIGH demand.. if you have an ugly Christmas sweater you are extremely lucky! haha

I've also attached this year's Leadership Retreat form (in your e-mail) which will be held on January 7th and 8th at the Cheng residence! Please commit to serving on leadership and returning the form as soon as possible so that numbers can be prepared for food. Reminder: This Sunday's Christmas service is at 10am, praise the Lord that many children and youth will be baptized this Sunday! Come and support/encourage your brothers and sisters in Christ!

This is from the devotional that I really love for this week
PSALM (to read each morning): Ps 1
PRAYER (for the week): Use your prayer this week to affirm that your deepest desire is to know Him and to serve Him. Seek Him first and believe that all the other things that you need will be added to you.
Monday: (you can read for yesterday + today) Philippians 3:7-11
Tuesday: Ps 63:1-8
Wednesday: Luke 9:46-50
Thursday: John 12:1-8
Friday: 1 Pet 2:1-10
Saturday: Romans 8:18-25
Sunday: John 7:37-44

See you all on Friday!

YF Christmas Caroling or Bible study this Friday (10th)

2010-12-07T14:19:00.001-05:00

There is a lot of info in this e-mail (even video and devotional). Thanks for a great game night last Friday, it was nice to have some time to relax and build relationships after 10 weeks of discussion during Alpha. During Sunday school we focused on the depth of our inner being and life with Christ as we studied 2 Cor 4:7-18.

This Friday has two possibilities for YF (10th)! I spoke with the apartment building next door and they may be open to us coming door to door to carol this Friday (perhaps we can bake some cookies and drop them off at each residence). Maybe even make cards and cookies in advance to give to the residents. The administrator is waiting for a response from the apartment board and she will let us know as soon as possible :) I think this is a great way to bring some joy and encouragement in our church community! If they are not available, then we will begin a Bible study series in the gospels! Either way, we'll be in Rm 202 at the church at 7:20pm.

GETAWAY student leader meeting this Sunday (12th) at 1:30pm OCAC down the street, please make a commitment to be involved as we discuss themes and the roles for the student led retreat! Lunch will be provided!

I've shared in Sunday school about a devotional that Brad and I have been doing and it's been a great reminder of the riches of our faith in Christ and I thought... hey why can't I include this in our weekly YF e-mails. Please let me know if it's helpful to you and maybe I'll keep doing it! We can be on the same journey together!

PSALM (to read each morning): Ps 26
PRAYER (for the week): May your prayer this week lead you past bent knees and reverent spirit into the determining choices of your daily living. Let it bring your will to bear on all the things that lead you away from serving God.
Monday: (you can read for yesterday + today) John 3:25-36
Tuesday: Luke 12:35-48
Wednesday: Matthew 25:14-30
Thursday: Romans 12:1-2
Friday: Luke 2:41-49
Saturday: Deuteronomy 27: 1-8
Sunday: 1 Thessalonians 4:1-12

Also a really encouraging video, this is amazing: Watch till the end :) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXh7JR9oKVE&feature=player_embedded

Merry Christmas and blessings,
see you all on Friday!

YF Games and Brainstorming this Friday (3rd)

2010-11-30T12:16:00.000-05:00

Our Alpha course finished last Friday, thanks for all your participation in the discussion and for all the wonderful leaders who made efforts to facilitate the discussions! Each group had their own unique discussions each week. In all the weeks 23 of your friends attended the course and while not all of them were regular, I am sure that seeds were planted and curiosity was piqued in who Jesus is. To me, our retreat was definitely a highlight of Alpha as we got to spend time as a fellowship, focus on knowing Jesus in solitude and reflection... As a reminder, times of silence and prayer can also be a daily choice - as we shared in Sunday school: devotional guides are available (at Salem or free online) and theme Scripture is provided to reflect on each day. In Sunday school we looked into Daniel`s uncompromising attitude and his deep prayer life.

Since we`ve had some intense discussions over the last 10 weeks, we thought it would be fitting to have a more relaxing night of fellowship with games and brainstorming this Friday (3rd)! YF is back to its regular time, but feel free to come as early as 7pm to help set up and interact with each other! Bring your games (Connect 4, Jenga, Taboo, Pictionary etc!) as we will have several tables set up and snacks! We will also plug the WII into the projector and have some Brawl and Kart etc going on the big screen, so bring wiimotes, games, batteries etc. Feel free to bring some extra snacks and drinks as well. We`ll also have some short time to discuss the room design, leadership retreat and some other things that are coming up in the new year!

Looking ahead: I know it`s early, but PShawn, PDave, PDan, PSam (from Vietnamese church) and I have already gotten together to meet for GETAWAY planning. We have tentatively scheduled a meeting for December 12th after Sunday service at OCAC. Our vision for this retreat is to have a student led event where we gather your input regarding theme, worship, games etc and make it happen together! Please use your gifts to serve the student body of Christ through helping a team for the Getaway! Also, If you are free on Saturday, EACO is holding a coffeehouse at 7pm and you are invited to join as well.

See you all on Friday!

YF RIVER (6pm-9pm) this Friday (26th)

2010-11-23T15:01:00.001-05:00

It was encouraging last week to hear some of the discussions regarding the Spirit, our discussion had some sincere instances of amazing testimony as well as some confusion but was a great reminder of how the Spirit desires to work in our lives. We also had the privilege of being encourage in Pastor Cal's message regarding children and youth who have passionately obeyed the living God in their lives! May the stories of David, Jeremiah and Samuel (Sunday school) stay with us this week as you discern God's voice as He speaks to you today. Learn to experience the Lord and see and taste that He is good (Psalm 34).

This Friday (26th) will be our final week in Alpha and we will be watching the 10th video entitled The River. Why should I go to church? What value does it have? What should 'church' be like? Like many of us, we've all had questions about what it means to 'go to' or 'be' the church. Please bring your Bibles. Please arrive as early as you can to mingle and chat as dinner will start shortly after 6pm, our discussion will end by 9pm. YF facilitators be prepared as the discussion will be a free and will have many possibilities depending on where the interaction leads, details are in your inbox. You are all encouraged to join us, please continue to welcome others to join the discussion!

Also a reminder for all those who have applied to be baptized this Christmas that we will be having our first of two baptism class directly after Sunday School this Sunday (28th) from 12:20-1:20pm.

I would also like to add that OCBC (450 Churchill Avenue) is hosting 'Saturate' on Saturday (27th) from 7:30-9:30pm with Hearts in Stereo leading worship and some time of testimony and prayer. You are more than welcome to join if you'd like!

See you all on Friday!

YF VAPOR (Holy Spirit) (6pm-9pm) this Friday (19th)

2010-11-16T13:20:00.000-05:00

I pray that you were all able to experience some Sunday afternoon 'horizontal mediation.' I tried for two hours but couldn't sleep... it was still refreshing though and I pray the same for you guys! I pray that your relationship with the Lord has been refreshed and renewed following the retreat and this last weekend. I pray that the Spirit would continue speaking to you, the verses that stay in my mind (other than the letter to Laodicea) are Acts 3:19 and Proverbs 30:7-9, I pray that you would be willing to hear what the Spirit is saying to you. We also looked at Ruth on Sunday and how Boaz noticed her godly character and how everyone in her town knew that she was a women of noble character! We related that to what you should strive to be as we are all ambassadors.

This Friday (19th) will focus on the Holy Spirit in our second last video of Alpha entitled VAPOR. Who is the Holy Spirit? How does the Spirit guide us... how can we hear the Spirit? How do we receive the Spirit? For many, the Holy Spirit remains confusing or a mystery and this will be a good time to discuss and read from Scripture. Please bring your Bibles. Please arrive as early as you can to mingle and chat as dinner will start shortly after 6pm, our discussion will end by 9pm. YF facilitators be prepared as the discussion will be a free and will have many possibilities depending on where the interaction leads, details are in your inbox. You are all encouraged to join us, please continue to welcome others to join the discussion! Also praise God for so many of you showing a willingness to proclaim your faith and obedience through baptism this Christmas, we will arrange our baptism classes as soon as possible!

See you all on Friday!

YF Clean Discussion (6pm-9pm) series this Friday (12th

2010-11-09T15:54:00.000-05:00

Praise God for the retreat we were able to have this weekend, even though it was shorter by a day! I'm thankful for all the brothers and sisters who provided rides and Camp Galilee was also gracious enough to make accommodations for our group! It was a great time to spend time in prayer, fellowship and building relationships with each other. There may be some of you who have re-committed yourselves to Christ, and my prayer is maybe you also prayed the prayer on Saturday afternoon. If you were unsure of your faith or prayed to follow Christ, please tell me all about it! I'd love to talk and pray with you more. I was encouraged during our times of solitude where the Lord encouraged me and I trust that you will take to heart all that you learned at the retreat. I pray that your relationship with the Lord was strengthened and renewed.

