Last meeting of 2009

This past Sunday (December 13th) we concluded our 2009 Youth Group season. The Ludwigs, gladly, allowed us into their house for this meeting which began with some socializing and then some popular Christmas songs. After that, we exchanged our $5 gift certificates. To do this we played a small game, take a look at the link to see the rules: Gift Card Game. It was a lot of fun, and people got a wide variety of gift cards from, Tim Horton's, McDonald's, Chapters, Starbucks, Blockbuster, Harvey's, Booster Juice and The Bulk Barn.



Then, for the second year in a row we made cards for the entire congregation. Everyone put their creative skills to work, making over 100 cards, which we in turn put in mailboxes this upcoming Sunday.



Overall, I think that everyone had a great night and it was a great to end the 2009 season. But don't forget about the free skating that YG is hosting for the congregation on Dec. 28, 6-9 at North Wentworth arena.

On behalf of the YG leaders, we wish you and your family the Lord's blessing during this Christmas season. See you all back in the new year.

Carissa

Meeting -- November 29, 2009

This past Sunday, our pastor and his wife invited the entire Youth Group to have our bible study at their home. Thank you!

As always, we started our meeting with announcements. Here they are in case you forgot:

1. VBS will be starting up again the first week of the summer, keep that in the back of your mind as you start holidays, it's great for volunteer hours!
2. December 10 there is a Christmas sing-a-long at some local old age homes. We'd like to see a number of youth show up (with their instruments). Check the bulletin for details.
3. December 29 there is our first Burlington Waterdown Public Skate. It is at North-Wentworth Arena from 6-9 p.m.
4. Our next meeting will be at the Ludwigs on December 13. Do not forget your $5 gift card for our gift card exchange. We will also be making cards, so bring your craft supplies and creativity.



Now to our study session.
We studied Colossians 1: 15-27. We spent some time looking at how the Bible describes Jesus and how he is the head of the church. We discussed how we have Christ keeping our lives together ( a cosmic adhesive). We are all followers of Christ and are therefore "holy", "without blemish" and "free from accusation". How blessed we are! How comforted we feel!

We must continue to pray for our relationships with others, especially those who we hope and pray will turn their life to Christ.



Finally, we finished our evening off with a game of taboo!

On behalf of the Youth Group,

Janelle

Kid's Night

Hello everyone!

This past Saturday, we hosted our annual Kid's Night.

The event always starts out with a craft. The younger crowd made wreaths, while the older ones used their imaginations and painted on canvases.

Next, we all played a variety of games. You'll have to ask your child how some of them are played. We played musical chairs, clothespin tag, taboo,balloon-pop tag, duck duck goose, shoveling snow, the dress-up game, and huckle buckle.

A Youth Group event is never complete without singing some songs! We had a great group of little singers who loved 'Repeat after me songs!' The actions were quite funny, I'm sure they'll tell you about it, and if you're lucky sing them to you!

Kid's Night also included a hot dog dinner and a story ( see picture at the top of the post). We had about 35 kids show up this year, from Junior Kindergarten to Grade 6.

This year was a great success, and we're looking forward to hosting it again in 2010! Check out a few more pictures below,

The BW Youth Group Leaders.

November 1st Meeting

Last night we (finally) finished off the first lesson in our study guide. We finished off the lesson about "A New Look at Church," we broke into 3 different groups and each group had their own fruitful discussions. In the group I was in, we talked about witnessing to people that we come into contact with during the day and how we can grow in our faith life.

This Saturday is the annual kid's night, and it looks like it will be a full house again with close to 30 kids coming. We have some fun crafts and games planned for the afternoon and we will finish the night off with the hot dog dinner.

Next week's YG meeting will be at the church with Flamborough and we hope to have Cornelius Broersema say a few words.

Until next time,
Carissa

Tri-City Kick Off !

Hello! Thanks for taking the time to read our blog, today's update is just a short one.

This past Sunday we were invited to attend Guelph's 4th annual tri-city kick off. This year there were actually 4 cities: Guelph, Fergus, Elora and Burlington- Waterdown.

Although it was not a Youth Group weekend, 20 'Youth Groupers' went to Guelph's afternoon service and then headed off to the Lodder's house for some sports, games, food and fellowship. There were 80-100 people at the Lodder's! We would like to thank the Guelph Youth Group for hosting this event and for inviting us and we'd like to thank the Lodder's for allowing a huge amount of youth to invade your house and yard! Thank you!

Until next time,

Janelle Kasper

Updates

This past Sunday our YG was invited by Burlington South's YG to an event, so instead of studying from our book we took a little break and headed to South church for the evening. We enjoyed listening to Scott Aasman give a short talk about prayer and then we were entertained by Guido's Back2U band. Overall, it was a great evening, it was awesome to see so many YG members there and BIG thanks to Burlington South's YG for hosting the event :)

Next Sunday (Oct. 25), we are going to Guelph for the afternoon for the Tri-city where we will go the Guelph church in the afternoon and then have a BBQ at the Lodder's house. And we need to know who is all coming and if you need a ride. So please let Carissa or Janelle know if you are needing a ride or can drive. The meeting place will be NO LATER then 2pm at the Kasper's house.

