Another Season Comes to a Close...

Hey everyone! We have just recently wrapped up another season of YG! We are still planning on getting together for a BBQ/Pool Party in a few weeks, but we finished studying together at the end of April. We ended up purchasing a DVD series led by Francis Chan called "Courage". We mixed up the small groups and once again enjoyed the experience of studying with approximately 6-8 people each week. For our last meeting,we discussed some different service opportunities available to us as youth and watched some thought-provoking videos.

The Leadership Team met recently to appoint some new members and discuss some plans for next season. The new Team will be "unveiled" at the BBQ :)

There is talk that the Worship Evening that we hosted in March (which was thoroughly enjoyed by all who attended and participated) will be followed up by another night of music in the fall - this one focusing on some classic hymns. I think I can speak for many when I say I am eagerly anticipating this event!

As a YG, we would like to thank Our Heavenly Father for blessing us with another great season and we ask that He would continue to guide us as we begin to plan for next year!

Have a delightful summer (and look for some photos of our BBQ!)
:)

Some updates

Hey everyone! We haven't posted anything for awhile, so I thought it was high time for an update.
We have been busy the last few months studying our book "What Do I Owe?" in small groups. In general, the small group format has been working really well, creating more opportunity for discussion and fellowship within YG. Our new song books have been a big hit as well!
We kicked off our season with a garage sale to raise money to cover our study guides. We had a ton of fun wheelin' and dealin' with people in Waterdown and we made enough money to cover our costs! Soon after, we had a deacon from our church give a talk about giving and stewardship. We also participated in a Service Sunday and held a Senior's Tea for the senior members of our congregation. What's next? A Christmas party/wrap-up meeting this Sunday (including a gift card gift exchange game), singing at Retirement Homes on December 16th and helping out with the Christmas Day Service. In the New Year, we will be starting a new study guide (TBA) and will be shifting our focus to service in the community.
Have a blessed Christmas and a happy New Year:)

New Season! New Leaders! New Theme!

Hey everyone! As summer draws to a close and the leaves start changing colour, our thoughts start turning towards all the regular activities that we had put on hold for the summer. After a 2 or 3 month hiatus, we are preparing for a new season of Bible study and fellowship with Youth Group! And there are a lot of exciting things to look forward to!

First of all, we unfortunately had to say "farewell" to a few of our leaders from last season. Thank you Mike, Carissa, and Janelle for all of your hard work and dedication. It was greatly appreciated and we will miss you! May God bless your further involvement in Bible studies and Home Mission and may He make you a blessing to others wherever He has called you to use your leadership talents!

This season, we welcome Karin, Justin, Nadine, and Rachel to our leadership team. They all have lots of ideas and lots of enthusiasm and we pray that God will use them and bless them as they serve Him in this way!

Speaking of service, that is what we have chosen as our theme for this year. Our theme text will be: "Each one of you should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms." (1 Peter 4:10) At the time of writing this, we have yet to firmly decide upon a study guide, but we are working hard on that and will have one ready to go for our first study meeting on Sunday October 3rd!

Below is the "welcome letter" being handed out to all prospective members of YG for this season. It further explains the theme that has been chosen and gives other important updates:

“Be Renewed” Burlington-Waterdown Youth Group invites YOU to join us this season as we take a closer look at our role as servants in God’s kingdom. Jesus is our ultimate example of what it means to be a true servant and it is from Him that we receive the call to serve one another:

“When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. ‘Do you understand what I have done for you?’ he asked them. ‘You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord’, and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you should also wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.’” – John 13:12-15

This season, we will explore how we can be servants within three different spheres: our own church, the communities that we live in, and in our global community. Through Bible study, hang-out time with fellow Youth Group members, and various service activities, we hope to grow together in faith and fellowship and be actively involved in the spread of the Gospel.
So, how exactly are we going to do all of this? Here are some more details!

WHO:
•Your Youth Group Leaders are: Karin Helder, Rosalyn Kieft, Liana Hordyk, Justin Krikke, Danielle Ludwig, Nadine Krikke, James Reinink, Sara Vanderhorst, Rachel Kieft

•Teens and young adults from Grade 9 up are welcome to attend Youth Group and participate in all the awesome activities! Boyfriends/girlfriends, cousins, friends etc. are more than welcome to visit as guests at any time as well. If you are going to be bringing a more ‘permanent’ guest, let us know so we can make sure we will have enough study guides etc.

