THANK GOD THAT GOD IS GOD!

Have you ever wondered if anything you do is helping or making an impact or if you are just spinning your wheels? Sometimes we all feel that way. Sometimes, at camp this week that feeling has resurfaced. Well.....tonight God sort of shared with some that if it feels that way....it doesn't really matter....because we can do everything we can think of and fail, but God is still God and will finish what He wants to accomplish. Our best efforts from our own power, will most often fail and then (and usually, only then) can we see God at some of His finest work.

Our group of teens tonight, experienced an evening of worship that was straight from heaven. It was an impactful night that hopefully will follow them throughout the rest of their lives. Yes, we had some great fun on the beach and at the cookout at the park....but then....God's glory was so bright that each and everyone of these teens knew it and felt it there. How do you explain that to someone that wasn't there? How do you share that with anyone in a way that does it justice? I doubt that it can be done.......you will just need to join us next year. Because year after year, theme after theme that raises questions in our minds, God shows up at this camp in a big and mighty way.

The teens of Ground Zero want to thank everyone who helped make this trip to camp possible. You know who you are, and you have been just as much a part of this camp! Thanks!

WOW!

Can you believe it is ALREADY Wednesday morning (isn't it?) Our camp week is flying by and has been an amazing journey into each persons world. This theme of time is HUGE! It comes at you from every direction and then does a transformation into another form and returns again. I admire the camp for taking this on. It is a journey that takes a lot of TIME! (you get it?)

Our small group meetings have been amazing as well! Monday night we split into 3 groups and had some great discussions. Last night we stayed as the larger group which gives everyone an insight and thoughts on the same things. Everyone is still in the "processing" mode a lot of the time and it will be interesting to see how that all looks in a while.

Meanwhile, back at the beach (we MUST have beach pictures from Panama City) there have been crab hunts, relaxing times and making a swim/dive platform out of a kiddie pool. Plus the grand trip to Walmart! Today is the "get your own dinner" day and we are going to a local park for a cookout and mindless games. We wish you were all here with us, and are convinced that you wish you were too!

Enjoy the pictures.....and talk to you soon!

WE MADE IT!

The trip to Panama City Beach went so smoothly that we arrived earlier than we ever had. Abby handled the ride very well and we rejoiced when we got to the Boardwalk Beach Resort. Pizza for supper (as usual on the first nite) and then the "Big" meeting. It was great....we have a different emcee this year because many of the regulars of BigStuf are at a conference at Daytona Beach, but the group that they put in place for worship and messages is still top notch.

The theme for this year is "Time". Hmmmmm.....we wondered......what are they going to do with that? What angle will they take? It seems to be coming from different angles, and we have found that it really doesn't matter. ANY of them are teachable moments. After the "Big" meeting, we had our church group/small group time in which topics were discussed about giving back our time to God, what do they want their story to be over time, etc. It is just the beginning on an amazingly interesting topic! A few pictures are attached to show you a little bit of what is going on here.

Today we also had our "leaders" time while the youth had their own special programming. The leaders meeting was awesome. Isn't it great when God sends someone else to tell you that you are on the right path. That what we are doing is what others see is the thing that needs to be done!?!?!? The whole message that was given is hard to sum up, but it is basically that we have a young culture that is totally different. One that the older generation can't really be expected to enter in or understand.....BUT.....we do not have to join their culture, we just need to love them like Jesus and show them that they are loved no matter what, that they can trust God no matter what, and that God created them completely unique and special and because of that they are valuable and loved!

Meanwhile, back at the student meeting, Kaitlin Reeves won 2nd place (out of 1500 others) in the Simon Says Contest. She was awesome and the whole room had a great time with that! Congratulations Kaitlin.....you will have to show us the T-shirt that you won.

Well, we are off to tonight's Big Meeting! Thanks for all of your thoughts and prayers!
Talk to you some more real soon!
Tracy

SOOOOOOOIIIIIIEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!

