The Remnant Fellowship Youth…LOTS of ways to get involved!

Picture for a moment the most fun you have ever had…

Now that you have that image, multiply it by one thousand! With this image in your head, you have a glimpse of what the Youth of Remnant Fellowship got to experience on a recent Saturday evening. It would be futile for one person to try and describe the beauty that radiated there, so we have included a collection of testimonies below. As a preface to these, however, it seems appropriate to explain the event that sparked all of this energy–a night centered on finding the Youth’s gifts and organizing them into groups to efficiently serve the Kingdom of God. The groups ranged from Web Design all the way to Sports and included Assembly planning, babysitting–literally a place where every young person could plug in and serve the Kingdom, and each group had eager-to-serve Youth lining up to volunteer.

From Young Professionals to Day Camp

Among the many committees that are apart of the vision for the Youth getting involved were the Out of Towner’s Committee, Service and Assemblies Committee, the Young Professionals Committee, and the Social Co-ordination Committee. “The Out of Town Committee is dedicated to loving on those who are out of town and any visitors,” said Scott Thissen, one of the leaders of the Out of Towner’s Committee.

The Service and Assemblies Committee is so youth can get involved with putting on church services. Members of this Committee will be greeters, tech team, and active participants in the service. This group was led by Alec Leaman.

 

“The Young Professionals Committee is going to be the coolest group!” said Chris Radebaugh.  This group is going to have lots of activities and will STAY involved with what’s going on at Church.

 

Allyson Day leads the Day-Camp Committee. The Day Camp Committee called for Junior Counselors, generally High School students, who wrote their name, number, email, and preferred team on in order sign up to be a part of a Day Camp team this summer. This camp provides older Youth to learn how to lead and be examples.

 

 

Ivy Stamps headed up the Social Co-ordination Committee, which will be planning parties and gatherings. This committee is for those that like to plan gatherings and have a great time fellowshipping under God.

 

Andrew Fischer leads the Remnant News Committee. The Remnant News table had a sign-up sheet where any person who has the gift of writing was encouraged to volunteer. This group is in charge of writing Youth-focused articles for Remnant News.

 

“I really look forward to tapping into the writing gifts that God has provided in the Youth. Even in the first article, I can see God blessing it,” says Andrew.

 

 

Big Brothers & Big Sisters 

M’Lee Law heads the BIG Committee. The idea of this group is to have “Big Brothers” and “Big Sisters” for any youth preparing to be confirmed. Two older youth are assigned to a 13-year-old to be their designated “Big”. The “Big” is there to help RUSH their assigned “Little” and help them in developing a deeper relationship with God.

Josh Smith leads the Music Committee, along with Anthony Wheeler. Anyone with either a music gift or technical gift was asked to sign up for this group; whether you sing, play an instrument, or just like to listen to music. This group is in charge of jam sessions, and other musical events where they get to glorify God through music. 

The Facebook Committee, headed up by Ashton Martin and Abbi Rickman, is perhaps the most Youth-accessible service team. It is safe to say that the majority of saints have a Facebook profile, and it is one of the easiest ways to stay connected with brothers and sisters around the world. RF Youth chats are scheduled for Fridays and Sundays, and have already resulted in Godly conversation and uplifting messages. In an age of accessible technology around the world, this group’s goal is to spread the Kingdom of Love to the world of social media.

There is also a Sports Committee available led by Brad Stamps and Lauren Lindgren. The beautiful Tennessee Spring weather has already allowed soccer and volleyball games on the RF church grounds. For those who are not as athletically gifted, there are volunteer referee and cheerleader/encourager positions available as well!

 

Even Marketing, Web Design…and more!

Marketing, Events Coordination, Babysitting, Tutoring, and Web Design are only some of the amazing committees that the youth can be apart of at Remnant Fellowship. “This is an amazing place we get to be a part of, so the more ways we can share it, the better!”said Denise Thissen, head of the Marketing Committee. The Marketing Committee works on finding more ways to spread the word about Remnant Fellowship and the RF youth.The Events Coordination committee is led by Margaret Polivka. They help the Youth find their gifts and use them on committees that have already been established in the church (i.e. food committee, decorating, clean up, etc.).

An amazing amount of children are being born in this church every year! “We get the opportunity to serve young parents so they can fellowship… it is so fun to get to encourage the young children in this amazing relationship with God,” said Rebekah Fischer about the Babysitting Committee. Rebekah is the head of the Babysitting and Tutoring Committee. The Tutoring part of the committee is made up of Youth who are gifted and have been lifted up in school, and they focus on helping the education and school needs of the church. The Web Design Committee is lead by Zach Lomas and Aaron Wheeler. Zach said he is “thinking of it as a mentorship program.” He can help direct youth to resources for design based on their interests.

