Phusion Student Ministry

Student Retreat! Get Yourself Ready!

2010-01-25T16:42:00.000-08:00

Calling ALL students!!!

You need to get yourself ready for the most amazing experience EVERRRRRRRR!
We will be returning to Camp Willow Run for our annual Retreat.

We will be leaving Friday March 19th after school and will return late afternoon on Sunday March 21st. A deposit of $40.00 will hold your place. Spaces are limited. First come, first serve. You can begin turning in your deposits now! Your deadline for a deposit is at the Feb 21st Focus.

Our speaker this year is Josh Lennon. Josh is an amazing and gifted speaker whose love for God is evident and very contagious! Josh also believes that hanging out with students is pretty awesome, too. Some of you may recognize Josh from World Changers last year.

So...get pumped! Invite friends! Sign up fast! Prepare to encounter God in a way that you have never done before! You WILL walk away from this experience, changed. period.

Continuing to Collide..Collide with Ourselves

2009-02-24T13:49:00.000-08:00

At youth group we are doing a 4 week study called "collide", next week is week four. We have talked about Colliding with god for 2 weeks, we talked about colliding with ourselves this week, and next week we are talking about colliding with the world. At the end of focus tonight ( PCC's youth group) we were challenged by marc chewning to "fast something for one week" he wanted us to give up the time we spend doing that activity and use it to give to God. So... i have decided to give up facebook :(. i know it will be a challenge and i will prob. go crazy, but its what im addicted to, so i need to give it up. I want to see if i can somehow live without facebook and maybe when im "allowed" to be back on i wont want to be on as often or for such long periods of time. During this week i will be writing about my facebookless experience and next tuesday i will write a big note and have it on here. I challenge you to fast something too. it doesnt have to be facebook, but give something up for a week and see how you turn out in the end......

Collide Continues

2009-02-16T18:48:00.000-08:00

Continuing the Collide series last night, our student ministry slapped on some face paint to create their very own wrestler masks! Names of wrestlers included anything from “The Kitten” to “Muffin Top Dominator”. No matches occurred, but we can rest assured that it would’ve been a pretty brutal series of combat. Wrestling with God was our focus.
The most entertaining game we played that night was where all the boys would link arms in a circle together, while the girls struggled to pull them apart. As you can imagine, it got can get quite aggressive. But the boys held out well in the course of a few minutes. When it came to the girls trying to stay together, well…it only took under two minutes for our “strong” boys to separate each girl from the other. Nonetheless, the game was a lot of fun! Worship had a similar set list to previous FOCUS nights. To fit in with the collide theme, the song “Collide” was performed by our usual worship leaders (Sarah Brawley, Elijah Schiarelli, Matt). A more recent favorite which many of the youth has gotten into is “Desert Song” by Hillsong. Every new time we sing this tune, it has a more powerful meaning to us. Each person has seemed to memorize the words “all of my life, in every season, you are still God, I have a reason to sing, I have a reason to worship”. The enthusiasm of getting to know the Lord better is beginning to shine.
Angie Frame taught a very important lesson that night about wrestling with God. She asked, “What is worth staying up all night?”. Ofcourse, many of the students answered, “sleepovers”, “video games”, “movies”, etc. Frame agreed these were great things to stay up for. However, is struggling with God worth staying up all night for? Referring to the story of Jacob Wrestles with God in Genesis 32:22-32, we learned about how Jacob’s troubles were not with people, as he had blamed them on all along, but they were problems he had with God Himself! In this story, Jacob wrestles with an angel all night, and Jacob exclaims, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” So after a night of tiring wrestling, the angel names him Israel for he had overcome his problems with man and God. From there Jacob received a blessing.
What’s important that Angie really brought our attention to is the fact that the connection with God is not always going to be through singing worship songs and such, but rather He will see our commitment by how much we sacrifice for Him. Our time. Would we still praise God the same way when he greatly challenges us? God is not always a pocketful of sunshine, His ways are mysterious and sometimes we go through darkness in order to see His light. Whatever we all may be going through now, God has it under His control, and we can be thankful for the struggle and the happiness. Jacob was blessed because he fought until God answered his cry. Angie was suggesting that, hey, if we choose to take serious time out of our lives to comprehend the Lord’s ways in our lives, and keep battling for an answer, then God will be pleased that we have overcome our challenges. We will be rewarded for our devotion
Same as last week, the message might’ve not been the most comforting, but it is an important lesson to absorb as a Christian. In this case, as a young Christian who is yet to experience more life in the eyes of God.

