Note: I have a few recent student ministry posts that still need photos. As soon as I upload the photos to Flickr, I will add these posts here to Blogspot in the order that I originally completed them. Check back soon!

Aloha ChoG Youth Newsletter- June 2009

    Our Aloha Church of God student ministry has concluded our teaching series on "Responding to God," and we pray that the students' responses have indicated life change. We've been inspired by the confrontation of sin by Nathan, the confession of King David, the bravery of Esther, and the obedience of the prophet Isaiah. These last few months, students have been challenged to respond to God's call as Isaiah did by answering, "Here am I. Send me!" (Isaiah 6:8).

Here are some highlights of this past month's activities:

• The nail-biting suspense of playing Easter Egg Roulette
  
  
  
  
  
• Cheering on Juan (in the green jersey) as he won a decisive soccer victory over a tough team
  
  
  
  
  
• Judging the performances of our talented theater students as they compete by acting out various vignettes (Alissa and Tiffany are featured in the photo)
  
  
• Enjoying some of the latest "summer popcorn flicks" at the movie theater together
  

It is a blessing that Alex Bates (Class of '07) and her boyfriend Ryan are still actively involved at Aloha Church of God, leading children's church. We also caught up with a couple of other Aloha ChoG youth graduates whom we don't see very often. In this month's special "Where Are They Now?" segment:

• Martha Carr (Class of '02) was spotted climbing Saddle Mountain with her mom, Peggy, on Memorial Day. She is currently working hard for her parents as they prepare their newly purchased home.
  
  
  
  
  
• Lindsay Adams (Class of '05), daughter of Rick and Marva, graduated in May from Warner Pacific College with a B.A. in Elementary Education. She will be marrying her fiancé, Lance Chamberlain, in September!
  
  

We are proud of all of our students. They have a well deserved summer vacation just around the corner. Thank you for remembering each of them in your prayers.

In Christ,

Youth Pastors Garth and Kathy

Here are a some bonus pictures for this month:


Floor hockey





Easter Egg Roulette aftermath




Weight lifting

A Week of Jeep Smash-Ups

Ever had one of those weeks? Last month, my Jeep was rear-ended twice (both times while stopped at an intersection) within 72 hours. There were no major injuries, but the damage ranged from a totaled Ford Taurus to a full-on seven car pileup!

My Jeep got hit the first time as I was stopped with a car in front of me at a busy intersection, within a block or so from my home. Even with my Jeep's soft top down, I never heard the Taurus approach my rear bumper. Rather than hit her brakes, the driver was most likely speeding up to make a yellow light. She must have been going at least 35 MPH when she slammed into my rear bumper, spraying antifreeze and small pieces of her Taurus all over the intersection.
The picture above was taken at a later time, after the biggest shards of her car were removed from the intersection. Her Taurus had just enough life left in the engine to sputter around the corner and roll onto a side street to find its final resting place (in truth, she had it towed away the next week).

I thanked the Lord that the lady's small daughter was unharmed, and also that my Jeep only had a couple of scratches and tiny perforation on the rear bumper. Not wanting to leave the nice woman stranded in her slowly flowing river of antifreeze, I waited with her until her sister showed up to drive them both to her child daycare workplace.

The steam eventually stopped billowing out of her Taurus' engine, causing the outside of her car to look slightly less trashed. And although we were unable to pry her hood open, we could both peek inside to see her mangled radiator, hoses, etc. I later made a follow-up phone call to check up on her, and she had already planned to total out her Taurus. I felt so bad for her!
 

Two days later, a few blocks away from the Nike World Campus, a U-Haul driver lost control of his moving van and rear-ended a Ford Mustang. The chain reaction that ensued involved the Mustang, which rear-ended the U-Haul driver's girlfriend, who finally hit a string of three more cars (with my Jeep trapped in the middle). I braced for impact as the succession of crashing sounds drew closer to the rear of my Jeep. The car behind me inevitably hit my bumper and pushed my Jeep from a stopped, braked position into the van stopped in front of me.

For the climax, the van in front of me appeared to knock the leading car up to the edge of the crosswalk. Rather than waiting to collect myself, I uncharacteristically screamed (my apologies to Kathy's sensitive eardrums) into my hands-free cell device, "I gotta call you back. Someone just hit rear-ended my Jeep AGAIN!!"

As a police officer took our statements, most of the drivers surveyed the string of our seven cars, most of which were now smashed together, and just had to laugh. There was no major damage, and only the U-Haul driver's girlfriend had minor injuries. My Jeep being rear-ended a couple days earlier only made this accident seem more hilarious.

