The Christmas Lie

It is hard to believe that Christmas is only a week away! If you are like me, you may wonder what has happened to this holiday season. Personally, I made every intention of slowing down this year and soaking in the holidays and focusing on Jesus’ birth. Then Thanksgiving hit and the holidays took off like a speeding bullet! There were the Christmas parties, errands to run, and I cannot remember what else I had to do, but it all seemed important at the time. Unfortunately, I bought into the lie this culture has taught that Christmas is all about buying presents, going to Christmas parties, and spending time with family.

As you face this last week before Christmas and start to make your long “to do” list, just stop! Ask yourself, what message am I sending to my children about the Christmas holidays? Are you teaching them that the holidays are about parties, presents or family? This stuff is all good, but becomes a problem when it takes our focus away from the true reason for the season. Remember, children are going to model what you do, not what you say. Are you taking time this Christmas to slow down to talk about Jesus’ birth and the incredible significance of this, or do you only slow down to think about it on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day?

As you come up on one week left until Christmas, let me challenge you to SLOW DOWN and focus on the true meaning for the season. To assist your family with this, this Sunday, we will be handing out a week-long family Christmas devotion booklet to do with your family. Each day consists of a brief reading, Scripture reading, a prayer and a fun family activity. Be sure to pick up your copy this Sunday, or men, you can come to the Men’s Breakfast this Saturday at Fat Daddy’s to pick up a copy. Dads, this Christmas, take the opportunity to lead your family spiritually. This is what your wife and your family are craving and need. It is the best Christmas gift that you could give your family.

Parents, take advantage of this teachable moment to share with your children. If you are unable to make it this Sunday, please email me at jeff@coppellbible.org, and I can email you the booklet.

“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:14

I hope you and your family have a Merry Christmas!

Thanksgiving Family Opportunities

It is hard to believe that Thanksgiving is only 2 weeks away! This Thanksgiving, there are a couple of ways your family can reach out and serve others.

Operation Christmas Child

Fill a shoebox with little goodies and send it to a child somewhere in the world. This is a great opportunity to teach your children about how much we have and that there are people all around the world who wake up every morning wondering if they will get to eat at all. A new feature Operation Christmas Child has added this year is that you can “follow your box” as it travels to its destination. This is a great opportunity to pray with your child(ren) for the box and the child who will receive it. For instructions on this go to https://www.samaritanspurse.org/index.php/OCC/EZ_Give_Donations/.  The final drop off date at the church is THIS Sunday, Nov. 14. Please bring your filled shoebox to the Summit. For any questions, please contact Kim Brown at mkjecbrown@verizon.net or Jeff Hunt at jeff@coppellbible.org.

Thanksgiving BasketsYour family can also reach out to the local DFW community by serving with Operation Relief Center’s Thanksgiving Basket Drive. Those of you who picked up baskets should return the filled baskets by Wednesday, November 18th. There is also an incredible opportunity for your family to distribute the baskets in South Dallas on Saturday, November 20th from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. For more information and to sign up to help, visit the Spoken For website at http://www.spokenfor.org/. This is an awesome, teachable moment and an opportunity to share the gospel as you distribute baskets. Can you imagine the impact on your child if they were to see you sharing the gospel?

Do not miss out on these amazing opportunities for your family to reach out to the poor in our community and around the world. Take full advantage of this teachable moment.

"The Ten" (Week 1)

What is “the Ten?”

   A few weeks ago Barkef started CBF on a journey in the book of Deuteronomy. He has reached the point in the book where Moses gives the ten commandments. Many of us have heard the ten commandments, but right now without looking, how many of them can you name? DO NOT TRY TO CHEAT, GOD IS WATCHING YOU! If you are anything like me, you still struggle to remember all ten off of the top of your head. In fact when I think of the ten commandments, I quickly see Charlton Heston saying in a deep voice, “Let my people GO!”

