This is the second article in a series about Churches that the YWAP Directors have visited. We hope you will find them as an opportunity to learn more about empowering yourself to help others and feel fulfilled in the process. Love God and neighbor is what life's all about!
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     You wouldn't believe the blueness of the sky over the beautiful mountains covered with a slight dusting of snow. The YWAP Directors took a deep breath of the mountain air in the parking lot of CFTN Flagstaff. It's Sunday morning and we arrived early to be a part of the Prayer Before Service. 
     When we walked in the building, we saw signs pointing to the Community Breakfast Gathering. We walked by the dining room and saw full tables of smiling folks with good food in front of them. The gym was set up with a bounce house for children's time. (YWAP loves physical exercise combine with teachings about Jesus!)
     As we made our way to the sanctuary, the worship team was just finishing a praise prelude (that's a YWAP way of saying they were practicing in the presence of God.) A small group of us prayed for the service and each other before we prayed our way around the room.
     Pastor's Daniel & Allison Williamson are two of the most servingest folks you'll ever want to meet. The Sunday Service is a beautiful time of praising, praying and learning more about God's plan of greater works of Love. There are glimpses before and after the Service of the many ways this husband and wife team serve the community. Saturday night was a Worship Service for The Nations. After the Sunday Service there was a lunch meeting for the upcoming Christmas Celebration for children. After the meeting we wrapped presents and decorated the church.
          The preaching was phenomenal as Pastor Daniel continued with his series on Game Changers. You can read the Bible verses he used as well as main points on the slides below. There was one line he used that stuck with me. This is my paraphrase of what he said about his wife. (I repeated this several times to my wife with tears in my eyes because it moved me so much.) "The healthiest part of me chose you to be my wife." There is a powerful unity in Christ when a man loves his wife the way Christ loves the church. When a man fins a woman, he finds the healthiest part of himself.
          If you want to be empowered as a collaborator in doing good things for the community, get involved in this church. Right now they could use some more bikes and gifts for the Christmas Celebration on December 14. Sign up at the link below. If you want to help, please do! It's the most givingest time of the year!
            CLICK THIS LINK ➡  Christmas for Kids - Breakfast with Santa - Free Event         
          You may be one of those folks who walked away from religion for whatever reason, but this place is about community relationship. They care about people and they help people. Take a step of faith and visit just once, the YWAP Directors did and they consider CFTN Flagstaff as their home Church whenever they're in Flagstaff.  
Church For The Nations Flagstaff 755 North Bonito St. Flagstaff, Arizona 86001 Get Directions 
(928) 714-1170 cftnflag.com    
Next up on the YWAP Church Report in two weeks is Without Walls Church in Mesa. We look forward to visiting with Pastors Ken & Deanna Dutton and all the great folks at WOW on December 8, 2019..

     You wouldn't believe how many folks collaborate as "givers" in the City of Buffalo.
     When Thanksgiving rolls around, we always hear from Jim McGinnis at Nehemiah 52 Ministries.
     A lot of folks are helped through Jim's network of kind friends.
     People all over Buffalo are empowered through the giving spirit of folks like Jim and the Buffalo City Mission.
          Mrs. Triggs from None Like You/We Care went to the Buffalo City Mission to pick up a big load of turkeys. She gave them out to folks in need. Some of them went to The Bread of Life Church where they will cook them and give a meal to hungry folks in need. The YWAP Directors are grateful to be part of a network of "Giving Collaborators in the City of Buffalo." Some folks call Buffalo "The City of Good Neighbors." That's a great name, but us YWAP folks have another name for Buffalo and the people who give there, "Buffalo - The City of Great Givers."
          Thanks for your time. Thanks for being a giver. Go do something nice for somebody.
Jesus loves you and so do we.

     You may have read about the recent Church Services being held by Kanye West.
     We've noticed that major media outlets are reporting on those services.
     As his new album "Jesus Is King" has risen to the top of the charts, so have the reports about church.
     Pardon our copycatting, but we figure its time to do some reporting of our own.
     The YWAP Directors have the honor of visiting a few churches during the course of a year. We'd like to give you a report on what we've experienced. Hopefully if you're looking for a decent Bible preaching church who puts God first, these reports will help you find one.

