Wow, I am halfway through the summer and it seems like just yesterday that we started here in West Virginia. This week is our largest week yet with 76 participants and I am loving it! The energy and excitement these kids bring is amazing and it really motivates me to do the best I can for them. I know that last week was really tough, both on me and my teammates, so this week is a needed adjustment. With so many people here this week we are able to do more ministry sites throughout the community. We are working on three work sites and also hosting a Kids Club program. I got to go to an old elementary school yesterday where we are tearing down their old playground equipment and building a new one for them. It was really hot out yesterday, like 97, but everybody worked really hard and we got alot of things accomplished. I find that casting vision for these ministries can be hard at times. These kids understand that they are on a mission trip but sometimes when they don't see the direct impact of their work they begin to wonder if what they are doing really matters. This is something that I am learning as well and at times it is hard to motivate them. This week's kids are really hard workers and I am having fun getting to work beside them and learn more about them. I mentioned earlier in the summer how it was hard getting attached to the kids and then having to say goodbye to them on Friday. Well, this week is going to be one of those hard goodbyes!
Weekends are always fun around here but this past one was really good. We all went up to Charleston for an area retreat with the staff from four other YouthWorks sites. We had a great time eating together and just hanging out. After that, we headed back to our site because we had an area contact here who was celebrating a birthday. Sunday mornings are also growing more interesting. We got a new pastor at our church and we lost our piano player. This means that we have to use a computer to play all the music which creates a problem because the church is composed of people who are all over 60 years of age! I helped out last week with the computer and volunteered to run it during the service. I know it wasn' tmuch but the people all appreciated it because the week before was really a trainwreck regarding the use of hte computer! It feels good to get involved inside of a church body that really cares for one another.
Continue praying for our ministry here in West Virginia. God is answering prayers, especially my prayers for confidence in my speaking role. I only ask that God continues to keep me humble and continues to work through me as much as possible!
1 comment:
T.j.
oh goodness, i can totally relate with you about how the kids sometimes get discouraged and feel like maybe they aren't making a difference when they are doing work on their missions trip, but i think in the end, God works it all out, and who knows, maybe the weeks worth won't have a strong impact on the until months or even years down the road.
also, thanks a ton for the prayers, i know that they were answered!!!
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