Student Ministries Blog

Word from Liz Morrisey - A Greenville Campus Volunteer

Did you know that statistics show it’s more difficult to meet Jesus after the age of 18? Well, here in Greenville FUSE is taking that statistic to heart and making sure 6th through 12th graders don’t miss out on having a personal relationship with Jesus. Courtney Arnold, a junior at Mauldin High School, recently took that next step. “Every time I heard about Jesus, I heard about how it changed their lives so much,” she says. “One day I didn’t want to go down the same path that I was going down.”

“We do whatever we can do to get the students excited,” says Davey. “We believe ministry takes place outside the church. We help our volunteers to go out and do ministry.”  Kelsey and Courtney say FUSE does a good job of relating things to real life. “NewSpring and FUSE always remind me to put God first,” says Courtney. “It will help me view things differently as I get older and as I go through tough times, I can turn to him. FUSE will make a world of difference. It will change your life if you try.”

Sexed 2 from NewSpring Students on Vimeo.

Brad Cooper

Sexed 1 from NewSpring Students on Vimeo.

Feb 13th of 2008 (last year) Fuse* had 295 students in attendance.
Feb 11th of 2009 (last wk) Fuse* had 712 students in attendance.
How Glorious is our God.  How mighty is our Christ.

*How many students will be in attendance a year from now???
*After you answer the above question… What are you being called to do to make it happen???
Christ in us is God’s Plan-A and there is no Plan-B

Here’s a story that was sent in from Rachel Jackson about how her group is using their gift.

Genesis 1:17 - And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth. We are called as Christ followers to be a light to this world, to be disciples. We are the ones that have to think of ways to reach out to others, we have to use our Time, our Talent, and our Treasure to better the Kingdom of Heaven.

Too many times we try to make ourselves look better. We shouldn’t be focused on the things of the earth, for they will be gone one day, as will we. In the numbered days we have, we have to use them to place everything at God’s feet..to store treasures in Heaven.

Recently we were challenged to do something good for someone or our community and cross the line, and to say that we were doing it for the glory of our Savior. We each got 5$ and were told to do what we want, be creative and do something great. Our group came up with about 25$ and we knew what we were going to do…a Blanket Drive. It was the best thing we could think of to get our school involved as well.

With our money we got posters, decorated them, and hung them around our school. We made announcements also! We were so excited! All throughout our day at school we had people asking us what they were for. Great chance to share the love of Christ with people! We have received and donated a total of 28 blankets so far! This will be continued until the end of December!

Please, if you have blankets that are laying around at your house that you aren’t even using, give ‘em to me! You can contact me via email @ .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) to get specifics on where to drop off your blankets! It would greatly be appreciated!

This is how we are using our Talent of creativity to advance the Kingdom of Heaven, how are you?

Joseph Rampey and Anthony Cook’s 9th grade guys served at the Greenville Rescue Mission, last Saturday. A couple of weeks ago at Fuse, we gave each student $5 to serve the community. Check it out here.

The group decided to pool their money together to buy deodorant, soap, toothbrushes, razors and shaving cream—they even put in $30 of their own. And they didn’t just donate and run. They got to stick around to serve lunch, and afterward, they prepared dinner. The group plans to make the trip again soon.

What’s your story? What did you do with your $5? Let me know. .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Jenni Hines’ 10th grade girls group used the gift they were given to minister to their teachers. Apparently, printer paper is like gold when you work in the public school system. Each teacher is given 500 sheets of paper at the beginning of the year, and if they use anything beyond that, they have to pay for it with their own money.

So our girls prayed about what they needed to do, and they decided to buy paper for teachers that they thought would need the encouragement. They wrote Bible verses on the outside of the paper packs and baked cookies to go along with them. The teachers were blown away.

Great creativity ladies. Keep serving your teachers everyday!

Chris Bradberry’s 6th grade guys got a chance to serve at the Developmental Center for Exceptional Children last week. The DCEC is a program that provides full-day services for children with special needs. The kids are anywhere from birth to five years old.

Because of recent state budget cuts, the center’s funding has been cut completely, so they’re relying totally on personal donors. Our guys took the $5 they each got from “Cross the Line” week 5—and some more of their own money—to buy $170 worth of art and cleaning supplies for the kids at DCEC.

They got to deliver their gifts on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, but more importantly, they got a chance to spend time hanging out and loving on kids at the center. Great job guys!

If you or your group got a chance to put your $5 into action, I’d love to hear your story. Email me at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

During “Cross the Line” week 5, Brad challenged students to not waste the gifts God has given them. And a group of our 8th grade guys took him up on it. Matt Beasley and TJ Deluccia’s group of 8th graders made 2 separate trips to the Greenville Rescue Mission last week to serve.

During the first trip, the guys got to do some prep work for the Thanksgiving meal by bagging bread, mopping some floors, washing dishes, and even serving food. The quote of the day was supplied by David Fant who said, “If I was at home right now, I wouldn’t be doing anything!”

They took a second trip to the mission on Wednesday before Thanksgiving, and the guys got put on drink duty. They got to serve somewhere around 700 drinks, and had a great time helping people. But the best part was yet to come.

On the van ride home, Cory, a student from the group, prayed to receive Christ! It’s just another example of God being awesome. These guys showed up to serve drinks, and one of their friends accepted Christ in the process.

God’s doing some amazing things. We’ve all been given a gift. What are you doing with yours?

Jump Off from TJ Deluccia on Vimeo.

Have you ever been the new kid? You know what I mean. You go somewhere for the first time and you feel like everyone is staring at you, because they just know that you don’t belong. It’s a pretty intimidating feeling isn’t it? Well, that’s one feeling we never want anyone to feel when they walk through the doors of NewSpring, especially if they’re a student on a Wednesday night.

So this week at Fuse we’re starting something completely new to make sure our first-time students feel at home. It’s called The Jump Off, and it’s gonna happen during the small group time every Wednesday. Instead of sticking a first-time student with a small group that already knows each other, we’re gonna make a small group just for them. The Jump Off groups will be split 4 ways (MS Girl, MS Boy, HS Girl and HS Boy), and they’ll focus on telling the new students what Fuse is about and why we do what we do.

So, if you’re a student at Fuse, this is what we need from you. First of all, if you bring a friend, we want you to go to with them to The Jump Off. Instead of ditching them to go to your small group, stick with them and go to The Jump Off. First of all, you might learn something you didn’t know before, and secondly, it’ll help them feel even more comfortable if you’re there. The next week, you and the friend you brought can go with your normal small group. The second thing we need from you guys is an attitude that is constantly focused on others. We’re doing everything we can to make new students feel welcomed, but it means nothing if we can’t get the rest of our students to reach out.

My challenge to you, as a student in our ministry, is to find one person who you didn’t know before and do everything you can to make them feel at home at Fuse. Get to know them. Show them around. Serve them however you can. I promise that you won’t be wasting your time. So be on the lookout for first time students this week. Step up and be the leader who isn’t fine with letting hundreds of students come to Fuse once and never come back, because they felt left out. Y’all are great. I know you can do this.

If you want more info about what you can do to help with The Jump Off, email me at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)