Fall Retreat Update

Welp…COVID strikes again. I met with Drew from Antioch last week and he shared with me that only 1 student had signed up to attend the fall retreat we have scheduled together. Covid has definitely been a factor with his group in signing up. So we talked through different plans of action and scenarios and I asked him to please call Camp Oak Hill to ask them what they would be willing to do in working with us. They very graciously offered him the opportunity to once again (for the third time now) postpone this retreat and allow the money that has already been paid down to remain on the account as a credit for when we do reschedule.

So that is what we must do, as taking on the retreat just for Westwood just simply is not an option at this point financially. The official word, then, is that the Fall Retreat has been cancelled.

I hate it. I was looking forward to this and to sharing it with our friends from Antioch. But, as my daughter HATES to hear me say, it is what it is.

I am already thinking of an alternate plan for some kind of retreat for this fall just for our group to do together. It will probably be small in scope, but I would like for us to do something together. So please pray for me and the other leaders as we discuss and plan for this.

If you have made any payments toward this retreat–my last conversation with Jennifer revealed that no one yet had–feel free to reach out to me and we can discuss options for that.

BIG bummer…but we continue to trust the Lord in the season we are in and figure it out as we go.

Focus Passage for the Fall

Hey all! We had a great final spiritual retreat of the summer today at Westwood. I shared with those who were there that I’d like for the passage we focused on today, which is a passage that we have used in the past, to be a sort of focus passage for us as a student ministry for the fall semester.

That passage is Psalm 139.

As a focus passage, I’d like to ask everyone, students and leaders, to make a commitment of memorizing this Psalm throughout that time. My prayer is that as we do that, perhaps conversations may spring up among us. I’m going to post it in a few prominent areas in and around the student ministry room, just to keep it in focus for us. I will also allude to it from time to time as we gather for student worship. We may even recite portions of it from time to time.

I chose to do this with this particular passage for a few reasons. First, the message of this Psalm is so very timely with where we are in our culture. I want it to ring in our ears as we live and move within the world around us. Second, it really does fit very well with the study we will do during this time exploring different attributes of God.

So here is my call and my challenge for us all to really commit to internalizing this passage together this fall. I pray that God would use that to unify us and to grow us as we press deeply into his Word together!

A Glance at August

Hello everyone! I wanted to send out an overview of what’s coming up in the month of August for the student ministry. Please take note of a couple of CHANGES since we first sent out our summer schedule.

We will have NO meeting this Sunday, August 1.

On August 8 we will be spending the afternoon/evening in Danville together. We are going to be playing putt putt at Tiny Town Golf in Danville from 2 to 4. Then we will plan to eat an early dinner together before traveling back to Roxboro. We will plan to eat lunch together at the church before we leave. Please plan to bring a change of clothes with you. The cost for each person to play putt putt is $5, and dinner will be up to each person to pay. I’ll shoot a message the week before and let you know where we plan to eat so you can plan accordingly. We should be back at the church by 6:30 or so that evening.

We will have our next Spiritual Retreat on Wednesday, August 11. I will send out information on exactly when/where we will have that a few days before via Remind Text.

We will have NO meeting on Sunday, August 15.

We will have our final cookout of the summer at the Harris’ family home on Sunday, August 22. We will meet from 5 to 8pm and enjoy a little back-to-school celebration. (I know you are all very excited to return to school!) We will again provide the hamburgers/sausage dogs & drinks, you please bring the sides.

Finally, on Sunday, August 29, we will return to our normal schedule at Westwood, meeting in The Well from 6 to 8pm.

If you have any questions about our August schedule, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me. Can’t believe it’s almost August, but here we are! It’s been a great summer so far and I look forward to enjoying this last few weeks of it together!

Cookout for July 25

Our next cookout is scheduled for tomorrow evening at the Wright’s home. We will plan to meet from 5 until 8.

We will provide hotdogs and sausages, you guys please bring sides!

The Wright’s address is: 986 Snipes Rd Hurdle Mills NC

Hope to see you there!

Fall Retreat 2021

Our fall retreat will be at Camp Oak Hill during the weekend of October 15-17. We will be joining with the students from Antioch Baptist. The cost for this retreat is $100, which covers everything for the retreat including a t-shirt.

The sign-up for this retreat is open now. There are limited spots, so sign up ASAP if you would like to go! I’m setting July 31 as a deadline to sign up.

We want everyone to have the option to go, so if there is a financial limitation, please reach out to me. Also, feel free to shoot me a message if you have any questions.

