What A Week at the RC
What a great week we have had @ Renovation!
Starting with last Wednesday @ Renovate… that is our student (7th-12th gr) environment we have down in the basement ever Wed night from 6.00-8.00. Joshua Dean is doing a fantastic job of leading this. He has invested in leading a great team of volunteers who are really committed to reaching/loving/investing in these students.
Most of these teens are from the city and have the physical/emotional/spiritual scars to prove it. Blows me away every time I hear the circumstances of what these kids are coming from… working through… over coming.
So last week Nick and some other players led worship for the students… one of the hardest things to do is to help foster a culture of worship through singing with teenagers (and adults). The trip to Aquire the Fire was huge in developing an appetite with the students who went. So Nick did a great job of course according to my daughter and others…
Joshua also gave an opportunity for students to take the final step of surrendering their lives to Jesus Christ and 8 students decided they would!
We followed that night up with our first Family Bowling Night on Friday over at the famous Kenmore Lanes!
We had 111 show up! boo-yah
Awesome to see dads/moms and kids having fun together… getting to know other families in an environment outside of Sunday morning.
We have so many new families coming that these type of experiences are really important for us to establish deeper more intentional relationships.
Saturday we had an impromptu cook-out for singles that are a part of renovation. We are starting a new series this week called the Power of One which is a 4 week series targeting those who are in a single season of life… how do you live the life God wants for you now! So we got together so I could get some input from them about what it means to live single in today’s culture… what are their fears, frustrations, passions, joys…
Gloria and I had a great time just hanging and getting to know some awesome folks… always love hearing how people found their way to Renovation and what keeps them and what motivates them to get connected at a deeper level. I got some great input that really helped me process the things we are going to talk about during the next 4 weeks.
Sunday was a great day in many ways…
We got to baptize a young lady that found her way to Renovation a few months back and then found her way to Christ an wanted to tell the world about it!
We had Taryn one of our students sing (and play the guitar that she learned to play at Peace of the CIty) a song that she recently wrote called “I’m Changed” wow what a huge thrill and blessing to see her sing that on stage. I know that we are going to see more of her and others as well.
We had 16 first time guest!
Had another awesome day of worship from Nick and the band.
Then last night we met with about a dozen parents who have kids in Peace of the City programs… got to talk with them about what we are going to provide next year as Peace moves back to the West Side. We are going to be continuing what Peace has started for us but just at a smaller level until we get our legs under us with different types of resources and knowledge.
Throw in a 7 ball games between Caleb and Canon and we had a pretty full week!
