NEW BLOG ADDRESS

Greetings Frontline students and parents,
I am writing to let you know that as of today, posts will no longer be published to this address.  For all updated blog information, please begin to check the frontline page of our new church website.  I strongly encourage parents and students alike to sign up to receive updates via e-mail on the new blog.  The deliver is instantaneous and will go to whichever e-mail address you put in.  The sign up is on the upper, right hand side of the screen.

Here is the new link!  Enjoy!

http://forestgroverc.org/frontline-blog/

Important Information!

Alright Frontline students and parents, time for the beginning of the year rush of information!  I know these posts can get long, but I hope you will take the time to read through it and be up to date on all the information we have to pass along!  It was a blessing to get our season started, and I hope to have some wonderful pictures of our activities last Sunday on the website soon :-)

As always, please contact me with any questions.
E-mail: danunekis@gmail.com
cell phone: 616-594-6144

First things first:

New blog location:
Starting very soon, this blog will be incorporated into the new church website.  I will be sure to put up a few reminders about how to access it, but just wanted to give you a heads up.  The BASIC blog and Frontline blog will both have links on the church's new website's Home page.

Big Day of Serving: 
The deadline to sign up for this event is this Sunday, September 15!!!  Payments must be made by October 1.  The cost for this event is $30.

Who: Frontline
What: Service projects with other youth; community development projects
When: Sasturday, October 19.  We leave church at 7:00 AM and return in the early evening (approximately 6:00?)
Where: the Grand Rapids, area
Why: Being called to serve others is one of the joys of the Christian life!  Come have some fun in fellowship with frontline students, be encouraged by other young students acting for their faith, and remember that you don't have to travel 16 hours in a crowded van in order to serve God!  Let's pitch in and serve in this very local context!  This trip includes a free t-shirt and lunch and is only $30!

Parent's Meeting:
Parents, it's your turn to participate, give feedback, ideas, and hear some information first hand!  Come to our parent meeting on Sunday, September 22 at 7:15 PM.  This meeting will be in the ARC, and your child will have frontline on a normal schedule that night (7:15-9:00 PM).  Hear some more plans, brainstorming ideas, and see what we'll be studying this year.  I would love to have you there, and it will be a good way for us to get updated contact information from you!  Bring a calendar with you.

New Sponsors:
This year at frontline, we have a few changes in the faces of adult volunteer leaders.  Cam and Shannon VK have decided to step down, so I want to take a moment to thank them for all the incredible work they did over the last year (and more!).  They were always an incredible support to me and the students, and we will continue to pray that their transition into the ministries that God calls them in the future are marked by God's rich blessing!
This year, we welcome back Marcy H., Jon and Karri H., and Dylan and Sarah L. as adult leaders.  We also have the privilege to welcome Brian and Linda M. to our team!  make sure you give them a word of encouragement for being willing to step into this new and exciting role!


Future Opportunities:

Prayer and Praise:
This is an activity I started late last spring as a trial run.  While attendance was low, those who came seemed to find a strong appreciation for it.  This year, I hope to offer more consistent opportunities for "Prayer and Praise".  It is a liturgical time of prayer, silence, meditation, and worship through song.  It is a more quiet, relaxed, and focused time of worship than our regular frontline meetings which include teaching, social interaction, and a number of different activities.  These meetings are entirely optional, but I encourage students to check them out at least once.

Skeet Shooting:
Saturday, October 5 at 4:00 PM, Dylan and Sarah Lutz are hosting a skeet shooting event.  The cost is to be determined, but won't be too steep (just enough to cover the burgers and food as well as some shells/clay pigeons).  Students are not required to shoot in order to join in the fun.  Students may bring their own guns, and we will make sure to explain safety expectations clearly before we begin shooting.  More information as this gets closer.

College Visit:
This has been announced and communicated a few different times now as tentative information, but things are falling nicely into place.  At this point, I am looking for students (or parents) to give a committed answer in the next 2 weeks so we can firm up all our plans and communicate with the colleges and hosting churches appropriately.  If you are considering the college visit for your student, please keep reading.  If not, this is the end of the post for you.  Thanks for reading!

