Hey guys!

Not sure how many of you are on twitter, but you should totally check out Jerome’s tweets.  You can venture into the mind of J-Rome at http://twitter.com/TallowoodJerome.

Check it out… and become a follower.  He loves that!

-Micah

Laser tag, pizza, basketball, video games, a movie, and 130 middle school students…  What more could you ask for?  Our students had a blast at the first ever Fallapalooza this past Friday night.  Instead of the annual middle school retreat, we decided to try something new and have a one night middle school blowout at the Tallowood Center.  So, we dressed in tie-dye and peace signs in order to set the tone, and then students from all over Houston came to be together, have fun, and hear about Christ. 

We started the night with all you can eat pizza and soft drinks and then we all gathered together to hear a message from God’s Word.  After that, every student got a chance to play laser tag inside the Tallowood Center, which is normallya place for Bible study, worship, and office work.  It was an awesome opportunity to run around and play in an area that is usually used for completely different purposes.  Also, Battlefield Houston did an outstanding job of bringing in everything we could need to make laser tag in the Tallowood Center memorable (including lots of blow up buildings and barricades).

As students waited to play laser tag, they kept themselves more than entertained in the Xchange with basketball, Beatles Rock Band, ping pong, pool, more video games, and other activities.  Once every student, and even a few high school and adult sponsors, played laser tag everyone gathered in the Xchange for a movie and popcorn. 

At 11:30 pm, it was all over and students disappeared as quickly as they came.  But it was an amazing night to get to know new students and to continue to invest in students we see all the time.

Jerrell Altic from Houston’s First Baptist Church will be be leading us.

We will meet at 5:00 p.m., Friday, November 20th, on Tallowood’s main campus in Fellowship Hall East & eat pizza before heading west to Camp Tejas! The weekend will be filled with group Bible study, worship, food, Mud Football (an optional tradition), & lots of time to hang out with friends.

We will return to Tallowood by 10:00 p.m. Saturday night.

The cost is $79 and you can sign-up online at www.tallowood.org.

Note: All participants must have a current MEDICAL RELEASE FORM & Camp Tejas Release Form.

Questions? Contact Claire Elliott in the Student Ministry Office, (713) 468-8241 x8165 or celliott@tallowood.org.

On Saturday, September 26th, we are having an awesome Girls Event led by some of our own high school girls.  “What He Sees” is for all high school and middle school girls.  Come to the Xchange from 11 am to 2 pm to hear  Kathryn West and Emily Josey share what God has been teaching them about image and how He sees you as a girl. 

It will be a pretty awesome day, so come out and bring your friends.  And bring $5 for lunch too! 

Check out the facebook event and be sure to RSVP!

This Wednesday night, all middle school and high school students will meet together for a combined Impact and ReFuel at 7:30 pm. Doug Taylor, a former student minister and a great friend of Micah and Laura Cating, will share about his call to serve as a missionary in Arua, Uganda.  You won’t want to miss it!  Check out more info on Facebook.

And as always, you can come to the Xchange at 7 pm to hang out before we meet.  

The Taylor family.

Promotion weekend was awesome!

It is so great to see students full of energy walk, and sometimes run, into their new classrooms to meet the youth leaders that will live life alongside them for the next year. This was a day that we have been praying about for a number of weeks, and it went even better than we could have imagined. We are now even more excited about the year ahead as we learn more about His word and the life He has called us to lead.

I found a few pics of our group on the Student Life website! You can look for more here…

Looks like they had a great week!

work project sorting clothes

We are in Sherman, TX for Student Life Mission Camp with some of our 8th grade students.

Our group is spending the afternoons serving at a local shelter where we sort clothing donations. We’re working outside so it is hot but we are enjoying the time together.

Check out www.studentlife.com and click on find your student to see more and even listen to the worship services.

-Micah

Now that we are back in the states and have better Internet connections, we were able to upload TONS of pictures from our trip to Israel.  So check out our picture website for LOTS of pictures from our days of touring. 

Thanks to my awesome wife, Laura, for getting these up!

-Micah

Our final day in Jerusalem was on Saturday and we spent the morning doing yard work for Jerusalem Prayer Center, and some up keep that they needed to have done.  We also spent some time in the Prayer room, praying for a nation and our world and all that God had done and would continue to do in Jerusalem.

Our final time was spent preparing for the trip home, saying our final goodbyes at Shevet Achim and riding the Sharot to Tel Aviv. 

We are finally home and missing Israel and the people God gave us to pray for and pray with while in the country.

Pray for Nazmin, a shop owner who sold us sandals.  He allowed us to pray for him, his family and God’s blessings on his family.

Pray for Isaac, I(Jimmie) got to share Christ with him. 

Pray for the children at Shevet Achim who had surgery, Mohammed, Akram and Sidra.  They are all recovering and gaining strength.

Jimmie