   Starting this past Sunday, Barkef is going to be preaching on each of the ten commandments. This past week, he started with Commandments one and two. If you have not heard the sermon yet, you can go to the church website (http://coppellbible.org/493781.ihtml?OrderBy=3&OrderDescending=1) & listen or download the podcast from ITunes. Each of the following weeks, Barkef will tackle the commandments individually. Along with this, there will be a devotional guide with daily Scripture readings and a prayer thought for your personal time with God. There is also a “family resource guide” that has the passage side by side in the New Living Translation, the New American Standard and commentary notes take from the Bible Knowledge Commentary.

   The challenge for the CBF congregation is to study these passages in your quiet time and take time as a family to talk about these verses. Recent statistics show that families discuss spiritual matters less than one hour out of the 168 hours in a week. One of the challenges that Barkef shared in his sermon is that we are supposed to pass these things on to the next generation. Think about how many hours a week you spend on homework, attending extra curricular activities and watching television! We wonder why children are walking away from the faith after they graduate high school. Less than one hour a week is not going to work. We need to change this number. I know you have to do homework to pass school but think about your schedule. Pray and ask God, “What could you move, change, give up so that you can spend time as a family and have these spiritual conversations?” Before you do that, be careful. God may ask you to give up something that you do not want to, so are you really up for the challenge? When you are ready to give up on the challenge, just remember 1/168!

How to use the family resource guide

   The family resource guide is a simple tool that is used to equip you in your quiet time and help assist you with faith talks with your child. If you do not know where to start, then begin by reading the passages and make five observations. Then pray through and look through those observations. Now write down one way that you could apply that passage to your life. Take a moment to pray, confess to God if you have been neglecting to apply this to your life and ask for God’s help as you apply this to your life.

How do I do a family devotion?

   I have painful memories of my parents trying to start family devotions when I was a kid. It seemed like my parents were trying to pull teeth out of all our mouths at once! When you feel this tension in your family, you have to press on through it. It is always hard to start a new habit. Here are a couple of other recommendations:

- Start with prayer

- Read the Bible

- Be creative (have family devotions at a child age level. There is not a 4 year old in the world who is going to listen to a 30 minute sermon on the first two commandments. Have them act out a Bible story, get on the internet and print out coloring pages for a passage, or apply a passage by doing something loving for your neighbor like bake cookies for them.)

- End with prayer

Extra Challenge (Couples Devotion)

   Make a list of things that are most important to your family (or if you are single, make a list of your own personal important things) and briefly write down why they are important. For example, one that you could put is mom or dad’s job because it pays the bills and puts food on the table. If you have children, ask their opinion of what they think is important to your family. Take a look at your list and ask, “Where does God fit in this list?” Is He at the top, bottom or middle of what is important to your family? Maybe your busyness or your schedule has become your idol. You are so consumed with work, social activities, your child’s extracurricular activities or your television shows (that includes what you have on TiVo) that you are too busy for God. I have heard the saying several times over the last few weeks that “if the devil cannot make you bad, he will make you busy.” Instead of asking “where does God fit in your schedule,” ask “where does my schedule fit in with what God wants to do in my life (and your family’s life)?”

   If God is not at the top of the list, evaluate your priorities to see what needs to change so that God can be at the top. You may need to stop participating in some activities, start praying with your spouse, or reading the Bible together as a family, or maybe all of the above.

One final thought...

Goals are so easy to accomplish and to keep striving for. Wrong! It is extremely difficult to follow through on goals for one reason…LIFE! Just ask the people who set the same New Year’s resolution every single year. Each January they start out wanting to complete a noble task of losing weight, watching less television or spending time with God every day. Then something happens. Life gets stressful, and you do not want to go to the gym; you want to get away from life with the lull of the television or hit the snooze button too many times so that you are running too late to spend time with God. So, how can you expect to accomplish your goals when they craziness of life starts to ramp up? Here are three key concepts that I hope will encourage you with your goals.

