by Kim Sanger, Bible Adventure Assistant Director The current health crisis has forced us to be creative in new ways to do Bible Adventure with our students. Last Thursday, we hosted our first Bible Adventure meeting on Zoom online. There were 4 kids and 4 listeners in attendance. During this meeting, we reviewed the Armor of…
By Brenda Brazee, Assistant Director of Bible Adventure My role at Joy El as Assistant Director of Bible Adventure is to train and equip our leaders and volunteers for the work of the ministry. I don’t regularly interact directly with children in my role, so when God gave me the opportunity to serve Him and…
This is not business as usual. But instead, an opportunity to deeply reflect. Processing and assessing our current cultural life from a biblical perspective, this is an absolute “must” for the serious trainee of Christ. Our vision at Joy El is to make disciples of Jesus Christ, and to raise up the next generation of…
By Jeanette Biesecker, Director of Ministry Advancement We are living in unprecedented times. At Joy El we are about equipping parents and youth workers on leading their children and youth through what’s happening inside them in light of what’s happening around them. I’m pleased to recommend the following blog from CPYU. Walt Mueller references the…
By Kim Sanger, Assistant Director of Bible Adventure and CIA At the beginning of the school year Penny*, a fifth grade girl who had not attended Bible Adventure before, entered the room where we meet. She was invited by a friend and not completely sure what she was going to be doing there. She immediately…
By Tori Marshall, Food Service Coordinator I walked up to the table where Lindsey*, a young middle schooler, had her head down on her arms. “Hey, are you ok?” I asked. She looked up at me with a lost expression on her face and nodded. “I’m fine,” she said. “But I’m addicted to electronics so…
By Jeanette Biesecker, Director of Ministry Advancement One of the most important benefits of Christian camping is that students get unplugged from technology for a short time in order to get connected into relationships with God and others. As we talk with parents at Christian camps and retreats, we hear from them how difficult it…
By Jan Diaz, Director of Bible Adventure and CIA Matthew 19:14: Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” I walked into the meeting room at our host church as the Bible Adventure volunteers were gathered for prayer and…
By Stephanie Ziebarth, Barnabas Coordinator I still remember when Melinda Gahan attended a Barnabas mentor training at Joy El’s Christian camp four years ago. She was a little nervous, and she was very excited. She knew the significance of mentoring Rylee Knepper, and she wanted to do it well. Melinda and Rylee already had great…
By Miriam Ankerbrand, Group Events Coordinator As part of my role at Joy El, I occasionally teach a class to our 4.12 students. This year’s topic was “Etiquette.” The majority of students in the room knew exactly what the definition of etiquette was. Then I threw out another word, “Tact.” I looked at a sea…