Dodgeball Champions!

Just wanted to post the official winning photos of our victorious team from this fall's dodgeball tournament. The tournament was held at Camp Hill UMC on Sunday October 19th.

The next tournament is scheduled for Sunday February 15th, 2009 at Messiah College!

30 teens and 5 adults made up the DB4JC team (Dodgeball for Jesus Christ) that participated in our second tournament of the year, competing against 11 other youth group teams including the two teams we lost to this past spring. We never really faced a close game on our way to an 8-0 record, which included a win in the championship game over one of the teams we lost to last year. I also want to mention that although we had some great performances throughout the day, Nick Patterson clearly holds the MVP award for our championship game. Flying low under the radar all day long, he came up with at least 4 catches in the big game (which means 4 of our players got back into the game, while sending 4 of the other team out).

Probably most important to me was the compliment given our team by one of the refs. As you many imagine, there can be alot of teens who bend the rules intentionally or unknowingly during the heat of competition. This of course leads to alot of tension between teams and t he refs. However, one ref told us later that she appreciated our team because she knew when we played on her court, she didn't have to worry about us. After the tournament, over 250 teenagers and adults joined together in a time of worship, a beautiful way to show that although we were all competing throughout the day, we still have the unifying bond of Christ tying us together. And giving us all a serious perspective check, we learned during worship that two girls in attendance lost their mother in a car accident during our time on Sunday. Abbie Manley, her Youth Pastor, is a dear friend to Jenna and I and the devastation of such news can only be given to God in request for His peace. I echo these words from one of the worship songs we sang as a prayer for those two teen girls:

Take them to that place, Lord,
To that secret place,
Where they can be with You,
And You can make them like You.
Wrap them in Your arms
Wrap them in Your arms
Wrap them in Your arms