The Message

Time is flying! But it’s all good! We’ve been married over a month now!! It’s been an awesome first month together! Marriage is amazing!!! We are learning how to show love to each other every day and grow as a new team! We are working at embracing conflict, making sure our words are always building up each other and others, and losing personal expectations! Our goal is to see the potential in each other, as God sees us, while showing love and grace when we are reminded where we are at today, still learning and growing as individuals, as well as one! We are soooo thankful for marriage!!!

When we have not been at the Lion’s Den, we have been clearing out a house that has been offered to help out ministry in the Springfield area! 10 years of stuff was cleared, a 40 yard dumpster was filled in a day, we experienced a HUGE metal scrap yard, meanwhile learning how to show patience and love to those we served! In Proverbs 24, we read how it is vital to learn from others! It was an eye opening experience to see how we ALL accumulate ’stuff’ along our journeys in life! Often this ’stuff’ is fun, or neccessary, or useful, or just good to have! However, without much ’stuff’ we can all be free!! No ties, no baggage, no weights, no worries! We are excited to move to camp in Wisconsin and just fit all we have into one car! We are free! We can be because of who we are, not what we have! We are not owned by our ’stuff’! Woo!!!! Thank God!!

Last week, we celebrated Bonfire Night (a British celebration!) with the Bergerons! Russ even made a Guy too! We agreed to celebrate British and American holidays no matter where we are in the world, so we can embrace both cultures in our marriage! (Bonfire Night is to remember the importance of protecting the king and government, when we remember how Guy Fawkes tried to blow up parliament in 1605 and over throw the government! However he did not succeed and was convicted of treason!) The night was cold, but the moon was full and the 4 of us enjoyed the fire in the fall weather!

On Sunday, we had a fabulous trip to Carlisle MA to visit Uncle keith and Aunt Bonnie! We had a lovely roast dinner after a morning at their church, meeting their family and worshipping the Lord together! They took us to Concord and Lexington to see the local history between the Brits and Americans on a brisk afternoon walk! We loved spending time with this awesome couple! They encouraged us in marriage with advice and wisdom from their 40 years of marriage!! Family is such a gift!!!

We hope our last week in MA will be packed with fun, friends, family, and great times closing this chapter with the youth and serving in the Springfield community! Do pray for us as we prepare to say some goodbyes!

Friday night was fun! 40 kids were in the Den, and most of them teens! With loud music, video games, movies, ping pong, pool contests, and ramean noodles, the night was funky as normal! The first kids were banging on the door to be let in from the cold around 5pm! So we had 3 hours of hang out time in a safe place for these young people!

What was more special about tonight was the grand opening of the downstairs for under 13s! Many teens have siblings they have to look after all the time, so they have to bring them to teen night, otherwise they themselves can’t go! To embrace this issue, we created space downstairs for young kids to have a more chilled time, either in the games room, crafts/painting hallway area and a music jammin area! The weights room was open too for the night! It worked well! The kids made their own Lions’ Den painted sign with fabulous colors! There was a jenga tournament, an uno game going on, and kids just enjoying time in a new part of their Den! We had time downstairs and it was so good to be able to give these younger kids some one on one time, and also relieve older siblings of their childcare duties!

Pastor Greg led a quiet time about the Den and how we treat everyone like family here! It was fun to see familiar faces, while Megan, one of the volunteers, had opportunities to mentor a couple of kids in how to talk to each other in a way Christ would! We hope to have a seperate Bible study quiet time for the under 13s downstairs, from next week, and build on the success of the extra room and space at the Den! We will plan to bring food and drinks down and create a more permanent arts area, so volunteers can utilise this space after we leave the Den! Thank God for time to sort and clear the Den, so the kids can benefit from the extra space to hang out and have fun… away from the streets on a Friday night innit!!

We had a blast with the girl’s last Wednesday! Instead of arts/crafts, we had time to play some classic Lion’s Den games - ping pong, fooseball, pool, and Destiny even led us in one of her fave group games! Usually, the girls like to do their own thing at the Den and enjoy the quiet of Wednesday afternoons. However, this week, they really took to being more active and particpating in more energetic activities!

What’s been most amazing is to see our relationships grow with these girls over the month! They share stories and events of their day to day lives freely now. They ask us questions about our lives, like how we got together, where we are moving to next, and about marriage too! Some of the girls wanted to see the Honeyrock website and video (where we start on December 1st) and they all wanted to join us up in Wisconsin!! Like seriously! They really wanted to come to camp, and try something new, then they started talking through how they can get there and afford it! Ha! We shared with the girls how we will keep in touch with the Lion’s Den! One girl ‘A’ asked how can we love them if we leave them? But this was an opportunity to reassure her that people love others, even if they live far away (like my family over in England!)!

