See Ya Later Northern Vic :(

Hi Guys!

Today is Simon and Renee's last day in the Northern Vic DHQ! The Salvation Army has sent Simon to Darwin to be the Corps Officer at Palmerston. The new officers coming in are Ric and Christine Ellis from Ringwood Corps in Melbourne. They will be starting after Summer Carnival in January, I'm sure you will come to know them throughout 2013 and have LOADS of fun with them!

We just wanted to say it has been an absolute pleasure hanging out with you guys in Northern Vic. You will always hold a special place in our hearts. Keep in contact and stay close to Jesus. Many people will come and go in your life but God will remain right there beside you each and every step of the way.

I encourage those of you who are still working out where they sit with their faith to devote some time to praying and talking to God (even if you're not sure if he's there) and see what happens. For those of you that have an awesome relationship with God keep listening to your leaders and reading your bible, every time you read the bible there will be new truth there for you to find. And for those of you that have been with God for a while now and think you might have future in your ministry (like maybe becoming an officer or working for The Salvation Army or even becoming a youth or children's leader at your corps) keep taking whatever opportunities you can to stretch your faith and learn new leadership skills.

We love you all, stay in touch on Facebook!

Simon and Renee xxx

Corps Cadets and Jesus

Hey!

Check out Luke 2:41-52 in the bible. It says;

The Boy Jesus at the Temple

⁴¹ Every year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the Festival of the Passover. ⁴² When he was twelve years old, they went up to the festival, according to the custom. ⁴³ After the festival was over, while his parents were returning home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but they were unaware of it. ⁴⁴ Thinking he was in their company, they traveled on for a day. Then they began looking for him among their relatives and friends. ⁴⁵ When they did not find him, they went back to Jerusalem to look for him. ⁴⁶ After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. ⁴⁷ Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers. ⁴⁸ When his parents saw him, they were astonished. His mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.”
⁴⁹ “Why were you searching for me?” he asked. “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?”^{[a] 50} But they did not understand what he was saying to them.
⁵¹ Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things in her heart. ⁵² And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.

Does age have anything to do with following Jesus? Can you be too young?

Do you think young people are able to learn about God? Do you need to be older to devote your life to God?

How would you describe your devotion to God? Is it a part of your life? Do you think about it? Why? Why not? Feel free to share in the comments.

As you can see from the story above Jesus committed himself to learning about God as a teen. Is that an example you think you can follow?

Jesus didn't let his youth matter as a teen, but devoted Himself to God. As a follower of Jesus, you also should not let your age distract from what you can do. The Corps Cadets program is an opportunity for young people to devote themselves to learning more about God. Think about it. Pray about it. Seriously... 

What excites or worries you about the idea of becoming a Corps Cadet?

What parts of The Salvation Army would you like to learn more about?

Are you worried what others might think if you become a Corps Cadet? Why? Why not? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.

What kind of things could you do as a Corps Cadet to make the world a better place?

Seriously pray about this. If you think God is calling you to become a Corps Cadet then definitely talk to your Corps Officer or youth leader. If you want to know more information then the best way to do that is... become a Corps Cadet! :)
For those of you going to Summer Carnival that would be a really good time to think about Corps Cadets and Jesus...

What is Corps Cadets?

Hello!

Many of you may have heard of Corps Cadets, especially if you have been to Summer Carnival but what is Corps Cadets exactly? What does it mean to be a Corps Cadet?
Corps Cadets is the discipleship commitment of young Salvationists but how does it work? And what has it got to do with Jesus?

Many of the great Salvo officers, leaders, Generals and heros started out as teen Corps Cadets. The Corps Cadets program has been running for over a century, training young Salvos to work in their Corps and communities. Have you got what it takes?

First, let's have some fun! How many young heroes do you know? (Answers at the end of this blog post):

1. In the comics, who is Batman's teen sidekick?

2. What is the name of the young hero from the Transformer movies?

3. In the fantasy book, what are the names of the four children who venture into the land of Narnia through their wardrobe?

