WEEK TWO

We arrived in West Virginia last Friday, almost a week ago. We are preparing for the summer these next two weeks and that means alot of cleaning. Our youth actually don't arrive until the week of June 16th, but there is sooooo much work to get done before that. We are living in an old elementary school for the summer, but we are not living there just yet. It was abandoned for the last couple of years so we are in the process of cleaning it up and making it livable. That means fixing all the leaks (we don't have running water yet) and cleaning the mold and mildew out of many of the rooms. We replaced some carpet already and installed four more air conditioners so that we won't roast this summer. Although I am not in direct contact with youth quite yet, we are still making many contacts in the community. We are attending a Methodist church here in West Hamlin that has a congregation count of around 12 people. They are all older people who are so thankful to have younger people in their congregation. We were all invited to sing in the choir and next Sunday, one of the deacons asked me to read Scripture for the church service. These people are so loving and willing to help. We have done laundry at one of their houses already this week, eaten lunch at one of their houses, and even watched a movie with one of older gentlemen. I never imagined that I would be striking up friendships with senior citizens on this "youth" oriented adventure. God has that kind of way of surprising us. He is being so faithful to us and we are all growing together as a team. Brent, our Kids Club guy, went around to the elementary schools today and recruited many kids for his summer program. Lindsey, our work project person, is getting ready for her job by sorting through all the supplies she needs. Diane, is busy tying up loose ends with the finances and inventory, and I am busy preparing messages to bring to CLUB each night. We are all super busy but are enjoying our jobs. I am excited to see what God does in the next week and how He is going to lead us this summer.

WEEK ONE

This is week one of my practicum here in West Virginia. We aren't in West Virginia yet, as we are still in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania for a week of training. We started training on Monday at noon and it will continue throughout Friday. There are about 70 students here and we are all learning how this summer is going to run. We are learning the ropes of what a YouthWorks week will actually look like on site. They have set this week up to mirror an actual week we will experience so every element of our day is a chance to learn something that will be useful. Being as I am program staff I am currently working on writing some speeches which will be utilized throughout the YouthWork week. I have to write 5 different speeches depending on the activities and ministries that the youth will be experiencing that day. It is very stressful as I am not very confident in my speaking skills yet but I know that God will get me through and use me in ways that I am not even aware of yet. We are also learning how to budget for our expenses each week and other useful tasks. I am just anxious to get out of training and move into the site where I will be ministering for the entire summer. Training is good, but it makes me long for the real thing! I am so very excited to see how God is going to stretch me this summer and how He is going to use me to influence the lives of many teens. This is something that I am passionate about and I cannot wait!!!