Collide Begins

2009-02-10T14:21:00.000-08:00

Sunday night our new series, Collide, began at FOCUS. The idea for this series came from one of our seniors, Elijah Schiarelli, and he kicked us off with a passionate message. Students entered to a playlist of songs about colliding, and then we watched an introductory video created by our very own Sarah Brawley. We ventured outside to collide with a piñata, and then students and adults collided with one another as they were tied up in groups for dodgeball and soccer. Joseph Freeman showed us a video about an evangelism linebacker which was hilarious! We played Trainwreck, a long-time favorite FOCUS game in which we collide with one another as we race for open seats and learn interesting bits of information about one another—like who’s the only person to have dated two Brawleys.

Sarah Brawley led us in beautiful worship, including “Sweetly Broken,” a song about being sweetly broken and wholly surrendered to God.

One of Elijah’s points in his message was that when things collide, they break. The same happens when we collide with God—we break, but that’s good. Brokenness is a good thing, and that’s difficult to wrap our minds around. When things—cars, washers and dryers, refrigerators—break, it costs us money and convenience. In essence, brokenness is bad. But not when it comes to us and God. Elijah pointed out that when we, with our ambitions, our pride, our agendas, are broken, we are most accessible to God. When we collide with God, we break, but that means God gets to put us back together. That means God puts our priorities, our attitudes, our goals, our ambitions, our dreams together so that they reflect his perfect will for us. Being broken usually involves pain on our parts, but it’s good, healthy, growing pain. Two members of the crowd Sunday night, one adult and one relatively new student, courageously spoke up about their own experiences of making poor choices and then coming to God in states of brokenness.
Elijah also made some bold statements that he felt led to say. He called students out by proclaiming that if they were offended by something said during the Collide series, they should go to God in prayer to see what he was trying to say to them. He said that it’s not okay to intentionally sin all week and then show up at church and FOCUS knowing you’ll hear all about how God loves you and forgives you. Elijah reiterated that God does love us and is willing to forgive us, but that we also have a responsibility to live lives that will please God. He called students out to a higher level of commitment to God and a Christian lifestyle.
The other messages in this Collide series will also call students to collide with themselves and their world in bold, radical ways. The church’s current series is called, “You Can’t Handle the Truth,” but I wonder if that phrase may more appropriately name the current FOCUS series where students are speaking bold, difficult truths from the Bible. Our student speakers, Elijah, Sarah, and Marc Chewning, feel that it’s time to step up and proclaim a Gospel that isn’t always a warm, fuzzy blanket, but a Gospel that calls us to follow Jesus 100% in selfless, sacrificial, and seemingly unusual ways. If you’re ready to hear something different, then come join us for the rest of Collide.

Phusion Award Winners 2009

2009-01-13T10:12:00.000-08:00

Phusion Awards 2009

And the Winners are...

Most Intimidating--Shelly Milburn

McFormal 2008

Best Sleeper--Joseph Freeman

Laser Quest 2007

Frames' Townhouse 2006

Best Female Gangstas--Rachel Revels and Sarah Wingo

Food Pantry Mission 2006

Best Food/Drink Photo--Ian Salyer

FOCUS 2004

Best Male Dance Couple--

Franco Marannano and Tanner Iglio

FOCUS 2008

Best Kiss--Sammy Frame and Justin Robbins

Manassas Mission Trip 2006

Cutest Couple--Craig Pace and Mary Ashleigh Hughes

Manassas Mission Trip 2006

Best Christmas Costume--Daniel Brawley

Random Decision 2008

Best Hair Female--Kris Woodroof

Shaving Cream War 2008

Best Male Gangsta--Lance Broughman

Fall Retreat 2008

Best Vocal Performance--The Backstreet Girls

Fall Retreat 2008

Best Hair Male--Robert Moroney

McFormal 2008

Random Decision

2009-01-02T12:22:00.000-08:00

Want to know where the craziest, most bizarre, most insane people in the world hang out? It’s called Random Decision, and it’s a PCC small group comprised of 7th and 8th graders.

