Walk with me, and I will walk with you.

Hello to all my WONDERFUL SUPPORTERS! :)

It has been a few months since I have written to each of you to just let you know how thankful I am for the each of you, how your funds are making a difference but most of all, how God is just totally moving in the lives of my students as well as myself!

I feel like every single month, YFC gets better and better. Each month, I see God more in my students lives. I have realized that they are wanting nothing more than to have a relationship with Christ, be totally consumed in his unfailing love, and someone to journey with them. As I think about my students, and on the journey they are currently on, I cant help but remember my own journey. The journey of where I was when I was their age, where I was in high school, college and where I am now.

I have realized that I wouldn't be where I am today if, you never journeyed with me. Each of you have had a special place in my heart, but most of all, you have walked with me on this journey, in the good and the bad. You have seen me become someone God has intended me to be, you have helped me see that I was made for a specific purpose and you have allowed me to see that I can change the world through my calling and passions. Thinking of each of you, while doing ministry, allows me to see that journeying with students is so important.. that it changes someones life, when we are willing to invest.

Walking along side of my students, is one of the most rewarding things I have ever done, however, it is also hard.. that is why it's a journey. Seeing how they live, how they yearn for a passion to know God, how they love people around them, allows me to do nothing more than to reflect on my journey and where each of you have helped me, invested in my, and how you have poured your wisdom and love into my life.

Thank you so much for all your love and support in my life. Without each of you, I wouldn't be who I am today.

Love and Prayers!
Chelsie B.

"Blessed are those who have learned to acclaim you, who walk in the light of your presence, O Lord" -Psalm 89:15

His Love Empowers

Over the past few months, God has really been opening up doors of opportunity for me. Lately, I have been enjoying serving him, and seeing his results in my students and in the staff I work with. So lets start my talking about Campus Life!

I have been serving at Hefner Middle School for a while now. Coming into the fall semester, I did not have a campus life group. Since September, my group has grown so much. I have some of the most amazing girls and boys in my group. I have gotten to know them and they are so passionate about helping make a difference for their world. I love talking with them about ways they can just be an example to their friends, and how they can specifically make an impact for the ones they come in contact with. Currently, we are taking part in a ministry that helps feed hungry children all over the world. It is called One Meal, One Day. The students choose to skip one meal on November 9th, during this time, they will give their unspent cash that they would spend on a meal to compassion international.. Did you know, ONLY $156 will feed a child for a whole entire year? That is crazy to me. ONLY $156. wow. My students as well as my own heart as been moved to help make a global impact. My students are extremely passionate about raising money to help feed children. One Meal One Day allows us to become aware of the needs in this world. It allows us to have compassion that will lead to action. What we will do locally, will have a global impact for the Kingdom of God. I'm so proud of my students, and I am blessed to walk with them on this journey.

Another big thing that is happening in my life is starting a girls ministry here in OKC. It is called Treasured OKC. Basically, Treasured OKC is an organization that will help students see that they are loved, treasured and beautiful in the eyes of God. We will have stuff that girls can engage in daily, weekly, monthly and yearly. Daily, we will set up a twitter and facebook page where they can always find encouraging verses, quotes and just a place where they can ask questions. Weekly, we will set up a blog where we will discuss different things, as well as having fun and cute beauty tips for these girls. Monthly, we will be doing a girls night and every other month, we will have a night of worship. Finally yearly, we will have an all girls retreat where we will have a speaker, worship, and just a fun time of fellowship and learning to love ourselves the way God does. This is something that God has been guiding me through over the past month, and I am excited to connect our stories with the ONE who made us. When we live in the image of God, we will know and understand that God's love protects, his love defends, his love restores and his love empowers.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your monthly support. Your gift is helping make a difference for the Kingdom. :)

Serving Together,

Chelsie B.

"You are fearfully and wonderfully made.. Your works are wonderful, I know that full well" Ps. 139:14

CORE Group: Week 1!

Hi Folks!!

Well this past Sunday, we kicked off our first campus life group!!! Going into this week, I was a little nervous because, I had no clue who was going to show up, and if any of my softball girls were even interested at that! However, God had other plans, and lots of my girls showed up!! :))

At the start of this school year, I started volunteering with the softball team. As most of you know, I have been playing softball my whole entire life and I am still passionate about this sport today! Once I started helping out with the team, the girls began to trust me as I started helping them with their batting techniques, how to bunt the ball and even how to field the right way. As i was helping them, they were open to talking with me about who they are and just where they are at in their life. After long bus rides, practices in the crazy heat and many games, I can finally say that I have formed such a strong relationship with these girls.

Once I started to form these relationships, these girls asked me what I do for a living and I told them all about Youth for Christ... Once they asked me this.. it gave me an opportunity to talk to them about our Campus Life Groups! Since the beginning of this month, God has opened many doors for this ministry to take place! I found a host home where we will hold campus life groups every week... I have found a solid group of girls who want to know more about God and who he is in their life.. as well as how they can personally reach their friends for Christ.

Listening to my girls talk about their goals on Sunday what they want Campus Life Groups to look like.... they began to talk about our main goals for them at YFC. They want to know God in such a deep way that it does become their lifestyle, but more so, they want to be a light to their friends... I am filled with JOY to talk about my girls. I am proud of them, but most of all, I am thankful that God has given them to me! :)

Without you, this ministry wouldn't happen... I wouldn't know these girls, I wouldn't be able to journey with them.. and I wouldn't be able to help make a difference in their lives. SO from the bottom of my heart, thank you for supporting this ministry. Each of you are helping push back darkness!

Love you all,

Chelsie B.

"Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you" -1 Peter 5: 6-7

A Summer of Learning!

