Fall Retreat Update!

Just got an update from heather and the students are doing great!

Lots of fun and games, some horseback riding and rock wall climbing as well.

This is the largest group of students we've ever taken to the Thunder Fall Retreat and it's also the largest one with a capacity 340 students and leaders attending!

That kind of crazy excitement is a lot of fun and I can't wait to hear the stories and see the pictures during this Wednesdays Retreat Recap!

They've had a long day and will be back at HCC by about 1pm Sunday!

Fall Retreat and Group Nite III and Eli Easton

Here's our Fall Retreat Packing List:

And click here for a link to the packing list.

If you're going, please remember to bring a packed dinner! Also please note the updated extra activities you can sign up for (these are just the ones that cost extra - plenty of other stuff to do there!).

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As for today, we will be finishing our first Group Series with our third lesson on I-dentity. Previous group nites have been on "Who I Am" and "Who I'm Not" and tonight we'll talk about "What I've Been Created to do."

We'll start in the Sanctuary and after our welcome and a few games, we'll break into these groups: 6-7th grade girls, 8th grade girls and all guys.

For Parents -

If you'd like to discuss this lesson with your student, here are some questions to consider asking:

1. How can serving other people help you grow as a follower of Jesus?
2. Tell me about a time when you made a positive difference in someone else’s life. How did that experience affect you?
3. What do you think are some unique things that you contribute to your small group, youth group, or church?

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And some more pictures of Jen and Rachel's newborn son, Eli and his "I don't know if I like this car seat" look, are on the way!

Eli James was born last Thursday (13th) at 11:59pm. He has 10 fingers, 10 toes, 2 proud parents and a pretty cute face!

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Registration for our summer mission trip to Yakima ("The Yak") available next month so please keep your eyes out for it! Our first fund raiser will be the first two weeks of November selling Poinsettias so start thinking about family, neighbors, and businesses that might buy them!

Pizza & Praise This Wednesday!

Our first Pizza & Praise of the school year is coming up!

For those of you that haven't been to one, we'll meet in the Education Building and have dinner together (so bring $3 and come hungry!) and finish the night with some worship (Heather will be leading us in some songs!).

It's a great night so we'll see you there!

Group Nite II

Tonight we're continuing our Group Nite series about Identity. Every other week we'll meet at our regular time (5:43-7:15pm) but after playing some games we'll break into smaller groups and go through this Bible Study together!  Two weeks ago we talked about what it meant to find our identity through Jesus Christ and that a friendship with Him is the only "hat" God wants us to wear because it should affect every part of our lives.  Today we're going to be looking at three things God wants us to avoid to help us lead a better life.  Those choices are: Don't let other people's opinions define you, don't focus on just yourself, and don't focus on other people's appearances.

After our welcome and a few games, we'll break into these groups: 6-7th grade girls, 8th grade girls and all guys. We'll start in the Sanctuary but to help High School set up for their Lip Sync night, we'll end in room 101 in the Education Building.

For Parents -

If you'd like to discuss this lesson with your student, here are some questions to consider asking:

1. Why does the Bible say that trying to win people's approval can create problems?
2. What are some of the signs of a person who lives selfishly?  What are some of the signs of a person who lives selflessly?
3. Think about the last time you were judged or evaluated based on how you looked or dressed or acted. How did you feel?  What did you learn from this experience?

We are still accepting registration for our Fall Retreat to Camp of the Cascades later this month (Oct. 21-23).  Registration can be picked up at church or downloaded from our website (hccfuel.com).  Scholarships are also always available.

We are also going to have registration for our summer mission trip to Yakima ("The Yak") available next month so please keep your eyes out for it!  Our first fund raiser will be the first two weeks of November selling Poinsettias so start thinking about family, neighbors, and businesses that might buy them!