Googa Mooga

Established in 1996 (“1996-ish”, the tee-shirts read) by then youth pastor Paul Purdy, Googa Mooga is an annual mess of an event hosted by the First Baptist Church of Sebring.  Think food wars…only with a singular type of ammo: flour.

Hundreds of small paper bags of flour were filled beforehand by volunteers, students invited friends in the community, and nearly 100 people gathered way out off SR64 for the event.  Our GCBI students were attending to help with crowd control, mingle with youth, and lead worship. All invitees were encouraged to wear dark clothes, since the ‘battle’ happens after dark. Though most of our students complied, only the guys ended up braving the battlefield to fight flour with flour.

our guys before…

our guys after…

another after…

Israel Itinerary!

Though there may be a few changes here and there, we wanted you to have the most recent itinerary for our upcoming Israel trip! We are grateful to know you will be praying for our group as we travel!

February 16: Depart from USA

February 17: Arrive Ben Gurion Airport, Tel Aviv  [Overnight Feb 17: by the Mediterranean Sea]

February 18: Ceasarea Maritima, Mt. Carmel, Nazareth church & excavation, Tiberias

February 19: Capernaum, Bethsaida Excavations, Boat on Sea, Tabgha, Mount of Beatitudes, Chorazin

February 20: Chorazin, Tel Dan, Banias (Ceasarea Philippi), Quneitra, Katzrin, Gamla overlook, Golan Heights [Overnight Feb 18-20: Sea of Galilee Area]

February 21: Jordan River, Beth Shean, Views of Perea, early arrival at hotel, with time at the Dead Sea [Overnight Feb 21: Dead Sea Area]

February 22: Masada, Ein Gedi Overlook, Qumran, Jericho

February 23: Bethlehem, Shepherds’ Field, Herodion, Haas Promenade

February 24: Mount of Olives walk, Gethsemane, Mt. Zion (Last Supper Room, St. Peter en Gallicantu), Western Wall, and
Old City walk

February 25: Ancient Temple Mount and South Wall excavations, Pool of Bethesda, Via Dolorosa, Holy Sepulchre, and the
Garden Tomb  [Overnight Feb 21-25: Jerusalem]

February 26: Day at Leisure, depart from Tel Aviv late evening

February 26: Arrive in USA morning

Philippians!

This semester, our students will collectively memorize the book of Philippians! The guys will be studying chapters 1 and 3, the ladies chapters 2 and 4. Each week, 4-5 verses will be put to memory and added on to the previous week’s verses. At the end of the semester, find a GC

BI student and ask them about this book!

Be praying for these students as they hide God’s Word in their hearts!

Long time, no post!

So, to say that the holidays got the best of us is an understatement! We have SO enjoyed the time to take a break from the regular activities and responsibilities of GCBI to spend time with our families and celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. We’re trusting that our students have also enjoyed their time way and will come back refreshed, ready to study the Word of God!

So what’s the spring semester look like?
January will see our students getting back in the groove with a few youth events and with Campus Life clubs. But the majority of the next five weeks will have our students preparing for their study trip to Israel in February. ALL of our students are joining us in Israel this year (praise the Lord!) and we will be traveling from February 16 to February 27.

Be in prayer for our students as they prepare for Israel – and we’ll keep you updated on their journey!

2nd Annual Chili Cook Off & Dessert Auction!

It was a success!  Our second of its kind, the event was designed to raise money to assist each student as they pursue funding for the Israel study trip in the spring.

The event was hosted at our home church (Grace Church of Sebring) and well-attended by church family & friends from around the community! We saw several local churches represented in the crowd and we were so pleased to see the ways in which they supported our GCBI students!

All together, between the chili & the dessert auction, we raised $3,001 to assist the students in getting to Israel!

 

Awards were given again this year, for the Hottest Chili (Gracefull Ministries), the Mildest Chili (Kristen Wheelock & Company), the Most Creative Booth (Terry & Martha Byng), and Best All Around Chili (Jim & Linda Sacco). As monies were being counted and awards determined, our students put together a little talent show, designed to share some of their favorite activities or gifts with those in attendance!

Tim & Magie emceed the event, much to everyone’s delight!
Chelsea, a licensed cosmetologist, gave Cameron a buzz cut….in the shape of a mohawk!
Devon, an avid wrestler, demonstrated his moves on a slightly hesitant-but-ultimately-willing Doug.
Jordan is a gifted vocalist and sang a beautiful version of “How Great Thou Art”, with Sarah Beth signing.
Chad’s energetic rhythms were crammed into a 60 second drum solo.
Erin’s unique vision in photography was shared through a lovely photo montage on the big screens.
Finally, Elijah performed an….shall we say….interesting stand-up comedy routine that left Pastor Randy in stitches!