This Friday (12th), we will continue with our 8th discussion series on the person of Jesus Christ, this video will be entitled 'Clean' and will cover what it means to live our lives for Christ. To update, Week 1 - Thirsty discussed whether any of us has a desire or thirst that cannot be satisfied. Week 2 - Polluted described the failures of the church to represent Jesus and how that may create barriers to people knowing who Jesus is. Week 3 - Source introduced the concept of God as Father. Week 4 - Pure shared about why Jesus came and what His mission was. Week 5 and 6 shared about problems in the world and introduced the concept of sin. Week 7 shared about Christ paying the penalty of our sins so that we could be set free.

Please arrive as early as you can to mingle and chat as dinner will start shortly after 6pm, our discussion will end by 9pm.

If you have been praying about being baptized, the Christmas baptism forms need to be submitted by November 14th, I've attached the form in your e-mail for your convenience.
See you all on Friday!

Youth Alpha Retreat this Friday-Sat (5th-6th) at Camp Galilee

2010-11-02T16:22:00.000-04:00

This Friday and Saturday (5th-6th) is our Alpha Retreat at Camp Galilee! Our retreat theme centers around knowing and experiencing Christ, fellowship, building relationships with one another, free time and games! I am encouraged that some of you have responded to the previous e-mail and took the initiative to encourage each other to participate. May the Lord continue the work that He has started in your lives! Please continue praying for us, that the Lord would draw us individually and as a group to Himself and that all the details would fall into place for the retreat. If you have let me know you are coming but have not filled out the forms, please do so and attach $45 to 'CCCO' for the retreat fee. Since the other congregations will not join us on this retreat it did create a logistical difficulty in finding rides, but we'll keep looking and I'll send you more details about transportation.

Important details:
1) SUPPER IS PROVIDED on Friday night (it'll be a later supper so you can bring a snack for the ride), BREAKFAST and LUNCH provided on Saturday too with a snack before we leave.
2) Departure times: Most of the rides will leave from Church around 5:45pm (unless you have been notified differently as some will leave from Kanata) on Friday (5th) and we hope to arrive at Galilee before 7:30pm. We'll leave Galilee at 5:30pm on Saturday night (6th) with a snack at 5pm for the road.
3) Forms and registration fee ($45 to 'CCCO' memo: retreat) is still needed from those who are coming but have not yet submitted them.

Things to Bring:
Essential things to bring: Bible, pens, papers, special health devices, sleeping bags, warm clothes, outdoor clothes (and change of clothes depending on weather), towels, toiletries, worship music, form/cheques if you forgot, bathing suit - if you are crazy
Additional things: board games, group games, basketballs, footballs, baseball gloves and balls etc.
Things NOT to bring: ipods, media players (videos, music, movies etc.)

See you all on Friday and Saturday,

YF Youth Alpha: Mirage Discussion (6pm-9pm) series this Friday (22nd)

2010-10-21T13:18:00.000-04:00

Thanks for participating in last week's discussion of 'Pure'. I heard that there were some good discussions going on and at the very least some serious thought being given to the questions. Thanks for your sharing during our devotional, your ideas for future programs and input for the time re-alignment during the Sunday school hour as well. I've been compiling your input on the time realignment to submit to the Elders Board. If you were not at Sunday school, we would still like to gather your input so I've e-mailed you the Evaluation of Sunday Service realignment as well. I've also e-mailed the two Alpha forms, please fill out both forms as one is for the Alpha retreat and the other is a Youth waiver.

This Friday (22nd), we will continuing our 5th discussion on the person of Jesus Christ which will be facilitated by the video "Mirage".
To update, Week 1 - Thirsty discussed whether any of us has a desire or thirst that cannot be satisfied. Week 2 - Polluted described the failures of the church to represent Jesus and how that may create barriers to people knowing who Jesus is.
Week 3 - Source introduced the concept of God as Father.
Week 4 - Pure shared about why Jesus came and what His mission was.

Please arrive as early as you can to mingle and chat as dinner will start shortly after 6pm, mirage and our discussion will end by 9pm. YF students will facilitate the discussions so that the main interaction will be with peers. YF Leaders you should have details in your inbox. You are all encouraged to join us, please continue to welcome others to join the discussion!

Reminder: Alpha retreat is only 2 weeks away, please return the attached forms as soon as you can, forward these forms to your friends e-mail addresses as well. Just like many retreats, we will have lots of time to develop deeper relationships, look into His Word and play games, go to the gym and just hang out! November 5-6th, the retreat is only $45 this time. The cheques are to be made out to 'CCCO' memo: Alpha retreat registration.

See you all on Friday!

YF Youth Alpha: Pure Discussion (6pm-9pm) series this Friday (15th)

2010-10-12T12:20:00.001-04:00

I hope that you all had some time with family this Thanksgiving weekend to reflect on what you are thankful for. Sometimes we need to just stop and reflect on God's goodness and all that He has done. We took some time to think and the list was very long, we are also thankful for such an awesome YF group too.

Please keep praying for the Yip/Yan and their uncle's family through this difficult time. May the Lord teach us what it means to be a church family.

This Friday (15th), we will be continuing our h2o journey regarding the person of Jesus Christ with the fourth video in the series which is entitled Pure. So far, the first video outlined thirst, the second video described the faults of the church and how the church may not always accurately represent Jesus and the third video introduced the concept of God as Father. Pure speaks more about Jesus and what He did and who He is. Please try to arrive around 6pm to share a free meal with us and our discussion as usual will end by 9pm. YF students will facilitate the discussions so that the main interaction will be with peers. YF Leaders you should have details in your inbox. You are all encouraged to join us, please continue to welcome others to join the discussion!

Alpha retreat will be 3 weeks! This is a great chance to develop deeper friendships, learn more about Jesus and have fun! You will receive your forms for the retreat on Friday so please mark your calendars for November 5-6th - Camp Galilee!
We are praying for you, your friends and for this Alpha journey.
See you all on Friday!

YF Youth Alpha: Source Discussion (6pm-9pm) series this Friday (8th)

2010-10-05T12:22:00.002-04:00

Thanks for packing yourselves in 202 last week for another honest discussion last Friday! Believe it or not, there were 42 of us in that room discussing the Pollution video! I'm surprised we didn't overheat :) I hope it was a time to discover a bit more about who Jesus was AND as a church to honestly discuss our shortcomings in attempting to represent Jesus Christ and learn from these shortcomings. For those of us who do bear the responsibility of representing Him, let's pray for greater discernment in our speech, stewardship and actions (especially through admittance and knowledge of these shortcomings). I really appreciate the honesty that has been shared the past two weeks regardless of what they have been so long as we respect one another in the discussion.

This Friday (8th), we'll continue our discussion series with the third video entitled: Source. Please try to arrive around 6pm to share a free meal with us and the Discussion will end at 9pm. As always, our discussions will be facilitated by YF students so that you can interact with peers to discuss Jesus. YF Leaders you should have details in your inbox from yesterday. You are all encouraged to join us, please continue to welcome others to join the discussion!

For Sunday (10th), remember to please arrive at church by 9:30am as we have practiced and will be presenting "You Shine" as part of the joint Thanksgiving service (along with Pure Energy). Pastor Francis shared the following (with you guys in mind): May God's Word in John 16:33 and this song encourage young people to not fear, lose heart or give up hope. Yes! Young people: Be strong, brave and courageous in the Lord, for we are overcomers in Christ, May God raise up our next generation to fear God, not man. To stand up for the Truth and continue to shine for Jesus and help guide people to know Jesus. So let us lift up one voice and proclaim Jesus will help us to shine, Jesus' power of love will compel us to serve Him, He is the One that will give us strength and courage to follow God - no turning back!!
love and prayer from Pastor Francis and Esther CMO Listen and Lyrics here

Let us pray together for all of YF and participants during this discussion series.
See you all on Friday!

YF Youth Alpha H2o: Thirsty Discussion (6pm-9pm) series this Friday (24th)

2010-09-21T15:31:00.002-04:00

Food Fight was an absolute blast!! Lots of thanks to Rae-Anne and Brad who were the brainchildren of the event, they described many of these events to Shelly and I a couple of months ago and they sounded hilarious so thanks for participating and making it a real fun night. We actually packed the upstairs sanctuary so I'm thankful for having the space to play and how you guys helped clean up so quickly afterwards. It was great to see faces covered in chocolate and donut powder and the creativeness of a giant cookie and a very crisp sucking-up cookie.

This week is the kick-off of our Alpha series (10 weeks of the h2o videos/discussion). Dinner will start at 6pm sharp and the Discussion will end at 9pm. Our small groups will be headed up by youth (many of you!), so it will be primarily a peer to peer environment where anyone can join and discuss Jesus. We've been praying and preparing for months and now things are just about ready to go with dinner provided to everyone each week and the facilities. This week our discussion will center on the topic Thirsty. YF Leaders (not the adults) will be the primary facilitators of the groups and asking the questions. As mentioned in Sunday school, each of you is signed up for a free dinner (along with your friends if you listed them) I sent you the questions last week and will reattach them and your groups in an e-mail following this one.

