Better late than never...

It’s been two and a half months since my last post. So much keeping you all updated regularly. I apologize for the lack of an update in those two months. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to update everyone about how things were going her in Chambersburg, bit life has a funny way of catching up to people and with it comes busyness. That’s what happened to me. The school year got into full swing and I found myself trying to stay afloat with the assignments that I had to do and worrying about my blog. So for that, I am sorry.

Anyway, I've been up to a lot in the last few months. Each week at our Wednesday night youth group meetings I am responsible for one of two things. Most weeks I lead the game at the beginning and give the announcements. There have been a few weeks where I have taught the lesson. Those weeks Brian and I switch roles and he does the game and announcements. Each week I also co-lead the senior guys small group. We have one of the smaller groups, but it is a good group and I thoroughly enjoy my time with them each week.

We still do praise band each week on Sunday evenings. It continues to be a highlight of my week. The past two Sundays, each of our praise bands had the opportunity to lead worship during one of our worship services. It was fun to get to work with them and plan for each service and then lead worship. It was also a good experience for each of them.

About a month ago we started up our after school program on Thursday afternoons. We have several basketball teams that play in a local church league. Because we are in the middle of downtown Chambersburg, we have quite a few guys from the neighborhood who end up playing on our teams. One of the requirements to play is that the guys attend three church events a month. Our Wednesday night meetings count as one and Sunday morning services count as one. Last year Mark started this after school program to be another opportunity for these guys. Many of them come from rough home situations and are unchurched so Thursday program is a good middle ground for them. We hang out for a while, have a short bible study, and then feed the guys.

Those are my main things each week and they have kept me busy. Back in October we had our Fall retreat, EXIT. It was a lot of fun, but man did it tire me out. I got to teach one of the lessons which I enjoy a lot.

Anyway, it's getting late, so that's all I'm going to write for now. I promise to write more next week when I am officially done, sort of a wrap up, this is what I learned kind of thing. Sorry it's been so long, but thanks for reading!

God bless!

Routines, Presidential Flashcards, and Lessons from Cross Country

Its times like these that I am amazed at how fast time flies. It seems like just yesterday that I took pictures and updated this blog. Yet here it is, weeks later and I am just now sitting down to share what it is that I have been doing these past few weeks. Since my last update we have gotten into the swing of the fall and tonight will be our fourth week of youth group this school year. So far things have been going well. In addition to my responsibilities with the praise band each week, Brian and I have been sharing most of the responsibilities each week. The first two weeks my job was to lead the game to begin the night and then co-lead the senior guys small group for the last half an hour of the night. Last week I was able to teach the lesson. It was a great experience to get to stand up in front of our group of students and teach. While I can’t say that it went perfectly, it was a great opportunity to begin to improve my speaking abilities.

Praise band has been going great as well. Each week I find myself looking forward to working with a great group of students and just enjoying the time together as they prepare to lead their peers in worship. Every Sunday night from 6:00 to 8:30 we meet. The first hour or so Mark leads the group in devotions. What we do varies, but quite often it is a product of what has been on Mark’s heart that previous week. After that the team that is playing that week gets ready to practice, while the other team is free to go. The next hour and a half is full of music with the intent of praising the awesome God that we serve. I spend most of the night walking around and listening, pointing out little things that may need to change, and helping them to keep the focus on the purpose. I love this part of my job, although it reignites the desire in me to be part of a band again.

Beyond that I have been getting into a routine, which is somewhat tough for me. When I was painting I loved that the environment, work, the total experience changed every week or so. The idea of sitting in my office all day working on something is challenging to my ADD side. Last week in particular I got discouraged by my lack of progress after an entire day of working on my lesson. But I ended up going to a Cross Country meet with Brian and one of the girls on the team was very appreciative of our being there. It was encouraging, here I spent a whole day getting very little done because I couldn’t focus and was having a hard time organizing my thoughts, only to be reminded that I am not in youth ministry because of the office work. I am in youth ministry because I want to make a difference in the lives of students. It was a good reminder.

I also had the opportunity to see Mom and Dad for a weekend. They flew out here almost two weeks ago and I met them down in Washington, D.C. We had an awesome weekend with decent weather and saw just about everything down there. Seriously, we walked so much that my blisters had blisters (ok, not quite, but close). I had never been there so it was a great chance to see our Nation's capital and some of the history that I have only read about. For those of you who haven't been there before, if you want to see the Declaration of Independence, just watch National Treasure. When you see it in person, its a 200 year old piece of faded paper with some barely visible black lines. If it didn't take so long, I'd post pictures, so you'll just have to wait till I get home to see them.

