For the record...

My Facebook... lets be friends.

My Twitter Page... connect the dots la la la la.

Our Student Ministry Site.

Our Fundraising Site for Students.

My Tumblr... Pictures and Video hardly any words.

Gateway Community Church... My Iglesia

My Prayer for Banquet...

My pre-banquet thoughts...

“Dear Lord,

Give us the teenagers that we may lead them to Thee.  Our hearts ache for the millions of young people who remain untouched by the Gospel and for the tragically large proportion of those who have dropped by the wayside and find themselves without spiritual guidance.  Help us to give them a chance, oh Father, a chance to become aware of thy Son’s beauty and healing power in the might of the Holy Spirit.  Oh, Lord Jesus, give us the teenagers, each one at least long enough for a meaningful confrontation with Thee.  We are at best unprofitable servants, but thy grace is sufficient.  Oh, thou Holy Spirit, give us the teenagers.  For we love them and know them to be awfully lonely.  Dear Lord, give us the teenagers.”

Jim Rayburn founder of Younglife & friend to anyone who leads youth to Christ

BANQUET SITE

This was so incredibly successful...

We gave our small groups a break for the summer but promised to meet once a month for a mini-reunion under the guise of an event we would host on Tuesday nights called "TMINUS." The premise is that we would post instructions and info 48 hours from tminus on our website. The depth of student response and readiness is in the hands of the kids. We created viral incentive to spread the word by making our first tminus a competition between groups. They got points prior to the event for recruiting incoming freshmen, texting me, bringing visitors, well... see for yourself...

T-MINUS “Showdown & Shindig”

Let’s have a little competition to settle the best of the best. Points will be awarded for various events throughout the night. This will be a Gathering group vs. Gathering group Showdown. “The Gathering… you know who you are!”

Where to Be: Lakeline Mall Foodcourt no later than 7pm! (but we will not stay there… after party for this night will be at AVERY RANCH pool so have your parents pick you up there.)

What to Bring: Digital Camera, towel & swimsuit (for the after party… don’t wear your swimsuit to the mall) 

What will happen? All you need to know is that you better be there and you better bring it. This is a team competition night and we’re going to tell you how to start off with mega points before the real competition begins.

    GET POINTS NOW!

    - The Gathering group that has the most members present “at or before 7pm” gets 20000 points. 

    - Another 10000 points awarded to the Gathering group who comes in themed out team attire.

    - Any new person there who has never been to a Gathering is worth 2000 points for the Gathering group that brought them.

    - Any incoming 9th grade student who you bring is worth 2000 points. (Somewhere, someone you know has a list of all the 8th grade students from middle school going into 9th grade.)

    - 500 points for every text I get that tells me… 1. Your full name 2. Who your Gathering leader is. ***Only one set of 500 points per phone number… so tell your friends they better text me!*** TEXT 954-643-5992

    - 10000 points for the first Gathering group to text me who their student leader is for this competition. 8000 for the second, 6000 for the third, 4000 for the fourth, 2000 for the fifth. Text me who they are and who your Gathering adult leader is.

    The clock is ticking. Prepare for fun. You now have 48 hours….

The next thing we did was post this video on facebook six hours before the event.

When the kids showed up they competed against each other in a video scavenger hunt at the mall. Here is my list for them. The leaders did such a great job. The kids had a blast. Afterwards we went to my neighborhood pool and my hook-up at Chipotle dropped free burritos for us and the kids. It was just a great time of hanging with kids and loving on them. Oh yeah... the list.