May the Lord continue to shape you and be the center of your lives. Anyways, we love you and are praying for you!

Let us pray together for all of YF and their friends during this discussion series.
See you all on Friday!

YF Food Fight this Friday! (17th)

2010-09-14T14:32:00.001-04:00

Bigger or Better was a lot of fun on Friday, I heard some hilarious stories from the night (ie. people pretending to not be home and other funny instances), just gives us some stories hey? As always, it's amazing to see some of the stuff you end up with. TV's, Boom Boxes, Shirts, Art, receivers, play structures... it's amazing how quickly material treasure turns into junk. Many people didn't even want to accept the trade items :) Also big thanks for your participation in Sunday school, we had a good opportunity to share about the upcoming Alpha discussion series. If you are serving as a facilitator, I'll send more information to group leaders by tomorrow (well in advance of the actual discussions).

This Friday (17th), we will have an Youth Alpha kickoff night with our Food Fight event. It will involve lots of games involving... you guessed it - Food! Rae-Anne offered the main tip to eat a lighter supper (so long as it doesn't offend anyone - like the cook :) You don't have to worry about clothes, there will be garbage bags. (It's not an 'actual' food fight if anyone is worried haha) The night will include various games! It's going to be a lot of fun, it's a good chance for your friends and newcomers to feel welcome!

Coming up:
September 24th: Alpha/h2o discussion 1 - Thirsty
October 1st: Alpha/h2o discussion 2 - Polluted

Let us know how we can be praying for you or if you'd like to have coffee/catch up!
See you all on Friday!

YF Bigger or Better this Friday this Friday (10th) 7pm at church

2010-09-07T14:28:00.000-04:00

Happy back to school day YF!

I'm sure some of you are *actually* happy to go back to school and of course there are many of you that also felt the summer went by wayyyy too quickly (myself included). Thanks for the awesome study and discussion last week in Habakkuk, it was in record time too, we even had time to socialize afterwards :) haha. The Fall is already here, it's a strange transition because YF runs every week throughout the summer :) Anyways Fall does mark the beginning of school and hopefully these next couple of weeks will let you relax a little at YF and prepare for the coming Youth Alpha course. This week (10th) and next week (17th) we will be having kick-off events to lead into our first youth Alpha course on the 24th.

This Friday (Sept 10th) we plan to play "BIGGER or better!" This will be our second time playing it and it was requested about 9 months ago (the last time we played it). Be at Church (or more accurately - 118) at 7:00pm (so 30 minutes earlier than usual)

Bigger or Better RULES
EACH TEAM will be designated an area (with accompanying adults) and given a corresponding paper clip color to visit homes and trade a paperclip up to the biggest or best item to win! Bring camera's because it'll be fun to see what each group ends up with. some basic rules so we don't have to explain each one on friday:
1. Time limit: each group has to be back at the youth room by 8:50-9:00pm at the latest
2. Make at least 5 trades ie) paperclip for a ruler, ruler for a picture frame, picture frame for a stuffed animal, stuffed animal for a chair, chair for a bigger chair, big chair for a sofa, sofa for a... "uh oh, how are we going to get this sofa back?"
3. No relatives houses
4. Have to bring the item back to church (if it is something that cannot be thrown out easily, then you must figure out if one person in your group can take it home)
5. Don't pressure homes to give you anything, be kind to every house!
maybe you can get more cushions for the youth room! :)

Bring your friends (more hands the better!) and prepare for the colder weather in the evening! If you haven't filled out the year waiver form (in your e-mail), please bring that back too (one-time thing for the year)

Upcoming: Bigger or Better (10th), Food Fight (17th), Alpha Discussion (Thirsty) (24th)
Have an awesome week!
see you on Friday!

YF Bible study: Minor Prophets (Habakkuk) this Thursday (2nd)

2010-08-30T20:06:00.001-04:00

Yes, another Thursday :) The last week was to make room for the Mandarin retreat and this Friday, I`ll be at Chung and Jean`s wedding rehearsal + dinner. If you can think of it, remember Chung and Jean in your prayers as it will be a stressful week of preparations and pray for their marriage too! Thanks for your awesome service at the Mission on Wednesday. You served over 200 clients and each year wherever we serve, my contact has always said there is something special about our group! You guys are awesome! :) Thanks to the Ma family for opening up their home last Thursday for our grad send off (more like a ``see you later`) It was definitely a blast to zipline, share and see the CCCO home videos from when you were all 9 years younger lol :)

This Thursday (2nd), we`ll be continuing our series of Bible studies in the Minor Prophets. Please bring your Bibles and an open heart to hear what the Spirit desires to say to us. Hopefully it`ll be nice enough to have it outdoors but if not we`ll be in 118 Empress.. We'll also have a time of refreshments and fellowship afterwards.

Next Friday (10th), we plan to have an activity night (ie. Bigger or Better) and then `Food Fight` on the (17th) as a prelude for Youth Alpha which begins on September 24th. Youth Alpha will run for 11 weeks, please continue to pray for and invite friends for the Alpha discussion over the 10 weeks.

There`s not much time left in the summer, it`s been nice to have lunch with you guys more often during the summer whether discipleship week or just meeting up! So let us know how we can be praying for you guys!

See you this Thursday!

YF The Mission on Wednesday (25th) and Grad send off on Thursday (26th)

2010-08-23T15:39:00.001-04:00

Hey YF!

Thanks for another great week at Discipleship week (I really do enjoy the discussion and service opportunities with you guys!) it was encouraging that even with over 20 students each day, most of you did the reflection tasks that were asked :) I pray that each of us would be more aware of the Spirit and His voice and allow Him to guide us. Salem was incredibly thankful for your service on Wednesday (there was a lot that we got finished that day)!

As you know as a final service opportunity from Discipleship week, the Mission has once again been awesome to work with in organizing another service opportunity with us. This Wednesday (25th) we will be serving with Meghan at the Ottawa Mission. We need all the volunteers we can get, so please commit to coming if you are free. I've sent a few extra details in your e-mail inbox.

So please meet at Richtree in the Rideau Centre by 9:15pm, if we are no longer there please proceed to the Mission for 9:30am, we will likely leave around noon.

This Thursday (26th), the Ma residence has once again made themselves available to host our Grad send off. Since the Mandarin retreat is this weekend, YF will be moved to Thursday in order to accommodate as many people as possible! We are hoping to have a potluck type supper. Jocelyn mentioned that if you bring meat, you can cook it there on the BBQ. The Ma's live at (2 Dodder Key), please arrange car pools with your closest neighbors. Here is a link to directions via Gmaps. They have suggested 6:30pm - 10:00pm We can talk more about it at the Mission this Wednesday!

Let us know if you'd like to meet/catch up!
See you Wednesday and Thursday!

YF Contentment and Suffering discussion (13th) Discipleship week details

2010-08-10T16:47:00.000-04:00

Many thanks for the hospitality the Yip family showed for YF last week! Even though many people were out of town, they still fed and warmly hosted a large number of us! It was a great time to see everyone, catch up with summers over supper and just have fun with one another. Although, we didn't have an indepth study of Scripture etc, it's amazing how we can share all these experiences and fellowship time remind me that church is a living and breathing body/family.

This week, I originally had in mind to continue the Bible studies in the Minor prophets - but with Discipleship week coming up next week, we'll be spending a lot of time in Scripture each day. Instead, this Friday (13th), we will be having a discussion on contentment, those who are suffering and generosity based on the Nooma series. Each time we've seen one of these short videos, they leave a lot of room for discussion and we can also supplement the discussion by looking at more examples in God's Word. We'll talk about our inborn desire to succeed, gather, accomplish etc. Can our success, our attitude of one-upmanship and gaining everything end up turning on us? Please bring your Bibles, pens, refreshments etc to the youth room on Friday.

YF Discipleship week is NEXT WEEK from the 16th - 20th. (9:30am-12noon each day) We also have a service day on the 25th (detached from the Dweek days but still part of Dweek). We will be focusing on a Biblical understanding of the Holy Spirit and how we should be living by the power of the Spirit. Discipleship week includes brief assignments at the end of each day and also includes service opportunities where we learn more about the ministry of various organizations and take time to serve them as well. It may be best to arrange car pools each morning/bus sched/ etc. I've attached a form/letter to your e-mail that I've also e-mailed to parents with our service days and a description of the week on the second page.

Also, Dweek is an awesome time to have lunch together on one of the days (and even large groups have lunch together too!) so let's meet up for it!
See you on Friday!

