LiveLove

This past weekend I participated in a DNOW (Disciple Now). What's a DNOW, some of you may ask? It is a weekend youth event churches put on that seek to lead students into a deeper relationship with God. Students from churches are divided into small groups. Those groups are then assigned a host home provided by respected and trusted members of the church. The hosts feed, watch, and provide a place to sleep throughout the D-Now weekend. At the host homes, a guest leader guides the group in Bible studies that encourage students to grow in their faith by challenging them to think about what has been presented that weekend. Throughout the weekend, the groups meet at church for recreation, music, and worship as a large group. I never attended a DNOW as a youth, but I was small group leader for a few when I was a college student. I always loved them.

Well the DNOW I participated in this weekend was a twist on this traditional style. You see for smaller churches (like mine), it is hard to have a weekend like this because you don't have the people, resources or space. So to solve the problem, 18 churches in Bowling Green came together for this event! It was super exciting because churches are not very good at partnering together generally, we are too worried about our turf or pride or whatever (… we are human and we struggle you know?). Anyhow, all of the youth ministers came together and helped plan the event. Mr.Pate was a big part of the planning and did a fabulous job, he is gifted in event planning.

None of my youth guys participated in the weekend- so it was girl time! It was such a great time to connect with them, catch my breath from the craziness of life and see these students truly seeking the Lord. One of my girls accepted Christ as her Savior this weekend- so that's awesome! The BCM had student leaders volunteer to lead the small group times, and my girls loved loved our leader. Its good for them to get to listen to someone besides the pate boys and me sometimes! It was a true blessing to get this opportunity for our youth, even though we are small in number. Here are a few pics of the weekend, enjoy!