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