Heartland SERVE June 2011
Dear Youth Leader,
We are excited about you being here later next month for Heartland SERVE and are thankful for your willingness to be a part of this project, which the Lord has used in a powerful way in previous years to impact both those attending and our communities for His glory.
Our project will again be a cooperative effort between a number of area churches and organizations, including Dispatch CRC, who will have a large number of support staff assisting. We are in our sixth year as a host team and several of us have been on other SERVE trips, which have greatly benefited us in sponsoring this effort. If this is the first time for you to be a leader, you can be assured there will be people ready to assist you with any questions or apprehensions you might have. We have enlisted prayer partners for each participant, which in the past has been a real blessing as God leads us through the week of challenges and growing together as a group. Our site has 43 youth and 10 leaders registered with individuals and groups attending from the states of Michigan, Minnesota, South Dakota, and the province of Ontario, Canada. To facilitate your traveling between borders, we have enclosed a form to be completed by our Canadian friends.
You will be expected to lead the youth at the worksite and then again in small group time after the evening sessions from the leaders’ guide that will be sent to you from Youth Unlimited. At each site we plan on having a local person there to assist you at least part of the time. We want all participants to feel involved both at the worksite and in the small group discussions, which will be the challenge for you as leader to set the example and tone for the week. We also would ask that you be responsible for making sure your work group leaves the dining area in good order after each meal, follows the rules, and that each team member spends quiet time every day using the devotional guide material provided. In addition, we ask that you assist us with maintaining order and good behavior in the sleeping quarters and during activities including travel to and from the worksites and praise and worship.
With the Holy Spirit’s guidance and presence, we expect God to again do great things during this week of activity. We have plans for several outdoor praise and worship events and have enlisted the services of a praise band which includes former members of Nameless Faces, of Wichita. They will participate regularly in worship services, along with the main speaker for the week, Joe Skillen, a youth pastor. They have been part of our ministry team the past few years and work well together at other youth events around the state. In preparation for coming, we would suggest that you or your group might think of a talent number in advance, to use for a possible talent show, if there is enough interest. Heartland SERVE also requests that you provide a cell phone number to be used and shared with members of the host team and other SERVE leaders for the purpose of contacting you during the week of July 23-30. The information you provide will not be shared with anyone outside this SERVE event and will be destroyed at the conclusion of the week. Cell phones will not be allowed at our site for the youth during the week as we want them to focus totally on their experience here and not have any outside distractions, so we ask that you collect them when you arrive and we will keep them in a safe place for the week.
As far as your arrival is concerned, we would appreciate your being here for registration beginning at 1 P.M. and no later than 5 P.M. on Saturday, July 23, so that there will be adequate time to settle in before supper and opening activities. Please advise us of your travel plans, and we would like to know how many of your vehicles could also be used during the week. Please let me know by dropping me an email at 5eagle@ruraltel.net. Since most if not all of you will be arriving from the north, we would recommend that you travel Interstate 80 to the Grand Island, NE exit, and proceed south on Highway 281, which merges into Highway 181 when you reach the Kansas border. Once you arrive at the intersection of Highways 181 and 24, you are at Downs and Lakeside High School is just beyond that point, where registration will take place. Again, we look forward to your arrival and what God has in store for each of us. May He bless you in your preparations over the next few weeks and with health and a safe trip here.
In Christ,
Don Koops, Host Team Coordinator
