Girl’s canoe trip

H.A.N.G. Girl’s canoe trip
We will be doing a Girls canoe trip May 27-30 (Memorial day weekend). This is an excellent time for some of the girls to spend some time together in the wilderness. Here are the details:
Cost: $40 per person. If you help with youth Easter breakfast you get a $20 credit.
May 11: Last day to turn in permission slips and payment. If Mark doesn’t have your permission slip by this date you won’t be able to come. This is also the last possible date to decide not to come if you’ve already committed. (The reason for having this hard date is getting the right amount of gear and food as well as permits (certain food has to be prepared/ dehydrated/ purchased well ahead of time). For example, it likely wouldn’t be possible to acquire another canoe Late Friday when we’re trying to get going. Also, leaving your canoe partner suddenly alone wouldn’t be fair to them.)
May 27 (Friday): Leave the church at 3pm. If possible, it would be better to actually pick up the students directly from school. We will head to the Snowbank Lake landing (northeast of Ely).
May 30 (Monday): Return to Hibbing in the afternoon (late possibly?) Students will be dropped off at their homes.
I’m sending two copies of these for each student. One is to be signed, completed, and returned to Mark. The second is the parent’s copy to keep.
Also, every student going will need to attend the pretrip canoe day at Carey lake so that I know everybody’s skill level. This will be scheduled based on students availability. Students will also need to bring their gear to the church during youth group Wednesday May 25th so that we can pack bags and take care of last minute needs.
My daughter, _________________________ has my permission to participate in the BWCA canoe trip May 27-30. Leaders present for the trip have my permission to hold him accountable to the standards they deem appropriate for the trip. The leaders also have my permission to give medical attention as they see fit. This includes camp first aid and/or transport to a medical facility if needed.
Signature:_____________________________________________________________________
Reachable phone number:________________________________________________________
Student meds/ allergies/ health conditions that trip leaders need to be aware off: ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Mandatory gear list
o Life jacket that fits (Make sure it’s comfortable, you’ll spend six days in it)
o Sleeping bag (the lighter the better)
o Ground pad (foam pad, thermo rest, thin blanket if you don’t have these. NO AIRBEDS!)
o Water bottle
o 2-3 shirts
o 1-2 pants or shorts (No more than two combined.)
o 4 pair socks
o Undergarments
o 2 pair shoes (One pair must be good walking shoes or boots, these will get wet. I recommend one pair of light shoes or sandals, crocks, etc. for in camp at night.)
o Light jacket or fleece sweater.
o Rain gear
o Swimwear
o Towel
o Bible (put it in a Ziploc bag)
o Flashlight
o Bug repellent
o Sun screen
o 1 bag capable of comfortably carrying everything and your share of the group gear. Pastor Mark has a large number of these you can borrow. Unless you have a nice one, borrow one!
o 4 large heavy duty garbage bags (yard leaf bag type)

While it will be late May, remember that May can still be quite cool. Please abide by the gear list provided. If you are short items, want to bring additional items, or want to substitute one item for another please don’t. If you feel it’s absolutely necessary to do so please talk to Pastor Mark about it before simply doing it yourself. There will be a complete gear check when we load gear Thursday night.

I know this is a very particular list and that not everybody will have access to some of the things on it. However, if you are short items or make inadequate substitutions your trip may suffer. So will the rest of the group’s. For that reason let me know as soon as possible about any item(s) you will have problems getting. I will make sure your experience doesn’t suffer on account of a lack of quality gear. Also, make sure you don’t bring anything in addition to the above listed gear. We will be carrying everything we have over long portages. Those few extras may not seem like much but after they live on your back a little they’ll feel like bricks. Also, keep in mind that Wednesday we will be repacking bags to make sure they’re properly packed for canoe camping. Extras will be removed at this time. Additions will not be allowed Friday.
Call Pastor Mark with any questions: 969-0424

En route itinerary: We will be canoeing the BWCA.
Friday: Arrive on Snowbank and paddle to Parent Lake to camp.
Saturday: Paddle to Jordan Lake to camp.
Sunday: Paddle to Boot Lake to camp.
Monday: Paddle out to Snowbank and return to Hibbing.

