School

Back to school!!!

So, after a great nine hour trip to Pensacola, Florida with my dad, mom, Grace and James, I have finally arrived back to Pensacola Christian College to begin my Junior year. I am excited to start this new semester and I know the Lord has great things planned ahead. I will do my best to keep you all posted about my college life as I train to serve the Lord. I would covet your prayers this semester. Thank you so much for the love and support you all are in my life! May the Lord be praised!

- John

Church Internship

Internship at the Church at Katy....

Well, this past Sunday was my last Sunday at my church, the Church at Katy, and the final day of my summer internship. The Lord was so good to me in allowing me to serve my church this summer. Back in April, when I was still unsure about summer plans, He led me every step of the way until this internship opportunity was made available. This internship fulfilled all the desires of my hear for the summer - it allowed me to minister and serve the Lord, live at home all summer, take summer classes, and provided financial assistance for my college education. I cannot begin to express my gratitude to my Heavenly Father, my family, and my church family for allowing me to have this wonderful experience of ministry. I would like to share with you some of the ways I was involved at the Church at Katy this summer.

The Church at Katy was able to start up a Patch the Pirate Club for kids in June - a ministry that I had the wonderful opportunity to lead for the summer. Patch the Pirate Clubs have been a favorite childhood experience for my siblings and myself, and through previous leadership opportunities in running the program, I had an awesome time working with the 'sailors' at the Church at Katy. Our Thursday night meetings were full of fun activities including stories, skits, Bible lessons, memory verses, singing, and games. I came up with a lot of interesting and funny customs to wear for the kids including dressing up as a pirate, a cook, 'Mr. Potato Head', the color family, and the crook 'Wiggle Worm'. The sailors enjoyed learning about God and really likes when I would do skits. Some of the themes we had this summer included "Worship to the Lord", "Changing and Growing in the Lord", and "Loving the Lord with All Our Hearts". The children loved learning Bible verses and songs for the three specials we had at the church. The 'Wiggle Worm' song was definitely the favorite of all the kids. We ended our Patch the Pirate adventure with an awesome party on our last meeting where the children enjoyed water-balloon games, obstacle course relays, and team competitions. I thank the Lord for the three wonderful Co-Captains that served along side with me this summer - Mrs. Kenny, Rhonda, and Ramon. They were the best! Overall, our Patch Club this summer was a great blessing and success!

In addition to Patch Club, I also had the privilege of serving as one of the primary teachers for the Children's Church at the Church at Katy. Mrs. Rebsch, the leader of the Children's Church ministry, has had the teachers teach the Bible in chronological order to the children. The church has been doing this study for a long time, and I was able to be assigned to teach the last part of Jesus' ministry here on earth. This section covered Jesus' final entrance to Jerusalem to the Ascension. I had a wonderful time teaching and working with the elementary children. My goal was not just to relate commonly known Bible stories to the kids, but to teach the doctrine behind each story. I had many alone times with the Lord studying and researching the lessons - something that really helped my own walk with the Lord. I made sure to record the things I learned and had such a fun time figuring out ways to teach them to the kids. I used illustration, skits, games, and crafts. The children were so attentive and really blessed me with their teachable and willing hearts to learn the Word of God.

Another ministry that I was involved with this summer was the church choir. I was asked to be the director of the choir for the summer - a job that I had never had before. Although I have had a lot of musical training in both piano and cello, I have to admit that singing is not one of my strong abilities. However, with the Lords' help, I was able to use some of my musical training to work with the church choir in bringing praise to the Lord through song. We sang a number of arrangements including "Walking Through the Flames", "How Deep the Father's Love for Us", and "Be Not Afraid". These songs are all favorite of mine and I would highly recommend them to anyone. Working with the church choir was a big blessing to me and I have to say we had some wonderfully talented singers - especially in the soprano section. The church was blessed by the various specials we did and most of all I believe we brought glory to the Lord! Thank you church choir members for your faithfulness and commitment to the Lord! :) (And thank you Katrina Rebsch and Mrs. Teise for playing the piano for us. You were both a huge blessing!)

