ConnectionC H R I S T I N Y O U T H S E C O N D Q U A R T E R 2 0 0 6 • W W W . C I Y . C O M

inside:2 Believe and SuperStart Wrap-Up Seasons3 Computers & Internet — Good or Evil?4 Summer Conference Preview

KNOW SWEAT SERVICE PROJECTSS T U D E N T S L I V I N G T H E I R F A I T H

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MYSTERYT h e 3 7 t h S u m m e r C o n f e r e n c e T h e m e This year marks the thirty-seventh season of Christ In Youth’s Summer Conference events. Much has changed since the first event was held in the Kiamichi Mountains of Oklahoma. According to Conference Director, Jayson French “There are two anchor points that will always be solid at Conference. There will always be times of powerful worship and God’s Word will always be preached and taught.”

In his second year as Conference Director, Jayson says the Conference Team works to make each week a “fall on your face encounter with God. We want students to have an Isaiah 6 experience—to see the Lord ‘high and lifted up’ in all His glory!”

“For many students attending a Know Sweat Service Project, this is the first opportunity to serve someone who has no way to pay them back, someone who can give them nothing in return.” said Matt Gilchrist, Director of Know Sweat. He went on to explain, “The kids see a tremendous trans-formation at the work site and often experience a transformation in their hearts as well.”

Know Sweat is designed to allow Jr. and Sr. High students oppor-tunities to express their faith through service in a safe, yet challenging environment. Work sites are often in im-poverished areas where churches have ongoing outreach and evan-gelism efforts. Each work site is selected in cooperation with an established local ministry or congregation.

A typical project will include helping out an elderly or handicapped

Students Bless Those They Serve

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Christ In Youth will have a display at this year’s North American Christian Convention in Louisville, KY. Be sure to stop by to visit with the staff, leave a message for a staff friend, and pick-up information about ways you can help Change Youth…Change the World!

The CIY booth is number 2447.

JUNE 27-30, 2006LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKYKENTUCKY INTL CONVENTION CENTER

This newsletter printed by Pittcraft Printing, a proud supporter of Christ In Youth! www.pittcraft.com

“There is no other pre-teen program as affordable and effective [as SuperStart]. We’re already reaping the benefits and we’ve not left yet!” —Y.M. in Indiana

If you’ve never seen over 5,300 students and sponsors singing their hearts out to Jesus, quoting scripture in unison, open-jawed in amazement and laughing hys-terically—then you need to attend a Believe Jr. High Only weekend next season.

The Believe Team has just completed the 2005/2006 season and what a blessing it has been! More than 17,000 students and adults attended and many hun-dreds, if not thousands, made life-changing decisions.

SuperStart, CIY’s newest weekend program for students in 4th, 5th and 6th grades also just completed its first season. Talk about high-energy, fun and serious content all wrapped into a kid-friendly setting—that’s Super-Start! There were 2,558 who attended events in eight different cities.

The staff put together a great program that centered around a go-kart garage and the zany antics of those who build and race them. It was incredibly fun to watch students enter the church building, see the carpet racetrack, then proceed to run that track lap after lap. It didn’t take long to realize that they were going to really get into the weekend!

Preparations for the 2006/2007 seasons of both Believe and SuperStart are well underway. Please keep watching the website and your mail for dates and loca-tions. If you attended either event and would like to leave a testimony about it, please go to www.ciy.com/giving/testimony.htm.

Believe Testimonies“Monique has been coming the last few months. She lives in the projects with her mother and two younger sis-ters. Her mother is going through a divorce from a man who is not Monique’s father. Things have been so bad she’s had to live with friends (a single mom who comes to our church) for a couple of months.

She attended Believe because of another family’s contri-bution. On Friday night she gave her life to Christ and I baptized her on Sunday morning. What a victory! She still has a long, painful road ahead of her (her mother chose not to attend her baptism), but at least now she doesn’t have to go through it alone. Thank you for cre-ating an environment where kids’ hearts are softened so they can respond to the Gospel!” —M.S. in Alabama

“We have a girl whose mother committed suicide last year. She was so impacted by Believe that she has given her full life and problems over to the Lord! Mark Moore took the time to talk to her personally. It is great to have speakers who give of themselves in that way.” —J.S in Florida

SuperStart Testimonies“I can’t tell you how refreshing it was to have SuperStart here this past weekend. Our students haven’t stopped talking about it yet! Every element within each program-ming hour was well thought out and creatively pre-sented. You guys did an incredible job of sharing God’s Word in an age-appropriate way.” —L.M. in Texas

“There is no other pre-teen program as affordable and effective. We’re already reaping the benefits and we’ve not left yet!” —Y.M. in Indiana

“I was amazed at how engaged the students were, es-pecially the pre-teen boys.” —R.N. in CA

BELIEVE & SUPERSTART WRAP-UP SEASONS

Students Worship at Anderson, In Believe

Leaders Prayed For Each Student

A Church Group at SuperStart

“There is no other pre-teen program as affordable and effective [as SuperStart]. We’re already reaping the benefits and we’ve not left yet!” —Y.M. in Indiana

COMPUTERS & INTERNETG O O D O R E V I L ?Abe Lincoln, George Washington and Lizzie Borden are three historical figures known to have used an ax. Abe used it well and in a productive manner. According to history, he was a world-class fence rail splitter.