New for this year! Pastor Mark will be carrying a SPOT locator device. This is a satellite communication safety device. If there are any emergencies en route we are able to simply push a button to send an emergency signal along with coordinates to emergency rescue personnel. An added bonus to this device is a “check in” signal. We intend to use it daily once in camp at night. Along with other appropriate place our daily check in will appear on Pastor Mark’s Facebook page along with a google map showing exactly where we are camped for the night. If you want to follow along with our trip and see where we are every night, be sure to friend Pastor Mark on Facebook before the trip begins.

Boys Canoe Trip

H.A.N.G. Boy’s canoe trip
We will be doing a Boys canoe trip June 3-11. This is an excellent time for some of the boys to spend some time together in the wilderness. Here are the details:
Cost: $60 If you help with the youth Easter breakfast you get a $20 credit.
May 11: Last day to turn in permission slips and payment. If Mark doesn’t have your permission slip by this date you won’t be able to come. This is also the last possible date to decide not to come if you’ve already committed. (The reason for having this hard date is getting the right amount of gear and food as well as permits (certain food has to be prepared/ dehydrated/ purchased well ahead of time). For example, it likely wouldn’t be possible to acquire another canoe 5 am Friday when we’re trying to get going. Also, leaving your canoe partner suddenly alone wouldn’t be fair to them.)
June 3 (Friday): Leave the church at 5am. We will head to the Kawishiwi Lake landing (east of Ely).
June 11 (Saturday): Return to Hibbing in the afternoon (late possibly?) Students will be dropped off at their homes.
I’m sending two copies of these for each student. One is to be signed, completed, and returned to Mark. The second is the parent’s copy to keep.
Also, every student going will need to attend the pretrip canoe day at Carey lake so that I know everybody’s skill level. This will be scheduled based on students availability. Students will also need to bring their gear to the church the afternoon of Thursday June 2nd so that we can pack bags and take care of last minute needs.
My son, _________________________ has my permission to participate in the BWCA canoe trip June 3-11. Leaders present for the trip have my permission to hold him accountable to the standards they deem appropriate for the trip. The leaders also have my permission to give medical attention as they see fit. This includes camp first aid and/or transport to a medical facility if needed.
Signature:_____________________________________________________________________
Reachable phone number:________________________________________________________
Student meds/ allergies/ health conditions that trip leaders need to be aware off: ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Mandatory gear list
o Life jacket that fits (Make sure it’s comfortable, you’ll spend six days in it)
o Sleeping bag (the lighter the better)
o Ground pad (foam pad, thermo rest, thin blanket if you don’t have these. NO AIRBEDS!)
o Water bottle
o 2-3 shirts
o 1-2 pants or shorts (No more than two combined.)
o 4 pair socks
o Undergarments
o 2 pair shoes (One pair must be good walking shoes or boots, these will get wet. I recommend one pair of light shoes or sandals, crocks, etc. for in camp at night.)
o Light jacket or fleece sweater.
o Rain gear
o Swimwear
o Towel
o Bible (put it in a Ziploc bag)
o Flashlight
o Bug repellent
o Sun screen
o 1 bag capable of comfortably carrying everything and your share of the group gear. Pastor Mark has a large number of these you can borrow. Unless you have a nice one, borrow one!
o 4 large heavy duty garbage bags (yard leaf bag type)

While it will be June, remember that June can still be quite cool. Please abide by the gear list provided. If you are short items, want to bring additional items, or want to substitute one item for another please don’t. If you feel it’s absolutely necessary to do so please talk to Pastor Mark about it before simply doing it yourself. There will be a complete gear check when we load gear Thursday night.

