Another wonderful day at Falls Creek! The temp was a chilly 95* and we even got some rain over night! We started the day with another wonderful worship service. The Lead Singer really knows how to get the Youth going and to really worship the Lord through song. It is my wish that the Youth from our own church may bring this back, because it is truly an amazing feeling. We spent the day talking about Prayer and how God works through your life when you truly believe he will in your time of prayer. We learned that we can't just pray and hope, we have to pray and KNOW that God is working through all our lives in some way to answer our prayers. We all played our last volleyball games of the week. I think we are all kind of glad to have it done because now we could spend the rest of Falls Creek having fun on our own agenda and not on the agenda of the playing schedule. After the volleyball game, Hannah, Holly, Josiah, and I went to climb the 40' tower. Hannah and I ended up climbing and Holly ended up being my belay person while I climbed as I was Hannah's belay person. It was an awesome feeling to know that I had accomplished climbing 40' using only me. Hannah did an even more amazing job by overcoming her fear of heights and making it all the way to the top, even though there was an awful lot of "I can'ts" coming from her. We had a wonderful time at Tabernacle and was encouraged even more to put our best efforts into whatever we pray for. Little did we know the experience the talk would have on our lives. On our way back from Tabernacle, Jessie stopped to call Heather and give her an update and get an update on Alex at Baptist Hill. I'm sure most of you know now that Heather and Matt were in Pittsburg when the wreck happened right in front of them. I will tell you I have never seen a stronger group of Christian teens bind together to pray at that very moment. Prayers for strength of our pastor and prayers of confidence in that God was working through this moment some how some way. After we were done with our some 40min. of prayer we decided we still needed to do the no-talent/talent contest. Most are indescribable so you will just have to be at church on Sunday to see what all went on. Maybe if you are lucky enough we could have some reinactments. Other than that we are all blessed to have another day left here at camp and are hoping to use it to the best of our abilities so we can bring back a stronger spirit to our already spiritual growing church.

In Christ,
Geoff

P.S. The youth loved the pictures of the church sign and can't wait to start moving in. Keep your prayers going as we have another day to go and then will be traveling on Saturday, and we are praying for you all so that you may be braced to see the wonderful acts we are wanting to bring back to the church! Can't wait to see you all again!

Well another day has quickly flown by and it is beginning to show on everyone's faces. I believe the max amount of sleep everyone is getting may be somewhere around 5 or 6 hours depending on the side of the cabin you sleep on. This morning we had a really awesome worship in which we found out that 133 teens came up Tuesday night and dedicated their life to Christ, and another 66 had professions of Faith! Yay for Jesus! We then played in our second volleyball games today and despite the heat, we did manage a win from the team of Terry, Jessie, Brandy, Emily, and Anna. So they will play a game tomorrow afternoon and hopefully will be able to advance a little further. Other than that, the heat and just plain exhaustion has left the youth to find comfort in the shade of the pavillion and amphitheater or in our cabin the rest of the afternoon. This evening's worship was another fantastic experience, and I think we can all feel the Holy Spirit moving through our youth group especially! Thursday we would like to ask for a lot of prayer throughout the day. It will be our most lax day with only have one team playing in a volleyball game, we would hope for safety as the Youth adventure into the other parts of Falls Creek and that they can have some great things happen again. Also, we would like to pray that the predicted "cold front" that is supposed to move in, does so and it would provide for a more enjoyable time out and amongst the atmosphere of Falls Creek. Other than that, we have been pretty busy down here learning about how to ECHO the Good News and how we can be accountable with each other.

So I leave you with this thought;
"As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another."
Proverbs 27:17

Please continue to pray for our Youth and that they will in fact sharpen each other so they may strengthen their walk with Christ.

In Christ,
Geoff

It's HOT HOT HOT!!!! It was definitely a cool 109 degrees here at Falls Creek and we have been receiving updates that since the Youth have left Missouri has cooled down quite a bit. Today was a bit of a busier day today for everyone. Terry and I went to the Sponsors meeting and the sign-up for the ropes course this morning and I didn't even have to wait in Line!!! I am pretty sure all the other sponsors were wondering how we rigged the sign up because I had just walked into the room and Journey Church was called! So we got our first pick and the youth loved it! We first played some volleyball games, we got better from last year...but we still lost all 3! Hopefully tomorrow we can pull out a win or 2. The ropes course helped to challenge the Youth group to rely on each other and to really understand that it is easier to work on a challenge as a group rather than just individuals (I guess Matt was right and that a cord with only one strand is weak!). After that we came back to the cabin to have dinner, and again I have to throw in the line to Kerry and Chip, fellas the food is fantastic! Too bad you are missing out!!!! Evening worship was an amazing experience and the Youth has grown such a stronger bond to the Lord. I would have to say that the most awe inspiring moment was the 100+ teens who devoted their lives to Christ tonight during the invitation (The Bell will have a workout at 9:08a.m. tomorrow when it rings for every kid that gave their life to Christ tonight). I would like to again thank all those who have sent letters to the campers and sponsors, it is very meaningful to them as they receive them during their quiet study time and are able to meditate on your words of encouragement and wisdom. Larry, Becky is sure enjoying all of the biblical cooking recipes you are sending her! Well that is all for now as time is running out and we still have more to do tonight. Praise Jesus!!!