YF Dinner and Fellowship at the Yip's house this Friday (6th) Discipleship week coming up (16-20th)

2010-08-03T12:03:00.001-04:00

This Friday (6th), the Yip family (Michael, Eric and Rachel's family) has opened up their home for YF to have supper and fellowship at their home! Auntie Angie will be preparing some of her famous cooking for all to enjoy! Directions to their home is in your e-mail, so do your best to car pool with one another and as always feel free to bring your board games, wii games, pictures to show one another etc. It'll be a time to just gather, share with one another, catch up and play some games as well. Michael said to come at 6pm for supper!

YF Discipleship week is coming up from the 16th - 20th. (9:30am-12noon each day) We also have a service day on the 25th (detached from the Dweek days but still part of Dweek). We will be focusing on a Biblical understanding of the Holy Spirit and how we should be living by the power of the Spirit. Discipleship week includes brief assignments at the end of each day and also includes service opportunities where we learn more about the ministry of various organizations and take time to serve them as well.

We have some exciting things coming up in the Fall. We have a "Food Fight!" kickoff event the week before Alpha begins (17 of Sept, Alpha begins on the 24th) so anticipate inviting friends who are interested in Alpha that week as well! We will also have an Alpha retreat that all your friends are welcome to in November so there is lots coming up :)

As always, let us know how we can be praying for you or if you have time to meet up for lunch/coffee or book your Dweek lunch appt :)
see you all Friday!

Mike Fisher event at Lifecentre this Friday (30th)

2010-07-27T14:33:00.001-04:00

Thanks for your participation and involvement with the Bible study in Jonah last Friday, we discover that (just like Jonah) we can hear God, know Him, pray to God and even obey God but still lose God's perspective and His heart for people (which is incredibly essential to our faith). We asked if there was a Nineveh in our life (Israelites despised Nineveh because they were Assyrians), and to assess if we were participating in God's adventure in our own lives or if we had become a spectator like Jonah (waiting for someone else to do it).

This Friday, Mike Fisher of the Ottawa Senators will be sharing his testimony at the Lifecentre this Friday (30th) (directions to the Lifecentre) and Hearts in Stereo will be playing as well. I know many of you have heard about this on the radio or from friends and are already planning to attend with friends. Please use this opportunity to invite friends who may be curious to hear from Mike Fisher as he'll be sharing how Christ defines his life. “I am very fortunate to be able to make a living playing hockey, but I have come to realize that playing in the NHL is only a small part of who I am, and not the part that defines me. Having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ is what I believe truly defines a person and how we find eternal significance.” There is no formal gathering at CCCO this Friday so we encourage you to join this event and bring anyone whom you may know who would be interested in hearing Mike. The event is FREE (donations given to Rogers House) and doors open at 6pm. Shell and I will be there as well.

Please pray for me if you can remember as I am preaching this Sunday. Also, remember that Discipleship week is coming up in August (16th-20th) 9am - 12noon each morning. We'll have times of teaching and community service as well as a service day at the Mission on the 25th.
Let us know how you are doing and how we can be praying for you/family.

See you Friday

Bible study on Jonah (Minor prophets) this Friday (23rd)

2010-07-20T15:59:00.001-04:00

Thanks for joining us for last Friday's activities at our house, it was great to get to know some of you a bit more and play Wii, Taboo, Guillotine and everything. Not even a crumb was left of snacks, it was quite the sight :) We also had the privilege of witnessing our brother Wardrer proclaim his faith through baptism at the church picnic, may we continue encouraging one another as a family! It's been a great summer so far with the Ouje trip, sardines, games and all the great weather. I was meeting with Salem's manager this morning to thank him for all the Bibles he donates for the Cree youth and he was excited to hear about Cree youth being introduced to Christ and beginning a relationship with Him. Hope your summer school is going well along with all the traveling your family may do as well :)

This Friday (23rd), we will be continuing our Bible study in the Minor prophets with the book of Jonah. We'll be looking deeper into a book that all of us are familiar with but we'll see that we all have much to learn from the lessons God taught Jonah regarding the state of his heart. If it's a nice day out, we hope to have the Bible study in the backyard of 118 but let's all meet in the youth room at 7:30pm. Please bring your Bibles and an open heart to hearing what God has to say to us. We'll also have a time of refreshments and fellowship afterwards.

Remember that Discipleship week is coming up on August 16th-20th every morning from 9am-12noon. We will be learning more about the Holy Spirit and how the Spirit desires to transform our life and what that means for us each and everyday. We'll be looking into Scripture and have various serving opportunities during the week so please make that time a priority and schedule it in your calendar and off of work. Also, August 25th we also have a serving opportunity again to serve the Ottawa Mission. Please continue to pray for your friends as Youth Alpha approaches in September (24th). This Sunday auntie Salina will be holding an information session on the Fall children's program called TOGETHER from 11-12noon, she is looking for youth volunteers to give back to children so make sure to let her know if you are willing to serve!

Once again, feel free to set up times to meet up to hang out/chat/pray, let us know what's been going on in your life and what we can pray for!

See you all on Friday!

YF Devotion/gathering at Josh and Shell's this Friday (16th)

2010-07-13T21:31:00.001-04:00

We just got back in from California today, it was an incredible trip (the twenty hour round trip to Oregon was tough with two babies in the van but more than worth it to see a good friend get married). I'm also (extremely) happy to be alive after an almost deadly mishap when hiking with my friend Jon - the Lord used it to add to our perspective in life... all in all it's been a great 8 days! Although we had no sleep for awhile as the baby wasn't fond of the airplane, airport, car transfers. Hope everyone had a lot of fun with Sardines, sundaes and sharing last week with Rae-Anne and Brad, we definitely thought of you!

This Friday (16th), I wanted to share a brief devotion from Scripture (and my heart) at Josh and Shell's for YF! We noticed that we haven't opened our home for YF since March and it's due time! Feel free to come earlier, you can even bring your own dinner if you just wanted to hang out, feel free to come as early as 5pm - it's always nice to have a longer time to chat/pray/catch up with one another. If you are coming after dinner, feel free to come at 7pm. We can have a quick devotion time and brief sharing about what's coming up (Discipleship week, Alpha plans, maybe your ideas for summer events to welcome friends etc) then we'll open it up to games and hanging out. All the Jenga, Rockband, Brawl, Guillotine, For Sale or as YF girls often do - hang out with Eli and Levi). You can bring your snacks, wiimotes, Brawl disc, boardgames, friends etc.

On Saturday (17th) is our annual church picnic, so please join your family (or invite your families) to the church picnic. This year, we'll have the privilege of witnessing our brother (and buddy) Wardrer proclaim his faith in Christ as he has decided to be baptized! So make sure you join us in encouraging Wardrer and continuing to walk with him in his relationship with Christ as we grow together as a family.

Coming up:
July 17th Church picnic and baptisms
August 16th - 20th YF Discipleship Week
August 25th - Helping out at the Ottawa Mission
September 24th YF Alpha begins (10 weeks)

Drop us a line about how your past couple of weeks have been and if you want to meet up for some lunch, coffee or something like that. It'll be on us, so "Mo hat hey" or "Tai ke chi bu hao" for the mandoes.
See you all on Friday!

YF Games/Movie night this Friday (25th)

2010-06-22T14:02:00.000-04:00

I trust everyone is either done their exams or finishing up today or tomorrow :) It must feel nice to wrap up the school year. Many people have been praying for you during these busy weeks, that you would manage your time with wisdom and glorify the Lord through your studying. Thanks for everyone who participated in the Bible studies on Friday and at Sunday school, we had the privilege of hearing several devotions prepared by youth who'll be serving in the Ouje mission next week.

This Friday (25th), we'll be having a games night / movie night at the church (118). Please bring your boardgames, wiimotes, Brawl disc, you can bring movies to choose from - you can gather in the backyard and play some outdoor games, talk with one another/pray together... Feel free to invite your friends as well. Brad and Rae-Anne will be with you guys this Friday as I have a couple of High School commencements that day (one of which overlaps with YF time) so I hope you guys have an awesome time on Friday! The next Friday (July 2nd) there will be no official YF program at the church during the YF Ouje mission trip, however we do encourage you to make time for each other, meet up somewhere - go bowling or have bubbletea to build relationships with one another.

Now that you have some more freedom in the summer, let us know if you'd like to meet up for lunch, coffee, bbtea etc.