My conversations with the other drivers led me to conclude that none of them were followers of Christ just yet. But we all shared a thankfulness that everyone was okay… and we all agreed that Someone must have been watching over us.

Student Ministry Newsletter- May '09

Our student ministry group is proud of all seven people who made the decision to be baptized in April. Pastor Tim baptized Shannon, Andrew, Melissa, and Aloha youth graduate Tiffany.


Garth and Kathy had the honor of baptizing students Victoria and Jackie. Each of these believers publically demonstrated their faith in Christ, while obediently identifying with His death and resurrection.

The collaboration with our very own Aloha Christian School for the spaghetti fundraiser dinner was an overwhelming success. We're still waiting for the final numbers, but the gym was packed with families who stopped by to fill up on the tasty pasta, garlic bread, salad, and lemon squares. This year's raffle, consisting of 58 different gift baskets, was also a big draw.



Our students received several compliments on how well they served. Those kids worked hard that night!

On Sundays and Wednesdays, we are continuing a teaching series on "Responding to God." Recently we have dealt with themes of taking risks for the one true God (as Rahab did), battling in God's strength (like Joshua), and staying focused on the Lord in spite of distractions (identifying with the struggles of Sampson's mother, Solomon, Martha, and others).

Other ministry highlights include:


We were impressed (as always) at our students' performances and behind-the-scenes efforts for Aloha High School's presentation of "Cabaret."





Students helped out our church's King's Kids ministry by filling Easter baskets...





...And what an amazing turnout we had for the breakfast and service on Easter Sunday! Praise God that both "big church" and youth group attendance continues to grow!

In Christ,

Youth Pastors Garth and Kathy Hamilton

Here are a few extra pictures from our student ministry:

A small but dedicated group of Sunday School students work together on a project.





Believers "stand firm" against resistance.



"Honey, if you love me, please give me a smile..."






Freeze!





Eleanor writes down the group's answers to prayer.

Video: Spring Skiing with Bo & Photos from Jake's Homecoming

I am in the middle of filming a potentially 12-14 hour shoot on a movie set here in downtown Portland. To pass the time in between takes, I decided to post a couple of short videos that my dad shot of me skiing at Mt. Hood Meadows last month.





The weather was beautiful. Later in the day, however, the snow started to melt and wreak havoc on my form. If you look closely, you can see me crash at the end of both clips.





I didn't build up much speed for this clip, but the camera was still rolling when I ate snow at the end.
*****

It seems that there is no end in sight for today's film shoot, so I also have time for a post-Memorial day tribute to my cousin, Jake Davis. During his 15 day leave from Iraq, we were able to celebrate his temporary homecoming on his actual birthday.


He took time out for this bad boy pose with his brand new Springfield 45 XD handgun. Who would ever think to put that on a birthday list?





We'll be counting down the next six months with you, Jake. You'll be back in the States before you know it. Thanks for bravely serving our country. We are all so proud of you!

Student Ministry Newsletter- April ‘09

 

Responding to God has been the theme of our Aloha Church of God student ministry meetings this season. Our teachings have uncovered parallels between our young people's lives and the biblical accounts of believers such as John the Baptist, his mother Elizabeth, and the Hebrew midwives who feared the Lord and saved the baby Moses' life.

We are all placed in challenging situations from time to time, and the Holy Spirit will guide our hearts to make bold choices that honor Christ.

How will you respond?
 

Some fun ministry highlights from this past month include:

Off-roading in Garth's Jeep at Brown's Camp, along with some kids from our community.

We had to get roped out of the mud by one of our friends. Thank God that the bumper held up!

A soggy yet scenic hike at Multnomah Falls.

Rocking and worshipping at the Memorial Coliseum with Jeremy Camp, Mercy Me, Hawk Nelson, Tenth Avenue North, and Addison Road during the Rock 'n' Worship Roadshow.

This is a short video of us singing along with Hawk Nelson as they play "The Show."

Being captivated by ACOGY graduate Alex Bates' performance in Warner Pacific College's play, "The Curious Savage."
 

Thank you all for the prayers for our wonderful students!

In Christ,

Youth Pastors Garth and Kathy Hamilton

 

Here are some bonus pictures:

Statues

Kathy sharing Moments for Missions with our congregation

Observing communion

A goofy shot of Will, Kenny, me, and Victoria in the church parking lot




Helping Allison move

Derek, Brandy, and Ben dash for their seats during Fruit Basket Upset

Boogie-Boarding and Frolicking: Celebrating 11 Years

Note: I am still trying to figure out how to post a video of me skim boarding. It's painful to watch, and was even more painful to shoot.

