The official New Years plan

Yo yo yo

So its done, after much deliberation, research and soulsearching, the verdict has come in. WE WILL BE SPENDING NEW YEARS AT THE FINNISH BETHEL CHURCH :)

We will have our normal plans for the night. We will watch a movie or two, either make food or then order it, and also have some time in prayer and (maybe even some worship ) I felt that with the responses and the upcoming ski camp, having the New Years at the Church made it most fair to everyone in the way of attending.
So with that said, I figure that we should meet around 8 on sunday night, and be prepared to be picked up around 8 or 9 on Monday morning. We should have a fun night, and i'll try to come up with something a little different for us to do, (at least for some of the time :)
These are the things that you should bring
1. Sleeping bag (if you plan on sleeping)
2. 5 dollars for food and stuff
3. A cheerful attitude and willingness to start the year in prayer and devotion to God
4. Yourself and whoever you can convince to come :)
5. A favorite movie, which is suitable to watch as a youth group :)

God bless all of you and see you on Sunday night

-Miika-

New Years

Hey guys

So me and Marja are hopin that you all had a very merry Christmas :) We did :) Its always a special time of the year, and hopefully all of you guys spent some of Christmas reflecting on Christ and His birth!
But on to business! As most of you know, NEW YEARS is approachin quick!!! And we still have not decided whether we are gonna meet at the Church or all go our separate ways? So the question is being asked!!!!
1. How many of you guys are wantin to spend NEW YEARS at the Church? It would be cool to keep up the tradition of hangin out there for it, but I need to know how many of you are into it? SO THE REQUEST IS THAT YOU POST ON THIS BLOG OR WRITE ME AN EMAIL IF YOU WANT TO MEET AT THE CHURCH. IF I GET ONLY A FEW FEEDBACKS, WE WILL NOT MEET FOR NEW YEARS AND INSTEAD FOCUS ON SPENDING SKI CAMP TOGETHER THE FOLLOWING WEEKEND!!!
I am cool with whatever you guys decide, as always ; Magority rules. I will post on Friday with the results :) The proverbial ball "is in your court" on whether we meet :)
God bless all of you and get back to me on your plans....

-Miika-
ps. Friday will be the cutoff, as arranging something else for New Years will take its own time :)

Hey guys

So I just wanted to thank all of you guys for your efforts on Saturday :) Our fundraiser was a success once again, and actually the people liked the food even more than last year! So a huge collective THANK YOU is in order. I was so proud of all of you guys, the last hour before the start was incredibly hectic, and I was so impressed to see some of the leadership qualities rise out in some of you :), that I have suspected you posessed all along :)
We are still figurin out the total amount raised, but we certainly did raise a substantial amount of money in one day :) We'll have to decide on the purchases as a youth group, but we'll do that in the New Year.
So with that all said, me and Marja really want to wish all of you a blessed Christmas. Remember to use these holidays spending time with God and your loved ones. Christmas is a special time and it should be spent reflecting on Christ and His birth, and on the wonderful plan of Salvation that God put into progress so many years ago...
We truly hope that all of you can enjoy this Christmas like never before!
God bless all of you and see you soon

With love; Miika and Marja

ps. We still have not decided on a plan for New Years. I am willing to do the overnight Church thing, but we need you guys to give us an idea over it or anything else. So please comment on the BLOG over what YOU would like to do for New Years :)