This is going to be a great time, so don’t miss out!

Sign up here: https://forms.gle/AMtB1wFdXmmyNVh46

Our Next Cookout (7/18/21)

Hope to see you at our next summer cookout this Sunday, July 18, at the Engle home. The address is 168 Badger Cir in Roxboro. We will meet from 5:00 to 8:00pm.

We will provide the burgers, hotdogs, and drinks. We are asking you to bring sides and desserts.

Hope to see you there!

Invitation to Join Equip

The camp that we crashed last week was My Life Matter’s Equipper camp. The students that came with My Life Matters were all a part of their Equip group. Equip is for students in middle and high school who have made a profession of faith and desire to go deeper in discipleship and in equipping to serve others. I had the great joy of serving as a leader for this group over the past school year. It is a WONDERFUL opportunity for students to go deeper in their walk with Christ, build relationships with other believers, and to gain valuable experience in serving others.

I want to not only invite our students, both those who went to camp and those who did not, I want to urge our students to strongly consider being a part of this group. Equip is meeting currently on Wednesday afternoons from 3 to 5pm. In order to become a part of the group students have to fill out an application and go through a brief interview process. But Amy has invited prospective students to come as early as tomorrow! You can check out club, get to know some of the current students and leaders, and Amy will give you an application to go ahead and fill out.

I would LOVE to see some of our students come and at least check it out, and I would LOVE to have a good group of our students become part of the group leading into the fall.

If you have any questions about the group or would like to discuss it more, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me!

Camp Payment

Hey all! The link to pay online for camp is at the bottom of this message. Here are the rates based on situations:

Single camper is $125

More than one student in the same family will be $100 each student.

Adult volunteer leaders will pay $75.

If you helped Katie with the Mom2Mom sale, she will share that information with me this week.

If we can get all payments in by the end of the week, that would be great. If you have already made a payment (either initial/partial or whole), shoot me a message and let me know that.

I’ll be sending at least one more message out tomorrow with other administrative stuff, but please do not hesitate to reach out with any questions.

Here is the link to make your payment: https://onrealm.org/WestwoodBaptist9991/give/StudentEventstext

Cookout Info for 6/27

Tomorrow night we will meet together for a little food and fellowship at the Gentry’s home from 5 to 7:30pm. They’re address is:

150 Fox Crossing Dr in Roxboro

We’ll have the burgers, you all bring the following:

Guys: drinks

Ladies: chips and/or desserts

Hope to see you there!

Clarification on Summer Camp

Hey everyone! So, I’m hearing of some confusion in regards to summer camp. The last 3 weeks have been a whirlwind for me, and I apologize for being largely out of hat for that time. We still only have just a few signed up for camp, and my hope is that this number will grow, but we really are to the point where we need to finalize our numbers for My Life Matters as they make final preparations. So, let me try to offer some clarification. If you still have unanswered questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to me. But we need to plan to close registration by the end of tomorrow (Tuesday, 6/22).

We will be attending My Life Matter’s Equipper camp. This camp is an extension of the Equip club that they offer middle and high school students during the school year. In contrast to their regular weekly middle and high school clubs, this club is geared toward students who have been identified as believers and who wish to seek deeper discipleship and equipping. I helped lead this club this past year, and it is a GREAT group of students who really do desire to grow more deeply in their walk with Christ.

This is a work/missions camp. We will be going to the Schoolhouse that has been acquired by My Life Matters and that they are currently renovating with the help of area church volunteers. We will be working there from 9 until around 2 each day (Tuesday-Friday). Following those work times we will be traveling back to Indian Cave Youth Camp (where we will be lodging each night) for a few hours of free time until dinner, which will be followed by a time of worship together each evening.

I plan to speak to Amy Edlund today (Equip Leader for MLM) about specificities to pass along to you. I have not been to Indian Cave but from what I am told it is a quite dated but sufficient facility. I will find out today what students need to plan to bring, and plan to pass that along to you in the very near future.

The total cost per student is $125, which includes lodging and food for the week, plus a t-shirt. That is $25 off of the total cost. If you have multiple students going, or if finances are an issue, please let me know. Also, if there are any other specific questions that you would like for me to pass along to Amy, I’d be glad to do that as well.

In an effort to curb some confusion, if you would like to sign your student up, or if you are an adult planning to come as a chaperone/leader, please do that at this link: REGISTER FOR CAMP