Make a plan & be intentional
“These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.” Deuteronomy 6:7-9
As you look at your goals, ask yourself, “how are we going to accomplish this?” If you set a goal, but you do not put down ways you plan to accomplish the goal, then nothing is going to happen. For example, if I set a goal to run in a marathon this December, then I would set out a daily work out plan so that I would be in shape to accomplish that goal. If I just show up and try to run a marathon, then I will fail. If you have set a goal of having your child be a strong believer who is developing disciples when they are out of college, then think through how that is going to happen. It is more than taking them to church on Sundays. It takes time praying, reading the Bible together as a family, doing service projects …basically it is more than Sundays. If you do not come up with a plan, then you will fall back into your old routine of life, and your goals will be long forgotten.As you look at Deuteronomy 6:7-9, it talks about impressing God’s commandments on your children. Then it says to talk about them when you sit & walk at home & along the road, when you lie down & get up; it even says to make it a part of who you are & where you live! As you implement your plan, you must be intentional on everything you do. When you are driving on the road, talk about God’s creation - how God made it and how God created and loves your child. Also, remember to have fun. Plan family nights where you play games or watch a movie. Just doing this act shows your child that family and relationships are fun and important.

Evaluate constantly
As you go through the implementation process of your goals, you are going to make mistakes and want to go back to your old routine. It is important as a couple to constantly be evaluating and holding each other accountable. How do you know if you are following your goals? Here are a couple of suggestions:
Pray together every dayThe Holy Spirit is good at convicting people about things. In fact, the Holy Spirit may even point out that one of your goals needs to be changed or completely done away with. He may even prompt you to add more goals or raise your goals to a higher standard.
Look at where you are spending your timeTake a look back at your week and see how many hours you put towards your goal. If you want your child to make good grades so they can go to college, you would see how many hours he spends doing homework or reading. If you want your child to be walking with God spiritually after high school, see how much time you actually spend investing in that. That includes “faith talks” that come up as you are driving down the road. Research shows that the average Christian family spends less than 1 hour out of the 168 hours in a week talking about spiritual matters. If you want your child to be walking with God after High School, that is not enough time!As you evaluate though, it is VERY IMPORTANT to be very gracious with one another. This could be a complete change in your lifestyle and can be very difficult, but it will become easier over time.

Live it out
As mentioned in the previous post, high school students who have attended church are leaving at an alarming rate once they graduate. Their number one reason is the hypocrisy they see especially at home. If you want your child to strive for the goals you set for them, then you must be living them out yourself. What does that look like? If you want your child to grow up and have a good family life, then you have to live that out in your life. Show your child what a Godly marriage looks like. Love your wife like Christ loves the church. Take her out on dates & show her that she is precious & an incredible gift from God! If you want your child to have a growing relationship with God after high school, then you need to model that for them. Spend time daily in the Word, pray daily, pray with your spouse daily. Your child is going to live out what you model for them, whether you want them to or not.

Press on!
This is not going to be easy. Jesus never said following Him would be, just look at Luke 14:25-35. You and your spouse will have to rely on God, and that is the only way you can accomplish this. Do you think that the evil one wants you to be intentional about raising your child? Especially, if you want your child to pursue Christ when they are out of your home? Remember Philippians 4:13,” I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.”

How are you doing?

At the end of my previous post, I asked parents to come up with short term and long term goals for each child. As you look over your goals, I have one question for you to consider. How are your goals different from a non-believers goal? Is it bad to want your child to do well in school, to get into a good college, or to do really well in sports? No, it is not bad, but it becomes dangerous when those goals are more important than your child’s spiritual development. As you look at your goals, answer the following questions about them:

How many hours a week you spend on each of your goals?
"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 6:19-21

Parents face tension because you have to do homework for school; you have to go to sports practices and all of the other events in your child’s life; so what is a parent to do? You are going to obviously have to spend more time on homework than you can on a family devotional every night. The question to ask is “what does my child think is of most importance in my mom or dad’s life?” What do you think their answer would be? Would they would say being involved in school, or doing well in sports, or being involved in church? Or would they say loving God with all your heart is the most important thing in your life? Do you even want to know? This may mean that you have to let your child be involved in less so that you can focus more on spiritual goal(s) that you have set for your child(ren). The Bible never said that being a disciple is easy. Just read Luke 14:25-35. You have the ultimate task as a parent to raise a disciple in your home.

