Spring is on its way, which means it’s time for another youth update to look back on how God’s been faithful over this past winter and look forward with anticipation to see what He’ll do over the closing of the school year and the summer months to come.

In February we attended a winter camp for Jr. Highers. We had a handful of students attend, with one student leader joining us. The highlight of the time we spent there was seeing this student leader learn to operate in the awkward middle ground of being much older than the Jr. Highers, but still not an adult. The student thrived in this position, pouring into not only our own students, but other kids at the camp there as well, speaking the gospel truth into their lives. Not only that, but they are continuing in this path of sharing with others as they’ve returned from this experience. Close friends testify that something has changed in this student dramatically. This is what we want to see from a mid-winter camp event.

The closest upcoming event to look forward to is a high school only event called The College of Prayer, held at the Mountain Lake Alliance Church. This is an event that we attended last fall, which proved to be an incredibly fruitful teaching on prayer. There were transformations and encounterings of the Holy Spirit, so I have high expectations for this year’s event as well. It will take place April 6-7 with the deadline for permission forms being April 4. The cost is $45.00 per student, which will include all meals.

Be on the look out for a complete schedule of summer events, which will be available in magnet form in the middle of April.

Another upcoming event that will be in the summer, is Lead the Cause, an exciting gospel proclaiming, disciple making urban missions trip. There are already 13 students and 6 adults signed up to go. So please be praying ahead of time for this trip, as our expectations are high for what God intends to do in and through our students.

As always, we have a schedule packed with engaging, exciting events for our students, to give them opportunities to grow in their faith and bond with each other. Thank you for continuing to pray for our ministry and entrusting us with the spiritual growth of your kids on Wednesday nights and beyond.

In Christ,

Micah Seibert

We had a smashing success in October with our Jr. High Epic Outing. The event was held at the Lake Crystal Area Recreational Center, where we swam in the massive pool there, played dodge ball, and enjoyed their large climbing wall. This event was put together with two main goals; first, to bring together the Jr. High to build community through fun and fellowship. Second, to convey the redemption story of Jesus through a series of short lessons. The kids learned about God’s great love for us and our response to it and how God keeps the promises He makes. This all points, ultimately, to Jesus’ return and the choice that mankind must make about God’s free salvation. We had one kid accept Jesus that day.

 

November 10-11 was the Sr. High Fall Summit. For the older students we attended the College of Prayer mini conference held at Alliance Missionary Church. We studied the Lord’s prayer and how to pattern our lives after it. We turned the conference into an overnight event by staying at a hotel in St. James. The evening was full of delicious pizza, fun at the hotel pool, and other all-night shenanigans. The highlights of the conference were digging deep into the Lord’s prayer, encountering God’s love, learning how to forgive others and claim God’s forgiveness for ourselves, prayer, and worship. One student said that the conference “reminded me that there is really healing and power in prayer - my prayer life has been lit up as I learn to practice ‘pray continuously.’ Also, I am putting people into a prayer circle to regularly pray for me and I am seeing God at work through that.” In a word: Transformational.

 
Mountain Lake got a special treat on November 15 with the For His Glory program provided by the Mt. Lake Ministerial. This event featured two hip hop / rap artists that brought powerful messages of hope. One of those artists was our very own Josiah and Danial Gardner, who played original songs written by Josiah. The other artist was Bobby Bugattii with D.J. Peacock. This event was unlike anything seen in Mountain Lake before; the whole place was filled with excitement and electricity, with a powerful moving of the Holy Spirit among the students. This shouldn’t be a surprise when you consider the dozens of people praying for the event weeks before the event, as well as all the help that went into making it happen. Many of our students witnessed God’s answer to prayer as many put their faith in Jesus that night.

We have an awesome Christmas schedule lined up. The annual Christmas Party with ugly sweater contest will be December 13. Parents, please remind your kids to bring a $5.00 dollar gift for the gift exchange. We want to be sure everyone will have a gift to open. There will be no youth group for the holidays on the 20^th and 27^th

Also, keep an eye open for Winter Camp coming up. The dates are February 23-25 for the Jr. High, and January 26-28 for Sr. High.

Your prayers are always appreciated for the students here at Cornerstone Youth Ministries. We give glory to God for the continual answering of prayers and lives being transformed. Amen!

