AO Work Week Schedule

It's that time of the year again! During our annual Work Week with Appalachian Outreach, it can be a challenge to keep all the times and activities straight, so here is your handy-dandy guide to the week!

Daily Schedule Monday-Thursday (June 20-23)

Breakfast - 7am

Worksite - 7:30am-4:30pm

Dinner - 5:30pm

*Breakfast and dinner served at FBCJC Fellowship Hall; lunch is provided on the worksite for all volunteers

Special Events

Monday - Trip to Sonic (bring your own money) - 7pm

Tuesday - Movie Night - 7pm

Wednesday - Wet Games - 6:30pm

Thursday - Cookout - 5:30pm

For more information, contact Dave. For directions to the worksite, stop by the FBCJC office.

Passport Camper/Parent Meeting

This Wednesday evening, June 15th, we will have a MANDATORY meeting for teens who will be attending Passport Youth Camp this summer, as well as their parents/guardians. The meeting will be at 8pm in Rm. 214 (youth room), and we will go over camp information, including our itinerary, what to pack, expectations, medical forms, etc. A notary will be on hand to authorize medical forms, so make sure to bring a driver's license!

For more information on this meeting, or if you will be unable to attend, contact Dave at cndavemcneely@aol.com or 865.475.3826.

For more information on Passport Camps, visit http://www.passportcamps.org/. For more info on the specific camp we will be attending, check out the link to the Passport Choices camp at Wingate, NC.

Book Discussion Begins Sunday, June 12

This summer, we will have a book discussion group for interested youth. The discussions will take place on Sunday evenings at 7pm at rotating families' houses. Our first meeting will be on Sunday, June 12th at the McNeelys' house (e-mail Dave for directions: cndavemcneely@aol.com). We will be reading The Jesus Creed for Students by Scot McKnight with Chris Folmsbee and Syler Thomas. Books cost $10 and will be available throughout the summer. And, yes, you're welcome to join us!

Revised Summer Xchange Time

As per our fabulous custom, our Wednesday night youth program, Xchange, will meet from 6pm-8pm during the summer months of June, July, and August (during the school year, we begin at 6:30pm). If your teen is late, they could cost their team valuable points and pennies!

Parent Meeting Tonight

Tonight, Wednesday, May 25th, we have our Summer Kickoff for our youth program and we don't want to leave you behind or uninformed! At 6pm, right before the youth overwhelm room 214 with their out-of-school energy, we will be having a special Youth Parents meeting in room 214 to give you a calendar for the summer and catch you up on where we've been and where we're going. You won't want to miss it!

Details on The Amazing Post-Prom Race

As you may have heard, the Youth Ministry of FBCJC is sponsoring an after-prom event called "The Amazing Post-Prom Race." Open to ALL high schoolers (regardless of whether or not they attend prom), this event will take place from midnight on the evening of Friday, April 29th until 7am on Saturday, April 30th, and here are the details you may wish to know: * Any student interested in participating MUST sign up in advance and pick up a Permission Form that must be signed by a parent; Permission Forms must be handed in to Dave before the event begins in order for that youth to participate; * Each student wishing to participate must pay $10, which will help to cover the cost of gas and miscellaneous items for the event; * The event itself will begin at midnight after the prom, at FBCJC (students are required to find transportation to and from the church) and will consist of a number of team challenges throughout the evening; * Each team will consist of 3-4 students being led and driven by one of our adult chaperones (no students will be allowed to drive during this event); * Students will be allowed to leave FBCJC as early as 6am and need to be picked up (if they do not have their own car) no later than 7am on Saturday morning. If you have any other questions, please contact Dave at 475.3826 or cndavemcneely@aol.com.

Is Your Teenager a Good Samaritan?

According to a story widely circulated, a group of young seminarians, pastors-in-training, were given a simple but exciting assignment: Prepare a sermon on Jesus' Parable of the Good Samaritan and walk down the street to the local radio station to deliver the sermon across the airwaves. What made the assignment unique, however, was the situation their professor had set up for them. Unbeknownst to the young preachers-to-be, a man had been hired to lay beaten and bruised and crying in pain in an alleyway near the radio station. Sadly, each student acted out the wrong portion of the parable quite well, passing the man without offering to help, because apparently they had more important things to do, like . . . preach about helping the beaten and bruised on the side of the road. This past week, we decided to conduct an experiement of our own with our youth group to see how they would respond in a similar situation. After a game and a brief Bible study on the Parable of the Good Samaritan, our youth were instructed that they were going to prepare bags for the homeless but that they first had to walk down to McDonald's to purchase a gift card to put in the bags. Unbeknownst to them, a friend of one of our leaders had been tasked with showing up at McDonald's with a sign begging for food. So, how did the youth respond??? Much to my joy, our youth came back with fewer gift cards than expected because they gave two to the young man in need, along with buying (with their own money) a meal for him. I'll never forget the excited amazement on the face of one of our young girls, when she came up to me and said, "You're never gonna believe this! There is a man begging for food here, and we JUST talked about the Good Samaritan!" Thank God for teenagers who get it!