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Escape: Winter Extreme 2011


	The whole group at Retreat!! At 3pm Sunday February 27th Wild Kingdom returned from its 2011 winter Retreat. We got to spend an awesome weekend at Camp Timber-lee in East Troy, Wisconsin. We were joined this weekend by the band 38 Acres, who led us all weekend with music that glorified God and really made our times in worship fun and high energy. Our Speaker who was originally scheduled to come speak to us did not show up, but God in the sovereignty, provided us with J. Mark Lynch, the perfect speaker for our retreat and a guy who had an immediate connection with the students. He spoke with us about how we are not alone, that God is with us and that God through Jesus Christ has saved us to himself through the brokenness of life; that we can Escape to Him though Jesus. But not only that Jesus saved us fromsomething but also to that we are God’s plan to reach a broken and hurting world. Enjoy the video, we will be posting some of the amazing stories of what God has done in the lives of the students here at Parkview. Here is the Winter Extreme Video for our week! enjoy! Come Back soon!
	Tags: Video, wild kingdom, Winter Retreat No Comments 2:34 pm 2:34 pm

Can I get one of those?


	So, a few weeks ago I was teaching a lesson where one of the application points challenged the middle schoolers to spend more time in the Bible. I gave out a few devotional books which provided easy on-ramps to getting into the Bible regularly. Afterwards, one of the middle schoolers came up to me and asked me for a copy of the devotional book. “I have time to read the Bible but every time I open it I don’t know where to start.” He’s taking the challenge right now to use the book for daily time with God until it’s finished! Join me in praising God for this young man’s sensitive heart. -Daniel
	Tags: bible study, books, devotions, middle schoolers, wild kingdom No Comments 10:08 pm 10:08 pm

We really needed that!


	Tonight at WK we had our first ever all-worship night. It felt a little bit like a risk to dedicate so much time to worshiping through music but I was amazed at how God showed up. It was so encouraging to spend an extended time pressing in to God’s presence! Our group really took the challenge tonight and worshiped well. I am so blessed by God’s work in the hearts of Parkview’s middle schoolers! At the end of the night one of our adult leaders remarked to me, “I needed that!” I couldn’t agree more! - Daniel
	Tags: risk, wild kingdom, worship No Comments 9:58 pm 9:58 pm

WinterXtreme


	This past weekend Wild Kingdom loaded up on a bus and headed to Timber-Lee Christian Center in East Troy, WI for our annual winter retreat. We had a blast playing and growing together! I’d like to share a few highlights I observed: On our bus ride up the driver said, “Wow! Your group are angels!” I always enjoy it when other people think our group is well-behaved I saw our group mixing up cliques really well! I saw middle schoolers connecting with new people and choosing to include each other! I loved how our group lead the way during worship times – no reservations! I saw middle schoolers freely praying out loud for each other! I was privileged to be part of conversations where middle schoolers chose to step up in faith! My favorite middle schooler quote from the weekend: “I would give anything to be close with God!” Please join me in asking God for more! -Daniel
	Tags: come join my family, dino the bus driver, middle schoolers, prayer, sacrifice, timber-lee, wild kingdom, Winter Retreat No Comments 1:09 pm 1:09 pm

Spiritual Warfare


	I find it’s easy to settle in to defensive mode when the enemy attacks. Tonight was a night where clearly the enemy attacked. Ironically, our discussion topic was “breaking fear.” (Based on 2 Timothy 1:7 ) That means we can press in for the victory, out of defense into offense, even when the enemy advances an atmosphere of fear. Our team took the challenge and pressed in through prayer and I want to share with you some of the fruit from tonight: 1. Before youth group I was chatting with one of our 6th graders and it went something like this: “Daniel, I invited my friend to church.” “That’s great! Has he come yet?” “No, his parents won’t let him.” “Bummer.” “Yeah, but I’m gonna get him to come soon!” I don’t advocate for undermining parental authority but I was so encouraged by this boy taking risks and stepping up in obedience to Jesus! Let’s pray for breakthrough in his friend’s family! 2. We were concerned for the worship time because we had a rough start to the night. It was easy to just pray, “God let us make it through the night.” But in prayer God called us into a place of thankfulness ahead of time for what he was going to do so we pressed in. Guess what happened? God showed up! During worship one 8th grader asked me, “Can we sing this song again on Sunday?” I LOVE seeing God touch middle schoolers hearts and draw them into worship! 3. In my CARE Group I got to see boys stepping up and praying prayers over each other of breaking off fear and releasing God’s Spirit of power, love, and self-discipline! Let’s keep pressing in for greater victories! We haven’t seen anything yet! God has more! Daniel
	Tags: prayer, spiritual warfare, victory, wild kingdom, worship No Comments 10:34 pm 10:34 pm

