(678)

elevation 2011!

2011-06-29T16:08:00.000-07:00

earlier this month the middle school ministry went on our first camp of the summer, elevation 2011! and it was the best trip ever!

there were so many different aspects of this trip that made it so amazing. we partnered up with middle school dad and boy scout leader roger ross to learn a new survival skill each time we met for chapel. roger taught the students how to build a shelter, how to make a fire, how to dress a wound, how to use a compass and several other skills.

our chapel meetings were all outside. our resident worship leader brett knight led the students in worship under the canopy of the redwoods and under the stars. as we opened the scriptures, we looked at r12 according to the life of king david. the students learned about being after God's heart by surrendering to Him. we all discovered how God has shaped us by creating our own set of 5 smooth stones each representing our spiritual gifts and talents. we learned about serving one another in love by finding and becoming what we called a "jonathan friend." one of the highlight of our chapel times was when we symbolized being separate from the world by burning pieces of wood that represented all that holds us back from God. in the photo on the left, the students are surrending their bitternesses at the cross and supernaturally responding to the evil aimed at them. we ended our week by creating our own psalm of praise to God. in the photo on the right, a student is sharing her psalm with the rest of the camp.

each day we had free time at pinecrest lake and and each night we watched movies together under the stars at pinecrest theater.

one of the highlights of the trip was a night hike where we all hiked to the top of a mountain at sunset and poured our hearts out to God in prayer and worship.

everything about our camp was just perfect. our campground, camp chinquapin was ideal, our volunteer staff led the students with skill and tenderness; and each student came in with an incredible all week long. stay tuned for an upcoming video with stories and student testimonies!

summer program 2011

2011-06-04T10:36:00.000-07:00

tonight we begin our summer program for 2011!
on weekends we will be studying the psalms with our series summer psalms.
each week we'll hear from a different speaker and about a different psalm.
our challlenge is to read through the book of psalms together over the whole summer by using our summer psalms journal. every student that read and journals their way through the book of psalms by next september will get a new bible from the 678 staff.

on tuesday nights we will be studying the beatitudes from matthew 5 with our series called "the way of the master." each tuesday night we will have crazy games, outdoor worship, and then a short talk on one of the beatitudes. every student that memorizes the beaitudes and quotes them perfectly will get their name in a drawing for a new green 678 iPod!

this summer we are also launching a new after party called "9." 9 starts at 9pm on tuesday nights (after 678) and will have food, the game room, games, and movies. 9 ends at 10:15.

oh yeah- and we're going to 2 camps too! hume lake and elevation!

see you soon!

welcome new 6th graders 2011!

2011-06-04T10:27:00.000-07:00

we had over 40 come out to our welcome party for our new 6th graders at pump it up on friday! a whole new class of middle schoolers is starting their journey with 678!

678::2011

2011-05-09T22:30:00.000-07:00

last week I had my annual review and it got me thinking about what an amazing year we have had at 678 over the last 12 months. God has shown up in so many incredible ways- here are some highlights- (at venture, we have used the acronym BIO to explain and organize much of what we do, and I have used that acronym to organize these thoughts as well.)

over the last 12 months, God has shown up in our BEFORE GOD meetings, or our weekend services-

about this time last year, we went from one service at 11am on Sundays to a second service or Saturday nights at 5pm, and recently we started a third weekend service at 9am on Sundays. This has allowed us to create some room to grow and to be more flexible with the groups that we see at our weekend services. now that we have the added services, we get to do fun things like: jump in the church bus and go to McDonald’s during services (or starbucks, or baskin-robbins), play outdoor games like kajabe can-can and kickball during services. The added services also allowed us to get creative in the teaching, and this year we put 2 different sermon series on dvd- BIO and kingdom come. (I think that the students prefer listening to TV-rob more than they like listening to real-life-rob!) we’ve also had some great times adding different musicians and singers to our worship band thanks to Brett and his enthusiasm for leading worship. Over the last 12 months Brett has evolved into quite the worship leader- and now he is writing and recording all kinds of music that is getting used at 678 meetings and events.

over the last 12 months, our IN COMMUNITY meetings on Tuesday nights have been above and beyond anything that I ever expected! our Tuesday night attendance has blown up. Our pirates vs. ninjas journey program has been nothing short of epic. Not only that, we know how to throw a party at 678. this year, we had three dress up parties: nerdy-Christmas, post-halloween, and our red-carpet viewing party for Team Bishop’s appearance on Minute to Win It. but Tuesday night wouldn’t be Tuesday night without our faithful staff team of small group leaders. This year Niki celebrated 10 years as a faithful volunteer. We added at least 10 new volunteers to the team including: Danielle, Arielle, Nicole, Sarah, Mike, Jan, Wendy, Melissa, Stevan, Lauren, Matt, and Danny. At the end of or small group season, we closed out with one 8th grade guys group, two 8th grade girls’ groups, two 7th grade boys’ groups, two 7th grade girls, two 6th grade boys, and three 6th grade girls’ groups. amazing.

over the last 12 months, we have had some incredible ON MISSION events as well. we kicked off the fall with our zany fun-fest, sabado gigante! I have already written about our recent missions trip- and in addition to that, 678 hosted FOUR CAMPS in the last 12 months: Hume Lake, Elevation, and Burly and Girly- our separate camps for boys and girls only. over the last 12 months, 678 partnered with 2 other youth ministries to OPEN OUR OWN STORE in Princeton Plaza for an outreach event called AM FUEL. Brett, Missy Berlund and I also teamed up to lead chapel services each week for Los Gatos Christian School on Monday mornings.

In the last 12 months we re-did the game room and even installed a mirror ball on the ceiling. the most amazing part of the year has been meeting all of the new students, parents, and volunteers that God has brought our way. what an amazing year- I feel so grateful to God for the team of dedicated leaders- and I’m so grateful to God for letting me be a part of it all. and I can’t wait to see what next year brings!