4. Who was the 16 year old girl who pioneered The Salvation Army in America?

5. Which pastor of the New Testament was known for his youth?

6. In the Bible, who is the young boy who killed the giant Goliath?

Movies, TV, books, even the Bible, often feature stories and examples of young people who have great adventures and commit themselves to a cause. Do you believe that young people can make a difference in their world? Could you devote yourself to learning more about God? Why? Why not? Feel free to share in the comments...

Here are some quotes taken from the Orders and Regulations of The Salvation Army (a set of information that tells us all about what The Salvation Army stands for):

What is a Corps Cadet?
'A Corps Cadet is a young Salvationist who undertakes a course of study and training in his own Corps in order to become more effective and efficient. The whole program is designed to enhance the value of their future service as a soldier, local officer or officer.'

So, in other words, a Corps Cadet is a young Salvo who wants to learn more about working in their Corps and community.

Who can be a Corps Cadet?
'A follower of Jesus over the age of 12 who is a junior or senior soldier of The Salvation Army is eligible to enter the Corps Cadets program. However, soldiership is not compulsory for all Corps Cadets. Any young follower of Jesus who is involved with a Salvation Army community, lives a Christian example and abstains from any unhealthy behaviour (i.e drugs, drinking, pornography) are welcome to the program.'

So, any teen soldier of The Salvation Army, or someone who wants to learn more about it, are welcome to become a Corps Cadet.

How does the Corps Cadets Program work?
'The Corps Cadets program is a group that meets together once a week to go through a class session. The sessions have themes with times of interaction, discussion, scripture and prayer. There are usually questions to answer in the workbook and mission tasks to perform during the week. The Corps Cadets program should also involve practical assignments, organised by leaders, such as tasks to complete in the Corps or the local neighbourhood. The program is run by a Corps Cadets leader, sometimes called a counsellor or a guardian.

The Corps Cadets program is a class-based group for young Salvos, but it can be much more than that. Corps Cadets can become a support group and a team of friends, learning together and working to make their world a better place...

Tomorrow we're going to see how Corps Cadets relates to Jesus but in the meanwhile...
Think about it. Pray about it...

Answers to the quiz...
1. Robin.
2. Sam Witwicky
3. Peter, Lucy, Susan & Edmund.
4. Eliza Shirley
5. Timothy
6. David. 

Alcohol and the Individual

Today we're continuing to think about the issue of alcohol, The Salvation Army and society. Our other posts have been more about society as a group of people but we are now going to spend a bit of time looking at the effects of alcohol on the individual...

We're going to look at the nature of alcohol and its effects on the body... and why all the fuss about alcohol harm, from the point of view of ordinary Australians.

Quick Facts
* Alcohol works by depressing (slowing down) the central nervous system.
* Alcohol can cause a depressed mood.
* Different amounts of alcohol affect people differently, according to individual variances in a number of factors.
* There are broadly two types of alcohol related problems: problems of intoxication and problems of dependence.
* Harm from alcohol can be from long or short term consumption.
* Harms can by physical, emotional, social and financial. Physical harm can be related to intoxification or due to the long term effects of alcohol on the body.
* Australian guidelines address short and long term risks relating to alcohol consumption as well as consumption by young people, pregnant and breastfeeding women.

So how does Alcohol work and what are its immediate effects?

Alcohol belongs to a group of psychoactive drugs called depressants. Psychoactive drugs are categorised based on their effect on the central nervous system. Alcohol, along with other drugs in this category, depresses (slows down) the central nervous system. This means that messages travel more slowly to and from the brain when alcohol has been consumed. Alcohol is often mistaken as a stimulant rather than a depressant. This is because in small quantities alcohol relaxes and takes away a persons inhibitions (for example, making it easier to talk to people, do things they might normally have a lot of anxiety over)... In fact, what the alcohol is doing is depressing their inhibitions.