Two Great Tuesdays


	Over the last two weeks (1/19/2010 and 1/26/2010) I had several fascinating conversations which I’d like to share with you. 1. During worship on the 19th one of our 8th graders came up to me and said, “I brought a friend who doesn’t know Jesus. Can you tell him the prayer?” 2. During the lesson we challenged our group to move from inactive, benign faith into active, dangerous, Kingdom-advancing faith. After the lesson one of our 7th graders came up to me: “Daniel, I want to be a warrior in God’s Kingdom. Can you find someone to teach me to be a warrior?” 3. On the 26th one of our 6th graders walked in to our leader prayer time before youth group and joined us for prayer. He started, “God thanks for leading me to walk into this room tonight…” and went on to passionately intercede for the crisis in Haiti! 4. After CARE Groups one of our team members told me about how chaotic her group feels but then went on to celebrate the fact that they got to spend 15 minutes (out of 30 set aside for CARE Groups) in prayer! 5. Tonight I heard of two different middle schoolers expressing a desire to connect with God in deeper ways, to hear God, to have more of God! I love seeing movement like this! Thank you for all your efforts in prayer! Let’s keep pressing in for greater fruit! Praying with you, Daniel
	Tags: CARE Groups, Dangerous Faith, discipleship, haiti, non-christians, prayer, Sharing the Gospel, Taking Risks, visitors, wild kingdom No Comments 9:36 pm 9:36 pm

Thanksgiving


	This past Thanksgiving our middle schoolers had the opportunity to serve at Parkview’s annual community dinner. Our youth did a wonderful job of serving diligently and meeting needs! In a society that tends to overlook middle schoolers I find it a privilege to watch our middle schoolers stand up and honor God in service! Some of our Thanksgiving Helpers! Over 25 middle schoolers and adult volunteers participated in Wild Kingdom’s responsibilities at the dinner! - Daniel
	Tags: middle schoolers, service, thanksgiving, thanksgiving dinner, wild kingdom No Comments 12:53 pm 12:53 pm

Bursting at the Seams


	Over the past few weeks of youth group I’ve been super blessed to see middle schoolers bringing friends who haven’t been to church before, who don’t know Jesus, and who don’t fit right in to our church culture. Our middle schoolers are obeying God and reaching out to non-believers and it’s creating a healthy problem for our youth group! Please join me in asking God to meet these new friends with the truth of his love and his grace for them! - Daniel
	Tags: non-christians, obedience, prayer, visitors, wild kingdom No Comments 11:05 pm 11:05 pm

Taking Risks


	This past Saturday (11/7/2009) I had the privilege of joining one of our CARE Groups as they took the challenge to share their faith. We travelled to the St. Louis Gateway Arch and spent 4 hours initiating faith conversations, praying for people, and giving away Bibles. It was a little slow starting as each of us chose to surrender our fears and step out in obedient faith. However, as the day flew by I enjoyed seeing the middle schoolers break out and really start to think strategically about sharing their faith. In fact, at one point they started initiating conversations with the people they thought most likely to say no! Afterwards we recounted the experiences of the day and figured out that we had significant faith conversations at least 28 different times (usually with multiple people). We gave away 40-50 Bibles, prayed for people who would receive it, and shared the good news about Jesus’ gift for us on the cross! -Daniel Sharing at the Arch
	Tags: Bibles, CARE Groups, evangelism, Gateway Arch, gospel, outside youth group, prayer, sharing your faith, St. Louis, wild kingdom No Comments 1:02 pm 1:02 pm

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