After our pasta bolognese and salad dinner, Erin led a quiet time with the girls about the importance of forgiving others and forgiving ourselves. We are to do this because we are forgiven through Christ! So we are free!! The girls had some time to think about it and take ’forgiveness’ home with them! We were so thankful for this time with these girls! Each one is so different and each have gifts and talents within their characters, that is awesome!! We pray and ask you to pray for these wonderful girls, because they are challenged by issues of acceptance, security, purpose, identity, and image everyday, just by being a teenage girl in a broken community in a broken world! We hope they are able to trust that God provides all our needs and exceed our expectations EVERYDAY when we open our hearts and eyes to His love!

Well the last part of this week was bit of a stretch for Emma and I as we took on a few new projects. But we saw God continuing to bring us closer together as a team! So not to fret we do continue in all boldness as we “are more than conquerors…!”

Pastor Greg ( aka our boss), decided that a trip was necessary to keep some of the youth leaders refreshed and aware to what the Lord is doing in other parts of the country. And that is why 9 of us from springfield headed to East Rutherford NJ for the Word of Life Superbowl!

The brief definition of the evening is this….. A Christian organization wants to reach out to teens who would never go to church…So they book 1,000+ seats at a local professional sports event (in our case the New Jersey Nets pro basketball), then play some HUGE group games right in the arena, and then they take a half hour or so to give the teens the opportunity to recieve Christ. The kids who do so or recommit themselves to the Lord have some one on one time with youth leaders and counselors to talk about their decision and what it means.

The rest of the night is simple however… ALL the teens are bused to local Bowling alleys, ice skating rinks, or extreme activity centers where they have a pizza party waiting for them. Then at 2am teens go to a new activity, then at 4am they switch again! At 6am, weary youth leaders then take them all home! Simple right?!?!

What the idea is that teens are given the night of their life and have the chance to receive Christ. The rest of the night is just provided to provide opportunites for the teens to talk to youth leaders if they have any questions about what salvation really is or need someone to talk to.

So 9 of us headed to New Jersey friday morning to take part in the event that Pastor Greg was speaking in. We arrived in Edison NJ about 3pm then headed right to the arena. The Nets played the Detroit Pistons and the place was packed! We all had fun cheering, eating popcorn, and banging “thunder sticks”! At half time we saw some of the behind the scenes events, and Emma and I were briefed on being event counselors. After the game, the teens were grouped into 4 sections and the fun began!

 Greg gave a message about how there is a message that is critical for the rest of their lives and that it is a simple decision that has eternal effects. To my count about 100 or so teens came to the Lord and Emma and I both were able to pray with and talk to a few of the teens who made this amazing decision! WHAT a blessing and a honour!

And as we had no “designated” teens with us last night, us leaders were able to be in bed by 2am! Our prayers were with all those still out till 6!

Some of our reflections on the night included the fact that teens were given the chance to meet Christ in a way that they will always remember. They have a date to go back to and affirm that they belong to the Lord. Also that the Lord is at work in Youth across the country and there are so many great organizations to get involved with and serve.

So today we packed up, ate breakfast and made the trip back to MA, via the Statue of Liberty!! Woo!!! Greg was a great driver for the weekend too!! Now we are ready to have a day of rest and prepare for the new week!! Prayers for this week would be for those who comitted themselves, that they would contiue to seek and have a passion for Christ.

Emma and I finished the day with an hour work out at WNEC (yey for alumni passes!) and a very good meal at home! Now for sleep and Rest!!!

Once again it was a pleasure for Emma and especially I (Matt) to be asked to help out for girls night! It has become a good time to connect with a smaller group of girls and really get to know them all a bit better. This night especially Emma and I really felt that God was at work in each of the girls who were able to attend.

The night began with the EMT team arriving a few minutes early to set up and do a bit of cleaning. I got to finally mop the newly reconfigured downstairs and the rooms were left with a very fresh pine scent as I do remember! ha!

The girls soon arrived and the night began with the continuation of crafts from the week before. Emma had a good time as she assisted in all of the girls efforts! Meanwhile I got to fix some computer glitches and get the blog set up so that the girls could write a few words about their favourite things at the Den!! They all did a great job and to see what they wrote just scroll down a bit! Great work Girls, you’re famous!

As the night winded down, we all enjoyed dinner together, and then Emma and I were able to lead some fun games. And I surmise that the girls had fun as we had to stop them from continuing the “Pass 2″ game (ask me for details)! The last event together was a time of prayer followed by Oreos! Again the night flew by so fast, not as much “controlled chaos” as other nights, but fun all the same.

