February 2016 Newsletter

"New Games are Essential for Connections"

 

Our middle school girls lined up for the

candy cane competition!

The holidays are over and the New Year is well under way. Students are back in school pressing through to the end of the school year that will soon be here before we know it. Stores are trying to rid themselves of their post-holiday inventory with drastically reduced prices on everything from décor to Christmas-wrapped candies. We are always looking for new games to introduce to our middle and high school students to keep things fresh and relevant at club. 

 Via social media, we were able to find just what we were looking for. Immediately it was a hit with our students. A huge mound of candy canes are laid out on a table and each student is given one to hold in their mouth with their hands behind their back. The object is to “hook” as many candy canes from the pile as possible using the one held in the mouth and successfully drop the ones that are picked up into a bowl, with the winner being the team with the most candy canes collected. Our students formed teams of boys vs. girls and had a blast as the blaring music in the background served as our signal that the time had expired for the round. The new game provided a platform for students to have fun, connect as they cheered on their team to victory, and test their hand-eye coordination. 

"Never Give Up on Invitations"

 Three weeks ago was nacho night at Hunter Club. In walks one of our middle school girls with a friend in tow. Sydney is kind of quiet and prefers to be behind the scenes rather than in the limelight. We quickly notice a face we have never seen before, and introduce ourselves to her friend she has brought with her. We meet Valeria and learn that she lives across the street from Sydney in one of the neighborhoods on post. We break the ice with the animal game while we wait for our nacho cheese to melt into golden deliciousness for mealtime. 

Sydney and Valeria (left) 

 As we sit around and chat over nachos with the students at club, we worked to get to know our new friend better. Valeria was quick to make new friends and connect with some kids she knew from school. She was able to strike up a conversation about anime. Several of our Hunter students are crazy about anime--the Japanese style of hand-drawn or computer animation. The night unfolded and we continued to have fun as we made connections and laid the groundwork for building a relationship with our new student. Sydney and Valeria shared with us how Sydney had been trying to get Valeria to come to Club with her for 2 years, but she just never did. Sydney didn’t give up on her friend though, she kept inviting, and finally, she came. 

 After Valeria’s first experience checking out club that night, she was wondering what took her so long and wished she had gotten plugged in sooner. Valeria is hooked on Club and has been coming each week since! We’re so glad that Sydney was persistent in sharing her experience at Club with her friend Valeria, inviting her to join us, and didn’t give up on her.

"Their Story Matters, Each Time We Gather"

 “Hey Mr. Phil, I want to share my story!” is a phrase we’ve been hearing a lot lately from both our middle and high school students. Using the 3-story model, we seek to connect to our students by listening to them share their stories of who they are. By doing so, we earn the right to share a little about our own story with them and introduce them to Jesus as we point them toward God’s story. During mealtime at club, we have created a space for students to volunteer to share a bit of who they are with other students and the leader team.

 

Ashani taking a pose before we start Club.

Ashani, one of our high school girls offered to share how a severe car accident that left her with third degree burns requiring multiple surgeries and skin graphs helped her to see the hand of God in her life. She talked of how she was teased and made fun of for looking differently from other students, but also of how that has helped to strengthen her and build her up. She talked about the heap of fiery mangled metal, how she had to be extricated by emergency crews, and how she shouldn’t have survived the crash. Her beautiful story allowed other students to see that even the most horrific things we experience in our life, God can work together for our good.

 As students brave through their fears of public speaking or judgment by their peers, to

Jaylon as he shared his story with us

during the meal at a recent HS Club.

unfold the story of who they are, others are encouraged to speak up and approach us about wanting to share. Jaylon is one of our high school boys that recently shared his story. His story included a recent arrest at the beginning of the school year and a trip to jail that left him missing quite a bit of school. He shared about how before his arrest, he was all about goofing off and living on the edge, in which he admitted to making some pretty poor choices. His time in jail gave him a lot of time to think about life and how he could begin to make better choices and do things differently. Upon his release, he returned to school. He had to work hard to get caught up in his classes as well as implement ways of not falling back into his old patterns. He spoke about how he considered consequences before taking action and how doing so guided him in a different direction most of the time.

 An astonishing 85% of the students we reach through Club Beyond are un-churched. By creating a safe place where kids can come and unpack the emotional baggage they carry, provides life and freedom. They are not met with shame or judgment, but with love and encouragement. Sometimes students question how we are able to love them through their mess, which opens the door for us to share with them how God loves us in the same way, no matter how dirty or broken we feel. We all have a story; we just have to be willing to share it with others.