Near the end of the dessert auction, the GCBI students were put on the spot to vote for their “favorite” staff member to receive a pie in the face…the results would amp up the bidding wars! They were to choose from Matt Wheelock, Doug Ogden, Aaron Michaud, and Tom Keogh Jr…….and right on cue, they put their heads together and decided CAMERON should actually be the “winner” of the cream pie!  The pie sold for $150 and the honors given to Matt…

Thanks so much to all who came, who baked, who cooked, who gave…we are continually amazed and grateful for God’s provision through His people!  Enjoy a few images from the evening!

Rootin’ Tootin’ Western Roundup!

For the fifth year running (I believe), Grace Church of Sebring held a Fall Festival for the community.  Over 600 people came through the registration line, hundreds of them heard the gospel message for the first time, and THIRTEEN children accepted Jesus Christ s their Lord and Savior!

Our students had the privilege of working incredibly hard (ha!) and orchestrating a good portion of the event. Each GCBI student manned a booth in partnership with a family or individual from our church. The event lasted four hours, but the setup and tear down was probably four times that, at least! Our students were wonderful and each put a unique flair to their booths – most even dressed up in their best western attire to fit in!

Enjoy some snapshots from the day – and if you’re at Grace Church next weekend, you’ll get to see a fun Rootin’ Tootin’ Western Roundup video showcasing our beautiful and friendly church family!

Ministry Experience Weekend

Just over a week ago, our students climbed into the van for a long drive north.  Well, sort of north.  In an abbreviated Fall Ministry Tour, GCBI spent the weekend in Georgia visiting several different ministries with the goal of seeing God’s hand at work in unique ways.

Where?  Explorations in Antiquity, North Point Community Church, and the International House of Prayer (Click to open the ministry’s web page)
When? October 16-19
Why?  To experience three individual ministries that are ministering in unique ways – and to have an opportunity to critically evaluate their experiences and the Biblicity of each.

To read an interesting and fresh account of the weekend, click here - one of our students faithfully blogs about her experiences and we’re sure you’ll enjoy reading her account of the weekend!  Additionally, enjoy some of the photos of our students from the Explorations in Antiquity Center:

 

Dinner at WPBC

This past Sunday night, our students had the chance to spend time with some dear saints from Whispering Pines Baptist Church. For many of our students, ministering with senior adults is -honest!- a step outside their comfort zones. For this evening, WPBC had “church around the tables”, and each GCBI student sat at a table with 7-9 church members.  WPBC provided each student with little bookmark strips of paper with the student’s name, address, and picture, which they were to give the folks who sat with them at their tables – these will serve as a reminder to the church family to pray for “their” student and write them notes of encouragement throughout the year. Elijah & Jordan led in worship with a few old favorites to honor WPBC and a beautiful newer song of praise (which they also shared with Grace Church that morning).

The goal of the evening was to spark conversation between generations – to allow senior adults to share some of their stories with our students and make a God-connection in their relationships.  Having grown from teenager to adult in this church that my father now pastors, it was a delight to see the older, familiar faces leaning with interest as mohawked, pierced, and tattooed young adults shared their own stories!  WPBC is a praying church.  Our students will be lifted up consistently by people who have walked with the Lord for many, many years.  We’ll have additional opportunities throughout the year to minister to and fellowship with WPBC and we’re looking forward to watching God move in the relationships we’ll build.

When my father, Steve Trinkle, closed in prayer for that evening, he offered a gentle yet powerful reminder to the church family.  “These young folks,” he said, “sing the old songs a new way. And they sing new songs to people we will never know and could never reach. But they serve the same Living God that we do. What an encouragement that should be to us!”

YFC Back to School Bashes!

Our students have worked feverishly to assist the Highlands County Youth for Christ staff in hosting no less than THREE Back to School events this fall in all three high schools in our county!  We are thankful for their enduring energy and patience, doing whatever was needed to help at these events.  Despite the chaos, we know that hundreds of teenagers across the county were given the opportunity to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ.  We continue to pray that as our students participate in Campus Life clubs throughout the year, they will develop relationships with youth that allow the light of God’s love to shine through to the darkest places of their lives.  Ask God to make our GCBI students a place of truth and encouragement for these teenagers and ask Him to bring more to salvation through the ministry of YFC!

Chili Cook Off Sign Ups!

Click here to download the 2nd Annual Chili Cook-Off Sign up form!

We’ll be working on getting these into the hands of our local churches – but if you have an interests in attending or cooking at the event, get in touch with us!  Our contact information can be found on the “Contact” page – so shoot us an email or give us a call!

We are excited about this event, because we desire to see EVERY student go to Israel this year! We’re asking the Lord to provide for the needs of the students through this and other fund raising opportunities.