Thank you

For those of you who didn't know, October is Pastor Appreciation month. Today at church the deacons and congregation showed their apprecation to Pastor Mark and to me during the worship service. Then, after the service Alex represented the youth group in presenting me with a plaque and card from all the students in our youth group. It was really awesome and I just wanted to take this moment to say thank you. Thank you to all you students who were a part of putting this together. Thank you to all you students who have shown your apprecation to me and my family. Thank you to each and every student who is a part of our awesome youth group. Thank you for being real, for being bold, and for being an encouragement to me. I am very thankful to be the youth pastor at Bayside and no doubt am thankful for such a great group of students.

-PT

Christmas in Belize

Hattieville Baptist Church

Thank you to everyone who has brought in change and cash for our friends in Belize. We are collecting any loose change and cash on Wednesdays and Sundays until November 10th with a goal of $200. This money will be donated to Hattieville Baptist Church in Belize for their annual Christmas party. At their party the church gives every child a meal, a Christmas gift, and a gift to give away to someone else for Christmas. They have had 350 children come to this event so it is a big deal (there are only 1500 people in the entire town!).

Last night we raised $27.78 more for the cause. This puts our total at $57.86 in the first two weeks of this challenge. Now we are halfway to our due date, so we really need to start chipping away at our goal. We have 2 weeks to go. All we need is $142.14! Let's do it! So remember to keep collecting loose change around the house - and maybe considering sacrificing something that you normally buy in the next 2 weeks and giving that money to the children in Belize instead.

All for God's glory...

-PT

Youth Leader Profile - Tami Nicholas

Today our youth leader profile is on Tami Nicholas. Tami has been a youth leader for a total of 8 years (this is her second stint). She serves as a senior high small group leader and is our residential "geyser." Tami is married to Steve and they have one daughter, Emma - who is an active member of AMP. Tami also sings with the worship team on Sundays and enjoys reading and scrap booking. Here are some of her favorites:

Food - Steak
Drink - Coke (from McDonald's)
Candy - Dove Chocolate
Color - Green
Movie - 50 First Dates
TV Show - Extreme Makeover Home Edition
Outdoor Activity - Golf
Sports Team - Green Bay Packers
Quote - "It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open one's mouth and remove all doubt."
Bible Verse - Proverbs 3:5-6

Be sure to thank Tami for her time and commitment to our youth ministry. We appreciate all that you do!

-PT

Reaching our goal

As you may know by now we are collecting extra change or cash to help raise money for a Christmas Party for the Hattieville Baptist Church in the country of Belize. We will be collecting every week until November 10 and our goal is $200. After our collection on Wednesday we are now up to $30.08. We have three weeks to go so it is time to step it up!

Remember to collect extra change around the house. And maybe even SACRIFICE something that you would buy on your own and donate that money to the cause. For example, instead of buying a pop you could give that 50 cents to the cause. Or instead of buying lunch (gasp - could you go without a meal? Many of the children we are helping do that every day!) you give that couple dollars to the cause. Or instead of buying the latest movie or CD or video game you want really really bad - you could give that money to the cause.

Let me know what you think and I'll see you Wednesday!

-PT

Lamentations 3:21-25

Yet this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope:

Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed!
HIS compassions NEVER fail!
They are new every morning.

Great is your faithfulness!
I will say to myself, "The Lord is my portion, therefore I will wait for him."

The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him. To the one who seeks him.

Spare Change

If you haven't heard by now we are partnering with Hattieville Baptist Church in Belize to help them with their annual Christmas party. Our youth group visited their church on a mission trip last year. They are a small church (100 people or so) in a small town (1300 people or so). Yet every year they have a Christmas party for the local children and usually attract 300 kids. So pretty much every child in town and around the area knows about it and comes.

For this event the church provides a meal, has games, music, activities, presents the gospel, gives every child a Christmas gift, and gives every child an additional gift to give away to someone else. This is an amazing ministry that their small church cannot do alone. That is where we come in.

Our goal is to raise $200 by November 10. $200 in the United States is actually double that amount in Belize, so really they will have $400 to spend on gifts for these children and other expenses for this great event. We have 4 weeks to raise the money. My challenge to you is to collect spare change and make donations. Every Wednesday and Sunday for the next 4 weeks we will be collecting with our goal of $200. We already have $11.11! So we just need $188.89 to make our goal. Can you be a part of this awesome opportunity?

-PT

AMP sleepover

We had our first ever AMP event last Friday night. It was a split sleep over. The girls got to go to a hot tub and then spent the night at Dave and Amy's house. While the guys got to have a night in the youth room. I heard that the girls had a lot of fun. They watched some girly movies, talked girls stuff, and ate ice cream! The guys did guys stuff. Action movie, video games, food, food, and more food. Oh and we even got in a quick game of football. Besides of course all the foosball and air hockey.

It was a lot of fun and we are excited to continue the ministry to AMP students. Thanks for a great night!