In Christ,

Micah Seibert

This summer was a blast for the Cornerstone Student Ministries. It was chock full of events for the students, including our typical outing at the lake, weekly laid back meetings, and a trip out to Sioux Falls to hear Hollyn and Sadie Robertson (among others). The highlight for me, though, was our missions trip to Pine Ridge.

Our missions trip was unique in that out of the fifteen people that went, seven of them were adults. Of the students who went, all of them were highly committed in their walk with the Lord and were already deeply involved with our Student Ministry. It was amazing to see the breakthroughs that happened on this trip among the people who went. When you go on missions, Satan likes to attack your weak points, but as a community, each member can minister to each other and fill in where others fall short. On this trip, I witnessed adults ministering to students; students ministering to adults; students ministering to students; and all participants sacrificially ministering to the local residents at Pine Ridge. So, as they supported each other, they together reached out and were the hands and feet of God to the native Americans there in Pine Ridge. The Mt. Lake observer did an article covering the trip in more detail. Click here to read it.

I’m excited for this new year of youth group. The Student Ministries has a whole new direction in our vision this year. This new vision can be summed up like this; Knowing Jesus. Making Him known. Multiplying Disciples. This will be a grid that will guide the rhythm of all youth group activities. Youth group will be focused on engaging the whole youth of Mt. Lake, starting with a kickoff event that’s centered on the Gospel. We will have small group times that allow individual students to interact on a deeper level with the messages I give, allowing them to not only learn from God’s word, but also from each other and the adult leaders. 

This fall is lined up with some awesome events, starting with a mystery themed kickoff event (meaning I’m not telling you what it is) on September 6. On September 23, we will go to a Dare2Share Live event, and the deadline for the permission forms will be September 20. Later, the Jr. High Epic Outing will be October 20 and the Sr. High Fall Summit will be November 10-11. Mark these things on your calendar so your children don’t miss them! We have an exciting year ahead and I pray that God will be moving mightily through our efforts. 

In Christ,

Micah Siebert

As we draw to the end of another school year, it’s amazing to look back and see the faithful hand of God at work throughout the last year. We’ve had a consistent average attendance of 42 students and in all we’ve had 89 different students come through our doors.

The highlight of the year for me has been watching the student and adult leadership excel and share my ministry vision. They have been learning how to reach youth by being trained in sharing the gospel boldly and clearly. With the high schoolers, it’s been cool to see them learning to reach unbelievers with the gospel, and encourage one another. The graduating seniors that have regularly attended this year are three young women that God has been clearly growing each in their own unique way.

One way I have seen God working the most clearly with the student ministry is at Simple Church. Those that show up consistently are learning how to let their guards down and pray with each other. I am discipling this group to grow into engaging with God on deeper levels; as I pour into them, they are learning to pour into others.

This year wouldn’t have been possible without the adults; Wayne and Annette Klassen, Michelle Schroeder, Tina Schroeder, Slade Harder and Alaina Reynolds who show up every night to serve these kids. It is a joy to see them share my ministry mindset and to have adults that say “yeah, let’s do that!” 

This summer will be focused on having laid back Wednesday night meetings, where the discipling relationships can continue to be developed. That means that the other usual summer events that take up a lot of time and money to plan will have to be left off for this year.

One event that will be a highlight this summer is another missions trip to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. At first I was disappointed that only eight students had signed up to go, but then I realized that they were all my student leaders who’ve been showing up regularly to simple church and whom I’ve been investing into extra. Almost all of the adult leaders will be going as well. These are the ones who are excited to tell about Jesus even when it’s not easy. I’m praying that this student ministry will engage in the Dare2Share philosophy of making disciples that make disciples and that this missions trip will be a turning point where this vision will spread from a couple to a whole culture understanding it. My expectations for this trip are that there will be dynamic training and putting it into practice, with a time at the end to look at Mt. Lake, apply the lessons of the nuts and bolts of discipling others every day, and how to reach this town as our mission field.

I want to thank everyone who has supported this ministry through prayer. Please keep praying for the students and our leaders. Pray that God would meet the kids where each one is at in a deep and personal way and that He will use this upcoming mission trip to further advance His Kingdom in Mountain Lake. 

In Christ,

Micah Siebert