Winter Camp 2012

Last weekend myself, two leaders and four Capernaum students headed up to Oakbridge for weekend winter camp.  Although we were a small group, that definitely did not stop us from having fun!  From the time we arrived on Friday night until Sunday when we were leaving, we literally did not stop.  From club, to messy games, to a midnight concert, I'd say we pretty much did it all.  We were the only Capernaum group, the rest of the campers were typical younglife students.  It was awesome to see our students interacting with the other high schoolers, and vise versa.  My favorite part about the weekend was seeing one of our students Brett come out of his shell.  For the most part Brett typically keeps to himself, isn't very social, and at club likes to hangout in the corner alone.  This weekend I saw an incredible transformation.  Brett's whole demeanor changed.  He was interacting with people, participating in games, and even sharing during cabin time.  Not only did Brett let loose at camp, but when Brett came to club after we came home, he was no longer sticking to his routine of staying in the corner and not talking to anybody.  The first thing he said to me when he got to club was, "Tayren, I had so much fun at camp!"  After club I was talking to Brett's mom and she told me that Brett has not stopped talking about camp since he got home.  She also shared with me that highrollers is really the first thing in Brett's life that he has ever really cared about and looked forward to.  I couldn't help but think how incredible that was!

I am always in awe of the work God is doing through this ministry.  I'm excited to see what he has in store next!

-Tayren (OC Capernaum)

Blu Gnu 2012

We have another club that is quickly becoming a hit. It's called Blu Gnu! What is Blu Gnu you ask....well let me tell ya. We have friends of Young Life dress up in random costumes around the mall. Then we send the students out with a list of what they are looking for. Once found they get their signature and move on to the next person. The Blu Gnu is someone who is wearing a special blue Young Life t-shirt. Once again we had a huge turn out. I lost count after about 70 people. We were also lucky to have a small group of friends from Huntington Beach YL & South Central YL come and play also. Check out the pictures below

-Dave

Wyldlife Club

We had an amazing club this last week! We had over 20 kids attend and to say the least it got wild! 

We started with a great classic game called the balloon stomp! Basically everyone has a balloon tied to their leg and you have to keep your balloon full of air and "stomp" everyone else's! It was quite the site! Everyone hopping around and screaming and going crazy it was hilarious! 

Then we brought it inside and played the old spit popcorn onto your leaders face that is caked with shaving cream, haha it was awesome. Then of course i gave a little talk on the gospels and the good news of Jesus! 

Attached are a photo of the game this week! 

Thank you for your prayer and support! Have a blessed week!

-Dmar

Wyldlife Winter Camp- 2012

Hello all i hope everyone is enjoying the winter weather! 

I'm sending out a little update about our Wyldlife camp we just attended last weekend. Myself and one other leader from our club took 3 boys down for an amazing weekend camp at Oakbridge in Ramona, California. 

The camp was full of fun games and awesome time hanging out together and building awesome relationships with these 3 awesome guys! Noah, Andrew, and Jack. To say the least we had an amazing weekend and are all super excited about summer camp which is 5 days long! But most importantly they got to hear the good news about Jesus and we had some awesome talks processing who Jesus is and what he is in our lives! 

Its such a joy to get to be apart of these kids lives and walk through these steps of belief and understanding about not only Jesus but who they are and who they want to be and everything in-between. 

Attached are a few pictures from the weekend i hope you enjoy! And thanks for all your prayers and support.

-Dmar

Wyldlife Halloween Club

Hello all, I hope the week is going well for you! We had a great Wyldlife club last week! It was our Halloween dress up club and the kids had a blast! The night was great with a few games and lots of laughing. 

In other Wyldlife news myself and a few other of our leaders are volunteer surf coach's at Marco Forester middle school and we had our first surf competition this past Saturday. Happy to say we placed 4th overall! and it was an amazing weekend of amazing waves and perfect weather. 

I've put a few photos up from club and a few photos from the surf contest! Hope you have a great Halloween and everyone is safe!

-Dmar

Area Leadership Meetings

Once a month our entire leadership team meets on Sunday night for a time of being feed both spiritually and physically. Below you can see what a kitchen looks like when your trying to feed 50 people. 

A special thank you to the family that provided all of this!

A quick pic of the devo/ training part of the night.

The High Rollers team doing work

Beyond Capernaum planning away

Wyldlife and Dana Hills working on club

-Dave

Capernaum Beyond - First Club of Year Two!

           Capernaum Beyond had its first club back this last Wednesday! This is the second year Capernaum Beyond club has been around for OC Capernaum. We were blessed to have many of our friends back from last year, as well as a few new students, and some students who had graduated from High Rollers. The Beyond group had a great time catching up with each other from summer and we were thrilled to be back in the swing of things.

            Most of our friends who come to Beyond Club have been around Young Life long enough to know the stories about Jesus, so this year we will be talking about how we can build a deeper relationship with Jesus. One of our fantastic leaders, Tristen, gave the club talk. She spoke out of Luke 11 and talked about how we need to guard our hearts and shield our eyes from the things Christ wouldn’t want us to experience. This is such a prevalent topic for our Beyond friends, as many of them are becoming more independent.

