Operation Christmas Child Shoebox Collection — November 15!

On Sunday, November 15, we will devote most of our class time to assembling Christmas shoeboxes for needy children around the world. This is our third year of participating as a class in this annual Samaritan’s Purse outreach and we hope to collect shoebox gifts for 90 children!

I am encouraging each 12:13 student to get involved in this wonderful outreach by doing one or more of the following:

• Pray for the needy children who will receive our gifts
• Bring $7 (cash or check made payable to “Samaritan’s Purse” with OCC in the subject line) to pay for shipping
• Buy items for a boy or girl in one of the following age ranges: 2-4, 5-9, or 10-14
• Bring a shoebox on November 15
• Note: Students are encouraged to team up with someone else — a sibling, classmate, or friend — in purchasing items for the shoebox

Each family with a student registered in the 12:13 class should be receiving an e-mail with a link to our online “Operation Christmas Child” registration site. Please fill this out in advance so we can keep track of which students are participating!

On the right of this page, you will see a link to the “Operation Christmas Child” website — a full description of appropriate shoebox items is listed there. Karen and Caroline Sawyer, who volunteered at one of the Operation Christmas Child processing centers last year, have offered these helpful suggestions.

• Practical gifts are so important.  These children are thrilled to receive hygiene items like toothbrushes, combs, and brushes.  Some may have never had their own before.
  
• Simple items of clothing like t-shirts, socks, or a hat are wonderful because some of the children may only own one shirt.
  
• School supplies like pencils, small tablets of paper, crayons, etc. are great as sometimes children aren’t allowed to attend school unless they can provide their own supplies.
  
• Toys are great (and the children love them, too), but they shouldn’t be the biggest emphasis of the box.
  
• Only hard candy is allowed in the boxes.  No chocolate or other food can be shipped overseas.  Again, a few pieces of candy is fine, but the children really need practical gifts.

If you have any remaining questions, please e-mail Brittany Kauflin at bhkauflin@covlife.org. Thanks for your enthusiastic support!

What A Bonfire!!!

We had our first 12:13 quarterly activity last Saturday night…and what a wonderful time we had!

Over 200 Middle School kids and parents showed up at Butler’s Orchard for outdoor games, hay rides, bonfires, s’mores, and campfire songs. Earlier in the week weathermen were predicting 60% chance of rain, but God blessed us with clear skies and an incredible full moon. I don’t think it could have been any better!

I’m hoping that some of the girls who brought their cameras will send me some of their best pics to add to this blog…and here’s a great chance for lots of you to post your own comments about the bonfire and tell me what YOU thought!

I’m already getting excited about our next activity: Christmas caroling and hot chocolate in December. Details to come!

ESV Bible Online: Through the Bible in a Year

For 12:13 students who have taken the challenge to read through the Bible in a year, check out the new link to the ESV Bible Online. If you have good internet access, you can choose to listen to the daily Bible selections!

Welcome to 12:13!

As of October 7, 2007, Covenant Life Church’s new class for Middle School students (Grades 6-8) is officially underway!

What an amazing sight it was to see the Pastors College classroom packed with 106 students…this is going to be SO MUCH FUN! I cannot wait to see how God uses this class to help us all “fear God and keep his commandments” (Ecclesiastes 12:13).

This blog serves as a high-tech chalkboard — in order to serve parents, I will be posting the notes (and visuals) for each week’s message. I will also be posting a few simple questions for follow-up discussion and application.

As you would with any technology, please exercise caution and diligence in giving your student access to this site. The WordPress software I used to create this blog is free, but it includes a WordPress link which profiles miscellaneous blog sites from WordPress users. I recommend advising your student not to explore these sites.

If you have any feedback on how I can make this class or blog more useful to you and your student, post a comment.

Grateful for the chance to serve your family,

Greg Somerville