Youth

Ocean City Youth Weekend is set for September 10 - 12, 2010!  Registration this year will be ON-LINE ONLY.  Brochures and registration will be available on the conference web site and www.Faithgarden.com beginning Monday June 21, 2010.

Questions? Contact Ginny Kaiser at 732-359-1043 or gkaiser(at)gnjumc.org.

“Every time you cross my mind, I break out in exclamations of thanks to God. Each exclamation is a trigger to prayer. I find myself praying for you with a glad heart.”

These words were spoken by Paul and Timothy to the Christian believers in the city of Philippi. What is unmistakable in these words is the great love that is felt for the Philippians- a love that could only be born of the spirit. The good news is that this kind of love is still happening today. It is happening within our very church.

When our Russian friends first arrived, understandably, we were shy and reticent towards each other. Within a few short days a bond was formed. What a joy to see the Russian teens freely hugging their American friends! Their second night in America four of the teenagers were huddled together with a Bible. It was getting late so I suggested everyone needed rest. “No Mom, something great is happening here,” was the reply. God’s spirit was working in the minds and in the hearts of these young people. This spirit which moved us to tears of sadness on the last day was the same spirit which motivated the outpouring of generosity throughout the Russians’ visit and the same spirit that will stay with these people while they hold onto the “Truth” in their own land.

Every summer since my family has been in the church a group of young people has travelled to upstate New York to help families in need. This is known as RISE. Over the course of the week our teens are engaged with their family. They help them, they spend time with them, and they pray for them. Ask any RISE alumnus and they will recall the faces of their family and when they do they are inspired with love to pray in the spirit in the same way Paul and Timothy did so many centuries ago.

All our missionaries come home with grand stories of the countryside, the food, and the culture, but their faces soften when they recall an individual they helped or someone who may have ministered to them. It is truly miraculous when you realize the paths of prayer that are reaching from Middletown to many areas of the globe- Mexico, Uganda, North Dakota, Romania, Smolensk, France, Ukraine, Bolivia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and New York. In each of these lands there are believers who are being remembered, loved, and prayed for. “And greater things than these you shall do.”

Your Sister,

Mary Ann Connolly-Smus