Ongoing:
Please continue to follow up your coffeehouse discussions with your friends, ask them about their thoughts towards the testimony, skits, music and the whole coffeehouse... and prayerfully invite them for our Alpha: h2o series in September.
Coming up (please book the following dates)
June 27th - July 3rd YF Missions to Ouje-Bougoumou
July 17th Church picnic and baptisms
August 16th - 20th YF Discipleship Week
August 25th - Helping out at the Ottawa Mission
September 24th YF Alpha begins (10 weeks)

Additional: Looks like we will be free to use room 202 through the summer!! If you have ideas for the large room and how you would like to design it, let me know or Jon Lam (Hong Kong Jon Lam) who will help design a blueprint for it! Couches, colors, stage, rugs, lighting etc. Let us know, we'd love to have it somewhat designed by Youth Alpha time in September :)

YF Bible study this Friday (18th)

2010-06-15T15:17:00.000-04:00

Thanks for joining us (even during exam prep) in supporting the Relay for Life last week, apparently our lap running ended up in the middle of the pack. ;) Thanks for your participation in our studies of the minor prophets on Sunday as well. We learned from the prophet Micah how to live, doing justice, loving mercy and walking humbly with God (6:8). God does not look upon taking advantage of others favorably. We need to value others more than being self-seeking. The new heart desires to return to God for instruction for life. (4:2) With everything that was going on (2:1-3;3:1-3), God is still able to accomplish His desires (7:18-20)

This Friday (18th), we'll have the privilege of hearing Bible studies at the church prepared by youth who are serving on this year's Ouje mission trip, please bring your Bibles/pens etc. Pending on the weather, we may have our Bible study outside in the Lord's garden as well. Maybe we can grab a spring picture of the group too. We also have a service opportunity on August 25th with the Ottawa Mission (similar to last year's awesome experience where we got to serve and interact with others), which won't overlap totally with Discipleship week, but keep that day open if you can :)

Also, I wanted to briefly shout out Salem Storehouse, each year they donate $300-$400 worth of Bibles to give away to Cree youth that don't have Bibles. I picked up 10 leather Bibles from them to give away just days ago. Just know that when you support them, they support God's kingdom.

Please continue to follow up discussions with friends, thoughts towards the testimony, skits, music and the whole coffeehouse... and consider Alpha: h2o series in September.
Coming up (please book the following dates)
June 27th - July 3rd YF Missions to Ouje-Bougoumou
July 17th Church picnic and baptisms
August 16th - 20th YF Discipleship Week
August 25th - Helping out at the Ottawa Mission
September 17th YF Alpha begins (10 weeks)

Let us know if you'd like to meet up, pray/chat!
See you all on Friday!

YF Relay for Life this Friday (11th) at the Nepean Sportsplex

2010-06-08T16:00:00.001-04:00

Thanks for a fun night at Pop-a-Balloon-a-Palooza last Friday! I know it is a busy time with exams and all, so I'm glad you could all come out and have a breather :) Laura took some pictures of the action on Friday (link in your e-mail)... She also posted some pictures from the Coffeehouse as well. If anyone else has pictures, feel free to share them! Please continue to follow up your coffeehouse discussions with friends regarding the testimony, skits, music and the whole coffeehouse and begin gearing up for the Alpha discussion series in September.

This Friday (11th), we are continuing our support of the Relay for Life at the Nepean Sportsplex (directions) . I am positive that cancer has had an impact on all of us (to varying degrees) so each year we set aside this Friday for our church families to get together for Relay for Life behind the Nepean Sportsplex (football field) at 7:30pm, you can arrive as early as 7:00pm and leave at whatever time is convenient for you (uncle Eric suggests after the candle ceremony at 10pm) some people often stay overnight. The closet OCTranspo Park and Rides are at Woodroffe/Baseline and the other at Woodroffe/Fallowfield. It's no cost for the event, your presence will show your support. If you wish, uncle Eric is raising support and you can make a donation in your name or anonymously, he will also have a small box for onsite donation if you share the burden. Please bring your running shoes, clothing in preparation of the weather (colder in the evening), frisbees, footballs, baseball gloves etc. This is a very recreational time, where you can gather together for the fight against cancer as well as enjoying the fellowship of others. If you are able to bring any food and drink, it is much appreciated as well! I will have a worship practice late Friday afternoon so if you are early and can not find me, uncle Eric's cell phone number is in your e-mails.

Although not everyone is able to physically be part of the Ouje team, we want to thank everyone for their participation in helping for the fundraiser, praying for us etc. We raised much more than our target goal, please continue praying for us in the coming weeks to prepare our hearts, the messages, worship, devotions, crafts and games!

Coming up (please book the following dates)
June 27th - July 3rd YF Missions to Ouje-Bougoumou
July 17th Church picnic and baptisms
August 16th - 20th YF Discipleship Week
September 17th YF Alpha begins (10 weeks)

Let us know if you'd like to meet up during the week or if you want us to pray for something particular!
See you all on Friday!

YF Pop-a-Balloon-a-Palooza this Friday (4th) CH followup

2010-06-01T14:34:00.002-04:00

Once again, I thank God for you guys and your participation this weekend. Praise the Lord! Everyone worked real hard at home and church to make it happen (from decor, av-karoake-sound, skits, food, music, mc, games, program, overseeing, testimony, all the time setting up, cleaning plus all your prayer whether at home or in groups!) We had some time to share about it in Sunday school. As we discussed on Sunday, hopefully we can continue to improve in how we work with one another through respect, understanding and encouragement. Please continue to follow up your discussions, ask what was thought of the sharing through testimony, skit, video, music etc.

This Friday (4th) is Pop-a-Balloon-a-Palooza!!! It`s been a year and a half since we last had this event, this year we will have the better events from last time as well as some new ones. It will involve a ton of balloons, relays, and some surprises so make sure to bring your friends, coffeehouse etc. and clothes and shoes that are comfortable to walk/run in!! You can also start discussing about the 10 weeks of those discussion videos that we highlighted at the coffeehouse which will begin in September. You can also optionally dress as 80s twins with a buddy! Also as a heads up, next Friday (11th) is the Relay for Life at the Nepean Sportsplex. Also we discussed some ideas for the summer, we can be a bit more flexible as the only fellowship group that runs throughout the summer. Keep those ideas coming.

Please join us in prayer for the Ouje trip (even if you were unable to participate), we are thankful at all the help for the fundraiser, even during tougher economic times, the Lord has provided more than enough through brothers and sisters who support us in prayer and through financial needs.

Let us know, if you would like us to pray for anything in particular or want to meet up!
See you all on Friday!

YF Coffeehouse Prep/Prayer Friday (28th) and Saturday (29th)

2010-05-25T14:33:00.000-04:00

Coffeehouse is only 4 days away! The list of prayer names is in your e-mail. free to add... it looks like your friends are responding well from what I've heard from many of you so Praise God!! Remember what we learned about from Amos as well, this coffeehouse needs to be done for God's glory with our purpose to be clear the entire time. Pray that God's love would be communicated throughout the event, through testimonies, skits, music and through your friendships. Thanks for all the committees working together, your service does not go unnoticed - our Lord knows what sacrifices you have all made and I pray that it's for His glory.

Please let me know if you would like me to book church time (outside of or before YF time). If you have purchased decor or food for coffeehouse and would like to be reimbursed from the budget - remember to keep all receipts.
Decor: Maria has requested vases/jars and Christmas lights (we have NO vases or jars yet) (Shelly and I can bring a few of all the above but we need a lot more) shared that balloons need to be blown up (80ish). Saturday, we need as many people as possible for various prep and decor.
Skits: Jocelyn and team have been working hard on the videos and skits, IF you are part of the skits, commit to showing up as much practice needs to be done for memorization.
Games: Kim has requested girls to bring heels for the games
Music: Just practice really, Michael sent out a reminder to have a brief intro to your song (how it fits to the theme of trying something new)
Food: Maggie has sent out a detailed list of food items that are NEEDED, please refer to that
Overall: Eric has e-mailed out an encouragement to pray for/invite your friends Friday's rehearsals and prep
"Pray for the people that come, that they themselves would be ready to hear what God has to say... If you can do nothing else this week, then pray. If this coffeehouse is without God, then all of this preparations was a waste of our time. Don't make it a waste. PRAY... Keep up with devos, Bible reading, and prayer, and let God change you so you can be used by Him."

FOR Ouje, I've sent out an e-mail regarding what I have planned for messages and for prep for the fundraiser this Sunday, lots of things to pray for all of us.
If there are prayer requests or you want to meet up, let us know!
See you all on Friday!

YF Coffeehouse Prep/Prayer this Friday (21st) and Minor Prophets (23rd)

2010-05-18T14:58:00.001-04:00

It was refreshing to learn more from the book of Hosea on Sunday. How God pursues us even when we are unfaithful as Israel and Gomer were. It's incredible and it's impossible to fully understand how deep that love is. It was neat to see all the groups working together on Friday, we had a large group helping with decorations, groups doing music with one another, skit planning and practice etc. Under the next paragraph is a list that was made during Sunday school, please add your friends names if you did not attend Sunday school.

