Phillippians 4:6-9

Don’t you hate worrying? I know people that are just the biggest worry warts. When we worry about stuff it starts to control us in a way. I think the best definition of worry that I’ve ever heard is this:

“Worrying is accepting responsibility that God never intended you to have.”

There’s nothing wrong with being concerned, but worrying will consume you. These couple of verses help with that. There are times in our lives when it feels like everything is going wrong. We start to worry, but we shouldn’t. Easier said then done, right? Paul tells us in these verses that we should turn our worried thoughts into concerned prayers. You wanna worry less? Stop and pray more.

Hey guys! Val and I are back from vaca and we’re ready to go! Hopefully you’ve all kept up with “pray, read think write  & do” in your journals. If not, don’t sweat it! Today is a great day to start! We’re looking forward to seeing everyone this Sunday and I’ll be starting a new series called ” ? “. That is actually what its called

Next Wednesday we dive back into The Book of Revelation and talking about the end times for a few weeks. And before you know it, Gladiator Games will be back in full force!

Can’t wait to see everyone on Sunday!

-Jay

Today was our last day of serving and ministry. We started off the day by serving our church. We partnered with Tony Brown to help with custodial work throughout ABT. We cleaned The Temple Auditorium top to bottom and then moved over to The Bridge and did the same. We also worked with Kirk Kemppel to finish the project we began on Tuesday in the control room at the top of The Temple Auditorium.

Pastor Ed came down to Connect, thanked the students and prayed for the food that was provided by Subway. Eat fresh! Thanks so much to the Jarvis’s!

Next we went off to our last day of 5 Day Clubs. We had 12 more decisions for Christ between the clubs! That makes 48 for the week!

After dinner, (Papa Johns!) we had amazing time of reflection and worship for about 2 hours! God has moved this week through our students. They are on fire for the Lord in a way that I’ve never seen in a youth department at ABT! Mission Akron week may be over, but now our team understands that its ALWAYS Mission Akron. Senior High Connect isn’t the future of ABT, they are part of the present!

Check out some photos here from the day.

We’re off to the Alive Festival all day tomorrow. Don’t forget to follow our hour-by-hour updates on Twitter! twitter.com/connect316

Another incredible, inspiring and life changing day. We began our day at the Haven of Rest Ministries in downtown Akron. We spent the morning volunteering in various areas from landscaping to laundry and bedding to food services. So much needs done to make that ministry run as smoothly as it does. What a pleasure to serve there! Its only by the grace of God that we aren’t living somewhere like that.

Ukali White was given the opportunity to speak at the chapel service. He brought a powerful message that brought 6 people to a saving knowledge of Christ!

After lunch, which was a huge make-your-own-taco/burrito buffet, we headed out to our 5 Day Clubs. 2 more souls were added to the kingdom of heaven (1 at Mason Park and 1 at Summit Lake) and all of the relationships between the kids and the students grew even more.

We all came back to ABT for dinner. Lauren, a resident at the Abah House, spoke to the students and shared her powerful testimony of how Jesus changed her life in a dramatic way! God doesn’t make junk and she is living and breathing proof that our students could relate to.

God is good!

Check out some photos here from the day.

Don’t forget to follow our hour-by-hour updates on Twitter! twitter.com/connect316

Wow! What an amazing day! We started the morning asking ourselves how we can let God work through us in a better way. He answered loud and clear.

Our first project was here at ABT in the Temple. We moved a ton of old equipment down from the highest part of the building. Lots & lots & lots of stairs. But the time and money that we helped save the church was worth the hour we spent.

At 10am we took off to Stan Hywet Hall for a tour. What an amazing place! And to think its in Akron!

After lunch it was back to 5 Day Clubs. Some amazing and heartbreaking stories. But this was the best part of the day, because very single club had at least 1 child put their faith and trust in Jesus as Savior! One of the clubs actually had 6 kids commit their lives to Christ all at once! The students have done an amazing work in there area in only 2 days and we have 3 more days to go!

After dinner we went back to the Abah House for 3 hours to continue our landscaping and construction. We made some great progress with the retaining wall and the new patio in the back of the house. We should be able to finish everything tomorrow morning when we go back.

Please continue to pray for good weather as we continue this week!

Check out some photos here from the day. We were only able to get pics of 1 club yesterday and 2 of the other clubs today. We’re going to get to all of them by the end of the week.

Don’t forget to follow our hour-by-hour updates on Twitter! twitter.com/connect316

We began our day with a devotion where the students were challenged to look at how God can use their abilities for Him. After beginning our day with some quiet time with God, we packed up and went to the Abah House over near Firestone Park.

Abah House is a Christian home for women who have been homeless, incarcerated or living at risk and whose lives have been tainted by bad choices. Click here to read a story about it.

While we were there we started landscaping and working on some construction projects inside and outside of the house. We’ll be going back there tomorrow evening and Wednesday morning to finish up. The students again worked hard and get made a lot of progress.

After lunch, we headed out to our 5 Day Clubs in the inner city. God showed up in a big way! Our students were pretty apprehensive at first, but once they got there it was obvious that God had these clubs set up for them. 2 kids accepted Christ today and a lot of seed was sown. There are too many stories to type about or I would be writing this blog all night! So you’ll have to wait til the Mission Akron service on June 28 to hear some of them. I will say this to ABT, be proud of what your youth department is doing! They are out of their comfort zone and loving it. The impact they are making in just 2 days has been awesome. And to think they still have 4 more days of Kids Clubs to run! We’re praying for God to keep working through us.

After dinner, former Starboy (motorcycle stunt team that started in Akron) Jim Frazier came into Connect to speak to the students and share his amazing testimony. A life of drug addiction, alcoholism, fame and fortune; redeemed by the blood of Jesus! Amazing and inspiring!

Check out some photos here from the day.

Don’t forget to follow our hour-by-hour updates on Twitter! twitter.com/connect316

Today was a lot of work. Both ministry and labor. We spent the morning hours at Grace Park in downtown Akron. Its across the street from the Haven of Rest. A lot of homeless and down and out souls that need to hear the hope that we have in Christ and the love that He gives. We handed out free doughnuts and coffee to whoever came by and took some time to minister to them. We also took trash bags and cleaned up the entire park. Just like yesterday, our students worked hard and cleaned up that place like new! At around 10am we sang a few worship songs and gave an invitation. A few people stuck around to talk further. God definitely moved through the park and through our students.

We ate lunch on the bus, and then headed out to the COMPASS Center that is run by True North Ministries for mentoring juvenile delinquents. We painted about 4,000 feet of fence over about 4 hours! We had a cookout with burgers and hotdogs and headed back to ABT for devotions, showers and preparations for tomorrow.

Check out the photos from today here.

5 Day Clubs start tomorrow. Please pray for good weather, safety and favor with the people we encounter.