Compass Community Church(519) 941-4790 (office)

Parent Newsletter | High School

WINTER EDITION
Welcome to 2024! We have a lot planned for this year and we are excited to start it off with a "Dude Perfect" style games night, all planned out by our co-op student Mitch Gordon! He has been diligently working alongside me since September and will wrap up his time here towards the end of January. He has done a tremendous amount of work behind the scenes and has been involved in the planning and setting up of almost every event that has happened through Compass Students, so if you get the chance, please give him a big thank you!

We have a lot planned for our students, all of which we make intentional, so that they can experience and know God's love on a deeper level. From retreats, to baptisms, service opportunities, and everything else in between, we have faith that God is going to do great things in our student's lives this year.

If you have any questions or concerns about anything, please don't hesitate to reach out.

Tymon

Interim Director of Student Ministry

Compass Students
Take a deep breath. Count to ten. Unclench your jaw. Close your eyes. (Or don't, since you're trying to read). You've probably learned a trick or two like this to help you feel with feelings of stress, worry, or overwhelm. Unfortunately, there are a lot of reasons to feel stressed on most days. So between school, family, relationships, and questions about our future, what can we do about everything that's causing us stress? During Jesus’ ministry, he spent a lot of time with people during some really stressful moments. In this four-week series from the Gospels, we'll see how, when we’re not okay, Jesus offers hope. We’ll discover that when people reject us, Jesus never will. We’ll see that when it’s not easy to do what’s right, it’s still worth it. And we’ll be reminded that when you feel worried, Jesus can be trusted.
For this series I am excited to announce that Pastor Matt McLean from Uptown Church will be leading our Senior High students through an evangelism series and what that looks like in today's world.

There are some things we just have to share. A funny video, some encouraging words, or a profound moment of kindness are all things we’ve probably shared this week. When we share, we just want the people we care about most to experience what we have. We’re quick to send videos to each other, but how easy is it for us to share our faith? Maybe it’s not that we don’t want to share, but we might have a hard time overcoming some of our obstacles or insecurities. During this four-week series, we’ll take a look at the story of Samuel and the ways that God called him to share his faith through words and action. Together, we’ll explore how God invites us to share the good news, why sharing the good news should start with prayer, what to do when sharing the good news requires risk, and how sharing the good news can happen every day.
Blizzard Winter Retreat
February 9 - February 11
For almost 24 years, these retreats have become landmark experiences for thousands of teenagers on their spiritual journey. This is one of the most anticipated and impactful weekends that students experience as it brings together fun, great teaching, spiritual growth, awesome food, and crazy activities. Our hope is that our churches make this a “must do” experience for their teens, as it is a place where the value of the local church meets the uniqueness of being part of a larger faith family.

Cost is $180/person and includes travel by bus, accommodations and food for the weekend. We'll leave around 6pm on Friday and return around 4pm on Sunday all from the Orangeville site.

There are still spots left! You can register here. Subsidies are available.

An email with more details and a packing list will go out the week before the event.

If you have any questions, you can email [email protected].
Baptisms
February 25LOCATION: Orangeville Site
We are especially excited for this event and special service as we get to witness and celebrate some friends and family declaring Jesus Christ as their Saviour!

If you, your child, or anyone else you know wants to be baptized you can follow this link to the church website for more information, or feel free to email me.
Mission Experience Registrations
October 23 - January 31/February 29
Our Mission Experience registrations for 2024 are open and filling up quickly! God has so evidently lit a fire in the hearts of our students and young adults to serve, so we cannot wait to get things going for 2024. I think it's safe to say that every member of the three teams this past year (Windsor, Dominican Republic, and Guatemala) were deeply impacted.

Serving opportunities like these have become a special place in my heart as I got to experience both Guatemala and the Dominican Republic for the first time this year, and it was very clear that the students felt the same way. Watching us all bond as a team, form relationships, and share the love of God with others was truly something special and we can't wait to do it again.

You can still register for Guatemala (closes Jan 31), and Dominican Republic (closes Feb 29).

Here are the links to apply for each of the teams:

Compass Students Senior High Mission Experience: Dominican Republic - COMPASS COMMUNITY CHURCH (churchcenter.com)

Compass Students Young Adults Mission Experience: Guatemala - COMPASS COMMUNITY CHURCH (churchcenter.com)
Windsor Mission Experience 2024
March 9 - March 16
We are strong believers in the value and life long impact that Short Term Mission Experiences can have on a person. One of our goals is to participate in the transformation of a community for the Kingdom of God. While on mission, we are able to work towards the goal of transformation by building relationships, working side by side with locals and supporting Kingdom work with our resources. Our experience has been that something more profound also happens to the team that goes. People consistently wonder, after spending time on mission, who was blessed more.

We are excited to be returning to Windsor this year to partner with the Downtown Windsor Community Collaborative again. More details will come as we get closer.

While this experience is geared towards Junior High (grade 6-8) students, we have Senior High (grade 9-12) students participate as leaders. If you have any questions, you can email Tymon at [email protected].

We are no longer accepting applications as we already have a full team, however we do still want to invite everyone in supporting the team through prayer, encouraging words for those going, and financially.
Bake Sale Fundraiser
March 24LOCATION: Orangeville Site
Over the last couple of years, some members of the Compass Student mission teams have put together a bake sale fundraiser to support the individuals that will be going in 2024. This fundraiser has been a huge success and blessing, not only for those on the teams, but also for the communities that each of the teams go to support. Each year we seem to bake more and sell more, so it looks like we will be doing a lot of baking the day before the event!

The bake sale happens after both services at the Orangeville site in the front foyer outside the nursery. Payment by cash or debit/credit cards will be available. I also encourage everyone to come and interact with the team members to vocally support them as this goes a very long way, especially for those going on mission experiences for the very first time.

We thank you all in advance as I know many of you have been so incredibly supportive of the students and young adults that have gone on these life changing experiences.

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Parent Newsletter | High School

WINTER EDITION

Blizzard Winter Retreat

Baptisms

Mission Experience Registrations

Windsor Mission Experience 2024

Bake Sale Fundraiser