This Friday (21st), we'll continue our prep/practice/prayer for coffeehouse which is LESS THAN 2 weeks away!, Please let me know if you would like me to book church time (outside of or before YF time). From normal YF time: 7:30pm onwards we have access of the basement sanctuary (for the practice, prep etc). Perhaps, this time we can try to make it through a run-through. I still have some beautiful invitations that Maria has prepared, so use them as she has dedicated a lot of time into making them for you. Remember to pray for each other!

I've included a list of almost 60 of your friends in your e-mail.

This Sunday (23rd), we'll plan to continue our studies in the Minor Prophets: Joel.
If there are prayer requests or you want to meet up, let us know! Will be seeing a few of you different times during the week too!
See you all on Friday!

YF Coffeehouse Prep and Prayer this Friday (14th)

2010-05-11T14:32:00.001-04:00

I'm excited that we have started our Bible studies in the minor prophets. We read from Jesus' encounter with the men on their way to Emmaus, how Jesus enters into our conversations/daily life. We need to be God-conscious in all we do and we talked about how understanding the prophets, their lives and ministries will help our growth through a deeper knowledge of Christ and His people.

This Friday (14th), we'll be preparing/practicing for the coffeehouse at the end of the month (29th), we will only be two weeks away from the coffeehouse, so please help in your various committees by practicing this Friday. I've booked the upstairs sanctuary for 6pm until YF for any music that needs to be practiced and Room 202 from 6pm for any skit preparation. From normal YF time: 7:30pm onwards we have access of the basement sanctuary (for the practice, prep etc). We will want to go through a rough draft of the entire program by evening's end. Maria has put together beautiful invitations, so please get invitations from her to give to your friends at school. Take as many as you need, but please use them all as she has dedicated a lot of time/work into making them Similar to the Engage your World prayer list, we'll form one for the Coffeehouse as well, so we can pray together for one another!

This Sunday (16th), we'll plan to continue our studies in the Minor Prophets. It will be difficult to finish this series by the time Alpha starts in September so let's use every opportunity available. We'll be covering the book of Hosea and looking through the major themes and the deep lessons we can learn from God's Word through Hosea.
If you would like to catch up or have anything you'd like us to pray for, let us know!
See you all on Friday!

YF Bible study this Friday (7th) Minor Prophets

2010-05-04T13:22:00.000-04:00

Thanks for the discussion on Friday about what it means to be in relationship with God, are we walking in relationship with the God of this universe? Jesus came to demonstrate compassion, truth, love and forgiveness (the purest definition of those words as God demonstrates the perfect example of each attribute). God's law is written on our hearts, everyone's heart... are you walking in accordance to His desires or choosing your own way? I pray that each of us would be walking in harmony to Christ's life and His plan. Thanks for praying/preparing for coffeehouse as well. Pray for your friends together as well.

This Friday (7th), we will be beginning a new Bible study series on the minor prophets! I'm especially excited about this series. Not many Christians deeply explore the minor prophets but there is so much in these stories that can help us see God in all the details of life. Jesus brings meaning and understanding to the minor prophets and each book reminds us of the passion that God has for His people. Each week, we'll be covering a minor prophet and getting a good overview of each book and you should leave with a deeper understanding of the prophets and God's Word as a whole, deeper in love with who He is. Please bring your Bibles and four color pens and join us in the youth room this Friday to delve in together.

Looks like we will be free to use room 203 through the summer!! If you have ideas for the large room and how you would like to design it, let me know or Jon Lam (Hong Kong Jon Lam) who will help design a blueprint for it! Couches, colors, stage, rugs, lighting etc. Let us know, we'd love to have it somewhat designed by Youth Alpha time in September :) Pray for the Ouje team which has been finalized! We will be preparing devotions, games, crafts, prizes, worship, messages etc. for the mission trip from June 27th - July 3rd.

If you would like to meet up or have any prayer requests, please let us know!
See you all on Friday!

YF "Real relationship with God" discussion this Friday (30th)

2010-04-27T14:38:00.001-04:00

This Friday (30th), bring your Bibles and 4color pens as we will discuss a Nooma short film (first time in 2010, the year goes quick!). It's an important question that can get taken for granted sometimes in church. What does it really mean to have a real relationship with God? Does it resemble our other relationships, what's deeper about it? How can we possibly relate to a holy, all powerful, creator God? Jesus came and said He was giving everyone life in abundance, that we would live to the fullest. Why doesn't it feel like we are living to the fullest? Hard question to ask, because if we are Christians we should be living life the fullest... right? Join us in the youth room this Friday to watch and discuss together.

Last Sunday school, we covered Joseph's character and his ability to overcome being sold into slavery by his own brothers and continually avoiding temptation (day after day) with Potiphar's wife - and suffering for it. This Sunday school (by your request) will be devoted to deeper coffeehouse planning. I've asked you to plan in your committees in advance so you can make the most of the time allotted this Sunday. We only have a month to go, start inviting your friends now. Perhaps you can start by inviting those friends that we were all praying for during Engage as well. I'll start a new prayer list for coffeehouse this Sunday school. Next Friday (7th), we'll be beginning a new Bible study series too.

Let us know how we can pray for you or if you would like to meet up!

See you all on Friday!

YF/PE Group Relay Races and Faceoffs this Friday! (23rd)

2010-04-21T16:55:00.001-04:00

Thank God for an incredible weekend at the Getaway Retreat, it was really a privilege to have that time with each of you to pray individually over you and we will continue praying for you as you grow in your relationship with the Lord. I pray that you would not forget all that the Lord spoke to you this weekend, through the messages, through the conversations and yes, through the fun/games as well :) As always, this retreat was also your offering to the Lord as you guys helped plan everything from worship, the games and the promo and registration! I'm always delighted to see you all working together and growing in your love and service to the Lord! While there is so much to remember, here is one principle Paul mentioned over and over: the Holy Spirit's role is to glorify the Father by bringing Jesus up to the center of attention in our lives.

This Friday (23rd) will be a joint group relay competition with Pure Energy! The relay races will even include pictionary, puzzles, dice and shoes and ends in a sharades faceoff!!! Rae-Anne who is a youth ministry vet in planning games is whipping up a real fun night for you guys so invite your friends (ones that you plan for coffeehouse, ones that came to getaway, new ones, old ones and if you have a PE sibling, compete with them!) ;) Rae-Anne was saying "No clever name! (for the event) But it'll be sweet!")

This is the first time in awhile that I don't have to nag for forms at the end of the e-mail (whether Getaway, Ouje, NoN adding names etc.) :) The main announcement now is to continue preparing for this year's Coffeehouse next month and that the Ouje team will be finalized in the coming week or two by the C&Y core group and I'll let you know as soon as I can! :)

We will be starting a new Sunday school series this Sunday as we've wrapped up Essential Theology. Pray for me too, I'll be preparing a sermon for the English Sunday service on May 2nd. Let us know if you have any prayer requests (we'll be praying for you anyways), or if you'd just like to meet up!

May the Lord make His face shine upon you.
See you Friday!

YF Getaway: WeFit this weekend (16th-18th)

2010-04-13T13:22:00.000-04:00

This weekend is the YF Getaway Retreat at Camp Galilee!! Our theme this year is WeFit: Some Assembly Required and our desire is to learn more about what it means to be ONE body and how each one of us fits in Christ`s body. After all the preparation by the various committee groups, this weekend is finally the time. Please keep praying for all the student leaders, worship team, Paul Racine, pastors and everyone attending!

The Details:
Please meet at OCAC (a 2 minute walk from CCCO [directions]) at 4:30pm on Friday, April 16th - buses will depart shortly after. Please prepare to be picked up around 4:45pm Sunday, March 18th from OCAC. If you have invited your friends, please remind them of these times.

Please bring:
Bible, writing utensils, clothes for the 2 days and 2 nights, paper or notebook, appropriate clothing for both indoor and outdoor games and activities. cameras, sleeping bag, pillow. hygeine items such as toothbrush, comb, shampoo, deodorant. (instruments and equipment if you are on the worship team)

Please leave at home:
ipods, mp3 players and the sort. no alcohol, tobacco or weapons of any kind permitted.

See you all on Friday!!! Pray for the weekend!

YF Bible study this Friday (9th)

2010-04-06T11:38:00.000-04:00

Thanks for sharing in a fantastic Easter weekend! We were able to reflect on Christ at No Other Name and share in communion as well. It was great being able to meet up with some of you as well this weekend, and celebrating that Christ is alive! Also we got to witness our brother Andy identify himself with the death and resurrection of Christ through baptism!

This Friday (April 9) we will be continuing our Bible study in the book of Romans at the church, last week we focused on 'the weak and the strong' and how believers must challenge themselves and be open to the Holy Spirit in disputable matters. We should not be judging others based on disputable matters and possibly hinder God's work in the individual. Romans 14:13-23 principles to look over again as we learn to live as Christ's church. We've discussed justification, sanctification by the Holy Spirit and life as living sacrifices and Christian civil duty. Each study throughout Romans we are learning important staples of our faith as well as practical application for our daily lives. Please bring your Bibles, pens and and open heart.