I know this is a very particular list and that not everybody will have access to some of the things on it. However, if you are short items or make inadequate substitutions your trip may suffer. So will the rest of the group’s. For that reason let me know as soon as possible about any item(s) you will have problems getting. I will make sure your experience doesn’t suffer on account of a lack of quality gear. Also, make sure you don’t bring anything in addition to the above listed gear. We will be carrying everything we have over long portages. Those few extras may not seem like much but after they live on your back a little they’ll feel like bricks. Also, keep in mind that Thursday we will be repacking bags to make sure they’re properly packed for canoe camping. Extras will be removed at this time. Additions will not be allowed Friday morning.
Call Pastor Mark with any questions: 969-0424

En route itinerary: We will be canoeing the BWCA.
Day one, two, and three: Put in at Kawishiwi, head north through Polly, Malberg, Makwa, then west through Ledge, Vee, Roe and in to Frasier.
Day three and four: Fish, swim, and relax on Frasier.
Day Five: Leave Frasier, go through Thomas to Alice.
Day six and seven: Fish, swim, and relax on Alice.
Day eight and nine: Go west through the Kawishiwi River then south through Malberg, Polly, and exit the BWCA on Kawishiwi Lake early to mid afternoon on Saturday June 11.

New for this year! Pastor Mark will be carrying a SPOT locator device. This is a satellite communication safety device. If there are any emergencies en route we are able to simply push a button to send an emergency signal along with coordinates to emergency rescue personnel. An added bonus to this device is a “check in” signal. We intend to use it daily once in camp at night. Along with other appropriate place our daily check in will appear on Pastor Mark’s Facebook page along with a google map showing exactly where we are camped for the night. If you want to follow along with our trip and see where we are every night, be sure to friend Pastor Mark on Facebook before the trip begins.

Girls retreat permission slips

Girl’s weekend out
HANG will be doing an event just for girls March 4-5.
This will be a fun event for the girls to have great fellowship together and to explore their identities as children of God.
They will meet at the church at 6:00 and stay for the night. Bring sleeping bag/ blankets and whatever else you may want for the night.
The event will finish at 4:00 on Saturday.
Cost is $10 per person
For information on the event call Jen 969-7687
My Daughter ____________________ has permission to attend the Hibbing Alliance Youth girls retreat on March 4-5. The leaders at the event have permission to keep my daughter accountable to behavioral expectations and to give first aid treatment (including transportation to a medical facility) if the need should arise.
During the event I can be reached at the following number
_________________________ _________________________________________________

Boys retreat permission slip

Guy’s retreat
Hang will be doing a guys retreat on February 25-27. We will be staying at a cabin on Lake Leander North of Virginia. This is a weekend for the guys to get away to just be guys without having to worry about the girls. We will be leaving after school on Friday and will return around noon on Saturday.
Cost for the event is $20.
We will be leaving Hibbing Alliance Church at 5:00 on Friday evening and returning at noon on Sunday.
Please bring a sleeping bag, clothes for the weekend (dress to be outside most of the time, and a snack food to share)
For more information about the event call Pastor Mark 969-0424
My son ____________________ has permission to attend the Hibbing Alliance Youth boys retreat at Lake Leander on February 25-27. The leaders at the event have permission to keep my son accountable to behavioral expectations and to give first aid treatment (including transportation to a medical facility) if the need should arise.
During the weekend I can be reached at the following number
_________________________ _________________________________________________

Alcohol, Tobacco, and other Drugs prevention slide show outline

Families Coping With Alcohol and Substance Abuse

Mark Larson and Dale Inman

Definitions
Substance Use
Any use, including experimentation
Substance Misuse
Excessive consumption of a substance
Substance Abuse
Clinical designation involving serious and persistent problems with a substance
Substance Dependence
Similar to Abuse but involving a greater level of use over a longer time

Topics in the family context

Children and their parents who use
Adolescents who use
Bidirectional effects
Intervention strategies
Topics in the family context
Children and their parents who use
Adolescents who use
Bidirectional effects
Intervention strategies
Youth prevention ministry
Intervention ministry

Children and Substance Abuse Problems

Infants
FAS (Fetal Alcohol Syndrome)
FAE (Fetal Alcohol Effects)