God is stretching me. I am being challenged, placed beyond the boundaries of my comfort zone, and being pushed to grow. But each time God places me beyond what I think I can handle, He reminds me that I following him wont be easy or comfortable. Things are going great. Hope this post was worth the wait.

John

Praise Band, Paint Fumes and the End of Summer

First of all, I apologize for the lack of an update for so long. The past few weeks have been a bit of a transition and I haven't had a lot to blog about. But here is what I have been up to.

We are heading into our third week of praise band. I am really enjoying my time with this group. There is a great group of students on both our Praise Band team and our tech team. My job for this fall is to be the director/producer for the praise band, which is essentially the fancy way Mark came up with saying that I am going to be working with them behind the scenes to help make sure they sound their best. I am really excited for this and I can't wait to start worshipping with them next Wednesday. Tomorrow is our last practice before the school year starts and they begin leading worship on Wednesday nights.

Which brings me to the next part on this post. The summer is over! I have been here for almost 3 months (where did the time go?) We took the past two weeks off to make the transition from the summer to the fall and this coming Wednesday we will pick up with our Street meetings and begin the year. I can't believe how fast my time here is going and although I miss everyone back home and at school, it will be sad when the next 3 months end and I leave this place. I have been learning so much so far and I can't wait to see what God has in store for the rest of my time here.

Now those of you who are observant will notice that unlike other posts, my title is a different order than the way I wrote the post. Two reasons for this. 1) I am saving the fun part for last and 2) "Praise Band, Paint Fumes and the End of Summer" sounds better than "Praise Band, the End of Summer and Paint Fumes". In my last post I talked about the new floor and how we were painting the walls and how it would look really cool. Well, its just about finished and wow... I knew it would be cool, but its pretty amazing. Rather than describing it to you, lets go on a picture tour. (Please keep your arms and legs inside the vehicle at all times. I am not responsible for any lost items.)

So as you come down the stairs into the youth area you see this.

That is the beginning of our new floor. It is tile that was cut using some machine and then put together like a puzzle. As you walk through the door you see the Welcome Window (This is part of what isn't quite finished. This is also my office.

The plan is to build a wall inside the office so that our Welcome team can go inside and be in a "building" with this being the outside. Once it is all done it should look really cool.

On the corner of this wall we have our street signs. The Welcome Window is on Welcome Way, and the other street is, BK Avenue in honor of our very own Brian Kramer.

This is a view of the street as you turn down Welcome Way.

Our kitchen area is know as Deb's Cafe. This is a little awning/sign area outside the kitchen area.

This is where the art begins. Luke Jones, who was the other summer intern I worked with, is going to school to study art. One of his jobs this summer was to work on designing and painting this area. He decided to "keep it simple." As you can see things quickly left the "simple" realm and moved on to the pretty amazing.

This is a view down BK Avenue.

This is the beginning of what Luke painted. His goal was to make it look like you were walking down the street in downtown Chambersburg.

This is the first of four buildings that Luke painted.

And the second, Sites Inc. named after Denise, our youth ministry administrator.

The third is Vincenti's Pizza, named after Mark.

This is one of the walls that we decided to do a collage of street signs. (All obtained legally.)

This is the final building that Luke painted. LBB Enterprises, named after Lee, Bernard, and Brian. They are our maintenance/janitorial staff here at the church.

This is just an area that Luke painted and then added a face and a final message for the youth group. It says "Our time is now. Let's make a difference for Christ today."

This is my own contribution to the project. We couldn't decide what to do with the three walls outside the bathrooms. I suggested that we graffiti the area and offered to do that. I spent several days contributing to the paint fumes while working on this area.

An appropriate sign for the men's bathroom I think. Although we thought a "No Dumping" sign would be funny too.

And our anti-drug message.

Revelation 22:7- "Is anyone thirsty? Come! All who will, come and drink, drink freely of the Water of Life!"

John 4:13-14- "Jesus said, "Everyone who drinks this water will get thirsty again and again. Anyone who drinks the water I give will never thirst- not ever. The water I give will be and artesian spring within, gushing fountains of endless life."

