March 2015 Newsletter

Dear friends of the military ministry, 

Back in December, Amy and I sent out a number of our personal magnets sharing the desire and need for prayer upon God’s harvest for more adults to reach our teens between Fort Stewart and Hunter Army Airfield. For us to say that your prayers have been answered would be a misrepresentation of His amazing blessings upon the ministry sites already in 2015. So, come join us and read over what God’s been doing here……

Club Ministry

One of our giant groups of Fort Stewart
middle school teensplaying 'pinball!' 

A group of our HS teens gathered for a game! 

It might sound cliché, but energy always builds around the nicer weather down here especially since our weather turns quicker than most places. We’ve seen explosive growth from all fronts – middle school and high school Club and Bible studies at Fort Stewart have been growing all spring and we are seeing record crowds each night. Our core groups of students are multiplying and there are record numbers of students bringing other friends to come and experience Club weekly. One of my favorite things happens at least once nightly when a student rushes up to me and says “Mr. Phil, this is ____ and they’re new here.” It’s awesome. Our teens are eager to be celebrated upon for their eager hearts to bring their friends to a place they love to come each week. When we shared about the harvest, we never imagined our groups to become a steady and growing 35+ each week, however that IS what God has had in store for us because of your fervent prayers.

Bible Studies

At Hunter Army Airfield, students attending our ongoing Bible study which overviews and opens up dialogue of our ‘talk’ each week prior are hungry to go deeper. One of our newer high school attendees, Jacob, asked an awesome question about what happened to the Garden of Eden after sin entered the world. What a question! We’re seeing our students being unashamed just like Jacob who will ask the tough questions they are unsure and know they aren’t being judged by their curiosity of God’s Word. Because each of you have been praying for us, our Hunter teens are showing up weekly with a deep hunger to know more about God’s Truth. 

Leadership Team

We’re also seeing an explosion of growth on our leadership team at both of our locations. Fort Stewart’s crew of adults has grown with an increase of new folks who have moved into our area and are starting to own their part of God’s puzzle in reaching our military teens, whether at Club or outside of it. Two of our newest folks, Amy and her daughter Nia, have come to us with experience from  Fort Hood, Texas which also has Club Beyond ministry. They have joined our forces and have already made strides in impact bringing new games and energy to our teens. Not only this, but they have a passion to see things unfold in ways we never imagined.  Amy and Nia plan on helping spearhead our upcoming spring break work project and retreat. Your prayers have brought us a team of phenomenal adults who want to spread Christ’s love to these teens in shepherding and caring for them ‘right where they live.’

Community Partnerships

Ezra (left) and I at the spouses luncheon
sharing about the impact their contribution
has made upon our teens and the ministry.

Amy and I never imagined these things unfolding the way they have in the ministry this spring semester, but God brought MORE yet. Each ministry location is encouraged to develop strategic and ongoing community partnerships with groups to be fully part of the community and allow the community to experience the ministry outside the doors of weekly Club. Let’s just say God wasn’t bringing one or two partners this spring, He was on mission to blow away our expectations.

Kicking off the month of March began with a repeated partnership with the Fort Stewart Red Cross and our spaghetti dinner for their 5k packet pick-up and late registration. Another new partner added to the mix are the wonderful ladies of Protestant Women of the Chapel (PWOC) who chose to come alongside us and provide all the pasta and fixings for the meal!

Being the banker and financially minded guy I am, I still desire to provide some great education and training to prepare our students as they head out after finishing high school. The great folks of Army Community Service (ACS) are highly interested in joining the efforts and we’re currently working on a workshop to provide a financial resiliency opportunity for our teens in high school.

A few of our HS teens helping at the 5k! 

Two of our middle school ladies who
ran and placed in the Red Cross 5k!

Each year we work diligently to provide an opportunity to reduce the financial strain on families to send their teens to camp each summer.  I approached the Marne Community and Spouses Club (MCSC) in the fall of 2014 to prayerfully consider awarding us another grant for summer camp. A parent and board member for community outreach for the MCSC  called me this month sharing they are partnering with us again as they did last year, pushing our total fundraising figure to send 60 youth to summer camp at ½ price!

You can see how your amazing prayer and partnership has been unfolding already in immense ways this spring. We thank you for being part of it and pray for each of you as we obediently serve our military and their teenagers. It’s not only breathtaking, but humbling to be part of this each day.

~Phil and Amy