Summer Club Equals Water & Paint War!
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| The group of teens waiting on the next instruction for another paint attack! |
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| Shelby (left) with us after the paint war. |
The big
draw for most people who want to experience something exciting during the summer
has been the Color Run or Warrior Dash races which include a bit of crazy for
the participants who enter these kind of events. Through a great conversation and sharing
ideas with another Club Beyond director, we thought we should do something like
this for our teens, especially with these hot summer days.
Club isn’t
much different because our kids love to experience things together and truly be
‘kids’ again in playing and having fun. We chose to fill hundreds of water
balloons not only with water, but with tons of paint and make our own color war
with a twist of capture-the-flag for our teens to enjoy in the hot summer sun. Our
teens loved it so much that one student, Shelby, begged her mother to bring her
all the way from their new home in South Carolina so she could attend the event
with us.
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| Our group together after the wild day of water and paint fun! |
Moving
season off to a fast pace
In the normalcy of a summer within the Army, a majority of
family moves happen making the overall impact easier to bear for everyone
involved especially if they have children in school.
We’ve already seen an influx of new families and students
on both Fort Stewart and Hunter, to include students who have been sent from
our partner sites which have Club ministry happening.
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| Events like this summer kick-off lock-in allowed us to reach tons of new teens all over Stewart! |
One of our newest students, Lizzie, experienced Club at
Fort Campbell in middle school, but hasn’t been part of Club for awhile since
the other locations where she’s lived did not have Club ministry. That didn’t
keep her from jumping right back into the Club family and being part of things
here. “I remember when Matt used to do crazy things and make things so much fun
when I was at Campbell, it was a place where our faith was real and was fun to
learn.”
It has been quoted that some military teens will say
goodbye to more significant people by the age of 10 than most people will in a
lifetime. This is exactly why we exist.
No matter where our teens come from, they have a place where they belong.
Please join us prayerfully with all of the new teens and families coming into
Fort Stewart and Hunter, that they feel encouraged and loved right where they
are to join the surge in this amazing blessing we are called. It might be
moving season, but something epic is on the horizon.
In addition to all of the changes we see with the comings and
goings of families during summer here at Ft. Stewart and Hunter Army Airfield,
we have another exciting change
happening as we transition into the new school
year. My wife, Amy has felt led to leave her job with the Division of Child
Support Services, to join me in full-time ministry. For a few months now she has
been wrestling with this decision and God has aligned things in order for her
to do so and we have complete peace about the decision. The majority of our
volunteers are also comprised of military families, which means they also come
and go with orders to move on to another installation. In our time here, we
have had some really awesome female volunteers to help shepherd and disciple
our female students, but we have also had seasons without any at all. Amy's
heart has been burdened to step in and fill the gap and be that consistent
female we've been looking for. We are excited about this new chapter for the
ministry and for what God will do through our obedience to His call. In all
honesty, we also have some fears mixed with our excitement, which usually comes
with any change. Please be praying that we will be able to raise additional
financial support to offset this change, and please prayerfully consider any
gift you may be able to give so the work to reach every military teen can
continue. Please also be praying for God to equip Amy accordingly to meet the
needs of our female students.
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| Amy and I together at our weddingsite on Jekyll Island. |
Summer Camp Takeaways
Although
summer camp ended for our teens about 6-8 weeks ago, read what some of our
students had to share:
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| A group of students at camp getting ready for some paintball action! |
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| Teens chillin' together before game time! |
“Camp was
awesome, “ B.W.
“I had
fun and will come every time from now on even if I am moving,” K.S.
Also,
students shared with us some great insight about what Club has meant to them up
to this point and we’d like to share their feedback to you:
“Club is
completely amazing and has made a huge impact on my life.” C.H.
“If I
never had Club, I would be really bad in school.” M.W.
It’s
amazing to share with you how your prayers are being answered and the impact of
Club Beyond is going further than we ever imagined.
Celebrate with us:
· Xavier shared with us how HS camp was truly a ‘camp experience and he loved every part of the past week.
· Students were meeting and hanging out with new students from all over the
area and making new bonds during camp!
· Our current donor team remains strong!
