Chad and Shawna

I'm a Terrible Blogger!

2006-02-17T08:38:00.000-06:00

Well, it's been about four months since my last blog and not too much has changed. Life is good. Still loving marriage, and Chad, and our home, and most of the time Green Bay. (We got a BLIZZARD yesterday, and the temperature is supposed to get down to -15 today... wind chill -35!) Really, it's not that bad though, when you're used to living in Michigan.
I'm working fulltime now at ACS. It's a great job, but we're adjusting to a busier lifestyle with both of us being gone almost 10 hours each day!
I love getting to speak at our school chapels. I'm in such a perfect ministry opportunity! A few weeks ago, I challenged students to start reading their entire Bibles, and the school caught hold of that vision and now we even have a bulletin board tracking students' progress on reading through Scripture! I get to preach so often and have such a relationship with these kids that I see the messages impact them. I see how they're growing and remembering what I've been teaching and it's so exciting! I'm definitely blessed!

God's blessings

2005-10-17T16:09:00.000-05:00

I've yet to be convinced that anyone actually reads my blog, so I don't know if this is worthless writing for me and all those advertisers, but in case not, here goes:

I LOVE MY JOB! God has blessed me so much. I love the constant interaction I have with the kids, I love integrating teaching them about God into everyday subjects, I love leading chapel, challenging them, and loving on them. I have friends on my staff and life is good!

So why then, do I become like the Israelites? When times were bad I was constantly relying on God and seeking Him, and now that things are going so well I almost forget about God like the Israelites constantly did in their wanderings in the dessert. Amidst my time of blessing I need to see my need for Christ!

I'm a teacher!

2005-09-22T16:20:00.000-05:00

When I resigned from Young Community, I really didn’t know what I would do next. I knew that I still want to start a camp someday, but I didn’t see how that was going to happen quite yet. Without a camp nearby to work at, my next thought was that I would love to teach Bible at a Christian school. I realized I had awful timing since the school year had just started, but nonetheless, I sent my resume to every Christian school I could find within an hour of here. I sent out the resumes less than two weeks ago. As expected, several schools merely replied that they were full, but Mrs. Pat Tofte, the administrator of Appleton Christian School (ACS) emailed me and said she was very impressed with my resume and didn’t have any openings at the moment, but she would like to meet with me.

I tried not to get my hopes up, but I went down to Appleton (about a 35 minute drive) last Friday to meet with Mrs. Tofte. When I got there, she explained how God had been working in miraculous ways to bring just the right people to the school at just the right time. She then said that between the time I emailed her and Friday she had developed an opening. The opening wasn’t for Bible, as I would have hoped, but she needed a part- time 1st and 2nd grade teacher. Knowing my passion for teaching Bible, she also offered for me to lead both the elementary and middle school chapels every Wednesday. My interview went well and I went back on Tuesday to meet the students and teachers. When I saw what I would be doing, I immediately fell in love. I accepted the position and started work yesterday (Wednesday)! (This whole process happened in about a week!)

Since ACS is a small school, 1st and 2nd grade are combined. However, they need to be split up for some subjects, so I work from 7:45-12:45 each day, teaching 1st grade Math, 2nd grade Reading, and 1st grade English. Every Wednesday I stay the full day and lead chapel in the afternoon. This is very different from what I was doing with Young Community, but I’m so excited about it because I love the constant interaction with the kids! With Chad working days and our only time to spend together being evenings and weekends, it was a great challenge balancing ministry time with kids and time with Chad. Now, I get to see the kids while Chad is at work! The school has great curriculum that brings Bible lessons into all of the subjects, so I am doing ministry while I teach Math, English, and Reading! I am so excited to lead Chapel as well because that will be a great time of ministering to the whole school. This is such an honor and privilege!

I realize now that one of the reasons I was struggling at Young Community is that I wasn’t getting to use my gift of teaching very often. Now, I use it many hours a day and it just lights me up teaching those cute 1st and 2nd graders! Also, the staff is amazing. There are several other young female teachers on staff who have welcomed me in with open arms and I rejoice because I will finally be working with friends throughout my day rather than being lonely working mostly out of my home.