I think it turned out awesome. I am blessed to be working in a church that is so willing to serve and equip it's youth.

Things to pray for:

-Everyone going back to school.

-Our ministry as we make the transition from Summer to Fall.

-Continued growth on my part as I finish out my time here.

God Bless!

-John

Guest Speaking at Christmas, Mountain Streams, and Munchkins

Sorry for the delay. I've been busy. The Saturday after my last post I had a unique opportunity. Another church in our area was having a Christmas in July party. They had two other guest speakers cancel on them and the two days before were scrambling. The previous week at Chambersburg Project the daughter of the youth pastor had been in my crew and I had met his wife. This woman was making phone calls trying to find someone to fill in and Mark was her first call and I was her second. So I had my first guest speaking gig. It was a really good learning experience. Their students have gone through quite a bit and are overall largely unresponsive to things like the devotion I led. But despite that I found good in the opportunity because it was a unexpected chance to speak to some youth and gave me a chance to evaluate my own speaking ability.

Last Tuesday we also did another prayer hike. We had a much better turn out this month and I was much more prepared for the hike. It was a great time and I got a chance to spend some time in prayer and the Word while sitting next to a little mountain stream complete with a mini waterfall to provide peaceful sounds.

The other big thing last week was VBS. It started Sunday night and went through Thursday night. I helped out with some tech stuff and got a chance to interact with the 20-some students we had that were helping. It was a good time but after spending each of those days working and then helping there I felt like I never left the church. It was a tiring week.

This week begins painting in our lobby outside the Sr. High youth room. Two weeks ago we had the old carpet torn out and replaced by a tile floor that looks like a street going with our ministry's theme. Now we are painting the walls to look like a street in downtown Chambersburg. Its going to be pretty cool looking when we finish. I'll post pictures when we get that far.

Anyway, I tried to keep this shorter, one because I didn't have a lot to say and because I know how boring it gets having so much to read. Hope you all are doing well and thanks for reading!

Things to pray for:

-Energy. Our big stuff for the summer is done, but I'm still busy.

-Focus. I used my busyness as an excuse to avoid some of my homework. Now the busyness is subsiding and I need to get to it.

-Our students. They have amazing potential.

-Everyone getting ready to head back to school in the coming weeks.

Holes, Snack time, and the opposite of enough sleep

So I apologize for the long wait. As I said in my last post, last week was another week away and I am just now getting around to writing about what happened. The week began at 4 on Sunday when I headed over to one of the local middle schools and began to meet people from our group there. That night I got the chance to meet the group of students that I would be leading for the week. Part of the goal of Chambersburg Project is to create relationships within the larger church community of the area. Students are mixed up and put into groups with students from other churches, not just their own. Lights out came at 11 and by 1 my air mattress was flat (not a great way to start the week.)

Morning came quick and at about 6 AM the lights came on and it was time to get moving. We ate breakfast, packed lunches, loaded up the cars and set off to our work sites. My team's first job of the week was to tear down an old deck and rebuild a new one in it's place. Tear down went much easier than we had anticipated, partly because the deck was sitting on the ground and not secured at all. After removing the old deck we began the construction process. We marked out where our holes needed to be dug (we were actually going to secure the posts on the deck we built.) After some issues with this part of the process (we dug one of the holes 6 times before finally getting it right) we finally got the posts in the right place and began building the frame. When the work day finally ended I was beat. Thankfully we had extended free time that night and I was able to relax with a few friends before wrapping up the night with, what would become a highlight of my day, snack time, and devotions with the guys.

The next morning started much like the first. Although this time I had a good mattress to sleep on. Two of our Jr. High guys volunteered to share one larger air mattress and let me use the other that they had. Good guys those two, haha. We headed off to the work site and after about half an hour of work were halted by more problems. The teeth on the saw blade were bent and creating massive problems for us. Despite several set backs we were able to get most of the deck finished. That night there was a concert with the week's band, SevenGlory. It was good, but I was so tired I had a hard time enjoying it completely.