This summer has been a summer to remember! Since being back in OKC, I had the opportunity to take part in different summer activities as well as prepare for the fall semester with my junior high students.

This summer, we had a city wide missions experience called Impact Your City. This is an event that I have helped plan for the past two summers. IYC is a city wide missions experience, where we allow our Youth for Christ students as well as churches from around the city to pull together for a week and serve. This is just not a missions trip for a lot of kids, it is a learning experience where we help equip them to be servant leaders. We do not want our students to just serve for a week at our missions sites, but to fall in-love with serving and the people of God that they want nothing more than to make an impact in their city and in someone's life. This summer was an amazing experience for our students as they went out into their city and served. It was evident that God was there with us and that he is still at work in our students hearts. It is a blessing to serve and lead students into a loving relationship with Christ and his people.

Also this summer we had the Youth for Christ retreat at Lake Eufaula. At the retreat, it was a time of learning, growing and mentoring. It is such a great honor to serve on the YFC team with so many amazing leaders, who have to same purpose in life for our students. At the lake, we also had time to have fun and get to know one another more! :) We went tubing on the lake, wake boarding, surfing as well as jumping off a 50ft cliff into the water! Now, that freaked me out, but i did it! :D This retreat was a time of building relationships and a time of reflection of how we want our ministries to be, the kids we want to see connect with Christ and how we can help them become leaders among their friends and have an influence in their world.

So now, school is starting in the next week and I am asking that you will join me in prayer as I start a journey of reaching people for Christ. Again, I am assigned to Hefner Middle School where I will be a tutor, I will lead FCA and I will be a softball coach! I prayer that I will be the hands and feet of Christ as I go to and from Hefner each day! I pray that I can be someone who reaches into the darkness and helps bring students into the light. This is a new school year, full of new beginnings, and my prayer is that I will be used by Christ so I can make a difference in the lives of students!

Once again, this ministry could not happen if it wasn't for you and your love and support. I appreciate you more than you know, and I am blessed that you are on this journey with me!

Serving together,

Chelsie Bowman

" I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them." - Isaiah 42:16

back in action!

Hi Folks!

Well, after a whirlwind of events like graduation and a wedding, I am back in the swing of things at work here in OKC! The past week has been a week where I have caught up on work, and starting to finish the planning for Impact Your City.

For those of you who don't know, Impact Your City is a week long mission experience that we plan for the students of OKC. We focus on investing in our students and also showing them ways in which they can serve this city not just on a missions trip, but year round as well. We believe that if we want to have an impact on the world, it must start with where we are and that is by, encountering the people around us. The whole purpose of IYC is to help push back darkness in our city with the help of our students. During this week, we will be serving at four different locations. We will be working with refugees at the Spero Project, homeless people as well as kids at City Rescue and also inner city students on the NE side of town! We are so excited about the different opportunities that we will have to serve OKC. This is a huge event for us at Youth for Christ and we would love for you to partner with us in prayer that we will make a lasting impression on these students lives, but also, that life change will happen and that OKC will be introduced to the light of Christ.

God is doing amazing things here and I am so blessed to be apart of it! My prayer is that I will allow God to use me to make a difference in students life this next year. My prayer is that we will line our hearts to God and know what it means to love, to serve and to live a life full of JOY!

Thank you so much for your support with Youth for Christ. I am blessed by you and this ministry would not be possible without your help!!

much love,

Chelsie Bowman.

"When we seek to encounter the presence of Christ in young people, we'll find ourselves better able to see them, hear them, feel compassion for them, and respond in kindness."

A blessing

I have been in Oklahoma City, interning with Youth for Christ since the beginning of the year. Now, it is almost May, and I leave in two short days to gradate from Warner University and then off to get married in June. However, I will be back in OKC June 20th to start working full time with YFC.

Since being here this semester, I have faced many things that have challenged me, that have encouraged me but most of all things that have bettered me. I have had a lot of stuff on my plate this semester with school work, a wedding, and making sure I get everything done with YFC before I leave. :) Each day, brought about something new in my life. I call these encounters. From these encounters, I have learned what God has called me to do. I have learned who it is I need to serve, to love, to share and who it is that i need to walk on this journey with. I have been challenged to live a life that with better the Kingdom and the ones I come in contact with. This is what I am learning... this is what I am called to do... to make a difference... to serve.. to love.. to see life-change happen in the midst of my students.

I have been given an amazing campus to serve on with Youth for Christ. It is called Hefner Middle School. This campus is full of wonderful yet broken students who are wanting nothing but love in their lives. From these students, I have been developing relationships with students that I come in contact with.. and from these relationships, I am playing on walking with them over the next few years on their journey to see how God shapes them so much more into who they are meant to be. I pray that God will allow me to have true organic, authentic relationships with these students. I pray that I will allow myself to be Jesus to them in their world, but I pray that they will see and experience Jesus in such a real way. It excites me that I get to be in "their" world... I don't invite them into my world, but I go into their world, and experience life with them.. and see where it is that I can be the best leader to these students. I am blessed to be on such a great journey with these students. I love them, and I barely know them. I love their stories, their hope and their courage to face the many things that they do. They are a blessing in my life.

I appreciate all that are on this journey with me. I couldn't ask for better mentors in my two bosses Todd and Kristi. I couldn't ask for a better husband to be who walks with me on this journey. I couldn't ask for a better support system in OKC and all over this country and I couldn't ask for better students in my life.

I am blessed. I am learning a lot. I am loving. I am seeing a Kingdom impact. I am trusting. I am serving. I am on a journey that will shape me more into the youth pastor, leader and follower i am called to be.

Thanks for being on this journey with me.

Greater things are yet to come.. I just know it. :)

Let YOUR will be done in me,

Chels.