We ask you to continually pray and lift up our leadership and students as each of them look to share their own ‘story’ with us, allowing us the opportunity to know them and each student to be known and loved in the eyes of Christ.

Ever so thankful for each of you.

Phil & Amy

January 2016 Newsletter

New Year, New Beginnings 

  Ringing in the New Year typically will make folks start to assess things in the past year along with what God holds in store for the upcoming one as well. Amy and I feel that 2016 will be one of many new starts and transitions for us and ministry and a number of ways. 

  As you all will see, Amy and I have chosen to produce our own newsletters in-house to be more diligent with the funding that we receive and cut our costs and see letters be more efficient in the near future. We are excited to provide this to our partner team and keep the information new and fresh and up to the minute for all of you to be ‘in the know’ as it unfolds.

  Join us knowing that 2016 will be a year of many ‘firsts’ with our ministry as we have retreats planned for the spring and a brand new summer camp planned which will happen in June in North Georgia. We feel this will be another Christ-infused banner year!

"It's never goodbye when you're family."

  

Chrisraine being baptized.

Chrisraine prepares
for her baptism.

 Farewells at any time of year are especially difficult, however mid school year moves are so tough on our teens due to the uncomfortable adjustments and integration into an already begun school year wherever they move. One of our longest-tenured middle school teens had to say farewell to us this season, however, God showed us that we needed to be feeling tears of joy with one of our dedicated MS students was moving when she shared “how Club Beyond taught her what it really means to be a follower of Christ and they were being baptized because of Club Beyond.” Humbly we are thankful for sending her.

Sharing our part of the world with others

   Over the recent Christmas and New Year holidays, we welcomed Amy’s folks and her sister to come visit us in our neck of the woods and experience our part of the country and where God has been working in us and the mission for military teenagers. Throughout their time with us, we enjoyed moments of rest and relaxation at our home in Hinesville, plus we got to take them to Georgia’s Golden Isles, aka, the islands off the Georgia coast. Being that we experienced above normal seasonal temperatures at this time of year in their visit of 80 degrees and above, it was fitting to show them some of our own favorite spots along the coast.  

All of us at the Tybee Island lighthouse.

  Amy and I love to have people come visit us in this wonderful place we call home and work alongside so many wonderful military families and their teens. It’s such an honor and blessing to be able to host as many people as we have throughout our time in Southeast Georgia. We have been able to provide a refuge for other YFC missionaries looking for a few days of respite outside of the communities they serve. In addition to hosting friends and family when they come to visit us, we have also used the extra space in our home to add to our family. In September, we welcomed a young man named Alex into our home. We came across this young man through our life group and he was in need of a place to stay. We thought we could provide something temporary for him, but his presence in our home grew on us and we discovered he had taken up permanent residence in our hearts. Although he is 22 years-old, we have adopted into our home and our hearts as part of our family. Alex is very gifted in many areas including photography and carpentry. He has been working on two home renovation projects and has even helped us on a few home improvement projects around the house.

Amy's folks with us at the St. Simmon's Island lighthouse.

We realize that not everyone can make the trip to our corner of the country, but should you ever find yourself in or near Southeast Georgia, feel free to let us know and we would love to share our part of the world with you. If your travels don’t bring you to us, we enjoy sending out our monthly newsletters to each of you every month so that even through this small snapshot, we can continue to share a piece of our world and the work we’re doing for the Kingdom of God with you.

All of us with Alex (behind to the right of the pirate) at the Pirate's House Restaurant in Savannah.

Humbly thankful for each one of you that continue to keep us on mission in 2016,

Phil & Amy Parsons

Celebrate with us!!

• One of our amazing students, Chrisraine, chose to dedicate her life to Christ in baptism before moving to Italy! 
• Bradwell Institute, which is one of our local high schools, has allowed us to bring our ministry and mission to their school starting with a morning small group on Fridays!

 Join us in prayer: 

• Over half a dozen of our students and their families had to move mid-year and we had to say farewell to some impactful loved friends. 
• As we start our Spring '16 semester, pray for new starts in many areas as well for our mission as we are awaiting news on direction soon. 

December 2015 Newsletter

Through the technology that we have at our fingertips today along with social media that is part of our everyday lives, we can easily learn someone’s story. Viewing someone’s Facebook page, allows you a glimpse into his or her life. Of course you are only able to see the pieces they are willing to share, but we find it helpful nonetheless. You may wonder why on earth are we talking about social media?