I again thank you all for your continued prayers while we are here and please keep praying for the youth as they keep strengthening their relationship with the Lord, Jesus Christ.

In Christ,
Geoff

P.S.
Still no pictures...this time Holly couldn't even pedal the bike fast enough, so maybe I'll try Mike tomorrow LOL!

Well we arrived at Falls Creek yesterday around 3p.m. and it has been an amazing time since we all stepped out of the wondrous Journey Church Van! Tracy and Becky were already preparing the nights meal (Lasagna, in case anyone wanted to know), and it was delicious when we sat to eat at about 5:30. After making the announcements like the schedule for clean-up duties we proceeded to get comfortable with our cabin and the surrounding area. Terry and I also spent some of this time hanging up the banner (which we accomplished using bobby pins found on the guys side of the cabin floor) and trying to figure out what was broke on Holly's vehicle this time. Well after thought we have decided that the battery died while we were unloading everything from the back hatch. OOPS… Becky's brother Stan is on the way down from Ada, Ok. to come install a new one after we had an unsuccessful time of trying to jumpstart the car. While all of this went on, the youth spent their time practicing the art of "clipping God's Love to someone." It sure did pay off! I bet we clipped probably 50 people on our way to evening worship and then proceeded to sit back and watch the clipping spread or ECHO throughout the building. After our awesome message from Andy Harrison most of the group went on their Icee dates, I really did not know what to expect until I saw the huge mob of people outside the building and stood in line for about 30min. We concluded the night with Terry giving the In-Cabin Wrap Up and I believe that the Youth have come away from it thinking about how they can reach out to the New Journey Church Area as we want to ECHO the great message to anyone and everyone we can. I know the kids would like to thank all those that have written letters to them this week, they have been truly blessed to have such a great church family. Please keep the prayers going this week as things are going to begin to get more and more busy and it progresses. Well it's almost time for Tracy and Becky's breakfast and I believe we are having Egg Casserole, so Chip and Kerry BE JEALOUS! LOL…

Catch you all on the flip side,

In Christ,

Geoff Karhoff

P.S.

Sorry there are no pictures...I can't pedal the bike fast enough to have the internet load them here.

Well here we are, the night before camp.  It still just blesses my socks off that we are taking a youth group to camp!  Five years ago when we started Journey and the youth group was myself, my sister and the Pettit kids, I would have never guessed this would be happening.  I have to admit, at times I felt slightly hopless that I would ever have a youth group again.  I left a fully established youth group for basically nothing and at the time I wondered why.  I was so upset at times and all God had to say was just wait and see.  Well I waited, and now look!!!  And although I never got to have the full "youth group experience" in high school, I am glad that they are letting me be apart of their camp experience.  I am so blessed as well to have such an awesome church family who will reach out to these youth and write letters and make the experience so personal.  Knowing that we have an entire church family at home praying for us is so...well words cannot describe it.  We know we are loved.  In true Matt Defelt fashion a song by Watermark comes to mind.  Check out the lyrics to "More Than You'll Ever Know"

Something brought you to my mind today
I thought about the funny ways you make me laugh
And yet I feel like it's okay to cry with you
Something about just being with you
When I leave I feel like I've been near God
And that's the way it ought to be...

CHORUS:
'Cause you've been more than a friend to me
You fight off my enemies
'Cause you've spoken the Truth over my life
And you'll never know what it means to me
Just to know you've been on your knees for me
Oh, you have blessed my life
More than you'll ever know, yeah, yeah, yeah
More than you'll ever know, yeah, yeah, yeah

You had faith, when I had none
You prayed God would bring me a brand new song
When I didn't think I could find the strength to sing
And all the while I'm hoping that I'll
Do the kind of praying for you that you've done for me
And that's the way it ought to be...

You have carried me
You have taken upon a bruden that wasn't your own
And may the blessing return to you
A hundredfold, oh yeah...
A hundredfold, oh yeah...

Thank you so much in advance for all that you, our church family, does for us.  We will try to update as much as possible!  Well, I'm off to bed.  Gotta get some rest for the amazing week ahead of us! 

In Christ,

Holly