I was also able to act as a substitute teacher for the elementary and primary Sunday school classes. It was very exciting to see the great work that my dad and Mr. Hughes are doing in both of those classes. How wonderful it is to have men in the church working and teaching the children the Word of God! In addition, playing the cello and flute in the church orchestra was also a favorite ministry of mine. It was fun being part of a flute trio special for church, as well as a cello and guitar duet special with my good friend JB Taylor. The church also had a number of exciting and fun activities that I took part in this summer including a 4th of July picnic, a Father's Day "Heroes Night", and an ice-cream fellowship after an evening service. Another project that I was given by Pastor Taylor was to write two papers that dealt with ministry related topics. With the Lord's help, I was able to write and complete both papers - a Statement of Faith paper and a Philosophy of Ministry paper. I know that these documents will come in handy in the years to come and all the research I did for them helped me expand my knowledge of important ministry topics.

Overall, my church internship at the Church at Katy was a huge blessing to me and an experience that I will always treasure. I thank the Lord, my family, and my church family for the encouragement and support they have given me this summer. I know with a doubt that the experiences and the lessons that I learned this summer will be vital for my future ministry. May the Lord continue to bless the Church at Katy with growth and a continuing "One Accord Mind". I praise the Lord for leading me to this amazing internship this summer and I look forward to seeing what other ministry opportunities He has prepared for me in the future!

Church Internship Pictures.....

Church Internship Pictures......


I was really bad at taking pictures of the different ministries I was involved with at the Church at Katy. So, I only have a few pictures to share, but they give a little taste and visual to the long post I wrote about the internship. :)

SPECIAL MUSIC

PATCH THE PIRATE

4TH OF JULY CHURCH PICNIC

FATHER'S DAY "HEROES NIGHT"!

Quote

Quotes of the Day.......

I have come across many missions related quotes that I really like and have been an inspiration to me. I thought I would share some with you:

"God isn't looking for people of great faith, but for individuals ready to follow Him." - Hudson Taylor

"The Great Commission is not an option to be considered; it is a command to be obeyed." - Hudson Taylor

"Expect great things from God; attempt great things for God." - William Carey

"To know the will of God, we need an open Bible and an open map." - William Carey

"Not reserves. No retreats. No regrets." - William Borden

"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose." - Jim Elliot

I also like the following picture because it goes along with the quote from William Carey about having 'an open map'. People need to hear the Gospel, but WHO will go?

School

ONLY 15 DAYS LEFT!!!.....

I can't believe how fast this summer has gone by! It seems like just yesterday that I got home for a full three month summer vacation, but how time just flies by! It's been an awesome summer here at home, seeing family, working at my church, and having fun with my siblings. But, as there are only 15 days left before I go back to Pensacola, I am already beginning to pack and make lists of things I don't want to forget to take with me.

Packing for college is not one of my favorite things to do, but it is an important step in being successful in college. Just imagine that you ment to pack your toothbrush, but then you accidently forget it. Well, not only are you going to be having bad breath for a couple of days, but you are going to have to BUY a new one (well, in most cases.....unless your house is around the corner of your school. :)) And, well the average college student (me!) doesn't have extra money to be buying things that could have been packed from home in the first place, right? So, to all my friends who are packing for school........DON'T FORGET YOUR TOOTHBRUSH! No, really the main point is to start packing early. Give yourself some time to think about all the things you are going to need.

Make a list. I cannot tell you how many times making a list has helped me not forget important items. Last year, I was a freshman and I had no idea what I really needed to take with me. So, I tried to find out from various sources what to pack. My number one advice is to look at your school's website. Most colleges now a days have very helpful packing lists that share with you important things you will need, as well as any specific items your school requires. This helped my packing process a lot, but remember most of these lists are very general. I found that I still needed to make another list of items I wanted to take with me.

So, I've given you my top two recommendations when it comes to packing for college - START EARLY and MAKE A LIST. These two habbits have helped me pack each time I go to Florida for school. With only 15 days to go, I already started packing and I have already made three lists of things to do and pack before August 28th. I enjoy packing and I hope you all do too. After all, how many times do you get to pack for college? (Ok, I know, you seniors have packed a lot of times!) :)

-John

PS. - So, my good friend, Ivan Dolzhanskiy, did an awesome poster of many of our friends at PCC. Most of the people in this picture are either Russian or speak the language, thus the group is often known as the 'Russian Group'. All of them have been a huge blessing to me and I thank God for allowing me to meet them. Thanks for doing the poster Ivan!!!

Posting a comment

Posting a Comment.......

Several people have been e-mailing me asking how they can leave a comment on a post. All you have to do is click above the title of the post and it will take you to a separate page where you will be able to leave a comment. I hope this helps. Thank you for your support of this blog!

-John Loo