An Unexpected Provision

         Within the past few days we’ve seen some moments of unusual provision from the hand of God. Here’s the story of just one of them.

Yesterday a gentleman, who plays a key role within the movement of Youth for Christ/Western Illinois, told us about an experience that can only be explained as the hand of God on his life. While he wished to remain anonymous, he gave us permission to share his story.

        Earlier in the week he had received a notice stating that he owed $10,000 in full immediately. In fact, the statement said that the full amount was past due. The young man freaked out.

        He had a couple of options. First, he could pay $1,800 per month with steep interest through financial assistance. Second, he could take out a loan and chance the monthly payments through the bank. Either way, as he is currently unemployed, this whole thing was going to put him in a financial rough spot for a very long time.

        So yesterday he made a phone call to see what he could do about lowering the payments, or even the sum total that he owed. Not even two minutes into the phone call, he found out that the $10,000 he owed was taken care of. He doesn’t have to worry. His credit is not ruined. God is looking out for him. Even when he was more focused on the worries of this world, God is always right beside him. And He’s right beside you, too.

        Sometimes life hits us with the biggest curve balls we can imagine. But our God is bigger. Bigger than whatever you are facing right now. He might not always take away the burdens, like He did this time, but He’s still with us.

        Have you ever heard the quote, “God either calms the storm, or He calms you in the middle of the storm?” We would much rather He calm the storm, but sometimes He chooses to let it rage on and calms us through it. It strengthens us. It builds our relationship with God. His love and His mercy never stops, even when we’re not as faithful as we should be.

        So even when your first response isn’t to turn to God, but to worry instead, He’s still there. He’s ALWAYS there. It’s a promise.

Modern Teens-Insight from a Youth Ministry Director

Over the next few months we’ll be talking with staff members who minister in varying capacities at Youth for Christ/Western Illinois. This month YFC/WI Newsletter staff sat down with David Keck, Ministry Director in Macomb.

YFC Newsletter:  Now that you’ve been working with teens in Western Illinois for several months, what do you see as a primary challenge for youth in this area?

Keck: I think their generation as a whole is so well connected electronically that they feel they never have to leave their homes to hang out or socialize. Local teens definitely are subject to this. What I’ve found, though, is that even though teens are content just connecting through social media, there IS a longing there to belong to something more genuine.

YFCN: What are some of the things you offer through Youth for Christ Macomb that answer the need for genuine connectedness?

Keck: Campus Life is a great response to that longing. Campus Life clubs are about building relationships with other teens and adults who care. Our High School food events, Pizza Lunch and Pancake Breakfast, where we feed and hang out with teens, are always a blast too, with lots of new kids coming through from week to week. But the moments we have at our Campus Life club meetings have become some of my favorite memories.

YFCN: In what other ways would you say teen issues have changed since you were in high school?

Keck: It’s surprising to me how much the high school culture has changed in the past six years. Teens are much more open about big issues, like marijuana or sexuality; and while there have always been sensitive subjects that can easily offend adults, teens can be just as sensitive now.

YFCN: How does that affect the way you work with teens at Youth for Christ/Macomb?

Keck: You just have to love people, no matter where they come from or where life has taken them. I just try to love every teen who walks through the door. Like Christ we strive, not just to reach people, but to build relationships and walk with them.

YFCN: Where can you see Youth for Christ of Macomb going in the next 3-5 years?

Keck: We’re growing tremendously with more and more students passing through our building every week. In a school that has almost 600 students, we have seen more than 200 of them walk through our door in the last year. So we're in the process of transforming our program to take in such a high volume of students.

YFCN: How can people get involved in helping reach out to teens in Macomb?

Keck: We always need people to help with our food events: Pancake Breakfast every other Wednesday morning and Pizza Lunch every Friday! I'm also searching for a handful of Ministry Leaders to come in and build relationships with students.


To volunteer at the Macomb site: call 309-833-3026 or email yfc@macomb.com

Bushnell Beat

by Todd Rodeffer

January 20-21 three ministry leaders and myself, along with one teen from Bushnell, went to the Youth for Christ Ministry Leader Conference in Bourbonais, IL.  This was a great time of fellowship and team building.  We worshipped, attended breakouts, and had a couple of good speakers who shared with us what it means to obey God even when we don't want to.  Very encouraging and meaningful to our whole team!  Praise the Lord for the funds to be able to do these trips. 

