Today: Malachi Youth Ministries

Escape 2009

2009-02-17T10:24:00-07:00

On February 13th we took 270 people from eight military communities to a Youth Hostel in Bitburg, Germany for our yearly middle school retreat. Our focus this year was on Joshua 1:9: “Be Strong and Courageous” and do what you know is right. We sought help students understand God’s work through ordinary people who had the faith to do what was right in His eyes. Students had a great amount of fun and enjoyed mentoring relationships with loving adults. Each day students worshipped in a large group, heard teaching from our speaker, participated in some experiential learning, and discussed what they learned in small groups. God worked in powerful ways. About half the camp, around 130, stayed behind to engage with Christ on a personal level, after the speaker presented the Gospel. About 60 of those made first time decisions to follow Christ. There might be enough server space to share from each community about how God changed lives, but we will not test that, so here is an excerpt from the Stuttgart community on what happened to them during Escape 2009: God provided in so many ways and worked in many students’ lives during the retreat!! We wanted to share some highlights and pictures with you so you could celebrate with us! Spiritual Renewal: · 4 students from Stuttgart prayed and accepted Christ as their Savior! (plus many others from different communities) · Several students shared that although they had heard the gospel before, on Sunday night they were able to fully understand and know God’s love and forgiveness. I had been praying specifically for one of these gals and it has been so encouraging to see her lit up with the joy of Jesus! She is changed and excited about God! · Many students were able to pray with leaders and friends about hard family and life issues. · The Old Testament Hero Teachings were applicable and understandable for our students! They loved hearing from Rob, our speaker and God used Him and his team mightily! · Kids loved the band and worship and truly experienced God through the singing. Relationships Built: · We had many great bonding moments through the bus ride, through crazy late night games, afternoon activities and small group discussions! · Good teamwork and life lessons were learned through the challenge games of group knot-untying and team Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwich making. J Details taken care of: · Good relationships built with the facility managers and staff · Great team work from all the leaders and staff who jumped in to help in the dining hall, bookstore, making supply runs, cleaning and so much more… You can watch all of our camp videos courtesy of YouTube.com above.

June 2008: Definitely Not The Typical “Youth Retreat”

2008-06-23T13:00:00-07:00

On June 13th 2008, several teenagers from the Army, Air Force, and Navy communities (16 from Mannheim, 1 from K-Town, 1 from Ramstein, 1 from Stuttgart, and 1 from Naples, Italy) arrived at Weiler Castle located in Bessenbach, Germany to learn how they could use their very own talents to get closer to and to draw others closer to God. Some of the teenagers didn’t know exactly what to expect, nor did they know what God had in store for them! The 20 teenagers arrived at the HYPE (Helping Youth Prepare for Excellence) Internship program highly energized to get busy with their dance, drama, music and stomp workshops. The first few days (Saturday through Monday) were spent in a number of classroom type environments showing, discussing, demonstrating, and teaching how God works through us in order to show the love of Christ, using what talents He has given. Whether it was through dance, hip-hop, stomp, drama, music, or comedy…or all of the above, the students were able to hone in on their specific talents and gain a better understanding of how to use them to glorify God. Letters to God All of the students were asked to write a letter to God. “This particular letter to God can be about anything…but it needs to come from YOUR heart”, Craig stated. ”No holding back…let it all out…tell God what is in your heart… write out your prayers” he said. The students spent the better part of two hours praying and writing their letters. They sealed them, and entered the area prepared just for them to lay the letters at the foot of the throne. Several of the students actually broke down and fell to their knees praying before they could make it to the front of the room to place their letters in the area that was prepared. Most of the students remained in a state of prayer and wept while each of the other students…one by one… took their turn and dropped the letter at the Alter. The purpose of this was for the students to completely envision themselves walking up to God and “laying it all down” at his feet. German School Assembly They then spend two days preparing for a German school assembly located near Hanau, Germany. During this time, and under the guidance of the HYPE crew and leaders, the students worked on their specific dance, stomp, drama, comedy, and music choreographies. Both days of intense “Arts” training began at 8AM and ended just prior to dinner (6PM). Worship immediately followed the students’ dinner and free time, and lasted well after midnight on both nights. Their assembly day proved to be a true “God moment” for all the HYPE students. With over 150 German teenagers in attendance at the school, all the HYPE students were able to show the love of God through their own specific art. Even though the assembly was at a Christian school, approximately 50% of the students raised their hands during the alter call at the end of the assembly to either receive Christ into their lives for the first time or to take the next step of faith in their walk with Him. The HYPE intern students were amazed at the response of the German students and finally came to the understanding that, “God can actually use me!” Downtown River Ministry God continued to work in and through the students by leading them downtown to put their training to use! The crew of 10 staff members and 20 students left Weiler Castle in anticipation of allowing God to work through them… again… in an unfamiliar area of Germany! By the time the students arrived at the river, God had already established a new faith level… in all of the students! Once the vans were parked and secured, every one of the HYPE interns made a mad dash to the center of the park to start letting God work through them in the area of dance and relational ministry. Inside the park area, the German kids slowly began to come closer to see what all the “HYPE” was about with the students dancing and the excitement they were exhibiting. Within minutes, the relational ministry began to take over and the students and local German kids began talking with each other about common interests. Once a light level of friendship was established, it sort of provoked the German kids to question what was so “different” about these people, and why they seemed to be so happy without having alcohol or drugs to lighten their mood. At first, the German kids were suspicious. Soon, they began to see the true light of what God can do in a person’s life. The HYPE Interns were able to start sharing the love of Jesus with them! Several of the German girls began to weep and cry in the streets while they were listening and sharing testimonies with the Intern students. They were able to pray with the German kids and share Christ with them; they were able to let them “KNOW” that God loved them. There were so many hurting kids at the river…some of the kids said that they actually felt like they made a difference that night just by showing the light of Jesus! It was so wonderful to see them minister to their peers in that way! The HYPE Showcase and Graduation On the final evening, the HYPE Interns led a concert showcasing the talents that they had invested in over the week, and celebrating the Interns’ graduation from the training. The evening began with Craig introducing the HYPE Interns and discussing what the internship was all about. Two very strong dance & stomp routines opened the Intern performance followed by the Worship team playing the songs, “Take it All” and “One Way” by Hillsong United. The dance and stomp teams then performed another student led stomp routine which was followed by two comedy skits, “The Dr.’s Office” and “Bohemian Rhapsody”. Two of the female students performed a very powerful rap routine while using part of the worship team for the background music. The presentation of the graduating students was yet another God stirring moment for everyone. As the students were presented the “Carpenter’s Cross”, Craig spoke a God inspired word of encouragement to each. It was a very personal time between the staff and the students, as they endured some awesome, tough times together throughout the Internship. Once the presentation of the graduate students concluded, Craig and the entire internship team set up to perform a very powerful interpretive worship dance/drama to the song titled, “Take the Limits Off”. This particular dance/drama has been accomplished by the HYPE crew for a number of years with surprising results. The students that performed in the dance were literally overcome by the move of God afterwards. Several of the students were crying on the stage, on their knees worshipping their God. The night concluded with the Worship team’s rendition of “We lift Our Voice” with the entire congregation singing along on their feet! Praise God!

