EBCYG in the Summer

Tomorrow is finally our last day of school which means that summer will finally feel like it’s really here.  Unlike our friends in the south and pretty much anywhere but New York, our kids finish school pretty much at the end of June.  But we’ll take it and the end of school officially means the beginning of our Summer Youth Group.

Starting July 24th we will be down at the beach every Wednesday from 6:00-8:30pm with drop off and pick up are at the church.

We actually started EBCYG at the Beach early this year and three weeks ago enjoyed a beautiful evening with our amazing students.

Every week, we hang out and play some games and then at the end gather together for a Bible lesson and small groups.  It’s a great way to enjoy our beautiful island while getting to hang out with some pretty awesome teens.

Last week, however, the weather DID NOT cooperate and we decided to meet up at the church instead.

We played a few intense games of Underground Church and had a great time despite the unfavorable weather.

We met up on Tuesday of this week, due to a schedule conflict at the church.  And again when we were faced with bad beach weather, we modified with some worship and a lesson time at the church first.

And then we drove out to Snowflake Ice-cream in Riverhead.

We had a great group of teens with us.

As well as some amazing, recently graduated and going into Seventh Graders.

The ice-cream was great, and the friends even better!  And it was a great way to end our the beginning of our Summer of Youth Group.

We will actually be off from EBCYG at the Beach for the next three weeks, but all for good reasons.  One of the main ones, is that we are leaving with a group of teens for NTS Camp July 7th-11th.

NTS Camp is literally the greatest camp I have ever been a part of.  And every year, I tell many parents, you HAVE to send your teen to this camp.  NTS stands for “Never the Same” and I’ve seen teens leave this camp with hearts that were changed by Jesus and it is so incredible.

All of the students that attend NTS Camp are pretty much busy from morning to night and they all have an incredible time.  If you have a teen, going into 7th through 12th grade, you need to send them to camp with us because it just might change their lives.

I write all this to share an update on how our summer of Youth Ministry will go.  Again, we will be off for the next three weeks, with an incredible week of camp scheduled for the second week of July (and our missions trip to follow).

If you could, would you please be praying for our students, especially as we get ready to head off to camp?  And if you’re connected with our church or community, I also wanted to share that we have a few students who are in need of camp scholarships.  They are excited and ready for camp, but need financial support.  If you are reading this and have a heart to help teens, we would love if you were able to help sponsor one of our incredible students.  You can do this by reaching out to me through Facebook or lauraherr8@gmail.com or by contacting our church (www.eastportbiblechurch.com).  Again, NTS Camp is truly life changing and we would love to have you partner up with us as we continue to love and encourage our teens to love and serve Jesus.