Is it really the end of November already!?

I can't believe this year is nearly over! It seems like just yesterday we were having a noodle war to kick off the school year!! Oh, how time flies! Tonight was great! Again, just around 40 high schoolers! What a great group we had! I love them all so much! Tonight we talked about the reality of our need, the consequences of our sin, and what Jesus did on the cross to make redeem everything. It was one heck of a night with a whole lot of information! But Jesus was present, and I think the Good News was heard! John and Macklin (the Bob brothers) were funny as ever! It was just a great night across the board! Special thanks to Charlie and Nancy Marshall for a delicious dinner! To Mark and Rebecca Butler for hosting Young Life week in and week out! And to Limeberry for serving us delicious frozen yogurt every week after Young Life! You are all such a blessing! And thank you to the countless numbers of you all that read this blog and pray for us and give financially! You all make this ministry work!

Thanksgiving Young Life!

Tonight was our Thanksgiving themed Young Life, and let me just say, I am SO thankful. Tonight, for the first time since the start of Sprague Young Life nearly a year ago, I didn't give a talk. I have been blessed with incredible leaders at Sprague, one of which is Amanda Field. Amanda was my first leader at Sprague, and so it seems only right that she would be the first to give a talk. Amanda spoke on the story of the woman at the well in John 4, and did an artful job at making it come alive. In fact, during the question time after the talk, one student wrote, "It sure is nice to not always have Mat talk." The comment may have been in jest, but let me just agree wholeheartedly! It was so great to sit back and just pray for Amanda and watch students connect! It was a great night with fun games and lots of laughter! We even blindfolded a few students and told them they were going to drink a goldfish (don't worry, it was actually just a slice of peach). It was a great night with some big places that God stepped in! Special thanks to Perry and Sue Webb for hosting the team for a delicious dinner, to the Butlers for hosting our wild and crazy bunch of high schoolers, and especially to Amanda for putting so my time, prayer, and effort into a talk about Jesus! It is an honor to know people as incredible as those I've just named! Thank you all!! -Mat

Let's Talk About Storms!

Tonight was great! I sit here on my couch at 11 o'clock thinking that I am unworthy to be a part of something so great. God is doing so much through this little thing called Sprague Young Life and it's so cool to be a part of it! Tonight we had right about the same numbers as the past weeks, I would guess high 30's maybe low 40's. Regardless of number, we had such a great group of young people that are so fun to hang out with! John Marshall and Macklin Kelly did an absolutely hilarious run on with their trademark characters, the Bob Brothers, professional de-motivational speakers. This week teaching us how to focus less. We had a lot of laughs and got to have a blast and tell people about Jesus! I talked about Luke 8:22-25, Jesus calming the storm. I asked us to think about the storms going on in our lives and asked one simple question: Are you ready to trust Jesus to get you through that storm? Thank you all so much for the prayers, the funds, and the energy you put in to making this ministry what it is! We wouldn't be where we are without all of you! Special thanks once again to the Butler's for hosting us! To Brooklyn (Mark and Rebecca's little, adorable daughter) for making us laugh. And to Terry and Teresa Hancock for serving our team and absolutely delicious dinner! I am SO thankful for the community of people that lovingly surround Sprague!! Thank You ALL!!! -Mat

Halloween, Young Life Style!

Tonight we had our Day after Halloween Young Life. I would say out of the 39 students and 7 leaders we had about 25 people dress up in their Halloween costumes! Tonight had a ton of energy, and everything seemed to flow really well! We had new leaders tonight (Ried, Ellie, and Chandra) all step up and get involved in leading club, as well as corralling high schoolers around. John Marshall and Macklin Kelly came on as The Bob Brothers again tonight and did a hilarious little skit for everyone to see and it came to a climax of for students spitting water into one another's faces for the amusement of all! I spoke on John 8 with the woman caught in adultery, and shared a video of common misperceptions about Jesus. I claimed that Jesus is a God way more concerned with working on a relationship with us than he is about meticulously following the rules. I went as far as to say that a life with Jesus is actually more fun that a life without, and it might be worth considering getting to know him more so that can be experienced. I think everyone tracked pretty well and we had some good questions afterward! It was definitely an honor to lead Young Life tonight. Sprague is such an incredible high school to be a part of with an amazing community of supporters around it! Special thanks tonight to Mike and Joy Fargo for hosting us for dinner, to Mark and Rebecca Butler for allowing us to bring 40 high schoolers into their house, and to LimeBerry Frozen Yogurt for hosting our after Young Life party and even staying open late for us! Gosh, we are blessed people here at Sprague Young Life! Thank You to all the INCREDIBLE leaders! Amanda Field, Caitlin Marshall, Chandra Baskoro, Reid Zucati, Ellie Bartlow, and Scott Wurgler! You are all wonderful! Okay, enough for tonight! Thank you all for your on going prayers and financial support that make this ministry so great! -Mat