            After we Club Talk we broke into small groups to discuss the Club Talk. This year, rather than just talk during our small group time, we are writing journals also. We decided to have our friends journal in response to club talk and the small group questions. This allows our friends who have a harder time verbalizing their feelings express themselves by writing or drawing what they thought of the Club Talk.

            Our first club back was most definitely a success. The Beyond leaders and I are excited to see what God has in store for our club this year!

-Rachel

OC Skate Night

Dana Hills Young Life at All OC Young Life Skate Night

Club @ Chick Fil-A

Capernaum is having club at Chick Fil-A this Wednesday (10-10-12). Come join us from 630pm-8pm and bring your friends and family. This is an easy way to feed the family and support South County Young Life!

South County Christmas Tree

It's that special time of the year again.... Christmas! Help South County raise money and bring holiday joy. Would you be willing to buy a tree from Young Life? 

Please email or call Dave....949-291-7818 or OCCapernaum@gmail.com

Young Life South County

Christmas Tree Fundraiser

Saturday December 1^st

Tree Size	Douglas Fir	Noble Fir
5/6 feet	$55	$65
6/7 feet	$65	$75
7/8 feet	$75	$85
8/9 feet	$85	$100
9/10 feet		$125

Name:______________________            ____Phone:________________

Address:________________________  City/Zip:_____________

Email:__________________________

Please check your desired trees and extras:

Douglas Fir __5/6($55)   __6/7($65)   __7/8($75)   __8/9($85)

Noble Fir __5/6($65)   __6/7($75)   __7/8($85)   __8/9($105)   __9/10($125)

Extras: __Delivery ($30) *Delivery within 15 miles of San Juan Capistrano

Donation Options:__($75)Donation in lieu of tree __($50)Donate a tree to a needy family

Tree	$
Donation	$
Delivery	$
TOTAL	$

___Cash    ___Check  ___Credit Card

Credit Card Type ______________ Exp Date_________

Name on Card____________________

Credit Card # ____________________

Signature________________________

________________________________________________________________________

Pick up December 1^st at Rio Vista Community Park

31782 Via Belardes, San Juan Capistrano, CA 92675

9a.m.-12p.m.

                                          Customer Receipt

Douglas Fir __5/6($55)   __6/7($65)   __7/8($75)   __8/9($85)

Noble Fir __5/6($65)   __6/7($75)   __7/8($85)   __8/9($105)   __9/10($125)

Extras: __Delivery ($30) 

High Rollers is Back!

There was a lot of excitement and energy in the air on Wednesday evening (the night of our first capernaum club).  It was good to be back, and I think the leaders and students alike would agree with me.  I honestly don't know if our capernaum friends could have waited one more day for club to start- they had been counting down the days for quite some time now!  Leaders met at the community center at 6:30, we went over the schedule for the night, and prayed together.  Not long after, our capernaum friends began to arrive and within no time the patio of the community center was completely filled with anxiously awaiting kids.  At 7:00 on the dot we turned up the music, opened the doors, and waisted no time in getting the dance party started. We played "red-light-green-light", followed by a massive limbo line, and made sure we gave every student the chance to be involved.  About half way through the night we slowed things down and had the privilege of Mark Schaeffer leading us in some fun songs followed by a few worship songs.  We concluded the night by hearing from Dave giving a talk on Jesus being the "light" in our life.  Dave turned off all the lights and made the connection between the darkness and how there are times in our life that we may feel scared, alone, or we might be "bumping into things".  He the turned on a flashlight (which he compared to Christ's light in our life) and explained how that light helps guide us, protect us, and keeps us from "running into" problems.  The kids seem to make the connection and were very attentive and responsive to the message.  By the end of the night I heard several of my capernaum friends ask how many days until our next club.  So I'm  going to make the assumption that our first club back was a success :)

-Tayren

Bigger & Better

Hey there! Just shooting out an update about our first Wyldlife club of the year! 

For our first club we did a game called "Bigger or Better". The object of the game is to have 5-6 Wyldlife kids team up with 2 of their awesome leaders. After creating teams each group is given $1. From there each team sets out into the neighborhood going door to door trying to find something bigger or better to trade for their dollar. One item a team found to be bigger or better was an old door!

With all this being said we do this game for a very awesome reason. Not only is it a ton of fun, but this game creates life long memories with their leaders. Stories are told for years to come. Stories of the crazy old lady with the falcon that told us to go away! Or stories of from our leaders who were students playing this very same game. The legends live on and on.

Here's a short list of the things we where able to get that were deemed bigger or better:

front door

real electric guitar

the Wii game "rock band"

a bodyboard

lobster fishing hoop net

a refrigerator dolly

trader joes bags

a surfboard

Overall the night was a blast! Students got to experience an evening filled with energy and excitement. They got to wander the neighborhood with an adult who truly cares about them and wants to share their life with them. 

Thank You for allowing us to wander the neighborhood and have these sacred moments with our Wyldlife students!!!