Wednesday was our last day at this particular work site. We spent the beginning of the day finishing the deck. We built the railing and put the finishing touches on the deck. This was a half day and at about lunch time we headed back to the school. That afternoon we walked over to the Municipal park and spent the afternoon at the pool. It was a good day for it and after a few hours there we walked over to the pavilion at the park and ate dinner. After listening to one of the local church's youth bands lead us in worship and listening to our speaker, we headed back to the school for some "Capture the flag." I didn't play so I can't explain the rules, but I can say that it wasn't like any capture the flag I have ever seen. I was able to scavenge enough glow sticks (they were from part of the game) to create myself a pretty neat pair of glowing Wolverine claws.

Thursday we started a new job site. We spent most of the day working on building a new wheelchair ramp for an older lady. She was very friendly and spent much of the day talking to us either through the screen door or sitting outside with us. She even bought us pizza for lunch. The other task for the day was beginning to replace the shed doors. We weren't able to get it all finished but it was still a productive day. That night there was a movie during free time. It was called "Forever Strong." Imagine Remember the Titans meets rugby. It was pretty good. It made me want to play some rugby and feel more like a man, haha.

Friday began just like the rest, way too early. We got things ready and headed back out to our site. Since we had the time, we decided to replace a few panels on the back of the shed that were rotting, replace a few shingles on the roof of the shed that were missing, repaint the shed and tear out the carpet in her basement that was damaged when it flooded. While the other guys tore out the carpet I climbed up on the roof of the shed and replaced the shingles and then began to tear off the rotten paneling. We got what we needed and while the rest of our crew began to paint the shed, I replaced the panels. The wonderful lady whose house we were at bought us lunch a second time and as we finished lunch it began to rain. This obviously made painting hard, but we were able to finishing the doors and put them back on the shed before calling it a day early. That evening we had our final evening program before saying goodbye and heading home. It was a long, tiring week, but I am really glad that I had the opportunity to go. I had many opportunities to get to know students better and really grow in my own leadership.

Things to pray for:

-Continued growth and openness to grow on my part.

-PRIME students as we all continue this journey.

Thanks for reading. God Bless!

-John

An uphill climb, a day in the sun, and a military coup...

So it has been 2 weeks since I last updated this blog. I apologize for that. Last week got away from me and I never got around to writing something. So here I go, 2 weeks of updates for you (luckily there isn’t a lot to inform you about.)

The week after the Sneak appeared to be a nice relaxing week. Notice I said, “appeared.” Brian told me to go ahead and take that Monday off because of the previous week so I had a nice relaxing day. Tuesday began 3 days of busyness. That afternoon Brian and I took a small group of students on a prayer hike. We drove out to Caledonia State Park, which is about 20 minutes east of Chambersburg. It was here that our hike took place. Now, I have hiked back home, most of my experience being up in Wisconsin. Hiking here is a little bit different. The terrain is a little rougher than I am used to. There was more than one time that I found myself out of breath. When we reached a “waterfall” (I use that term very loosely, it was more of a 4 foot ledge which the stream we followed went over, but it helps to paint a visual picture so I will call it a “waterfall”) three of us who had never made this hike before were initiated, simply put, we stuck our heads in the “waterfall” for 10 seconds. Given my body temperature at that point this was a good way to cool off. But reaching the top of the trail was worthwhile. We were able to see for miles with mountains and valleys. Just another reminder of the beauty that God has created around us, something I seem to have forgotten living back in suburbia with the lack of beauty that man has created. The downside to this trek was that I didn’t move much that night. I basically confined myself to the couch and my body thanked me.

Wednesday, although spent in the office, was still a crazy day as Luke, the other youth ministry intern this summer, and I planned that night’s youth group meeting. Our topic for the night was prayer and we focused on why we should pray. It was a good night and thankfully we were able to get something together that day.

