IMAGINE IF Newsletter

MARCH 2014

AAATTTTTTEEENNNTTTIIIOOONNN!!!!!! Desperately seeking drivers to pick up children from Maple Ridge

Elementary School and bring to the Intermediate School, Monday-Thursday from 3:10-

3:45pm!! God’s unlocking some doors for us and we are gaining kids at this school. If you

can help out just one day even, please contact Connie Cookman at (765)623-9198 for details.

Youth Retreat --“In not Of”--Unlocking Superpowers

We had an absolute ball at IMAGINE IF’s first annual Winter Youth Retreat on Feb 21-

22nd. We based the lessons around a scripture that had been on all of our hearts as staff: “They

are not of the world, as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth, your word is the truth.” John 17:

16-17. We packed the weekend full of super fun games, hilarious skits, some rocking worship by

Derek Bishop and crew, and great small group discussion time.

Devin Dummel, the Associate Pastor of Pendleton Christian Church provided the

teachings for the weekend. He did an amazing job of making the material fun (I mean, the guy

had a slideshow with Spiderman brushing his teeth and Superman picking his nose for crying out

loud!) while diving into this difficult scripture and making it relatable to the kids.

Some of the highlights included the kids making up skits when they were given just a prompt,

scenario and prop for a superhero scene. The students lovvvved Taylor Swift vs. Lamentations

and Beiber vs. Psalms, where they had to guess whether the quote was from one of the singers or

the Bible. Amazingly, the boys won Justin Beiber by a landslide (embarrassing fellas!).

A huge thanks goes out there to all the community groups and churches that helped make this

weekend happen! PCC for the space, South Madison Youth Foundation for a nutritious snack,

Renewable Hope for a late night snack, Living Water Community Church for a hearty breakfast,

Pendleton Church of God for a pizza lunch, and the small group of Kellie Schnepp for providing

a tasty chicken noodle dinner to finish the weekend. God is certainly pulling our community

together to help change kids’ lives. To see more pictures and testimonies, check out the retreat

album on Facebook @ In not Of.

Recently I went to an Imagine If overnight retreat. I wasn't really interested in going, I just went because my friend was planning on going. I arrived at PCC thinking that it would be really boring and all we would be doing is sitting in a circle and reading verses (Not that there is anything wrong with that, it just isn’t the most entertaining activity for a group full of kids). I got there and a lot of my friends were there plus all my favorite Imagine If leaders were there too. We did a lot of fun activities. The theme was "In Not of" and they used superheros as a big metaphor for the whole thing. We did some "Guess the superhero" games, made capes, and did superhero face painting to support the superhero theme. We had lessons too, four of them to be exact. I loved doing worship. There is something about dancing and singing with my friends, while praising God that makes me so happy. We had delicious food as well, thanks to supporters of Imagine If. Overall it was a great experience and I'm glad I decided to go. I recommend Imagine if to everybody, it is a life changing experience that everyone should encounter. The lovely Layah >

The lovely Layah

Student Article Feature: Layah Smerage (8th grade) on the retreat

Check us out on all your favorite social media

For the first field trip of the Spring semester, we invited all the

kiddos from the Pendleton Middle School, Intermediate School and

East Elementary programs! Normally, the students earn points based

on their attendance, behavior and homework. We wanted to let the

students get used to the rules and just allow everyone to get a taste

for the fun that can be had on the trips!

We went to the PHHS indoor pool on Sunday, March 16th. We got to

swim in the lap pool and dive off the boards in the diving pool. The

kids enjoyed pretending to be different animals as they jumped off

the diving boards. We also made up some pool games and played

some water polo. Of course, noodles and floatie tubes were

involved.

Our next fun filled field trip will be April 11th after school. We will

reveal where we are going and who’s invited earlier that week!

