Summer Youth Activities

Tuesday nights this summer are "Ultimate Nights." We play some ultimate Frisbee, swim in Greg and Millie Mitchell's super-refreshing salt-water pool, and talk to the Ultimate One (i.e., we pray). We have also had some team-building and Bible study meetings with our Youth Leadership Team. (The Youth Leadership Team is comprised of 6 youth and 4 adults who have the responsibility of shaping the overall programming and curriculum of the CPC Youth ministries.)

The glorious pool!

Some team members try to assist an unconscious victim in the team-building activity called "Nuclear Holocaust."

A competitor prepares to hit the water for the "Biggest Splash" contest.

The Youth Leadership Team is reading through the book of Proverbs this summer.

Meeting at the home of Tom and Jennifer Pimmler.

Mission Trip to Appalachia

On May 27-31, 2009, an intergenerational team of us headed out from Lafayette to Hazard, KY, six hours away. We partnered with the Housing Development Alliance to help construct a new home for a family in need of better housing. This hilly region in southeastern Kentucky is one of the poorest areas in the USA. But we found the people of Kentucky to be rich in spirit, as they kept us laughing, thinking, working, and learning.

The 2009 Mission to Appalachia Team: Brad Parker, Gabe Parker, Annette Brehm, Aaron Brehm, Emma Brehm, Paul Spurgeon, and Wes Tillett.

This is what building site looked like when we showed up.

Here's what we were able to accomplish in our 2.5 days of work

We pounded hundreds of nails as we put down the floor joists and subfloor, built exterior and interior walls, and constructed the porches. It was hard work but we enjoyed it. We also enjoyed getting to know one another, exploring a bit of what the Hazard area had to offer, and gathering for times of Scripture reading, discussion, and prayer.

All in all, it was an extremely positive experience—one we all feel blessed to have been a part of.

Youth Year-End Fiesta

We celebrated the end of the school year by having a "fiesta" at Youth Group. Perhaps the most important lesson learned that evening was this: if you are going to have a jalepeno-pepper-eating contest, be sure to have lots of milk on hand to help douse the flames afterwards.