Random Decision is a new small group that aims to help junior high students in Powhatan encounter God and grow in their faith on a weekly basis. Meeting on Wednesday nights (6:30pm until 8:00pm) at the home of Tim and Kathy Dickson in Powhatan, Random Decision is a ridiculously fun group of 15 junior high students who know how to have a great time. These pics are from our Christmas party.

More Progressive Dinner Photos

2009-01-02T12:14:00.000-08:00

More photos as promised...

Phusion Progressive Dinner

2008-12-19T20:18:00.000-08:00

December 14th at the Progressive Dinner was THE place to be as we gathered across 6 homes for good food, good fun and good friends!
Thank you to The Brannans, The Sposas, The Ruschs, The Dicksons, The Edwards and The Huffs for hosting.
Enjoy the pictures from the High School rotation and we'll post the Jr. High pics soon!

Phusion Ministry Fall Retreat 2008

2008-11-17T18:28:00.001-08:00

This past weekend, PCC had 53 youth and adults on Fall Retreat at Camp Willow Run in Littleton, NC. Our theme for the weekend was "Here & Now" which challenged students to live for Christ now instead of always concentrating on their future. Danielle Smith, a friend and former classmate of Angie's, was our speaker for the weekend. She was amazing!

Matt Turner, Paul Myers, Patrick Parkins, Mallory Little and Jared Schiarelli made up the worship band and they truly did a great job!
Enjoy the pictures and "remember this day"

Fall Retreat 2008

2008-10-31T20:31:00.000-07:00

This year we will travel to Littleton, NC to Camp Willow Run for our Fall Retreat! CWR is an awesome place! Sure hope you are planning to be there!!

The Return of Focus....

2008-09-07T17:33:00.000-07:00

Actually, Focus didn't go away! But tonight was the return of "regular" Focus. Regular location and regular time slot. But it was ANYTHING but regular! We saw many new faces and did several new things! If tonight was your first night at Focus..WELCOME! We were super excited that you were there and we hope you'll be back! Matter of fact, we may just CRY if you don't come back!

For some of you long term Focus fans, you may say that Focus tonight was not "regular" for you. Perhaps you missed the crazy Dodgeball games or our small group break-outs. Here is the good news....Focus will continually "change up" and we are certain that you will get to experience all the things you have enjoyed in the past about Focus. The cool thing is that by doing lots of different things, we appeal to lots of students.

There are things about Focus that will NEVER change! Focus will always be a place were you are safe to be who you are. You are loved. You will be encouraged and accepted. You are special and you are the reason we do this thing week after week! Along with this, we want you to know that there is a God in heaven who loves you more than any human is capable of loving you and we want to provide a place for you to discover Him at a pace that is safe for you. You will never be pushed into anything. But we hope to challenge you, provoke you to ask questions and explore a faith journey that will last you your lifetime....way beyond your time in school.
So...peace out my friends! Enjoy the pics and we'll see you next week!

Focus at Lake Randolph

2008-08-20T07:24:00.000-07:00

Focus at Lake Randolph was lots of watery fun!! The day was filled with swimming, boating, music, food and just hangin' out.

Enjoy!

They are at it again....paybacks, revenge and that stuff!

Check out the next series of pics. Craig decided that he was going to plow the whole group into the water by running and using a chain reaction to shove them all in. Check out Eric on the left...looks like he is helping Craig's cause. But the funny part of this series is Corey....he is able to "duck" out of the situation and a celebration on his part ensues! Oh! Oh! Oh!

But wait!! It looks like Franco escaped the pending doom as well!! Good job guys!

Water Games at Focus

2008-08-03T17:07:00.000-07:00

These pictures do not need much explanation..we had a great time playing wacky water games. I am pretty sure that there are people plotting revenge already. Watch out at the shaving cream war! The blue tongues were from a ice cream treat at the end of the evening. For everyone who was not there, I am sure you are regretting it now, eh? So...make sure you are at the next Focus on August 10th at Lake Randolph. More info to come!