I give God all the glory for providing just the right job (though it’s not what I would have expected going into this) at just the right time (now I know why God suddenly told me I must leave Young Community!). I did not expect answers this quickly, or honestly even to be this happy, but PRAISE THE LORD, prayer is powerful!

Please pray for:
· My teaching and ministry at ACS
· The young adults group Chad and I lead (We had one new student at our outreach dinner, but she and a couple other new people are interesting in coming to our group!)
· Megan and Kaiti, the high school students I mentor
· God to provide a way for my dream camp to start in His timing (if it’s His will)
· Chad’s and my marriage

September Ministry Update

2005-09-07T09:13:00.000-05:00

Dear Ministry Partners,

Following God is tough. That is definitely what I’m learning right now. When I sent you my last update, I knew I needed to be honest and confess that there were some things that I was struggling with. I was seeking God and His direction and thought that process might last quite a while. However, His direction was revealed to me last week. I was overwhelmingly confronted with the fact that God was calling me to leave Young Community. I thought this was a possibility down the road, but that if it happened it would be because God had shown me the greater path He has for me. Well, God hasn’t shown me that path yet, but He’s calling me to be obedient and leave now out of faith. God directed me through circumstances, I sought counsel from my pastors and leaders at my church, and He confirmed this decision with the truth of His Word.

This said, I’m sure you’re wondering why I am leaving. Both Chad and I did not feel Young Community provided an environment where I was challenged, experiencing growth, trained, or encouraged to use and improve my ministry skills. We felt my talents weren’t being used for the Kingdom as they should be. I love the missionaries in Young Community, but they have a much different ministry philosophy than I do. Young Community is very laid back, casual, and unstructured. They feel this allows freedom for the Holy Spirit to work. While this may be true in some cases, I am a person who needs structure. I want accountability. I want a plan and steps to follow on that plan. I recognize I’m young and new to the ministry, and I want someone overseeing me, encouraging me and helping me grow. I don’t know why God called me to Young Community to be leaving so soon, but I don’t discount for a minute the work He did through me and thus through you in these past seven months! I got to lead so many youth to Christ, I developed discipleship material for kids who accept Jesus, and I set the foundations for ministry at Lake Owen Camp for years to come. God did some mighty things through your prayers and support, and I thank you so much for that!

This past month, it became apparent that the ministry I was doing was ministry I had sought out, not Young Community ministry. Therefore, if you’re wondering if I’m continuing in the ministry, I say, “YES!” with no doubt in my heart. My church has talked of their willingness for me to come on board as a staff member there. They don’t have the funds to pay me, so perhaps I will keep raising support, but through First Christian Church rather than Young Community (Young Community will no longer accept support on my behalf). I ask that you keep your hearts open to this possibility, but since I still don’t know what God is calling me to, I’m asking you to hold off on your support for the month of September. In the absence of your financial support I need double the prayer support! I’m asking 20 of my supporters to commit to praying for me every day this month. Please email me if you are willing to commit to this. Pray for wisdom, guidance, and that God’s will be done! Please pray also for the camp that God has placed on my heart… that He would provide the right land and people at the right time!

I can never thank you enough for your love, support, prayers, and giving of your finances to support me and this ministry. None of it was in vane, you have won eternal rewards! If you have any questions or concerns about my decision or my future plans, please let me know! Otherwise, you will hear from me again in a month (or maybe sooner) and I will share with you where God has taken me at that point.

Honeymoon

2005-09-02T14:38:00.000-05:00

A couple fun honeymoon shots

Pictures of us

2005-09-02T14:27:00.000-05:00

Here's us in front of our house!

Lake Owen Camp

2005-08-17T12:59:00.000-05:00

Here are various pictures from ministry at Lake Owen... top is a skit for Prime Time (the half hour session where we hare about God, play games, etc), second is campers acting out a skit, third is Prime Time, fourth is me with some of the gymnast campers, and bottom is Eddie Bieber skateboarding (the camp has gymnastics and action sports like skateboarding, BMX, and inline)

More Lake Owen Pictures

2005-08-17T12:09:00.000-05:00

Top, we have me teaching at "crazy hair day" Prime Time (the kids are acting out a Bible story as I read). Middle are some of the older girls from Prime Time, and the bottom is Rebecca, a gymnastics coach, sharing her testimony with the girls.

