The poem above was found in the Catalina News a couple of weeks ago. It was so meaningful to me that I tore it out and saved it until I could find an opportunity to share it with you. We recently have come through the Advent and Christmas seasons at church. "Advent"...literally "coming"...it is Christ's coming to earth that we commemorate and celebrate. But the coming was not an end in itself. He came to do something; to accomplish something. He proclaimed that the kingdom of God was near. He healed. He fed. He taught. He fought against evil. He prayed. And he taught us to pray. And one of the things that he taught us to pray was "Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." This really summarizes why Christ came, and the mission that he left us. Spreading the rule and influence and love of Christ to every corner of the world; that is our goal. But it must include OUR world. The places WE go. The people WE come in contact with. The days and minutes and weeks that WE live. The work of Christmas...how busy are WE with it? Are we busy with the work of Christmas in our homes? In our schools? In our friendships? In our own hearts? With our time? With our money?

Free Prayer/Quiet Time Journals are available to you in the youth room. See Richard to pick one up. Instructions on how to use the journal to develop your relationship with God are included. Listen, I know you want reality in this Christianity-thing that you are at least somewhat involved in. I also figure that if there's more to Christianity than what you've experienced, you'd like to find out. Well, here is a starting place. Pick up a journal. Make an appointment with God.

Other Spiritual Life "HABITS" - We will be offering tools and teachings on other spiritual practices that will build your faith. A lot of this will be on Sunday morning. Don't miss a week! These tools will include a Bible study guide to the book of Philippians, and Scripture memory aids.

Primavera Sack Lunch Preparation
First Sunday of every month
     Primavera has 30 homeless men who have jobs and are trying to change their lives. They go to work everyday as day laborers. This is called the Primavera Works program. Until they become self-supporting, Primavera sends them to work with a sack lunch each day. We will prepare the lunches for the first Monday of each month. We will alternate between middle school and high school each month in bringing the needed items and assembling the lunches. Each month, we will have a sign-up list for the things to bring to go in the lunches. This is a REAL way YOU can do something about the problem of homelessness! Lets support those who are trying to turn themselves around!
     Recently, the Tucson Weekly ran an article about the homeless situation in Tucson. This is what was said about Primavera Works: "Again, Primavera Works' program was a national model when it was created in 1998. Now considered a success, Primavera's program boasts a 40% success rate in finding the homeless permanent jobs. `It's hard to hear those same people labeled as useless transients that are sucking resources from the community, because nothing could be further from the truth,' says [Karen] Uhlich " [director of the program].
WHAT WE NEED:

6 loaves of bread 6 pounds of lunch meat or cheese 30 small bags of chips 30 pieces of fruit 30 desserts (individually wrapped snack cakes work well)

Please sign up with Richard ASAP to bring something to help make the lunches. It works well if several people each volunteer to bring 1 pound of lunch meat instead of one person doing it all, etc. You can phone or email Richard or see him at church to let him know what you are bringing.

How to Find Us Richard's office is in the office building. Stop by anytime. Jodi's office has moved to upstairs in Fellowship Hall. Richard and Jodi at church 520-327-4296 Email- Richard: [email protected] Richard's pager 520-218-1612

Casa Maria Food Preparation and Distribution
In the last year we have served at Casa Maria 3 times. It is a great ministry that serves homeless and hungry people in the south side of town. One thing I like about Casa Maria is that there is always something to do. And they appreciate our help...it's not like the workers have to take time out of their schedule to find something for us to do. Work at Casa Maria involves cooking and serving a hot meal, making sandwiches and assembling sack lunches, and bagging bulk items (popcorn, nuts, etc) to go into the sack lunches. We have taken lots of students to Casa Maria, and I'm sure every one would say they had a positive experience. Here is the point of this article: The coordinator of Catalina's involvement at Casa Maria (once every 6 or 8 weeks) is looking for a replacement. Since we have been involved and enthusiastic about the ministry, she asked if the youth group would like to take over this ministry. It would involve two things. First, it would involve going to Casa Maria to serve. We would probably go as a group two or three times per year. It would also involve coordinating other groups from Catalina (the choir, Homebuilders, etc) to help at Casa Maria on the weeks when it is Catalina's turn, but the youth group is not going. What do you think? Is this something you would like to see the youth group take on? It is a commitment, but commitment is the key to more effective ministry. It would involve us with other groups in the church more. We will bring this up for discussion and questions on Sunday, January 27.

Summer Missions Experience
This year we are planning to do something different for our missions project. We are planning to stay here in town, at the church, and work on projects in our local community. We will work with kids and do several different projects (sort of like our agenda in Los Angeles with Center for Student Missions). We are considering doing a day at the Wesley Center in Phoenix and possibly taking in a Diamondbacks game. Students will be involved in the selection and planning of the service projects and in the planning and presenting of the devotional times and worship services. We will take turns preparing meals. We are considering inviting other youth groups to be a part of our experience. This will be an effort-intensive project since we will need to plan as well as raise funds and train. Obviously, our fundraising will not need to be as extensive as last year. We are presently trying to set the date. What we need from you RIGHT AWAY (if you are interested in participating), are dates that you already have plans. If you already know about a camp, trip, or vacation you have scheduled for this summer, let me know this week so we can try to plan around your commitments. We have been looking at one of the last two weeks in July as possible dates. Presentation and sign ups will begin (hopefully) on January 27. This is a great opportunity for our experienced mission-ers to take leadership and mentor others. This is a great opportunity for those who have not attended one of our missions trips to take a first step and find out what it's all about.