KIDS BLAST

2011-09-16T15:49:00.001-04:00

Hey guys "how are you"? "How are you" is what every kid in the slums say to you when you walk by them! Don't know where it comes from or why, but you go by a group of young kids and all you hear is "how are you? How are you? How are you?" It is pretty funny! So hey what does your classroom look like at school? Does it look like the one in the picture above? Well the kids in Bhondeni have rooms just like this for their classroom! We went to the lower campus of the Bhondeni school this week and the kids were so cute, they are all in the first few grades there (K-2) and they were awesome, I put a video below of them singing to us today...we have to step up our game kids, these guys make us look dull!

These are the cooks at the school making up a batch of cabbage for the kids meals at school! What do you have for lunch each day at school? The kids at Bhondeni get to have...

Monday- cabbage, rice, beans, water.
Tuesday- cabbage, rice, beef stew, water
Wednesday- cabbage, rice, beans, water
Thursday- cabbage, rice, pasta, water
Friday- caggage, rice, beef, water
Saturday- cabbage, rice, beef stew, water

So? Sound good? My apologies to the cooks if I got the menu right I tried to remember the best I could. But you get the idea, would you like that menu for each week at school? Oh and did you notice the "Saturday"? Yep these kids go a half a day on Saturday, if they did not they would not eat! So they come and get breakfast and lunch before having to go home, sadly for some with no more food till breakfast on Monday.

Umm the kitchen at the lower Bhondeni campus....look like your kitchen at home? Hmmmm?

Bhondeni Day 3

2011-09-16T00:15:00.000-04:00

Hey guys, what a great day three we had today! About 230 adults/kids came to seek medical treatment and (if they knew it or not) also meet with God! While the medical team treated their wounds we in the prayer room treated their hurts...and guess what? OVER 7 PEOPLE CAME TO KNOW THE LORD AS SAVIOR TODAY! Is that not awesome? God is so very good and it is so awesome to be able to be used by Him here! I love this picture of the kids, the dude on the end just cracked me up all day long!

This is the sign that hangs in the front of the school telling the kids/parents what is going on for the day.

This is a new friend I made last night, his name is Ryan...he is a cool guy, he likes soccer, and played football for Texas Tech University! We ate at an Ethiopian restaurant last night and he helped me know how to do it...you guys ever eat at an Ethiopian restaurant? IT IS GOOD! Their are such nice people that I have met while being here, Ryan works with Missions of Hope here in Bhondeni and helps people to make businesses and make a living for themselves.

This is a picture of the prayer room and a place where almost 700 people to date have come for prayer and healing. Cool!

This is my corner in the room where I have seen so many nice people this week and so many people in need of prayer for their bodies and for their families. I will show you and tell you alot more when I get back.

This is the entrance to our prayer room.

This is the child that Mason and Jada Brooks and their family support, many of the kids have adopted families that help to support these kids and send money to make sure they have food and clothing and an education. Thanks Mason and Jada and family for supporting this child, he was so appreciative of the gifts you sent. I have to leave to head back to Bhondeni for day 4 so I will catch up with you later!

Love and miss you guys see you in a week or so!

Pastor Darren

Bhondeni Day 2

2011-09-14T16:19:00.001-04:00

Hey kids what is up? Well this was day number 2 in Bhondeni and let me tell you it was incredible! We prayed today for almost 230 kids and adults and 6 people came to know the Lord...YEAH! Now that was worth the 24 hours of travel, questionable food, bad water, stinky bathrooms! We also prayed for so many kids to be healed today, the conditions in the slum are so poor and all kinds of sickness is the norm for the children here! I just tried to love them like Christ would and feel like he would for them and you know what? Jesus must hurt a whole lot because it brought me to tears today to pray with these kids and their families and see the struggles they have to live with...not deal with but "live" with! This is a pic of the street looking north going into Bhondeni.

Now this one is kinda funny...you can't make it out very well but the sign on the building says "Beverly Hills Hotel"? Now I have never been to Beverly Hills but have seen Beverly Hills Chawawa and this does not look like the Beverly Hills Hotel to me?

See all those umbrellas? Well all through the slums to make money people have little roadside shops set up selling everything from food to shoes, clothes to jewelry and just anything you can think of to make money to survive! This picture does not do justice how many people have little shops set up and it is one of many little outdoor places you see all through the city.

The pic at top was looking north going into Bhondeni and this one is looking south...you have any streets in your neighborhood that look like this? I so miss all of you and hate that I will be missing this week as well but fear not super friends I will be back and more broken than ever on the 25th and hope to share all about my time her, please keep praying for K-dog and me as we continue to do what God puts before us!

Love you guys!

Pastor Darren

Few pics from first day in Bhondeni

2011-09-13T17:39:00.002-04:00

This is Dr. Carlos and some of our medical staff they did a great job treating all the kids and the sickness that is sadly much a part of living in the slums.

This is where I hung out all day in our "Prayer Room" after the kids were seen by the doctors we had a chance to meet with them one on one and share the love of Jesus to them and pray for their spiritual healing! We had several adults and kids accept the Lord as Savior, prayed for alot of kids to be healed and just loved one them....it was awesome! (oh btw that is Kristen in the photo she was great at praying with the kids)!

This is looking up at the school that TPCC helped to build for the kids of the slums. 3 stories, several classrooms and HUNDREDS of kids like you guys!

This is a picture of one of the classes beginning to see nurses and get medical help.

This is a shot of looking out of the second story of the school into one of the many streets of Bhondeni.

And I saved the best for last, this is the potty...yep a hole in the ground, sanitation is not great here and....well, you do what you gotta do man! (how is this picture Maddie? hee hee hee hee).

Seriously it was a great day and these kids and people have been the best, but it is late and I have to be up early so I am saying nighty night and I will post more tomorrow!

Pastor Darren

Bhondeni Day 1

2011-09-13T17:22:00.000-04:00

Hey Guys!

We had a great day at the Bondeni school today! That is a ton of people and Pastor Darren and I are pooped!

I got to talk to and hang out with a bunch of kids today. And you know what I learned? Kids are kids, no matter where they are in the world.

They do many of the same things you do. They run, play soccer (which they call football), and steal the red chair from their brothers and make them sit in the pink chair. They love to sing and dance and they don’t like vegetables. But these kids are different in other ways. They don’t have electricity in their homes. And their homes are tin shacks that are smaller than your bedrooms and they sometimes have 5 brothers and sisters staying with them in that shack. They don’t have air conditioning, heat or toilets. And often, they don’t have the opportunity to go to school or to know God like you do. That’s one thing; we get to do, talk to them about God and how great He is, no matter where they are.

Tomorrow we get to do it again so please pray for us as we talk to these kids and their parents.

We love you and can’t wait to see you at home!

Miss Kathy (K-Dog)

Pipeline Explosion

2011-09-12T16:52:00.001-04:00

Please pray for the slums of Kenya as an explosion killed many people people today and left many homeless...our team is alright as this slum was not in our area but in Northern Nairobi. Thanks for the shout outs of concerns but we are alright and just praying for those affected!

Pastor Darren

Missions of Hope!

2011-09-12T16:49:00.000-04:00

Missions of Hope is the name of the ministry that we are working with while here and let me tell you they are an incredible bunch of people! The work they are doing here in the slum area's south of Narobi is nothing short of amazing, as you look at these pics of the streets we hung out on today just remind yourself without the work of these people they would be much, much worse!

Typical alleyway where people have their homes, after an orientation today with the staff of the Missions of Hope we went on a tour (sounds so nice) of the slum area to check out the living conditions and visit some people in their homes.

We turn out of the mission and this is our entrance into the slum area...the smell of garbage, open sewer and people cooking on fires outside their "homes" fills the air!

We take an alleyway to head to a lady's home we are going to check in on, she has 6 children, living in something like a closet and most of them are in the school to give them a fighting chance to get out of here.

The slum is like it's own little world with small businesses in them, like this guy cooking bread and selling it, my fav was looking in on a small one room hut to see a woman with almost 20 little kids running her in home daycare with no lighting/running water or anything in her place but a bed and table.

It rained today and made the slum a mess to make it around, slippery and smelly was the flavor of the day! Still...............This was my favorite moment, these little guys shouting out to me "picture, picture" they wanted me to take their picture then show it to them and they laughed and laughed! I am amazed by the Kenyan people, seriously, they are unbelievable and how they carry on with such joy and strength, it has been something to see. Hey see you tomorrow and tell you all about our first day of medical clinic!

The Kenyan Version of Laura Yates!