-rob

letter from dave molchan to parents of 8th graders:

2011-04-26T13:38:00.000-07:00

April 25, 2011

Dear Parents,

In the coming weeks your middle school student will be transitioning to high school. They’ll have the graduation, maybe a party, a dinner, a dance, and then they’ll be on to high school. I know this transition can be awkward and intimidating for students, and also cause some apprehension for parents. As the pastor of the high school ministry (the Uprising) at Venture Christian Church, I desire to make the transition into the Uprising smooth and comfortable for students and parents alike.

To that end, I invite you to attend our incoming freshmen parent meeting on Sunday, May 22 at 12:45pm in Room 231 (the Ranch House Den). The purpose of this meeting is to give you the opportunity to get to know me, ask questions, and share any concerns you may have. I will also be sharing with you the Uprising’s vision and program, as well as explaining how to help your student get plugged into the Uprising.

We will also be having three events to help your students get acclimated to the high school ministry:

• Friday, May 27 we will partner with middle school ministry in the 8th grade goodbye event. The students will go to the Boardwalk with their middle school leaders, and will come back with their new Uprising leaders. Students can sign up for this event with the middle school ministry.

• Sunday, June 5 after the Uprising ends we will be having a free BBQ to welcome our new freshmen to the ministry.

• Friday, July 1 we will be having a freshmen welcome event where we’ll spend the evening with our new freshmen, further introduce them to our volunteer and student leader teams, and take them to Lazer Quest. We’ve found shooting each other with lasers is a great way to get to know each other. Sign-ups for this event will begin in June and the cost will be $20.

One of the things we look to do as a high school ministry is help equip with resources and information as you seek to disciple your children. To that end, on Sunday, May 15 from 5-6:30pm (room 300) we will be hosting a seminar on the joys and dangers social networking and texting hosted by Randy Duke. This seminar will provide you with some valuable information and resources on an ever-expanding area of influence in your student’s life.

The Uprising volunteer team and I anticipate an awesome summer and we are very excited about this new freshman class, the fourth of Venture Christian Church! If you have any questions please call me at 408.997.4600 or email at DMolchan@VentureChristian.org.

In His Service
Dave Molchan
High School Pastor-the Uprising
16845 Hicks Road – Los Gatos – CA 95032

laugh club tour 2011

2011-04-24T21:57:00.000-07:00

the middle school students went on their annual spring break missions trip last week- this year called "the laugh club tour." the laugh club is a traveling vacation bible school for children in needy neighborhoods. this year our students chose roles to play in the laugh club and used their leadership abilities to guide children in each day's activities. our students led the children through dramas, music, crafts, face-painting, ballon animals games, and by playing with them.

the first site we went to was sacred heart community service here in san jose. sacred heart literally gives out tons of food a day to hungry people and thousands of articles of clothes. we presented our program and play-stations to the children and then volunteered in sacred heart's warehouse.

the second site we visited was san francisco city academy in the tenderloin district of san francisco. this is a ministry of city impact and is a private school for the children of the tenderloin. it was a joy to serve this school.

we spent our last 2 days working with elm street mission, and their wonderful pastor, mike crane. each morning, mike went with us to the beach flats community in santa cruz where we picked up the children in the neighborhood and brought them back to the mission for VBS. I am always inspired when I watch pastor mike work. he knows everyone in the beach flats by name and they know him- he went from door to door gathering up the children who were thrilled to see him. as we drove up to elm street mission with vans full of children, the laugh club students stood there waiting for us with bright colored signs that said, "welcome to laugh club!" our students cheered for the children as the vans rolled up. the children in the vans were awestuck; and I have never been prouder to be their pastor. we were delighted to spend two days with those children and to learn their names and stories- and many of them were excited to see our students who they remembered from last year's trip.

in the evenings at elm street we prepared meals for the gospel mission, listened to pastor mike's preaching, participated in the service, and then served dinner. after dinner our students sat with the hungry and the homeless, learning their stories and serving them in love.

we ended our laugh club tour at our home church, venture on easter sunday by supporting the volunteers and leaders of our church's children's ministry. our students just kept on serving with enthusiasm- and many of the children's ministry volunteers asked if they could serve downstairs every week.

our home base for the trip was camp maymac, a ministry of cityteam- this site allowed us to rest comfortably, debrief, share, eat together and strengthen our team.

honestly, a week ago I was conviced that this was the last missions trip for awhile. things have become pretty busy around the middle school ministry, and this seemed like a trip that could be cut. I told myself that something pretty amazing would have to happen for me to consider doing this in 2012- and something did. our students were incredible. they served selflessly in even the the most menial tasks. at each site that we served, one of our students asked a child while playing with them, "so- what other churches come out and play with you?" and at each site the answer was the same, "no one- you're the only ones." several children told our students, "when laugh club comes to our neighborhood, its the highlight of our year."

we saw that God was using us as we served, even if we were just sitting at a table, putting together a puzzle with a child and listening to them talk. and today the conversation kept returning to not just doing another trip in the spring, but an additional trip at Christmastime.

this was the best missions trip we've had- the students were amazing, our 678 volunteers we incredible (as usual) and God blessed us in ways that we'll be talking about for months to come. if you would like to support any of the ministries that the laugh club worked with this week, please click on the links where they are mentioned- they are all doing wonderful works for the Lord.

here are some more photos from our trip:

hume lake 2010

2010-07-21T21:32:00.002-07:00

another awesome year at hume lake!
our students and staff all had amazing attitudes all week. the camp workers kept saying how loud the cheering was and how great the behavior of the students was. they said it was the best of the summer so far. personally, I think its largely due to the great students and leaders that we brought, and how they led the rest of the camp by example- but I'm pretty biased I'm sure.

everything about the camp was just about perfect. no drama, no accidents, no purple (believe it or not!), and some minor injuries. our students led the way in bible memorization, cabin clean-up, recreation, and again, great attitudes. I'm thrilled to say that I came up with this team.

