Young Life - 1 Month Old!!!

We've been at it for a month, now, and man, am I excited!! We've had a steady turnout, between 12 & 15 kids each week, with a few new ones every time. We worked hard to get our club started before summer break (I know, it's tough for you guys to remember that our summer break started just a few days ago...) and we've not got a nice group of kids that should remain consistent throughout the summer.



In only 4 short weeks we've seen kids dance, sing, pick their noses, and everyone's favorite, drink soda 'til they throw up!! Most of all, we've seen kids get together, open up, just be themselves. We've got the popular kids, the loners, the weird ones, all together having fun with one another...no judgments, just kids having fun!!

As we move into the summer we're focused on two things - keeping our attendance up, and even growing a little, and getting ready for Young Life Camp (Feb. 7-11, 2007). This year, as Arequipa has just opened up, clubs from Lima are going to be heading south to join us. If I'm excited about club every Tuesday, then I'm losing my mind thinking about the amazing time we (and the kids) are gonna have at camp this year!! While we haven't decided on a definite location just yet, I do know there will be sand, sun, and surf involved regardless of locale. And, if you think the kids get wild at Club you're not gonna recognize them at camp!!

Speaking of camp (watch out - he's about to ask for money) we are going to be attempting to raise funds for the upcoming adventure. Here's the basics - we'll be asking each attending kid to pay S./70 (that's 70 soles) which, in real money, equals $22. Let me say that again, in case you didn't catch it. The out of pocket expense per child to attend camp will be $22!! Seriously, $22 gets these kids a week at the beach, 3 meals a day, non-stop activities, new and strengthened friendships, positive influences from several adults (all of whom are more responsible than me, I assure you), and let's not forget, the influene of Christ all around them!! Now, I'm not asking, but I will say that if any of you have a $20 bill that can go farther than that in one week by all means, keep it. If your $20 doesn't go that far but you'd like it to, well then, we can make that happen!! But enough about that (for now, at least...).

Thank you all, for your prayers, for your support, for taking the time to read this. I appreciate each and every one of you more than you can imagine. By the way, all my pics from our clubs are posted here - http://www.flickr.com/gp/24853385@N00/8aWjxv - be sure to bookmark this page, as pics will be added continuously.

Take care and God Bless!!

Our First Club...

Well, we finally had our first Young Life Club this past Tuesday. After a few delays we brought it all together, invited about 30 kids, and had 13 show up, which is quite a nice turnout for the first meeting! Jorge and co. entertain us (and the kids) with a skit, a few games, and a short message, all followed by snacks, conversation, and a little basketball in the park.




Club started off slow, as only 4 kids showed up by 4:30, but several more trickled in during the next hour, and by the time it was all said and done we were running out of chairs!!




Tuesday was also Sharon's birthday, so we may sure to bring her out and have the kids sing to her!! It was an exciting day, as it all came together rather nicely. Already, I can't wait until next Tuesday so we can do it all over again!!


By the way, we are having Young Life camp in February of next year and are in need of some 'gringo' volunteers to take part in our "workcrew." Also, the majority of the cost of the camp for the kids will be covered through donations and fundraising, so if anyone's interested in helping out with either of these please let me know!! We would love to see a few of you come down in February to take part in what's sure to be a great time ministering to youth from Arequipa and Lima...

Thanks for your prayers and support. God Bless...