2011-09-11T15:47:00.001-04:00

Just have to throw this out there...Laura Yates we saw this scene and thought of you! Not just the size of class and one teacher but because she was awesome (as any student who calls you mentor can say of you as well)!
I looked at K-dog and said "Oh my goodness it's the Kenyan version of Laura Yates"!

We're heeeeeeere!

2011-09-11T15:44:00.000-04:00

Hey kids/rents/friends and casual late night blogger reader!

We made it man! And it was not easy...a hour flight to Chicago from Indy, then 10 hours to London then right on a plane for another 10 hours to Kenya...whew! But we made it and let me say you never know how much you can stink or how oily your skin can get until you just do nothing but set on a plane for over 20+ hours!

We landed boarded a bus in Kenya then went straight to our home for the next week "The Grace House Resort" now I know what your thinking "RESORT"? Well don't think Disneyland Resort when I tell you about this place, it is small/old/my shower is right next to my toilet and I have mosquito netting around my bed to keep the little pests out of my face while I sleep and keep me from getting sick from them.

But we are here and today on our first full day we got up had breakfast (now I will tell you the guys/gals who do the cooking here could blow the Disney people out of the water....gooooood food). But we ate then.....WOW.....the church is located right next to the slum that we will be at for the majority of the week! The worship was over the top awesomeness, they sang/clapped/danced/jumped up and down/cried and it was great! You know what it reminded me of? YOU! Yeah I had the same feeling worshipping with them that I have when we are singing in the Zone.....oops! I mean the gym now, I had someone say to me "that was something wasn't it Darren"? I told them "reminded me of worshipping with the kids each week"! But they did it in a way that blew me away..sometimes when I have had a bad week or am upset over something I don't want to sing, I want to sulk, I don't want to lift up my hands to praise the Lord I want to cross them and put on my grumpy face...not these people! Not these people who have very little if anything at all...they praised God! They worshipped, they went for it, they got it on, they get it and they....they got it, they got to be in the presence of God because they accepted Gods invite to come and worship Him! Wow...it was great!

When we left church (2 1/2 hours later...felt like an hour at most to me) we went outside and a new friend I made while here named Steve called me over and said Darren look over this wall and see....I looked this is what I saw!

This is the slum area that thousands call home, you look to the right and left as far as you can and all you see is slum. We just looked in, tomorrow we go in! I will talk more later on tomorrow night...be looking for it! So glad to hear that Pastor Tim and the crew did a fantastic job this first week in the new digs for the kids, hope it was fun, so looking forward to being back with you guys!

Pastor Darren

Bye Bye Zone...Helllllllllo Kenya!

2011-09-06T14:13:00.000-04:00

Hey guys this is Pastor Darren and I am so saddened that this last Sunday was our last one in The Zone! The place we have called home for the last several years since opening up our new campus here in Z-ville! Well on to bigger and better things and this week (reminder alert, reminder alert) this Sunday September 11th we will be moving our elementary services to the mpr! It will be the new home for our elementary Kids Blast program as we continue to grow and expand our facility to meet the increasing need of all these great kids and adults that God keeps bringing us!

I am so excited that this Friday K-dog (a.k.a. Kathy Jarrell our awesome and very pontifical 11am coordinator) and myself and a bunch of other people from TPCC are going to be off to Kenya to work in the area we as a church have adopted there and am so looking forward to seeing the school and learning how are elem kids can better serve our friends there. Thus my next thing I want to tell you about...please check out our blog here for the next week or so and I will be filling you in on the journey into the Dark Continent and our adventures in Kenya as we look to see what God is doing there and learn more about how we can be a part!

Love you guys, thanks for a wonderful week this last week as we said goodbye to our home The Zone and look forward to the next part of our journey together and kicking off our first week in the mpr with a bang!
Thats it for now but come back beginning this Friday and lets have a great trip together!

God bless guys
Pastor Darren

Sorry guys....

2011-03-03T13:34:00.002-05:00

Have been so wrapped up with the "bidness" of children's ministry I have neglected our poor little Blog each week! I promise to do better, wow so where should I begin? Well how about we just jump in with this week and what will be happening in the Zone for the kids? The place is gonna look like a mess for the next several weeks as our beloved Zone is going to be going through some pretty major changes! We are putting up a permanent wall in the back of the room that will be our new "kindergarten suite" as I like to call it. This is an attempt to address the overcrowding we have in our preschool area and elementary as the kids just keep comin....PTL! It is a problem, but as I have said before a good problem to be having!

We will communicate changes in rooms and places for kids to be in the coming weeks as we make our way through March!

This week we kick off our new unit of study for the spring and we are talking about being a friend of God or more specifically we will have the focus of being a BFF with Jesus! I was thinking of the best friends I have had in my life...many of which I have long lost contact with and wonder where they are and what they are up to from time to time but Jesus? He is the best friend who stays with us forever! Changing schools/moving homes/all the changes that can happen in the world of a child they need to know Jesus never changes and He will always be there to be a friend closer than a brother!

This week we will be focusing on the fact that as a friend of God I will obey His words!

Our verse for this week is Hebrews 11:6
"Without faith it is impossible to please God, for the one who draws near to Him must believe that He exists and he rewards those who seek Him."

We have some really cool things for the kids this week in the Zone a visit from "Scout" I cannot tell you who he is but he will really leave an impression on the kids in what obedience is all about and then in second hour something that will "amaze" you and leave you saying "how'd he do that?"

See you in the Zone this week!

Pastor Darren

Savior/Lamb of God!

2011-01-13T13:01:00.001-05:00

Hey guys how is everyone doing?

What an awesome week we had last week in Kids Blast! I just loved being able to finally teach the kids in second service some new songs off of the Yancy cd "Stars Guitars and Megaphone Dreams" it so rocks dude! If you have never heard of Yancy or checked out her website, do yourself a favor and check it out now http://www.yancynotnancy.com/ She has awesome preschool worship, worship music for kids and tweens and even the adult stuff is great!

Anyway the worship rocked and we had a great time playing "Super Duper Smarty Pants" in which a student was asked questions to tough to answer but with an older friends help could of most likely answered the questions! The point being many things it helps to have assistance with but with repentance there is no help given...we must choose to repent for ourselves and nobody can do it for us!

This week we will continue with our overreaching theme of repentance as we talk about Jesus (another name we know Him by) but being the "Lamb Of God!" It should/will be great...hey do not forget about Superstart coming up in just a little under a month from now...Feb 4th and 5th.

If you have not registered your preteen do so now at our website http://www.tpcc.org/

Thanks guys and we will see you in the Zone!

Pastor Darren

Happy New Year!

2011-01-06T12:57:00.002-05:00

Happy New Year Traders Point Peeps/Kids/Mentors/Visitors/Other Worldly Alien Types/Whomever has landed here!

What a great Sunday we had last week as we talked about Jesus being our Teacher and learning about lessons from His life and words. This week we will be learning that Jesus is our Savior and we will discuss the topic of Repentance.

I am really loving this quarter and learning the various names we have for our Lord and what each of them teaches us about how great/awesome/loving He is to us.

Not sure if your a New Year resolution type or not, I gave up on all that sometime ago! Well not really, I mean it comes to my mind each year and I do find myself saying "this year I will do this or that" sometimes it sticks and then again sometimes??????????? Well I hope you make one promise this year and that is to make it out and be with us in the Zone on some Sunday if you have not, or have not been back in awhile....good lessons, good people, and a very good Lord we put at the top of ALL we do each and every week!

See you guys in the Zone this week! Start the week/year off right!

Quick reminder if you have not volunteered yet or registered your tween for it SUPERSTART is upon us...one month and counting!

Pastor Darren

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!

2010-12-22T20:33:00.002-05:00

Oh my goodness I do not think my daughter will make it through the night, we are having our Christmas tomorrow as we will be on the road Christmas Eve and with my fam on Christmas day and my goodness she has been bouncing around here all day long with excitement! I so love that, and so am going to miss it when they hit "that age" and my babies are too old to wake up at 5am and come jump on the bed and ask if we can get up yet.........well maybe will "eventually" miss that...LOL.
I just wanted to quickly wish all of you reading a very Merry Christmas and may the JOY of this holiday and our Savior find you where you are! We have been talking alot about Joy these last few weeks with the kids and the difference between Joy and Happiness....there is a difference ya know!
Happiness-as long as conditions are right and I get what I want I will be happy.
Joy-(as we have been defining it) is a delightful contentment from knowing Christ! And that Joy can and will be with you no matter what your condition or place in life! I have experienced it myself in a fathers death followed by an overwhelming sense of Joy in knowing he opened his eyes to see the face of God! Or when the checkbook does not match up to what the family budget says it needs to be happy...Joy in knowing the one who cares for me has promised to meet ALL my needs according to His riches in glory! WHOO!
I love the Lord, love all of you and am so thankful for the awesome year we have had and even more for the one in 2011 I know we will have!
You guys be safe, have a great Christmas and I will see you in the Zone this Sunday as we finish up with one final lesson on the Joy of knowing Christ and look at another name for our Savior in our continued series on the names of Jesus!
God bless and c-ya!
Pastor Darren

Snowflakes...and a big mess!

