Community Groups & Campout Sign-up Underway

The fall “semester” is underway at LifePoint Church and the Young Adult/College Ministry offers a way for you to get connected to the life of the church.  Read on for a quick overview of some of what’s available.

There are few better ways to foster spiritual growth than gathering with fellow Christ-followers to study scripture and how it impacts one’s life.  At LPC, we believe that the Bible has limitless value for young people in all life circumstances.  There are three community groups that specifically target the college or young professional stage of life, but feel free to attend any of the several offered throughout the week.  The Gilion CG, hosted and led by Dallas & Heather Gilion, meets at their home in Ozark each Sunday evening.  The House CG, hosted and led by Kit & Kylie House, meets at the King residence in Springfield on Monday evenings.  The Goings CG, which is designed specifically with college students in mind, is led by Jon Goings and hosted by Jared & Colin.  This group meets Thursday evenings and is located in Springfield.  Individuals new to LPC are encouraged to try out a few groups to see which might be a good fit.

Also coming up is the 4th Annual YA/College Camping Retreat.  Each fall, the young men of LPC venture to the Buffalo National River for a weekend of food, fellowship, hiking and devotion.  It’s truly a great time to enjoy friends and make new ones amidst some of the most beautiful scenery in the Ozarks.  Expect to be both challenged and encouraged a bit both physically and spiritually as we spend some time exploring biblical manhood and the great outdoors.  Perhaps we can even get a repeat of last year’s wood-chopping “competition.”  You had to be there ….  Anyway, all you will need to bring is a small backpack, a sleeping bag and appropriate clothing/footwear.  Food and all other gear will be provided through a $15 fee.  Check the video for a little preview: Guys Campout Video.

Young Men Retreat to Steel Creek

by Donovan Dobbs

On November 2-3, seventeen young and a few old men ventured into the wilds of Northwest Arkansas. This brave group hazard the bitter cold and the roar of killer elk near the camp! In the morning, we awoke to hearty nourishment that ultimately proved to help in our survival of the grueling day of the death-defying climbing before us. Throughout the plunge from 2100 feet above sea level to 600 feet above sea level, the men stayed together and fought the mountain. When we finally reached the bottom, all were accounted for, but a few were cut and bleeding.

OK, the trip was not quite as harrowing as I just described, but it was fun. The group was a mix of young and older—not old. When we arrived at the camp on Friday night, hot food prepared by our personal outdoor chef Eugene was waiting. Dinner was hamburgers and seasoned potato halves. It was a good meal, but dessert was the bomb! It was blueberry cobbler cooked in a Dutch oven, and it melted in our mouths. This meal was the first of three fixed with expertise by Eugene. His cooking alone was worth the trip. Every man there left on Saturday full and fat or fatter.

Friday night was a real blessing. Dallas posed the question about Christian leadership and what is it. Each man participated. The discussion focused on God’s role for men, and the consensus is that a leader should be a servant. It was encouraging to hear the younger men contribute and talk about leadership in their lives and generation as it applies to God. If you had listened to the conversation, you could not help but be encouraged by the commitment to Christ from those who participated.

For those who did not go, you missed beautiful scenery and invigorating exercise. One highlight was the discussion as we walked down the mountain and through a bamboo forest. (I never knew they had a bamboo forest in Arkansas.) The discussion centered around different Christian authors and their theology or in some cases, the lack thereof. As the conversation ebbed and flowed, I thought what an interesting conversation to have in the mountains and woods that God has skillfully crafted. Talking about Christ our king in one of his magnificent kingdoms that is how to spend a day.

Those of us who went were blessed and developed or strengthened our relationships with each other. I am sure that I speak for all when I say thanks to Dallas and Sam for planning and providing the trip. I can hardly wait for the next outing!