As  we continue or time here, its so great to make new relationships with all of the kids here. Both Emma and I are so thankful to the Lord for the people that we have been able to meet and encourge over the past 3 weeks.

This week in particular, we have been at WNEC (my old college) a lil, in class and at their bible study, to recconnect and help link students to the community! So it’s been great to plug in and be the glue in these places! We heard from a student who wants to do an internship at the Lions’ Den in Spring, and also a couple of students got involved in the Homeless Outeach on Monday nights in downtown Springfield (the gp meet at 9pm at Basketball Hall of Fame for a few hours to give out food and clothes and time with homeless people… so show up if you are local! There are usually around 20-30 students who serve!)! It’s awesome to see others connect to God’s work locally!!

 Each day does have its own challenges, ups and downs. And some times it feels that we are rushing to find time to get done all we have set out to do here. But this is the place that Emma and I have been lead to for the first weeks of marriage and the Lord continues to look out for us and teach us new and old lessons each day which we are sooo grateful for!

This past Tuesday night was another adventure at the Den in Chicopee!! Emma and I have just about settled into the “routine” so to say here in MA and it has been great to really dive right into everything that comes up. Whether it be cooking, cleaning, games, transportation services or Bible Study! Whew!

Specifically on Tuesday, after sorting a basement out in Springfield, Emma had a great time hanging around the pool table and meeting some new kids, while I stuck to showing the kids how to play some of the video games at the Den. It was a busy night, each room filled with local kids which was great to see once again. And again we were treated to a lovely pasta dish for dinner. The night seemed to fly by in seconds and the kids were ready for Bible study just before the Den was set to close.

Just before Bible study began however, we learned that a local girl, was stuck by a car just accross the street. Bible study was then changed to a time a prayer for the girl and a time to assure the kids that she would be ok. All the kids prayed that night for the Lord’s protection and healing and it was good to see how the kids could come together and pray in the Lord’s name, even though some were very young.

The good news was that the girl was sent home later that night from the Hospital with no major injuries. Once again the Lord was watching over one of His children! Pastor Greg was even able to meet with the family at the hospital and make some connections with the family and the church they are part of. We were all so grateful for the Lord’s provision and protection that night. Even though the night was a bit disrupted at times and the kids a bit wild, Emma and I were just glad for the Lion’s Den and to be able to provide a safe place for kids to be that night, off the streets for 2 hours and able to see God’s love at work.

What else can be said other than it was a great night together! 

Hi all!!

Well the past few days have been really exciting and Emma and I cant wait to share all about what the Lord has been doing in Springfield!

But before we get to all the new news, a few girls of the Lions Den (our frequent readers) asked to share a bit about what they like best about the fun things that go on here at “The Den”.

 ”I like playing games and hanging out with my friends, and chil and pray.” -Destiny

I like to come  and  hang out with friends and some times help out but most of all i like to sit  around and look at people lol”

-Maxine

 “I like to play games , I like the food… the pizza” -Iesha

“I like the counselor’s, foosball its  cool, (most of all being here)” -Kaley Nicholson$

Thanks girls for taking the time to write for the blog!! Keep writing!!

Kids exploring the foliage!

Climbing up the hills!!

Walking…with youth!!

Giovanni chillin in a tree!

This weekend, the Den merged with City Lights and Missions Center New Jerusalem, to hang out at Forrest Park for our annual Walk for Youth event! This year was a lil different, as in the past it’s been a fundraiser event for the youth. However, this year, the teams took it back to focussing on the teens themselves and spending time with them, reaching out to them and showing love through quality time together!

After an early start and a few wake up calls, around 50 people met at Forrest Park in Longmeadow! Joe Wilson played some tunes on the sax for around 3 hours, whilst kids played touch football, hung out in the park, wandered the paths near ECHOS and the lake, and had fun in the fall! We had a fantastic cook out/BBQ with loads of food and drinks! Hot choco went down well! After games and activities together, the entire group took a walk for youth,  as a rite of passage, and found a spot (picked out earlier by our energetic 5th graders!!) by the lake, for time to pray together and for youth leaders to bless each teen and kid individually.

It was a special time for these young people to be encouraged in their personal  journeys in life. It was also wonderful to be in nature with these kids, some of whom dont get chance to hang out in the park or woods or experience the natural beauty too often! Many of these kids would n’t know what summer camp is, let alone have had the opportunity yet to enjoy one! The time together was a fab way to spend a Saturday and one that i think each of us will treasure in years to come! Fun, food and new friends would sum up this All Saint’s Day! Some kids chose to start their own walks with Christ for the first time, which was so touching to see these young people realising that everyone is called a saint under God. We left the Park grateful to be part of a new tradition of Walk for Youth, and humbled that money was given for these youth (this year to City Lights), almost as a secondary blessing for the day!

