highschool

This Week In High School Ministry and Important Life Group News!

The Service Project at the Serra/Millbrae Convalescent Home has been cancelled due to a flu outbreak at the Home.

The High School Ministry will meet this Sunday, January 31 at 11 am at Charter Square. We will continue our series in James.

We have our first Dominican Republic meeting this Sunday, January 31 at Charter Square from 1-3 pm. Your non-refundable $250 is also due!

This Wednesday, February 3 we will open another Life Group Hub in San Mateo. Don't forget that February 3 is a Life Group Fun night. Our Foster City Hub has outgrown the house we are using. Students who live in the San Mateo area will be meeting at our new hub at the Farbstein's starting February 10. Life Group leaders will be calling you this week with all the info.

This Week In High School Ministry

The high school ministry has a busy weekend!

High School Students if you would like to serve on Saturday, October 31,we are traveling to San Francisco to partner with Cityteam Ministries' Bags of Love project. We'll be preparing and distributing lunches and basic hygiene supplies to people who live in a very poor neighborhood. We travel in groups and visit them at their homes. Afterward we'll spend some time eating our own lunch in the city. We'll return by 2PM at Central Peninsula Church (not charter square).

Since its the first Sunday of the month don't forget that you go to the second service starting at 11 am.  We will be sitting in the back on the left hand side by the sound booth! Come and sit with us!

Have you got your dodgeball team together? You still have a couple of days! Join us on Monday, November 2 for a Peninsula wide Dodgeball Tournament.  Make sure to RSVP on our Facebook invite!

Don't forget to turn your clocks back too!

High School Ministry Partners with Faith In Action

Last Sunday a group of high schoolers partnered with CPC Millbrae’s “Faith In Action” event. CPC Millbrae organized eight service projects throughout the community. The CPC Foster City High School Ministry took part in the Serra Millbrae Convalescent home visit. Alongside adult volunteers, high school students put together and delivered easter baskets, helped with landscaping projects, played some bingo, and visited the residents of the home. The home director had this to say, “Thank you to all your youth volunteers for putting smiles in every faces of our residents as they talk and handed the easter baskets to them.” Alot of the students had an opportunity to do things they’ve never done before, and reach out to their community. I think some good connections were made both with the adult volunteers and residents. We’re planning on and looking forward to visiting again in the near future!

A Busy Weekend for High School Ministry

Saturday:  If you are going to the fundraising event for Mexico, meet at Charter at 8:30 am.  You will be back at 7 pm. Make sure to fill out your paper work!

Sunday: We are participating in CPC Millbrae's Faith In Action: Meet at Charter at 8:30 am. We will be serving Millbrae Convalescent Hospital.  We will be back at Charter at 12:30.

Sunday: If you are going to Mexico, it's our last training meeting before we go!  Meet at the CPC Lobby from 3-4:45.  Don't forget that your notarized "Consent to Travel" form is due.

Sunday: Life House is meeting from 5-7:30.  It's our last teaching in our series on The Sermon on The Mount.  Hope to see ya there!

Trips You Should Put On Your Calendar!

Mark your calendars! Important Spring Break and Summer trips dates and info for High School Ministry:

Spring Break Mexico Mission trip, April 4-11, $250. Mandatory info meeting, Sunday, February 1 at 12:30 PM at Charter Square. Download the info from this blog.

Dominican Republic Mission Trip, June 9-16. Mandatory info meeting, Sunday, January 25 at 12:30 PM at Charter Square. Info on this blog coming soon.

Rock-N-Water, July 21-25, $300. An outdoor adventure camp that will stretch you physically and spiritually like never before! Whitewater rafting, canyon exploring and rock climbing. Watch this blog for more details.

Summer of Love

Two weeks ago we started our "Summer of Love" service project. Mandy and Kristin shared their passion for children in Africa who are in desperate need for the basic supplies to receive an education. The high school ministry's goal is to raise $700 in 7 weeks to provide supplies to a school in Kibera. Kibera is located in Nairobi, Kenya, and is one of the largest slums in the entire world. This is week 2 in our Summer of Love service project. Come and find out where we are to reach our goal!

Guest Blogger, Paul Cornell writes about his experience on the High School LA Missions Trip

Paul Cornell has been a long time leader in the High School Ministry. He is a guy who I have a ton of respect and admiration for, so I was excited when he said he would write his very first blog post!