WHAT:
•In September, we have several events that you can be a part of!
oSaturday, September 11th: Church picnic, the Youth Group leads games for kids and adults (Don’t forget to wear a funky/ugly t-shirt! Best shirt wins a prize!)
oSaturday, September 25th: Youth Group garage sale to raise funds for this season (more details on attached sign-up sheet)
oSunday, September 26th: Youth Group Kick-off evening – a hike after the second service and a potluck dinner at the church, followed by a speech by Rev. Vandeburgt and some great social time!

•Starting in October, we will have bi-weekly study meetings on Sunday nights starting at 7:00
oFirst study meeting: Sunday, October 3rd, location TBA
oNEW THIS YEAR: We are going to have the same small study groups each time we meet for the duration of our study (more on this on September 26th)

•We will host several speakers throughout our study season connected to our theme

•We will have various ‘service’ days where we will get together to serve people within our congregation, at different mission/outreach centres and we will raise funds to help in foreign missions as well

•There will be several fun fellowship events throughout the year: eg. laser-tag, snow-tubing, baseball games etc.

WHERE:
•We have a large Youth Group, but we really enjoy meeting in the homes of the members of our congregation because it provides a comfortable atmosphere and promotes fellowship with church members of all ages – if you and your family are willing to host us on a Sunday evening, send us an email and we will try to ask you well in advance which date works for you!

•Information about Youth Group can be found online at bwyouthgroup.blogspot.com or by emailing us at bwyouthgroup@gmail.com or by joining our Facebook group (Burlington-Waterdown Youth Group), on the bulletin board in the church basement, and through weekly or bi-weekly updates in the church bulletin…also, feel free to Facebook or speak directly to any of the Leaders at any time!

WHEN:
•As mentioned earlier, we meet on Sunday evenings for Bible study at 7:00 (meeting time will change to 7:30 when we return to 11:00 and 4:00 for Sunday service times)

•Social outings, service days and other events will mostly take place on Fridays and Saturdays…we will do our best to give lots of notice so you have the opportunity to book it off of work!

WHY:
•As Christians, it is important to remember that we are part of a body. We need to get to know each other, study God’s Word together, and act as a support to one another. It is a really great and special thing to be able to meet together as the youth of this church and get to know each other in the best way possible – as brothers and sisters in Christ, brought together in this church family. As Leaders, we take this very seriously and will work hard to make sure everyone feels safe and free to learn and grow and is valued and included as a member of this family, but we need everyone to be on board with this. God has given us the blessing of fellowship; let’s show we are thankful by loving and serving one another!

HOW:
•Just show up! Bring yourself, your Bible, the talents God has blessed you with, and a willingness to serve

•Pray for the Leaders and the Youth Group members that we will be able to serve to the best of our ability and strive to follow Jesus’ example

We look forward to serving with you!

Karin, Rosalyn, Liana, Justin, Danielle, Nadine, James, Sara, Rachel

Dessert Social!

Hello everyone!

Sorry that we have been slacking in the blog department. I can think of a million excuses, but I won't bore you with that.

I just wanted to put on here a fun little link to the DESSERT SOCIAL sign-up form.
It is easy to do and will only take a moment or two.

Please copy and paste this link, fill it out and click submit.
http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?hl=en&formkey=dExBTzFIMUtkUmJDbllfNXBzc1BBelE6MQ


We hope to see lots of people there.

1st Annual Church Skate

Hi Everyone!

Just a little while back, December 29th 2009, we had a free Church-wide skate. This event turned to be quite the success, with hundreds of different faces showing up between 6-9PM at North-Wentworth Arena. We hope to make this an annual event, and want to thank the following people and organizations for helping make the night as great as it was, whether by donations or by running the snack-stand:

• Artistic Landscapes
• Kitching, Steepe & Ludwig Funeral Home
• Eastway Bake Shoppe
• Marcon Construction
• Flamborough Construction
• Rehoboth Hospitality Committee

If you'd like to donate to next year's skate please contact the Burlington-Waterdown Youth Group at bwyouthgroup@gmail.com.

Check out some pictures from the event below:

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!!!