Hi everybody!!!
I'm Charity, I'm 16, I'm a junior, and I sing in the worship band at THE ROCK (that's what we call our high school youth group). In June, Pastor Chuck asked at small group if anybody knew HTML, and I said I did, which was sort of true, because I had made ONE page, about my cat. So now I'm the webmaster!!! He says I'm the first webmaster this youth group ever had. I said I'm the first webmaster ANY youth group ever had, and he said probably not, but it's a nice thought. :)

This page is for everybody in THE ROCK, and for anybody who wants to know what we do, and especially for YOU if you've been thinking about coming but you don't know anybody. Come anyway!!! I didn't know anybody either when I came in eighth grade, and now these people are like my family. Seriously.

The Worship Band: me and Krista on vocals, Justin on acoustic guitar, Rebekah on keyboard, Luis on bass and Jason on drums. Pastor Chuck plays guitar with us sometimes but he only knows like six chords, so we do songs with those six chords on those nights. We practice Sunday afternoons at 4. We need a lead guitar person!!! If you play, PLEASE come talk to us.

Our leaders: Pastor Chuck McCollom (youth pastor, 29 years old, owns way too many Hawaiian shirts), his wife Lisa McCollom (who is having a BABY in February!!! see the praise reports), Bryan and Betty Stoller (they've been youth sponsors for six years and their house is where the after-the-football-game parties are), and Lora Stone, who drives the van and leads the sophomore girls' small group and is the coolest grown-up I know.

WOW. Okay, so See You at the Pole is when Christian students all over the country meet at their school's flagpole before school, on the same morning, to pray for their school, their friends, their teachers and their country. It's student-led, which means no grown-ups run it. We do!!

At my school last year there were 12 of us. This year there were THIRTY-ONE!!! At 7:00 in the morning!!! It was kind of cold and there was dew on everything and Perry slipped on the grass and fell right on his back, which was not part of the plan, but then everybody held hands in a big circle and prayed out loud one at a time, and some kids I'd never seen at church before prayed too, and I almost cried. Okay, I did cry. A teacher walked by and stopped and bowed her head. It was the best thing that's happened this school year. Kids from THE ROCK were at four other schools too. Thank you God!!!

We go to a church camp about two hours away, up in the hills, with cabins, a lake, a dining hall, a campfire ring, and the scariest night hike in the history of the world. We leave from the church parking lot at 5:30 Friday (eat before!!) and get back Sunday around 3:00. There's a guest speaker who's a youth pastor from another state. Pastor Chuck says he's "the real deal." We'll see!! :)

Cost: $65, which covers the camp, all your meals, and the van. Give your money and your permission slip to Pastor Chuck by Wednesday, October 6. If money is a problem, talk to him. Nobody stays home because of money. That's a rule.

CABINS!!! (Don't ask to switch. Pastor Chuck says the cabins are "prayed over." Krista says that means he made them up in the car.)

THE TALENT SHOW!!! Saturday night after the campfire. Last year's winners were Antonio and Clint doing a lip sync to a Newsboys song in their pajamas. Every cabin has to do at least one act. Cabin 1 has a SECRET PLAN. That's all I'm saying.

8:00 p.m. Friday until 7:00 a.m. Saturday, at the church, ALL NIGHT. Volleyball in the gym, movies, a scavenger hunt in the dark, a midnight worship time, and pancakes at 6 in the morning made by the dads. $10, and bring a friend who's never been!! You can't leave once the doors are locked unless your parent comes in and signs you out. (That's why it's called a lock-in, Wayne.) Permission slips will be at the welcome table in October.

Next summer twelve of us are going for a week to fix up houses for families in the mountains of Kentucky: roofs, porches, wheelchair ramps, painting. The whole trip costs $600 a person, which is $7,200 for all twelve. Here's how we're doing:

The car wash was SO fun. We washed 61 cars and one motorcycle and Pastor Chuck's van about four times because the guys kept "accidentally" spraying it. Some people gave us $20 for a $5 wash!! Thank you!!!

NEXT: The Spaghetti Dinner!!! Saturday, November 6, 5:00-7:30
In the fellowship hall. All-you-can-eat spaghetti, salad, garlic bread and dessert. $5 adults, $3 kids under 12, and the youth group serves you like a real restaurant (we even have aprons). Mrs. Stoller's meatballs are FAMOUS. Tell your grandparents. Tell your neighbors. Tell everybody!!!

You've probably seen the bracelets. WWJD stands for What Would Jesus Do? The idea is that when you're about to do something, or say something, or you're in a hard place, you look down at your wrist and ask yourself that question. I have four (blue, black, pink and a woven one). Pastor Chuck says it's not a good luck charm and if you're wearing it while you're being mean to somebody you should probably take it off or start asking the question. He's right. I'm working on it. We have them at the welcome table for $1, all colors.

This is what's playing in the van. It's also what's playing in my room, according to my mom, "constantly."

• dc Talk - Toby, Michael and Kevin!!! Jesus Freak (1995) is the best Christian album ever made and I will argue with you. Supernatural (1998) is a close second. Six of us saw them on tour last winter.
• Jars of Clay - "Flood" was on regular radio in 1996!!! My dad says that was a big deal. They're more mellow, good for the quiet part of worship.
• the Newsboys - They're from Australia and they're HILARIOUS. "Shine" is our lock-in theme song every single year.
• Audio Adrenaline - "Big House" is the song we sing in the van on EVERY trip, with motions. Bryan Stoller knows all the motions. It is a sight.
• Rebecca St. James - She's also from Australia, and she's only twenty-two, and she is so bold about her faith. The album Pray is so good. She's my hero, honestly.

My friend from another youth group says there's a great dc Talk page here on GeoCities.us: Allison's dc Talk Page: Jesus Freak and Proud, about Toby, Michael and Kevin, their albums, her youth group's trip to the Supernatural tour, and her guestbook. Go sign it and tell her THE ROCK sent you!!

* Prayer Requests & Praise Reports *
Updated every Thursday, the morning after small groups!


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Last updated Thursday, September 23, 1999