this year we experimented with check in and luggage on saturday night instead of sunday. we also experimented with driving the luggage to and from hume in a luggage truck. I thought that both ideas made for a very relaxed departure and return.

this staff this year were absolutely amazing. we took several first time leaders, and each one of them went above and beyond the call of duty. each one had an amazing attitude the entire week. and they looked super-sharp in those (678) volunteer t-shirts.

this was an extra special year for me. this was my 10th summer at hume lake. and if that wasn't enough, FOUR of our former volunteers were at the camp this summer as FULL TIME YOUTH WORKERS. that filled my heart with joy. and if THAT wasn't enough, all of our leaders, including myself got to pray with students who were making decisions to surrender their lives to God. that never gets old!

for pictures from our week at hume, check out hume's week 6 gallery at:
http://gallery.humelake.org/Meadow-Ranch-Junior-High/Week-6

students and staff, I want to remind you that I love you, and I'm SO PROUD OF YOU, and i'm so excited about WHO YOU ARE and WHO you're becoming. great job everyone!
-rob

gameroom re-do

2010-07-21T21:04:00.000-07:00

before:

after:

the old gameroom served its purpose in its time- cluttery was kind of our theme back then now its clean and green.

10-sixteen

2010-04-14T09:39:00.000-07:00

Every year at spring break, the middle school ministry goes on a mission trip. This year’s theme was “10-sixteen” from Mark 10:16 where the Bible says that Jesus, “took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them.” This year our focus was blessing children in need. We partnered up with VBS-specialist, Leanne Manzo to create the Laugh Club, which was a traveling kids party, complete with a drama about the Good Samaritan, games, face-painting, balloon animals, and music. We also fed over 100 people at each site we visited, and handed out new toys to every child we met. (The toys were provided by the students and families from the middle school ministry.) Our Laugh Club went to 4 different sites and met with kids 5 different times over the course of four days.

The first site was Innvision in San Jose. This site is a shelter for women and children.

The second site was the Sobrato Family Living Center in Santa Clara. This is a branch of EHC, Emergency Housing Consortium. This is an apartment complex for families that are transitioning out of homelessness, jail-time or rehab. We met with kids as they got home from school and did our Laugh Club program, as well as some organized games with older kids.

Our third site was Elm Street Mission in Santa Cruz. They have had a ministry to the children that live at the Beach Flats neighborhood for several years. We bussed in about 25 kids to the mission two days in a row. Our students also helped to lead the mission's gospel service with music and testimonies.

The fourth site that we visited was San Francisco City Academy, in San Francisco. This is a small Christian school in the Tenderloin neighborhood of the city. The students rolled out their Laugh Club and also tutored kids and corrected homework. One of our girls wept as she saw the poverty on the streets of the Tenderloin.

The last site that we served at was our own church! The students served in hospitality, parking and children’s ministry. They also served their own middle school ministry by sharing their stories from the trip during our middle school worship service.

In the midst of all of that work, we managed to squeeze in a trip to the beach and a few games of bowling.

This was probably the best missions trip that we have ever done as a middle school ministry. The students showed so much character and leadership ability. The staff volunteers went above and beyond the call of duty; and God was so gracious to us to give us a great facility to stay in (Santa Cruz Bible), we had showers each day, courtesy of 24 hour fitness, and God kept us safe as we traveled and served. We’re already thinking about next year!

FEED THE NEED

2010-02-25T06:36:00.000-08:00

our church has been focusing on a project called FEED THE NEED. we're looking to raise 45,000 pounds of food for local food banks, and each small group has adopted a family in need to buy fresh groceries for. each small group has also delivered those groceries to these families.

in middle school ministry, this has been a pretty cool experience. some students went into homes that had luxury items like big tvs and got a little confused. others went into homes that were a disastrous mess. one young lady came up to me on Tuesday night and said, "we went to deliver our food to a house tonight for a family of 3 people. they only had one bed. they all share it." I could tell that this reallly bothered her. God was awakening compassion inside of her as she used her "compassion-muscles" for the first time.

this morning, some small group leaders told me a story of taking some 8th grade boys out to deliver food. when they left the home, one of the leaders got a call on the phone from the family they had just delivered to. the woman said, "did one of you lose some money while you were here? I found some money on my table!" the leader yelled out to his boys, "did anyone leave any money at the house we were just at?" it was quiet. then one boy said, "yeah. it was me. I left it there for them." the woman on the other line was overwhelmed. the boys were silent.

I took some gals out in the church bus. we got back a little early, so I decided to have some fun with them. I ordered 15 hot fudge sundaes from the mcdonald's drive through!

I don't know what lit them up more: the sugar from the sundaes, the experience of driving the bus through the drive through, or just the joy of serving with each other.

“Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. ¹⁰Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality.”

-romans 12

staff on staff crimes

2010-01-13T18:27:00.000-08:00

starting this sunday::

2009-12-31T10:33:00.001-08:00

this sunday we will hand out KADOSH temporary tattoos and KADOSH wallpapers for your cellphone and computer!

(678)'s own red-haired-rockstar::

2009-12-02T16:18:00.001-08:00

heavy metal (678)

2009-11-19T15:47:00.000-08:00

tony stark at (678)

2009-11-16T09:58:00.000-08:00

way to go brian- good job!

bowling night

2009-11-08T22:35:00.000-08:00

10-sixteen

2009-10-27T09:59:00.000-07:00

this is the first look at our mission trip for 2010.

the theme is 10-sixteen, which come from Mark chapter 10, verses 13-16, where the bible says, "13 People were bringing little children to Jesus to have him touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. 14 When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 15 I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." 16 And he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them."

this spring missions trip, our focus is to be the hands of Jesus- to reach out and bless children.

we will be working in orphanages, children's shelters, children's hospitals, and a daycare center. we will going in and shining a light by painting faces, giving piggy-back rides, singing songs, handing out toys, candy, and just playing.

the dates are april 8-11. the cost is still being worked out. plan to come and serve!

starting this sunday::

2009-10-12T11:56:00.001-07:00

I don't even think that bear grylls could survive this.
but we can!
each week we'll have a different speaker with a different topic teaching us how to overcome all of the drama-

burly video

2009-10-09T18:12:00.001-07:00

burly-cooking.