April 2008: Service Project Trip Impacts More Than Students

2008-05-06T21:46:00-07:00

In Opava and Turnov in the Czech Republic and also in Katorice, Poland, Malachi youth leaders and volunteers accompanied hundreds of American military students to serve, minister, and also to grow themselves. The students, their willingness and hearts, greatly influenced the local people around them that they went to serve. In the Turnov Daily newspaper (Deník), an article was written about the students who went to Turnov and what they did there. Go here to read a translation of the article found in the newspaper. You can also see an article on denik.cz, a Czech news website, along with a video of the students working at ISS dormitory. What an amazing result! Pray with us for the ministers that working in the Czech Republic and Poland and for the military students who went on this trip—that they may know Christ fully!

January 2008: Malachi wants you to be involved. Imagine what you could do!

2008-01-30T17:23:00-07:00

see this video on vimeo.com The life of a deployed military student is ever changing, but amid that change they can have hope and peace in Jesus Christ. Imagine! What could God do through 40,000 military students? And how can God use you? What could you do? How could you help? Are you interested in learning more about working in military youth ministry overseas? Contact a Malachi Representative or visit the “Share Your Life” blog to find out more. Are you a student on a military base? Get involved. Share this video with others on vimeo or YouTube. Pass it along. You, too, can be a minister to others. If you don’t know if there is a Malachi Ministry in your area, go here to browse different locations.

August 2007: Cadence/Malachi in Christianity Today

2007-08-24T16:33:00-07:00

Cadence and Malachi were recently featured in two articles in Christianity today. They give insight to the spiritual needs of the military. There are direct links to these articles below. Be sure to check them out to find out how non-profit organizations like Cadence International are ministering to the military. The articles will be promoted on Christianity Today’s main page for a week; they will be available in their archives indefinitely after that. Article 1 - “Not Just Chaplains” by Susan Wunderink Article 2 - “Nurturing the Living” by Susan Wunderink

May 2007: Slovokia Project

2007-05-25T16:04:01-07:00

16 busses, 560 American high school students, 135 cabin counselors, 140 support staff (cooks, contractors, vacation Bible school coordinators and the like) and 80 translators! These are the raw numbers that combined to form our Spring Break Slovakia Service Project. Malachi joined Military Community Youth Ministries (MCYM) from April 8-15 for an amazing service experience that not only built play grounds for local schools but also built up Christ in the lives of local Slovak children’s through VBS, ESL and sports ministry. (Video by AFN Europe, afneurope.net)