Home Fellowship Group

2005-08-17T09:54:00.000-05:00

College/Young Adults Home Fellowship Group Chad and I lead

August Update

2005-08-02T14:24:00.000-05:00

August 4, 2005
Dear Ministry Partners,

In ministry, as in life, there are many ups and downs. The past couple of months have been filled with a lot of both. It’s often hard to talk about the downs in ministry, but they are very real and I must share them with you.

The skatepark has been a huge burden and stress on our ministry. Back in May, our numbers dropped severely because as the weather gets warm, kids can skate for free at outdoor parks. With an average of only 4 kids at the park each day, we weren’t able to pay the rent or keep ministry going (I even cancelled my Bible studies because no one was coming anymore). Also, a few months ago the missionary who was managing our skatepark resigned. We went through a couple of stressful months where little ministry took place and try as we may to keep things going, it wasn’t working. God sealed the door when our fundraisers flopped. Just a couple of weeks ago, we decided to turn over Skateside so it is no longer a part of our ministry.

This means more time and resources for our other ministries, but it also means that all of our work at renovating the front room into a coffee shop is now down the drain. While that is disappointing, it actually has been a good thing for me. As time went on, I was getting more and more frustrated with the coffee shop. I had great vision for how ministry would take place in that atmosphere, but I had no desire to run a coffee shop. It became apparent that I would be spending a lot of my time in areas God has not called me to. Therefore, I am no longer working toward a coffee shop. Young Community still would like to start a coffee shop down the road, but I will not have an active role in that.

Lake Owen has been going wonderfully! We’ve had over 100 kids pray to receive Christ and over 300 have been presented with the Gospel message. I am going out to camp August 6-13th to wrap up the summer, so please pray for God to work this week and that the kids who’ve accepted Christ throughout the summer would find a way to grow in their faith back home.

With no more teen center, Bible studies, coffee shop, and Lake Owen wrapping up, as you can imagine, I came to the point of saying, “What am I doing with my ministry?” This was another low. I’ve had various frustrations and discouragements over the past few months, and I’ve spent some very serious time asking God what it is He would have me do. I definitely feel He has called me to start a camp at some point in time, and I keep praying, “God, is that time now?” I am praying, trying to get word out, and watching for opportunities, but the godly counsel I have received so far says God is seasoning me and preparing me; keep waiting on His timing.

Where am I going? In this time of transition, I expected Young Community to provide a path and direction for me. But I’m beginning to learn how tough it is working for a small, new, para-church organization. I don’t feel God is directing me to leave Young Community, but He did direct me toward my church. I went to my pastors for advice, and they took me in. Our children’s pastor has started to meet with me weekly to help me set goals and vision for my ministry, since I felt that was lacking. I also expressed my interest in plugging into the church more (one of the benefits of Young Community- it’s important that I be doing Kingdom ministry, but it doesn’t really matter where) so I’m starting to attend the church weekly staff meetings. Our church’s youth pastor, Ricky, expressed a desire to see more people pour into the youth. I suggested setting up a mentoring program where young adults (mainly from the group Chad and I are leading, which is going great!) meet one on one with a youth to pour into his or her life. Ricky loved the idea, so I’m helping get that off the ground, and already we have 8 youth who are willing to commit to a weekly mentoring relationship! Also, my mentor from the church, Michelle, has really started to pour into my life and come alongside me.
What am I involved in right now? I’m spending a lot of time getting fed, whether it’s through Michelle, Jill (our children’s pastor), staff meetings, or the time I’ve been encouraged to spend alone with God. Chad and I are leading the young adults group, and I’m taking extra time to pour into those young women. I’m organizing the mentoring program, and once it’s underway I’ll continually be training the mentors. I’m mentoring two high schoolers: Kaiti, the girl I met at Skateside who came to church with Chad and I, and Megan, who is from our church and just got baptized The Young Adults Group Chad and I lead at our home
this past Sunday!
Otherwise, I’m seeking where God is at
work and trying to jump on board.

Thank you for allowing me to be so honest. I appreciate your prayers for continual wisdom on where God wants me pouring my efforts. And, praise Him, I am seeing so much fruit from focusing on individuals in my ministry rather than large groups! Thank you for believing in me and entrusting me with your prayers and support!