2009-10-07T16:17:00.000-07:00

girly-burly

2009-09-22T22:47:00.000-07:00

great job brian and missy!

2009-09-02T07:19:00.001-07:00

2009-09-01T10:05:00.000-07:00

at (678), we have always worked to make it a ministry where girls can be girls and boys can be boys. on October 2-3, value will be taken to the next level with 2 simulataneous overnight parties: one for girls, one for boys.

the girl-party will have everything that girls love including makeovers, chocolate, dancing, scrapbooking, singing, and some super-silliness.

the boy party with have everything that boys love, including camping and barbecue and hiking and bad table manners.

the cost is $25. stay tuned for more info on how to sign up!

starting this sunday::

2009-09-01T10:00:00.000-07:00

it can be tough be a Christian in a culture that doesn't always understand or even respect your faith. can your faith survive in a culture like this? what if your faith not only survived, but it made a difference in the lives of others? what if you could actually be a leader in a culture like this, and yet never let go of your faith? is it possible to be a light in "babylon?" this month we'll discover that the answer is YES.

thanks!

2009-09-01T09:55:00.000-07:00

I want to say thank you to the greatest middle school staff team in the world, the (678) leaders- for not only holding things together, but for enabling the ministry to grow while I was out. You all have given me the priceless gift of 6 weeks off with my family, and I'm so grateful. thanks so much to paco who provided leadership above and beyond the call of duty. I'm the most blessed middle school minister in the world to work with a team like this!

thank you all- you're real LIFESAVERS!

-rob

we should totally sue

2009-08-14T10:31:00.000-07:00

this magazine and site.
we were doing 678 2 years ago!

lots more photos from hume-

2009-07-27T21:45:00.001-07:00

at luke's flickr page here

photos from hume

2009-07-18T23:34:00.000-07:00

can be found here!
what a great week!
thanks to all of the dedicated staff that made it all run so smoothly!

pray for camp!

2009-07-08T16:41:00.000-07:00

hume lake starts on sunday morning, july 12! don't forget to pray for us!

splash!

2009-07-08T16:32:00.001-07:00

thanks to all of the staff and parents that came out to oversee last night's slip-n-slide-fun!

dave and galen

2009-06-21T07:51:00.000-07:00

I just walked by the fellowship hall, and the awaken band was rehearsing. an elderly woman stopped pastor dave and said, "don't you think that's a little loud?"
"no- I think it sounds just fine!" he said.
"well its too loud for me!" she said.
he told her to go down to the worship center. (lovingly of course!)
and that, friends, is a leader backing other leaders.

dave and galen- what great guys!
both with so much wisdom, experience, talent and love for their church.
no one else could have pulled off this venture but them.

pray for those guys as they transition,
and show some love for them over the next week!

God is love.
-rev-rob

great job tanya!

2009-06-14T12:25:00.000-07:00

today was her first time speaking in church, but I would have never guessed it. she did great. we have to have her up again soon!

pray for paco!

2009-06-01T22:07:00.001-07:00

pray for paco and the college ministry as they travel to southern mexico this week for 2 weeks of service.

tuesday nights this summer::

2009-06-01T10:32:00.000-07:00

starting sunday::

2009-06-01T10:07:00.000-07:00

"everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock."
-jesus; matthew 7

congratulations:

2009-05-20T15:39:00.000-07:00

to the students that got baptized last night!

from heritage home::

2009-05-20T15:37:00.001-07:00

student stories

2009-05-18T11:41:00.000-07:00

wow! our student stories series went way better than I dreamed it would! many students were touched, inspired and convicted. great job to mary, daniel, sara, a.j. and sarah! we'll definitely have to do this again!

handwritten shout out to the band

2009-05-16T20:19:00.001-07:00

I agree, they are pretty awesome!

I may be just a teenager, but I am the church

2009-04-21T09:50:00.000-07:00

We Are the Church from Southeast Student Ministry on Vimeo.

starting this week:

2009-04-20T16:06:00.000-07:00

because every student has a story...

ReVolution-rock-stars

2009-04-20T14:52:00.001-07:00

ReVolution. wow!
I’m so impressed with the (678) staff and students!
you all stepped up- and stepped out of your comfort zones.
you all did things that were new and difficult for you.
great job!

thanks niki for the food!
thanks Allyson and leanne for helping with the food and everything else!
thanks mark and rob and mike for driving!
thanks brooke and Tanya for taking such great care of the students!
thanks paco for overseeing so many details-
and thanks rich for all that you did to help in so many areas.

thanks “rev” for being such a rockstar!
thanks Christian for making me laugh harder than I have in a long time.
thanks rocky for being such a hard worker.
thanks to each of the students- for reaching out and caring for someone less fortunate than you.
you’re the best!
-rob

pray for our trip!

2009-04-15T20:57:00.000-07:00

we'll be back sunday!

great job meg!

2009-03-22T19:11:00.000-07:00

but what's going on with paco and thse staff girls?

night game soldiers

2009-03-04T10:28:00.001-08:00

we've seen it all

2009-03-03T12:35:00.000-08:00

great job missy!

2009-02-22T14:48:00.001-08:00

starting this sunday::

2009-02-09T11:09:00.000-08:00

little decisions can have disasterous effects.

this series will feature some awesome guest speakers like missy, meg, paco, and several new faces! see you there.

-rob

luxurious

2009-01-27T21:51:00.001-08:00

no number twos in here

good job brooke!

2009-01-26T08:52:00.000-08:00

a psalm for small group leaders::

2009-01-12T11:42:00.000-08:00

Psalm 134
A song of ascents.