The Pigs have started to return home to Ground Zero (where else would they go?). As you can see there were teens counting change for quite some time. The initial estimate of the first returnees is around $275.00 It is so great to see everyone working together to make it possible for every teen to get to get to go to camp that wants to!

We also had a great time talking about whether or not we are sinners (what do YOU think?) and how Independence Day with Christ is a brand new perspective on freedom. Freedom from sin...freedom from condemnation....freedom from judgement. It is so good to be free! And...if we can wrap our hearts around that, what an amazing reality is waiting for us!

Count down to camp.....12 days.

Let's Work on Getting Some Money!

Hi everyone! Our plans to have a spagetti dinner fundraiser are in motion. The date for the event is Saturday June 27th at 6:00 p.m. But we need plenty of items to help out with it. Soooo....this Saturday (June 6th) we will be meeting at Grace Life in Woodstock at 9:30 and heading out in groups to visit some local businesses who might help.

PLEASE come and help if you can, even if you don't plan to go to camp. This is going to be step 1 in the fun! Really! Bring your smile, your camera, your charm, and your sense of humor! The love of Jesus shines through you and guess what....you can't hide that! Hopefully we will get done pretty quickly and can go somewhere and get some brunch/lunch.

Please text me at 678-770-6245 if you can come and help! See ya Saturday morning!

VALUE......DO I HAVE ANY?

The topic this week was all about treasures and value. What treasure? What value? Do I have any of either? Where do I get it?

This all came together with the Parable of the Treasure and the Pearl. It seems that when we read over these parables, we assume that the treasure is Jesus and we can sell everything we have to purchase the treasure. Sweet! or......NOT! That is not the theme of the new covenant at all. Instead, trying looking at this with Jesus' eyes and wisdom and maybe we will see that WE are the treasure. WE have value to Jesus....so much so that He gave up everything HE had to come down here and purchase us with His blood. Pretty cool, huh!!!!

On the flip side, we also looked at the value of camp and the treasure we need to find to purchase that. So.....a car wash is in the planning. And so is a dinner and Karaoke night of some sort. The Planning Committee will meet Tuesday at 5:45....come on over if you want to help plan. AND THEN.....Ground Zero is going to be at Etowah High School this Tuesday to watch our fellow "GROUNDERS' perform in a concert. I hope everyone can come. If you are not in the planning meeting, just meet us at the Etowah Auditorium at 6:45.

Have a great week!

A FUND RAISING BRAIN STORM!

As camp approaches, we are looking for new ways to raise some money for those who need it. Lots of ideas flew by and are on the plate. One of our favorites is the "Recliner Revolution" in which we raffle off the opportunity to spend your Sunday morning at church in a recliner or sofa instead of the hard unforgiving chairs that are now there.

Many other ideas have come up, and we are selling note pad/stationary which are always a great thing to have...so sell on! The car wash idea is still out there....we could do it now, but because of water restrictions, we would have to finish by 10:00 a.m. Now that kind of puts a "drip" on a car wash. We will watch and wait for a better opportunity...it may even be after camp.
I will be making a list of the other ideas and seeing which one everyone is willing to do.

After we finished with money (do you ever finish with that?) we also discussed a possible Asylum for this summer. Anyone who is interested in that, please talk to Ms. Tracy or Sam and let us know....if you need more info on that, we can help you with that as well.

We then did an activity describing our relationship with God in conjunction with a candy bar. Each teen was given some type of candy (sweetarts, 100,000 bar, etc) and then shared how that candy can somehow describe how they think of God, or God them. It was a great thing and lots of fun!

Brochures for camp are going out this week, and we will need to know definitely who will be going...and don't forget the T-SHIRT competition. Send in your entry by May 26th in order to be chosen the official "T-shirt for camp".

In addition to our prayer request time, I have been specifically praying for some of you and will be watching to see if God has impacted your world a little more lately! As always, WATCH FOR GOD in your world.....let us know what you see!