SPYAbilene

Oh the weather outside is frightful . . .

well maybe not frightful, but it is very wet, so Mid-High Bible Study is CANCELLED TONIGHT

If ya’ll are any bit as tired as I am, you might appreciate another day to recover from a great trip.  So get some rest before school starts.  Yes — rest, not staying up all night and we will resume all of our activities on Sunday for Sunday School and UMYF.

You will move up this week in Sunday School.  So all about to be 9th graders will now meet in the High School Sunday School Room.

Please spread the word about tonight.  If there is significant interest, we may got see a movie together Thursday or Friday afternoon.

Blessings!
trey

We are back safe and sound but very tired from Mystery trip.  It was one of the best mystery trips ever even though there were several surprises even for me.

You can hear about the mystery by clicking the SPYCast at the top of the page or see pictures with brief commentary by going to the Triplog from the tab at the top of the page or directly at spyabilene.wordpress.com

Even though most of the summer is behind us, we have one more week before school begins.  So, this week I hope you will make plans to join us at Play Faire Park for Bible Study from 6:30 PM to 8:00 PM.

Mid-High at Play Faire on Tuesday (Yes, new 6th graders are more than welcome!)

Senior-High at PF on Wednesday (Yes, New 9th Graders that means you.)

$3 gets you golf, snacks, and bible goodness.  Plus we’ll pass out our remaining prizes from our summer of fun.

See ya there!

Twice a day during our Mystery Trip, we will be having our own, personal devotional guide. All who are interested in joining us in our devotions are welcome to download our devo guide.

A special thanks to Eric Prather for his graphic design work on the covers.

08mysterytrip-devos.pdf

Wanna know what’s going on with all of the Mystery Trippers.

Keep up to date with where we are and what we are doing by checking right here at www.stpaulyouth.org.

The two places to look for what’s happening are at the top of this page.

SPYCast - this is an audioblog that is normally updated several times a day when we are on trips.  I will be calling in updates on to what’s been going on that day and it will be posted on the SPYCast.  You can also sign up to receive updates by email.

Triplog - this is the blog for all of our trips.  I now can take pictures and leave small blog details with my phone and it is automatically uploaded to our Triplog.   You can access it directly at http://spyabilene.wordpress.com/ 

Here’s what’s happening this week:

Monday:  Movie night with RockBand and EXTREME WASHERS
at St Paul 7:00pm - 9:30pm

Tuesday:  Extreme Makeover - Church Edition
at St Paul 1:00pm - 7:00pm
Come ready to work and I’ll feed you well for dinner!

Wednesday:  Final Summer Fieldtrip
Meet at St Paul at 1:00 pm.
We will be back by 5:00 pm.

Thursday:  Mystery Trip!  Woo-hoo!

As we sadly say goodbye to another great summer, it means that we have another NEW YEAR about to start!  This next year is gonna be great!

It all starts this Sunday with the Kick-Off Youth Banquet at Abilene State Park.  This is an event for the whole family young and old.  The cost is $5 per adult — no charge for youth or younger siblings.  When you get to state park, let them know at the front gate that you are with the St. Paul Youth Group and they will write your name on the visitor list, but there is no charge to you at the gate.  We will be in the recreation hall across from the Screened Shelters 6, 7, and 8.  A map is available here.  Here’s a map to get there.

It starts at 3:00 PM with swimming and fellowship.  In our area, we will have several activities including washers, Bocce ball, croquet, and frishers.  We will eat our brisket dinner at 6:00 PM and the program starts at 7.  Activities will conclude at 8.

During the program we will review the summer that was and reveal the new year that is yet to be.  We will also have a notary present to sign the release forms for the new school year.

This is a time of celebration and getting to know all of the families within our church family.  I hope that this time will be a priority for you and your family.

The rest of the week will be filled with Mission and Merriment.  On Monday-Wednesday we will be creating a space, loving our neighbor and fellowshipping together.   Thursday begins our Mystery Trip.  (Woo-Hoo!)

Hang on this in gonna be one wild ride!

Please email trey with questions or call the church office.

Here’s to another great year!

I hope that you’ve already got this great summer event on your calendar.  I know that the price and list of things to bring weren’t on your offiicial St. Paul Youth Flyer, but the truth is that if they were IT ALL CHANGED THIS WEEK!

With the recent scare in the Gulf with the Hurricane and the fact that we were headed to the Houston area, I decided it best to change the whole enchilada.  Not that you would have really known, after all — it is a mystery.

So here’s the new and improved information about this year’s mystery trip:

What:  2008 Youth Week Mystery Trip
“Fish Tales”
Who:  All incoming 6th through 12 graders AND recent grads (this is your last trip as a youth)
When:  Same Dates (8/14-17)
Be at St. Paul at 8:00 AM on 8/14
We will return between 3 and 7 PM on 8/17
Where:  ????   I can’t tell you where, but I can tell you that it is gonna be very cool!
How Much:  $70 (Scholarships available)
Spending Money (1 Nice Meal/1 Fast Food and Fun Money) $20 - 35
What do I need to bring:
Bible — Muy Importante’
Journal — of any kind
Bedding - for sleeping on the floor — pillow, sleeping bag, etc.
toiletries - including deo, meds, towel, soap, shampoo,
Clothes — Active Clothes, Casual Clothes, Worship Clothes, Swimwear (extra towel)
*** Thursday come dressed in active clothes — ie tennis shoes, shorts (no skirts), tshirt
*** Will need nice clothes for worship — No Shorts/Jeans/Tshirts or Flip Flops/Tennis shoes for WorshipWear
Sunscreen
Medications
Camera (optional)
A Fish Tale (Not tail — bleh!)

We will need a NEW release form for you for the 08-09 school year, but you can sign up at the Kick-Off Banquet on Sunday.

There is still time to sign up for church camp.

United Methodist Camping Changes Lives!

I say it all of the time and will continue to say it until everyone knows the power that camping has for our young people. This page has all of the links and info to get you off to camp. Of course if you need additional information, please call the church office 672-7814 or email trey@stpaulyouth.org.

Which camp do I need to go to?
A full list of all of the camps and their appropriate ages are here.
All of the camps are great camps, but for an economy of resources, we will providing transportation and sponsors to the following camps:

Senior High (9-12 Grades - Just completed) Vision Camp - July 14-18
Mid High (6-8) Crossroads - July 21-25
Elementary (3-5) Whoz-We-R - July 28-Aug 1

You can register online or fill out these forms.

Scholarships are available through St. Paul and the conference. Email Trey for details.

Need some more encouragement?
Watch this.

Today is the day we are on our way.

Please keep the youth group in your prayers.  You can check our progress at http://www.stpaulyouth.org/?page_id=16
The link is for our Youth Podcast page.  Each day we will check in and let you know what went on.  You can sign up to receive an email whenever the podcast is updated.

Follow along on our journey by following our devotional guide.  08missiondevo.pdf

If you are looking for the place to sign-up for any of the summer trips, look no further.

You can sign-up for all of our summer trips in one place: Summer Trip Sign-Up

For some trips you will need additional forms (like camp), but go ahead and sign up at the link above and we will make sure you get the rest of the forms if necessary.

By the way, we are beginning to keep a repository of forms at http://www.stpaulyouth.org/?page_id=72