2010-12-08T14:13:00.002-05:00

Hey Everybody!

How are you? I hope your all enjoying the happy holiday season? We here in the children's ministry are so excited that in the last week we kicked off our winter quarter with a teaching series on the names of Jesus! And a quick "thing that makes you go hmmm" is not God the coolest in how He works out things like only He can in that we began this series the very same week the adult crowd kicked off the "a.k.a God" series with Pastor Aaron????

Hey I'm good but even I could not have foreseen this happening but thankfully God does and works out these little details that I so appreciate Him for!

We had a BLAST this last week with our first name (Messiah) and also making snowflakes to liven up the Blast kids area...man did we make a mess but had such fun!

I hope all of you are keeping Christ where He belongs and that is at the center of anything you have planned for this holiday and have just a great Christmas season! This week we will be studying the name of Jesus (Gift of God) and the JOY that comes with knowing Christ as our Savior!

Have a great week and look forward to seeing you in the ZONE!

Pastor Darren

Trunk and Treat

2010-11-03T13:15:00.002-04:00

How fun...over 1500+ who came out and shared an evening of fun/food/treats and laughter!

We had our annual Halloween alternative event this last weekend and it was such a huge hit! Not just in the number of people who came (1500+) and consumed over 800+ hot dogs, got faces painted, photos made and heard/saw a fantastic presentation by Jesse the Juggler http://www.jessethejuggler.com/ but sharing and having fun being together! I stood back at one point watching our youth do an impromptu Christmas parade, listened to the laughs and it was just the most awesome thing. I love it when God's people get together...there is nothing like it! Now I know there are many of you who question doing anything on Halloween because "guilty by association" I guess and I get that...I really do, and those of you who choose to do nothing every October 31st you have my support. But I have to tell you this event is so one I look forward to because as I prayed when we kicked off the night "we are not here to celebrate spooks and fear, but to fellowship and share in how awesome and great you are God!" October the 31st is a "holy day" it is...God made it like He did October the 30th and November the 1st! Our purpose is not to ignore the culture but do all we can to redeem it...salt? So this event fits just fine in that school of thought and we had a blast if you did not make it out make plans to join us next Monday October the 31st 2011!

Jesse joined us in the morning in our two children's services and did an awesome job of supporting our study of the book of Genesis and all the "firsts" we learn of there. Then that night he did such a great job sharing Jesus and many, many laughs and wows with his talent!

Will post some pics of the event later but for now just a few of Jesse from the morning.

See you this week in the Zone as we kick off a month study of Noah and the events surrounding his life and our AWESOME GOD!

Darren

Toy Story

2010-11-03T13:05:00.003-04:00

Doin a bit of catch up this afternoon!

On October 24th we (adults) to reward the kids for reaching the giving goal (see previous post) dressed up like Toy Story characters for the morning and had a great time doing it! When I am surrounded by adults who like to dress up and laugh so much I know I am in the right business and place.....these people rock!

It was a fun day....except for Tonya who dressed up like an evil clown....all clowns are evil you know, right? (Shudder, shudder) I told her this last Sunday I just cannot look at her the same ever again! Not sure where my irrational fear of all things clown came into being but baby believe me they totally creep me out man! Enough...rambling...a bloggers worst enemy, rambling...well I think "clowns" are actually ones worst enemy but I digress.

Anyway here are a few pics for you LOL(ing).

Toys Toys Toys

2010-10-21T15:43:00.003-04:00

Hey kids/rents/grand rents and anyone else who may be looking in!
Lookie at what the kids did...and I mean that in the nicest way possible! Look at all the toys the kids collected to be included in our giving project we are doing here at the church, is this awesome or what? I have not gotten a total number count of all the books/games/puzzles and toys the kids collected but they did a great job and met their goal and won "The Toy Story Challenge"!!!
Now this week all, well most all, the adults have to dress as a favorite toy story character...do you know how hard it is to find a Buzz Lighyear in 3XL? Not easy my friend, not easy at all....and just what people do they use to measure and say this is an XL or M or whatever...they certainly are small framed people I tell ya that!
Hey just gonna post some pics and split but this week promises to be another fun one as we tackle the topic of "First Kids" and talk on corruption and what God has done for us to overcome the corruption in the world through Christ!
See ya friends, will have pic's of our embarrassment for you on Monday!
Darren

I'm baaaaack!

2010-10-07T18:03:00.002-04:00

Hey parents/kids/whoever out there in cyber world!

I will not dwell very long on just saying how nice it is to be back at work full time and back to blogging and working and playing and feeling good! Had to take the better part (actually all) of August off and part of September for some health things/surgery/healing/going totally mind numb in a recliner! You know I always wondered about those people who complained about having to be on bed rest or not able to get up and around for a time and thought "man I would love that for once to be able to drop everything and just lay there" well ummm no, not for me man, got a bit crazy and just have much to much stuff in my head and energy to do that again! Anyway....great to be back we had a record number of kids last week and we had a great time up in the Zone learning about the first sin, as we continue on this quarter with all the firsts mentioned in the book of Genesis! This week....first punishment. I know, fun right? Hey I like a good laugh and to have fun like the next kid..err I mean adult, but lets face it, there was a first sin and there was a price to be paid! Missing in this society today is the accountability for a persons actions, we always have someone or something to blame for what we have done or what we did not do! This again comes from the book of Genesis....Adam, "it was the woman's fault", and then Eve, "it was the serpents fault". But God is the final/righteous judge and He did judge the serpent for His part and then Adam and Eve were held accountable for theirs! Sadly in the whole account is how sin played a part in even causing all of creation to be punished! Our sins, wrongdoings almost never end with us but have so much harm and hurt to those around us as well and kids need to hear that and that is just the message we will lay down this week that with our sin, because of our sin, our CHOICE to sin comes punishment!

Trust me parents if it is your first time the team and I will do everything within our power to get this message across with all the love we can....and not to brag but we do a pretty good job of it....well God does the pretty good job we just show up and let Him use us!

Hey good to be back online I will promise to do my best to begin again in updating each and every Monday as to what has happened and will go on in The Zone!

Pastor Darren

Back in Bidness!

2010-08-03T12:15:00.002-04:00

What a great first Sunday we had! New rooms/new faces/new curriculum/new smells (well not everything was great!) Anyway, what a wonderful way to kick off the end of summer/first of fall with our kids moving up and getting back into the swing of things!
I always get a kick of how young our kindergartners look on the first Sunday as compared to how big they will look this coming May....the wide eyes as alot of the kids see the Zone for the first time with the lights and music! And to see all of our old friends/and new ones joining us again as mentors for yet another spectacular year the God has in store for us!
And I love the way we are kicking it off in talking about questions kids have...this last week "Is Satan Real" and next week "Is Hell a Real Place".
Now I know, I know...."how morbid are you guys?" I wonder that myself sometimes...just kiddin...but we look for a way each year to kick off things with how we want the kids to behave/be respectful/be worshipful and on and on, and how God expects us to be. What right actions look like, but....how many times do we tell the kids from the perspective of what not to do, or "whom" does not want them acting the right way, what are the consequences of not following God's laws and commands?
I think we have hit on a nerve that will lay a great ground work as we get into September and our fall study on firsts....first man, first sins, a study of Genesis, the book of firsts!
I love all of you and want to thank each and every member of the team for a great first week! I will be out for the rest of the month but the ministry is in some very capable hands while I am away......God Bless and see ya in the Zone soon!
Pastor Darren

Summer Over?