July Ministry Update

2005-07-17T11:36:00.000-05:00

June 28, 2005
Wow, did I have an amazing week at Lake Owen!! God exceeded our expectations ten-fold! For being a non-Christian camp, I immediately was amazed at how staff, campers, and parents were excited to have us there.

We planned theme days for each day of camp, and then most of my messages at Prime Time spun off of that theme. I was there for a week with Eddie, who ministered to skateboarders and inline skaters while I ministered to the gymnasts. Here are Eddie and I on “Clash Day.”
My schedule for the week looked a lot like this:
7:30- Breakfast
8:00- Lead prayer time for all of camp
9:30- Lead devotionals for the staff
10:30- Prepare for Prime Time
11:00- Meet with Eddie
11:30- Lunch
12:30- Lead Jr. Gymnast Prime Time (Girls age 7-10)
1-4:30- Hang out with the kids building relationships (it’s their free time)
4:30- Dinner
5:30- Lead Senior Gymnast Prime Time (Girls age 11-17)
6:30-8:30- Build relationships with staff
8:30-9:30- Participate in camp recreation activity
9:30- Go to action sports Prime Time (led by Eddie)
10:15-11- Hang out in a girls’ cabins with campers

There was a lot of time for relationship-building which was GREAT because Prime Time is optional and the kids are more likely to come if they know us. We also could share Christ with kids while we were just hanging out. I had so much fun with these girls. I would go down to the gyms and watch them practice and they would run up to me and say, “What are we doing for Prime Time today? I can’t wait!” They also talked me into playing in the water with them (though it was freezing) on things like this aqua tower (above right)!

WHAT IS PRIME TIME? We only had a half hour slot were we would teach the kids about Christ. I did this two times a day for the girls and Eddie did it once at night for the guys. (There’s a broader range of ages for the girls and twice as many of them!) Monday, I was amazed by our numbers. We had 20 Jr’s, 30 Sr’s, and 20 action sports! The camp had never had more than 40 combined before!! We did songs, a skit, a game, and I gave a short message on how your life is “backwards” without God (it was “backward day”). 10 girls prayed to receive Christ. As the week went on, we were averaging 15 at Jr, 40 at Sr, and 15 at Action. A total of 18 gymnasts and 12 Action sports campers prayed to receive Christ! What was so neat about these commitments is the kids were so excited to get a “First Week with Christ” booklet and a Bible after they prayed, and many came up to me during the week saying they’d already finished the booklet! Tuesday was “twin day” and we had the girls split into groups to act out skits. They loved this, and the point was to illustrate that we want to be like Jesus and we have to read our Bibles to know how. After this message 15 girls came up to get a devotional book they could read for the rest of their time at camp. We are so pumped about what happened with these campers. As they scatter again throughout the country, please pray that they will find a place where they can grow in their faith! Pray also for us as we attempt to do follow-up.
One of my coolest stories of the week is Liz. Liz is a counselor at camp all summer. On Monday, I needed help at Prime Time so I asked Liz if she would come pass out candy to girls as they came in the door. She agreed. At the second Prime Time of the day, she came forward afterward with the kids who had prayed to receive Christ. She told me she’s not ready yet, but she’s seeking, so I gave her her first Bible ever and a “First Week with Christ” devo book. She was very excited to start reading. Liz came back for all 8 of the Prime Time’s I led that week. One day I asked her to go on a walk during our free time. She told me about how she was raised believing in no higher power and that, despite her several Christian friends, she has never had a desire for religion and only has been in a church once in her life. We talked for at least an hour about who God is, why I’m SURE there is a higher power, who Jesus is, why she needs a relationship with Him, the questions that were holding her back, etc. Finally, we agreed that she would read the Gospel of John and pray eveyr day, “God, if you’re real, show yourself to me.” (Deut. 4:29). Since leaving camp, Liz and I have stayed in contact. She has finished the Gospel of John and along with asking me many questions like, “What does it mean that Jesus rose from the dead?” she’s asking what book of the Bible she should read next! I asked her last night if she believes God is real yet. Her response was, “I’m starting to believe.”

