REMINDER:  The youth are no longer collecting pill bottles for Through These Hands.  They advised Nancy Miller, who volunteers there, that they can no longer take them.

Just like a teenager's room at home, our HT youth room is sometimes cluttered and in disarray...But we invite you to take a walk down the steps to check out our First & Third digs!  Another bean bag chair was there for newcomer Brielle Lower - welcome!  All youth in grades 7-12 are encouraged to join us on the 1st & 3rd Sunday evenings each month for a light supper, devotions/learning, sharing highs and lows, and sometime constructive/sometime just plain silly times together! First & Third dates for the remainder of 2019:

October 6 & 20, November 3 & 17, December 1 & 15 from 5-7pm

During our most recent time together, we thought about Luke 14:25, where Jesus told his listeners that they must hate their mother and father...and give away all their possessions to be His disciple.  I challenged them to think about the things in their lives that they need to hate - that is, what possessions or people possess them?  Upcoming opportunities that the youth decided to participate in that will help them experience the cost of discipleship, sometimes in the form of costing us material possessions, sometimes costing us time:

• Partner with the Morning Glories' project by filling 3 Holiday Hope Chest Boxes for the Volunteer Center of the Lehigh Valley. At our next 1st & 3rd, we'll divide up our lists to fill boxes for 2 teenage girls and a teenage boy.  ITEMS FOR THE BOXES MUST BE BROUGHT IN TO OUR OCTOBER 20TH 1ST & 3RD.
• Help at the October 31st Trick-or-Treat refreshments in Holy Trinity's parking lot from 6-8 (Note: Trick-or-Treat in Salisbury Twp., Whitehall, and Coopersburg is 10/25). Costumes welcome but not required!
• Support Operation Holiday Cheer by attending the Bingo on Saturday, November 2 from 3-6pm at the Jednota, 1223 Fifth Street, Catasauqua. Cost of the tickets is pending; youth decided they would each be responsible for their own ticket cost. This is a project of 12-year-old Brandon Larkin, a Catty youth who wants to fill a goodie box for his father and every member of the 77th Brigade of the U.S. Army, deployed overseas. Blondies has partnered with Brandon to make this vision a reality.
• Serve if needed at the 5 Loaves & 2 Fish Pancake Breakfast and Bake Sale on Saturday, November 23 (arrive at 7:30am, finish around noon).
• Participate in Worldwide Children's Remembrance Day on December 8 by incorporating a candle lighting into our 1st & 3rd that evening, or by joining in with our HT family and donating candles if a congregational event is planned.  Since 1997, a Worldwide Candle Lighting, believed to be the largest mass candle lighting on the globe, has created a 24-hour wave of light as it moves from time zone to time zone at 7 p.m. local time. This observance was initiated by The Compassionate Friends, an international organization that provides support to families after a child dies, as a gift for families to remember the children who have died too soon, but will never be forgotten.

Serve at the 5 Loaves & 2 Fish Prime Rib Dinner on Saturday, December 14 (arrive at 4, finish around 7:30pm).

PARENTS & YOUTH: Please note these dates on your calendars, and RSVP ASAP for each activity.