1 Praise the LORD, all you servants of the LORD
who minister by night in the house of the LORD.
2 Lift up your hands in the sanctuary
and praise the LORD.
3 May the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth,
bless you from Zion.

seventh-grade-theologian

2009-01-12T11:38:00.001-08:00

after church yesterday, a seventh grade boy came up to me and said, “hey- want to hear something cool?” of course I said yes.
he said, “I was sitting by myself, backstage during my school play, and I began thinking, ‘why did God create sin?’” (wow- I thought to myself).
he continued, “and then I thought, ‘how would we ever know what was good, if we never had something to compare it to? that’s why I think god allowed sin to enter this world- so that we would be able to see how good God is.”
“whoa!” I said, “that’s deep! good job!”
“want to know something else? I asked myself, ‘why didn’t God just make us into robots that loved Him already? wouldn’t that be easier? but then I started thinking about the army- what if we just made people go into the army? they wouldn’t be very good soldiers; but when people choose to go into the army, they give it their best. and God wanted us to love Him, so He gives us the ability to choose.”
again, I was blown away. I said, “wow! you could be like, A THEOLOGIAN! and you could write books that answer people’s questions! good job!”
he said, “yeah- the important thing is that you have to get by yourself, with no distractions- that helps you think.”
so there you have it.

thanks just

2008-12-30T22:24:00.000-08:00

i had the opportunity to catch up with justin tonight. his in-laws live way out in the country, and so i had a while to think and pray after i dropped him off. i started praying for him and his ministry in texas, but my prayer-time evolved into a time of gratitude. before he left san jose, he left both me and the 678 ministry many, many gifts. here are the ones that come to mind:

:: our tuesday night curriculum; much of this curriculum was written by justin. whenever we print these lessons out for the groups, i always know that the students are going to get a biblically sound and engaging lesson.

:: the journey program; i don’t know if journey started with justin or not, but i do know that i would have never come up with it on my own. now, each spring, the house is packed with students wearing their team-colors and war-paint and anxious to recite bible verses(!).

:: interns; i don’t think we would have ever had interns in the middle school ministry without justin.

:: a large staff team; i didn’t know that a middle school ministry could have a large, multi-generational staff team until i met justin. now i wonder how (and why) we did it any other way.

:: new friends; i would have never met such amazing people like mike o., tanya, deanna, missy, precious, tidwell, brooke, meg, mark, scott, jason, teylor and all of the rest if i had never met justin.

when we merged a year and a half ago, we took two different programs, styles, and ways of doing things and blended them together. i’m so grateful for the way things have blended together, but it came with a lot of hard work, respect, and humility. it wasn’t easy, but i would do it all again to have what we have now at 678.

so justin, i don’t know if you read this, but thanks for everything. i appreciate you, respect you, miss you, and am proud to call you my friend; and i’ll continue to pray for God’s blessing on your ministry in texas.
-rob

pray for the ninja

2008-12-29T11:07:00.000-08:00

I received this e-mail from scott and I post it here so that you can support him in prayer:

"keep me in your prayers cause im leavin on a missions trip soon. im leaving from december 27th til january 10th. im going to the philippines with about 12 other people, like don smith, and jim brinkerhoff. we are playing basketball three times a day for two weeks and preachin during half times. we will be in mindinao, which isnt the safest place, so thats partially where id like ur prayer, also for our health and that we touch some peoples lives. also i dont really know the other people going very well cause ive only seen them when we play ball at san quinton... anyways just keep our group in your prayers. thanks again."

what a cool opportunity! please pray for safety and that God would use him in a big way.

christmas-craziness

2008-12-22T10:25:00.001-08:00

slimy santas

2008-12-21T19:53:00.000-08:00

i looked at the supplies that the game girls brought in to church this morning. they had vaseline and cotton balls. i knew it would be a good game...

starting january 4::

2008-12-20T13:52:00.000-08:00

when you're obsessed with something, reading about it, talking about it, and gathering with others that are obsessed isn't a discipline, its just normal; in fact all of that just makes your obsession grow.

this january, we're taking our love for jesus to a whole new level.

service night

2008-12-17T16:32:00.000-08:00

last night we had a service night at 678.
6th grade boys stocked every seat in the worship center with a new pen and then prayed together in the worship center.
6th grade girls completely sanitized the entire children’s floor.
the 7th and 8th grade boys smashed old tables and chairs and filled 2 dumpsters with them.
brooke and meg took a group of girls to bless the children of moms in the teen challenge program.
the rest of the girls went to the local convalescent hospital to sing Christmas carols.
I was in a room with missy's group as they waited to sing to my friend barb. we had to wait because the nurse was checking on her. while we were waiting, sarah whispered to me,
“we’re all being so quiet. I’m so proud of us.”
I couldn’t help but think that I was so proud of us too.
great job 678 staff and students!
you’re an unstoppable force of love, kindness and joy.

if we ever repaint 305...

2008-12-11T06:38:00.001-08:00

if we ever repaint room 305, I would want it to look like THIS!

happy thanksgiving!

2008-11-26T23:51:00.000-08:00

after going ice skating with the middle school ministry on wednesday night, I couldn't help but wonder: who is crazier? the students or the leaders? tough to say...

starting 11/30::

2008-11-20T15:07:00.000-08:00

"the word became flesh and made his dwelling among us."
-john 1:14

great night!