College Visit Details:
While some details will require later adjustments according to the groups receiving us and the number of students who decide to go, here is the best information I can give right now.

Cost: $30, and the student would need to buy 3 meals on the road (these won't be fancy meals--just on the go quick stops).
Who can go: I am reserving 9 spots in the van for students.  Preference will be given according to three factors: Timeliness in committing, Interest in attending/learning more about Central and Northwestern College, and Seniority.
Travel Dates: I hope to leave Forest Grove as soon after school as is possible on Wednesday, October 30 and return by evening on Saturday, November 2.
Purpose:  To give students a chance to visit Reformed Church colleges in Iowa that might otherwise be too far out of the way for them to get to.
Accommodations:  At this point, we are planning on staying in a church in Pella on Wednesday night, in the Northwestern College Dorms on Thursday night, and in a church in Orange City on Friday night.  Certain meals will be provided by the schools, and light breakfasts (think bagels/breads/fruit) will be provided each morning we are gone.  We will travel in the church van with myself (Daniel Unekis) and one other adult along to drive.
Other Information:  Students do not need to commit to one of these schools in order to take this trip (but I would prefer knowing there is honest consideration).  I am still working on squeezing gas money out of the schools to drive down costs for students.  Students will get campus tours, meetings with professors, and possibly the ability to sit in on a class during this trip.  I hope it is a good and enjoyable time for them filled with learning, fellowship, and a lot of miles traveled in 72 hours (1500 or so).

Frontline Season Opener

Hey Frontline students and parents!  This is just a reminder that this coming Sunday, September 8, we have our first Frontline meeting of the year!  I am looking forward to seeing everyone again, and I am finalizing plans for a great first night including some kick off relay-games for all students, some singing, and some "housekeeping" issues.  We will be meeting after in the ARC after the concert of the Gray Havens and should be done by 9:00 PM.  Starting September 15, we will be back to our "regular" schedule of meeting every Sunday from 7:15 PM until 9:00 PM.

As a reminder, this blog will be the best way for parents to stay current on all updates.  I will also write e-mails to a list of parent e-mails that we will compile on our parent meeting at 7:15 PM on September 22.  Students can get the most up-to-date information on the Frontline FGRC Facebook page. (Students themselves can contribute to this page and will occasionally initiate "get-togethers" via facebook). In order to be invited to participate in that group, simply e-mail or facebook message me or another Sponsor.  This blog can be accessed through the URL www.fgrcfrontline.blogspot.com or from the church website.  You can also sign up to the RSS feed which will automatically e-mail your personal e-mail account when I post something on the blog.  However, I have been told that there is sometimes a delay of up to a few hours between the post and the update.

If you as a parent, student, or member of FGRC have any questions, concerns, comments, (or encouragement) you would like to pass along, PLEASE feel free to contact me.  My personal e-mail is danunekis@gmail.com, and you can also find my church phone number in the bulletin (ext. 12).  I am blessed to have the opportunity to serve in this capacity, and am grateful for your willingness to let me and the incredible team of volunteer adult leaders work with your children.  To God be the Glory!

Also, a quick announcement from Heidi Lodenstein!

We are looking for additional help on Wednesday nights for the PreK-6th grade program. We were wondering if any Frontline girls (or boys) would like to help. For the first 10 minutes we are singing songs. The music is on a DVD so they would just need to be up front singing along. We also are short a few people for leading during small group time. If they would be willing to stay, they could help lead a small group. They could help once a month, two weeks on and two weeks off, or every week. We are flexible!