How are at pursuing your goals in your own life? 
“Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.  These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.” Deuteronomy 6:5-7

Most of you have heard the statistics that anywhere from 60% to 90% of teenagers who attend church are walking away from the faith within 2 years after high school graduation. The number one reason that people are giving for walking away from the faith is hypocrisy. They are not seeing faith being lived out in the home. Mark Holmen, author of Faith @ Home, shared at a recent conference I attended, some scary statistics.

• Only 28% of children talk with mom about their faith
• Only 26% of children talk with dad about their faith
• Less than 10% of families pray & read the bible at home

Your child will do what you model for them. If parents do not talk to their child about their faith, pray with their child, or even read the Bible with their child, then how will a child know that their parent’s faith is important to them?

This week take your goals, revise them if you would like, then put down how you plan to accomplish your goals. If one of your goals is to have your child follow God, then put down how you plan to accomplish that. You could put down to take them to church, to pray together as a family daily in the morning, or to read the Bible together as a family on Thursday evenings.

Where is your family headed?

At the end of my previous post, I asked parents “What are you goals as a parent?” This is the time of year where many families set goals and expectations for the upcoming year. Some examples might be for your child to make better grades, to eat dinner more often as a family, to go to church more. The beginning of the school year is when most churches have the highest attendance. Then Labor Day hits, and the well-intended goals that you made for God start to die off. The excuses that parents use are too much homework, sports practices, or another Bible study; basically, God did not put enough hours in the day.

Think about the goals that you have made in your life. Career goals may range from first finding a job to now it is time to work up in the company. Personal goals may include to eat better and exercise more or to even doing something crazy like running a 5k or marathon. (Trust me, there is no desire in me to do this!) Spiritual goals may include getting up earlier and reading the Bible more, praying more with your spouse, and praying together as a family.

And then of course family goals which begin with starting a family, but then what? Have you ever made goals for your family? It makes sense to have goals for your family and for your child. If you do not have something that you are striving for, then you can wander aimlessly. It would be like if my wife and I decided to go on a trip to New York City without a map or her Garmin. I know there is a highway that will get us there. Let’s just drive until we get there. We may arrive in New York City or California or Brazil or Alaska - almost anywhere. The Bible says in Proverbs 29:18, “Where there is no vision, the people are unrestrained, but happy is he who keeps the law.”

Take some time this weekend or this next week to pray with your spouse and make some goals for each child. Make 3 to 5 long term goals by asking “where would I like _____ to be when they are 25 or 30?” Then come up with 3 to 5 short term goals by asking “where would I like _____ to be next year at this time?” Then pray over these goals and determine how you are going to implement your goals.

Some of you might think that the church should be making these goals for me. This is a bigger question to address later, but look at Deut 6:7-9. Ask yourself, “whose responsibility is it to disciple your children?” It is not the pastor or church’s responsibility to disciple your child; it is the parents’. The church’s role is to come alongside and support parents.

Why do I do Children's Ministry?

One question that people often ask me is, “Why do I do children’s ministry?” Of course I do it to get to play with the latest toys & because I never want to grow up! These are my favorite answers to give right away just so I can see the reaction on people’s face. This is a great question though. Why do I work in the children’s ministry, but I think a better question is “What are your overall goals as a children’s pastor?”

“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates. “ Deuteronomy 6:4-9

This passage has my overall goals for the children’s ministry & is the key verse for the children’s ministry at Coppell Bible Fellowship. There is so much that can be taken away from this passage, but here are my three overall goals as a children’s pastor.

1. Love God with all I am (vs. 4-5). This section of verses starts off with stating that there is one God and that I should love him with my entire being. God deserves nothing less! Look at what God has done. First off God created me! He also loves me so much that He sent Jesus to pay the penalty for all the awful stuff that I have done! As a children’s pastor & as a believer, I aim to love God with all I am. To do this, I have to constantly ask myself, “Am I all in?”
2. Meditate & apply God’s Word (vs. 6). The context of this entire section is Moses had just reminded the Israelites of the Ten Commandments in the previous chapter. Moses tells the Israelites to have God’s commandments on their heart constantly. Just Ten Commandments and they are supposed to dwell on them constantly. I think that could get a little old. The key thing is that it is not only thinking about the commandments, but living them out. The question I ask is “How am I applying God’s Word to my daily life?”
3. Pass it on by living it out (vs. 7-9). I can see that many people read the last three verses thinking, God wants me to do what to my hands & forehead & put what on my doorframes! I am not going to recommend a remodel of your house or change your doorframes (husbands, you can thank me later). The point of this section is to model for your children the two previous points to your children. As I walk through the halls on Sundays, I often hear one phrase repeated over and over again, it is “to infinity & beyond!” (I have even heard a few 5th graders mutter this phrase.) Children model & repeat what they hear at home. The key question here is “What example am I setting for others?”