Amy and I with Marty and Liz
as we played golf together
at the staff conference. 

Social media has become the vehicle through which we can communicate with the masses and share our story. It has been helpful for us personally to close the gap and keep our families updated on our adventures. Another way it has been helpful for us in ministry in that it allows us to push information out to parents regarding Club activities and events, and also to our ministry partners with specific prayer needs and financial support. We can post something to Facebook and in an instant be able to spread the word with a global reach. Not only does Facebook allow us to communicate with others around the globe, but also it creates a history book with a record of all that you have ever posted.

The group of U.S. Club Beyond
staff at our conference.

In November at the US MCYM Field Staff Conference held in Melbourne, Florida, we had an opportunity to gather with our colleagues that are on mission to reach military teens at installations in the United States. Our time together included celebrating victories and sharing concerns. We had an amazing speaker for the week that spoke refreshment into our souls and we had time to rest and recharge our batteries so we can continue serving these teens and their families. Every year the Zane Biddle award is given out during the conference. Everyone casts their vote for the staff member they feel is the most deserving according to certain criteria. This year, our MCYM peers felt we were the most deserving. It is such an honor to be put into the same category as this great servant of God that worked to reach military teens with 101% of everything he had and was.

Rog (right) who is our coordinator,
presenting us with the award.

Sadly, we didn’t have the opportunity to work alongside Zane in ministry before his sudden passing in 2010. We’ve listened to stories told by our peers and those that knew him and worked alongside him. They told of the amazing man that he was and how he fervently served the Lord through his work with Club Beyond reaching military teens and their families. Thanks to Facebook and the Internet, we were able to review his personal history book that was documented. What we found confirmed the stories of those we heard. The joy on his face and in his heart was perfectly captured as we looked through photos of him with his family and students. 

Zane Biddle

Zane Biddle was a loving husband, father, and Club Beyond Community Director at Fort Rucker, Alabama. He served our country as a member of the United States Air Force. His mission in life was to live each day for Jesus and to reach others for the Kingdom of God. His life on this earth ended after only 40 years. He lived every second as a reflection of Christ and had a spirit that was so contagious. We speak as though we knew him. Although we weren’t able to know him here during his time on earth, we are confident that we will see him in Heaven one day. Through Facebook, we were able to learn Zane’s story, which makes receiving the award and honoring his memory all that more meaningful. This year our theme at Club has been to “Live Like You’re Dying”. Zane Biddle certainly did just that up until the moment he took his last breath. We’re trying to teach our students of the importance of loving God and loving others by living boldly and courageously through their faith in Jesus Christ and make their story count.

By being awarded the Zane Biddle Award, Zane has now become a piece of our story, of our history. Though we were recognized as the reward recipients, the truth is, none of this recognition would be possible without each and every one of you. No different than a World Series Championship Royals baseball team coming home and thanking each and every one of their fans that made it all possible, and uniting a city after 30 years, we also want to thank each and every one of you. This award belongs to you.

The award given to us.

For those that stepped out in faith as I began raising support to join this mission back in 2010 as a single guy just dipping my toe into the waters of military youth ministry, I thank you. For those that made financial commitments in order so that I could be fully funded and get on the ground here in Southeast Georgia, I thank you. For those that prayed hours and hours for me and God’s call upon my life to come together, I thank you. Many of you poured into me and spoke wisdom and truth into my life that helped transform me into the man, husband, and servant of God I have become today with God’s grace. Thank you to all of you that continue to be a part of our story here at Fort Stewart and Hunter Army Airfield. Your continued prayers and financial support as ministry partners together on this mission make it possible for us to hear the stories of our students, to share our story with them, and weave God’s story into their lives. Thank you for being a part of our story and for staying on mission with us. As this year comes to a close, we reflect on how God has and continues to bless us as we continue to serve Him. 

November 2015 Newsletter

“A Season of Thanksgiving”

            The fall season is in full swing! People are busy enjoying pumpkin spice lattes at their local Starbucks, the trees are changing colors, and the weather is cooling down. Football has taken over small towns under the Friday night-lights and on many televisions in homes across the country, on Sunday afternoons and Monday and Thursday nights. With the fall season comes lots of celebrations. From children dressing up and enjoying a variety of sweet treats, to pumpkin carving, and gathering friends and family around a large table and giving thanks before eating themselves into oblivion, many memoires are made in the fall.

