8th grade night on Sunday video

We did something different for our worship time. Check it out here:



Here is a picture of the complete mural they made:

MESSFEST2010

I know there isn't many of you who check this blog but for those who do here is a slide show from this years MESSFEST2010

Middle school spotlight Sunday 2010

The middle schoolers did an awesome job today in Big Church at NCBC. I was very proud of them. I had a number of pictures ready to up load on http://www.flickr.com/ but I again have had problems with it & have decided that this will be the end of using flickr for all my pictures. I will be trying a couple of other online picture albums and will update everyone who reads this blog about that. For now to see the pictures from the service please find me (markeades) on fackbook and friend me - then you can see all the awesome pictures and comments the kids, parents, & leaders have made. It was a wonderful day - God is good!

2010 Middle School Spotlight Sunday is coming

Each year out wonderful church - www.newcovenantbible.org - let's the middle school ministry invade "Big Church" & share what God has been doing and is doing with our great kids. This coming Sunday April 25 is our day. I can't wait to hear the awesome worship team and the specials share their God given talent. I'm also really excited for the four 8th graders who will be doing the message.

We've got some cool logos for the message which is called - Wrapped Up!

Can't wait - the count down has begun

8th grade night - third for 2009-10

We had the chance to have another 8th grade night & what a night it was. I got a chance to see some 8th graders I normally don't get to see step up and take the lead. It was awesome. I was able to take a few pictures from the night and you can see them if you click the picture above.

Winter Retreat 2010 - a big hit!

The kids really got out of the comfort zone and reached out to new kids. Click on the picture to see in picture what happened at this years winter retreat 2010 - Just Go For It!

Fall Retreat 2009

At the request of some good friends I'm still going to put pictures on http://www.flickr.com/ & link them here. Click the picture above or here to see a slide show of the pics I have of our fall retreat.

8th grade - first one for 2009-10

I have to say that I'm really excited about this group of 8th graders. They have a lot going for them & tonights 8th grade night really showed that.

Lesson Topic: Standing out in your World for God

Attendance: Average - It was a good turn out for our kids

Fun Factor - Excellent - the game was fun but the lesson was even funner

Volunteer Involvement: Average - great sponsor involvement

Music: Was Ok - the kids that lead did a good job but there is something missing that we need to figure out

Lesson Quality: Was one of the best lessons I've heard from a group of 8th graders.

Length of Lesson: 30 min

Student Response: low - the topic was solid and the lesson was good but the group was just not staying engaged like I wish they would have.

Favorite statment of the night: God's World or our world which one will you choice?

Saying good bye is really saying keep going!

One of the hard things but wonderful things about middle school ministry (and in many youth/children ministry I think) is having to "graduate" up your oldest group. Tonight we said good bye to our wonderful 8th graders of the class of 2013 (when they will graduate from high school). I wish I was a really good writer or poet to share about this group but I'm not so I will let the picture above say it - I love this group and I can't wait to see what God is going to do next in their lives.

Middle School Week by YS

Youth Specialties is honoring middle school ministry this week with a week focus on middle school ministry on their blog called "middle school week." I'm writing this at NCBC's awesome Kid's camp that we put on each year. I take advantage of this camp to get connect with some of the new incoming 6th graders. This brought two thoughts to my mind and I hope this encourages you as it does me:

1) Long team is key to successful middle school ministry. Setting here seeing the team that is working these very young kids (2nd - 5th grade) is just awesome. I know almost every kid working that is here because they had been a part of middle school ministry.

2) You can have high expectations on your middle school kids - you just have to do it slowly and individually. Here at camp we have a number of middle schoolers who have a lot of work to do to make this camp function. There are some really high expectations on them and they are doing awesome - but I wouldn’t have asked most of them to do what they are doing last year. They are maturing and they are maturing quickly if we keep the expectations balanced and help focus them on Christ - watch out! they are going to rock.

