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Jr. Youth

We are excited about the growth of the Jr. Youth Group, a new group designed for the 7th and 8th graders at Powhatan Mennonite. The vision for the group includes Jr. Life Night meetings at the Lehman's on the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays of each month. (We begin at 7:15 p.m. so that parents will have enough time to drop the young persons off & then head on to Bible Study at church.) We are studying the development of character qualities from a Biblical perspective. We also spend time each evening in worship and prayer.
It is our desire that the Jr. Youth will grow in their relationship with the Lord and that they will turn to Him in all situations. Our first meeting was held on September 14, 2000. During the Wednesday evening meetings at church when the focus was on the topic of non-resistance we canceled our regular Jr. Life Night meetings an encouraged the young people to attend those meetings to gain a better understanding of the Mennonite position concerning this teaching.

Approximately once a month, we also plan to sponsor a fun or service activity. We attended a Richmond Kickers soccer game in September and helped grind corn meal at the Va. Relief Sale in October. Also, a harvest party with Jr. Youth families was held in October at the Lehman's. Everyone seemed to have a lot of fun. Activities included supper, volleyball games, a funny hat contest, door prizes, a hayride, and a fireside devotional. The Jr. Youth helped to rake leaves at the church in November. At this time approximately seven (7) young persons faithfully attend the meetings on a regular basis. Our thanks to the Jr. Youth for your enthusiastic participation and to the parents for making it possible for us to meet by providing transportation and support. We welcome others to join us as the Lord leads. We look forward to many more good times growing in the Lord and sharing fun times together. It is exciting to witness the development of these future leaders of the church! Please pray for us as we continue to seek the Lord's direction!

Ivan and Joyce Lehman, Sponsors

Sometimes you have to hit the bottom and bounce a couple of times before you can even start to look up to God. I wish I was one of those people who could say I have walked with the Lord from day one but unfortunately I was raised in a non-believing home. So I started out at ground level.

My parents felt like they could teach me morals without the help of the Lord. I would like to say it worked but that lesson did not stick. I felt like I was above God, I did not need him or his guidance. I felt like I could make my own decisions there was not a little voice telling me I was wrong. I went down ten feet.

Then I had a major set back. My mother was diagnosed with cancer and struggled to no avail. Nothing could be done, in a matter of four months she went from superwoman to bed ridden. What kind of God was this? To let people who were needed die so violently. Then as often happens the bad got worse. And suddenly I could not even see daylight from the bottom of my hole.

My father drank heavily, my sister behaved wildly and I was stuck somewhere in between. My father remarried very quickly with much disapproval from everyone. Dad’s life was about him and the rest of us did not matter. The first Christmas after my mom died we spent with my father’s girlfriend and her family and then at their wedding. I sank another ten feet lower.

Yet the most amazing thing happened. Even though I lived my life turning my back on God and blaming God for all my bad decisions, he brought me to Gene and Pat Hertzler. Who in turn introduced me to a Christian life. I started going to church and reading the Bible. I thought it would be smooth sailing from there. After all I was going to church now God should make it easier for me. Right?

Boy was I wrong. I think I made even worse decisions the first year I went to church than I had ever made in my life. But I thought I would never get caught, my sins were huge and yet I justified it by saying no one would ever know. Then while sitting at the bottom of my hole stubbornly staring down the walls caved in around me. All my sins caught up to me and instead of looking up I started digging. The "dirt" was flying. I reverted back to blaming God for my problems. I crossed my arms and turned around to walk away. God spoke straight to my heart and said that He would be there, when I walked away He would wait for me to come back, when I was ready to confess He would be listening and when I was ready to accept Jesus Christ was my Savior and God as my Father He would be there to help heal the raw pain I was carrying around with me. And so my healing has begun. I accepted Jesus and my life turned around again for the better.

I feel in my heart that God needed me to really see what a mess I made of my life and take full responsibility for my actions. In fact I thank God for letting me hit the bottom and for every painful bounce. God has given me blessings to numerous to count. I thank God every day for the miracles he is working in me.

For questions or comments you may email the pastor at timbev2@yahoo.com or the webmaster at hffinc@i-c.net