2010-07-27T16:12:00.002-04:00

Wha happened? I came to blog about the last few weeks and was saddened to realize I had to blog about the fall soon? How is it each summer just gets faster and faster? I hate that....did you ever see the movie Remote Control (I think that was the title)? The movie with Adam Sandler where he gets a remote control for his life and parts of his life begin to go in fast forward and many times without his doing? Before his character knows it events and years have gone by and he has been present but cannot remember them and worse...he feels the regret of not enjoying them at all...being present but not really there! Even for a clown like Adam Sandler (and there is plenty of his boyish, jock humor in there) it was a touching and thoughtful movie I thought...still, do not rent and watch with the kids...way to much for them!
But my point is, I feel like someone hits the remote each week and we go in fast forward and the next thing I know I am leaving the building and have lost out on really enjoying the day for what it was...I really am going to try and do better and enjoy each week I have with the kids more!
We have had a great July and a wonderful visit (last week) from the Champions Academy from Kokomo First Assembly, and before that The Gillam Family (an illusionist family from Missouri) and even a visit from ol' Abe Lincoln back around July the 4th to share the faith of Abe Lincoln, just awesome! And this week (August 1st) we are back in the saddle again for another great school year and fun and worshipping in the Zone! We will be back to our normal....I pause here because the word "normal" just is such a stretch for our week to week fun/mayhem/zany/wild/program we have week in and week out! But our Mentors are ready to go, our large group leaders, I know, have been chomping at the bit to get back up on stage and it is GONNA BE EPIC/AWESOME/I LOVE TO HIT THE "/" KEY!
This week we will be beginning a month long study on questions about the Bible! We will take on the questions about "Is Satan really real" "What will happen when I die" and many others that kids have..it should (will) lead to some great conversations for sure!

Hey gotta run...see you guys in the Zone!
Pastor Darren

Chalk gal

2010-06-24T13:06:00.002-04:00

What an awesome job that Kristi (a.k.a. Chalk gal) did this last week! She is so talented and really captured the kids with the visual as well as the message!

I totally loved when we opened it up to the kids for questions on her work and art and some of the answers she gave, in particular was the one when asked about how she began! She told the kids that she just answered to an announcement in school to come and learn how to do the work she does and that was it....lessons and hard work and here she is! I love that message that we do not have to look at others who are leading, doing great things and say "well I will never be able to do this or that" NO....I wish all kids could know that interest, hard work and you can see and make things come true for yourself!

This week we go from Chalk gal to Hockey dude! Our own Paul Kobalarz (who heads up our sports ministry and is a former professional hockey player....not the Black hawks though.....but we will not hold that against him! But played for the New Jersey Devils (I know, weird right?) And he also spent quite a bit of time in Sweden working with athletes there and teaching the word of God to anyone who would listen I imagine! He will be sharing with the kids this week and it will be great!

Shoeless Sunday!

2010-06-14T16:15:00.002-04:00

Well it was not quite as "shoeless" as one might imagine but we did get the chance to lose the shoes and jump around for a bit as we tried to imagine life w/o shoes as so many kids in the slums of Bondeni have to!

We finished our giving project yesterday and had the leader of our upcoming trip to Kenya come and share how much we had raised and just a bit more about the heart God has given him for the kids there and this plan to give each kid in the school we support a new pair of durable shoes and two pair of socks!

I was just struck looking down at my feet...the new shoes my wife got me for an anniversary gift...how blessed I am/how blessed we are, we have so much and so often take it all for granted!

Anyway...the kids did an amazing job in raising funds and yesterday was a blast hearing more about the upcoming trip and Jim did a great job in teaching how all the kids are missionaries in each of their own worlds! Worship was great, Cole and Doug did an outstanding job and we had such a blast making our "toe token" necklaces to go along with the day's theme!

Next week, Chalk Girl is in the house, I know her personally and she is an awesome individual with an awesome talent and skill for sharing the word of God...do not miss it, it will be a BLAST!

Oh in case you want to check out her work it is in the back stairwell of our children's area or you can go check her out at her website, http://www.chalkgal.com/

See you guys in the Zone!

Pastor Darren

Sorry, Mothers Day, baptisms, and He is listening!

2010-05-03T12:15:00.002-04:00

Whew alot to talk about today, so lets get on it shall we?

What an awesome day yesterday in the Zone for the elem kids and mentors as we talked about sorrow, I know...just how is that awesome? Well awesome in that we get the opportunity to tell the kids what God's word says and challenge them on wrongful attitudes and tempers...now if they choose to change I leave up to parents and the Holy Spirit to do that work!

Great day in that it was our first day of baptisms under the new format where we are filming the services and testimonies for all to remember long after the day is over...it was so cool to hear the adults/kids/youth give voice to their experiences and faith in Christ before taking the plunge in front of the church fam!

Mothers Day is this week and we will be doing a short craft in the Zone before we ramp up and get things going this week, but do not rely on this craft to be Mom's surprise for the day...get her something nice (flowers, gift card, something for her) do not get caught out in the cold like those dudes you will see at 11pm on Saturday at WalMart looking blankly into the card section for something that just gets them out of trouble and not because they are truly thankful for the moms/wife's they have in their lives!

Finally this week we will be cracking open up the book of Nehemiah and talking about how God is listening so just ask! But we will be focusing on how it seems that old testament characters were very intentional about the respect that they showed to God before going to Him for something they wanted? I mean in the first chapter of Nehemiah read the prayer that he has there and how Nehemiah, like alot of old testament characters did, focused on God's might and holiness and our utter dependence upon him and his favor! We will encourage the kids to pray and I wonder how much of that is portrayed in the home? So how about you? You guys pray together much?

Love you guys, love the kids and all our v-teers and we will see you this week up in the Zone!

Darren

Sorry...been busy man!

2010-04-28T15:29:00.002-04:00

Hey friends/parents/kids
Sorry I have not posted since Easter...have heard and obeyed alright? What an awesome time we had in the Zone last week...I am so thankful for the entire group of peeps/mentors/leaders/helpers/zombies and Jesus freaks I work with each week and this week was no exception! We tackled the topic of leadership in the time with the kids this week and had a chance to encourage them and for some of the older groups I know really challenge them with the fact we all are called to be leaders in our worlds for God!
It was a pleasure to be in worship with both services this last week and hear the observations that both Cole and Doug made on the subject. Doug had an interview (video) of this man who is inspiring thousands of dad's with his commitment to his son and his disabilities. Maybe you know of him? This guys has run many marathons/iron man triathlons (not sure if it is harder to say or spell that word)? Anyway with his son in tow the whole way, just awesome for sure and really inspired me to be a better leader/dad for sure!
This week the topic will be a rip roaring good time! Whoo! Sorrow is what we are going to talk about Ezra and his sorrow he had over God's people who had traded in a relationship with the one true God for a relationship of comfort and complacency with the world...I wonder how many of us really truly feel sorrow for the sin in this world...it hurts Christ for sure, it pains him terribly I believe so how is it we, as having Christ in us, do not even feel a twinge of pain at the things going on in this world? To say that "well there is just so much one could do nothing but feel sorrow and God wants us to be happy" really? I mean yes I believe all in the joy of the Lord and His presence in my life brings with it unlimited possibilities...after all "nothing impossible with God" etc. So I'm with ya there but how do we handle what 2nd Corinthians chapter 7 teaches us? Seriously read the chapter and in verses like verse 10 "For godly grief produces a repentance not to be regretted and leading to salvation...." how or what do we do with sorrow or grief? Feel free to comment please I would love your thoughts!
And this week we will be taking the first 15 minutes or so to take the kids into adult worship to witness some very special baptisms from our kids and adults as well! Now that (baptism) always has a joy with it that just makes you smile!
Hey you have a life and I have alot to do for Sunday so I am out!
Love you guys
Pastor Darren

Eggxplosion!

2010-04-05T09:49:00.003-04:00

So who seriously knew an egg could explode like that? Anyway, so Easter yesterday, wonderful, great, awesome...love our kids, love our mentors and extra help was so great and helpful yesterday! Pastor Aaron did such a great job with the message and choir great..just a wonderful Easter, so the "egg"plosion...I am teaching second hour to large group and wanted some way to illustrate what a "mess" they made of Christ when the crucified him and also how when He rose He came back healthy, whole, still had his scars but was risen and not a "mess" at all! So to do this I was going to crush a few eggs in my hand into a bowl and make a real mess, and to do this right I needed to slightly crack the eggs so they crushed all nice and neat in my hand. Well I make my first point and then go to crush this egg and realize in my head "oh man I forgot to crack the egg...oh well I am a strong guy I will just squeeze and it will........BOOM!" Egg went everywhere...it blew up like a hand grenade man! I had yolk everywhere, all over the first few rows of kids and egg shrapnel flying as far back as the back of the room, one kid even yelled out "ow..I'm hit!" Now don't worry he was alright, just a bit shocked, as I and every other adult/kid in the room was! It was all good, we all had a good laugh and boy when I pulled out another egg they really perked up and paid attention! And to make the point about our Savior I emptied out a few eggs and when I crushed them...no mess...no yolk cause...nobody in the grave, He was not there and was not a mess any longer! It was alot of fun, I love the "energy" and "excitement" on Easter all the visitors and just the celebration of the day....it was good!