            When it comes to the military culture, families don’t always get the opportunity to be with family during the holidays. Oftentimes, families are separated by deployments, large distances or other duties that prevent them from all gathering around the same table to celebrate. The students and families we serve through Club Beyond have come to view us as family and we help stand in the gap to fill that emotional void that comes from the empty chairs around the table.

            With the fun festivities of fall, in the military life, a lot of heartache and sadness can often accompany the holidays for our students. For example, one of our middle school students lost her mother very suddenly almost 2 years ago and her dad is deployed more often than he is home. Other students are preparing to move for the 8^th or so time, and still others are wondering with whom their holidays will be spent with due to impending divorce of their parents’ marriage.

The guys were SO ready to prepare their steaks! 

Enjoying their cooked steak!

            Every fall, our Clubs down here in Southeast Georgia gather together to celebrate life and all that we’re thankful for together as a Club Beyond Family. Annually, our fall season consists of 2 awesome events. First, the guys enjoy a “marathon” day. For 12 solid hours, our middle and high school boys gather together and sweat, compete, and are encouraged to push outside of their comfort zone to be challenged in ways they never have been before. We encourage fathers to attend with their sons and enjoy spending the day together bonding. The evening culminates with a testosterone-filled, action-packed movie and time is allotted to educate each young man on how to marinate and grill the perfect steak. With the addition of Amy joining the ministry in a full-time capacity, we now have the opportunity to plan more events for our female students. This year, our middle and high school girls get the opportunity to enjoy a nice lunch together and a photo scavenger hunt at the local shopping mall.

Steaks cooking!

We have the amazing opportunity to celebrate life each week with our students and introduce them to the Life Giver. We allow them space to play and just be the kids that they are, since typically demands and expectations at home are very high. The second event we plan each year involves a good old-fashioned family-style dinner. We set aside time every year the week before Thanksgiving and students are given the opportunity to dress up fancy, thrift store chic, or just as they are and enjoy a fully prepared Thanksgiving meal together with their peers that have become their family. As civilians, Amy and I are forever grateful for the service that our United States Military provide to protect our nation. We also understand that service extends beyond that of the soldier and also includes their spouse and children.

The group of Hunter girls gathered during their day together at the mall. 

            In our season of Thanksgiving, we are grateful for each moment we are able to spend speaking truth into and building relationships with our students. We never know how long they’ll stay here at Ft. Stewart or Hunter, but they know that they’ll always be family and have a place at our table and in our hearts. Our gratefulness also extends to simply being able to minster in this capacity. With the climate of our nation and faith-based programs continually being limited, we are glad God continues to keep us here allowing us to serve through Club Beyond. We are grateful for our amazing team of volunteers that help us bring Club alive each week. Without their assistance, we wouldn’t be able to continue the mission. Our volunteer team this year is the largest we’ve had, and God is working in such awesome ways through them. For the first time in a long time, we are able to provide small group ministry to all of our age groups consistently each week in addition to regular Club which allows our students to dig deeper into Scripture and explore where they are and where they want to be on their personal faith journey. Our network of partnering community organizations continues to grow and we are grateful for the help of the Ft. Stewart and Hunter PWOC (Protestant Women of the Chapel) ladies that come alongside us to feed delicious meals to our students and to the Marne Community & Spouses Club that fund scholarships for our students to attend summer camp each year. Amy and I are thankful for the global network of other Club Beyond locations and are glad we can help students get connected when they move away. It warms our heart to know that although club may look a little different from one location to the next, there are people with similar visions and hearts ready to serve these military students and their families. Our list of thankfulness could go on forever, but it certainly wouldn’t be complete without each of you. Your ongoing prayer support and financial gifts are vital to the success of this ministry and our continued presence here in Southeast Georgia.

            We pray that as this fall season is upon us, and the holidays are quickly approaching, that you are fully blessed. We hope that you pause for a moment and take inventory of all that you have to be thankful for. May your hearts be filled to overflowing in this season of Thanksgiving. 

October 2015 Newsletter

“A season of ongoing change.”

The military culture is very fast-paced and is constantly changing. One of our goals in serving the military community through Club Beyond is to provide a measure of consistency to the military teens at our installations. Our initial vision included goals that would allow us to partner with other community organizations and cast a larger net across the community. Although it has taken a lot of persistence and patience on our part and on our behalf, we are seeing a TON of fruit this year from those initial goals we set so long ago. Let us share with you a glimpse of the fruit we are experiencing here at Ft. Stewart and Hunter Army Airfield. God continues to blow our minds on a daily basis here through his provision as we continue to be obedient and follow as He leads. The mission continues thanks to your support.