Pray Liz comes to know Christ personally, along with other staff members who are seeking, like Darryl and Shane. Pray for the skate directors who are opposed to our presence at camp. Pray for our ministry throughout the rest of the summer; Eddie and Andrew will spend most of the summer ministering at Lake Owen.

Thank you for making all of this possible!

In Christ,
Shawna Goldstein

May Ministry Update

2005-05-17T09:50:00.000-05:00

April 28, 2005

Things have been busy and full of ministry opportunities up here in Green Bay! There is so much to talk about, but I want to focus on the two girls in the picture at the right and the impact YOU are having on their lives.

Top is Marrissa, 3rd grade, below her is her sister Alicia, 6th grade. They have an older brother who also comes to Skateside. Their mom and dad are in prison and they live with their grandparents, who barely get by financially, on the Oneida Indian Reservation on the edge of town.

The very first Bible study I led at Skateside, these girls were playing video games, and I asked them if they were coming into Bible study. They groaned and said, "We have to." Not excited at all, they came to the first few Bible studies. Then, when the group from Texas was here on their mission trip, they led Alicia to the Lord! Another one spoke with Marrissa and discovered she was already saved. Slowly, I began to see a change in these girls. They will arrive at the Skatepark and Marrissa will just walk right into my office, plop down in any chair she wants and make herself at home. Once, when I was asking for prayer requests, she said, "Well, I guess I don't really have anything, other than, well... you." I asked her what she meant and she expressed that she was really thankful for me being there and that I'm "just really nice." I am thankful for these girls' grandmother, who is a believer and who made them start coming, but it was still obvious that they need more love in their life, and I'm being blessed to provide that!

Now, the girls are excited every week they come in to see me, but there's more. Over the past few weeks, I've noticed a change in Alicia. Her eyes sparkle as she asks questions about the Bible. She got so excited the week we talked about bringing our friends who don't know the Lord to Bible study or other events at Skateside, and she started naming people she wanted to bring. This past Sunday night, Alicia brought her friend Emily to our outreach service. This Tuesday, Alicia brought Emily to Bible study. And what were we talking about? How to be a disciple. It became evident as we went through the study that Emily was not saved, but was really wanting the faith of a disciple of Christ. At the end of the study, I went through a Gospel presentation with Emily and she very excitedly prayed to receive Christ. I then got to turn to Alicia and say, "See, you just made a disciple like we were talking about today! You brought Emily to Jesus!" I will never forget the look of excitement on Alicia's face.

This story only begins to recount the blessings I experience thanks to your support and partnership in this ministry! Thank you!

Praises:
Two other girls, Kaitlin and Jade, received Christ at Bible study a couple weeks ago.
At our second to last outreach service where I spoke, 7 kids prayed to receive Christ or rededicated their lives.
Chad and I are getting ready to move into our house May 23rd
Chad and I went up to Lake Owen Camp in Cable, WI this past weekend to see the camp we'd be partnering with this summer and meet the leaders. What a great opportunity this will be! We're developing their spiritual program and recruiting Camp Ministry Directors for them.

Prayer Requests:
Pray for financial provision for Alicia and Marrissa's family, as well as their parents being redeemed for Christ.
We are developing better ways for follow-up and discipleship of teens who receive Christ and desperately need the Lord's guidance in this phase.
One of our missionaries is no longer with us, so we are going through management changes at Skateside and ask God's provision for leaders.
May 21st is our first ever Skate-a-thon, where we hope to raise enough funds to support the park during the slow summer months. Please pray for the necessary funds.
Opening of the coffee shop is on hold due to our difficulty with our fundraiser to pay for our equipment. Pray for guidance and amazing success in the Lord's timing.

April Ministry Update

2005-04-17T09:45:00.000-05:00

March 30, 2005

So much is going on with Young Community that there is much to add since my last update.

Two weeks ago we had a youth group up from Texas on a mission trip for their spring break. They did some manual labor: painting the front room that we're turning into the coffee shop, laying baseboard, staining the counter, and much more. The room looks great and we're so much closer to opening thanks to them! I had the privilege of leading many of their activities while they were here. I coordinated their work projects, led them in team building initiatives, and taught them how to share their faith. Then, they spent two nights in the skatepark starting conversations with their peers and turning the talk toward God. Through this, twelve teens came to know the Lord, and the 11 teens that were here on the trip went home knowing how to share their faith and wanting to share with their friends. I have attached part of a survey we gave the teens at the end of their week.