Thursday was another earlier day as we met at church around 7 for a day trip to Creation Fest Northeast. Creation is a Christian music festival that starts Wednesday night and goes till Saturday night. It is held about an hour from Chambersburg so we were able to drive up there and catch most of the day’s happenings. It was a warm, sunny day and I spent the entire thing outside, luckily everyone else did too so I don’t think anyone noticed if I smelled as bad as I think I must have. Despite the warmth and the sweat it was a good day filled with good music and challenging speakers. The speaker that night, Joyce Meyer, talked about everything we as Americans have and how little a large portion of the rest of the World doesn’t. One of her main points was “you can’t do everything, but you must do something.” I found myself experiencing an interesting mixture of agreement and annoyance at what I was hearing. I agreed with everything that Joyce was saying, we are an incredibly wealthy nation and a significant portion of our country does nothing to help the rest of the world. Our pastor at King Street, Dr. Beukema, preached on a similar subject this weekend. As middle class Americans we do not see ourselves as rich. Instead we see the things that we don’t have. But the reality is, there is a large number of people around the world who survive on less than $2 a day. But back to what Joyce was saying. We can’t do everything, but we have to do something. I agreed, and still do, with her wholeheartedly. But as I listened to her and I heard thousands of people who were also listening to her that where clapping and cheering in agreement. Which, don’t get me wrong, is great. I’m glad that people agree with her message and want to do something. But I couldn’t help but hear the hypocrisy. Why were we clapping for the message “you can’t do everything, but you MUST do something” when a majority of the people clapping would go home and act the exact same and do nothing. I’m sure that there were people there who were already doing something or who were challenged to a point that they are now doing something. It was something that made me think, and continues to make me think, about how I can become less of a spoiled, selfish American and help those around the world. Despite my cynical rant, it really was great and was ended with Chris Tomlin sharing with us how people all around the world are worshiping the same God that we were. God is good.

Unlike the previous two weeks, last week was very mellow. Luke and I had plenty of time to plan for Wednesday. Our topic last week was… (drum roll please)… Greed and materialism. God’s been hitting that topic a lot lately. First Joyce, then us last week, and Dr. Beukema this weekend. That occupied our time for a few days, but the big focus for our youth ministry here was a change in mission trip plans. We had three teams going to three different locations. Mark and I are leading a team next week to join with other area churches working with the Chambersburg Project. Its basically a week long work camp helping people in C-burg and the surrounding communities. Brian and Luke are leading a similar team to Boston to work with the Boston Project. They will be doing similar things as we will here in C-burg. Our third team was going to be going to Honduras to do work down there. Notice I said was. If you have been watching your international news you will probably know that last Sunday the government of Honduras sent in the military to oust the President (who was trying to become a democratically elected dictator like our other Latin friend, Hugo Chavez). This does not make for a good environment to be sending a missions team to. So unfortunately we had to pull the plug on that trip. We were able to plug a majority of that team into the two other group so they will still be able to serve somewhere.

This weekend I had the pleasure of playing acoustic guitar as part of the worship team at our 9:45 service. It was a great time with some great musicians. Which basically catches you up on the last two weeks. I kept busy in case you hadn’t noticed. Thanks for making it this far. It will probably be another two weeks till I update again due to next week being Chambersburg project. No time for blogging while chase down junior high boys!

So, things to pray for:

-Energy. Next week is going to combine outdoor physical labor and a large number of junior high students. I am going to need lots of energy.

-That I would continue to be challenged and grow here.

-The people of Honduras as they deal with the chaos down there right now. Things got worse in the last 24 hours and I read that a protestor died.

-And last (but certainly not least) for our students. Pray that they continue to be open and seek a relationship with Jesus Christ.

Sneaking through the Summer

What a crazy week. This past week was Summer Sneak 2009 and what a crazy week it was. The week started Monday morning at 7:00 when we met at church and loaded up the caravan of vehicles. Shortly after 8:00 we were finally ready to go and we loaded up and began the 4 1/2 hour drive to Cape Henelopen, Deleware. Roughly halfway there I realized the first mistake, the books that Brian had spent many hours putting together and I had bound for the week were sitting at the church in my office. Oops. Thankfully we were able to work it all out and two of our leaders for the week met Mark halfway between where we were and Chambersburg. We finally made it to Cape Henelopen in the early afternoon. The weather was great and while the rest of the group took a walk to the beach I went to the grocery store to buy food for the week. For those keeping score at home I have only been living on my own for just over 2 weeks at this point. This fact translates into me only have 2 weeks of experience grocery shopping for 1 person. And here I am shopping for a weeks with of food for 40 people! I hope you are finding the humor in this situation, because there is no way that this is going to turn out well. Long story short I became very familiar with how to get to and from the grocery store last week.

And with that the week began. We got to meet our speaker, Phil, as well as playing some games to get to know everyone on the trip. Tuesday morning started with our first Holy Ground time. This was a time where we went somewhere around our campground area and created our only place to meet God. Just like moses we had to remove our shoes. It was a really cool experience to be able to sit and just look at the creation around me. We spent the rest of the day at the beach (oh darn) and despite the wind that made it a little cold, it was still a great day. I got some sun so I am not quite as pasty as I was before. haha. We ended the day with a campfire, worship, and a talk from Phil.