George, according to legend, used his ax to chop down a cherry tree. Not a good plan, but he later learned the lesson and confessed to the deed. Lizzie, well that is another story. Her “ax-capades” are said to have cost her parents their lives and have been immortalized in a gruesome playground poem.

The thing is, axes are just tools. In and of themselves, they are not good or evil. It is how they are used that makes all the difference. Similarly, computers and the internet are just tools and how they are used by students will make all the difference.

Some students use them to help with school work, to correspond with friends and family, to create art work, edit photos, and many other positive uses. Others find they can be dangerous and get them into much trouble. Pornography, predatory adults and gambling are just three of the dangers that lurk within cyberspace. It takes much strength of character to steer clear of the danger zones.

Still others will wish they had never learned to boot up a computer as they slide down the slippery slope and end up destroying their own or other people’s lives. As parents and youth workers, we must help our students choose between the good and evil uses of tools available to them—and this includes the computer and internet.

THESE SITES ALL OFFER EXCELLENT RESOURCES FOR YOU:

www.focusonyourchild.com www.mediafamily.org www.bsafehome.com www.truevine.net

Memorial Gifts: A Special BlessingEach gift to Christ In Youth blesses and encourages the staff and board, but gifts given in honor or memory of a loved one are a special blessing. Listed below are gifts that have been given since our last publication.

Memorial Gifts

In Memory of:

Floyd K. Miller....................

Roger Deeds.....................

Memorial Day is May 29, 2006. If you would like to give a special gift in honor or memory of your loved one, please send it to Christ In Youth at P.O. Box B, Joplin, MO 64802 or give online at www.ciy.com/giving.

person who has no other means of as-sistance. “There is power in seeing the raw emotion of people in unfortunate circum-stances.” says Ben Hedger, Know Sweat Program Assistant. “Last year students worked for days to help a World War II veteran clean up his yard because he was in violation of a city code. When we were done his house was still condemned—it was a real tough life lesson for all of us.”

Another 2005 team worked with a Viet-nam Veteran, Joe. His house had been flooded and the students were able to remove old wall board, install new sheet-rock, paint the house inside and out, and demolish a garage that was beyond repair. Joe said he was “impressed by these kids work ethic and attitudes. I never could have done it on my own!”

Each work day begins with a devotion from the devotional journal prepared by the Know Sweat team. Then they work at the project from 8:30 until approximately 3:30. After clean-up, students are given free time before dinner. The evening pro-gram consists of worship, a message from staff or youth leaders, and a group time for each church group to discuss the lessons of the day.

This summer there will be Know Sweat projects in Nebraska, Ohio, Missouri, Ten-nessee, and Mexico. There is still room for your group at some of the projects. You can receive more information by calling the Know Sweat team at 417-781-2273 or going online at www.ciy.com/knowsweat.

Special Note: Readers can have the late regis-tration fee waived by mentioning this article when you call.

Given by:

David & Libby Duncan

Cptn. Ron & Darlene Siniscalchi

Rodney & Leann Wempen and the LuVerne Community School

Scott Deeds

Know Sweat Continued

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FIRST-EVER EXECUTIVE BRIEFING & SUMMER CONFERENCE PREVIEW

ANDY HANSEN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

You’ve probably heard the movie line, “If you build it, they will come.” I wasn’t so sure that if we “planned it” they would come. But they did!

On April 13, Christ In Youth held the first ever Executive Brief-ing and Summer Conference Preview. It was a great day as

two dozen ministry friends joined the staff for an afternoon briefing about each aspect of the ministry. In the evening they were joined by more than 250 friends from the Joplin area for a Summer Confer-ence Preview.

Staff members introduced the various elements of a typi-cal Conference week and built excitement among the students and adults about this year’s theme: MYSTERY. The evening was full of information, worship, entertain-ment, and, oh yes, there were plenty of great desserts and lots and lots of fellowship.

It was a wonderful day and we’re truly grateful for those who gave of their time and energy. Without generous and caring friends, Christ In Youth could not continue to serve tens of thousands of students and nearly 1,500 churches with leading-edge youth ministry programs, events and resources. Thank you to all who participated and to all of you who partner with us to Change Youth…Change the World!

Above Right: Dessert Was Great!Below : Guests At Executive Briefing

Mystery Continued

Ephesians. Through the preaching, per-sonal study and discipleship group times, students will be challenged to unlock the mystery which is the good news of salva-tion in and through God’s son, Jesus.

When asked why a youth leader should consider bringing students to Summer Conference, Jayson said, “This is a deep event that challenges a student’s faith. They are challenged to give up a few days of their routine and seek God’s will for their lives. No TV, no iPod, no video games…just an opportunity to let God speak to them through His Word and His Spirit. It’s powerful!”

More than 20,000 students and sponsors will attend the 22 Conference events this summer. If you have not yet registered your teens, there is still time. Summer Conference is for students going into 9th grade through those having just complet-ed 12th grade. For more information or to register, call 417-781-2273 or log on to www.ciy.com/summer-conference.