But looking forward to getting back to things this next week as we continue to dive into the person of Ezra and God's Wall of Protection for us all! Thanks to those who lent a hand yesterday to make things so fun and I hope we all keep in our hearts and minds all year long the message of Easter and how free we are because of what Jesus did for us! See ya friends and careful with those morning eggs...they can go off in your hand and make quite a mess!

Darren

Easter is a comin!

2010-04-01T11:03:00.003-04:00

How exciting, how awesome, I cannot wait for this weekend and Easter! I mean seriously is there any better day for a Christian than Easter? It seems to me it should be the biggest day on our calendars (yes bigger than the big C) the day we celebrate our Savior and His resurrection!
I love all the kids, all the x-tra people whom have given of their time to come and hang with the kids, it is going to be great! I will blog next week about how awesome it was but first want to thank all my peeps for this last week and stepping up to fill in and make sure things ran smooth up in the Zone! Ya see I was out last week...sick, maybe a hangover from Superstart two weeks ago? Not sure, but I was so out and I just love our people who work week in and week out so selflessly up with the elem kids they are great! I was so pleased to hear how people stepped up with ideas and helped out my man Doug with leading both services and our wonderful K-dog for taking care of so much behind the scenes. And someone please tell me you got a pic of Dean Bennett doing his best "Ezra" impersonation....that I have to see! Parents your kids are in the best of care with the people in the Zone, they so love your kids, you and most of all God...and it shows, each and EVERY week their love and devotion shows! Got lots to do so will get back to it, see you on Easter!

A Super Superstart!

2010-03-22T14:28:00.002-04:00

Wow what a weekend! My ears are still ringing, still tired, and still hearing "My Best Friend is the Creator of the Universe" I will still be humming tunes from The Lads for about the next month for sure! We had an event called Superstart here at the church this last weekend (over 1300 preteens in attendance and www.ciy.com/superstart if you want to check it out for yourself) and man what a time we had! The fun/food/music/program, it was just such a blast! Those guys from down under ( not Midnight Oil or AC/DC or even Men At Work and especially not Wolfmother......but The Lads! http://www.theladsband.com/ ) They were awesome, not only in the music but in the message they gave to the preteens to be all that God has called them to uniquely be! Yancy was fantastic (as usual) and the whole team from Superstart was just a joy to be around and work with!

We had the Lads hang out and minister to both of our morning services yesterday and they did such a great job in working with a younger group of kids than they typically would work with! It was a great week and I cannot wait to see what God has in store for us this week as we get back to some sense of what we normally do in the Zone! We will be talking about this week/or continuing to talk about I should say...God's Wall of Protection and we will be looking yet again at another person from the Bible in whom God's Wall of Protection saved!

The Wall!

2010-03-11T15:20:00.002-05:00

This last week was a good on in the Zone as we kicked off a new quarter study on "God's Wall of Protection"! In Bible times a wall was so important to the safety and security of the people, while they may have ventured outside the walls to do business or farm or even live when times of trouble came everyone headed inside the walls!

We all have them don't we? Walls I mean? Things that we go to, hide behind and look to for comfort and security? God wanted His protection to be His peoples first option and not the walls made of stone and brick to be their savior. And how funny it is when we do see, as in the case of Jericho, a people secure in their walls "they" built and trusted in how mighty our God is to bring them down...and with only a trumpet blast and shouts!

We can build a wall of protection in God and we are going to take about 13 weeks to talk about that and we kicked it off by talking about the first stone in our wall of protection we have in the Lord this last week...the stone of God's sovereignty! We talked about how God is in charge and what a comfort that is, should be, to all of us! This week we will be in our large group a bit longer than normal as I have a meeting scheduled with our mentors to talk about how we can better serve the kids God is continuing to bless us with! While we meet the kids will be lead from the front in large group and sing and praise our great God and talk about the subject of faith! We need to recognize our God is in control then next be willing to trust in that and know that "in all things, God works for the good to those who love Him." It will be an awesome week, we will (of course) have a blast and I look forward to seeing you all there!

Happy New Year!

2010-01-04T11:07:00.002-05:00

I admit, I am not a "New Year Nut" by any means! I mean if you are one of these guys who likes to go all out and celebrate till the cows come home...go for it! Me, I like the kids and wife asleep and me watching the ball drop then over to see what nutty Red Bull stunt they will do on ESPN and then off to bed! I like to be somewhat not a zombi on the first day of the year and enjoy the day in stead of the night before...just me! But not this year as my kids are getting older and want to "experience" a new year coming in and have lock ins and partys of their own now....my time is over and I will now assume that role of caring daddy waiting for his little ones to make it home safe, or having to go get them at one in the morning like this last one! Sigh....they grow up so fast!

But...a new year does give us a clean slate to work from and and new promises from our Father for great and mighty things! I cannot wait to see how He moves in the Zone this year with the kids and mentors we have in place...I get the feeling it is gonna be a special year for us in the elem kids area!

We had a great time this last week in dealing with the "touchy" subject of submission, looking at how even Jesus submitted His will for that of his Fathers! We had a few key people still gone on holiday but anticipate a full staff this next week as we will study and learn about the diety of Christ!

How Jesus being fully God humbled Himself to the Father and became obedient unto death! (Philippians 2:8)

How awesome is God, how great to know we serve the one who is ALWAYS in control! When we do not understand our circumstance or sitch...He does and is just saying "just follow my Spirits lead and you'll be cool" may not be the path we would choose...then it almost never is! We had a great Sunday yesterday and I cannot wait to see how God is gonna show up this week and this year in the Zone!

Later dudes

Pastor Darren

A Chillaxing kind of day!

2009-12-28T10:35:00.003-05:00

Numbers were really down yesterday in the Zone, a result of some bad weather expected and lots of folks on holiday trips still I guess? That and I am sure many wanting to make it downtown to watch our Colts go for the big 15 and Uh-O! Wait a minute...ya know my heart goes out to all of you who paid big bucks to go see our team yesterday and then them yank out the starters in the 3rd to "allow" the Jets to take home that game yesterday...if your gonna cash it in like that and go all pre-season on folks don't you think the least they could have done is have someone at the door give out refunds for those tickets wasted?

Hmmm..........thinking.............feeling a bit convicted to be honest.

I was gonna talk about yesterday in the Zone how we just chilled, took a break for one week, relaxed. And was going to say it was because numbers were down or we were missing mentors, etc. But to be honest we went all "Colts" yesterday and took it down a notch and I guess what I am saying is...........I'm sorry! We should have had the same "prep" the same "game plan" as we normally do and if some of our "starters" were not there....we still go for the win!

Hey nobody got hurt yesterday and we still are on track to get where we want to be in February....but then again that is what the Colts would say today and look how upset most all of us are at them?

Sigh...I'm gonna go back to the "chalkboard" right now and get to planning for the game...err service this week!

Forget October, what about November and December?

2009-12-21T15:50:00.002-05:00

Hey guys so sorry parents and visitors for being such a lame blogger the last few weeks it has been a very crazy/sad/happy time for me and my family the last month or so! It all started the Monday after Trunk or Treat when I got the call that my dad was in the hospital and not doing very well, he had been diagnosed with lung cancer just the week before and was going in for a biopsy on the cancer, when he crashed and it was found out he had suffered a stroke the Halloween weekend prior. He went on to be with the Lord on November the 14th.
So take the first two weeks of November from me and then I get back and come down with the flu that took another week from me and that left me the last month to play catch up on a very busy time here in church life.............enough said on all that except............if you ever get the chance to be in the presence of, hold the hand of a believer as they close their eyes here on this earth for the last time and then open them in eternity with Jesus........do it! I have never been so sad in my life only to feel such joy come upon me, that whole "joy of the Lord" thing really hit me how powerful and real it is! Sigh.........man I could go on and on from here but will just limit this to a few thousand words and move on!
Things here in the elem world at TPCC have never been better, for the last few weeks I have had the chance on Sunday mornings to sneak in and listen in on our small groups as they meet after our corporate worship times and I am amazed at the depth of love and care our adult mentors have for our kids here! We have some exciting things coming up the first of the year with Superstart www.ciy/superstart.com coming to town here in early Feb and then having Yancy www.yancynotnancy.com sticking around to minister to our kids on Sunday Feb 7th in both our morning services. And I cannot wait to see what else God has for us in 2010 I feel so blessed to be here in the Zone right now with the kids and adults we have and know you and your kids do not want to miss a Sunday!
Well I am gonna bolt, still have lots of catching up to do, and want again to wish all of you the Merriest of Christmases as we worship the birth of our risen Savior Jesus Christ! He so rocks!
Later dudes, peeps, people of the world!
Darren

Where Did October Go?