THE COFFEE SHOP- We have named the coffee shop/video cafe that we are starting in our teen center Zateo Cafe. Zateo is Greek for "to seek" and comes from our theme verse, "The Son of Man came to seek and save what was lost." (Luke 19:10) We have made a lot of progress on improving the look of the room, but we still are asking God to provide donations of a few coffee tables and area rugs. We also are starting a fundraiser to pay for our coffee equipment. We must sell 700 boxes of coffee, and then our equipment will be paid for. Please pray for God to provide the coffee sales and donations necessary in His timing. Zateo will have a wonderful ministry because we will be able to draw high school and college students who don't skate to come and hang out, build relationships, do homework, etc., and we will have Bible studies and one-on-one mentoring taking place in the coffee shop to plug students into. We will also have live worship at times, testimonies, and a presentation of the Gospel.

CAMP- There has not been much progress on starting our own camp yet, but God placed an amazing opportunity in our hands. Lake Owen Camp (a skateboarding and gymnastics camp in Northwest Wisconsin) is not a Christian camp but most of their staff is Christian. They have asked Young Community to provide spiritual programming for their camp this summer and for years to come. I get to head up this project, which means putting programming into their schedule that will meet campers' needs, developing curriculum, and sending at least two chaplains a week out to the camp. We are so excited about this because so many more kids will hear the Gospel this summer thanks to this opportunity. Please pray for wisdom as we develop the programming and for the right chaplains to go minister this summer (if you are interested in being one of our chaplains, please let me know!)

One final prayer request: Young Community runs on a very tight budget and at low times (like the summer) it is hard to even keep the skatepark open. Because of this, we are doing a huge fundraiser May 21st, called a Skate-a-thon. Kids are right now trying to collect pledges as they prepare to skate. Please pray for the success of this fundraiser.

AT HOME: Chad and I are doing great! Married life is wonderful. Our big news is we just bought a house! We will be moving in the end of May, and are so thankful for the ways we saw God provide in this process!

Thank you for your essential part in this ministry of winning souls for Christ,

Sincerely,

March Ministry Update

2005-03-07T09:47:00.000-06:00

March 7, 2005

Wow, it’s hard to believe how quickly things get busy in the ministry! Within a week of starting at Young Community I had untaken enough tasks to make my plate quite full! But the work is so rewarding.

I serve at Skateside, our teen center in Green Bay. Since I am the first female missionary onboard, I have quite a ministry to young ladies. I started a weekly Bible study for girls; we have 5 attending and it has been going for less than a month! One of those girls, Krissa, needs your prayers. She has a very rough home life and as a result makes some poor decisions. God is at work though- she attends the Bible study regularly and I am attempting to meet with her one on one weekly.

Every Sunday night we have an outreach service at Skateside where we share the Gospel message. I spoke last week, taking youth through a visual presentation of how our sin totally separates us from God and there is no way we can get to Him except through Christ. I led them in a prayer to receive Christ (which a dad in the audience repeated along with me) and then asked anyone who had made that decision to “walk across the gap” to God. Three teens did. Praise God!

We so often have a great response to sharing the Gospel such as this that I finally understand Christ’s statement, “Open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest.” (John 4:35b) These kids are just waiting for someone to share the Gospel with them! Our goal after a teen accepts Christ is to then plug them into a youth group in the area. But since they aren’t always willing to go, we decided we needed to have material to give them right when they accept Christ to help ground them in their faith. So I wrote a one week devotional guide with the basics of what it means to be a Christian and how we can grow in our faith, and Young Community published this booklet so we can give it to each new believer. When I was handing it out to the kids who accepted Christ last week, I was amazed because one of their friends saw it and said, “Can I have one too? I already accepted Christ, but I want to read that!”

It is so fulfilling to be doing Kingdom work for the Lord and impacting the lives of teens! Thank you so much for making this possible by your support and prayers- this is your ministry too!

In Christ,

Shawna Goldstein