This depressing goes on to affect people who drink alcohol in many other ways too. People's breathing slows down, the heart rate slows and after consuming a lot of alcohol people can get very sleepy. At the most extreme level, people can become unconscious or even die due to the extreme levels of alcohol in their system.


Excessive amounts of alcohol also depresses the 'feeling centre' - this is the part of the brain that experiences emotion. This can, in turn, stunt our emotional growth. The younger a person is when they begin to drink a lot of alcohol the more their emotional growth is likely to be stunted.

The effects of alcohol vary greatly from person to person. Lots of factors contribute to how an individual is affected by consuming alcohol. These factors include (but are not limited to): sex, body size, liver size and health, percentage of body fat in proportion to lean mass, age, hormone levels, previous drinking experience, physical health, mental health, tiredness, tolerance and medications. The emotional state of a person when drinking also has an impact on how the alcohol affects them. When all these things are considered, it is no wonder that the same amount of alcohol can render one person unconscious while barely making another tipsy!

What do you guys think? Did you really understand what effect alcohol, even at moderate levels, could have on a person physically and emotionally? How do you think this plays out as Salvos who believe we are made in God's image? How is this an issue if we are trying to help people who are experiencing the effects of alcohol?
Hmmm...

Think about it. Pray about it!***

What is The Salvation Army to you?

Well Simon and Renee are back from our holidays. Summer Carnival registrations have closed and Christmas is coming!

For those of you that don't know Simon and Renee are moving to Darwin next year and there will be new Divisional Youth and Children's people. The new people are Rick and Christine Ellis who are currently the Corps Officers at Ringwood Corps in Melbourne. Change is often sad but exciting and I know everyone is going to really enjoy getting to know the Ellis' and their family!

Continuing on with our theme of The Salvation Army, here's some things to think about...

What things do you do with The Salvation Army now?
Feel free to share in the comments...
Would you consider it a large or small part of your week?

Do you see yourself fighting in the spiritual war that Paul writes about in the bible in Ephesians 6:10-17?
Is it something you feel 'called' to?

How do you see yourself involved in The Salvation Army? Just someone who attends? Possibly a Senior Soldier? Would you like to be employed by The Salvation Army (like Renee)? Or maybe even become a Salvation Army Officer (like Simon)?

Lots to think about.

If you want to read more read the whole chapter of Ephesians 6 or Google Spiritual Warfare. Here's what Wikipedia says about Spiritual Warfare.
Some other books that are recommended are Community in Mission by Commissioner Phil Needham and Chosen to be a Soldier: The Orders and Regulation of The Salvation Army. Any Corps should have that last one because it's a book you should read if you are thinking about becoming a Senior Soldier of The Salvation Army. If you're not really sure what it means to be a Senior Soldier (different to a Junior Soldier) then ask your Corps Officer or youth leader, I'm sure they would be more than happy to have a conversation with you about it!

Also, check out a documentary resource about The Salvation Army called A Cause to Die For on Youtube!

FYI, below is The Salvation Army Soldier's Covenant so you all know what it takes to become a soldier. It's not for the faint hearted, only for the brave and true!

 

Think about it. Pray about it!***

Summer Carnival!

Back again for a second post today! Two in one day???! You guys are really spoilt ;)
After today the Youth Department will be closed for the month of November (while Simon and Renee go get married, wooooooooo!)

The Salvation Army Australia Southern Territory (that's us, the rest of Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia, Northern Territory and Western Australia) hold a massive youth event every year called Summer Carnival! Some of you may have known it as the INSANE event but it's now changed its name to Summer Carnival, woop!
This year it was held at the Geelong Showgrounds and it will be held there again next year from Monday January 7 till Friday January 11.

What actually is Summer Carnival, I hear some of you newbies ask?
It's a 5 day camp full of games, fun, worship, discussion and teaching!

Who can come?
Young Salvos of the Australian Southern Territory (that's us) who are old enough to be at high school next year (2013) but not over 21!