Getaway forms were due on Sunday (April 4th) , so if you were missing either form or money, please get them in by the latest this Friday. Let me know your intent to get those in as soon as you get this e-mail. Cheques $110 payable to "Ottawa Chinese Youth Ministerium" or "OCYM"

Coffeehouse is coming up (May 29th), please continue your group correspondence and prayers!
Let us know if you'd like to meet up or how we can be praying for you!
See you on Friday!

YF No Other Name this Friday (April 2) at Sacred Heart

2010-03-30T15:34:00.002-04:00

This Friday (April 2) is Good Friday which we will gather for No Other Name (at Sacred Heart Catholic High School). Good Friday is all about Jesus and what He did for us on the cross. Jesus asked us to remember that. God never gets tired of hearing us say how thankful we are for what Jesus did that day. Directions to Sacred Heart 5870 Abbott Street, Stittsville, ON, I would suggest you call other YF'ers to arrange for car pooling that day. Bring $36 to NoN, cheques payable to "No Other Name"

Doors open at 11:00am, I would suggest getting there by 11:30am because the sessions start at 12 noon. I've e-mailed you the names that I've registered so far, please add your name ASAP if you'd like to come :) for more details check out: http://noothername.net

YF GETAWAY forms due this Sunday (4th)!! cheques $110 payable to "Ottawa Chinese Youth Ministerium" or "OCYM"

Thanks for the great discussion from Romans chapter 14 last week, in disputable matters we must continually challenge ourselves and be open to conviction from the Holy Spirit. We should not be judging others based on disputable matters and possibly hinder God's work in the individual. Romans 14:13-23 principles to look over again as we learn to live as Christ's church. We had a good time of planning on Sunday as we reminded ourselves of the purpose of coffeehouse and it's encouraging to see the planning and detail that you are going through to reach your friends. May 29th seems like the consensus date.

TIME: 12:00 to 9:15 pm
LOCATION:Sacred Heart Catholic High School
5870 Abbott Street, Stittsville, ON
(map)

SCHEDULE:
11:30 - Doors Open
12:00 - Session 1 (HS) - Workshops (JH)
2:00 - Dodge Ball Plus
3:00 - Session 1 (JH) - Workshops (HS)
5:00 - Concert and Supper
6:30 - Dodge Ball Plus Championship
7:00 - Session 2
8:30 - Communion
9:15 - End

See you all Friday at Sacred Heart!

YF Bible study this Friday (26th)

2010-03-23T14:39:00.000-04:00

Hope you have all had an awesome March break!! It was good to see lots of you over the break, whether through Getaway practices, meetings, coffee or on the Friday night at our place! :) So far no complaints from our neighbors so we'll have to have you over more often! The next one can be more of an open house ;)

This Friday (26th) we will be continuing our study in the book of Romans, we've been discussing major themes of faith like justification, sanctification by the Holy Spirit and life as living sacrifices and Christian civil duty. Each study throughout Romans we are learning important staples of our faith as well as practical application for our daily lives. We will be continuing in the fourteenth chapter of Romans "The Weak and the Strong" Please bring your Bibles, pens and and open heart.

Remember to invite those friends you've committed to praying for (from Engage, gym night etc.) to Getaway and NoN.
I've e-mailed you the Ouje Mission trip application form again and the Getaway registration form.
Ouje is due THIS Sunday, March 28th (will take some time to complete, please don't wait until the last minute)
Getaway application is due on Sunday, April 4th (only takes minutes to fill)

For No Other Name, let me know ASAP if you want to attend NoN (Pure Energy is invited too). Fee is $36, meal included and some proceeds go to donation to the mission trip that is selected at the event.

In Sunday school (28th), as promised we will have some time to discuss in our coffeehouse committee groups. Of course you don't have to wait for a designated time to start planning, if you have not already done so, please get the ball rolling in your committees via e-mail/facebook/meeting up etc. Please come prepared with an agenda for your committee group whether it be decorations, music, food, media/av, program etc.

Let us know how we can be praying for you!
see you on Friday!

YF at Josh and Shelly's this Friday (19th)

2010-03-16T13:05:00.002-04:00

Happy March Break! I see that some of you are keeping busy during the week with Getaway details/practices, meeting up together etc. :)

This Friday, most C&Y programs (AWANA, PE) are off for the March break, but you are invited to our place this Friday night (19th) for YF from 7:00pm to 10:00pm. It will be an informal time for games and fellowship. You can bring your snacks, wiimotes, Brawl disc, boardgames.... you can plan in your groups for coffeehouse... you can talk to one another or the adult leaders, pray together... It's up to you, our home is open for you :) Feel free to invite your friends as well. Our address is in your e-mail.

In Sunday school (21st), we will be looking into Scripture and exploring what it means when we say that God is our Father, this is our last class in our Essential Theology series. Please bring your Bibles, pens and open hearts.

I've attached (in your e-mail) the Ouje Mission trip application form again and the Getaway registration form.
Ouje is due on Sunday, March 28th (will take some time to complete, please don't wait until the last minute)
Getaway application is due on Sunday, April 4th (only takes minutes to fill)

For No Other Name, I have the following people registered so far: Luke, Eric P, Andy, Neva, Jocelyn, Michael, Eric Y, Hillary, Wardrer, Jeff, Ernie, Lena, Helen, Allan, Jessica, Laura. Add your name ASAP if you want to attend NoN (Pure Energy is invited too). Fee is $36, meal included and some proceeds go to donation to the mission trip that is selected at the event.

Let us know if you want to set up a time to meet up to pray and catch up.
See you Friday!

YF Gym Night this Friday (12th)

2010-03-09T14:59:00.001-05:00

Thanks for an active and well participated Bible study in Romans chapter 13. There was a lot of discussion in each group and it was good to see all the wheels were turning as we discussed our civil duties as Christians. We are called, as believers to submit to authority until that submission directly violates following Christ. Paul's overarching principle is that we are to clothe ourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ. In Sunday school we were able to learn more about the kingdom of God. It's a term we hear about often, but have not necessarily explored much. We learned about how Christ said the kingdom was already in our midst, but it is also coming and approached through spiritual understanding and doing the will of God.

This Friday, we are having a church-wide gym night at St. Patrick High School (2525 Alta Vista Dr, K1V7T3) from 7pm - 10pm. This is a great opportunity to invite friends and have active games within our church community. Pure Energy, YF, h2o and adults from the congregation will all be there!!! We still need equipment, so if you have badminton rackets/birdies, basketballs and volleyballs please bring those as we are provided with 3 gyms and nets. This is a perfect opportunity to follow up with your friends from Engage and invite them to an informal night of activity. No Other Name (April 2) is also a great opportunity to invite as well as the Getaway (April 16-18)!

IMPORTANT info:
GETAWAY meeting this Sunday at 1pm - 2:30pm (Lunch is provided), only students who desire to serve as student leaders (worship, devos, games/activities, promo/reg) need to attend.

I've also attached the application form for the Ouje trip and have set the deadline for applying at March 28th, that is 3 Sundays from now, please continue praying for the trip. Finishing this application on time/in advance does help indicate what sort of priority you place on being a part of this trip. After the applications are in, the C&Y core team will discuss the applications and then make a decision on the mission team as soon as we can in order to start the preparation for the trip.

If you are interested in baptism this Easter, you must apply before this Sunday, March 14th. If you are a believer in Christ and have not yet been baptized, please prayerfully consider this step of faith as it is an act of obedience that follows faith in Christ.

No Other Name, I'll be putting in the registration on March 14th, so add your name if you desire to come

Let us know how we can be praying for you or if you want to catch up over tea/coffee/lunch. :)

See you on Friday!

YF Bible study this Friday (5th) and lots of info!

2010-03-02T15:28:00.002-05:00

I am still really joyful about the whole last week (for a million reasons!) But I was really, really encouraged by your prayers, your courage and tenacity over the past few weeks/months about Engage. It showed that you wanted to make a difference in your schools and cared enough for your friends. These events help plant the seed in their hearts and you were a part of the whole process. We even had some friends and students come to know the Lord on Friday in our own groups! So praise the Lord for the fruit over the months of preparation. Your effort could not have gone into anything more worthwhile than God's kingdom! I pray that this event has helped you in your growth and burden for those the Lord has surrounded you with.

This Friday (9th), we will be continuing our Bible study in the book of Romans, we've already covered major themes like justification by faith, sanctification by the Holy Spirit and living a Spirit filled life as worship. We are continuing with more practical application in our daily lives as Christians and what does that look like at school, home, church and the world. Please bring your Bibles and continue praying for your friends. In Sunday school, we are continuing our study in Essential Theology, we will shift our focus from God's mysterious will to your place in God's kingdom.