Our next study meeting will be November 1st and we will get back to studying the book. Also we have kid's night coming up on November 7th. It will be held at the church from 3-7, so make sure you book the day off work so that you can help. If you are wanting to sign your children up for the afternoon, just send an e-mail to bwyouthgroup@gmail.com.

On behalf of the Youth Group,

Carissa

First Meeting!

Hey everyone!

We held our first study meeting this past Sunday, and it went great! We saw about 45 people come out, both old and new faces + some of their friends.

We kicked off the year with a discussion on Colossians 1:1-14, learning about what it is to be a true church community and how to function within one! We're hoping to pick up where we left off, around Question 7 of Section 1, next meeting, so be sure to do your fore study!

Not only was the discussion great, we also had the privilege of being graced by Rev. Doug and Karen Vandeburgt's presence! We had a great time worshiping with them and are looking forward to using their house in the future for one of our meetings!

Hopefully within the next few days I'll have some pictures to put up from this past meeting, but until then you'll have to develop your own from my post.

Keep checking back, as we'll be updating the calendar + you with new events over the next week,

On behalf of the Youth Group,

Mike Krikke

Bulletin Board!

The Youth Group has created a bulletin board in the church basement, check out the above picture for a sneak preview! Take a look next time you get a chance in church, you might see yourself on there!

Keep checking both the electronic bulletin board (the blog + Facebook) but also our new board in the basement for upcoming congregational events and upcoming Youth Group Meetings.


Have a blessed Sunday,

BW Youth Group Leaders

Youth Group Kickoff

Hey everyone,

Our youth group season started off last Sunday with a wonderful hike on the Bruce Trail. Everyone enjoyed the beautiful blue sky and the gorgeous sunshine as we reconnected for another great season of discussion and fun. After the hike we returned to the church where we enjoyed a delicious potluck dinner.

Hiking out by Kerncliffe Park

Following the dinner we broke off into different groups and played some exciting and enthralling games! The evening was closed off with the famous ‘couch game’ along with some group songs.

A few of the new Youth Groupers

Thanks to everyone who provided us with excellent food and games. We can’t wait to see you all again at our first official devotion session on Sunday, October 4^th.

On behalf of the Youth Group,

Rosalyn Kieft

Roots Leadership Symposium

This past week, a few of the Youth Group leaders had the privilege to attend the Roots Leadership Symposium; the guest speaker was Dr. Steve Foster.

We learned a lot from him and other Youth Group leaders. We learned how different Youth Group’s function, how many leaders they have, if they used a book and what their age range was. We could see what was working for Youth Group’s and what was not.

A few key points that Dr. Steve Foster addressed were:

• If the youth are enthusiastic and vibrant, then your church is healthy!
• The youth are the future leaders of the church
• If Youth Group is not going well, it is up to the youth, parents and consistory to make some changes
• We all need to talk to those who don’t attend, do not leave it up to the leaders. Invite them, talk to them and pay attention to them
• Youth Group is not only a bible study, but also a place of fellowship. Fellowship helps youth rely and trust each other. When they do, discussion are fruitful.
• Money is always a huge issue. Social activities are not well attended because of money. Find ways to fundraise or ask the church for a budget.
• Create a Youth Group bulletin board!
• Ask for prayers from family, friends and the church.

Although we discussed a lot more, it is impossible to write it all down. Our 2 ½ hours was not near long enough! Thanks again Roots, for a great leadership symposium. We hope that there are many more.

Thanks for taking the time to read this L O N G post, we hope you take the time to pray for our upcoming season of bible study and fellowship.

On behalf of Youth Group,

Janelle Kasper

New Season

Hey everyone,

The leaders have been busy over the past few weeks gearing up for the new Youth Group season, deciding on a book to study and planning events already! Just like last year we're in charge of the games at the church picnic - so if you're looking to help out with any activities let one of the leaders know!

Our first major event will be our kickoff potluck dinner at the church on the 13th of September. This won't be a 'formal' meeting, we'll just be getting together, going for a hike at Kerncliffe park, playing some games and eating some stellar food items.

As always, we're open for suggestions on anything and everything throughout the year. You can contact us via e-mail, word of mouth or on our Facebook group, listed below:

E-Mail: bwyouthgroup@gmail.com
Facebook: http://tinyurl.com/nsha2r

Stay tuned for more updates!

On behalf of the leaders,

Mike Krikke

Year End BBQ

Hey everyone!