Where do I get a registration form?
From your Corps Officer, your Youth Leader or print one off here.

When do registrations close?
November 30, 2012! What? That's only a month away!!! That's right peeps, you've only got a month to get your form in to your Corps Officer or Youth Leader and unfortunately no late registrations will be accepted. To make sure you really get it in on time make sure you hand it in a week before the cut-off, say November 23... Put it in your diary, put a reminder in your phone with an alarm and ask your Mum, Dad, Brother, Sister, Grandma and Beagle to remind you!!!

If you, your Mum or your Beagle want more information email;
summercarnival@aus.salvationarmy.org
Or (from December onwards) you can contact Simon 0417 114 664, or Renee 0439 351 983...

Here's some of the latest info about what to expect at Summer Carnival 2013;
Have you heard of WARdrobe? They make all the really cool t-shirts that you may have seen the hipster Salvationists wearing like these;

Well the creator of these t-shirt concepts is called Fulton Hawk, he is from the USA West Territory of The Salvation Army and he is coming out to visit us at Summer Carnival this year! Yeah!
This is what he looks like;

(Thanks Facebook...)
So get ready to meet him.

Also, for those of you who went to Summer Carnival this year, you would have seen the wrestlers...

... And the magician...

Well this year get set to see the Magician take on the Wrestlers!!!
What??!
... I know... You WILL NOT want to miss that...

Ladies and Gents I guarantee you will not want to miss out on Summer Carnival 2013! Make sure you do whatever you can to get there!
The website again is here and you can download a form here.

If you are not connected to a Corps (Rural kids :)) send your form into us at DHQ:
PO Box 973
Bendigo
VIC  3552

But remember, if you do not get the form in by November 30 you're gonna miss out :( (sad times)...

Happy Day!

See you in December!***

Long term change in alcohol beliefs?

We are back on our topic of the Australian Alcohol Culture again today and we have a number of questions for you to think about;

What steps are necessary to change beliefs in Australia about alcohol over a long period of time?

Especially for guys, there are lots of linking themes in Australia about 'drinking till you pass out' and 'mateship'. This means that in order to develop a mateship with someone in the Australian culture you go out drinking, essentially. What about the other Australian value of a 'fair go' for all? How does this effect or change our perspective on what it means to be 'mates'? Do you think this change of perception that we have been talking about over a few months now could help reduce alcohol harm for guys?

Traditionally, women suffered enormously from alcohol excess (often by men) and exerted a moderating influence on alcohol related abuse through their role in families and their relationships with men. This means that traditionally most women could see the harm that alcohol was having on their families and would use their powers of persuasion to encourage men to drink less. How do you think this plays out in the modern world with both men and women drinking together more than ever before? Do you think it takes a layer of perspective away for both sexes?

Most negative trends in alcohol harm in Australia appear to be accentuated amongst young people, e.g. binge drinking, road trauma, city violence. To what extent is alcohol harm a 'youth' issue?

Typical government responses to alcohol harm involve increases in mass media driven 'education' campaigns. Why is this?
Do you believe such campaigns are likely to make significant change to Australia's drinking culture? What other key changes are necessary to achieve long term change in alcohol harm?

What role should government play in tackling alcohol harm? Isn't this simply a matter of individuals taking responsibility for their actions?

We in the youth department believe that YOU as the young people of Northern Victoria have to power to change the world! We really, really do!
This is an area that we believe you can have an incredible influence and change negative youth cultures in your community! You never know how God is going to use you, you could save someone's life!
One of The Salvation Army Mission Intentions is Transforming Lives! We take that intention very seriously because we believe we are uniquely placed in The Salvation Army to change negative youth cultures (such as excessive drinking habits that lead to serious harm)! Some people might think that is a pretty airey-fairy idea but we TOTALLY believe it. Ask God what he wants you to do in your community, especially around this issue of alcohol harm. It might feel like you aren't doing much within your circle of influence but a small amount of effort goes a long way in transforming lives!

Think about it. Pray about it!***