Heritage of Pilgrim Endeavor
 

Yes, I Am A Congregationalist
Diana Wyman
HOPE President

I grew up in a Congregational church. It was right around the corner from my house. My sister and I went to Sunday School and my parents volunteered for various boards and committees. But, as I got older I wanted to make sure it was the right church for me. I didn't want to join the church just because it was convenient, or because it worked for my parents.

So, I did some research on various denominations and even attended different services with friends. But I eventually came back to Congregationalism. I liked some of the ideas I saw in other churches, but there were also things in each that I didn't agree with. The nice thing about Congregationalism is that you are free to interpret God's Word for yourself. You don't have to agree to a list of specific beliefs and practices. You can take the best of what everyone has to offer.

When I went away to college, I moved to western Virginia. There weren't any NACCC churches there (yet). I did find a church I liked and even had the opportunity to work in youth ministry. After graduation, I prayed about where God wanted me. Although I enjoyed working with a thriving group, God needed me to use what I had learned to help grow a new youth group. Not only did I land back in a Congregational church, I became the youth leader, and eventually the Christian Education director, at the very church where I grew up. Funny how things come full circle.

 HOPE is another great part of being in the Congregational church. The conference has been an important spiritual experience for both me and my husband over the last few years. So, when we considered moving to Philadelphia, one of the drawbacks was that there was no NACCC church nearby. But we knew we would find a church that "fit."

 We wanted to find a church where we could get involved and make friends. We tried different churches every week for the first couple of months. We even went to the nearest NACCC church, just for fun. The people were friendly and they had a lot of activities. But it was almost an hour away, so we kept looking. 

 One Saturday, I took out the phone book and started looking for churches, but nothing really jumped out at me. Besides, my husband and daughter were out of town, so I would have had to go by myself…and I had lots of other things to do before they got home. So, I decided to skip church, just this once. I slept late Sunday morning so, I couldn't really make it to church anyway. (And the excuses go on…) I got up, put on my work clothes, and headed out the door to run errands. I vaguely remembered that the NACCC church didn't start service until 11 so, I could get there if I hurried. But I didn't remember how to get there. Just for the heck of it, I checked the file where I sometime put directions. And there they were. Most of the time, God speaks to us in that "still small voice," but occasionally we don't get the message and he sends bigger signs. Well, I went to Glenolden Congregational Church that Sunday and my family has been going there ever since.

So, yes, I am a Congregationalist. Not because I was raised in the Congregational church as a kid, but because that is where God wants me now.

H.O.P.E Changing Lives
Part II

If you did not read the last Ananias I asked the Lord to take away my slothfulness and give me the gift of fitness.  I had lost five pounds in the month following H.O.P.E. 

The quest for fitness has not been easy.  During the last four months we have moved twice (once out of state), I started a new job, and we fixed up our new house.  I had to rearrange my priorities and fitness was moved down the list.  I didn't run for the entire month of September and half of October.  The Lord didn't let that keep me from fulfilling my fitness responsibilities.  He found other ways to keep me fit; painting, cleaning, unpacking, and staying on my feet at my new job.  During the last two months I have only run 5 times, but it totaled 20 miles. I now consistently run 5 miles each time I go out.  Now that we are settled in, I am optimistic that I will be able to run more often. I am also running in a 5-mile road race with Diana on Thanksgiving morning. I will let you know how I did in the next Ananias. I am now down to 220 pounds and feeling great. People are starting to notice and hopefully I will get the courage to tell people how I did it.

Love in Christ
Eric Wyman

All I want for Christmas is HOPE

Hey guys I have some news for you…HOPE is coming closer everyday and soon it will be right around the corner.  It is about that time to start saving money for registration and travel expenses.  I know things can get expensive by the time you pay for registration and now you have to pay on travel.  It really gets expensive when you have to buy an airplane ticket, trust me I know because I always have to fly to HOPE.  I know between rent, car payments, school bills and spending money for anything else you never seem to have extra money around.  Especially since Christmas is coming soon (trust me I am not ready yet).  The officers and I came up with a couple of ideas that would help you save up for HOPE because we want all of you to come this year. 

HOPE will be fun this year.  We have changed a couple of things that should really go over well.  I don’t want to give out any details; you will just have to come to find out.  I promise it will be great and well worth your travels. 

Now to our ideas…Even though we do not know the exact dollar amount for registration right now I am sure it will be close to what it has always been, so we at least have a ballpark range of money.  We figured if you save $3 dollars a day, that would be $21 dollars a week, and you would be pretty close to the cost of HOPE and possibly even your travel expenses (depending on where you are coming from).  Just think -- that is avoiding one fast food meal a day, or not having Starbucks one morning.  If you break it down, most of us are spending more money then we need to be spending eating out.  If you have to fly look for flights early so they might be a little cheaper (the dates for HOPE will be coming soon).  Ask for time off from work really early so you are not waiting until the last minute and they say no.  The best idea we thought of was since Christmas is right around the corner maybe you could ask the relatives to send you money for HOPE instead of another sweater.  Then you just have to put that money aside and not spend it until May.