 THE BOSS’ DEMANDS

Take a group picture of everyone sitting on one bench outside at the front of the movie theater entrance. 10000

As many pictures of someone on your team shaking a stranger hand. Only one photo per stranger. 2000 per stranger

Cram your team in a photo booth then take a picture of it with your camera. 30000

Bring back one of either one of these items (business card, brochure, or promotional piece with a store logo) from as many stores in the mall as possible. 1000 per item (one item per store)

Get one member of your team to try on a pair of Chuck’s then take a picture of it with your camera. 15000

A picture of Jacob from the movie Twilight. 40000 points

Get a group of three strangers to simultaneously play an air guitar, air drums, and air vocals at the same time then take a 40icture of it with your camera. 20000

A picture of Harry Potter. 5000

Have everyone put on a pair of sunglasses then take a picture of it with your camera. 10000

 Have two people from your team do pushups in front of GNC then take a picture of it with your camera. 15000

Take a picture of a member of your team with a sales rep from the following stores; Macy’s, JC Penny, Sears, & Dillard’s.  20000 per store Must be able to see nametag with logo.

A picture of Edward Cullen. 500000

Place all of your team in a human pyramid then take a picture of it with your camera. 40000

Take a picture of one of your team members washing their hands at Bath & Body Works. 2000

A picture of one of your team members in front of a Troy Aikman jersey. 2000

Bring back a chicken nugget. 20000

Bring back a lock of someone’s fresh cut hair fro a salon. 25000

Bring back as many receipts and movie stubs as you can. 1000 per item

A picture of three of your team members underneath Dumbo the flying elephant. 20000

 A picture of five of all of your team sleeping in one bed. 25000

A picture of three of your team members riding on a merry go round. 10000

A picture of one of your team members riding on a riding lawn mower. 25000

Take a picture of all of your team members laying flat on their back together somewhere in the mall. 35000

Cram everyone into one bathroom stall then take a picture of it with your camera. 50000

Place one of your team members on a boat then take a picture of it with your camera. 20000

 A picture of each of your team members with chopsticks in their nose. 5000 per team member

Bring back a chik-fil-a straw. 1000

Take a picture of one of your team members giving a stranger a piggy back ride. Must have stranger’s permission. 50000 per stranger

Bring back a packet of mayonnaise. 1000

Have one of your team members sing to a stranger and hold their hand then take a picture of it with your camera. 35000

 Have someone pose reading a Twilight book then take a picture of it with your camera. 15000

Mad World, Gary Jules cover @theuprising

These kids nailed this. I was out of town and wish I could have seen it. Video below.

Disturbing Video my High School kids are getting on Facebook today...

Students... I got this disturbing video today in an email. I think you better go to http://www.uprisingnews.com and read every single word. Looks like it's gathering groups vs. gathering groups.... most points wins.

I don't know. I'm just saying.

Fund Raising Main Service Spot

Support us with your tas deductible gift. Video below.

http://www.friendsoftheuprising.com

Current Series "it's UP to YOU"

Self explanatory video below.

A month ago we asked high school students at the Uprising, "What do you want to talk about this summer?" This series will explore their topics.

Week 1 Suffering
Week 2 Suicide
Week 3 Sex
Week 4 Marijuana

Starts 06/10/09 meets Wednesdays at 7:30pm.
uprisingnews.com

Banquet Stories

I'm pretty busy right now... camp in a month and our fund raising banquet in 2 weeks. I started a website to give people info on the banquet. teh following content is taken from that website where I am daily sharing stories of what is going on at the Uprising so potential donors can participate. You can check out this story on our site and other stories like it as well as see what I am praying for and asking people to give toward.

"Check this out. The picture above is a picture of two girls Nina and Miranda. When this picture was taken both of them lived in Kansas. Nina came to us from Kansas last year and began checking out the Uprising after she moved here. At the Uprising Nina began to experience community, truth, and growth that she wanted to share with her friends back in Kansas. Nina started a facebook group for her friends and began to share with them our online talks that we stream live on Wednesday nights during the school year. Miranda began watching and connecting with us as leaders asking questions and growing. Cat, one of our leaders, chats with Miranda weekly and through encouragement and discussion Miranda is taking her next step in baptism at the church she grew up in. 

Our online live service has been viewed not just by Nina's friends in Kansas but in cities across the states. Technology has made it possible for us to communicate, inspire, and connect with our students here in Austin as well as abroad. There is so much more to utilize and run with as we seek to go where God is at in the mission of the Uprising. Pray for us and pray about partnering with us to reach this generation."