2008-11-18T22:17:00.001-08:00

what a great night we had tonight at (678)!
we had a great crowd of students and adults-
paco and jason were hilarious with their announcements-
we played dodgeball- which is always a winner-
and then rob ragsac came and gave a message to supplement our study on the armor of God.
he showed the students the gear that he wears when he fights fires.

the students were riveted to his every word.
i had no idea that he is such a great speaker!
he talked about TOOLS, TRAINING, and TEAMWORK.
afterwards, john danis came up to me and said,
"how are we supposed to follow THAT?!"

groups were great-
we even had a fun ride home on the shuttle.

today i was helping sort some of the food that came in from the food drive, and i noticed that all of the trader joe's bags had a little cartoon printed on them that said, "when i am old, i will look back on this time as the good old days." as i was sorting food and thinking about middle school ministry and the students and adults that we have now, i could only reflect and say to myself, "amen to that!"
great job everyone!
-rob

from heather

2008-11-16T21:40:00.000-08:00

here is a great post from heather's blog.
she was in the 8th grade when i first came to the church.
she had a heart for serving others way back then.
its so rewarding to see her investing in middle schoolers!
come home soon super-girl!
-rob

goal patrol

2008-11-08T15:16:00.000-08:00

today I was invited to go and watch a bunch of super-cool girls collectively known as GOAL PATROL play soccer. several members of this team go to (678). these girls dominated that game and won 3-0. I felt sorry for their goalie because for most of the game, she just leaned against the goalpost. the ball never came near her. it was fun sitting next to larry, one of the dads, and to interact with all of the parents. one of the parents, dave, was actually the head coach- and he did a great job leading his team.

all of the girls showed some amazing skills- but I think what I was most impressed with was when one of the girls got injured. the goal patrol was moving the ball up the field, toward the goal, and a gal from the other team got injured trying to stop them. I couldn’t see exactly what happened, but she hit the ground and began to cry out loud. the referee blew his whistle, and all of the players from both teams stopped where they were and kneeled on one knee- even the goalies. a coach ran out to the injured girl, helped her up, and helped her walk back to the sidelines. everyone in the crowd clapped politely as the girl walked back to the side. goal patrol stood up, but the other team did not. they would not stand until the injured girl walked past them.

we use a lot of sports analogies at (678), and I couldn’t help but think that I was seeing one live in front of me. what if we responded the same way when one of the teammates on our team, the church stumbles? what if we chose to kneel when a friend gets knocked out of the game? what if we applauded them as they took steps toward getting better? what if we ran out to them instead of just letting them sit there in tears? maybe we wouldn't lose so many teammates. after all, isn't that what we would want if we were sidelined?

I had never seen this kind of thing in a sports match before. it was obvious that a person sitting behind me had never seen it before either. I heard them talking about it with someone they were sitting with. their friend explained, “we have to support our teammates- and we have to support these kids. we have to show that we care and that we’re standing with them.”
amen to that.

kaila and sarah, and emma, and alexa, and holly and dave and everyone else on the goal patrol- you were awesome today! thanks for inviting me out to your game and for reminding me again what a team is all about.
-rob

are you smarter than a 7th grader?

2008-10-30T21:28:00.000-07:00

today i was at castillero middle school with my friend will from south hills. we were leading our weekly campus life club at lunch. we were playing a game that pitted 2 students against each other. one of the students was one of the singers in our band, kayla.
she and another student were competing to see who could name the most state capitals. the one who got one wrong first, lost.
so the 2 girls rattled off capitals:
sacramento!
baton rouge!
denver!, etc.
finally kayla said, "tallahassee!"
and will said, "oh! kayla loses!"
she said, "what?! its the capital of florida!"
"no its not!" will said.
"rob! is tallahassee the capital of florida?" he asked me.
"i've never even HEARD of tallahassee!" i said.
i looked over at the band teacher who sits in on the club and he just nodded his head.
"what?!" i yelled-
"tallahassee is REALLY the capital of florida?! since when?! how come they never taught me that in school?! isn't it miami?"

Q: rob: are you smarter than a 7th grader?
A: apparently not.

ReVolution

2008-10-29T10:12:00.000-07:00

4 RVs + 4 days + 30 middle schoolers + 10 adults = ReVolution.

this year's mission trip is April 16-19 (notice the date change)

and we are travelling to a new site to serve every day.

we're trying to whittle down the cost-

I'll let you know what it is as soon as I can.

we're travelling and staying in RVs!

are you coming?

so refreshing

2008-10-20T11:04:00.000-07:00

678 staff at jello night::

2008-10-06T11:17:00.000-07:00

photos by mark lefler:

jello night

2008-10-04T18:08:00.000-07:00

jello night was one of our biggest,

and definitely our messiest event ever as (678).

a big thank you goes out to the 678 staff-

they are the best in the world.

they had the church spotless in thirty minutes flat.

not only that, they took care of a injured young man,

registered students, collected money, made the jello,

moved the jello, welcomed guests,

ran games, ran announcements,

fixed a broken tire,

greeted parents, handed out plastic bags,

and got completely jello-ed from head to toe.

you are my heroes!

-rob

hey staff team:

2008-09-18T20:27:00.001-07:00

I just got a GREAT idea!
p.s- this is the middle school staff team at saddleback church

STAFF SPOTLIGHT:: 09/08, part 2

2008-09-18T11:15:00.000-07:00

last month, brooke commons finished up her year-long internship with (678). she did such a great job. its hard to believe that she is as young as she is because she is so comfortable, and does so well as a leader and administrator. brooke has done an incredible job over the last two years, completely overseeing our MADE conference for girls at hume lake. in addition to all of this, brooke is a very talented small group leader, speaker and graphic artist. she created the (678) design as well as many of the postcards, t-shirt designs, and PowerPoint themes for the middle school ministry. I’ll definitely miss having her as an intern, but I’m glad that she is still on our team, faithfully leading her small group. she always had a knack for spotting details that josh and I missed. I’m looking forward to having her speak on a sunday morning in our activist series next month. next time you’re at the mall, go and get some mac stuff from her. great job brooke!

grand opening

2008-09-16T13:42:00.000-07:00

have you seen the new worship center yet? its awesome!

the big grand opening service is sunday morning, october 5. bring a friend!

jello night!