Wednesday started early, at 5:00 AM to be exact. We made the walk out to the beach and sat and watched the sun come up. Despite the wind and the cold, it was a beautiful thing to see. I got some awesome pictures and will try to find a way to share some of them with you all. Around 9 we loaded up and drove to Ocean City, Maryland. I must have been tired because I found time to fall asleep twice in the few hours that we had that morning. We spend the majority of the day in Ocean City. Unfortunately it was cloudy, windy, cold, and for the last part, drizzly. While it wasn't a great day in terms of the weather, we still managed to have a good time. We left at about 6:30 and once again a fell asleep (that made for three naps in one day, go me!) When we got back we spent some time worshiping together followed by more words from Phil (who by the way was a GREAT guy. He had a huge heart and really loves to get to know people and have conversations with them.) After that Luke, the other intern for the summer, and I got ready to make yet another grocery store run. After some discussion over what the next few meal groups needed to make food for us Luke and I finally left for the store a little after 11. I'm pretty sure we were the only ones in that store other than the lady at the register, the two guys stocking shelves, and the guys cleaning the floors. After shopping, driving home, and unloading my car we finally got to bed at about 1. It was a long day.

Thursday was another day at the beach... or at least it was supposed to be. We woke up to a friendly reminder that sometimes God has other things planned for us. In other words, it was pouring. After a morning of devotion time we loaded up and drove into town. After taking some time to eat lunch, we all went to the movies. The choices were Night at the Museum 2 or Up. I had seen Night at the Museum the week before so I chose to go see Up in 3D, which while I didn't think it was the best Pixar movie, was still a good, enjoyable movie. Sadly, when we came out of the theater the weather was beautiful, perfect beach weather. But because it had been crummy earlier there was no time for the beach. Some of us took a walk to the beach that night and it was a beautiful thing to see. That night Phil gave the students a chance to talk about how they had seen God during the week. It was awesome to hear how God was working in the lives of our students. Many of them have been dealing with a lot and it was awesome to see how God has been helping them through that. As I sat and listened I couldn't help but think that this is why I want to do youth ministry. To be used by God to help students who are hurting, it was a cool thing to see.

Friday came and it was time to leave. It was a long drive home after a long week, but we made it and it felt good to be home. I spent most of the weekend laying on the couch relaxing. That is what I have been up to. Busy weeks lead to long posts. If you made it this far thanks for reading. I'll make sure to keep you all posted on what's going on here.

Things to pray for:

-The ministry at King Street. This week has given me the opportunity to build friendships with our students which is opening doors for me to invest in students here. Pray for opportunities and that I will have the wisdom and the foresight to do so.

-The students. Too often we all fall into the trap of thinking that High Schoolers have it easy and little responsibilities. The truth is, our fallen world is constantly dumping on them and they deal with more crap than we could even begin to imagine. Pray for students not just here, but everywhere. They can do great things.

Thanks for reading! God Bless!

Week 2

I can't believe that my second week here is done. It has gone by incredibly fast. The second half of last week was great. We had our first Summer Street, youth group, meeting of the summer last Wednesday. The youth group is called The Street because the church is King Street, hence my blog title, in case you were wondering. Anyway, they put me in the "hot seat" and we allowed the kids to ask me anything they wanted, nothing was off limits. Lucky for me the toughest question was "how much ketchup do you put on your hot dog?" I also got a chance to talk about a favorite passage of scripture. Overall it was a great night. I got to meet lots of students, now if only I could remember names.

Sunday was my first attempt to teach Sunday school. Jr. High boys and girls. If you know me, you also probably know that Jr. High is not my first choice to work with. But I am excited for this opportunity because I am challenged. They challenge me to be a good teacher, but more importantly to love on them. I can't wait to get to know these students better and watch them grow during my time here.

This week has been crazy. Next week is our first big summer trip. Its called Summer Sneak and we are going to Cape Henelopen, Deleware with some Sr. High students. A week on a beach... this job is so hard. But because of that, there was a lot to do this week to get ready. I spent extra hours at church several days to get us ready. I am excited though. I have been told that we have a great group of students going with us and I can't wait to get to know them. 

