Dear Friends,

At the end of this ministry year, I am remembering how much there is to be grateful for and celebrate. As I step aside from my role leading the Youth Fellowship, I continue to appreciate the milestones and memories of this year and give thanks to Jesus who made all of it possible.

In recounting these milestones, it seems that God is creating room for us to minister to more people. This year we connected with over 70 different students! Our leadership team is aiming to nearly double this summer. In January we successfully created distinct gatherings for our middle and high school students. We were also blessed with huge efforts of hospitality as four different families pitched in to host our large gatherings of students and leaders – the Murrays, the Kleinschusters, the Marottas and the Pauls. (Thank you all once again for your generosity!) These are all worth noting because they show God’s willingness to multiply the little that we entrust to him.

But more personally, my own heart is turning over the vivid memories of the people God is drawing to himself in our Youth Fellowship—the sons and daughters of dear friends, our volunteer team who have become like brothers and sisters together, so many of you who have prayed for and encouraged us, and not least of all those students who have shared their confessions, hopes and prayers with one another. I hold all of them in my heart with gratitude and hope.

These things have me thinking about how Jesus compares the Kingdom of God to something of great value – a treasure buried in a field or a pearl of inestimable worth. The worth of these, like the Kingdom of Heaven, is not obvious or known until found. The worth is hidden in a promise, and it invites us to come find it, and only in having found it can we truly know the blessing.

Dear friends, I know the blessing that God has given to this fellowship, and I praise him for it. And I look forward to the grace to come as this ministry presses on.

With gratitude,