2008-09-11T13:16:00.000-07:00

i don't know who reads this blog, but if you do, you'll be the first to know that we have RESCHEDULED JELLO NIGHT from friday night, september 26, to friday night, OCTOBER 3. if you're associated with (678), you'll be getting an e-mail and a postcard in the mail to remind you of this change. we had double-booked with family camp, and we don't want anyone to miss out on the crazy fun.
-rob

STAFF SPOTLIGHT:: 09/08

2008-09-02T11:59:00.001-07:00

this month’s staff spotlight is leanne gibson! leanne serves all over venture, including in Celebrate Recovery and in the Children’s ministry as well. I always look forward to hearing Leanne speak on a sunday morning. she always does a great job. she also does an incredible job as a small group leader. her girls love being with her on tuesday nights. she does a great job taking care of the staff team as well. she always is a great listener and always has some great words of wisdom for all of us. we’re all so excited to hear the leanne recently got engaged! I’m so glad to have her on the staff team. please leave a comment if you would like to celebrate leanne as well.
-rob

summerSUNSET 2008

2008-08-17T07:43:00.001-07:00

the beach trip this year was such a great day. it was wet, cold and noisy, but none of that could stop us from enjoying our time with each other.

a big thanks to:
missy for reserving the spot
joe for grilling
josh for administrating
allyson for driving
brooke for training us to make smores
bruce for driving
larry for loaning us his grill
and for every leader who gave their saturday to a middle schooler.

-rob

virtues

2008-08-13T10:09:00.001-07:00

one of our students has a site that she is pretty proud of here. send her a shout-out!

relay!

2008-08-12T16:33:00.001-07:00

STUDENT SPOTLIGHT 08/08

2008-08-03T08:14:00.000-07:00

there is a young lady in our ministry named tiffany. she is a dancer. every year, her dance team performs at Disneyland. not only that, there are costumes and tuition that needs to be paid for. instead of putting this cost on her parents, tiffany raises the money to go by herself. every night in the summer, tiffany goes door to door selling candy bars to raise money for her trips. over the last six years, tiffany has personally raised nearly $40,000 to support her dance career! that's a lot of money! in an age of spoiled teens that don’t know how to work, and don’t want to work, tiffany stands out. you can tell that this is just the beginning of an amazing story that is waiting to be told. I can’t wait to see how this thing turns out!
-rob

STAFF SPOTLIGHT:: 08/08

2008-08-03T08:06:00.001-07:00

this is the last opportunity that I have to do a staff spotlight on josh Tidwell- because at the end of the month he is moving on from our team. he has been an intern for two years now, and I practically begged him to stay around for a third year- but he knows that its time. I have so much love, respect, affection and admiration for josh Tidwell. he’s got great skills for leading worship, speaking, and for hanging out with students.

on the santa cruz mission trip, it seemed that every time I looked in his direction, he had a crowd of students huddled around him, and they were fully engaged and thrilled to be with him.

he’s going to make a great pastor. and I’ll miss him a ton. we all will. I’m taking the last two weeks of august off- and josh will be running the show in my absence. I have complete confidence that he will do great. when you see him, let him know that he has blessed you and that you wish him the best in the fall-

shuttle trouble

2008-07-23T10:57:00.001-07:00

james 1:2 "consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance."

a big thanks to all of the staff that came by to give the students a ride to church. and a big thanks to josh tidwell, who ran middle school in my absence, and john danis who spoke for middle school last night.

hey bus!

get well soon!

hume-lake-heroes

2008-07-20T08:15:00.001-07:00

there is so much to share about hume lake 2008. I could talk about the incredible theme, the amazing job that p.j. lewis (our speaker) did, I could talk about campaign and how they led in worship, but I think I’ll highlight some of my hume-lake-heroes: the counselors. here are some of their many heroic deeds.

:: first of all, leanne gibson, niki sterling, and missy berglund all worked together to unravel the massive know of cabin requests. they did such a great job that no one requested a cabin change once we got to camp!

:: our interns shined like stars. josh and brooke led their own cabins and one of our counselor meetings. josh helped lead the youth group meeting and was also pivotal as our dean of discipline. brooke arrived at camp early to make sure that all of us were checked in and ready to go. I thought that I knew brooke pretty well before camp. in my mind, she was a fairly relaxed and laid back gal. but then recreation began. and competitive-brooke came out. she’s a natural-leader for sure.

:: Isaac vander veen was with us for the first time. he was an incredible leader for his team. he has EMT training and he quickly and skillfully helped several injured students.

:: josh Dollahite and mike Williams caught several students going to the cove without a counselor navy-seal-style. they emerged from the depths on the waters and caught the students red-handed (purple-handed?) even though the students got caught, they loved picking up trash with mike and josh.

:: we played that game where all of the counselors got into inner tubes and tried to knock each other over. I was so thrilled to see all of the venture leaders gang up on the rest of the camp. at one point in the girls round, the only people in the water were seven venture girls. it came down to brooke vs. cassie and cassie tipped her over. I was the proudest youth leader at the pool.

:: bruce was the only staffer that did not get to ride in the bus and watch movies. he drove the van. he did a great job leading his boys this week. they had many great conversations. he taught his boys how to fish. they caught many. his boys walked back to the camp proudly holding their fish up high. all of the hume staff agreed that bruce’s blob was easily the greatest blob of all time. his belly flop soaked us all.

:: on decision night, we were all in tears. the spirit of God moved in such an amazing way. we could all feel His presence so strongly and we all wept when we prayed with students and heard them give their lives to Christ. afterwards we all met up and shared how we all tried to stop crying but couldn’t. Jason prayed with a group of boys. one of them was praying and then stopped and looked up and said (in a very tough voice), “none of you better tell anyone that I was crying!”

:: I think there were venture students on every rec team but one. and that team took first place. oh well. we didn’t want to do kp anyhow.

:: precious had a gal in her cabin that had some serious medical issues. the girl’s mom had good reason to be concerned, but precious was able to help this mom relax. she took great care of the young lady. great job!

:: we had lots of homesick gals- and our leaders were incredible. they helped them to have fun, wiped their tears and listened to them while they cried.

:: we had some heavy moments. serious hurts were shared. serious issues were brought up. and our team was there to lovingly give wise counsel.