            We are sure that if you use most of these ideas then you will find it easy to get the money for HOPE.  Now that we have given you all of these ideas we don’t want to hear any of you say that you did not come to HOPE because you could not afford it.  Now that you are running out of excuses we will see you all in June at URI.  See you soon and Happy Holidays.

God Bless
Melissa Schelling
HOPE Secretary

Getting Help for the Rhode Island Conference!

In just seven months we will be romping, stomping and praying in Kingston,
RI at the University of Rhode Island. The officers and co-directors have
been working hard developing the theme, putting together the activities, and
doing all the other things necessary to plan our conference.  It will be
awesome!!

We really hope that everyone that wants to come will join us.  Sometimes
that can be a bit hard when you’re a college student and you have to study,
and work, and the money for conference is just nowhere in sight.  If you put
aside just $10 per week (a couple of McDonald stops), you'll have a good chunk
of money to use towards your registration fee and travel costs.  Some of
your churches will help too, but they may not know you need it.  Have you
asked if they could help so you can participate in the HOPE conference? Or,
have you participated in any of the youth group fund raisers at your church?
If you aren’t already involved, talk to the youth leader to see if you can
help out and receive a portion of the money raised.

Even then, sometimes you may still come up short.  What many of you may not
know is that there are some HOPE scholarship funds available.  If you really
want to get to conference and need some help, write a note to Joanne and/or
Bob with a brief explanation of your situation.  Send your request to their
email addresses (below) and know that all inquiries are confidential.

The funds are limited so we can only provide a few scholarships.  Know we
will do all we can to help those who ask.  So if you really need some
support, please let us know.

Joanne Simpson: Jsimp0780@aol.com
Bob Daniels:  robertcdaniels@hotmail.com

H.O.P.E PURE AND SIMPLE

I first started going to NAPF in high school, as I know many of us did. NAPF changed my life in so many ways that I could not fit it all in a book. But the encouraging part of NAPF led me to come to HOPE four years after I stopped coming to NAPF. When I was approached to chaperone my local church kids to NAPF and attend HOPE I had no idea of the impact that it would have on my life as an adult.

Showing up in Spokane, Washington, I was a little apprehensive of my decision. I was the only one out of my group going to HOPE so I was feeling a little lonely, not knowing who was going to be there or whom I would see. As we dropped off the NAPFrs at their dorms and the bus slowly drove away and headed to the HOPE dorms, I went into silent prayer and just began expressing some of my feeling that I had not shared with God in a very long time, my fears were soon laid to rest. As I stepped off the bus and headed to the dorms I saw someone I had not seen in a very long time, Melissa Schelling. At that moment I knew God had brought me back for a reason, not just to see people I had not seen in a very long time, but also to see that God had never left my side.

God never leaves our side no matter how angry or how strayed our paths get. In college while attending many different schools and many different churches, I had forgotten what really mattered, my relationship with God. At my last college I had a wonderful church that helped my faith grow but because of decisions I was making in my life I was still not growing closer to God.

God, of course, knew exactly what I needed and when I needed it most. I didn’t even know that I needed it, but God did. When the Lord opened the door for me to come to HOPE again of course I was apprehensive, because I didn’t expect it. But for once I actually listened and came. HOPE is a life giving and changing experience. It has affected my adult life where NAPF left off, by showing me that it is ok to grow every day!

Chris Ashcraft
Ananias Editor

ADDRESS CORRECTIONS and EMAIL CORRECTIONS

If there are any address corrections or email address corrections that we need to have, please email Melissa Schelling at TinyHandsLissa@aol.com.

ANANIAS GOING WEB BASED
 

The next Ananias will no longer be mailed out as it will be sent out as an email attachment and also be available on a new web based system. Just go to the NACCC web site (www.naccc.org) and click on “Youth” on the left-side menu. The first item is Ananias and you will see the previous 3 issues already there.  Due to budget constraints and other issues the NACCC has decided that this will be a better system for all of us to receive Ananias.

NEXT ANANIAS

For the next issue of Ananias I would love to see more individuals write articles. I am going to be hitting you up very soon, so start thinking what you would like to write. Also I do not have many pictures of what is going on in everyone’s life so if you would like to see more pictures I need to get some.

Please feel free to email me at Voowoo@aol.com

Chris Ashcraft
Ananias Editor

I would like to elaborate a little more on the message Chris gave above as I would like to add a couple pleas for help.  As part of the NACCC office staff in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, I hear comments and requests for help from our individual churches.  They need help in establishing, energizing, and sustaining youth groups in their churches.  If you could share some of your ideas or give some examples of success in your own youth groups, how you manage to get your group to the HOPE Conference each year, and what draws you to HOPE each year, that would be a wonderful service to our churches. And, after HOPE, how do you stay in contact with your individual church group and those friends you’ve made at the HOPE Conference?  I realize that all of the articles in this issue are perfect examples of what I’m talking about.

It would be great to have some pictures of your individual church groups or conference pictures, too.

Thanks for your help!
Karen Frazzell, Director of Youth
NACCC Office Staff