Contact me at lodenstein@charter.net

Hey Frontline....I have 2 announcements:

a) So far, we only have 8 students signed up for Big day of serving. See previous posts for more information, but this is a 1 day big scale service trip in Grand Rapids. It happens Saturday, October 19, and we would love to do this as a group. I hope that things like the mission trip this past summer motivate us to be aware of when and where we can serve all around us! The cost is only $30, and we need you to sign up soon if interested. We currently have the following students signed up: Quinn VanKoevering, Brittany Meppelink, Lydia Meppelink, Matt Brouwer, Sam Miedema, Matt Miedema, Alycia, and Olivia Hoppen. If you want to go, e-mail me at danunekis@gmail.com

b) The college visit dates are set. We will leave ASAP after school on Wednesday, October 30 and travel to Pella. Thursday, October 31, you have a visit at Central College. Thursday evening, we travel to Orange City, IA and you stay in the dorms with current students. Friday, November 1, you have a college visit at NWC. Friday evening, we hang out and chill. Rumor is that Tanner Smith wants to see you, and my sister who just moved to Orange City would also like to meet you all and feed us  (she's a good cook). That night, we sleep in a local church and just chill all night--play games, watch a movie, talk about the college visits....whatever. Saturday, November 2, we head back to Holland. 
I can give more details about this to anyone who is interested, but I would love to have all interested let me know ASAP. So far, I have heard from interest from ellen, sam, olivia, shelby, hannah, sarah, brittany, kayla, and that tate and tate would like to go if they can make it work. If you're not included in this yet, but want to be, let me know asap! 

Thanks everyone for your participating this year, and I'm looking forward to another great year with you all!

Luau!

Hey frontline,
Don't forget about the luau tomorrow night! Bring a swimsuit and towel, and maybe a lawn chair. We hope to leave church by 5 and be back by 10.

College Visit Proposal

 Greetings Frontline Sponsors, Parents, and students,

• This message is intended primarily for junior and senior students in Frontline who are considering going to college after they're finished with high school. I realized a few weeks ago that we have a lot of interest, but with different schedules and the general cost (let alone the time it takes), it might be hard for students to get a chance to visit some great reformed schools in the Midwest.

  Therefore, I am trying to put together a trip in which we use the church van and drive to Iowa. Students would all get a chance to visit Central College in Pella, IA (an RCA school and Pastor Jud's Alma mater), and then would get to choose between visiting Dordt College (a CRC school) or Northwestern College (an RCA school). At this point, I have spoken with all three colleges and would like to figure out how much interest there would be among students in doing this trip with the following TENTATIVE outline:

  Wednesday, October 30: Leave FGRC in the late afternoon/early evening. Arrive in Pella, IA late Wednesday night.

  Thursday, October 31: Visit Central College. Leave Pella in the mid afternoon and drive to Northwest IA. Arrive late evening.

  Friday, November 1: Students choose to visit either Dordt College (Sioux Center, IA) or Northwestern College (Orange City, IA). Visits finish mid-afternoon.

  Saturday, November 2: Drive back to MI (or complete drive if we start the trek back on Friday).

  As I said, this is a tentative schedule, but I'm curious how many would be interested.

  
  A few points of Interest: 1) Students would miss 1 day of school (Thursday, October 31). Hudsonville Public has Friday, November 1 with No School. It is my understanding that students are allowed one "free skip" day for college visits.

  2) I am hoping to coordinate this visit with another local youth pastor from Zeeland. That would give me a 2nd driver and allow kids to meet other youth in the area.

  3) If this youth pastor cannot come, I will need a 2nd driver to come along and I'm open to ideas (sponsors/parents?)

  Think this through and let me know how you feel about it. I will try to get a concensus on how people feel and make a final decision soon so we can get something on the calendar.

  Other details: a) We would use the church 15 passenger van b) Seniors would be given preference if there are more requests than seats available. After that would be a lotto system. c) Cost would be minimal. Approximately $25/student along with a little bit of spending money if they wanted it

Greetings!

Hey Frontline Students and parents!
I just wanted to let you know that I am officially back in the office at FGRC and am now the "youth director" on staff!

All that to say, if any of you would be interested in setting up a time to chat, catch up, share ideas/comments/questions/concerns/etc. for the upcoming year, just shoot me a facebook message or e-mail (danunekis@gmail.com) and we'll find a time! I can pick you up or drop you off if that's an issue. This is in no way required, just wanted to let you know that I'm available. Hope everyone is doing well, and looking forward to seeing you all this Saturday evening for the Luau!!!