Stone Soup
We had a very successful Stone Soup Fund raiser, we raised over 4000 which is very good.  That will go towards our expenses for travel with Bible Bowl, especially our competition in Flag staff on January 23-25.  We may have to do one more fundraiser for Bible Bowl before our trip to San Antonio, which is a brand new trip this year and I am unsure of the cost involved at the moment.  I appreciate everyone that pitched in and helped especially Miles Odom setting up all the tables and chairs by himself on Friday, and Tyler Dugie, who is not in Bible bowl but did a lot of volunteer work on Sunday.  I know we had several people sick and out of town, about 6 people on the list could not make it, we still had 24 soups so that was a great number and the crowd was steady throughout the morning.  A lot of adults helped and it was a great morning!

Blessing Ball
Next Wednesday night, November 19,  we will have our annual Blessing Ball.  This is a tradition that I started when I first began youth ministry in 1983 in Borger Texas.   It is very simple, we have a ball, and the person holding the ball gets to talk, and they share how others in the youth group have been a blessing to them.  Then they pass the ball to the person they have been talking about after they sign their name.  This is very sentimental for me and means a lot to strengthen our bonds within the youth group.  I want to encourage everyone to come and participate.  It is hard to encourage one another if your friends are not there.  We will have a meal and then spend time passing the blessing ball.

Thanksgiving Boxes
Just a brief note, if you would like to do some community service, we are passing out thanksgiving boxes on Saturday, November. 22 from 9-noon.  We are not doing any deliveries, but you welcome to carry the boxes out to their car.  I could use the help that morning.  It is a great thing and everyone enjoys helping others around Thanksgiving.  Families are welcome!

Christmas Parties
The youth staff decided to move all of our Christmas parties to Wednesday night since that is our main time to have most of the youth group present.  Our track record of having parties on Friday or Saturday have been dismal since Covid.  As a result, the middle school Christmas party will be moved to Wednesday night, December 3 from 6-8 p.m.  They will have meal and open gifts.  This is a white elephant gift exchange, so no gifts over $5 and they must be wrapped without a name.  We will

give you more details as it gets closer.  That will also be the last night for class with the high school.  The high school Christmas party will be at Dion’s Pizza on December 10th and they will be doing secret Santa.  The middle school will not be meeting on Dec. 10th because of the party.  The names will be passed out at the Blessing Ball for those that wish to participate.  We will all get back together on December 17 for Christmas caroling and slide show for the end of the year and that will be our last meeting for December.  Lots of stuff happening

Christmas Light
Our next big thing after the blessing ball is setting up for the Christmas Light show on Saturday, December 6th from 9-noon.  I will provide donuts and we will be wrapping trees and bushes with lights.  We ask the scouts to also help us set up so it is usually a fun day.  I hope you can come and help set up.   The big show will be done on Sunday night December 14 after the children’s ministry show!  That event is always a lot of fun and we have hot chocolate afterwards.

News and Notes (11/12 -11/18)
Wednesday – Youth 4 the city 6-8 p.m.
Sunday – Worship 8, 9:30, and 11 a.m.
Sunday – Bible Bowl resumes 2-3:30 p.m.
Monday – MS visitation with MVCS
Tuesday – Last Kidnapping for the semester
Nov. 19 – Blessing Ball
Nov. 26 – NO CLASS
Dec. 3 – MS Christmas party
Dec. 6 – Christmas light set up 9-noon
Dec. 10 – HS Christmas party
Dec. 14 – Christmas play and light show
Dec. 17  Christmas Caroling

Birthdays
Hailey Kutchka birthday was last Sunday, November 9th please wish her a late birthday.  

Parents Page
We had several parents attend our monthly staff meeting last Friday.  We made some changes in the calendar.  We moved the middle school Christmas party to Wednesday December 3 instead of Friday December 5th.  Our biggest night for attendance is Wednesday and any parties or

activities during the week have been well attended.  I hope this will solve the struggle we have with parties and activities apart from Wednesday.  Also, there has been a problem with students on Wednesday nights staying in the building and making a mess in the office area and gym.  Teens tend to wander around and get into trouble.   I am asking that we have more parents present at the building to help with discipline, and they are welcome to stay and participate with class as well.  I know this does not work with everyone’s schedule, but we could use a couple of extra adults each week especially during the eating time between 6-7 p.m.  I will put up a signup genius for this if you would like to volunteer.   We are not tolerating any behavior that is illegal (vaping, smoking, drinking) or inappropriate behavior such as fighting, or bullying others.  We want to make the youth group a safe place where teens can enjoy being there and encouraged.  All illegal activity will be reported to parents and police.  I know this sounds harsh but we want all of our kids to be safe and in a positive environment when with the youth group.  Thanks for your support, God Bless, David