Sectional Champs!!!

I normally try to refrain from lauding the sports achievements of a specific school (since we have a number of different schools represented in our ministry), but I really want to congratulate the OHS Wrestling team on their first ever sectional title and berth to team state. The entire team wrestled awesome last night, and I was bursting with joy as our BLAST students went a combined 6-0 with 6 pins. The whole night was such a testament to the hard work of the team and the physical gifts God has entrusted to these guys. I would be remiss if I also didn't congratulate Coach Rogers on an amazing season and a well deserved title. Steve is not only an amazing coach, but a tremendous role model and mentor to these kids. This past year has included not only the normal ups and downs that come with sports (wins, loses, injuries, etc.), but the death of a team member and of a parent of both a team member and assistant coach. Through it all Coach Rogers has been so much more then a coach, and as a pastor and part of the Oostburg community I am so grateful for all he does. Great job everyone, and good luck at individual sectionals, individual state, and team state!

Rock and Worship Roadshow and More

We are very excited that an awesome event, the Rock and Worship Road Show, is coming to Madison on Friday, March 19th. We would love to take an entire bus full to this concert if possible. Groups include David Crowder, Mercy Me, Fee, Family Force 5, and more. We've done a lot of worship music from these group and they will all be fantastic. Cost is only $15 and includes transportation and your ticket. We will leave HRC at 3:30pm that night and return sometime after midnight. Talk to Andy with any questions.

We have a great week planned here at BLAST. Our middle schoolers have some exciting games in store on Wednesday, and we will be continuing our Untouchables series by talking about death. We will also welcome a guest speaker, Vanessa VanderWeele, who will share on the experience of losing her brother this summer. Should be a fun, challenging, and moving night.


On Sunday our high schoolers will meet for some food, beverage, games, and the continuation of our HABITS series. Ryan will be talking about the importance of giving back to God. I have quite a bit of food left over from my last COSTCO run, so join us for a great night.

Super Bowl Party Tonight

Tonight is our annual Super Bowl party, which will feature tons of food, beverage, and the game on multiple HD TV's. The festivities will start at the Baker house at 5:00pm and go until the end of the game. If you would like to bring something please consult your newsletter for what we are asking each grade to bring (although I assure you there will be tons of stuff). Hope to see you for a great night of football, food, fellowship, and of course commercials!

Silver Birch 2010: Part 2

It's been a busy season around our ministry, so it's been hard to update much about Silver Birch X. Here is the second installment about what went down during our awesome January retreat.

Saturday morning started off with breakfast, featuring perhaps the most disgusting sausage ever. I've eaten raw SPAM, and I will tell you it may have tasted better then this. After breakfast we headed for our second worship session. Despite the early morning time students still worshiped with really glad hearts and enjoyed the spectacle of our opening game Cereal Killer. I say enjoyed the spectacle because the cereal was quite disgusting and about half the teams quit right away, despite a cash prize on the line (in hind sight I should have known that a whole box of cereal for a $1 probably was not going to be very tasty.). We also gave cash away in our Diving For Dollars game, in which contestants had to dunk into a cold tank of water to retrieve money and gift cards. For the second message on our theme of temptation Ryan laid his personal story on the line for all to hear. He spoke of his struggles with temptation, how he gave into it and how God helped pull him back. It was really moving stuff and really served as a wake-up call for all of us.
Worship session 2 set-list:
We Shine: Fee
Take It All: Hillsong United
Dancing Generation: Brandon Grissom
The Stand: Hillsong United
Inside Out: Hillsong United

The rest of the morning featured our high schoolers heading to the broom ball court for the annual melee, while our middle schoolers headed to the tubing hills. The runs were really fast this year, which resulted in some bloodshed and injuries, but fortunately everyone ended up ok in the end. The afternoon was filled with tons of fun free time options. Many students took advantage of the SBR climbing center, which not only has a climbing wall but a new "leap of faith" feature. Students also enjoyed skiing, horseback riding, tubing, power tubing, and just hanging out with friends for snacks, drinks, board games, and conversation in the canteen area. It was so cool to see students hanging out so well together. We have a very diverse group in terms of schools and personalities, yet they mesh so well together. It was a fun, but exhausting afternoon for all.