AUGUST is here...which means we are closer to Pumpkin Spice Season!!! Keep scrolling to check out some super awesome and exciting events that we have taken part in recently AND those that we have planned for the near future! Keep it digital or print it out to stay in the know about anything and everything GSM! 

BigStuf Camp '23

We're ready to...BUILD IT! This year we took 25 students and leaders to Panama City Beach to experience the Holy Spirit at camp! Between the large group worship sessions, small group discussions, and encounters with Jesus, it was a huge success. We had 3 students give their lives to Christ on the trip and many who will say their faiths are forever changed because of this experience!

This year our focus at camp was "Build It" and we took time to dive into the foundations of faith and putting those into practice. We talked about the importance of Scripture, prayer, community, and worship and were able to watch our students come back to Gainesville with a new fire for putting their faith into action. We love BigStuf and can't wait for next year! 

In the meantime, take a look at some of the highlights of our trip below! 

Guatemala Mission Trip 

Words will never describe how special our trip to Guatemala was! We took 16 high schoolers and leaders that would come home forever changed from a week that was 100% Spirit filled. In the mornings, we packed food/hygiene bags that we carried and distributed around the community. We got to know the locals living in the village and spent time praying for them in their homes. In the afternoons, we hosted a VBS at the local church for over 90 kids where we were able to give them a hope-filled space to experience the love of Jesus! These kids changed our lives forever and taught us probably more than we taught them! 

We were blessed with housing at the Bible Institute and a wonderful team from Praying Pelican! On our free day, we were able to hike and horseback ride a volcano, which just brought our team even closer together. We are so thankful for our Guatemalan family and ask that you would partner with us to continue praying for them! 

Middle School Social

We ended our summer and jump started the school year with our annual Middle School Social! We loved chilling by the pool with our middle schoolers for the night and had a blast building community before jumping back into GSM! Special thanks to Jon and Rachel Adcock for hosting us! 

Fall Family Kick-Off

We kicked off GSM for the school year and are so excited to continue getting to know our students and parents for this year! Miss out or just need a good laugh for the day? Check out our Survival Guide for the 2023/24 school year below!

(Hint: Watch Jeff's face the ENTIRE time!)

Tuesday Bible Study

Our Bible Studies have started this year by jumping into the book of Jonah with Eric Mason! We will be discussing how to lean on God and trust in His plan when we experience hardships and trouble in our lives. 

Want to check out more about this study? Click on the link to access the RightNow Media videos we are using!

https://app.rightnowmedia.org/en/content/details/225914

Sunday Night

On Sunday nights, for the next 2 weeks, we will be tackling a new series titled, "What Did You Expect?" We will be talking about how our expectations affect our every day lives and how we can learn to live our lives expectant of the work that God is going to do with each of us! 

Sunday Nights:  https://mealtrain.com/8d5852

Tuesday Nights: https://mealtrain.com/21y5w8

Parents, we need your help feeding our hungry teens on Tuesday and Sunday nights! Please consider signing up to bring a snack supper once during the semester! Feel free to cook, pick food up, or even have pizza delivered to the church! This is a huge blessing for us and we really appreciate all of your support as we try to make GSM the best it can possibly be for your children! 

We are switching things up! For Tuesday nights, the church is providing a meal every other week this year! On these weeks, please bring $5 with you for dinner. Let us know if you have any dietary restrictions so we can do our best to accommodate everyone!

Our leader spotlight for this month is Heather Krzykowski! Heather is a bright spirit that brings joy to everyone she is around! She is a mom of 4 and cares so deeply for her kids and the youth! Heather leads worship on Sunday mornings and co-leads our 6/7th grade girls small group. She is a blessing to our ministry and all of the girls she mentors! 

Celebrity Look-Alike:  Julianne Hough