Five Thousand Pounds of Potatoes

Editor’s Note: Victory Mission will need volunteers on Saturday, 15 December, from 8–11 AM to deliver Christmas meals to Springfield residents. Stay tuned to E.notes for more details (and be cleaning out your trunk) in the meantime!

by Heather Myer

On an otherwise uneventful Saturday morning, 17 of Life Point’s young adults gathered together in the heart of Springfield. Abandoning much-desired sleep, we shook off drowsiness and bypassed a lazy morning to serve our community. We arrived in carpools from Ozark, Nixa, and the far corners of Springfield for two purposes: to eat chocolate muffins and help with the Victory Mission’s Thanksgiving Drive. VM assists families who have come across difficult times and eases their burden by providing groceries necessary for a holiday feast. We loaded delivery vehicles with food items. FedEx joined families and friends to go on quests through side streets in order to greet families and hand deliver meals. Five hundred families and over 1,500 individuals were blessed by Victory Missions.

We quickly learned that in order to make an impact for our community, we must first serve each other. Traffic cones provided by Matt and Stephen and hand signals by Sarah, clad in a bright orange sweater, directed cars forward. Town Criers such as Amy Hill were necessary to guide Kit, Jeff, and Dallas as they carried large turkeys. Andrea shook open brown paper bags for Heather G. to fill with cartons of eggs. Colby tore open bundles of potatoes for Jon. Courtney and Lyndsey encouraged others with good cheer as they manned the grocery sack pallet. Alison and Kylie told others what was needed to complete orders as they dashed between Fords and Nissans, arms filled with turkey loaves and eggs. Our labor knew no boundaries to height. A petite Katie handed a rather tall Heather M. a low-lying bag of groceries before grabbing one of her own. A moment later, Heather helped Katie hoist her bag in the bed of a large pick-up.

Within a 3 hour time span, our toil was completed. Through a collective group effort we lifted 5,000 lbs of potatoes, carried 6,000 eggs, tossed over 5,000 lbs of turkey, and handed over 500 sacks of dry goods. Our weight-bearing exercises have brought a new meaning to “community.” Several lessons were learned by our labors:

1. Assembly lines work great for playing pass-the-turkey and re-boxing eggs.
2. It is never fun to be too late for the action. If trunk has already been filled, you don’t want to be the one returning a 50 lbs bundle of potatoes to a pallet.
3. Don’t be fooled by appearances. Some large SUVs were only able to take 3 meals. Several 2 door cars held up to 9 meals!
4. It is necessary to start a chilly morning with hot chocolate and a prayer of thanksgiving to our Lord.

Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men, because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does. —Ephesians 6:7–8

Fourth of July Folies: Young Adults Gather for Fun, Frisbee, and Fireworks

by Heather Myer

When I was a child, my parents used to celebrate the Fourth of July by watching fireworks on the television and microwaving hotdogs. At the time, they simply said that they did not want to fight the crowds at Firefall and that waiting in long lines for port-a-potties never made for fun times. Rebelling, I would steal away to my bedroom, read the Declaration of Independence and sing the Star Spangled Banner over lit candles. An odd sense of jealousy consumed me on the fifth of July when my friends sported super snazzy glow in the dark bracelets and bragged of setting off bottle rockets without parental supervision. I vowed that when I was a parent, my children would have fireworks year round,
long lines for the facilities or no.

As a young adult, I have completely disregarded my parents’ cautious approaches to Independence Day. I wildly attend Firefall and the I Love America celebrations with my friends as often as possible in
Springfield. One year, my friends and I set off our own fireworks on the outskirts of Republic and had quite the jolly time refining our pyromaniac prowess.

As Independence Day drew near this year, I wondered what fun times were in store for me. The answer came during a Springfield Cardinal’s game as roughly seven of LifePoint’s young adults congregated around two community snow cones: hang out at Mark Pitchford’s home. It was perfect. Mark had a grill, a cozy living room, a spacious lawn, and perhaps the most important item of all, a neighborhood swimming pool.

LifePoint’s young adults gathered at the Pitchford residence at roughly three in the afternoon for a lazy afternoon of feasting on watermelon, cherries, and sweets. Andrea provided sugar cookies in the shapes of stars, shooting rockets, and Liberty Bells for the occasion, and we all contributed money to a fund for community groceries. While Heather, Andrea, Sunshine, Mary, and Amber purchased dinner, the others played frisbee in the front yard. There were too many participants in the frisbee game to be contained by the lawn, so we increased our territory and took over the vast majority of the street. Frisbee tossing is an exact science. One must calculate the intensity and direction of the wind, as well as one’s personal capability to throw with accuracy. In my case, I always have to consider the position of the person I am
throwing to and aim 2 people to the left in order to reach my intended target. Our frisbee game changed a bit from catching the plastic saucer to tallying how many of our cars we could accidentally hit. It was quite enjoyable.