Fundraiser

Hey y'all

So its here, our annual fundraiser :) This weekend is gonna great! I've been plannin stuff all week and tomorrow my fetching of "turkey, ham, potatoes, stuffin soup etc...) is beginnin. I'm gonna get everything that I can possibly think of for the Christmas dinner. Its of great importance that you guys all try to show up early on Saturday morning. I'm gonna be there at 8:00 a.m sharp, we will get some coffee goin and just relax for a few minutes. I'm hopin that all of you guys come out and pitch for this weekend. We will all enjoy the things and experiences that this fundraising money will get us, so lets all enjoy some fellowship time making food and working at the Church.
I can't force you to get there super early, but it would be nice to get the major brunt of work out of the way early, so that we won't be all stressed out as dinnertime approaches :)
So thats about it, I was thinkin that it would be cool if we all dressed in black and white (dark and yellow,brown and white, etc) It would give a good effect I think. So with that said, if you have dark pants or dresses and white shirts, please wear them :)
Ok, I think that I covered everything here. Remember to pray for our weekend and remember to spend time with God. I havnt preached enough to you guys of late, and if you come out on Sunday morning. I WILL :)
So have a great week and God bless
-Miika-
ps. As all of you remember, there is no youth this Friday...

Hello Peeps,

Okey dokey... so everyone who was at youth last week (that doesn't inlcude me) has recieved a registration form for ski camp from my wonderful girlfriend Liisa. So if you plan on coming please remember to fill out this form and also bring your $20 deposit. Now if you haven't gotten a hold of this form yet,then there will be some available to you this weekend. Bring your deposit this Friday or Sunday and fill out a registration form. Also remember any friends that you would like to bring are always welcome.... but remember that we do have a max capacity limit of 25-30... so first come first served. Once we have all the forms in, we can calculate prices for each individual accordingly to what activities they are taking part in. So remember to register this weekend,cause this is your last opportunity to be a part this awesome long weekend. If you have any questions about anything regarding this ski camp, please get a hold of myself or Liisa. I hope everyone can make it out and I garauntee you this is something you don't want to miss! If anyone is nervouse about skiing or boarding.... don't worry... not everyone is going on the slopes. You can also go snowtubing or just hang out with others in the village or at the cabin. Our food plans are outlined in the registration package.... so no worries there. Also our fund raising will help out to reduce costs for each individual. Alrighty I think that is all I need to get out to you guys for now. So hopefully I will see all of you guys Friday.... Liisa and I are gonna try and make it out after her Christmas concert. I feel like I haven't seen you guys in ages... I have had some really busy weekends. So God bless everyone and I will see you soon.

-Jarno

Just a little reminder!

Yay for this season of fun times and Christmas!! :D :D
So just a gentle reminder... this Sunday we are having our Christmas celebration at church. It is important to be there! Everyone who took the song sheet to "Away in a Manger" should be coming! We should all be there around 4ish so we can practice ahead of time! It will be great times and I know everyone will love Darren's solo! yay! so come out and join the Christmas Spirit! On Friday I will attempt to get to church after my Christmas Concert at school. I am not making any promices, cuz I really don't know if I can make it to the church before all of you are gone to practice. But I will try! Anyway, please come out. I would really appreciate it!
God Bless, Liisa

Yulin with the youth....

Hey guys

So I have a few reminders and things to mention in this edition. I'll address them by numbers.

1. This Friday we will be havin our Christmas party and gift exchange. Remember to bring a gift valued at 5-10$ if you want to participate in our exchange. If its impossible to get the money, then come out and have fun anyways. We'll have some good munchies and fellowship :)
2. So how many chocolates have been sold so far? I sold 2 boxes to Daren :) and am resigned to the fact that i'll just buy the rest :) Hopefully you guys are doin better than me.
3. Remember, Remember, Remember to make sure that you come out and help us for the fundraiser. Its Dec 16th and we'll arrive at the Church at 8:00 a.m to get started!!!
4. I just wanted to compliment some of you youth who were out a week and half ago sortin bottles at the Ahlgrens. I heard that over 200$ was raised, thats phenomenal work and we should all really pitch in and help. If a few youth managed this, imagine what we could do if we all helped?
5. My final point is about the Christmas gift :) We raised 60$ for a needy family in Africa, which we will use to buy 2 hens and a rooster for them. It will supply them with much needed food and income, so great job to all of you guys :)
So thats it for now. We'll be startin at 7:30 on Friday, if any of you want, you could bring out some food to eat. We will bring some stuff, but lets all chip in :)

God bless all of you guys and hopefully we'll see you all on Friday :)

-Miika-