     Pastor Curtis Burch will never be confused for Kanye West, but his demeanor clearly makes it known that he believes Jesus is King! We first met him over a year ago through our good friend Christos Terzan, better known as Tarzan. Both of these men are the real deal, nothing hidden, all things transparent in a most humble sort of way. We didn't have the pleasure of seeing Tarzan on this trip, but we did experience the love of Christ through the folks we did get to meet.
     My wife and I arrived with our friend Miguel in time for the Service that began at 10:45 AM. The church folks had already served a continental breakfast from 8:00 - 9:45 AM followed by Bible Study, Sunday School and Youth Group from 9:30 - 10:30 AM. By the time 10:45 AM rolled around, these folks were energized and ready to roll into a great service!
     The contagiousness of the Holy Spirit began even before the Worship Team started. Just their attitudes of joy alone were enough to ignite a bunch of folks eager to put God first in their praise and worship. The tunes they sang were old hymns modernized and sung with a passion. Some of them stood out in my mind as I had sung them in my head as my wife and I went hiking in the woods on Saturday. Precious Jesus, Leaning On The Everlasting Arms, Come Thou Font of Every Blessing, along with a few other beautiful songs prepped us for prayer and the Word of God.    
     Pastor Curtis is a Bible based teacher and expositor - meaning that he takes the Truth of God's Word and digs deeply for revelation. He told us that there's room in heaven for everybody who follows Christ. Here are some of my thoughts as I listened to Pastor Curtis preach. They aren't necessarily what he said, but it is where God led me through what he said.

• Salvation is in a person not an event.
• Get to know God by becoming more Christ-like.
• If you're a Christian, get to know Jesus.
• He wants to reveal Himself to you so you can reveal Him to others.
• A dud named John said that if all the miracles of Jesus were written about, the whole world wouldn't have enough room to contain all the books that would be written.  

     The pictures below will fill you in on some of the Bible verses that Pastor used. If you're n the Tucson area, this church would be a great one to get involved in. They have a ministry opportunity for every age and they are growing. Their Celebrate Recovery Program is helping to redeem many lives. 
     The YWAP Directors brought some Jesus Wristband's for the youth and look forward to working with the Youth Ministry as they expand to reach more young people with the love of Christ. You can find these great folks at: Tucson Central Church 404 S Columbus Blvd Tucson, Arizona 85711 Get Directions (520) 326-1366 tucsoncentral.org     

     Young people at YWAP's Teen Action Night come for fun, friendship, food and to learn a few life skills. 
     We do our best to plan a lesson that focuses on life issues common to all teenagers (and all of us too!)
     All people have a desire to understand the meaning and purpose of life.
     Purpose can be defined as the reason something or someone exists. 
     There is a purpose for everything and everyone ever created by God. For the next month and maybe more, we'll examine why we were created. We'll also study ways that God is giving us tips on what our purpose for Him might be.The picture's below are from our last lesson.
     Thanks for joining us. Jesus loves you and so do we.

     You already know that teachers need a lesson plan for their students.
     While that's a good plan, it's only part of a good education.
     A lot of learning happens when we give teens the chance to ask questions.
     Planning an open topic night at Teen Action was a great idea and they loved it!
          Deb Sudyn is a volunteer mentor who came up with the idea for an Open Topic Night. We did have a planned Leadership lesson on Resilience that was incorporated into the evening. Deb and a young man named Robert did a great job facilitating the teaching and Open Topic discussion.
          Thank you to all of the great YWAP Mentors at the Bread of Life. Teen Action Night is a wonderful success because of your integrity, compassion and love for God and young people. 

     You sometimes have to wait awhile to sense the presence of God.
     When folks get together in one purpose of seeking God, He shows up.
     As worship hearts rise in communion, the Holy Spirit falls upon the unity of believers.
     People who are serious about their relationship with God get to know Him personally.
          First Saturday Live at The Bread of Life Church in Buffalo is a special evening open to everyone whether you believe in God or not. Folks who have a faith in Christ are invited to participate in a number of ways that give evidence of God at work in their hearts. Song, dance, poetry, flags, and art are a few of the ways of expressing God's handiwork in us.
          Young Tato is the YWAP Director of First Saturday Live. Here is a comment she made after the last First Saturday on 11/2/19, "The Holy Spirit fell on everyone when we sang the last two songs together."
A video from the even can be seen by clicking on these links:
First Saturday Live Video #1
First Saturday Live Video #2
            As you look at the pictures below created by human hands with animation, imagine God at work in His creation around us. Fire burns away the chaff of our sinful choices as we turn to Him in repentance. Lightning is a moment of sudden change. Leaves fall away and drop dead even as the spring of new life rises up within us. Focus on God, get to know Him.
          The next First Saturday Live happens on December 7, 2019. If you would like to be put on the email list for First Saturday, please respond to [email protected].
Thanks for your time. Go do something nice for somebody.
Jesus loves you and so do we.    
(PS. Please be sure to "LIKE" our First Saturday Live At The Bread Page.)                    