My goal as a children’s pastor is to love God with all I am, read & apply God’s Word in every area of my life & pass it on by living it out. By modeling all of this, I hope that children catch it. These are my goals as a children’s pastor. If you ever see me not doing this, please let me know. Hold me accountable.

It is now my turn to ask a question to the parents, “What are your goals as a parent?” When your child goes off to college what goals do you have for them? I have the privilege to teach your children approximately 40 hours a year. That is not enough time though for me to set an example for them. Parents, outside of sleep, school & work, you get about 3,000 hours with your children. What example are you setting for your children? What are the priorities in their life right now? What do you want their priorities to be when they leave your home?

A Dad's Survival Guide for Women's Retreat

It is 48 hours and counting until you are on your own and outnumbered (in many cases) by them…your children. What are you going to do? How will you survive? There are some dads who are ecstatic, thrilled and cannot wait for this weekend. Then there are other dads who have been panicking for weeks and wondering “what am I going to do!” Here are a few ideas for activities to do with your children. 
Friday night:
Have your kids pray for mom to have a safe trip out to the retreat.

• Pizza & a movie.
• Play a favorite board game.
• Go for a walk with the kids.
• Have your kids act out a Bible story as you read it. (David & Goliath, Jonah & the whale, Jesus feeding the 5,000, The parable of the Good Samaritan, etc…)

Bedtime:

Pray for mom to get to know other women at the retreat.

• Read a book or favorite Bible story together.
• Ask your children what was their favorite thing about their day.
• Pray together.

Saturday morning:

Pray for mom to be encouraged as she learns from the speaker, Judy Hampton.

• Big Breakfast or Brunch (Leftover pizza is not an option!)
• Pancakes (lots of sugar, I mean syrup) Your children will give you bonus points if you make them into fun shapes. A circle is not a fun shape!
• Omelets
• If you are too outnumbered, then cereal definitely works
• Benefit Activity: Clean-up- Oh, you can make this fun in so many ways. Have your children help dry dishes, maybe this is the time to teach your child to wash dishes (Not recommended for younger children.)
• Go to the park
• Yard work together

Saturday afternoon:
Pray that mom would enjoy some rest this afternoon and get to know other women.

• Take a picnic to the park
• Go for a hike in the woods
• Play in the sprinkler

Saturday evening:
Pray for mom to get home safely tomorrow from the retreat.

• Clean the house for mom.
• Do “Mom Appreciation” activities
• Draw a picture or write a note for mom telling her how much you love her and appreciate all that she does (This is a GREAT idea for dads to participate in too.)
• Take Sidewalk chalk and draw pictures or write a message for mom for when she gets home.
• Play a board game together

Sunday:

• GO TO CHURCH!
• Pick up the house if you have not done so already.

Take this time while mom is gone to enjoy time together. Most importantly, pray for your wife as she is gone to be encouraged, challenged, refreshed and develop some great relationships. Pray for her often while she is gone. Have a great retreat moms!

Mr. Jeff, Where have you been?