The year has come to a close for Youth Group, and what an awesome one it has been. The LORD has provided us with both an increased membership and enlightening discussions over the past year, something truly to be thankful for.

We ended off the year with a BBQ at the Kasper's house, with lots of socializing and the largest couch game ever played by our Youth Group! Click the pic below for some more pictures from the final BBQ (thanks to Mr. Kasper for taking them).


Thanks to everyone who helped out throughout the past year, whether it was letting us swarm your house for a meeting one Sunday evening, helping out with events or just being there to pass on some wisdom to us - it was all awesome!

Keep your eyes and ears open for upcoming events throughout the summer, be sure to check back here or our Facebook group.

As usual, if you have any suggestions or requests we'd be more than willing to hear them, send us an e-mail at bwyouthgroup@gmail.com

On behalf of the leaders,

Mike Krikke

Friends, Food, Fellowship Dinner

Hey Everyone,

For those of you needing information on the Adult Dinner, or looking to sign up, check out this link below!

Invitation and Information

On behalf of the Leaders,

Thanks,

Mike Krikke

Recent Happenings

Well, sadly the blog has been post-less for quite some time now, and I'll take full responsibility for that one. This doesn't mean the Youth Group hasn't been up to anything lately though! We've had quite the whirlwind of activities over the past month or so both in the form of Youth Group outings and some awesome meetings.

Bulldogs Game (February 6th)

From what I've been told this game was a blast, with just over 40 people showing up to the game under the Youth Group's organization. We saw a fair amount of Youth Group members, along with the friends and families from outside the group which was awesome. For the more sports-oriented people, the game was a 3-2 victory for the Bulldogs over the Senators, with Weber scoring the winner in overtime.

Guest Speaker: Jodi Bezymer (February 8th)

The following Sunday we had a meeting at the church with goodies provided by the Schwantz's (thanks!), where Jodi Bezymer held a speech/discussion session just highlighting some of the issues we as youth face today. She gave us a background of what she does for a living, and gave us handfuls of interesting facts and some great material to discuss amogst ourselves. We also touched on the fact that as a group we're much stronger than we are individually, and if anyone within our Youth Group has issues to reach out to one another for support or assistance!

Goodness: "The LORD is good" (February 22nd)

On the 22nd we went back to our study guide, but this week the meeting was hosted by the DeBoer's (thanks for the awesome hospitality!). Not only was there a change in location though, we had a change in leaders too with Sara and Rachel leading one of the groups - doing an awesome job and provoking much conversation. Lawren and Matt once again led us in worship via the guitar, with Dave harmonizing on his Mandolin (nice touch Dave!). The discussion was great, and we definitely had a lot of time to put our learnings of goodness into practice with others.

Laser Tag (February 27th)

The Youth Group went laser-tagging on the 27th, organized by Carissa and Rosalyn. There was just over 20 people who showed up, and much fun was had by all.

Upcoming events:

Faithfulness (March 8th)

This meeting will be held at the church, as we'll be having a potluck dinner before the meeting (organized by Danielle), a with a plethora of games to be played after the meeting is done! Please e-mail us at bwyouthgroup@gmail.com or check out the facebook group if you are able to bring some food for the dinner.

Adult Dinner (March 28th)

The first annual adult dinner will be hosted in the fellowship hall at Ebenezer Canadian Reformed Church. We'll need all the volunteers we can get, so be sure to send an e-mail to the Youth Group with your ability to attend.

Looking forward to seeing you around!

Thanks,

Mike Krikke

Bulldogs Reminder

Hey Everyone

Just a reminder we have a meeting this sunday at the Ludwig's house in Waterdown! We will be studying the Chapter on Kindness. We are meeting at 7:30, come prepared for exciting discussion!

Can't wait to see you all there!!

Also, a reminder about the Bulldogs game! the deadline is fast approaching so get your tickets ordered! if you have any questions feel free to email us at bwyouthgroup@gmail.com . So again, the tickets are priced at:
Students: $16
Kids: $13
Adults: $20
Anyone is welcome to join us! Get your money in to Mike Krikke. . its a game you won't want to miss!!!

And we're back!

Hey everyone,

We started off the New Year with a bang, jumping right into lesson #5 on Patience. Lawren and Danielle led the discussion groups, and did a great job, followed up by The Couch Game organized by Janelle and Carissa in which we really learned how to put our patience into practice! It was great to see so many familiar faces returning, and even some new ones showing up, we're hoping you continue to come and study with us.

We have lots of awesome events planned for this year, including a Bulldogs Game, laser-tagging, a massive scavenger hunt and even a 'day-at-the-beach' later on in the year. As the year progresses, keep checking back on the blog for more updated information about events and other upcoming meetings.

There are a few people who still need to pay your dues, you know who you are :) Please get them to Carissa ASAP!

Check back later this week for more info about the upcoming Bulldogs games!

On behalf of the Youth Group,

Mike Krikke