:: we had some students break some rules. but our team was there to discipline with love, respect and firmness. that camp never looked so clean. I’m sure that they can’t wait for us to come back and clean it again!

:: no one was sent home, no one went to the hospital.

there is much more to say- and there are many more heroic deeds that were done that I know that I am unaware of. I can honestly say that this was the best staff team that I have ever gone to camp with. a bunch of pros. great job team! thank you staff team!

pray for camp!

2008-07-12T22:07:00.000-07:00

here are some things to pray for while we're away at camp::

:: no injuries

:: no vehicle problems

:: many receive christ and hear the message

:: no relational drama

thanks for your prayers!

-rob

wigging out

2008-07-10T09:21:00.000-07:00

on tuesday night during announcements, precious, deanna and beth came in wearing wigs. and then they shared their wigs with others:

middle school staff: home of the crazies.

STAFF SPOTLIGHT:: 07/08; part 2

2008-07-08T14:28:00.001-07:00

I have been wanting to highlight mark lefler for several weeks now, but I can’t seem to find any photos of him! I have concluded that the reason for this is that he is often behind the camera instead of in front of it.
mark went on the santa cruz mission trip and did such a great job with the students.
but the moment that sticks out to me most with mark was a tuesday night during journey. I was walking around during small groups, checking to see that everyone was listening to their leaders when I discovered mark leading his group of guys at some tables outside. I went to sit in, and mark’s group was definitely squirrelly, but he showed them so much care and grace. in the moments that I spent in his group, I saw him challenge those boys and hold their attention. he did a great job.
I’ve recently got to know mark much better as we have been praying together on thursday mornings. he is a huge help to our staff team- and I feel so much more secure when he is around.
keep up the great work mark! thank you!
-rob

STAFF SPOTLIGHT:: 07/08

2008-07-07T16:44:00.001-07:00

this is the first of a series of monthly blogs spotlighting and celebrating the amazing volunteers that we have at (678). this month’s spotlight is on niki sterling.
niki is the only staff person (that I know of) that has been on the middle school team longer than me. she was one of the first volunteers that I met when I came to the church 7 years ago. the legend goes that when I met her, I asked her what grade she was in, thinking that she was a middle schooler.

if you have spent any time with niki, you know that she has a passionate love for God, and an enthusiasm for students that is absolutely vibrant. niki is a gifted small group leader- and takes wonderful care of the girls in her flock.

this year niki was one of our rec leaders for journey and also spoke on tuesday night in our sports series on the theme of coach. she does a great job on the team- and I’m so excited to have her as a friend and teammate.
-rob

santa cruz trip

2008-06-29T07:55:00.001-07:00

last night was our mission-day to elm street mission in santa cruz. it was a great event- the mission is a great place to serve and be inspired. I was so impressed with the way that our students took the initiative and started conversations with the guests of the mission. i was also impressed with the way that the students worked hard without complaining.
we heard a great message during the gospel service and had a great time of worship together.
they even let us eat with them!

afterward, we visited the boardwalk- which is always fun.

before we left, there was a girl who had come for the first time. she needed some community service hours. she was uncomfortable in the new environment. but our girls welcomed her and included her. when we got back to the church, she went straight to her dad and said, “dad, I want to go to church here!” great job girls!

thanks for praying, and for sending your kids on this trip.
-rob

praise

2008-06-22T20:50:00.000-07:00

we need a couple of manager to say yes to some time off, and if they do, we will be fully staffed for hume lake! i'm so grateful for all of the adults who are taking time away from their work and family to invest in students. this is an investment that we have rewards for all eternity. thanks for praying!
-rob

(678) prayer requests:: 6/15

2008-06-15T15:04:00.000-07:00

if you're a person-of-prayer, you can pray for the following::

:: more counselors for hume lake- we need about 3 more guys and 3 more girls-
:: pray for brooke's trip
:: pray for a new worship leader to arise as josh moves on in august

thanks for praying-

pray for brooke

2008-06-15T14:31:00.000-07:00

one of our interns, brooke is on a missions trip to thailand until mid-july. she is giving updates of her trip here. don't forget to keep her in your prayers-

summer has begun!

2008-06-15T14:24:00.000-07:00

last tuesday, we kicked off our summer-schedule at (678). we are doing a summer-long series called pursuing gold that will address the many spiritual lessons that can be learned from the world of sports.

we also got really wet!

here are some photos of our crazy-fun-

staff-students-and parents!

come and join us this tuesday night for more great summer-fun!

-rob

thanking justin

2008-06-15T13:55:00.000-07:00

I’m sure that you have heard the news that Justin Humphreys has accepted a call to be a pastor to students in Texas. His last Sunday is June 29, and there will be a goodbye party for him on June 24. Cindy Ragsac is preparing a special book of notes from those lives that he has touched. She sent the following to me recently::
“I would like to give them a special gift as they move to help them through the transition time and I need your help! I am putting together an album of photos and letters from those that love them the most. Take some time to reflect on the months or years you have shared your lives with Justin and Jen or participated in Justin’s ministry and share your thoughts with them in a brief letter.
You can share whatever you choose – happy memories or laughter, thankfulness for their ministry to you and your family, well wishes for them in this move or anything else you think of. It will be mounted in an album so use only one side of the paper. I would love letters from students (past and present) as well as parents and sponsors. I will have ruled note cards at youth group and on Sundays for the next couple weeks or you can prepare a note at home and either mail it (Cindy Ragsac 5293 Garwood Drive, San Jose, CA 95118) or email it CMCindy@sbcglobal.net
Please return the letter to me and if possible include a photo of your family (you can send more than one if you want). Return them by June 24th so I have time to put the album together before their last day.
Call or email me if you have any questions. Thank you in advance for your contribution to this gift.
Cindy Ragsac
(408)264-6719 or CMCindy@sbcglobal.net.”

I know that this will be a very meaningful gift to Justin and Jen.

Thanks so much for your participation in this,
-rob