The ladies returned with groceries and the rest of us peaked into the sacks to discover a Mexican feast. An assembly line of chefs prepared our meal: The ladies assembled cheese and chicken between tortillas, Dallas brought the plate to Matt and Mark for grilling, and the rest of us finished off the final results. Soon, we were treated to chips and salsa, grilled beef and chicken quesadillas, refried beans, taco salad, and fresh fruit. During the food preparation, I soon discovered that there were too many cooks in the kitchen, so I joined Geno, Bryant, and Jon for card games. I relived the joys of Go Fish and discovered how to play Egyptian Rat Screw, of which the purpose is to possess all the cards in your hand by the end of the game. A card may be sandwiched with two cards of the same number and then whoever smacked the pile first would gain possession of the discarded pile. Amy and Paul joined
our game by slapping at the pile while the rest of us idled, oblivious to the repeated numbers. The boys taught me three important lessons: it hurts to have your hand smacked, never lay your cards face-up on the table, and avoid practicing a poker face, no matter how innocent your intentions may have been.

After dinner, the group gathered in the back yard for a sparkling streamer ribbon routin contest. Mary, Sunshine, and Andrea judged as some of us performed clever skits. Jon and Paul reenacted Wind and
Water and were awarded Most Creative. Amber pranced around Heather, and though she seemed unphased and unmoved by Amber’s dance, Amber persisted. Soon, Heather was inspired by Amber’s creativity and joined her frolicking. They were awarded with Most Bootylicious. Amy and I appealed to the judges by singing“You Are My Sunshine” and offering a cheer for Andrea. Our efforts earned the title of Best at Brownnosing.

It was now early evening and the sun became less intense. Our group gathered at the pool for splashing in the water, rounds of Marco-Polo, and creative diving by the men. We observed pair diving, pair diving
with ribbon, cannon balls, belly flops, artistic water entries, individual diving with ribbon, and end of the pool races. It was a refreshing way to spend the last remaining rays of sun. After drying, we parted into smaller groups to seek out fireworks.

Mark, Paul, Jon, Jeff, Sunshine, Amy, Andrea, and I joined the Gibbons family and Ravonne in the Furniture Row parking area to observe the I Love America celebration. Once we laid our blankets and lawn chairs down on a blocked road, we began calling out names for the explosions and humming along with the choir. We prefaced our titles with clever beginning phrases, “I call that one Wind and Water” or “I name that one Istanbul (is not Constantinople).” Though I cannot now recall many of the names we suggested, it provided us with several moments of entertainment. We fell silent, awed by the spectacular array of lights against the black sky. As the celebration ended, we rushed back to our
respective cars, and soon my car joined the stillness of a long line of traffic. Alone for the first time that evening, I became keenly aware of the silence and serenity of the night. I praised God for blessing me
with life, liberty, and good friends with whom to pursue my happiness.

Bless a Family: Young Adults Deliver Gifts to Local Family

by Heather Myer

Our collective gifts offering looked quite impressive beside Heather and Dallas’s fireplace. Paul, Heather, Dallas, and I gathered our community group’s collected Christmas offering and put it in the back of Heather G’s car as we chatted about our workweeks and plans for the holidays. My family is in California, and this is my first holiday season without them. For Thanksgiving, I was so incredibly blessed as several friends and co-workers adopted me during the week of Thanksgiving. I made off with not one, but seven Thanksgiving dinners! Christmas was looking a bit bleaker, yet I knew that God would provide.

The previous month, Paul and I had delivered a Thanksgiving meal to the Travers, but this night I had forgotten bits of how to get to their home. Luckily, he knew exactly which directions to follow. I am easily lost, so I was glad he came with us. As we left the city limits and drove out into the country, I noticed the stars were visible against the dark sky, and we gazed in awe at them. I have not seen the stars since my family sold our property last spring, and the stars are simply not visible against the Springfield city lights. We reflected on the beauty of God’s creation, and soon, we approached the road leading to the Travers’ home. Trees barren of leaves lined the gravel road that twisted before us.