-Dmar

"Shanel" Written and Performed by Taylor Bonds

This is a song written by one of leaders about her friend Shanel. Such an amazing testament to the relationships we have in Young Life!! Thanks Taylor for sharing this!




-Dave

Area Needs

As we look to start club up again there are numerous things we can use to help us reach more kids and the ones we currently are reaching. Below is a wish list of sorts, if you can help in anyway with anything below please contact me at 949-291-7818 or SouthCountyYL@gmail.com, to ensure we don't get too many duplicates

Some of these things we need this week, and some can slowly trickle in....


S'more Stuff

Marshmallows

Graham Crackers

Chocolate

Hangers

Beyond Stuff for the year

50: 100pg spiral bound note books

5: packages of pens

7: packages of coloring markers

5: packages of name tags

1: large plastic bin

High Rollers stuff:

3: Roles of  blue painters tape

1: large plastic bin

1: Small portable PA system

5: Sets of Guitar Strings

1: Portable Video Projector

Area needs

Envelopes & Stamps

Coffee for Monday Morning Prayer

Gift cards for leaders to take kids out- Starbucks, Any Food restaurant, etc.

Costco Gift Cards

Gas Gift Cards

Sharpies 

God IS Moving in South County YL!!

Hey Everyone,

It's been an amazing summer and I have so much to tell about what God has been doing in South County!

This summer we took about 80 people to camp. We had 4 different camps and all of them were great! We took students to Woodleaf, Lost Canyon, & Oakbridge.

Area Prayer is going amazing! Each week we have people come and join Megan and I in prayer for the area. It has been so rad to witness God showing up and truly moving in our area and answering prayers! If you would like to come it happens every Monday morning at 9am. Please come and join us!

This summer I had one week in particular that 2 different youth pastors from Laguna Beach contacted me. After meeting with both of them we are establishing joint efforts in reaching the students of Laguna Beach. Young Life used to be in LB numerous years ago. It is exciting to God moving again in Laguna and that YL has a chance to be apart of it.

In the beginning of the month we had our 1st Area Leadership Meeting with over 50 people there. We had a time of worship which was a rad time to prepare our hearts for the beginning of the year. We spent the first part of our meeting sharing a meal together (which is something we will do every meeting, if you would like to help with that please let me know). After that we had a bit of business to go over, split into our club teams, and then spent 45 minutes just worshipping God. The area will be having leadership meeting every 1st Sunday of the month.

This month also saw the launching of a region wide Student Staff training. This training is specifically for our part-time staff, key leaders, and anyone who just wants to learn more. The course will definitely be stretching and a great learning experience for those attending. They will be challenged to not only grow in their leadership but also their spiritual walk. We have 12 people represented from our area going. We have a handful of people who are from local churches within our area and then several part time staff going.

We currently have 2 girls raising money to join staff. One will be running High Rollers (our younger Capernaum club). The other is going to be leading the Dana Hills Club.

We also want to be starting club at El Toro High School. We have a teacher there who has requested YL to be there. He is willing to lead a team of leaders and love on the students of El Toro HS. If you know anyone who would be interested in being a leader at El Toro High School please let me know ASAP.

There is some other exciting stuff happening that I will be letting you know soon. Please continue to pray for the area and what God is doing. Please also join us in praising his name for what he is already doing and done in the area.

We are also in need of more leaders for each club. We currently have 4 clubs in our area with multiple on the horizon. We have 1 typical high school club, 1 middle school club, and 2 Capernaum (special needs) clubs. We can use people who are young and old. Please contact me if you are interested or have any questions.

Thanks,
Dave

Oakbridge- Beyond Capernaum Camp 2012

This is the second summer Young Life has held a Capernaum Beyond camp for our Capernaum Beyond Friends and surprisingly, it topped the fantastic camp we had last summer. Beyond Camp is unique to most other Young Life camps because it is made specifically for our friends with special needs who are over the age of 22. Many of the people who come to this camp have been involved in Capernaum for a number of years. This camp is perfect for our older Capernaum friends because everything about this camp is directed toward an older crowd, while still having the fun, energetic aspects of a typical Young Life Camp.

South County took 15 campers, 6 of which were first-timers to camp, and 11 leaders to Oakbridge for Capernaum Beyond Camp this summer. We had a fantastic 4 days at camp, despite the high temperatures. We were able to keep cool by taking advantage of the TWO slip’n’slides set up on the field and by hanging out at the pool and watching our friends do “tricks” off the diving boards. The second day we were there, a number of our friends did the High Ropes course, a few of our friends are old pros and sped through it while some of our first-time campers conquered their apprehensions of this new experience! Our last night there, the camp had set up a carnival for our friends, complete with snow-comes, a cotton candy machine, a dunk tank, and a “pie your leader” station… which every leader was thrilled about. Many of us were still wiping shaving-cream out of our ears when we got home. It was a great four-day camp filled with lessons about Jesus, music and dancing, and we are looking forward to round 3 next summer!

-Rachel Antoun