What brought our All Saint’s Day to a close on a personal high was outstanding news that our good friends the Gladwins will be having their first child next June! We travelled to share an evening with them in Spencer, MA, after time with the Provenzano family in Longmeadow, MA! Lots of fun, laughter, stories, delicious cuisine and a tonne of thanks for how breathtaking God is on all of our lives, when we just open our eyes to see Him move!!! We are thankful!

Friday 31st October found Matt and I clearing, sorting and organising the downstairs to the Lion’s Den! If you haven’t been to the Den before, there are two floors, with a number of rooms on both levels. Downstairs has a weights room that is used weekly, but there are also a number of other spaces that have become mass storage! Other youth leaders are usually at the Den during the time the teens are there - their goal is to create a safe place for the youth… to hang out with them and to play games with them and to eat food with them… so it leaves little time for other jobs to get done! Soooo…. it is awesome that we have the time this month to sort out and create more space, really to support these long term youth leaders!

 We had a blast cleaning, clearing, moving boxes, and generally going through a few rooms and closets! A few surprises lurked in every area and we were covered with dust head to toe by the afternoon! BUT, there are many resources that now have been relocated and can be used by the Den; we were able to donate bags and bags of clothes to the Survival Center in Indian Orchard; a new space has been created for a games station, a crafts station, a music/jam area, and a new chill out lounge! The Sound room is also now cleared ready to be set up again for teens to record their own music! And what’s awesome is that the store room is now a store room!! Woo!! Everyone can hopefully locate every resource for games, food, crafts, activities, outdoor fun and general maintenance quickly and with ease!! This means the focus can remain on the youth and enabling them to have more spaces to hang out and encounter Christ, through fun, exercise, games and discussion times!

It sounds like we got a lot done on Friday, but we still have things to continue working on this upcoming week, before kids arrive at the Den after school! Nevertheless, we had the awesome guys Kevin and Anthony from UMASS to help us out! These guys are a gift! They worked fast and efficiently and were enthusiastic for anything we had to complete! Many hands make light work!!

Friday night’s teen night was a chill and quiet night, as most kids were out for Halloween! We had a great number of volunteers, who had time to get to know each other better, because it was a relaxed evening! What we saw from the night was that it was actually fantastic for the few kids that showed up, to hang out, play games and eat food, in a place that felt like home. Sometimes home is like a party - all wild and chaotic and exciting. Sometimes home is chill and relaxing and peaceful. With Joe Wilson’s brilliant tunes on the saxophone playing, we found that everyone at the Den had time just to ‘BE’. Pam shared her AMAZING story and testmony with everyone - it was a time for everyone to be still, listen and reflect on the huge turnaround that Christ has made in her life.

We left the evening, knowing that all the work and effort we are asked to do by God is all worth it if it means that one life is touched and changed for the better. We are so humbled to be part of this youth work. We are honored to have the chance to get to know some young people, who are simply wonderful!

As this month is coming to a close, Matt and I can reflect it’s been one of the best months of our lives yet… not only did we get married, move countries, move states, move homes, start our new volunteer roles at the Lion’s Den, meet new kids and teens, become part of a new community and church family, but the Phillies also decided to share in our joyous month that is October 2008, and celebrate by winning the World Series!! God is good!!

 Amongst all this change and transition, we see a new adventure and new journey unveiling before us. And it’s awesome to share our story that God is writing, with anyone and everyone we meet, especially the teens at the Den!

Yesterday we hung out with the girls at the Lion’s Den! Gina brought these awesome boards that we all decorated with beads and sequins and cute lil accesories! The girls got one each and chose to design how they wanted… they then got them to take home to be a picture board or a notice board! I made one for some of our lil wedding pictures too! What was amazing to see last night was how different each of the girls designed their boards and how they had different opinions about what they thought looked good! It was fantastic to see the teens letting down their guard and their images, and enjoying something a lil bit more ‘girlie’ than normal!

 After ravioli and salad, Norma led a short discussion about what the word ’salvation’ means… the girls discussed how Jesus came and died for everyone, as a gift to all, so we can be with God forever. It was cool to see how much truth is inside these girls’ hearts, and it will be awesome to see how God grows this faith as they grow up and experience the good and bad of life. Our prayer is that these truths will become more personal to each of these young teens, so they experience the freedom and peace that comes from following Christ!