At the house, we gathered our gift offerings and tentatively knocked on the Travers’ front door. A small girl with long dark hair darted out, without socks or slippers on her feet. She gave us a shy smile and then looked up at me and said, “I remember you!” She hugged me around my waist as I danced to keep the packages from falling. “Hello, Deb!” I replied and returned her hug. We entered the warm home and saw a man and a boy watching TV. My mind immediately went blank, but Heather G. saved the moment, greeting each person in the room by their first names. Heather’s social graces never fail to impress me. She only knew the family by e-mail, yet she knew their names by heart when she met
them for the first time in person. “Gerald, how’s it going?” “And you must be Shane!” she said to a petite 18-year-old girl who was knitting a stocking in the corner of the room. The four of us went back to the car for another armload of presents, and we placed them on the floor beside a small gathering of presents. The family did not have a tree.

We had an enjoyable time with the family. Dallas spoke with the father, Paul with Gerald, and Deb and the Heathers admired Shane’s stocking. Shane looked as if she had barely turned 14, and she told us that she was from Florida and that her parents divorced and that she is living with her mother and stepfather. Gerald and Deb are from their father’s prior marriage and the three of them have been together almost a year now. Shane had created an impressive stocking and showed us a ski cap
complete with snowflakes! Heather immediately ordered two stockings and ski caps and offered a generous sum in return. I was again impressed by HG’s kindness and genuine spirit. I also ordered mittens from Shane.

The children shared their pets with us: two dogs, nine cats, and two geckos, and we were impressed by the multitude of their animals. The cats were each named after a seasoning: Basil, Sage, Marjoram, etc.
while the geckos were dubbed such names as Honey Bear and Baby Doll. The dogs were labeled Scooter and Clifford. It humored me. Paul took Deb aside and asked her if she had painted the landscape painting behind the couch. Deb blushed and shook her head. She then tugged his sleeve and pointed at a watercolor on the refrigerator. Paul acted amazed at her artistic abilities and begged Deb to paint one for him. She blushed and quickly shook her head and shyly dashed behind her brother.

Dallas offered up a Christmas prayer for the family. The girls gave us all hugs and Gerald and Mr. Travers shook our hands. Before I turned to leave, Shane and Deb tugged at my sleeve. “Heather, are you a doctor?” I was still wearing my scrubs from work and my stethoscope was peaking out of my lab coat. I smiled and knelt down beside the girls. “No, I’m a nurse.” “Oh, well, could you please, if it wouldn’t be too much trouble, could you please wish all the new babies at the nursery a Merry Christmas from me and Deb?” I was touched. I smiled and nodded, accepting her Christmas tidings. How sweet a request! Neither of the girls had on slippers or jackets, and both shivered in the cold and
huddled near me for warmth. Deb threw her arms around my shoulders and whispered in my ear, “You are a nice lady. Thank you.”

I fought to keep back the tears that welled up as I returned to the car to join the Gilions and Paul. Once I was safe in the darkness of the night, I felt a tear trickle down my cheek. I realized that I truly was
blessed as a child and that this very evening was God’s Christmas present to me. I meekly thanked Paul, Dallas, and Heather for joining me and said a silent prayer for the dear, sweet children. We were all
silent on the way home as we reflected upon the evening, but after a few moments I broke the silence by proclaiming, “They thought I was a doctor!” The others turned to me, amused. “It was the stethoscope. It does it every time!” said I with a smile. I reflected on how very kind our Lord is and how dear the fellowship I have joined at LifePoint has become to me. The thought warmed me as we parted ways; I hardly noticed the bitter cold.

Young Adults Volunteer at Springfield Victory Mission

by Heather Myer

I have helped with Victory Missions for two years, and each time the Lord blesses me much more than I could ever hope to bless another. The previous three times I had helped with a food drive, they were short on volunteers to help load groceries into cars. It isn’t a hard job, but it does require lifting and is a nice workout. I was a bit nervous and I didn’t know how many volunteers to expect. Most people I had spoken to were either noncommittal or had other plans for the morning. We had to work out in the cold in 30-degree weather and arrive at 7:30 on a Saturday morn.