Blue tongues....good times

Friends with blue tongues stick together!
Sad Blue Faces

You want a cup? No, do you want a cup? Does anyone need a cup????
Look at the deep concentration....skilled water cup passers!
Sydni, I will support revenge in this case! Robert, watch out!
Even the adults can have fun, right Shelley?
Blue tongue gang

Syd has no mercy!
Even blindfolded, Robert takes aim!
Just take it....sometimes it is easier that way!!
Craig--what are you doing? Was that part of the game??????
Such skill, such teamwork!

Get him, Sarah! He deserved it! :O) You pour so gracefully!
Craig not only threw the water on Daniel, he sent the cup with it!
Aimee gets a big dose of H2O!
The body of Christ....enjoying each other!
Come back here, I'm not finished with you yet!

Marc --how could you do that to her? And she's still smiling!

Vania attacks back!
Rachel-you look like you need some H2O to go with the red baseball dirt!
Rachel plots her next victim

Aimee gets Morgan
Morgan gets Shelley
Robert never saw this one coming!!
More water fun!
Robert gets Marc

Katelyn on the attack. Corey takes it well.
Corey takes Shannon!
Shannon goes straight for Eric who seems to be liking it!
Now it's Eric's turn to get Alyy because she looks too dry.
Alyy makes a big splash on AimeeMorgan gets Sarah!

Syd gets splashed
Syd takes on Robert
Robert gets Angie
And Angie gets....Katelyn....and so it went with the game of "dunk, dunk, splash"

Drink, drink
yum, yum....I love water!
can't get enough of water...
And the winning team celebrates!!
Is it yummy, Craig?
slurp, slurp, slurp...........
Deer Park, my weakness!
This is a serious drinker!!

Pour carefully, Syd.
Katie has a great technique!
Corey is in a tough spot as Katelyn concentrates on her pouring ability.
Corey gets pretty wet
And if you don't get wet playing the game, just throw it on each other!!

Some Web Sites for You to Check Out!

2008-08-01T06:27:00.000-07:00

Youth Walk Youth Walk is a devotional magazine designed to help students navigate the Bible, to get to know God through it, and to answer His call to the live the adventure. God has invited us to live an adventurous life with Him—one of discovery and wonder, where our faith permeates the way we live.
http://www.walkthru.org/site/PageServer?pagename=YWpastors

The Kristo The Kristo is a flash movie about Jesus and is a great tool for you to share Christ with your friends. http://www.thekristo.com/

Relevant Magazine Relevant Magazine is an out-of-the-box publication covering God, life and progressive culture. This daily updated website is the forerunner to RELEVANT MAGAZINE (the print version). Both versions discuss faith, career, relationships, music - basically everything we're into - from an intelligent, fresh perspective. http://www.relevantmagazine.com/

Catch This FiSH is a simple effective strategy for Christian clubs on jr. high and high school campuses. It's a focused approach to campus outreach that makes it easy for local churches in a community to unite their students by creating an environment where they can share the gospel with friends at school.
http://www.campusrevolution.net/

Brio E-Zine For more than 12 years, Brio has been teaching, entertaining and challenging teen girls toward a healthy self-concept and closer relationship with Jesus Christ. http://www.briomag.com/

Breakaway Magazine - A magazine and E-zine for guys. They deal with guy things like girls, sports, and music. If you are a guy you should check it out.
http://www.breakawaymag.com/

Check out new updates on the Passways Blog

2008-07-29T08:00:00.000-07:00

www.pccpassways.blogspot.com

Youth Help Out at Sports Camp

2008-07-22T11:41:00.001-07:00

Tanner helps the kids get the frisbee through the hoop; Good job, Tanner!

Justin with the soccer gang

That's a rough looking group of football coaches...Andrew, Franco, Tanner, William.

Okay, so he's not a youth, but he's making the blog anyway:)

She's a small group leader, so that's how I'm justifying this photo.

Don't scare the kids away; you're supposed to be helping them.

Passways blog

2008-07-18T09:17:00.001-07:00

Check out the Passways blog: www.pccpassways.blogspot.com

Putt Putt and Go Kart Bonanza!!

2008-07-13T17:15:00.001-07:00

PCC Youth invaded Windy Hill tonight and I am pretty sure the place will never be the same! If nothing else they will marvel at our mean Andretti-style driving skills or our Tiger golfing ability! I'll let you judge for yourselves....