2009-10-27T15:28:00.003-04:00

Man you blink and an entire month just flies by! I am sorry guys for not posting the last two weeks....I have just been so busy with "stuff" and Trunk or Treat coming up this Saturday I have let the ol' blog go!

My apologies and lets get caught up shall we? We had the proph Jeremiah come and speak to the kid two weeks ago and what an awesome job our presenter did being the "weeping" prophet...it had the kids (and adults) in stitches!

Then this last week we talked about pursuing holiness and righteousness in our lives...I wonder sometimes if the kids get more out of the lessons or me sometimes, I felt totally convicted!

"Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will perform the good things which I have promised." Jeremiah 33:14

How many of us have been promised something by the Lord and then how patient are we to wait on that promise to be revealed or realized? I know that Gods words are like day and night, they will come, sooner or later you know it will be one or the other! Down in verse 2o of that same chapter God says "if you can break my covenant with the day or night then my covenants can be broken..." What God is saying is that we can bank on/trust in/count on/believe in/stand on/stand by/trust in His words in good times as well as the bad! We will be taking this subject on in greater detail with the kids this week...it promises to be, you guessed it, another awesome week in the Zone!

Later dudes

Darren

Oopsie Poopsie!

2009-10-08T13:22:00.002-04:00

Sorry faithful followers of the Kids Blast Blog (or the KBB as we like to call it...actually nobody calls it that, lame attempt at being cool) anyway, I am so sorry, I have got so into things this week I totally forgot to blog about this past week and tell you what is up for the kids in the Zone this week!

Last week was (you guessed it) just awesome, well not awesome but "really" awesome! We discussed missions this last week and kicked off our book drive, where our kids are bringing in used books for the kids in the area in various reading programs through the local schools! First hour I had a blast making a "Kenyan Shake" illustrating the things we here in this country take for granted every day and do not think about the things kids around the world just do not have.....most of all Christ!

And how our missionaries not only address the physical needs of the kids we reach out to but the spiritual needs as well!

Second hour the fabulous Dougini was at it again with his incredible powers of illusion (not magic) in illustrating the same message!

This week our very own Cole/Melissa will be back from their trip from Kenya with our missions team and I am looking forward to a report from them and seeing all the pic's they took while there. And most of all telling of the great things God is doing there!

Cool! Hey have to keep this short but did not want to forget...well not totally forget to keep you up with what is happening in the Zone!

Later dudes!

Darren

4 Corners!

2009-09-21T09:42:00.002-04:00

Well this week we had (again) another fabulous, wonderful, awesome week in the Zone! I know, I know, "you say that every week!" Yeah, I guess I do...but it is what I have come to expect from each week in the Zone! Perfection? No discipline problems? No pukes/bleeding? No shows for classes? Hey we got all that and more! It's children's ministry man...it's dangerous, hilarious, fun, scary, messy and every other colorful word you can think of I am sure it applies in some way! But it is awesome for one reason and one alone! We ask and expect God to show up each week and totally (try) to let the Holy Spirit lead and direct our morning...and with that kind of start I don't care what happens it is going to be a "good, good, good, good, good, good morning" man that song gets stuck in ones head!
On to this next week, first, we are breaking up the team and sending reps all over the world, Cole is heading out to Kenya for 10 days to take the kids offerings and stuff they collected to the kids in the slum we will be adopting...I am heading off to Dallas to see/listen/hear/allow God to pour into me what He has for us next here and am so excited about that! And this week upcoming we will be talking about sacrifice!
Kids get it, we all as kids were in a sitch where someone "took the hit" for something we did and rightfully deserved punishment for. And this week we will examine the greatest of all examples of such sacrifice and that is Christ's punishment for our sins...pray with us we can make this come alive to the kids and they will leave with a full understanding that the sacrifice of our Savior Jesus Christ should result in nothing less that a total sacrificial abandonment to the Lord every day of our lives!
Later friends, thanks for the kind words, thoughts and prayers! I look forward to being with the kids next week in the Zone and sharing what God reveals this week in Dallas...I need a hat!
Pastor Darren

Obedience/Everlasing God!

2009-09-15T11:05:00.002-04:00

What a great Sunday we had this last week...I had hoped to show a pic of the kids and all the stuff they had collected for our church's mission trip to Kenya in just a few weeks (will have to get that posted later).
But what a great week learning about the blessing of obedience to Jesus...as I taught the second hour this last week I truly believe it takes more effort and alot less benefit to disobedience than to just submit and obey God when he calls and asks of us!
This week we will be telling the kids of how worthy God is of our worship, and He is when......

He has paid for our sin.
He levels rough ground and smooths rugged places in our lives.
His Word will eternally stand.
He is a powerful, sovereign Lord.
He is a gentle, loving shepherd.
He measures earth's waters and weighs it's mountains.
He needs no counsel or instruction.
H sits on His throne above the earth and spreads out the heavens.
He brings leaders and rulers of this world to nothing.
he is unequaled on earth and in heaven.
He created all the stars in the heavens and summons them by name.
He is the everlasting God and Creator of the whole earth. He never tires and never grows weary.
He infuses the weak and weary with His power.
He renews the strength of those who place their abandoned hope in Him.

All this from Isaiah chapter 40 (and I wish I could claim this but copied it from a devo for our mentors in this week's curriculum!) But is it not awesome to think that God is all these things and even more? I pray we are able by God's Spirit...His Holy Spirit to be able to get this message across to the kids this week and that (even more) you would get this message down in your hearts, that OUR GOD IS AN AWESOME GOD!

Later for now, looking forward to having a Blast this week in the Zone!

Congrats to our kids on a wonderful job of reaching their goal in our Kenyan giving project and cannot wait to tell you in a few weeks about our special book drive to support a local school here in Z-ville!

Darren

WARNING

2009-09-09T14:33:00.003-04:00

I am forgiven because of Jesus.

I am guided by God's Word.

I am created for a special purpose.

I am loved and accepted by God.

I am strong with God's help.

We began a new unit of study this last week and will last till the first of December, and it is on the three major prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel. And the point of the three prophets was to bring warnings from God to His people Israel! This last week we focused on repentance and this week we will be taking up the topic of obedience! And we had the prophet Isaiah come and hang out with us this week and tell us about what it was that God had for him to tell the people!

We had a blast this last week and way to go kids in raising over 1200 dollars for our Kenya trip in just a few weeks to help the kids of the community we are adopting over there! With that money we will be buying supplies for the kids there to share the gospel and to help fix up a school over there for the kids, and we also raised over 700 boxes of crayons for the kids! Way to go kids and way to go Cole in sacrificing your head (he got a mohawk) to inspire the kids to reach their goals!

See ya this week as we will have a Blast again worshipping God and praising Jesus!

Darren

The Three Stooges!

2009-08-31T15:50:00.002-04:00

I love those guys! I know, I know, I can feel the rush of wind as every female eye rolls in unison of unbelief of how every male since the beginning of time has expressed their love of the stooges! (kinda funny since they have not been around since the beginning of time....but, oh well!) Anyway, we do not have the three stooges this week but we will be having the three prophets! Well one prophet...the prophet Isaiah will be in house and talking to the kids this week as we kick off our fall quarter with the title of "Listen Up!"
But in the next three months we will be hearing from all three of these major prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel) and the warning messages that they had for the people of Israel and the messages that they convey to us today!
And this last week was so incredibly awesome as we saw many of our kids baptised in our baptism celebration service! Of particular awesome(ness) was to see our very own Cole doing several of the baptisms...I am so very proud of how God is using him (and all our mentors and leaders) to make a difference in the lives of these kids God had entrusted to our care! I'm gonna cry now so I'm outta here, check back next week I may try to catch Isiah on film for you to see for yourself...I hear he looks quite well for a man of his age?
Later, love you guys!
Pastor Darren

Awesome!