Peggy, one of our ministry leaders, loves hanging out with

teens at Middle School Campus Life.  She also made brownies for a game day that we had on MLK day.  What a treasure!  

Continue to pray for Natasha Walker and family. She made it through surgery and now will be undergoing chemotherapy in a few weeks.  They are upheld by a very good church family.

Surgery to remove a metal plate from my arm that was broken 8 years ago went very well and I am pretty well back to normal.  Thanks for your prayers here. 

 Praise and Prayers:  

• Pray for life changing decisions to be made by teens
• Continue to pray for Natasha Williams
• We have been taking a young man to church with us – he loves it – praise the Lord!
• Pray for a young woman's relationship with her step-dad

Macomb Happenings

by David Keck
We are excited at Macomb Campus Life to be back in session after a good break! As you may have read in the last newsletter, I got married to Claire! We are back doing Campus Life and having a blast!

Epic Snowbattle 2015, Macomb

Our Thursday night crowd for Campus Life club meeting is growing steadily and we continue to have more students than we have room for coming to Pancake Breakfast! And we’re always looking for more sponsors to help us feed all the kids.

We are starting a new program to help with the hidden costs of Pancake Breakfast. We will be putting out containers at several churches to collect things like Styrofoam plates and cups, syrup, and other extras for our breakfasts. If your church is interested in hosting a container, please let me know! 

The Power of Light

by Connie Sadler

Have you ever been on a commercial cave tour? It really is an amazing experience. Several years ago my family and I toured Mammoth Cave in Kentucky.

Mammoth Cave, I learned, is the longest cave system in the world, stretching and curling back on itself, layer upon layer, five layers deep. Three hundred sixty-seven miles of tunnel and cavern have been discovered so far, and more is being explored all the time.

No good cave tour is complete with-out the obligatory “lights out.” Deep inside the cave they doused the lights and our eyes grew accustomed to the darkness. It takes a minute. We felt a bit helpless as the darkness pressed down on us.

Then with a click and a hiss, the flame of a single lighter leaped out and utterly defeated the darkness; to our hungry eyes, a feast. In that moment I realized light is immensely stronger than dark-ness. A cavern of dark-ness was overcome by a single smallish, flickering flame. Then after a bit the lights came back on and we completed our tour.

Youth for Christ/Western Illinois is a light in the darkness, sharing the good news of Christ, the true Light. The odds are against many of the at-risk teens we see teach week. We listen to their stories. We share God’s story, and thus we provide light in a dark world for teens.

A number of our recent blog posts contain stories of God working through our staff and ministry leaders to reach the hearts of area teens. Enjoy the stories, but more importantly, pray for the teens and the leaders who work with them.

Would you consider starting 2015 by becoming a regular supporter of Youth for Christ/Western Illinois? We need 46 more people to regularly give $25 per month, in order to meet the costs of ministering to area teens. You can give online securely here:  http://yfcwi.org/donate/general_fund_support/

Fred

by Todd Rodeffer

A young man named “Fred”, who is new to the Bushnell area, has been coming to Campus Life this year. He has such a kind heart; he yearns for others to experience what he’s experienced at Campus life. He volunteered to help with the local Christmas food basket give away in Bushnell. During that time, he indicated he was having an exciting day. I asked if he would like to make things more exciting by helping to load some calves (yes, bovines). I was not expecting his response of: “Sure.” He and Abby did a great job. I just love how God works things out! The next week I invited him to church--and he came! Pray for him, and for his family.

The Rauscherts had the middle school Campus Life group over to their home to decorate gingerbread houses and eat pizza. What a night! They were very creative and the homes actually looked cool! Mark and Cynthia opened their home and helped teens experience wholesome family activities. Each time we do something like this, the teens are hearing and seeing the gospel in action.

I got to help a middle school student put together a basketball hoop he’d gotten as a gift. It was neat that he felt like he could call and ask for help, and I was able to demonstrate God’s love and concern for him.

Just Married

On January 3rd David Keck, our Macomb Ministry Director, married his beautiful bride, Claire; Claire (Ascone) Keck has been working as a volunteer ministry leader at the Macomb site, and we wish them God’s best as they continue to work together with Macomb Campus Life, now as husband and wife.

At Campus Life, an average of fifteen students got together weekly during the weeks before Christmas break. The Macomb and Bushnell groups gathered for an all-Chapter teen Christmas party. Teens had a great time with games, snacks, and then as the night came to a close there was a Gospel message.