Angie gathers up the group

Robert, that's a wad of cash you have there, buddy!

Pose, girls, pose!

No road rage issues, here! Robert waves to everyone he races. Alyy gets ready to gun her engines yo yo, Colby! Keep your eyes on the road boy!Power Rangers light speed rescue!!Samara takes a break from the heat!Elijah will resort to any method to get that pink ball in the hole!

Slow down, Marc! You wouldn't want to get a ticket!

Joseph??? Do you really use a club that way? Are you chopping something?

Andrew is in the zone!

Sam shows everyone how it is done!

Amiee!! Quit trying to pass me!!

This is my ball...no it's my ball!! I'm telling you, it's my ball!!
Yes, Rich. I think you are tall enough to ride!

Morgan takes it all in

Was this taken before or after Matt hit the wall?

Samara thinks yelling at her ball will make it stop.

Vania, are you playing Putt-Putt or smelling the flowers

Rachel cannot believe her shot!!!Kayla entertains....

Chris waits for his group to putt.

Sometimes life comes at you fast!!

Elijah uses a putter intended for the OMPAH-LOOMPAHS!

If I saw this group coming down a highway, I'd pull over!

Jimmy goes VAROOM, VAROOM

That is the face of sheer determination!Katie looks like she is practicing some boxing moves on her cousin!Your fearless leader in the lead! Oh yay-yuh!!!!

Ben, are you teaching Mason to putt or how to shovel ????

Whoa, Tiger! Are you kin to the Woods family???? Oops, no that's Caleb!

Do you like me now?

Let's do this again soon!!

Duct Tape Night

2008-06-03T17:54:00.000-07:00

June 1st was our Duct Tape event at Focus! It was complete with duct tape games, a competition of the best duct tape costume, duct tape crafts and of course...........SNACKS!!

Enjoy the pics to follow!

Syd makes a face of disappointment as she falls off the wall. The intended goal of this game was to tape your teammate to the wall and the person who held the longest won! To my knowledge-no one stuck....no winners but allot of fun!Tanner's team looked like they did a good tape job but it wasn't enough to get the job done!

My personal favorite game (thanks Rich and Aimee for organizing these) was one where each team chose a member to be wrapped in tape with the "sticky" side out...then each member, after being carefully lowered to the floor, rolled around trying to pick up as many wads of crumpled paper off of the floor. This was hilarious as everyone rolled around. Joseph "steamroller" Freeman rolled over anything in his way, including other participants! Shannon rolled around gracefully but intentionally. Samara was having technical difficulties...mainly centered around the fact that she was wrapped so tight she could hardly breathe! And Andrew rolled around but also used the flopping technique to pounce on pieces of paper. This was really a sight to see! The pictures don't do it justice!

Below are some of the crafts we made:

Duct tape Flip-flops

Duct tape cellpone covers Duct tape picture frames and bookmarks

And finally...THE COSTUMES:

Elijah made his out of globs of tape that were on the floor...resourceful

Do you dig my jacket? I had a matching purse!

Alyy's entire outfit was duct tape including her earrings...well, her jean skirt was only partially. What creativity!

I think Daniel Brawley made this amazing shirt, drumsticks, gloves, etc.

And the WINNERS ARE...... Alyy and Daniel

Check them out!!

When I asked Daniel to "smile like a winner" he said " If I smile, it won't work with the outfit"

Youth.....priceless!! No doubt, it wouldn't Daniel!

At least I got a grin out of him when he modeled the prize (t-shirt) that he won!!

Fun...had by all!

Phusion Student Ministry

Student Retreat! Get Yourself Ready!

Continuing to Collide..Collide with Ourselves

Collide Continues

Collide Begins

Phusion Award Winners 2009

Random Decision

More Progressive Dinner Photos

Phusion Progressive Dinner

Phusion Ministry Fall Retreat 2008

Fall Retreat 2008

The Return of Focus....

Focus at Lake Randolph

Water Games at Focus

Some Web Sites for You to Check Out!

Check out **new** updates on the Passways Blog

Youth Help Out at Sports Camp

Passways blog

Putt Putt and Go Kart Bonanza!!

Duct Tape Night

Check out new updates on the Passways Blog