In honor of this weekend's big event at the Rosemark Church of Christ: CHILI BOWL 1.1, we wanted to share this video featuring some of the kids of that church. Josh Wyatt made this for a service last year at the church and openly admits to stealing this concept from his friend Justin Gerhardt - which is admirable and funny. No worries there though. We think the message speaks to any and all congregations. It'd be powerful for every church to hear their own kids say these words. We say steal this! Spread this message as far as you can.

For more info on CHILI BOWL go here. 

Day 23

The top 10 nominees for this year's 2011 CNN Heroes are in and it includes one of our GO! Camp speakers, Derreck Kayongo of the Global Soap Project! 

Derreck started this soap project in 2009 when he realized that many children in his home country of Uganda and all over the world were dying from preventable diseases. These children just lack access to basic sanitation. He hit on the idea of partnering with hotels to repurpose their partially used soaps and send them to people in need.

Since camp, at least 5 different youth groups have taken the journey to the Global Soap Project headquarters in Atlanta to help with this effort. 

Take a moment to check out this year's CNN Heroes nominees. You'll quickly see he's in good company. It's a great reminder that everyday people can make a huge impact. One common thread throughout all the nominees is that they were compelled to show compassion - and they did it.

Vote here.

This is the first of something we want to do a lot of! We'll be checking in with different people from the GO! family throughout the coming months. Let us know if you're working on something or if there's something you need help with. We'll work to activate the GO! community to pray and help in whatever ways we can.

First up:

Hello, Matt Suggs.
Where are you from?

Cookeville, TN

Tell us about yourself:

I am a Cookeville Lifer! I grew up at Sycamore in Cookeville. I became a Christian when I was 12, and told my youth minister I wanted his job at 13. I married my 4th grade sweetheart, Angela. We have been married 8 years and have 2 boys, Ethan and Eli. I have been the Youth Minister at the Jefferson Ave. Church of Christ for 3+ years. I am a rabid Alabama football fan ("ROLL TIDE!").

What are you watching on TV these days?

Yikes...I am a History Channel guy...I also enjoy The Sing Off (an almost any other competition where people are required to sing), Fringe...and loud obnoxious debate shows on ESPN.

What has your youth group cooked up since GO! Camp?

On the last night of GO!, we stood in Center Field at Freed and dreamed up a challenge. The concept was to refuse to walk away from GO! and remain unchanged. We were going to be intentional with our service. So we decided to accomplish 52 tasks in 52 weeks. We called it 52n52.

How have you been challenged by the 52in52 challenge?

One of the biggest challenges for me is trying to give the teens a complete service experience. I want to hit local, national, and global causes. I want us to get involved in church activities on a higher level. I want us to connect with people in ways we have never connected. I think we are still scratching the surface on this thing, but we are already seeing some great results.

I want the teens to see that social justice and mission doesn't always include opening up a wallet or purse. You may be able to give time or something that's sitting in your closet that could become a gift to someone else.

It's early on, but what has the challenge taught you?

I think our group has grown closer in ways I didn't see happening. We are all excited and looking at opportunities differently. Some of the tasks have been big, and some have been extremely small, but we have learned from every one.

My favorites are the ones that I don't plan. When the teens started a Friday Bible Study group at school...that rocked! When a young lady asked her friends to forget birthday presents for her and they, instead, delivered toys to kids at the hospital...that's what this is all about! There have been a few like that. That's when I know we are growing because of this.

How have your students handled the big tasks at hand?

We have an extremely task oriented group. Give them a challenge, and I haven't seen them fall short yet. There are a few challenges that we are still working to finish, but they are working extremely hard to accomplish some awesome goals!

Any projects coming up that the GO! family can help you guys with?

We are working on a project (that is in absolute infancy) with a goal of feeding 5000 people in our surrounding area. That's gonna be a big one...Prayers! That's what we need most...prayers!

Current favorite Bible verse?

I'm loving Ephesians 3:14-21...especially 20 and 21 20 Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

Anything else you want to share?

Thanks to the Montague's and the GO! Camp staff for dreaming big and accomplishing such an incredible camp. We were blessed for being there, and we can't wait for GO! 2012.

Follow the Jefferson Ave youth group's year long adventure and countdown to GO! Camp 2012 here: http://52n52.org