     Young people have lot's of questions.
     When you give them a chance - they ask questions!
     After some exercise, they'll have a chance to choose their topic to talk about.
     Pursuing knowledge is a good first step in gaining valuable life wisdom.
     It all happens on Thursday night, 11-7-19, 6-8 PM at The Bread of Life Church 1638 South Park Ave, Buffalo, NY.
​Teens 12-18 yrs, boys and girls are invited for some friendship, fun, exercise, food and leadership based on teachings from the Bible. 

     Young guys and young girls mature at different speeds.
     When Space Thursday comes around once a month, we separate the guys and girls.
     Allowing ourselves space to grow helps us appreciate each other more.
     People who know what a friend they have in Jesus will be better friends.
Here's a report from YWAP Space Thursday Mentors Becky Rogowski and Evelyn Guash.
     The gentlemen watched a video of the Seattle Seahawks players called, Making of a Champion on You Tube. They were given the salvation message and discussed testimonies on the video. Here's a comment from the YouTube Channel, "Eli Scott 4 years ago "But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty..." 1 Cor 1:27 (Nkjv) ... I amazed how God uses the NFL to His glory; and He has the right to use the NFL and any other means by which to get the blessed Gospel Of Jesus Christ out to the world." (Copied & pasted as written.)
     Here's what Miss Evelyn had to say about the space the ladies enjoyed, "We had a great meeting with the girls. I see how God is doing a work in their hearts and they are truly taking it in. They are sharing alot and forming the sweetest sisterhood.?? 
     My title was "What A Friend We Have In Jesus"
     Scripture came from John 15:13, Proverbs 18:24, 1Corinthians 15:33, and Roman's 5:8. I started with how we will never have a greater friend than Jesus, He laid down His life and suffered and died for us. No other friend loves us enough to do that. He's always present and available to us. The best friend that we could ever ask for.
     Too many or the wrong friends will lead us to trouble. There was alot of talk about "bad company". In closing I told them that Jesus died not just for perfect church folks, even our parents can leave us and not be there to support us, but Jesus loved us and thought about us 2,000 years ago and gave of Himself for us.
That's love, that's a friend!?"
     That's a great Space Thursday for teens! Thank you everyone who helped to open the doors, put up volleyball nets, serve food, show a movie and give a great message. We appreciate you. More importantly: Jesus loves you and so do we!

     YWAP Directors get to visit quite a few churches so we thought we'd share our experiences with you.
     We visit some churches on a regular basis and one of them is Church For The Nations in Flagstaff.
     After one visit to this church, we knew that we'd be returning many times and get actively involved here.
     Pastor Daniel Williamson and his wife Allison are the leaders of CFTN Flagstaff. Daniel is a great Bible based Teacher. His messages are engaging, informative and applicable to our everyday lives. The church service is unlike most churches, there are no announcements. The service is all about God from start to finish. The opportunity to sow into the church is given during worship. They don't pass a basket up and down the pews. Giving is voluntary and happens along with the opportunity to receive Communion. Folks come forward to the altar while the Worship Team continues to lead. The whole service is focused on God and being in His presence. 
     In his current teaching series, Pastor Daniel is urging folks to become Game Changers. He uses Bible verses throughout his message. He feels for people in a deeply compassionate way and builds a relationship through God's Word. Here's a great Game Changer nugget from last Sunday, (10-27-19)
                                "Not that God takes your enemy away,
                            but that he enables you to see beyond them."   
     If you're looking for a church in the Flagstaff area, we strongly encourage you to check out CFTN Flagstaff. We were met by smiling people n the parking lot and welcomed with more smiles every step into the building. They asked questions about us showing a genuine desire to get to know us. That's refreshing, many churches focus on telling you what they do, these people want to know what they can do for you. It's a special church with special people.
     On Sunday mornings they serve a free community breakfast at 9 AM. Prayer starts in the Sanctuary also at 9 AM. You can come and have someone pray for you or just come to pray and spend focused time on your relationship with God. Sunday morning Service begins at 10 AM. The church is involved in several other ministries which we're still learning about. You can learn more about them on their About Page.
CFTN Flagstaff     
755 North Bonito St. Flagstaff, Arizona 86001
Get Directions
(928) 714-1170
Send Message
cftnflag.com