March 12th is a good opportunity (just NEXT WEEK) to follow up with your friend and invite them to the GYM NIGHT at St. Patrick High school from 7-10pm.
No Other Name (April 2nd), 9 of you have registered so far, let me know ASAP so I can register our whole group. For more information: http://noothername.net/

The Getaway Ball is beginning to roll and needs student helpers to get on board for our April 16-18th retreat. 3 out of every 4 years, we launch the Getaway with other Chinese churches in the area. We have three student run teams to help plan/organize the retreat: Promo/registration (who helps design promo, nag students to return the form to their pastor, places people in small groups/rooms etc.) Games/activities (helps organize games, buys supplies, prizes etc.) and the Worship team who leads us in worship each session of the retreat. We still need help in each area... IF YOU desire to be on the worship team, you must be in Ottawa for March break as we will have 3 practices during that week.

Also for the Coffeehouse (May 21), category leaders don't need to wait to start contacting your team (via e-mail/facebook threads or whatever) to get some coffeehouse prelim planning ready. Much of decorations/food/music/program can already be discussed over e-mails and we can schedule some upcoming Sunday schools to help pull together some details. I would really recommend starting as soon as possible for those in charge of your respective groups.

Continue to prayerfully consider applying for the Ouje-Bougoumou trip, I'll send out Ouje applications in next weeks e-mail. BAPTISMS coming up for April 4th, please let me know if you would like to proclaim your faith in Christ through baptism before March 14th. It's been in the announcements for a couple of weeks already as well.

Let us know how we can be praying for you, or if you want to meet up to talk/pray!
see you Friday!

Engage week!

2010-02-21T16:27:00.000-05:00

(From Monday) Today is the start of Engage! We've been praying and working towards this for 18 months and need you to join us in prayer as well. As part of the city planning committee, I have never felt more a part of the big picture of youth ministry, I am so encouraged that you have (and committed to) inviting all these friends!

This whole week is ENGAGE YOUR WORLD (official info on http://www.engagenow.ca/, these are city-wide events so please arrange for you (and your friends) transportation for the week! On the Friday night, I would advise being at the Metropolitan Bible Church by 6:30pm to ensure you can sit with your friends (GO DIRECTLY TO THE MET BIBLE CHURCH on Friday Directions), it may not be possible to sit together at the event and many of you may be split up if your friend decides to respond at the front of the stage. You may also be leaving at different times, so due to the logistics of such a large city event, PLEASE STAY WITH YOUR FRIENDS, don't lose each other and arrange the times for your departure with your parents (or the bus schedule) :) If the event goes longer you can use your cell phones to contact parents. The planned ending time is 9:15-9:30pm but I can foresee the possibility of it going longer as it is a large event).

PLEASE continue praying for one another, feel free to add your name/your friend's names to the list so we can pray together. We are still praying for this event daily! (I've e-mailed the full list to you guys)
Each evening's events are in your e-mail as well :)
See you all on Tuesday or Friday!

YF Quest (Engage prep) and prayer this Friday (19th)

2010-02-16T14:32:00.001-05:00

Thanks for participating in the Romans 12 Bible study last week, it was refreshing to see you guys work in groups to discover how to apply God`s Word into your everyday life (whether at school, with friends, home or church). The major themes we`ve covered in each chapter: we are justified by faith, sanctified by the Holy Spirit and need to live out the gospel in our daily life as we worship God with our entire beings (living sacrifices). Thanks for all your encouragements, Shelly and I are overwhelmed with your love, prayers and gifts for us... It`s been an incredible experience for us to share life with you guys and thanks for being the best youth group in the world! Pray for baby Armishaw! :)

This Friday (19th) we will be going over the Quest video that will be shown during the outreach nights from Feb 22nd to 25th. My planning committee is encouraging every youth group in the city to at least preview the video and be prepared as your friends may ask questions about Jesus. We will be watching the quest video and going over the discussion points so that you would be prepared to engage your friends in discussion at the Feb 22nd - 26th nights. Please bring your Bibles, pens etc. KEEP PRAYING and INVITING your friends for ENGAGE (Feb 22-26th) (this is the last week before the event)! Your siblings in Pure Energy are also invited to the Feb 26th event, so encourage them as well. We will also spend time to pray in small groups for your friends and the outreach week!

I`ve e-mailed you the UPDATED PRAYER LIST (please add your friends to the list so we can pray together) and the evening locations for the events from Feb 22-26th.

In Sunday school, we are continuing our series in Essential Theology, please bring your Bibles as we will look deeper into God`s character.
Let us know how we can pray for you!
I`m praying for you and your friends everyday.
See you Friday!

YF Bible study in Romans this Friday (12th)

2010-02-09T13:08:00.001-05:00

From the depth of our hearts, we thank God for each and everyone of your prayers and encouragements for baby Levi. He's been an incredible blessing from the Lord and gives us joy everytime we look at him (even changing the diapers and waking up every couple of hours!) Haha, we love him to bits. God is sooo good and everyday I am reminded of all the big and small miracles He does daily. Please keep us in your prayers as we face new joys and challenges, and continue to pray for baby Armishaw and parents as well! :) We still remember you in prayer, may the Lord have His hands on each one of you and may you display His glory in everyway possible!

Thanks for taking the time last week to plan ahead in groups for the coffeehouse, it brings a lot of joy to see you work together for the Lord's work. This week Friday (12th), we are definitely due for the Bible study in Romans 12. We've talked about major themes like justification by faith over the course of a few chapters and then focused on sanctification through the Holy Spirit... Romans 12 really helps in making things emphatically clear: live the gospel of Jesus Christ. There is a reason this chapter is incredibly loved as the Spirit shapes lives upon reflecting on these verses. Bring your Bibles, pens and come with a heart that is willing to see what God may be trying to say to you.

PLEASE continue praying for your friends, I heard some good things about the training week! Apparently, there were over 600 students in the Ottawa region over the course of the week that attended, (more on some nights than others). Paul has confirmed 14 assemblies in high schools, the outreach nights from the 22nd-26th and the big event on the 26th. We also need a lot of student volunteers on the big night, so if you have already signed up, or want to sign up please let me know ASAP. Next YF, we'll be going over the discussion points of the video so you can engage in natural conversations with your friends that come out to the outreach nights.

In Sunday school, we looked into God's Word to explore His sovereignty as part of our essential theology series, this week we will be looking into Biblical answers to questions you've submitted.

Things to keep in mind as we move ahead:
ENGAGE: outreach events taking place the whole week of February 22-26th.
- Quest video on YF (19th), we want you to be familiar and aware of some questions.
- February 13th (sat) Gracious Light is hosting a family day at our church.

As usual, let us know how we can pray for you!
See you all on Friday!

YF Bible study in Romans this Friday (5th), Engage training

2010-02-02T13:29:00.001-05:00

Today is the due date for the baby, but still no baby. Pray for the babies. :) Thanks for such great participation in our series of relationships talks, the Bible has so much to teach us about treating one another and being a man/woman who is living by God's standard. Our commitment to God and building a godly character is most important and should precede being ready for serious relationships.

This Friday (5th), we will be continuing our Bible study in the book of Romans. We've been studying chapter by chapter and we are now ready to study chapter 12. Romans 12 is an extremely loved chapter that brings together the beauty of the gospel being lived out. The Holy Spirit has changed several lives through Romans and chapter 12. Bring your Bibles, pens and come with a heart that is willing to see what God may be trying to say to you.

This week is also the training week for Engage, First you only need to attend one night in order to get the training.
Second, the training is for every believer and will include an easy to use method to share their faith with their peers or others.
Third, the training is for all of our youth who are already on their journey with Jesus, whether or not there is an assembly scheduled in their school.
ALL NIGHTS 7-9PM
February 2 Bridalwood Community Church 2 Stonehaven Drive, Kanata
February 3 The Metropolitan Bible Church 2176 Prince Wales Drive, Ottawa
February 4 Ottawa Chinese Alliance Church 22 Eccles Street, Ottawa
February 5 Life Centre 2214 Innes Road, Orleans

In Sunday school (7th), this week we will be continuing our series in Essential Theology and looking into God's Word to highlight His sovereignty. Join us every Sunday after service for our series in Essential Theology and our discussions regarding Biblical answers to your questions.

Things to keep in mind as we move ahead:
Engage your World, Training days from February 1st - 5th, Events taking place the whole week of February 22-26th.
- Quest video is coming up to, we want you to be familiar and aware of some questions.
- February 13th (sat) Gracious Light is hosting a family day at our church.
- Some preliminary coffeehouse planning sessions are likely in the weeks ahead as there will be some transitioning to parenthood in the next couple of months, so get some ideas in case some of these events don't go as scheduled because adult leaders are rushing to the hospital for labor.

Let us know how we can be praying for you!
See you on Friday!