Two weeks in and I couldn't be happier with my choice to come to PA. God has some great stuff planned, I know it. I have already been asked to step out of my comfort zone and forced to grow. 

Things to pray for:

-Next week. There are 35ish of us going. Pray for safe travel, safety of everyone while we are there, and for our students to be open to what God has planned for them next week.

-Continued growth on my part. 

-Students back home. With the suicides at Barrington the past few months and now one at Palatine students are hurting. Pray for them.

Thanks for reading. I have heard through the grapevine (aka Mom) that several of you really enjoy reading this. 

God Bless

John

And so it begins...

Sorry for not updating you all yet. I have been without Internet in my apartment and will continue to be for the next few days. The important thing is that we made it. After packing a preparing all week my parents and I left for Pennsylvania last Thursday. We spent the night somewhere in Ohio and finished our journey Friday just before dinner. I got a chance to meet Jason and Meredith, the people who I am staying with. They have an apartment attached to the back of their house that I am staying in. They invited me and my parents to join them for dinner and also invited Brian and Mark, the youth pastors I will be working with. It was a great chance to not only meet the two of them, but their families as well. After dinner we began the process of unpacking and organizing. We spent the remainder of Friday night and most of Saturday doing this.

After we finished most of the unpacking we decided to spend the end of the day in Gettysburg since it is only about 30 minutes away. It was a neat experience to see the battlefields and really gave me a better appreciation for what happened there. We went out for dinner and after a long day finally called it a night.

Sunday morning we were able to go to church together at King Street. Dr. Beukema, the pastor at King Street spoke on Godly wisdom. I found what he had to say both interesting and challenging at the same time. His point was that we will and do all face conflict in relationships and that the conflict that we face stems from our own selfish desires. I really enjoyed what he had to say and look forward to hearing what else he has to say over the coming months. After church we did a few more things to finalize getting me situated and just before dinner my parents began the trip home.

But yesterday was the big day, my first day. It began at nine. I got to meet quite a few people before heading off to the staff meeting. There I got to meet yet more members of the church staff. Most of my day was spent getting to know my way around the church, meeting people, and starting a few tasks. Overall I have to say that it was a good start to this journey. I can already tell that the people I will be working with are ready to help me learn and will make this the best experience possible for me. I am looking forward to what God has in store for me during my time here in Chambersburg. Hope all is well with you all back home. Take care and God bless!

John

Beginnings

It's weird to think about the fact that I am less than two weeks away from finishing my third year of college. It seems like just yesterday that I was graduating and preparing to begin this phase of my life. Yet here I am, three years later, older, smarter, and more mature. I have been challenged in many areas, some welcome and some unwelcome. I have met some amazing people who have become some of my closest friends and who will stand by me no matter what. I wouldn't change any part of it.

So here I am, the last week of classes of my Junior year of college. A week and a half from officially being a senior and three and a half weeks from starting one of the biggest adventures of my life. Starting June 1st I will be living in Chambersburg, PA interning at King Street United Brethren Church. PRIME (Practical Research Immersion in Ministry Effectiveness) is the practical part of my youth ministry degree. It is a six and half month internship where I will be doing ministry. At King Street I will be working with both the Jr. High and Sr. High youth groups and learning from two great youth pastors. This is a tremendous opportunity and I have been blessed through the entire process. God has truly had a hand in this and everything has fallen into place. From finding a location, to finding housing while I am there, to raising funding, everything has worked out in a way that I could never have imagined. God is good.

I have no idea what to expect out of this time. I know that I am going to be challenged, that I am going to grow, that I am going to learn more than I can imagine, and I pray that I will be open to what God has in store that I might fully gain the most from this. For six months I will be working full time in youth ministry, learning from guys who have done it for a combined 23 years. I can only remember a few times when I have been excited and scared like this at the same time. I am moving away from everything familiar. From friends, from family, from comfort. While I know a few people out in Pennsylvania, for the most part I am on my own. I will have a place of my own. This has its benefits, but it also means I have to cook for myself, clean. I am required to work a minimum of 40 hours a week in ministry, as well as complete assignments to get course credit. It will be a tough experience, but one in which I will grow and learn more than I can imagine.

So, I thank you for reading this. For those of you who have been praying I thank you and ask that you continue to pray. For those of you who have helped, or continue to help financially I am grateful for your support. Please continue to pray for me and for my ministry. God Bless!