2009-08-24T10:37:00.001-04:00

So yesterday at church a couple in the church comes up to me with a story they want to share! Apparently they had some play time with their kids at home and the kids wanted to do a "church service" so they went about assigning tasks to each other to put on this "church service." Mom and Dad did not get to help in the planning of this wonderful little worship set but were regulated to just being the congregation. The mom said it was so hilarious, as the kids all got up in front of their mom and dad and began by opening in prayer and then doing the "Good Morning" song that we do with the sprinkler motions and all! Then she went on to tell me how her youngest daughter got up to say she wanted to know who knew the difference between knowledge and wisdom? And the youngest of the group held up his hand to answer his slightly older sister and began ripping off the answer to his parents amazement!
They went on and on how amazed they were at the music they had heard and learned and most of all the lessons that they come home with and share! How awesome, How VERY AWESOME! Not just that the kids remember a cool song or even the lessons we strive to get across to them week in and week out, but that they are sharing it! If it is the living room of their home while playing church or with friends at their house, in the classroom on Monday! How Awesome to know they (the wonderful kids God allows us to work with each and every week) are sharing their faith in Jesus Christ!
I walked around yesterday during our first service to just look in on everyone and was just reminded of this story as group after group I hear and see our wonderful group of mentors pouring life into the kids entrusted to our care for one more week....oh great now I'm starting to cry! Gotta do something manly...after I reheat up my grande mocha nonfat latte...wait, no I'm going to go get a cup of coffee, black, drink it right from the pot!
FYI the "Good Morning" song is from Phil Joels album....I mean cd (no I'm not old at all) "Deliberate Kids" if you have not checked it out...do so!
Later dudes

Blown Away!

2009-08-17T15:11:00.002-04:00

I am so totally blown away week in and week out by the people we have serving up in the Zone! This last week our second hour large group leader...the amazing Dougini (don't ask, just come and watch) was out and I got the chance to pinch hit for him! The kids/mentors and I had such an awesome time worshipping and praising God and talking about the blood of Jesus and how when He forgives...He forgets and we do not have to walk around with a burden of guilt over us because as the word says "whom the Son has set free is free indeed!"
I then stood back and watched as the kids broke apart into groups and the leader of the third grade, lets call him David...because that is actually his name, David. Anyway, I watched him take a group of these boys and girls and circle them up and then pour out his love for Christ into their lives and just thought about my own childhood and the names and faces that I have long since forgotten but the lessons I know they poured into me that have made me into the Jesus follower I am today. Well let me check that their are some of those unique and totally passionate people that I can still see and hear, the "David's" of my own day!
This next Sunday we are getting into chapter 11 of Hebrews and the hall of faith! Cannot wait to see how God shows up this week...oh wait, most likely like he does each week through David/Patti/Dean/Mike/Ashley/Kathy/and all the other wonderful and awesome mentors up in the Zone!
See you guys
Darren

Goodbye Summer Fundays!

2009-07-27T09:59:00.004-04:00

Well yesterday we said goodbye to our summer of fun! But fear not the fall looks to be much funner...don't think that is a word!
Starting this week, August 2nd, we get back into the swing of things and dive into the book of Hebrews! What an awesome way to get back into this new school year than looking at the book that outlines all the way that Christ is superior in the Bible!
I am very happy with the summer and the fun we had in June/July...Professor Steve, the Laflins and Gillams and their wonderful presentation of the gospel through illusion, our own "Amazing Dougini" and his talents and the dance Sunday with April! What a fun summer but I am ready for the fall, ready to get back into small groups and mentors leading the kids into a deeper understanding of Jesus and the friendships that will develop! Man I can't wait for this week!
Yesterday we got a jump on Hebrews by looking at the verse that says we are to not let anything hinder us from finishing the race before us. And this week we will (as stated as the lesson objective) in the curriculum...understand why Jesus Christ is like no other and how this should affect our lives...wow, I wish I could get my head around that each and every day, don't you? How different our day would look if we knew, could understand, would accept all that is available for us in Christ! Man I may need to hit my knees a bit more than usual in prep for this week!
See you in the Zone!

The Gang

2009-03-02T21:27:00.005-05:00

Back Row: Cole Warnisher, Doug Follett, Darren Messick
Front Row: Tonya Warnisher, Kathy Jarrell

10:45 Service

2009-03-02T21:18:00.004-05:00

10:45 Service

2009-03-02T21:13:00.005-05:00

Flipt

2009-02-25T18:47:00.008-05:00

Darren giving Cole a lesson on "how not to get to Heaven"

Cole looks a little confused here........

2nd Hour Demonstrating motions to the song "I Came to Party with Jesus"

1st Hour Praising God through music

1st Hour Again, praising God through music

1st Hour Showing Courage

This past Sunday we wrapped up an 8 week series on how God "Flipt" our lives. We learned about following Jesus, trusting Jesus, doing the right thing when tempted, confidence, loving like Jesus, obeying Jesus, forgiving as Jesus forgave and courage. We have enjoyed teaching God's Word through praise and worship, bible talks, videos, "really bad theater", puppets, illusions and most importantly through prayer. Every Sunday we may not reach each child that enters The Zone, but in our hearts we feel that each child has been given the chance to learn the word.

In the next few weeks you may hear the children talk about the "offering contest". We are trying to collect $300 in offering during both services over a 3 week period. That may seem like a lot, however, we are averaging 300 kids a week during both services. The offering will go to help fill totes with microwavable foods that kids can prepare over Spring Break. These kids normally only get to eat breakfast and lunch at school. I guess you can say we have our own missions in The Zone. First hour is doing a boys verses girls. Second hour is doing a grade level collection. Ask the kids what the prizes are....... we will post pictures in a few weeks if they meet the goal. So if you need your garbage taken out, dishes washed or any other chores, we have challenged the kids to earn offering in the name of God. They may also mention the "Bible Challenge"! Our first hour worship leader has challenged the kids to bring their Bibles on Sunday mornings. We are at about 33%. Once they reach 80% Cole will accept a pie in the face from the kids.

We are encouraging the kids to participate each week in different activities, singing on stage, "theater", reading verses and demonstrating motions to songs.

We hope they enjoy Sunday mornings and look forward to coming back each and every week.

Until Next Time, Have A Blessed Week
Darren, Doug, Kathy, Cole and Tonya

kids blast

2009-01-19T19:55:00.001-05:00

Get your own Family Sticker Maker & MySpace Layouts.

kids blast

2009-01-19T19:46:00.002-05:00

I have not introduced you to our "crew of peeps" that works with us each and every week........I did not have time or desire to get each of their permissions to put a photo on the blog, so I just made one! Doug and K-dog (Kathy) are our team that lead the large group at our 10:45 service each week and Cole and Tonya lead our first hour large group at 9 a.m.

They are a fun bunch and I am blessed that God has sent them to me and to the kids to have fun with and learn about Jesus each and every week...........stay tuned and I will intro you to the other mentors in the weeks to come, I know they all cannot wait!

2009-01-19T19:22:00.002-05:00

What a crew! This is a photo of our first hour kids along with their mentors......man what a fun crowd! We had such a great time in the Zone this last week as we studied the account of Jesus being tempted by Satan. One of my kids in my small group when I asked why they thought Satan waited 40 days to come and tempt Christ, this little guy said "I think it is because Satan waits till we are weakest to come after us." What an observation! These kids are nothing short of amazing in their depth of understanding and sensitivity to the Holy Spirit!
We are going to have another great week in the Zone as we look again at yet another life "flipt" by Jesus Christ..............................................................Have you been "flipt"?

The weather outside is frightful...

2008-12-16T14:22:00.002-05:00

No, I'm serious, it stinks outside man....snow, ice, etc. Not trying to croon some old Christmas tune for you, I'm looking out my window (why they gave me a window I will never know, they know how easily distracted I am!) But anyway, it is a nasty looking day out and I love it! Well not the driving, but the flannel jammies, games with your kids, watching t.v. and a fire.....whoo hoo.....man I'm getting old, I used to think of skiing but not anymore!
Anyway, on to the Zone, what a great Sunday we had last week and learning about the birth of our Savior! I had the most awesome time with my group of 5th grade boys, they are awesome, we began by asking "what was the weirdest thought you had this week" and some of the answers bordered on the absurd and deeply disturbing! But we used that question to lead into what if the events of Matthew did not take place as the book described? What if Joesph divorced his pledged wife Mary? What if Mary had said no? What if, what if, what if........it's hard to stop once you start!
One of the kids made the most incredible observation when he said "we would leave alone." I asked him what he meant and he said that God would stay in the church and we would be alone during the week to handle things ourselves.........wow, we all sat around and pondered that thought and were just glad at the end for the baby Jesus and how he came so that God would be with us and inside us and we would not have to be alone!

This week we will be checking out the children's choir performance in the main service and then heading back to the Zone for some birthday cake and movies with crafts to celebrate our savior!

C-ya peeps and people!