Ever since landing here in Southeast Georgia in June 2012, Club Beyond was provided good space to do ministry, but not necessarily was it space that one would consider a “home run” for youth ministry. We have always been content with what we were given and have certainly made it work. The parents of our students at Hunter Army Airfield have paved the way for us to gain access to a facility that is specifically designed for teens. Just last week, we kicked off Hunter Club at our new home, the New Gannam Teen Center! Parents rallied behind us and were the catalyst for this amazing opportunity. Through their vision and determination, they were able to create an avenue for

The Hunter teens during our 1st night at the Teen Center!

discussions with command to bring this dream to reality. The parents were diligent to complete comment cards that allowed the command group to see the need for our students to have a space that was better suited to their needs. We hope and pray that this new opportunity creates a long-term community partnership to not only reach our current students, but that our new space attracts new students that may not otherwise be interested in a youth ministry program. This new opportunity has also created new opportunities for us to partner with MWR (morale, welfare, and recreation), the organization that is responsible for operating the teen center. They have seen a recent decline in the number of youth attending their programs/facilities, and we hope that we can help revitalize their programs and bring new life to the community by joining forces. We also hope that this new huge milestone creates a similar opportunity at the Ft. Stewart location. Until this happens, we continue our commitment to run the race set out before us.  

Amy and I at Bradwell's Homecoming.

Another area that we’ve always hoped to get more involved in has been within the school system. Since we live in the Hinesville area, right outside the gates of Fort Stewart, the majority of our high school students attend Bradwell Institute. We have always tried our best to keep extra-curricular activities on our radar and attend them as our schedules allow. This year, we have teamed up with the Bradwell PTO (Parent Teacher Organization). This allows us to support our military families within the local school system, lay the foundation for more community partnerships, and cheerlead their events so we can have a greater impact in the community that brings more unity than division. For the past month, we have served the faculty at Bradwell by providing coffee and doughnuts before the start of the school day. This year has been an exciting one for Bradwell as they hosted their first homecoming dance in 8 years. For weeks, we went to the school during the lunch hour to assist with ticket sales and help get the students excited. This past weekend was homecoming weekend. We attended the game on Friday night and helped raise money for the PTO by selling tickets for the 50/50 raffle. On Saturday, we spent most of the day helping the homecoming committee set up for the dance. We transformed their school into all things French, to go along with the theme “Midnight in Paris”. The PTO was in need of chaperones, so Amy and I got all dressed up and enjoyed the evening at the dance. It was a lot of fun, but a day of rest was definitely needed for us both to recover from our event-filled weekend. During the time we spent at the school selling tickets for the dance, I was reminded of another initial goal I had. God opened a door and allowed me to have a discussion with the PTO President regarding starting a morning Devotional/Bible Study. She thought the idea was fantastic, and connected me to the Principal to get his approval. I am excited to announce that he gave us the green light and we hope to kick that off in the next couple of weeks.

Us together selling 50/50 tickets for the
Bradwell PTO at the Homecoming Game.

This semester has been filled with a lot of “firsts”, but we feel that we’re on the cusp of something huge. God is allowing this season of ongoing changes as He knits together His awesome plan for Club Beyond here. Continue to keep our volunteer team; the students we’re reaching; their families; the installation command teams and Amy and I in your prayers. Please pray that God continues to move here and allows the reach of our net to increase and for Him to equip us accordingly. 

September 2015 Newlsetter

“Welcome home!” Two words that may seem so small have come to be so important in our work with military teens here at Ft. Stewart and Hunter Army Airfield. Often, we get caught up in the busyness of life that we miss so many little things that have such great importance. Everyone has a need to be loved and accepted, but we have found that is especially true as our students navigate the turbulent times that come along with the journey through adolescence.

             

A giant group of MS teens gathered to start the year!

The HS students in our first Club enjoying ice cream together.

            Over the summer, we had several students that moved away. We also saw an influx of new families move into and get settled at our installations. Whether we’ve had the privilege to shepherd students for a couple of years and are sending them onto their next destination, or are welcoming new students into the fold, one thing we always strive to do is put forth our best effort to welcome students and create an environment where they feel they are at home.

A look at the teens who came to the big bowling kickoff. 

