Youth Camp

Kosechando Destinos (Harvesting Destinies) is the summer camp that our youth go to every year. This year, they did a concert in the plaza of the main city La Cruz de Elota. Here is a clip of part of the concert on you tube...

EL RETO is coming SOON!!

EL RETO is only a month away and we still need your help!

EL RETO means The Challenge. Are you up for it as well? Everyone who participates in this event encounters challenges that help them learn real life lessons. Sacrifice, Communication, Relationship skills are things that we can benefit learning more about. What better way that to learn as we experience it!

EL RETO

This is a fun and huge Survivor-Amazing Race-Fear Factor style event that challenges everyone from the students participating to the adults helping as staff. It brings the whole church together: the youth participate as team members, team captains, and some leaders as staff; the adults cancel their meetings to participate as staff, and the children cannot wait to be part of the youth group in order to participate.

The main purpose is outreach. We want to have as many youth as possible be exposed to God's word. Most of the students who participate in this event will not come to church or even youth group--this is our chance! Some students are impacted and have started coming to youth group on a regular basis. Then, there's a few who have actually made life-changing decisions by making Jesus Christ Lord of their life through this event.

The outcome of this event is learning about life. Life is a challenge at times; some have bigger challenges than others. This event helps the students grow and know how to respond when a real-life challenge confronts them.

We have been planning for this event for over a month now and it is going to be a lot of fun this year. I cannot share details because some students read this :), but if you'd like to know more about what we're doing this year, send me an email.

Will you commit to pray each Saturday starting August 28 through September?

Will you make a donation? (click here to see how)

Click here to read a report on EL RETO 2009

Click here to read a report on EL RETO 2008

STUDENT LEADERSHIP RETREAT Report

Here is our new Student Leadership Team: Sandy, Aidé, Jose Luis, Mily, Martin, Chuy, Ruben, Pedro, Gollo, Luis, Esteban.

Dates: July 14-16

Amazing! This was our fourth year doing this retreat and I am completely convinced that this is so vitally important for our ministry--and others as well! We started off towards Mazatlán on Wednesday morning getting to know each other better in the van and I had some questions for them to think about as we prepared to review the last 12 months of youth ministry and plan for the future.

As we arrived at Hotel del Sol, we found that there was only one family there so it made for an excellent place to not only stay, but meet and accomplish what we needed to. The two nights we stayed there were pretty peaceful and the place felt like "ours." The atmosphere of this retreat speaks volumes as to how it will turn out.

After we got settled, we had an orientation then went to eat lunch at our favorite restaurant in Mazatlán--Pura Vida. Then, we headed back to the hotel and had a couple of sessions about our Identity as an Individual: The Need for a Leader to have an Encounter with God and The Need for a Leader to Make Forgiveness a Major Part of their Life. After this, we were ahead of schedule and I had a movie prepared to watch on Thursday night, but we decided to change plans and switch the movie night and Worship nights because Martin's message on Forgiveness lead right into what I wanted to teach from the movie Invictus (A movie about the 1995 Rugby World Cup in South Africa and the countries initial moves into being united after the apartheid). Tons of Leadership learning moments in the movie!

Breakfast: Chuy and Martin were awesome at taking on the food responsibilities. I was really impressed with their servants heart!

Thursday, we had breakfast and headed up the hill to the highest functioning lighthouse in the world (no joke). The sun was hot and it was a tough climb (especially because I hurt my knee again that morning as I slipped in the shower--the swelling is just now starting to go down after a week). At the lighthouse, Luis shared about how God is our lighthouse who guides us to where we need to be--great stuff!

The hike up the hill.

Back at the hotel that afternoon, we did some team building exercises and we spent a number of hours talking about our Identity as a Team Member and then focusing on reviewing the past year and looking towards the future. It was a lot of fun and the worship at the end seemed to seal our unity together.

"Me Against the World" helps students get a feel for the need to be on a team. You can run a ministry by yourself.

After a number of students had the opportunity to go against "the world," we divided them into two teams--much better!

Gollo guiding his brother Chuy.

Aidé guiding her sister Mily and Sandy guiding her cousin Ruben.

Reviewing last year, planning for the future.

Chuy and Sandy volunteered to unknowingly represent a couple as I talked about Guy/Girl relationships.

Friday morning, we focused on our Identity as Servants and the need to focus on "them" instead of "us" when we serve. God knows our motives! Each year we give the team a project; in years past it's been a day retreat with the new students who are entering into Jr. High as a welcoming. This year, so far there is one student who comes to church regularly who will be entering the youth group. So, I decided to have them select an activity that they would like to see happen in the next months and plan it without Luis' or my help. They did a great job working together and are planning on a Rap/Rock concert plus movie night for August 21st. They are really excited and so am I to see them doing this!

It's always strenuous to meet for so long together, people get tired. Each year, we've ended the retreat with a special trip to Mazagua (a big water park).

Thank you so much for all of you who prayed as well as those who responded to the petition of support for funding this event. We received all we needed and continue to raise support for the upcoming EL RETO starting at the end of August.

If you would like to participate by making a donation to this ministry, click here to see how.

Tucson, AZ

In June, we took a quick trip up to Tucson, Arizona for a week to take care of a few things and visit some friends while we were there.