Wow, I can finally take a breath. I have been meaning to share about what all is going on, but once an event ends, it has been time to start on the next one. So here is an overview of what all has been going on the past month and other events to mark on your calendar.
AWANA Bible Quiz
    On Friday, February 26th, the T & T team (3rd to 6th grade) had their annual Bible Quiz. This year, there were 12 children from the CBF AWANA group who were divided into 4 different teams depending on which book they are currently in. There were 8 other churches from the DFW area that competed at Countryside Bible Church in Southlake. Bible Quizzing consists of 3 parts. The first is a written test where each team member answers questions, and the 2 highest scores are added to the team score. Part 2 and Part 3 are a competition between the teams at their respective level. The first part includes multiple choice questions, and the second part consists of speed drills where the team that buzzes in first has the opportunity to answer the question.    
    The team members spent several weeks preparing for the competition, and they all did an incredible job! There were two teams that placed in the quiz. The Book 4 team of Caleb Brown, Kaleb Gabbert, Jenna West and Emily Holland finished in fourth place. The Book 3 team of Madeline Osigian and Anni Williams finished in second place. Madeline Osigian and Anni Williams both received the Highest Honor Award. All the participants had a great time and are looking forward to next year!
Family Movie & Pajama Night- The Sequel
    The following Friday was the Family Movie & Pajama Night- The Sequel and it was awesome! Families came in fun, silly, and crazy pajamas to watch Toy Story. There were over 80 people crammed into the Summit with lots of popcorn and lemonade! Parents were also given a short devotional to do with their children over the weekend. Due to the size though, this event will be moved into the Worship Center. We look forward to seeing you at the next one.
Bible Clubs @ Golden Triangle (Spring Broke)
    Last week the youth at the church sacrificed a portion of their Spring Break to lead Bible Clubs over at the Golden Triangle Community. Each day they would play games, eat lunch, sing songs, do crafts, and youth would share stories and the gospel with the children. It was an incredible time watching the youth put their faith into practice and be pushed out of their comfort zone. There were about 50 kids who came out last week and heard the gospel. Also, the Witty, Fineout, Odom and Beless Life Groups provided lunch during the week. What an amazing witness of seeing the church body unite together to reach out to the Golden Triangle Community. If you want to hear more about how this week went, please talk to one of the youth who helped out.
Upcoming Events (Mark your calendar for these events next week!)

Route 56 Olympics (THIS Tuesday, March 30)
    If you are in 5th or 6th grade, you do not want to miss out on the physical, mental, emotional and crazy challenge THIS Tuesday night from 6 to 8:30 p.m. Cost is $5 for pizza, and parents, you are invited to come help out!
Easter Egg Hunt (Easter Sunday @ 9 a.m.)    
Children from birth to 3rd grade are invited out next Sunday at 9 a.m. for an Easter Egg Hunt. Over 500 Easter Eggs have been lost on the CBF front lawn, and we need your child’s help finding them all. Bring your neighbors along and invite them to stay for the Easter Celebration Service. All you need to bring is an Easter Basket or something to put your eggs in. For safety reasons, there will be 2 different Easter Egg hunting areas so that the preschoolers do not get run over by the elementary children.

Hearthstone Report

    One thing that I have learned in my short time in children’s ministry is that children learn best when they get to practice what they have been learning. This past Monday, families had the incredible opportunity to together serve the residents at Hearthstone Assisted Living in Lewisville. There were 27 children and several youth and parents who showed up and sang songs, handed out valentines, and hung out with the residents.

     In observance with Valentine’s Day, the children sang four songs that all had to do with love as they sang Love the Lord, Hallelujah (Your Love Makes me sing), O How I Love Jesus and I Love You Lord. The children sang loud and were AWESOME! Some of the residents even joined in at the end and had great smiles on their faces as they sang. After singing, the children went around and handed out valentines and a chocolate heart as well as chatted with the residents. It was a great joy for the residents and for myself. It was such an encouragement to see the children showing love to the residents.  

     In Deuteronomy 6:7 it says, “Impress them (God’s commandments) on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.” This service project was a perfect opportunity for families to witness their children reaching out to others as they served alongside them. Thank you to all that came out, and I look forward to the next time.

Note from Joy Beless:

"What a blessing to hear CBF's children sing at Hearthstone Retirement Home and witness the caring smiles as they eagerly handed out the home-made valentines to the residents there. The children sang the songs about love in a clear, loud voice with expressions that matched the message. I am very proud of them, not only for the beautiful sound they sang, but most importantly for understanding the message of what they sang. They knew this was not about them or a performance. Hats off to you as parents for transporting them and encouraging them to serve in such a gracious way."