I arrived at the site with a breakfast offering of Panera bagels and hot chocolate, and at first, I didn’t see anyone I knew. Pallets containing grocery sacks, boxes of hams, and bags of potatoes were scattered on either side of a driveway, and several men were breaking down cardboard boxes a distance away from me. These men were aided by VM, and it warmed my heart to meet some of those we were helping serve. A man with a familiar face waved from a distance and walked over to greet me. Paul, quite disguised by several layers of clothing and devoid of his glasses, had been helping the men take apart the boxes. I was impressed by his punctuality, as the time had just reached 7:30. He had brought a friend from college named JT to help. The thing about SBU is that it is so small that college-mates might not have personally known each other at the time of attending school, but we can easily recognize each other’s presence several years after graduating. We share a kind of special bond based on our Alma Mater’s uncanny use of purple on every surface imaginable (and I do mean every–from dorm phones to hand rails) and the fictional mascot of a bearcat. Such was the case with JT.

My good friend, Kendra and her boyfriend, Kyle, arrived shortly afterwards, and the five of us huddled around the bagels and hot cocoa, hoping to stay warm. Soon, the cavalry arrived. Three cars pulled into
the driveway and Jon Goings, Dallas and Heather Gilion, Sam and Rachel Pate, Andrea and her friend Wendy, Bryant Fletcher, and Tiffany Blackwell joined our huddle around the bagels and cocoa. A van full of 20 youth also arrived from Cherry Street Baptist Church to help with the efforts.

Anne, the VM coordinator, gathered our groups and the men from VM. We were told to find a position and man it. When a delivery car pulled into the driveway, a number signifying the quantity of families to be helped was put on the dashboard. Each family received a ham and two grocery sacks (containing a cake mix, frosting, nuts, powdered milk, fruit, eggs, bread, corn, green beans, rolls, and other items that I have long since forgotten).

Soon, a stream of cars arrived, and because most other areas were manned, I mainly helped the men with the hams (the boxes contained 4 hams, with a combined weight of 40 lbs). Jon and Dallas helped dole out potatoes and hams, and the youth delivered grocery bags to the cars while the rest of our group set up grocery sacks and filled them with food. When I grew weary of hams, I helped our group on the other side of the drive. It was such fun! We formed an assembly line to speed up the process: First, Paul unfolded grocery sacks like nobody’s business. (Sam commented on this, and Paul replied, “I have gone to college for nine years to do this very job!”) I picked up a sack and twisted to allow Sam to drop a package of orange juice into my bag. Rachel then took my bag and passed it to Heather, who placed bread in it. Tiffany put fruit in it and then passed it to Wendy, who put eggs in it. Andrea then picked up the bag and raced in attempts to beat JT and Bryant to the cars. If they did not get to a car before the others, they might have to carry the bag back to the pallets without depositing it, which
wasn’t very productive.

We had quite a bit of fun with our assembly line, and at times, we all lined up and picked up grocery sacks and handed them off to one another for the sake of moving them 10 yards down the driveway; it helped us stay warm and easily provided entertainment. At other times, we would become overeager in our attempts to race each other or stay warm, and more than once, I grabbed too many hams (six or seven) in my eagerness and had to ask Dallas or Jon to help hoist them in the back of a pick-up truck when I could not lift them myself. In another instance, Andrea had lost her grip on her second grocery sack and Paul reached out to save her bag while keeping hold on two of his own. We had a very good system of teamwork.

We ran out of hot water for cocoa about 10 o’clock, and by that time, the bagels had lost their warmth and had become icy feeling; however, the sun peeped from behind the clouds and warmed us. Along with the sunshine and my hefty boxes of ham, I was able to shed my jacket and freely dash to deposit food in cars. It was such fun! It astounds me to think that something so small as carrying ham or placing eggs in a grocery sack can lead to establishing deeper friendships and providing fellowship, even in the wee hours of a Saturday morn. God is so very good. We were able to form relationships with the men from VM, the youth group, and the kind people who generously dedicated their time to delivering the food. We finished around 11 a.m. and went our separate ways. In all, we were able to help 750 families in Springfield to have a Christmas feast. Again I say our Lord is so very good!