Update | Winter 2017/2018

Hello everyone! Greetings from chilly Germany. We hope you’ve all had a wonderful Christmas and New Year season! The past couple months have been a whirlwind so we’ve fallen behind a little bit in our updates - our apologies. Here’s what’s been happening in our world of military youth ministry in the KMC (Kaiserslautern Military Community):

From where we left off in our Fall 2017 update, after our day trip to hike the Devil’s Table rock formation and in addition to our weekly club and Bible study meetings, we held a photo scavenger hunt in the Ramstein BX followed by a Thanksgiving-Before-Thanksgiving celebration with high school friends. In December we began a new form of contact work: bringing doughnuts and games to Ramstein High School on Thursday mornings before classes start. It’s been a fun way to meet more students and give them a positive start to the day. Meagan and the female leaders hosted a cookie decorating party at our home for high school girls, and we also hosted a big Christmas party with all of our high school friends to cap off the end of the semester. 

Fun with high school friends at our HS Christmas Party!

Someone brought a smoked fish for the White Elephant gift exchange. It was received with disgust, delight, and entertainment to all.

A few of our core kids PCS’d (Permanent Change of Station, aka ‘moved’) back to the US at the end of the semester, which impacted many of our remaining core kids. It’s always hard to say goodbye to teens we’ve invested in and care for, but it’s even more heart-wrenching to see how difficult it is for our teen friends to say goodbye to each other. 

Shortly after the semester ended, we flew back to Colorado Springs to visit our families for Christmas. It’s the first time we’ve been able to come back to the US for Christmas since we moved overseas, and it was wonderful to spend time with our parents, siblings, extended family, and a few old friends while we were there.

It's such a blessing to have so much extended family together at the holidays!

Once we got back to Germany at the beginning of January, we spent the first two weeks focused on contact work at RHS and preparing for our upcoming events. We kicked off the semester with a New Year's Party, where teens got to play games, make new resolutions for the year, and celebrate the ball drop with sparkling cider.

Reviewing 2017 with the "Ariana Grande" stool challenge... trust us, it was a thing.

Fun, food, and games are always a great way to start off the year (or at least the semester)!

We held an interest meeting for high school students who are interested in taking more ownership in Club Beyond, who we’re calling Club Beyond Ambassadors. The Ambassador team exists to provide high school teens the opportunity to develop leadership skills, volunteer and serve behind-the-scenes, and ultimately champion and share the story of Club Beyond in their schools and communities. 

At this meeting, we asked these teens a few questions about their understanding of Club Beyond. We were blown away by their answers! In response to asking what Club Beyond is to them, they described it as a “place where people make new friends”, “a safe place to hang out and learn more about the Christian religion while building relationships with others”, “an organization that helps military kids learn about Jesus in a fun exciting way”, and as a “family”. 

When we asked what challenges they see among their peers in their schools, the list was long. They listed “parent figures” first, particularly the absence of one or both parents in homes, whether from deployment or not; followed by: 

• relationships
• constant change (from the military lifestyle)
• self-esteem
• time
• expectations (from adults, friends, and our culture)
• broken families (especially divorce)
• gossip
• pressure (performance, peer, etc.)
• stress
• depression and other emotional/mental health struggles

This was only a portion of the difficulties these teens perceive in their world. Many of these challenges are no different from any other American high school student in the US, but with the added pressures that come with the military lifestyle, plus the isolation that many feel from being overseas. It was a humbling reminder of the importance of overseas military youth ministry!

What’s Next Update:

Now that we’re in our last couple months of ministry with Club Beyond, we’re continuing to fire on all cylinders with high school teen ministry while preparing for our move back to the US. If you’re reading this and thinking, “What?! Josh and Meagan are moving back to the US? When did this happen??”, read this post first! 

To recap: 

• At the end of March, Josh will go to OTS (Officer Training School) for two months and graduate at the end of May.
• He’s slotted to be a CSO (Combat Systems Officer), which encompasses navigation, weapons systems, and/or electronic warfare on a plane.
• While Josh is at OTS, Meagan will be in Colorado to visit her family until Josh’s graduation.
• From OTS graduation, we will head straight to NAS Pensacola, Florida for CSO training school for one year.

In other news:

Meagan has recently begun working with Young Life Expeditions! She is currently serving as a Social Media Assistant for the Former Soviet Union division of YL Expeditions. Her responsibilities include increasing awareness of the ministry happening in the Former Soviet Union division, supporting communication from local Young Life staff in the various FSU countries, and promoting YL Expeditions mission trips to the Young Life communities in this division through social media (Instagram, Facebook, website maintenance, etc.). We’re excited about this unique opportunity to serve the Kingdom! 

If you feel led, we invite you to consider and pray about continuing to support the Young Life mission through Meagan in this new form of ministry as our time with overseas Young Life Military/Club Beyond comes to a close. Please send us an email if you'd like to learn more!

Curious about Expeditions or the Young Life ministry happening in the Former Soviet Union? Check out the Young Life Expeditions website to learn about this branch of Young Life, and check out the Former Soviet Union Young Life website to learn more about the ministry happening in this division. 

Prayer Requests:

• military teens and their families stationed around the world
• upcoming ministry events with middle and high school kids
• middle school ministry in the KMC, starting in February
• our upcoming transition
• Meagan's work with Young Life Expeditions - Former Soviet Union Division
• our continued physical, emotional, and spiritual health

"All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out." - John 6:37 ESV