HSM Year 2-- The Beginning

    So now we are about 2 weeks into our "normal" HSM small groups.  We had our start-up party two weeks ago, and our first official meeting last week.  In our group this year: L.J., Andrew, Ray, Emerson, Jeff (the returning students), and Daniel, who we have gotten to know over the summer.  We are really excited about the opportunities and possibilities for these guys this year.
    As many of you know, the high schoolers are going through the New Testament this year.  The effort is to read the whole New Testament, because many of them simply have never taken the time to read God's Word.  So I have started posting a daily dose of reading on facebook for them every day with a pace set so that they will finish.  Can't wait to see what kinds of questions they come up with.  And they are reading the Message Bible, so there are bound to be some funny quotes in there.
   As for service, we are partnering with the Treasure Box, an organization that provides prepackaged meals to our community.  For $30, you can get enough food to feed a family of four for a week, or a single person for a month!  We will be helping on distribution day.  But our big project with them involves their annual Holiday meal box.  For $35, a family will get a whole turkey, veggies, sweet potatoes, pasta, and a pie.  We are trying to get 50 of these Holiday boxes donated, so that they can be distributed to families in our neighborhood who would otherwise not be having a meal for the holidays.  Our official kickoff was yesterday, and our fundraising goes through November 7. If you would like more info, you can go to treasurebox.org and look under "holiday box."  Or you can find one of us at church.
    We have also already developed a web page.  It is still in its infancy, but we are calling it Zombies With Jesus.  I am going to explain our name in the "About" section soon, but it will be a cool funnel for all of the activities we are going to try and do this year.
    And as for activities, we are still coming up with some solid ideas, but our first is Sunday night, when we will be going as a group to Mosaic in LA to hear Erwin McManus speak.  Should be a fun night for all of us!
  That's about it for now.  As always, many thanks to my fearless co-leader Evan for putting up with random texts about ideas and such, and welcome to our temporary intern (gofer) Zach, who will be joining us until they leave for Scotland in October.
   See ya later, and as our tag line states "Get undead and Come Alive!!"