Heading into Fall 2010

I must start off by saying this: I LOVE OUR CHURCH!!! There is so much going on here at The GBC, and I am so proud to be a part of it! This past Sunday we had our quarterly business meeting where we talked about the future of our church and moving "4ward." It was so awesome to see all the excitement everyone has surrounding our future. Now for news about AMPED students ministries:

Before the business meeting Jackie and I had a meeting with the AMPED parents. It went great. I love it when the parents get just as excited as the students! We discussed what our plans are for the remainder of 2010 - both in teaching and in activities. Parents, if you weren't able to make it, I have a printout of the upcoming events, but if you have any questions, please see the website. ALL the information is on there. Go to www.thegbc.net, click the ministries tab, click students, and you can select Calender, UNSEEN, LOUDHOUSE, etc. You and your students can even leave prayer requests that come directly to my email.

We are so stoked with the direction our ministry is heading. The students are bringing friends every week, and we are growing like crazy. Yesterday at AMPED we had two girls that came just because they heard how awesome it is. How cool is that?! They heard it from an ex-AMPED student (now in college), and took it upon themselves to check it out. They had a blast and were so much fun to have! We played human foosball. Basically it was a game to promote team building. They had to hold hands to get the soccer ball in the goal, but couldn't detach hands and had to stay in a line. The point was to see that they had to work as a team in order to get to their goal. We followed up the game with a lesson about the upcoming LOUDHOUSE Back-To-School Bash and how we MUST work as a team to make people feel welcome and loved. The students were so stoked. Every one of them wants to volunteer. They realized that LOUDHOUSE isn't put on for them - rather, it is put on by them for others. It's their way of serving their fellow students.

This Sunday we will continue our seven week study of "Truth or Dare." In this series we are learning the truths of money, media, being nice, authority, self-control, and words. We will end with a lesson on Living the Truth. We are learning these truths and how they affect not only ourselves but also the people around us and then daring them to change the way they think and act.

In case any of you parents don't know Julie Treadway, please introduce yourself if you weren't able to make it to the meeting. She is an amazing woman of Christ. We depend on her so much because of her love of Jesus and her desire to see as many people in this fallen world come to know Him. We are so thankful for her.

Also, as we head into Fall busting out of the seams with the number of students we are gaining, we have made the decision to pass 5:16 college ministries off to someone who is a tremendous man of Christ. That man is Chris Miller. Again, if you don't know him, let me introduce you. He is so awesome. Jackie and I really got to know him this year in Honduras, and he blew us away. I promise your college students will be in great hands! God has told us that with our ever-increasing number of students we are gaining, we need to step out and concentrate strictly on Jr. and Sr. High. God continues to blow my mind by sending people like Julie and Chris our way with the love of students and their betterment in mind.

Another awesome thing is that Jackie is working with Heather Rowe and Carrie Butler in PRAISE. PRAISE is a new ministry here at The GBC for students wanting to use their dancing, singing, acting, etc. talents for the glory of God. Jackie grew up dancing, so she's definitely in her element here!

We have so much coming up this Fall/Winter that my head is spinning, but I absolutely cannot wait! Please be in prayer as we continue to - with God's help - mold the students into disciples of Jesus. We can't do this ourselves. He is our Rock. We are just two messed up people that have been chosen to have the amazing responsibility of mentoring our students to reach out to others to further the Kingdom of God.

Bart Wagner
Student Minister
students@thegbc.net