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New Small GroupsWe've started into our new small groups on both Wednesdays for SHIFT and Thursdays for ALTÆR. Each small group is made up of between 6-10 students and an adult leader. The purpose of small groups mid-week is to make the larger group smaller and more accessible. This helps students be heard and be known. We'll be in these current small groups through December. This year we're also trying out 6th grade only small groups at SHIFT to help the younger students adjust to SHIFT. SHIFT's "Big 3"SHIFT on Wednesday nights can be a little crazy with 160+ middle school students! To help maintain some order we're asking all of the students to help us with SHIFT's Big 3 Expectations. First we're asking students to arrive after 6:00pm and be picked up by 8:30pm. Second we're asking students to turn off their cell phones during SHIFT from 6:30-8:15pm. Third we're asking them to respect the leaders, each other, and the building. We're also asking parents to go ahead and park your car when you arrive to pick up your students. The giant carpool line picking up one student at a time isn't going to work and is causing serious traffic back-up on South Scales Road. Instead, just go ahead and park and when you see the students rushing out of the building when we're done, give them a call and tell them where you are! Thanks for your help! SHIFT Fall Camp -- September 10-12Be sure to sign up your middle school student for Fall Camp! This is going to be an exciting weekend up in the North Georgia mountains at the Athens Y Camp connecting with each other and with God! This is always one of the highlights of the year and really helps the newer students (especially the new 6th grade class) find their way in SHIFT. This year the cost is only $130. Our theme this year is "superheroes". Don't miss it!!! Andy Celebration & Roast -- September 30Andy Brophy is going off of our Student Life staff after 4+ years of faithful service! He is going to be pursuing his photography business full-time. We want to celebrate his time of ministry here with a special roast/celebration that will take place on Thursday, September 30th in place of ALTÆR that night. Stay tuned for more details!!! ALTÆR Fall Break Road Trip -- October 8-11Don't let your high school students miss this amazing weekend away from it all. This year we're heading up to the Pigeon Forge / Gatlinburg area for this long weekend where we'll be staying in giant, luxury log cabins overlooking the Smoky Mountains. We'll be having all kinds of fun at places like Ober Gatlinburg, the Track, Dixie Stampede, and Cirque de Chine. Throw in a lot of new friends, worship, and messages and this is going to be an unforgettable weekend. We've done everything we can to keep the costs low -- the base price if you sign up by the end of August is only $198. After September 1st it rises to $220. Pick up a brochure/registration form in the Student Life lobby and sign-up now!! PUMPKIN PATCH FUNDRAISER -- October 11-31Be sure to sign up for this year's Pumpkin Patch fundraiser to earn some money for all of our amazing retreats and mission trips. We'll have sign-ups towards the end of September. The Patch will be open at the Farm off of Old Peachtree Rd. from October 12-31. Be sure to save the 11th to help us unload the truck!!!  Fundraising Opportunities
Kroger Gift Cards
Do you buy groceries at Kroger? Well now we have a program where you can earn 5% of your Kroger spending back towards your student’s mission trips or camps. All you have to do is buy Kroger gift cards through Student Life and then just shop like you normally shop at Kroger paying with your gift card. For example my family typically purchases at least $400 worth of groceries from Kroger each month. Now instead of paying with our credit card, we’ll simply write a check to the church and buy $400 worth of Kroger gift cards from Student Life. 5% of that, or $20 in this case, will go into my fundraising “savings” account (just like we have for the Young Life raffle tickets and the Pumpkin Patch) to be used towards a future mission trip, camp, or Student Life sponsored event. I’m still spending the same amount on groceries as I always have. Now I’m just making it stretch 5% further. In the example I just stated, my family would “save up” $240 over the span of a year. And if we had family, friends, or neighbors purchasing gift cards in my child’s name, we could earn even more. The Kroger cards are available in $100 increments. We are now selling Kroger cards Sunday mornings from 9:15-9:30am, 10:30-11:00am, and 12:00-12:15pm from Big Al's in the Student Life lobby. You can also purchase cards Wednesday & Thursday nights prior to SHIFT & ALTÆR from Aaron or Ryan. Pumpkin PatchOur annual Pumpkin Patch fundraiser will be held this year from October 11-31. All of the profits will be split evenly according to the number of shifts worked per person. Be sure to sign up your whole family to work a shift and earn even more. Each shift is 2 hours long. Stay tuned for more details as sign-ups get closer. Annual Parking Lot Sized Garage SaleThis year's Garage Sale will be on Saturday, May 7th. Be sure to be storing up all of your old stuff in the attic and basement for this fundraiser. Remember you're responsible for pricing, organizing, selling, and cleaning up all of your own stuff. We'll have a donation truck available after the garage sale to take whatever you want to get rid of.
