February

Greetings and Salad-makings! (I can't believe I just wrote that. I can't tell you how many times I've heard my dad say that throughout my short life. I still don't really know what it means. It seems to make people laugh though, mostly older people. whatever.) Let me just give a pre-emptive apology for not posting in a while. Just been busy with ministry, school, work, and appeasing my extremely high-mateinance girlfriend (just kidding sweetie-pie. ((who came up with that dumb name anyway's? Do you mind being refered to as a sacharinne-packed pastry? Does that make you feel special? Myself, I would rather be reffered to as a nice slab of Steak or maybe some homemade baked Mac and cheese. mmmm.))(((whoa getting a little carried away on the parentheticals)))). Anyways I thought that for the duel purpose of informing you all about what's been happening in the 'hood so that you might pray in a more informed manner as well as keeping me accountable in my ministry I would try and start doing some general overviews every month or two. So grab a sumptry pastry (speaking of which I drove through Solvange last sunday, just the smell of those Danish pastries will make your mind melt) and get ready for a barrage of ninja's, bowling, predestination and beyond.

The Riches of Being in Christ (Eph. 1)
Definitly a highlight of this month has been diving into Ephesians in our Tuesday night youth group meetings. I can't tell you how profound a blessing it is to be able to study through the Word of God, have your own eyes and heart opened and challenged by it, and then be able to present it to the youth and watch God work in their lives. This is the first time I have ever taught through a book and the first time any of the youth have had someone teach them like that. There definetly has been some getting used to moving at a slower pace and going deep, but the youth have been surprisingly faithful in coming for the most part.
Praises and Prayer

• Praise for the faithful core group of about 10 youth who are committed and hunger for the Word
• Pray that God would open the eyes of their hearts (Eph 1:17-23) to the beauty and magnificence of Himself
• Pray that I would be faithful and effective in communicating the truth. Especially in my speaking, I don't think I am a very good communicator and it is sometime frustrating that I am so excited about the text but can't communicate in a way that infects others with that excitement and passion.

3XM:
Every third tuesday of the month we have what we call, "Mid-Month Madness" where we just fellowship and do fun stuff, more of an outreach focus. This month we went bowling. Now for suburbanites that probably doesnt sound that unusual for a youth group event. But for us in the ghetto, bowling was a rare occasion. Needless to say our youth had a great time. I had fun, but I kinda got beat by a girl. It was pathetic. I didnt even break 100. But I did get a strike by bowling between my legs. Beat that Miriam. Most importantly the night brought some youth from the neighborhood out of the cracks who we have been able to build or rebuild relationships with.
P&P

• Praise God for blessing of sanctified fellowship!

Redemption Challenge:
A few tuesday's back I was teaching on Eph 1:7 talking about redemption and ended the night with a very personal, harsh controntation of the kids. I challenged those who proffess to be saved but are not living as if they were truly redeemed. It was one of those times that the Spirit powerfully moved in our hearts. We ended the night on our knees, weeping before God for our sin and thanking Him for His forgiveness. A dynamic night!
P&P

• Praise God that the Holy Spirit used His Word to convict hearts
  
• Pray that those youth's who were convicted about their hypocrisy and reaffirmed their faith and submission to the Lord would be encouraged in their walk and would lay aside distractions and sin in their pursuit to fix their eyes on Christ (Heb 12:1-3)

International Night - the Land of the Rising Sun:
Our very Americanized Japanese international night went off without a hitch. It was a smaller group but one of the parents came and one of the staff also brought her friend who is from Japan. She talked about the state of the church in Japan and just general cultural interests. Very interesting. My highlight was dressing up like a ninja and throwing my ninja star at people.
P&P:

• Praise God for his sovereignty in all the nations!
• Pray for the church in Japan
• Pray that God would bring more people to future international nights, and especially use it to build relationships with parents

Well this is just a very small glimpse of some of the things we are up to down in inner-city LA. Hopefully you have been encouraged and feel more informed. Please let me know if you have any questions or comments or suggestions or random thoughts.

For His glory,
by His grace
jrf