Parent Factors
Age of the mother, coping skills and chemical dependency
Intervention policies
Resources (money and other)

Children Major Themes
Children characteristics

Conduct Disorders/ADHD
School Achievement
TV Viewing etc.
Behavioral Undercontrol/Disinhibition

Parent Factors

Alcohol-specific effects
Non-alcohol-specific effects

Adolescent and Youth Substance Abuse Problems

Adolescents Major Themes
Adolescents/Youth
Ages 13 to 19 dramatic Increase in Substance Use
Up to Age 25 substance Use and Abuse Peak

Adolescent Characteristic

Mediating factors
High Sensation seeking/ impulsivity
Delinquency
Expectations of effect
Depression
Behavioral problems

Moderating factors
Perceived Parental warmth
Self regulation
Parental monitoring

Substance-Specific Family Characteristics

Mediating factors
Children of alcoholics (telescoping effect)
Family history
Sibling use (social)
Recovering alcoholic
Parenting style
Parental provision

Moderating factors
Specific parental communication
Roles within the family
Effect of 1 non using parent (minimal)

Non-Substance-Specific Parenting Factors

Mediating factors
Maternal hostility to young children
Parental divorce
Adolescent victimization
Witnessing violence

Moderating factors
Behavioral limits
Satisfying parental relationships
Parental monitoring
Parental support

Bidirectional Processes
Cyclical Effect
“Alcoholic parents are at a higher risk for having children with behavior problems, and children’s behavior problems may increase parental stress and lead to more drinking.” (Leonard and Eiden)

Issues and Prevention
Prevention
Issues
There is no one place to start
Individual versus Family Prevention

Help parents manage behaviorally disinhibited child effectively
Prevention of early onset substance use and conduct disorders
Need of treatment services
Cost issues
Program scarcity
Proper services to treat specific needs

Youth Prevention Ministry
Reducing Problems Before They Begin
Bonding to build reislience
Protective factors to increase
Competency
Self control

Healthy bonding to positive role models

Healthy beliefs and standards
Methods used to increase protective factors
Goal achievement
Leadership and expectations
Connecting youth and mentor at the event for continued relationship
Directed conversation and teaching

Intervention Ministry
Helping Reduce Existing Problems
Creating a supportive atmosphere
Weekly support group for families with youth in need of help. 
Family environment: meal time, fellowship and group therapy sessions.
Prayer teams also available for one on one support.
Teen/youth activities so that parents can meet and talk separately.
Also provide handouts and literature from local support groups/drug counselors and family psychologists.  (Maybe have some come in to speak on certain nights).

March Newsletter

Happy SPRING!!!
Ok, maybe I’m jumping the gun here a little but, like many of you I’m beginning to get a case of terminable cabin fever. As I write it’s currently one of the warmest days we’ve had in months. Water is dripping everywhere, I noticed there’s even a small, very small, piece of yard poking out of the snow out the back door of the church. This gets me excited about all that is to come in summer time. I really really look forward to canoeing but I think most of you already knew that. I also look forward going for walks around town and in the dumps without having to dress like I’m setting out on an Arctic expedition. I’m looking forward to the times I get to spend at Big Sandy this summer. I’m even looking forward to getting to wear shorts and sandals, although I’m sure nobody is looking forward to seeing my paste colored legs.
But then I start to think, is looking forward to summer all winter is about? Of course there’s a number of things we can enjoy in the winter that we can’t enjoy in the summer. Skating, sledding, skiing, snowmobiling all come to mind. And of course there aren’t any bugs to deal with in the winter. But all these things seem to be little more than consolation prizes for having to deal with winter. It doesn’t feel like they’re really what we’re waiting for.
And then we start to think about moments in our lives that are sort of like winter. Those times when we spend a lot more time in a place filled with cold and darkness. Where the things we love just don’t seem possible. Where we struggle and slip just trying to get around. What are we to do as we navigate through those times? Obviously we want to look forward to the good times ahead. We want to come to the realization that tings will not always be bleak and dismal. But we also can’t say our time in that place is worthless either. God has something in store for us in even the darkest and coldest places.
I recently read a book that gave some wonderful insight into this. There were people in it going through rough, dragging, seemingly hopeless times. Some succeeded and flourished when they came out of it, others stayed there a very long time and moved very slow even once they started moving. The common thread for those that flourished is that instead of simply looking forward to some “magical” time when everything would be better, they started looking for ways God could use them where they were already at. Instead of complaining that it was to cold to go swimming they put on their jacket and went skating. They flourished where they were instead of focusing everything they had onto that place they weren’t yet able to be.
So as winter drags on, the cold keeps a tight grip, and school seems like it’ll never end, try to flourish where you’re at. Begin to realize God can and will use you wherever you are when you surrender to Him. And even if that cold and darkness has nothing to do with the weather or season you can still give it up to Him to be used by Him. When you do you’ll be amazed at how soon summer comes along.