Belize Report

      What an amazing week. Thank you all so much for your prayers last week in Belize. God did some awesome things and it was amazing to see the relationships that were started last year and how much they have developed over this past year. I almost did not get to go as I woke up Friday morning with an inner ear infection and the docs said that I should not fly the next day. During the week leading up to the trip, there was a lot of spiritual warfare on our team that week, one guy threw his back out picking up an empty trash bag, a couple others had major stuff come up at their jobs and almost did not get to go. On Saturday though, the pain was gone and I got on the plane (with some pain medicine of course). There were 10 men on our team (8 from CBF, 2 from Alabama).
     On Sunday, our team met with a group of about 25 men who were from a couple different churches in Belize. I was able to present the gospel with the group and then give them a challenge to love God with all that they are and pass that onto to their family. It was an awesome time where we were able to encourage other believers from another country.

     On Monday, our team started construction work. We were in 2 different sites and I was sent to the Cayo Deaf Institute (http://cdi-belize.net/) that is located in a Mennonite community. On one of their buildings, we tore a roof off and replaced it and demolished a porch and put up a new one. The wood in Belize is much stronger than here in USA and we broke about 20 drill bits and bent a lot of nails. Our team was finally able to finish the job.
     The joy of the week though was playing with the kids after school and having lunch with them. Our team was doing construction for the institute, but we understood that the children were more important. On Thursday, our final day there, we handed a tract to the camp director and asked if we could give it to the kids. He skeptically looked through it and then jumped all over it and let us hand it to the kids. One of the kids had a lot of questions, so we eventually found an interpreter and Stewart Hardy and I had the amazing opportunity of seeing the child trust Christ. There is no better experience than this.
     Thank you for praying last week. There are so many more stories to tell and feel free to ask me about the trip.

Pray for Mr. Jeff

Parents, I am asking for all of you to pray for me. This past Sunday I found out just before service that I am going to Belize THIS Saturday. There is a team from CBF meeting up with a couple of men from Alabama to do construction and outreach. Below is a list of prayer requests and Bible verses for while I am gone. These will also be handed out this Sunday in the Sunday morning classes. It may also help to pull out a map and show your child where Belize is. Please especially lift up our team on Sunday evening as our team partners with four churches in Belize to do a Men’s Barbeque outreach. That evening I will be sharing the gospel, and our team will challenge the men to lead their families. Thank you all so much for your prayers. I cannot wait to come back and tell stories about  how God used us!

Saturday, January 16
Request: Pray for a safe trip for Mr. Jeff and the rest of the team as they travel to Belize.
Bible Verse: “And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:7

Sunday, January 17
Request: Pray for a large turnout for the Men’s Barbeque outreach. Pray for Mr. Jeff as he shares the gospel with all the men who come.
Bible Verse: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Acts 1:8

Monday, January 18
Request: Pray for God to give the whole Belize team strength, energy and endurance as they begin the construction work for the week.
Bible Verse: “I have set the LORD always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.” Psalm 16:8

Tuesday, January 19
Request: Pray for God to protect Mr. Jeff’s wife, Nikki, and keep her safe while Mr. Jeff is gone.
Bible Verse: “The Lord is my light and my salvation- whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life- of whom shall I fear?” Psalm 27:1

Wednesday, January 20
Request: Pray that the Mr. Jeff and the whole Belie team stay healthy and do not get sick or hurt.
Bible Verse: “The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.” Psalm 18:2

Thursday, January 21
Request: Pray for extra energy and strength for the entire Belize team as we wrap up work at our construction sites.
Bible Verse: “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:2

Friday, January 22
Request: Pray for the entire team as we spend our last day helping out a church in Belize with manual labor and whatever else we can do.
Bible Verse: “The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ.” 1st Corinthians 12:12

Saturday, January 23
Request: Pray for Mr. Jeff as he recovers and spends some time thinking about what all God has taught him this week.
Bible Verse: “My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from Him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; He is my fortress, I will never be shaken” Psalm 62:1-2