____________________________________________

This past winter, the IMAGINE IF staff went to a

leadership conference called America’s Best Hope. We

learned an important principle called, “Enter the

Danger.” This means to dive right into the awkward and

hard conversations. To say what needs to be said, in

love. As Christians, God calls us to lose the security of

this world and to trust fully in Him. This calls us into

some pretty scary situations. But we must always

remember we have the King of Kings backing us all the

way. We want to teach the students this principle and

empower them to really step out in faith.

Signups will be on the website (imagineif.us) starting

in April. Keep an eye out for details! The IMAGINE

IF Summer Program will begin June 2nd

($10/day)

and is open to 4th

-8th

grade.

First Spring Field Trip Pool Party

Pool Party

Where has your IMAGINE

IF t-shirt been?

Ryan Jones, volunteer

Puerta Vallarta, Mexico!

SSSUUUMMMMMMEEERRR PPPRRROOOGGGRRRAAAMMM

222000111444

EEEnnnttteeerrr ttthhheee DDDaaannngggeeerrr Pictured below: (top left) Gavin Shuck and Seth Howell amassing as

many noodles as they can. (top right) Aaron Beckham mid-air off the diving

boards. (bottom left) Michael Mayor, Layah Smerage, Esta Henderson and

Cole Evans buddy up for a group pic. (bottom right) Mackenzee Anderson,

Hailey Evans and Emmiline Custer wade around in the lap pool.

From the Mouths of Babes Youth who went to the Winter Retreat were asked to fill out

testimonies on their experience. Here are some of the comical

responses we got:

Question: What kind of superpowers/gifts has God given you?

Responses: “I’m really good at talking to girls.”

“Birthday, Christmas and Valentine’s day gifts.”

Glad to see we got through to them ;)

Pictured below are IMAGINE IF’s Dodgeball & Volleyball

Tournament (both the Recreation and Competitive) Champions!!!

Check our website regularly for future tournaments and leagues. Prayer Requests

Praises for 3 more youth accepting

Christ at program so far this

semester!

Finances, especially for

sponsorship for the Summer

Program. Please contact Esta

Henderson at esta@imagineif.us if

you know of any companies you

think would be interested in

sponsoring some kids to have an

amazing summer!

Continued prayers for the Petty

family and baby Poppy-Kate

All the youth coming to the after

school program and yet to come.

That they arrive safely every day,

that the people they meet and the

lessons they hear show them

God’s love. That they are forever

changed by His Grace and that

everyone in the program be

saved.

For opportunities of stewardship,

by means of service projects and

mission trips for the students.

To bring all that need a hot meal to

the Thursday night Community

Suppers.

Bdubbs Fundraiser

Sports All Stars

Check out our new weekly blog! We should have something written each week and a video blog

every other.

http://imagineifpendleton.blogspot.com/

Send cash or check

(made payable to

IMAGINE IF) to:

Pay directly online at the

following link:

Support Page

We are starting a year-round snack drive at the local churches in

Pendleton, IN. Each day at the after school programs, we hand out

over 100 snacks to the youth of our program. This can get

expensive! Please help us out by donating to our snack bins when

they make their rotation to your church!

We had great success at Pendleton Christian Church and

Pendleton Church of God in the last few weeks.

The IMAGINE IF bin will make its way to First United Methodist

Church from March 23rd

-April 12th.

If you’re not a part of a local church, please always feel free to

drop off snacks directly at program: Middle School 2:20-5pm

Intermediate and East (at Fall Creek Christian Church) 3:20-6pm.

The Buffalo Wild Wings Fundraiser held on March 19th

was a hit! We made around $200

from all the meals purchased that day with an IMAGINE IF ticket. Thank you so much to all

of you who came out to support us! Keep an eye out for more events like this in the future.

Eat Wings. Raise Funds.

Ways to support Monthly… We are run solely by people like you choosing to give generously

so that we may give children a place to go where they feel safe and loved in the

name of Jesus Christ.

IMAGINE IF

P.O. Box 187

Pendleton, IN 46064

THANK YOU FOR HELPING US TO BE

THE HANDS AND FEET!