The [Kid's] Activity Day is at the Smith’s house. We hope you will join us for a fun, restful Saturday afternoon.  We are meeting at their house at 1pm. Lord willing it doesn’t rain (if it does we have board games and stuff on backup 8-)). If it doesn’t rain -or isn’t that badly wet out- we are planning on playing paintball and riding go-carts around.

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Speaking of paintball, for the New Outreach Idea, I (Andrew) and Brother Tom have been talking for a long while now, and did in more detail this past Wednesday evening, about possibly starting up paintball at Cowan Mill. Granted there are safety/liability concerns and paintball expenses that are the most prominent areas of focus at the moment.

Some will approve and some will dis-approve -that’s to be expected in any community whether church or other organizations. Several ideas, rules and safety guidelines are already being drawn up and implemented should the interest really take off for paintball. A good many secular activities can be incorporated into church settings if the right Christian mindset and atmosphere is established and maintained. That is our goal. Attractive, secular sport in a Christian setting. What could you ask for more!? Well, the answer to that is accepting Jesus as a personal Lord and Savior. That’s the ultimate goal of the prospective paintball ministry!

The main rule at this moment is that nobody (aside from staff/leaders) would be allowed to just “show up” and play, regardless if they have their own gear. You have to “work to play” and the “work” part is attending both Sunday School and Worship for four Sundays -not necessarily in a row. This would allow the a person a “pass” to play at any upcoming/future games. The other rule is:

+No outside paint nor markers will be allowed, at first that is, thus minimizing and possibly eliminating the use of premium or low-end paint and markers that could be an unfair advantage/disadvantage to the game. For those who are seemingly interested, we are looking at using the Tippmann 98 Custom paintball package. By personal opinion with thousands of random verbal/written reviews, Tippmann is the best value both quality and money wise when it comes to paintball. Here’s a image of what marker we’re looking into: (image link)

Majority of paintball players usually average around 10 (the legal age) to around 15 or 16. Then the ages branch out from 16-25; 30-40; and the minority being 41+. So the target audience that CMC is focusing around is a compilation from 10 to 30, however anyone interested in engaging in this fun and energetic activity is more than welcome to participate.

I (Andrew) have literally seen people who you’d thing to be older than “allowed” to play paintball, but they were the ones who were gaining all of the points . So in fact, age has little to do with how you enjoy activities in life.  I say that for those of you who might be interested but would be cautious of injuries. They are possible, but, quite honestly, paintball, when using and following safety guidelines and equipment, is the safest sport out there. No lie. Yes, paintballs are flying around at nearly 300 fps (feet per second), but they are no match for being tackled by a 300lb man in a fully padded football uniform! I’ll leave it to you to decide which one will leave you hurting the longest. Ha-ha.

As I mentioned, we are still in the works and feel that the Lord is at work in this prospective outreach activity for Cowan Mill Church and we also hope that those who may not see paintball as an activity “proper for church” would keep an open mind and see that you have to go where the people are and find worthy activities that can uplift one another and worship the Lord, Jesus Christ.

I understand that some of this paintball information may have made little to no sense and some of the thoughts mentioned may be a bit contrary, and that’s alright. Just email or speak with Andrew or Brother Tom with your thoughts, questions and suggestions.

As always, we are here to pray for you during your times of need and in times of praise. Fill out the prayer/praise form to share your requests with us.