Merry Christmas

2008-12-02T10:31:00.000-05:00

Hey all, I know it is a bit early, but Merry Christmas! Man I love this time of year, the presents, songs, lights, snow.........love it!
We had an awesome time in the Zone this last week as we finished up our 8 week series on X-treme Sayings, taking a look at some of the x-treme sayings of Jesus. We had a week were we just partied and played for the day, snacks, games, it was all good!
Now on to Christmas, we will be taking on the Christmas story for the next two weeks and having a birthday party for Jesus on the 21st of this month.........with special little surprises for the kids each and every week, and maybe a special visit from someone special on the 21st? Have to wait to find out about that later!
A special thanks to all our mentors and the great job they did with the kids this last week and all the fun that was had!
I hope all of us keep in mind the real reason for the season and not get carried away with all the other "stuff" that way to often clouds our holiday!

Bless till later

Pastor Darren

X-treme Sayings!

2008-11-04T15:42:00.000-05:00

(Sigh) I cannot believe it.....I spent the last 40 minutes blogging then one flicker of the screen and "poof" gone! And I do not have the time to retype that whole thing again! So sorry about your luck buy you get the abridged version now, in lovely bullet point form!

Thanks to all who came out for Trunk and Treat on Friday evening! We had about 8oo in total attendance and could not of asked for better weather than what we had, what an awesome "God Honoring" evening! New faces, cute costumes, foot long hot dogs, WHOO.....good times!
Our unit on X-treme sayings is going really well and we are in week 6 of looking at how x-treme the teachings of Jesus are to those of us who dare live them out! This week we will be taking on the subject of being a servant to all! Cannot wait to see what Doug and Cole have for us this week, and mentors you continue to do such an awesome job of being "Jesus with skin on" to all these little ones!
I am so sorry that I have done such a poor job in keeping up with this blog........I admit it kind of intimidates me at some level, not sure why, but had computer problems for a spell and got out of the routine and it has taken me a while to get back to it.........I'll do better, I promise!

As I said, I have to run now, sorry this entry is so short, I will blog, blah blah blah more later!

God moments!

2008-08-19T15:29:00.000-04:00

I love "God moments" those moments you do not see coming, you cannot plan for, and just hit you like a truck sometimes (like I know what that is like....wait, I do, but maybe for another post!) And is just the right thing for the moment, let me "splain" as Ricky Ricardo would say! So Sunday our dear Doug shared with the kids in both hours about how his dad had just passed away and told the kids "it is o.k. to cry" and began to weep a bit himself....was just genuine and authentic with the kids and they took note, not a sound out of the 100+ kids while he shared! And today a dad stopped me to tell me how on the way home he asked his daughter about the one thing she got most out of the morning and she said "that Jesus knows and cares about my hurts and it is o.k. to cry!" Cool or what? I mean not anything we planned or programmed or scripted in any way, but God just using us to make a difference in the lives of His little ones! It is why I say again and again to our mentors "your job is to be prayed up and read up and ready to come and live out Jesus to these little guys!" It works, when we are honest and transparent with each other and the kids it works, God works, He is awesome!

Our prayers go out to the Follett clan today and tomorrow when they will gather together to celebrate their dad's life! I did not know him at all but only through his son Doug, and can only say that if that is the legacy this man left on this earth...it is a good one!

Gotta run, lots to do b/4 Sunday and am leaving town to attend the services of Dougs dad so will have to bolt for now, thanks to all you mighty mentors for making this last week great and will make this Sunday awesome I am sure!

Scraper Booger

2008-08-12T14:03:00.000-04:00

I know, I know...gross! Well yes but the term "scraper booger" has as much appeal to a 5th grade boy as "Venti Latte" to you and I! I'll explain later (I know you cannot wait) this week in the Zone was just soooooooo awesome! I thing the energy and fun is at a high and the changes we have made to facilitate size and each group is really working out well! I had such a good time up with the kids and my 5th grade group of boys this last week, and I guess it showed by me going on and on and on in the large group time......yeah, sorry bout that mentors, promise to do a better job of watching the clock this week and getting you to small groups on time!

This last week we talked about that 2nd beatitude and how happy are those (can hear the laughing now) who mourn because God will comfort them! So how did God comfort you in your sorrow this week? And this week we will be doing another letter "T" and this time it is for the word take..........no we are not going back on one of the commandments and advocating theft this week, that would be bad and make for a bad year end review for me! Rather blessed are those who take the path that God has laid out for them! Think about it, these kids see nothing but how the world tells them that the path to true happiness is thinking of yourself, getting all you can for yourself, pampering yourself. I was watching t.v. the other night (something I do not get to do all that much) and....what commercial was it....brain burp, hold on....awwwww I lost it! Anyway the point of the commercial was "you deserve it"....hmph! Deserve it, I pray I never have a day where I get what I deserve, the Bible says what we deserve is nothing to be desired because of sin, but what God has planned for us is life through Jesus Christ and a ever present help in times of trouble!

Life is tough, and I am not going to lie to God's little ones and tell them that it is not! They need to know that through the flames, floods, tough times God is there and He will see them through anything that life throws at them! He is good...all the time!

Hey I gotta bolt and get some things ready for the Back to School Bash on Friday........come on out if you can and see some of the kids in a different setting and have some food and enjoy the free concert!

Oh a "scraper booger" I asked the kids in my group this week to tell me their name and what is the grossest thing they ever had come out of their nose? And a scraper booger (according to one of my dignified and highly refined 5th graders) that it is one of those boogers that is hard on one side when you pick it and it scrapes the inside of your nose as you pull it out...........all 13 of us at the same time went "Ewwwwwwwww"! (Man I love working with these kids...they crack me up!)

Later dudes, am praying and wishing you God's best all week long!

You punched him?

2008-08-05T12:37:00.000-04:00

By far my favorite thing that happened this last Sunday is when I put the question to my small group of 5th graders "Can you tell me a time when you prayed for God's help and it happened?" One girl in the group told of how a older boy had been bugging her at recess last year, always threatening to punch her. And she said one day he came up to her and said "If you don't punch me I am going to punch you as hard as I can!" And she said that she was not going to let him hit her so she punched him right in the nose as hard as she could! I waited.....and waited.....and then asked "Sooooooo how did God help you in that situation?" And she responded by saying "Well I prayed that I would not get in trouble for punching him in the nose (as he ran off to the teacher crying and holding his nose) and then she said proudly "And guess what, I did not ever get in trouble for hitting him!"

Oh my.....the things we get to listen into each week with the kids, the ideas, attitudes.....ahhhh the attitudes! You and I are so blessed to be in this position of making a difference in the lives and attitudes of these kids! I shared with that girl an understanding of her circumstance and then we as a group look at Christ and what might of been His attitude if he faced the same situation.....how cool!

So people "When your having a bad day, God's help is on the way!" Have you caught yourself saying that to yourself this week? I know I have! I am amazed when we leave the Zone each week how many times I see that I have been the one ministered to and and have came away with a new nugget to chew on for the week, I hope the same is true for you!

We will be taking on the second beatitude this week and our practice point will be "Trusting God's Best." Matthew 5:3 "Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted." Jesus healing the daughter of Jairus will be the lesson focus and we want the kids to learn and know.....I need to be reminded and know.....that Jesus knows our hurts and He truly has our best interest at heart and we can trust Him for His best in any situation!

Have a great week peeps, be good and remember if your having a bad day then God's help is on the way. Now go out and punch someone right in the nose.....no wait, don't do that!

What a Sunday!

2008-07-07T15:44:00.000-04:00

Whoo I'm a Blogger! Look at me, blogging, I blog, Welcome to my first and only Blog! Enjoy reading what I blog..........blog, blog, blog! That tickles the tongue to say, try it......I'll wait.

Anyway this blog is dedicated to what is happening in the Zone on Sunday mornings with the elementary kids at Traders Point Christian Church and those brave/crazy/wacky souls who give of their time and talents to come and hang with the kids for the morning.....or as we lovingly call them The Mentors! Here is a pic of only a few of the many mighty mentors we have working with our elem kiddo's! This was a dinner we had at Amore's a few nights ago as we prepared for the fall with the kids....a fun bunch for sure....super glue and punching Austin....and that is all I will say!

And me, that is my pic over to the right............I know, I'm exploring weight loss programs as we speak, will let you know how that goes!

Anyway on to bidness, what an awesome Sunday we just had, love having the kids in the worship center with us and what about Katie? What a job she did illustrating the sermon, really took the pressure off of me by having all eyes glued to what she was doing and not on me as I spoke! (Eye's glued on me is never a good thing!)

On to this week....Sunday August 3rd and the kickoff of our next 8 week series on How To Be With Your Attitude! We will be diving into an in depth look at the beatitudes that Christ spoke of and how they apply to our lives! It will be a blast fer sure!

See ya peeps, love and am praying for all of you!