Kathy and I celebrated 11 loving years of marriage last month with a fun weekend at the Oregon coast. Her parents' ten year anniversary present to us was a stay at the Nordic Oceanfront Inn at Lincoln City, and we cashed it in.

With no luck necessary, we both took off Friday the 13^th from work to start our getaway. After making a quick stop in McMinnville for coffee, we headed for the coast. I'm not sure why my body looked quite so pale and washed out in this photo.

After checking in at our hotel, we briefly admired the ocean view from our room before heading downstairs to the beach. The sun was shining, but the brisk air was keeping everyone else out of the water.

Never one to be a crowd follower, I donned my neoprene top and dipped my skim board in the ocean. Everyone seemed to be having a good laugh at my futile attempts to master the waves with any shred of dignity, but I didn't care. Bruises and goose bumps are a small price to pay for a good time.

Kathy stayed dry and, well, not quite as cold on the beach. She demonstrated her commitment to animal activism and renewable wind energy by feeding the seagulls and flying her kite.

After a soak in the hotel Jacuzzi (pictured at the top of this post), we drove up to Pacific City for the evening.



Dry suit clad surfers vied for waves in front of Haystack Rock as the sun went down. We dined on an overpriced but tasty dinner, served at a table with a beachfront view of the famous Oregon landmark. Back in Lincoln City, we took a nighttime stroll on the beach and then walked up the stairs to our hotel room for the night.

We woke up early on Saturday morning, grabbed a quick continental breakfast at the Nordic's dining hall, and checked out. I had planned a hike near Beverly Beach for the day, but the weather did not cooperate.


There was a rainstorm in Depoe Bay with wind gusts so strong that incoming Coast Guard ships were unable to dock. It was exciting to watch them try, though!

Newport was as far south as we made it. We abandoned all hope of hiking as the rains began to pound us even harder.


We ducked inside Moe's for fish tacos and the requisite bowls of clam chowder before heading back towards Lincoln City.

Returning through Depoe Bay, we pulled over to browse surf gear, crunch caramel corn, and sip some drinks at the Pirate Coffee Company.

Kathy recommends ordering a grande Spicy Wench, but you can't go wrong with a donut and an Ethically Challenged Sea Merchant, either.

Every weekend at the beach seems to conclude with a stop at some sort of outlet mall, and we didn't buck that trend this time, either. The Tangier outlet stores were our last non-food stop before we headed home, ending an unusually conventional (for us) weekend getaway. Considering that we usually fly overseas for our anniversaries, it was a nice change of pace to remain in the U.S.A.

Eleven years of marriage have whizzed by, and it doesn't seem to be getting any more difficult. In fact, it's a pleasure. Marrying someone as wonderful as Kathy makes it easy to stay in love.

Student Ministry Newsletter- Mar ‘09

There have been several highlights from our student ministry at Aloha Church of God this past month. Here are a few:

• Our students volunteered at the Oregon Food Bank warehouse: We partnered with other volunteers to process 7560 pounds of oats. That comes out to 22,680 meals/ bowls of oatmeal for Portland's needy, or 311 meals per volunteer!
  
• We finished our teaching series on the growth and maturity of the New Testament church.
  
• Garth resumed his high school campus lunch visitations with students.
  
  
• Schools have to make up for missed snow days, so we made up for our church's December weather cancellations with a "make-up" Christmas week.
  
  
  
  On Wednesday night, we decorated faces with shaving cream Santa beards.
  
  

 

Warner Pacific College admission counselor Alyssa Draper was on hand to judge the quality of each carefully shaped shaving cream beard.

 

After we cleaned up, Alyssa enthusiastically shared about Warner Pacific with our students.

 

• Garth and Kathy's place was the place to be that Saturday night. Our make-up Christmas party wrapped up a week of better-late-than-never Christmas joy.
  

 

• Of course, we threw a Super Bowl party at Garth and Kathy's the next day.
  

 

 

• A couple weeks after Alyssa's visit, Garth took Aloha High School students Alissa, Kenny, and Kevin to Portland for a WPC campus tour.
  

Thank you for continuing to pray for the growth of our student ministry (and for Garth's dad during his recovery from melanoma surgery!).

In Christ,
Youth Pastors Garth and Kathy Hamilton

 

As always, here some bonus pics:

We pray hard, but we also play hard

 

Will prepares to flash the applause sign for a sermon illustration

 

Stacking our trays with delicious food, compliments of Warner Pacific College

 

Striking a pose during Christian family bowling night at Park Lanes