-PT

Getting to know you

This last Wednesday we had a very interesting discussion in the 11th and 12th grade small group time. We were on the subject of loving your neighbor and got to talking about "new" students in our youth group. We actually had 2 students in the small group who have started coming to our youth group on Sunday or Wednesday in the last month or so. It was interesting because both had different experiences in how they felt their first time at our youth group.

The discussion really got us thinking about how we react and interact when there are "new" people in our youth group environment. My challenge to EVERYONE who is a part of our youth group is to be aware of those around you and to be a welcoming person. If you see someone you don't know, ask them their name and get to know them a bit. Our youth group is NOT too big for you to know everyone's name. So you really should know everyone's name that is at each youth group event. I challenge you to get out of your comfort zone a bit and find out some more about others that are attending youth group - whether it is their first time or they are there every week. And that doesn't mean all your best friends that you always hang out with at youth group anyway.

Let me know what you think.

-PT

Carpet Ball Champion

Every summer in our youth group we have a carpet ball tournament. Thanks to Grant Leach (current junior high youth leader and former Bayside youth group student) we have a carpet ball table at our church. Grant built it back in 2005 for a project at school and had it delivered to our church. Starting in 2006 we have had an annual summer carpet ball tournament. Each year approximately 16 students have participated in this summer long tournament. Adam Johnson won the very first ever tournament in 2006 by defeating Ryan Paulson in the finals. The following year it was Jase Tunell who took the championship by defeating his cousin Alex in the final. In 2008 Alex won the championship by defeating his cousin Luke in the final. In 2009 history repeated itself as Alex Tunell once again staked his claim on the championship with a victory over Luke in the finals. Alex was the first 2 time champion and a back-to-back champion at that.

The 2010 tournament served some very interesting match ups as Alex looked to defend his title. It also marked a bit of history as Jessica Xiong was the first female participant to make it into the final four. However, she was defeated in overtime by Zach Brookmole. In the other semi-final Erick Tunell defeated Michael Johnson (younger brother of our first ever champion in 2006). So the championship was set, Zach Brookmole versus Erick Tunell. History was made as this matchup drew the largest crowd ever for a carpet ball game at Bayside. In dominating fashion, Erick defeated Zach 5-1 to become the new champion. It was the fourth straight year that a Tunell won the tournament. "I'd like to thank my family for their support. And the crowd was amazing. I could really feel the momentum shift when the crowd got behind me. Lastly, I want to say Hi Mom - Love you!"

It was an amazing journey through the tournament, congratulations Erick! In the first round he defeated Erica Mittlestadt 5-3. His biggest challenge came in the second round as he faced off against his brother and 2-time defending champion Alex. But Erick survived with a 5-4 win. He followed that up with two dominating performances to prove this was not a fluke. 5-1 defeats over Michael Johnson and Zach Brookmole. Erick has already placed his name in the brackets for next summer. "I'll be back to defend my title next year. So everyone better start practicing now, cause I'm gonna bring it!" Strong words from a strong champion.

-PT

Good Samaritan Reminder

For those of you who were at senior high youth group on Wednesday, this is a reminder. For anyone else - this is a challenge. Last Wednesday we read the parable of "The Good Samaritan." We learned that the Samaritan in the story was willing to help another person out and it was considered 'loving your neighbor.' However, we also learned that Samaritans were looked down upon by the culture back then - and for Jesus to use this people group as an example really said something.

We challenged our students to think about someone in your life who is looked down upon. Maybe it is someone that you dislike - or even hate. Maybe it is someone who is just plain annoying to you. Maybe it is a person who is challenged and others look at them differently because of it. Just identifiy someone that you know who you or others look down upon.

The challenge for this week is to show kindness to that person. Essentially, to love them as your neighbor. Give them something. Show them appreciation. Be kind to them. Go out of your way to 'love' them. We are going to be talking more about it this coming Wednesday. So you have a few days to take on the challenge. I'm praying for you.

-PT

Student Profile - Taylor Christner

Today's student profile is all about Taylor Christner. Taylor is a senior at Superior High School and a part of the Class of 2011. She is a member of the SHS Diving Team, student council, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Pledgemakers, and Spartan Singers.

What is your favorite part of youth group?

Praying and small group time.

What is your favorite memory from youth group?

Last year at the retreat, at one of the last sessions during worship everyone had their hands up and it was such an awesome picture. That was the best retreat ever!

What is the best part about being a senior?

Free time!

What are your plans after graduation?

Air Force ROTC and Northwestern College.

What is the coolest place you have ever been?

Hawaii for sure.

What is the one thing you wish you could do?

I wish I could fly.

Anything else you would like to share with our youth group?

Take every opportunity that you get to spend with your fellow youth group students. And make good choices!

Thanks Taylor!

Youth Group on Wednesday

I just wanted to let everyone know that we WILL be having youth group on Wednesday night of this week. I'm looking forward to seeing you all there. We will be talking about the Good Samaritan. And for senior high we will be having a bonfire! (smores included!)

See you on Wednesday!

-PT