I cannot believe that April is already more than halfway over! These past few months have just seemed to fly by. We came back in January after the holiday season to a slower start. The Club J students had a bowling outing towards the beginning of the month.

– February –

February however was a very busy month! In the beginning of the month we had a multi-age group Super Bowl party complete with “Human Hungry Hippos” as one of our games! The kids really seemed to have a great time! Also in February, the Senior High students went on a weekend retreat to Johnsonburg. It was a great time, as always. Two weeks after the retreat, the Senior High and I closed out the month with the 30-Hour Famine. This is another event that the kids look forward to every year. They work so hard at all their service sites giving back to the communities and making meals for those less fortunate, all while fighting their own hunger! They are truly incredible and I am so proud of them for all of their efforts!

– March –

Things didn’t slow down much in March either. The Senior High students enjoyed a movie day with Woodbury Heights and Wenonah Youth Groups to see “I Can Only Imagine,” the true story of a Christian musician. The movie was great and I think the kids thought the movie was better than they had anticipated it to be. Also in March, since Lent was in full swing, we decided that perhaps we would try a “Contemporary Youth-Led Worship Service” during Lent. The services were held every Saturday evening during March. The kids did a great job of leading with the Call to Worship, Prayer of Confession, Scripture readings, music, etc. We had 4-5 Senior High students helping every week, which was so great to see. It was so nice to see the other members of the congregation come out and support the kids, and myself, on this new endeavor as well. We truly thank you and appreciate all your support! A special thank you to our speakers during that series: Pastor Janice Moore-Caputo (From Long Island, NY), Dave Platt, and Phil Oehler.

– April –

We then finally made it to Easter! So far the kids have enjoyed painting “Kindness Rocks” and hiding them around the church. Still to come this spring, another Bingo is in the works, hopefully for May, as well as some other fun surprises along the way.

I am so grateful to everyone who has been coming out more to various events. I know it is a struggle with all the other activities going on for kids today, but I truly appreciate all the efforts to make these events a priority for your kids. I am excited for the momentum that we seem to be gaining and I look forward to that momentum continuing through the rest of this spring and summer!

God bless,
Becky Schad