Thanks YS(check out their web site here) for recognizing this great group of kids and may every middle school/jr hi guy/gal out there know they are awesome in my book!

middle school mission trip 2009 - day 5

Day 5 has come and gone which means the middle school mission trip is in the can. What a great trip - I'm so prond of each of the kids and the leaders who spent so much time with them. We cryed together, laughed a lot together, had some great devotionals, and had wonderful food from some awesome parents. I will be getting out a lot of thank yous in the near furture to all of those who helped make this mission trip so successful. If you would like to see a slide show please click here or on the picture above.

middle school mission trip 2009 - day 4

What a great Day 4 for the trip. We had to leave the wonderful cabins we have been staying in and keep all of our stuff in the church mini-bus. It was a slow start of the day but relaxing and everyone was very upbeat. We got to the work site at Vinton where we divided into two teams. One team went back to the trial and laid a lot of mulch down on the trail. They also cleared more brush but this time it was a lot easier and fun to do. The other team got to pull more weeds at a local park. Right as the weed pulling team was leaving one of the local papers (Vinton Eagle) stopped by to interview them and take a picture. After the work was done we got to go to our hotel to enjoy some wonderful food, relaxing rooms, & fun by or in the pool. If you would like to see a slide show click here or on the picture above.

middle school mission trip 2009 - day 3

Day 3 took us back to Vinton for 1/2 a day to work on the Vinton trail. This was the hardest day for us so far as it had rain some in the morning which made everything very wet and hard to work with. We cut a path through a the trail that was flooded out last year. I did get to use a chain saw but having to move all of that wood after we cut it up was hard. The other 1/2 was a long trip down to Kolana where we had a great time seeing the cheese factory (some of the kids had never tryed cheese curds before - can you say squicky), then to see the beutiful contry side and a wonderful meal. If you would like to see a slide show of the day click here or the picture above.

middle school mission trip 2009 - day 2

On day 2 we went all the way to the city of Bell Plain, IA. Where we meet grandma and her daughter Mel. Grandma had her basement flooded out when the flood hit last year. About 2 weeks ago she finally got her basement ready to get stuff back down in it but had no way to move all that stuff or clean up her beautiful gardens - that was until we came and gave her a hand. Click on the pic above or just click here to see a great slide show of our time at grandma's house.

middle school mission trip 2009 - day 1

Now that I have access to the internet I can start down loading pictures from our awesome middle school mission trip. The first day we had a chance to work in the city of Vinton, IA where we stacked over 6 tons of paving bricks on pallets so the city could then reuse them for their brick city roads. You can click here or click on the picture above to see some of the work and time we had together.

Middle School Mission trip 2009 - updates coming

Been at the middle school missoin trip and haven't had internet access until now. Will have Days 1-4 up later on tonight - stay tune.

6th grade summer trip 2009 Day 3

Well the day started out at Oarchard Hill Church in Cedar Falls, IA with a great services and then out to one of our sponsor's parents farm. We got to enjoy some games on the bus, wonderful food, and playing at the farm. If you would like to see a little slide show click here or the picture above. Great 6th grade summer trip.

6th grade summer trip 2009 Day 2

Day 2 of the awesome 6 grade summer trip is over and everyone (except a couple of sponsors & me) are sleeping hard. We had a great time at the Lost Island Water Park where almost everyone got sun burnt, ate a great meal, and had a little cake for one of our girl's b-day. It was a little cold (with a lot of wind) but besides that it was a perfect day. If you would like to see a slide show click here or click on the picture above.

6th grade summer trip 2009 Day 1

Well the day is done and what a great time. The kids really knocked themselves out (in fact they are all a sleep - ah quiet what a wonderful thing) at the Northeast Iowa Food Bank and everyone back home at NCBC should be very proud of them. We had a fun trip up to Waterloo, Ia with duck tape created characters that would fit in the sponge bob theme, we worked with all kinds of food and drinks at the food bank, got a chance to play outside in almost rain, and had a great time with the annual "great pillow fight." Click here or click on the picture above for a slide show of our day.

Round 2 of our summer trips - 6th graders ROCK!

Today starts our next middle school summer trip for NCBC - this time we are taking our great group of 6th graders up to Waterloo, Ia. We will help at the North East Iowa Food Bank, stay at Orchard Hill Church, enjoy Lost Island Water Park, and have a great time at one of our sponsor's family farm. It's going to be an awesome trip and I hope to have daily updates on this blog again. Stay tuned.