KCCC Focus Parents Newsletter
December 2020
Greetings
I hope you had a blessed Thanksgiving holiday, filled with quality family time, delicious meals, and some peaceful rest and relaxation. Things have been getting busier and busier with KCCC Focus, and I want to continue to update you, provide resources, and encourage you in discipling your students in their relationship with Jesus.
Also, don't forget to follow us on our Facebook Page or Instagram to keep up to date with all the things going on with Focus Youth! Communication is definitely something that is a challenge, so if you ever need clarity on something, more regular updates, or just want to reach out and talk about your student and how you can help guide them in their faith, I am always available to you, either through email (liu.robs@gmail.com), phone (832-427-0045), or in the office!
Our Ministries
A lot has changed in the past couple of months! We are now operating as a hybrid ministry: half in-person and half online through Zoom. This is definitely a challenge logistically, but having about 20-25 students in person has been a huge blessing! The physical presence and in-person dynamics are something that we have felt the effects of. We have been limiting our numbers to 25 attendees each week to allow for proper distancing and safe practices, though we are looking to increase our capacity in future weeks. For students who would like to join us in-person, we ask that they register online each week at www.katyccc.org or at the link here.
That said, we are committed to continuing to provide a digital way of meeting together for as long as the pandemic continues. The link for our online zoom meeting is the same for all of our events: www.tinyurl.com/katycccfocus
- Focus Large Group // Friday at 7:30pm
Focus is our weekly all-youth gathering that connects middle school students, high school students, and adult mentors as one body. Together, we grow deeper in our community through playing games, teaching biblical truths and the Gospel message, sharing lives, and spending time with one another. - Middle School Fellowship // Wednesday at 7:30pm
While we are prevented from gathering in person due to the pandemic, we continue to value community and fellowship. We hope to give students an opportunity to connect and meet, to share in their victories and their struggles, and to grow together in their relationships with both each other and with God. - High School Small Group // Wednesday at 8:30pm
Similarly, our Small Group on Wednesday gives our high school students a chance to gather, build accountability, and grow in their faith together. While we know that school and life can get messy and busy, we also believe that this is a crucial and necessary aspect of walking with God and with brothers and sisters. We welcome all high school students to join us! - Baptisms // Scheduled Individually
We have also begun performing baptisms again! Each baptism is a single person to make it as safe as possible. If your student would like to be baptized, please contact Randall Engleman or myself and we can coordinate when would be a good time.
A Zoom Thanksgiving?
This was not an uncommon occurrence, according to this article. Some families even chose to have a digital Thanksgiving, two words that I personally never expected to say together. The digital conferencing provider Zoom even chose to encourage this by waiving their usual 40-minute meeting limit to allow families to enjoy a holiday together...but apart.
I think these statistics are telling, and speak to certain truths that may help us to understand our youth and our families in the midst of this season of COVID. One of those truths is the importance of meeting together.
While it would certainly be safer to cancel all gatherings and meals, a good percentage of Gen Z and Millennials still chose to gather, whether that was a smaller gathering than normal, a gathering that had safety precautions built into it, or even gatherings that mirrored past ones without making sweeping changes to their holiday plans.
I think that this reveals that even in the midst of uncertainty, fear, and danger, there are some things that are still worth doing, that are worth the risk. One of those is gathering with friends and family. The relationships, the contact (either emotional or physical), and the fellowship is something that we as humans are not willing to subtract from our lives in its entirety. Many of us are starving that touch, that
While we don't want to push our students into unsafe or uncomfortable places that they aren't ready to enter, we do believe that meeting is an essential part of who we are, not only as human beings, but as members of the body of Christ, the Church. I've heard some of our students express that they didn't see meeting as something crucial, something necessary. But I want to encourage them that this is something that we do as a church and as a family. We meet together, be that in-person or digitally. We do so for the sake of encouragement, accountability, growth, edification, and community. I would love if you as their parents can continue to impress that on them as well.
And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. (Hebrews 10:24-25)
Suggested Resource
Below is an advent guide put out by the Village Church. There is a weekly guide for personal study as well as a guide for family discipleship time for each week. This fantastic resource is free, and I want to really challenge you to try and approach this season of advent, this time of waiting in eager anticipation, with intentionality. I hope you use this resource with your families, and I hope you are blessed by it!
Robert Liu
Youth Minister
Katy Christian Community ChurchEmail: liu.robs@gmail.com
Website: www.katyccc.org
Location: 24747 Roesner Road, Katy, TX, USA
Phone: (832)427-0045
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kcccfocus