Due to the wonderful planning from the Shamblin/Hannah family, from whom you will hear later, the committees that were represented held a wide enough variety to provide a place for every youth in attendance. Not only did they have a place, but they were given the opportunity to put a deep purpose behind their gifts. We also got the incredible honor to hear Mrs. Gwen speak. In fifteen minutes or less, she spoke to the hearts of everyone in attendance! Now that you have seen the technical description of the groups, we have compiled some testimonials to just how encouraging this event was.

 

TESTIMONIALS

Jonathan Dunn: “Events like these help you to look forward to getting an opportunity to help with the church and reach out to others. I’m excited to join.”

Anna Smith: “What can you say about a remnant fellowship youth gathering? Even before six o’clock, there was an overflow of servant-hearted, loving people. And by the time I sat down and listened to Mrs. Gwen Shamblin speak, I had been filled with enough love and joy to last me a lifetime. All of my dearest friends had come to join this festival of services. This gathering was dedicated to giving everyone a group to join. We were encouraged to sign up for at least one. However, in my excitement I ended up joining six different groups, and I would have joined two more! With each hour into the evening, the lists only grew. It warmed my heart to see so many people willing to serve and encourage. My cup was truly overflowing with joy.”

Hannah Petralito: “The Remnant Fellowship Youth group is truly part of an extraordinary movement. This was clearest at the recent Youth Fair. When you walked into the church there was an air of excitement. The Fellowship Hall was positioned comparable to a job fair seen at most high schools. Although instead of having a room full of uninterested teens, you had a room bursting at the seams with Youth listening intently as each booth talked about the services they would be providing. Remnant fellowship youth indeed have a very clear guideline after Gwen Shamblin poured her heart out about our purpose, specifically: being a unified front ushering in a new generation of youth whose goal is furthering the Kingdom and raising the bar for selflessness.”

Dominique Dubois: “The youth in the Remnant are so blessed with direction. While much of the youth in the world are wandering around trying to navigate the beginning of their lives, the youth here in the Remnant are blessed with the direction we need when it comes to dating, honoring our authorities, and how we as youth can serve and contribute our gifts to God. This was the theme of this past Sabbath’s youth event. With all the direction, I have so much hope for the adults of the future in this place!”

Maxine Day: “The Youth Fair was, in a word, amazing!!! You could tell that all the groups put so much time and effort into making it a fun and encouraging experience. The feelings of unity and renewed purpose among the crowd were stronger than ever, and it was so SWEET getting to find an area where we could use our gifts to give back to God and His church!”

Carol Anger: “I couldn’t be more encouraged by the Youth Group’s commitment to serve the kingdom of God. I loved their single minded focus to serve and the love and respect they have for one another. Our Youth are unlike anything I’ve ever experienced in previous churches. The majority of youth were misguided and had no purpose. In hindsight, it was the fault of those who were in a position to guide and teach the young; however, they were without the wisdom to do so.”

Elizabeth Hannah: “I am extremely honored to back up my mother Gwen’s most beautiful idea about galvanizing the youth of this church!! SO far, it has all been so amazingly blessed… and SO MUCH FUN! Gwen had it on her heart to make sure we RALLY the youth to make sure they are getting the opportunity to use their gifts that God has given them, and to make sure that everyone feels like a part of something. Everyone has a gift! And everyone has a place! Whether sports to babysitting to music or to encouragement… EVERYONE belongs somewhere! I am simply backing Gwen up in her ideas by helping to organize & galvanize the committees she had on her heart. I have had the honor to work with the Youth Encouragers who are AMAZING- and then also to work with the rest of the Youth – and it fills my heart! I am honored to be a part of something so pure and so moving to watch. These Youth are hearing Gwen’s charges, putting them into practice, and taking this church to a new level. It is SO ENCOURAGING to watch the Next Generation continue to advance the Kingdom of God in love and purity!”

David Martin: “Being a part of and a WITNESS to the Youth Fair on April 16th was not only a BLESSING…but it was a glimpse into the beautiful FUTURE of this Remnant! You couldn’t help but SMILE at seeing these young Saints at each table (Day Camp, Music, Sports, Big Brother/Big Sister, etc.) speak so eloquently and passionately about the Ministries they were representing…and thinking about the fact that many of these teenagers and 20-somethings were RAISED in this place. And NOW they are being lifted up into LEADING ROLES! That gives us parents and grandparents tremendous HOPE – both for now AND the future. If these young Saints stay on this course and lead with the PURITY that Gwen has poured out her life to share about and live out as an example, then the Remnant is in WONDERFUL hands for the days to come! Praise GOD!”