At Student Life we believe in Christ's Commission to "Go and make disciples of all nations...". We believe that all followers of Christ are called and equipped to be his hands and feet. We also believe in developing those gifts and callings at age-appropriate levels, which is why we've developed a 4-tiered missions approach for our students. The goal is for our students to take ever-increasing steps of faith as we challenge them with more and more intense missions experiences as they grow in their relationships with Christ. Our level 1 mission trips are for students entering their 7th or 8th grade. They are 6 days long (typically Sunday through Friday) and for the last 6 years we've teamed up with an organization called "youthworks" for these trips. We've sent teams to Bayou La Batre Alabama, Birmingham Alabama, Savannah Georgia, Bluefield West Virginia, Cincinatti Ohio, Chattanooga Tennessee, Newport Tennessee, Marvell Arkansas, and Raleigh-Durham North Carolina. In 2011 we are going to be trying something new and different. We're going to combine our level 1 mission trips with a summer camp feel with an organization called Fuge ministries. Our students will spend their days serving together in kids' clubs, home refurbishment for the elderly homes, serving in soup kitchens, etc., and they'll spend the evenings in large group "summer camp" sessions with powerful worship and speakers. We'll have 2 different level 1 mission trip opportunities to Mobile, Alabama as well as to Nashville, Tennessee. The cost is generally between $300-$400. Our level 2 mission trips are for students entering their 9th grade year or higher. They are 7-8 days long (Saturday through Saturday or Sunday through Sunday) and for the last few years we've offered two different options each summer. One is with Amor Ministries to Tijuana Mexico where we camp out at the Amor base alongside other church groups and build homes for impoverished families on the city's periphery. Our other level 2 option has been with C.S.M. (Center for Student Missions) to various American inner-cities. In the past we've served in Washington D.C., San Francisco, Chicago, and Philadelpia. Our time is spent working in soup kitchens, after school programs, food banks, rescue missions, elderly homes, hospitals, AIDS feeding programs, and with the homeless on the streets. At the end of our weeks serving we usually add on a day of fun at a local amusement park before heading home. The cost for our level 2 mission trips is between $600-$700 for the inner-city trips and between $1000-$1300 for our Tijuana trip. This summer of 2011 we are going to be offering 3 level 2 mission trips: Tijuana, New Orleans, and Chicago. Our level 3 mission trips are for students entering their 11th grade year or higher. They are 11-13 days long and are much more outreach oriented. Students are challenged to share their faith through one-on-one interaction, testimonies, dramas, english classes, youth camps, kids' clubs, Bible distribution, etc. The goal is that as students become more comfortable talking about and sharing their faith they would bring that experience home with them and do likewise here. The past few years we've teamed up with missionaries in Costa Rica and the Czech Republic that we've developed relationships with over the years. In Costa Rica we serve with the local YWAM (Youth With a Mission) base in the coastal state of Guanacaste. In Czech we've worked alongside a ministry called "Caleb's Heart". These trips cost between $1200-$2500 and students send out support letters to raise the necessary money and prayer support to make our trip successful. This summer of 2011 we'll be offering two different level 3 mission trips: Costa Rica and Czech Republic. Our level 4 mission trips are for students entering their 12th grade or who just graduated. They are 14-16 days long. The past couple of years we've sent teams to Peru and South Africa. Our level 4 trips are similar to our level 3 mission trips ministry-wise but the students are now in charge of planning all of the outreaches. They preach. They teach. They plan all of the kids' ministry, the youth camps, the worship, etc. They become our "partners" in ministry as we serve alongside each other. These trips cost between $2500-$3000 and students send out support letters to raise the prayer and financial support needed. Summer 2011 we'll be heading back to South Africa. For all of our mission trips we have mandatory team meetings. For our level 1 mission trips there are 3 training meetings. For all others there are 5 or more. At these meetings we not only bond together as a team, but we also prepare for our ministry by preparing our hearts. We have various assignments as well for each mission team: memory verses, books that we read together, research on where we're going, etc. The training meetings are an essential aspect of tilling the soil of our hearts for what God has in store for us on the mission field. For this reason failure to attend or to do the necessary assignments will result in termination from the team. We start our team training in late January and meet Sunday afternoons or evenings every few weeks until summer hits. Our mission trips are an essential discipleship tool in our process. Year after year we've seen incredible growth in our students. We've also seen God use our students in powerful and awe-inspiring ways. Our desire is that God would "ruin" our students so that they understand that there is no better life, no matter where they end up and what they end up doing, then one spent in serving Jesus by serving others. We'll have our annual Summer Missions Parent Meetings on both November 10 & 11 where we'll go over more specifics regarding each trip we'll be offering summer 2010. Applications and $100 non-refundable deposits ($200 non-refundable for all trips involving airfare) will be due mid-November. Training begins in late January. Payments will be stretched out from December through May to make it easier to budget financially. Also take note of all of our fundraising opportunities and start now!!! Our mission trips are an investment in the world and in your students' future. For any questions please contact Aaron at aaron@sugarloaf.org.
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