Greetings in our Lord JC all! Teen ministry during the summer’s end has been
extremely fast paced. The TLC ministry has begun its journey into the wilderness of
2009’s end. As this school has rushed upon us, we are excited to see the ministries
coming this school year.

Remembering the last few months, some of the ministries that have taken place
have included over 7 fundraisers in preparation for our mission trip to Jamaica, several
Jamaica team meetings, youth volunteering at VBS/Alpha, attending the Rock the
River festival, attending Night to Unite (encouraging unity among youth groups in Hastings),
several Youth Workers Closet outreach ministries and a even a Christian Concert
at Club 3 Degrees, all alongside our fast paced TLC weekly programs!
We have also recently been walking through a book on apologetics in our Sunday
night Sr. High Bible study called 5 Minute Apologist. It is a great comprehensive
guide that serves as a reference for apologetic defense. This takes place at the Miller
residence on Sunday nights at 6. All Sr. High students are welcome to join us in this
study of apologetics. Our weekly Sunday school class has also just started up again.
We will be doing a survey of the Old Testament through a weekly chapter reading-
also encouraging our teens to be in the Word everyday!

An upcoming event to look forward to? our missions trip to Jamaica continues to
grow nearer each day as we trust God to provide for us. We appreciate your prayer
and ask for continued support in prayer. Some prayer requests for the Jamaica trip include:
unity in the group, both for our team and with the team from Waconia that we a
going with, financial provision, and preparation for ministries with both external projects
and the internal spiritual preparation. We have seen incredible provision and support
from the Lord and we are excited to do this ministry!

I will end with another major highlight of my summer that begs a story to tell of a particular
challenge that the Lord has been continuing to walk me though while leaning
fully on him. About three month ago (early summer), the glamour of the ministry began
to fade along with my naivety. As we all know, the teen years render some of the greatest
challenges in life? one of which being the lack of consistency in character. It is inevitable
that we will have teens that live a much different life among their peer groups
than at church. Well, through some things I had been seeing and hearing, this world
began to unfold, revealing an entirely different lifestyle some of my teens have when
away from church.

Downcast, immediately my mind drifted to my teenage years…discouragement
began to weigh down as I remembered my own challenges assuming that it is probably
that bad with my teens. Well, as is common, I wrestled with this for some time, asking
the Lord how to address it, how to fix it, how to feel about it,
and all the while, feeling as though I wasn’t hearing much
from God about this issue. Then one Tuesday, along with the
normal weight of ministry and few other select burdens people
had shared, I began to feel as though I was just about completely
crushed under all this weight. So I retreated to a park
by myself with a guitar, the sun shining, and an incredible outlook
over the Mississippi. As I prayed and sang some worship
songs, I sensed the Lord saying, “Ben, I want to take all this
weight off your shoulders…can I have it?”

Well, to make a long story short, my issues weren’t’ resolved by the end of that
time with the Lord, or even at the end of that day, but what did happen was a transfer
of weight like I had never felt before. I had decided that even though I didn’t know
what to do, I would wait. I would wait in fear of time and confrontation, and I would wait
patiently.

Though this story has several parts, the ending goes a little something like this.
During a car ride home from TLC with one of my teens who I have had the privilege of
experiencing lasting evident change and maturity, I began to hear God speak once
again? “Ben, do you see this sheep, I don’t want you to miss the blessing of these
sheep who follow me so closely while you are worrying about the ones who are wondering
all over.”
“Wow, thanks God!” All this to say that my challenge has now shifted? instead of
correcting wrongs, my focus is addressing character issues and loving them endlessly
as I example a life changed each day with how I live. As we approach this school
year, we approach it with a new excitement, commitment, and energy that I am excited
to share with you all. Thank you for your prayers and I ask for continued prayer support
for our TLC ministry, which is the very best thing we can do for them.

One family in Christ // Ben