Big Wins

Did you know ... The company who made a video of our children's and student's Beyond commitments won an award for their video. That's pretty neat. But the biggest wins were in the hearts that were touched and in the youth who made generosity a way of life. Watch the video below...

Make Your Mark

Our Student Ministry kicked off the fall semester with big bash and a big challenge.

They had at least 5,931 reasons to praise God!
5 mini pools
75 adult ensuring fun for our students
125 pounds of flour
300 bandannas
345 in attendance
500 pounds of sand
780 servings of mashed potatoes
800 pounds of dirt
1,400 square feet of plastic sheeting
1,600 water balloons
1 AMAZING GOD!

The theme was "Make Your Mark." They reminded our students that God gave us eternal life through Christ and a love that never fails. It is our act of worship to share the LIFE and LOVE of Christ with Naperville and BEYOND!

Our students were given a big challenge: How will you "Make Your Mark" this year in your family, your school, and in the community? That's a great challenge for all of us. How will you make your mark?

Small Group, Big Hearts

Below is a heartwarming story of how one small group went beyond our church to reach a man dealing with cancer.  They wanted to touch his life and God transformed all of their lives.  The story is written by the small group leader, but the names have been changed to protect confidentiality.

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Amy is part of our small group. Her brother, Mike, has been battling cancer for some time and we would always pray for him during our meetings. We thought at one point he might enjoy following along with our study, even though he was stuck at home. Do to the cancer, he would get tired and his voice was very weak. He and his wife, Kristin, lived far away, so it was too much of a hike.

We sent him a copy of our study book and Mike would send his notes to me before our meetings. I would share his notes with the group when we met and send back a summary of the group discussions to him via e-mail. Then after some new drugs, Mike's voice improved so we began Skyping him in to our meetings. It was great to have his input and we really enjoyed having him a part of things.

His cancer took a turn for the worse a few months ago and he was unable to participate via Skype. We continued to pray for Mike and the group e-mailed Mike with thoughts and prayers. Mike went home to heaven on August 25th.

Most of our group will be attending his memorial tomorrow. We never had a chance to meet in person, but I know we all feel blessed to have had the chance to know him and share our faith together.

SGL