Febuary Newsletter

I have a confession to make. It’s something I do that I think a number of you might as well. I especially think many teenagers have a tendency to do this, especially the more optimistic of you. I have this tendency to spend way too much time in the future. As many of you know, I love to spend time dreaming about my next canoe trip, my next project, maybe about the next message series that will come after the one we’re doing now. I spend a lot of time in that place I can’t get to yet. While I suppose this may be better than worrying about what already was a living each day in the past, the place I really want to be is today.
Jesus said in Matthew 6, “Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” But then proverbs 21:5 says, “Careful planning puts you ahead in the long run.” So what are we to do here? Just live each day and allow whatever is going to happen to happen? Or should we rigorously plan out our actions, trying hard to always discern the best possible course of action? The answer to both of these is yes.
God wants us to live where we’re at. If we don’t we’ll miss all that He has in store for us. If we spend all our time pouring over every detail of how we’re going to reach a friend of ours for the Gospel and we get it so planned out that we know exactly when and where it’s going to happen, we may miss God’s opportunity to lead the person to Him because it’s different than what we planned. Or perhaps we too busy running from this activity to that activity to look over our shoulder at the beautiful sunset God blessed us with for that moment. Perhaps He wanted to refresh us with the beauty of His creation and we missed His blessing because we thought we were too busy.
But on the flip side, God also wants us to be prepared for what He has in store for us. Paul told Timothy to “be prepared in season and out of season” for whatever God had in store for Him. We need to have certain abilities (examples: sharing the Gospel, praying for/ with people, listening to God) locked down in our hearts at all times so we are ready to jump on the opportunities God gives us. We also need to be well prepared for those things He’s shared with us He wants us to do. This can be everything from the miraculous to the ordinary.
So we need to be prepared. We need to ready our minds (school work, studying, reading) and we need to ready our hearts (praying, worshiping, reading the Bible) so that we can be prepared for whatever God has in store for us. We also need to seek to make plans to most fully use all the gifts, abilities, and opportunities God has in store for us. But we also need to take the time to listen to what God has to say each day because the hardest, most noble work in a direction different than the direction God’s heading is futile. But working alongside God, doing what He has in mind is a joy and excitement that can’t be matched this side of eternity. And when you think you know what God’s wanting you to do, go at it all out but always, always be ready to change course to the direction you know God is going.

Love Dare 2

Here is our second installment of Hang’s love dare. This one is about kindness.
Love Dare 2

Love Dare 1

We started doing a love dare to learn how to show love to God and to others in our youth group and church. This is the first video.
Love Dare 1

Lost our first love

Revelations 2:3-5 is about Jesus admonishing the church in Ephesus for leaving her first love. He’s basically telling them, “Yes, you still do a lot of good stuff for me. Yes, you still do all that stuff you have to do. But you don’t really love me anymore. You’re doing this out of obligation, not out of desire.” Jesus still says that, even if not aloud, to many of us. How often have we got caught up in being religious and forgot all about our relationship with Jesus? Don’t forget your first love in Jesus. And if your love has weakened, do something intential to try to build it back up again. Real love takes work and descion. So decide to love Jesus more than you ever have and do the work to really show Him that love.