            This can be challenging with the constant tempo of transition of military life, however, we try to capitalize on every opportunity to celebrate and simply live life with our students. This happens in a variety of ways. Every week, through regular club, we are granted a couple of hours in a large group setting to “do life” with these teens. The first semester we spend time enjoying lots of games that allow students to get to know one another and build friendships. We strategically plan and structure our time so that we can deepen relationships with these teens in order to introduce them to Jesus, as well as cultivate the soil of their hearts, in order to increase their desire to come to know Jesus as their Savior. We not only want these students to feel at home through our ministry, but we also want them to spiritually be at home and grow in the knowledge and understanding of a Godly Father that loves them.

The students wait until we let them into the bowling alley. 

            This month we kicked off the new school year for Club with an awesome launch party at the bowling alley on post. 85 middle and high school students from both locations came out to enjoy some fun in a space where they felt welcome to be themselves, surrounded by a team of leaders and their peer group that they consider family. Our theme for this year that our Club talks will center around is: “Live Like you were Dying”. The climate in which we’re living in today has teenagers believing that everything is all about them. We are bombarded with countless “selfies” and self-absorbed social media posts that sadly have consumed most of our young people and have left them with a severe case of tunnel vision. This year, we hope to walk through Scripture with our students and help them move toward an others-focused way of living. As humans, our days on earth are numbered and we want students to understand that they were made on purpose, for a purpose, with a purpose by the Creator of the universe and to live each moment with that God-given purpose and make every moment count.

These teens kept trying to empty the machine
giving out stuffed animals!

Since regular club only presents a couple of hours each week to spend with students, we also try to make every effort to spend time with students through their extracurricular activities. We attend events ranging from football and soccer games, and band competitions, to golf tournaments and softball games. At times, it may seem that all we’re doing is adding more to our already busy calendar, but it’s so worth it. Our students always share with us how cool it is that we care enough to be at their events and support them. We encourage our volunteer leader team to work 1-2 events into their schedules each month so they can meet students where they are and continue to build relationships and bridge the gap between teaching them about the love of Christ and living it out to and with them.

The Hunter teens gathered during games as we excitedly
began a new year together. 

We have found that it is through the time we spend with students in the “in between” regular club activities that these relationships with students really grow. It is through those 3^rd quarter conversations and the pitching changes chatter where we are given the opportunities to talk with students one on one and students get real with us. They share with us how they are struggling with all of the changes, how making new friends has been difficult. They tell us how hard it has been with their parent(s) deployed. Students share with us how things at home are terrible and their parents are getting divorced. They tell us how things are so bad and how they try to cope in unhealthy ways like self-harm, food restriction, and drug and alcohol abuse as they try to escape the mess that their lives have become.

            Although these stories break our hearts, we remain open to listening. Through Club Beyond, we provide a refuge for them to share their pain. We certainly don’t want our students to get stuck in their mess, but we understand that in order for a home to be a refuge, we must create an atmosphere of safety, love, and acceptance. WE must build a solid foundation with students before we can begin to help them health their hurts.

            Please be in prayer with us as we continue to meet new students and build relationships with them. Pray that God would lay the foundation in their hearts and equip us accordingly to point them toward Him, so we can say, “welcome home!” We want to be able to greet them not only as they walk through the doors each week at Club, but also we pray, they eventually choose to be welcomed into the family of God. 

Dutifully on mission, 

Phil and Amy 

August 2015 Newsletter

Summer Club Equals Water & Paint War!

The group of teens waiting on the next instruction for another paint attack!

Summer in south Georgia is insane, to say the least. Heat indices rise to the mid 110s normally and the humidity level doesn’t hold off either in the peak of the afternoons. It’s typical to see a thunderstorm just ‘pop up’ from all of the pent up humidity and heat. To find reprieve during  this heat, we have put together an event that allows our teens and leaders to stay cool and have a blast doing so in the middle of the hot summer day.

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.

Our group together after the wild day of water and paint fun!

The craziness didn’t only include paint. We also hosted an insane style of baby-pool water slide kickball for our kids to compete and have a great time while splashing safely to each base while running around. Imagine kickball with an incredible twist that all kids love – slip-n-slides and a challenge! Although keeping the pools and tarps wet and filled with water was a challenge, our students rocked it out together to finish our summer great.

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.

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

Amy and I together at our
weddingsite on Jekyll Island.

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.

Summer Camp Takeaways

Although summer camp ended for our teens about 6-8 weeks ago, read what some of our students had to share:

A group of students at camp getting
ready for some paintball action!

Teens chillin' together
before game time!

“I feel I got the chance to visit and experience a real summer camp for the first time,” X.F.

“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!