Open Door Student Ministries

Here’s a poem that one of our teens shared with us last night. He had no idea that his thoughts were exactly what we would be talking about together. Following the poem is the ending of a short story we read together.

Face-ade

Eyes, Nose, Mouth
This makes up every race
In any case - every face
Face, Face, Face

Why do I see them everywhere?
So full of emotion
So real and yet fake
Fake, Fake, Fake

The people around me
The people around me are face - I mean fake
Face or fake, one-letter change
Change, Change, Change

Why can’t we change
And take off our masks?
Is it really that hard of a task?
On the inside
I’m inside - it’s where I hide
I’ve tried and I’ve tried
Tried, Tried, Tried

And I still feel like I’m the one who has LIED
‘Cause I haven’t changed
I still hide behind my mask
Mask, Mask, Mask

I see your mask, just as you see mine - it’s filthy
I smell your mask, just as you smell mine - it’s putrid 
I taste your mask, just as you taste mine - it’s bland
Gross, Gross, Gross

I’m willing to take off my mask
If you take off your’s too
First thing’s first
My name is Ian. What is your name?


“With Theo, I am in the presence of one who has no agenda, who transparently cares for me and couldn’t care less about any of the things that are supposed to impress people. He takes me purely as I am, which allows me to be who I am. That is the way we all long to be before the sweet heart of God.”- Gary Smith

May we learn to take off our masks and let others do the same, that we might be love and be loved for who we are by the sweet heart of God.

painting we did to end our 30 Hour Famine weekend

Overcome Hunger With Love: 30 Hour Famine

February 24-25 at Ryan & Rachael Pugh’s

Get all the details at youth group 

Winter Retreat 2012 - Video Highlights

Click here to see all the pictures from Winter Retreat 2012!

February 3-5 is going to be an exciting weekend that you’ll want to be a part of… and we want you to be a part of! We will be headed back to McCall for a great time of playing in the snow, building community, and sharing life together. 

Click on community for the Registration Form.

Our theme is community - we will not only have a great weekend building community but we’ll talk about our need for each other and for the love that only happens when we are together. It’s going to be awesome!

The details:

• February 3-5 in McCall, ID
• All 6th-12th graders are invited - bring a friend
• Click here for the Registration Form
• Cost: $45 if registration and money are received by January 25; $50 if received by 29th
• We will meet at the church at 3:00 on Friday, February 3rd and return on Sunday the 5th around 3:30 (just in time for the Super Bowl!)
• A “What To Bring” list in included with the Registration Form - make sure to bring what you need!

Do you have any questions about Winter Retreat? Let us know!

We are praying that this Christmas is filled with the love and presence of Christ as you spend time with your family and friends.

We had so much fun at the Christmas Party on Monday night! Click here to see all the pictures. Thank you to everyone you was able to contribute to the giving to the people in need of food and water in the Horn of Africa. We will be able to give $339 as a youth group! That’s a lot of food, water, and life for people who need it!

Reminder: We will not have youth group again until January 4.

Merry Christmas!

And we leave you with this…

You are loved.

Ryan & Rachael

Christmas Party 2011. Click here to see all the pictures.

Hey everyone,

It’s hard to believe that we are just 11 days away from Christmas and having the celebration that we have been waiting for and expecting as we’ve journeyed through Advent Conspiracy! There are a couple more times that we will get to be together as a youth group before Christmas day (as well as everything going on with the rest of the church).

Tonight - Dinner, Love All, Christmas Party Planning Party

Dinner - 6:00

Come for dinner at our house at 6:00. We’ll be having some homemade pizza and hanging out!

Advent Conspiracy: Love All - 7:00

We wrap up Advent Conspiracy tonight! Everything we have talked about and experienced the last few weeks comes together and challenges us to Love All this Christmas, and every season.

Christmas Party Planning Party

Tonight is also a party! We’ve given you teens control of the party this year - you decide what we are going to do. We will have some fun tonight with cookies, hot cider, decorations… maybe even Elf. The Christmas Party is next Monday, the 19th, at 6:00 at our house so come plan it tonight! We’ll have invitations tonight for you to take to friends.

Let us know if you have any questions. See you tonight.

You are loved.

Ryan & Rachael

Hey everyone,

We are looking forward to dinner and youth group with all of you tomorrow night.

Dinner - 6:00

Come at 6:00 and hangout and eat some good food together!

Youth Group - 7:00

We continue going through Advent Conspiracy tomorrow night at 7:00. We’ll be talking about what it might look like to Give More this Christmas - more of ourselves, more of our time, more of our creativity, more of our love. God has given the greatest gift - himself - and we get to do the same. Don’t miss it.

Christmas Party - December 19, 6:30

Teens, don’t forget that YOU are planning our Christmas party this year. We’ll talk more about it tomorrow night and next week, but be thinking about what you would like to do to celebrate this year!

See you tomorrow.

You are loved.

Ryan & Rachael

We are so excited to see all of you tomorrow night. We hope you had a great Thanksgiving with your family even if you had too much tryptophan and slept all weekend :)

Don’t forget what we have planned throughout the next month - it’s Advent and we’re going to be doing some great things together!

Wednesdays 6:00 - Dinner at our house

Don’t forget to come to dinner at our house every Wednesday before youth group at 6:00. This is just a time to hang out and be family together. And of course eat really good food together. You won’t want to miss what we are eating tomorrow night or the time together, so plan on coming at 6:00 or any time before youth group starts at 7:00!

Advent Conspiracy

The season of Advent is a time of waiting, expecting, and celebrating the coming of Jesus. We started Advent Conspiracy two weeks ago as we focused on what it might look like to slow down and Worship Jesus Fully this Christmas season.

Tomorrow night at 7:00, we’ll continue to “conspire” by talking about what it might look like if we spent less on ourselves during this Advent. 

Next week, the 7th, we’ll talk about Give More and then wrap up Advent Conspiracy with Love All on the 14th. Don’t miss Advent Conspiracy! 

We hope to see you tomorrow night at our house at 6:00 for dinner and 7:00 for youth group!

We are praying for each of you.

You are loved.

Ryan & Rachael