"We had six days with Center for Student Missions in Los Angeles, an organization that provides urban mission experiences that honor Jesus Christ. As a group we sorted food at the L.A Food Bank, prepared food at Project Angel Food, spent three afternoons at the Boys and Girls Club of Hollywood where we played, helped with homework, and did art projects with children. We spent a morning with a woman named Sister Luz whom I had worked with on a past trip in 1996. She is 65 and has been serving Christ in L.A and the skid row area for 28 years. She does street church and then gives out food. We were to sing some songs and give a message and then help pass out food. Sister Luz instructions to us were, "this is not a time to be timid, sing and speak boldly in the name of Jesus Christ." We served food at the Midnight Mission
on skid row as well. One morning we split up into three group and took a homeless person to breakfast and spent an afternoon at a convalescent home. Our last night was spent at the beach for dinner and our last study on the Beatitudes. Bible studies had been taught on Matt 5:3 - Blessed are the poor in spirit, 5:7 - Blessed are the merciful, 5:8 - Blessed are the pure in heart and 5:9 - Blessed are the peace makers, which were all excellent. Some of our upper-classmen led our devotion time. Now came the time for affirmation which is a very powerful, emotional time. We sat on the beach sharing and I know we were all thinking about what God had shown us during this fast paced week. I kept thinking about Sister Luz , an amazing woman, who has probably gotten more about serving our Lord then I'll ever know in a lifetime. These amazing
students never stopped serving, encouraging or doing whatever was asked of them and I've been sitting at this computer trying to put into words how special they all are to me and how they have blessed my life and I don't have the words. All week they imitated Christ's humility in Philippians 2:1-2, "If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose." All week long God once again showed me how blessed I am, my prayer is that I act like it."

Guest Blogger, Rebecca Gleason writes about the High School Missions Trip to LA

Hi all! I am Becca Gleason (junior) and I had the privilege to go to LA again with the High School group! It was no where near as amazing as last year: the group was too big- not at all like a family, and nothing could ever possibly amount to last year’s trip. I am totally kidding!!! This trip BLEW ME AWAY! But the description above was a list of my doubts I had as I embarked on the trip this year. Nothing could ever amount to last year. Sure, God could teach me stuff, but really, nothing significant compared to last year. And, I could never grow as close to a group of 10 people as I did last year with a group of 5. I struggled with doubting God and the trip. He proved me SO wrong. He was AMAZING and the trip was AMAZING! Besides feeling God talk through me to a homeless lady (trust me the girl talking to the woman was not just me!) and besides growing extremely close to a bunch of amazing other high-schoolers, God met with me. I was cracking 150 eggs for pies at Project Angel Food. I was thinking about the trip, and realized I love going back home and telling everyone I stayed in Watts, the ghetto. God completely convicted me, right there, as I was spilling yolk all over myself. Yes, I should be excited to tell people what we did, but what if I didn’t have anyone to tell? That shouldn’t change my excitement or energy to serve, because I should be doing it ALL for the LORD (not so I can brag at home). God made me feel so small, completely His servant, doing the work for no other reason but for Him and to reach out to people through Him! Right there, God was AMAZING to me! It was the best realization/conviction, I was genuinely humbled like I have never been before... and it felt great! And there, I felt God’s presence most and that was one of the best experiences in LA for me.

Guest Blogger, Stephen Petiti Shares About the High School Missions Trip to LA

Hey everybody, this is Stephen Petiti. I'm a senior in the High School ministry and this past week I went with about 8 other high schoolers and 3 leaders. I have to say out of all the things I've ever done that was one of the best experiences of my life. One of the places that made the biggest impact on me was Macarthur Park. The first night we arrived we drove around town and when we drove past there, we saw people gambling for drugs and fake id cards. We drove to the other end of the park then got out and prayed for the people who sleep there and/or shoot dice(or something else) there every night. There was a famous building across the street from there as well as a government building so we prayed for the rich people who hang out across the street as well as the government to help make the park a better place.

A few days later we went back down there to eat lunch and on our way back to the car we went through a tunnel under the street to get back to the other side of the street. Under the tunnel there was graffiti everywhere except for one spot, which caught my eye. It said "Spend your energy seeking for your eternal life................ There is a God." I was really struck by that. Around this was tons of graffiti layered over, time and time again, but this single quote, which was dated 1990, is the one thing that is not painted over. I find it amazing in an area known for being a place of drug deals, gambling and every other kind of illegal activity you can think of, the one thing thats been there for as long as ive been alive is this quote about seeking eternal life. It gives me hope that there can be a difference made in that area because apparently there is a great respect for God even in that area.