This year, all CIY programs have partnered with Active:Water and will be focusing the event offerings on raising funds for biosand filters and wells in Zambia Africa. The entire CIY staff is excited to be able to mobilize students to serve as Kingdom Workers through this cause. Prior to the summer, CIY staff will be participating in the Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon in various races on April 25th as a part of team Active:Water! We’re not just “talking the talk” but we’re “Walking the walk”, er,” running the run”?
If you would like to learn more about the CIY/Active:Water partnership, click here.
On a recent trip to Dallas, TX, Know Sweat staff researched service opportunities for kingdom workers. During a time most often associated with fun in the sun, family vacation and relaxing, youth from Wichita, KS and Danville, KY will be serving in Dallas. These two groups have committed their spring break vacation to hard, dirty work that will connect themselves, and those they serve, to the heart of God. The youth will assist elderly homeowners with yard clean-up and repairs, serve a meal to the homeless, and assist in food distribution to many ministries and agencies in the Dallas Metroplex. They will be the first teams of youth who Engage Hope at a Know Sweat service project in 2010. Contact us if you would like more information about Know Sweat or where to serve in Dallas, TX.
Happy New Year from chilly Joplin, MO! Now that the holidays have passed, we’ve all been back in the office this week. Today, the entire staff of CIY met together for an extended prayer time for the programs, participants and donors. Everyone is excited for all that God will bring about in this new year, and eager to do our work to raise up more Kingdom workers!
Currently I (Erin) am processing registrations for the summer and am excited to announce that our Kissimmee, FL location is filling up quickly. This will be the second year to be in Kissimmee, so we’re excited that it is growing! We’re anticipating this year to be our biggest year yet for Know Sweat and are excited to see returning and new groups in 2010!
This summer we are offering a promotional price of $199 per person attending Know Sweat. For new groups, all participants are eligible for the $199 promo. For groups that have attended in the past three years, any additional registration above your most recent years attendance will be eligible for the $199 price. For more information on this promotion and to calculate your savings, please visit our website. We would love to have you join us this summer!
This past week, Matt, Tom, Erin and Shawn traveled to the Tulsa and OKC areas to visit with churches and spread the word about Know Sweat. We visited over 82 churches in two days and had many great conversations with youth pastors. It was exciting to be able to share about Know Sweat, our $199 promotional price for next summer, and to hear how churches want to be or are already involved in service related activities!
We all enjoyed meeting new people and making connections. It was encouraging to hear from churches about how they are serving (or are looking for ways to serve) locally and internationally, and made me remember how great it is to be a part of the body of Christ. Hopefully we’ll have some of these groups join us in the summer of 2010!
Here’s a quick update on what the Know Sweat team has been up to recently:
Matt just got back from the Youth Specialties National Youth Workers Convention in Cincinnati.
Ben and Tom are currently meeting with youth pastors in Portland and Seattle to talk about KS – if you would like to recommend a church to visit, post it here!
Erin is in the office handling registrations for summer 2010. Visit our registration page to register your group and find out how you can go to KS $199 !
Recently, I (Erin), along with 3 other CIY staff members, drove (yes, drove) the 24 hours out to Los Angeles for Youth Specialties National Youth Workers Convention. Each day at the convention center we were able to meet with youth workers who hailed from all over the US, the Caribbean, and Canada. It was cool to see so many people passionate about youth ministry in one place! I could see that the convention participants were dedicated to sharpening their youth ministry skills, eager to learn from and be encouraged by others in the youth ministry world, and were excited to explore new opportunities with the ministries and organizations that were present. I really enjoyed being able to share with them about Know Sweat!
If you’re going to be at NYWC in Cincinnati (Oct. 30-Nov.2) or in Atlanta (November 20-23), please stop by our booth, we would love to meet and talk with you!
Looking back at the summer of 2009 there were a number of things I will never forget. It was one of the hardest summers I have experienced but definitely one of the most rewarding. The partnerships we had with churches, the types of projects we were able to complete and the numbers of students who truly began to grasp that serving others needs to be a lifestyle not a trip made it a lot of fun.
One example of what I’m talking about comes from our first ever week in Denver. We were able to build an incredible partnership with Adams County and specifically the city of Westminster. 7 different homes were served including a lady who has provided a foster home to literally hundreds of teenage girls and another woman who cares for her 4 handicapped children. Incredible people who our groups were able to bless not just with physical labor. Combine that work during the day with the atmosphere in Connection at night and that week became the best week of Know Sweat I’ve ever experienced.
Looking forward to 2010 I’m happy to say that our schedule is set, contracts are being negotiated, DVD’s, promotional materials, an updated website and more are in process and will be available soon. We are close to finalizing all our speakers and bands for next year, the theme is progressing well and we are planning some big changes to the weeks next year.
Please keep our staff in your prayers as we continue planning and getting prepared for the Summer of 2010!
Thank you for your interest and support of CIY and specifically Know Sweat.
Five minutes ago we loaded the remainder of the third Penske truck back in the garage which is the official end to another summer. What makes it great was that it was a fantastic summer. With just short of 2700 students, all the groups were an amazing blessing to the people or ministry they served. Loading back in the garage is always a bittersweet feeling because we are glad to be home but love serving on the road with such great friends. Know Sweat gets the opportunity to meet and serve with some amazing people and we are already looking forward to next summer. We really want to thank all the youth ministers and youth leaders for taking time out of their summer to teach students how to serve and be a positive examples. We here at Know Sweat really appreciate all the hard work and sweat you have given this summer, and it is our privilege to serve with you again in the future. Check out website here soon for 2010 dates and locations and let us know if you have any questions or comments you might think would be helpful. Again thank you all and we hopefully will see you guys in 9 months or so.
While in Cincinnati I got to know my way around pretty well. The route that Caleb and I followed each day brought us through Lower Price Hill, up and down Glenway Ave., onto Ross St., and to other various sections of town. As we drove to check in on each of the groups multiple times each day, I not only realized that I was becoming less and less directionally challenged, but that I was falling in love with the city of Cincinnati.
I have been praying this summer for God to show me how to love like He loves. On Tuesday’s throughout this summer, we were encouraged to “Amplify:Hoiliness”. One of the ways in which that was communicated was through interactive elements relating to Colossians 3:1-14. Everyone was encouraged to fill out a “Hello my name is” tag that reflected one of the attributes that we’re told to “put on” and wear it throughout the day. Then, in the evening, if participants wanted to make a more permanent connection with that concept, they were given time to fill out the attribute on wristbands that they could wear as long as they wanted. Each week, I found myself writing “Love” on my wristband. Repeatedly, I found myself crying out to God, asking him to help me experience, understand, and share His love. Sometimes I succeeded and the glory was given to God. Other times, I failed, and love was not my clothing of choice. Yet, God is persistent in His love, and that was evident to me throughout this summer.
I’ve been meaning to post this video for a while because it’s from the Joplin Know Sweat. Sorry for the delay.
I love talking and seeing the groups of jr. highers in action serving God and serving people. It’s really cool to see how much they enjoy putting in the hard work because they know that it glorifies God.