On our way up, we stopped in La Cruz, Sinaloa where I lived for about a year helping Pastor Hector Robles of "Cosecha Final La Cruz" get things going over 10 years ago. This was the first time I had the opportunity to preach in La Cruz, usually I lead worship when invited. It was a great time, they really know how to make you feel comfortable and special. I preached from Mark 8, specifically focusing on how the Revelation of God's Truth is a process in our lives. Sometimes we may be completely blind to a certain truth like the Pharisees were; sometimes we misinterpret Jesus' words like the Disciples did in the boat; and sometimes we think we understand the Truth, but we've been misinformed by those who've taught us like the Jews who were taught by the Teachers of the Law in their time. It's important to not have the things of man in mind, but instead the things of God. Interesting Chapter--the title of the sermon was "Walking Trees".

Rebecka, Emma, Isaí, Heymi, and Josué on Sunday afternoon after the service.

Nogales, Sonora and Nogales, Arizona boarder.

Once we arrived in Tucson at our friends' house, we were able to get a little rest and hang out in the pool...

The girls enjoyed the toys in the back yard also.

We were going to go shopping one evening, but encountered a little problem...apparently the 108 degree weather caused the window to burst out (our friends and their neighbors plus the police all confirmed this). Nothing was missing and there was no evidence of rocks or bullets so the window had to have had a crack in it to have bursted like this.

Emma, Rebecka, and Savanna played together inside, outside, and in the pool.

Bob and Dorothy Micher--some great friends! We appreciate them so much! For more than ten years, every time we've come up through Arizona they've let us stay at their house.

My mom flew down from Washington to stay for few days, it was great to see her again and the girls absolutely enjoyed playing with their Grandma.

The Silbermans; getting ready to leave for Mexico.

Rebecka and Emma

Strapped in...

We had a great time! Thank you Bob and Dorothy, Mom and Dad, and Savanna for making the trip a memory.

QUICK PRAYER REQUEST

We leave tomorrow morning (Wednesday, July 14) for a three day retreat with our Student Leaders. This is the fourth year our Student Ministry has been doing this and it has turned into being what sets the pace for the next 12 months in our ministry. Please pray for safety, willingness to learn and participate, and a surrendering to the Lord as we allow Him to speak into our lives and form us to become a strong team.

Tomorrow we arrive in Mazatlan where we’ll start right off with two sessions in the afternoon about our Identity as Individuals focusing on why it’s important to have an encounter with God as a leader and why it’s important that forgiveness (both ways) is a big part of our life. We finish the evening with Praise and Worship.

Thursday we’ll head up to the lighthouse in the morning to talk about how God is our focal point in our life and all we do. Then, we’ll work on some team building activities at the hotel and continue talking about our Identity as a team and the necessity to work together.

Friday we’ll focus on our Identity as Servants and consider ways we can serve the students who attend and reach out to new students. In the afternoon, we’ll have our traditional recreation time at the water park Mazagua.

Thank you for your prayers and those of you who have given donations towards this ministry.

Blessings,
Steve Silberman

OPPORTUNITY TO GIVE

Each year we have two major events in our Student Ministry. There are many more other things we do, but these two events have the most impact--and are the most expensive :).

STUDENT LEADERSHIP RETREAT (JULY 14-16)

This is our fourth year of taking a few students to Mazatlán for a couple of nights and spend time together as we intensely train for leadership and develop team work ethics. This year we'll be focusing on our Identity as Individuals, as a Team Member, and as a Servant. This retreat sets the tone for the next 12 months and is the most important thing we do in our Student Ministry. I'm excited about the potential we have this year.

Will you commit to pray Wednesday through Friday, July 14-16?

Will you donate a portion of the $1000 we need? (click here to see how)

Click here for a report on last year's retreat.

EL RETO [THE CHALLENGE] (ALL SEPTEMBER)

This is a fun and huge Survivor-Amazing Race-Fear Factor style event that challenges everyone from the students participating to the adults helping as staff. It brings the whole church together: the youth participate as team members, team captains, and some leaders as staff; the adults cancel their meetings to participate as staff, and the children cannot wait to be part of the youth group in order to participate.

The main purpose is outreach. We want to have as many youth as possible be exposed to God's word. Most of the students who participate in this event will not come to church or even youth group--this is our chance! Some students are impacted and have started coming to youth group on a regular basis. Then, there's a few who have actually made life-changing decisions by making Jesus Christ Lord of their life through this event.

The outcome of this event is learning about life. Life is a challenge at times; some have bigger challenges than others. This event helps the students grow and know how to respond when a real-life challenge confronts them.

We have been planning for this event for over a month now and it is going to be a lot of fun this year. I cannot share details because some students read this :), but if you'd like to know more about what we're doing this year, send me an email.

Will you commit to pray each Saturday starting August 28 through September?

Will you donate a portion of the $2,000 we need to make it happen? (click here to see how)

Click here to read a report on EL RETO 2009

Click here to read a report on EL RETO 2008

THANK YOU FOR YOUR INTEREST AND HELP.

Amber has done a phenomenal job putting together some more details on this event here.

STUDENT MINISTRY GIVING

Thank you for your interest in becoming a part of our ministry and investing in the Kingdom of God. If you would like to donate to a specific event in the Cofradía Student Ministry, this is how...

Make a note that indicates it is for COFRADIA STUDENT MINISTRY. If you'd like to be more specific, add in parenthesis the event you wish to sponsor ie: (EL RETO, LEADERSHIP RETREAT, etc).

1. Send to:
Alternative Missions
PO Box 5835
Goodyear, AZ 85338

Checks made out to ALTERNATIVE MISSIONS.

Send your note on a separate piece of paper.

2. You can also safely and easily donate online directly by clicking here. Make your indications by commenting the note option available.