We were able to take the teens to the beach at Birds Hill as planned today, so I thought I would post some pics. I'll update the blog with a final overview later on.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Life's a beach :)
Today was the greatest day of my life! Haha, not really, but it was a really good day nonetheless. It is hard to believe that summer is at its end and I am definitely going to miss seeing the youth almost every day.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
This is it.
Well, my last day in the North End is only a few hours away. I'll wrap up some office work in the morning and then in the afternoon we'll be taking the teens to Birds Hill to do some swimming and play some games. I'm not really looking forward to it at all in many ways; but all good things must come to an end. And God's work will continue.
I will be leaving for a quick holiday on Friday before school starts in a week and a half. I'll update the blog once or twice more before school starts and that will officially be the end of the North End Summer.
Thanks again for your prayers and supports.
Peace.
I will be leaving for a quick holiday on Friday before school starts in a week and a half. I'll update the blog once or twice more before school starts and that will officially be the end of the North End Summer.
Thanks again for your prayers and supports.
Peace.
Sunday, August 17, 2008
"Goodbye" or "See You Soon"?
Summer is officially coming to an end for myself and the teens in the North End. My co-workers and I have 3 days left with the kids before saying goodbye on Thursday. Sadly it most likely will be goodbye for me. With a full course load and two part-time jobs this fall I won't be making any empty promises to these kids that they will see me soon; it just is not right when I know full well that I will probably be too busy to see them often if at all this fall and winter.
This bugs me quite a bit actually. These teens have had enough people come and go in their lives. Parents, family, friends; they come in for a season and then dissapear. Some of the teens bounce around from foster home to foster home. It is hard for a lot of these teens to open up and "let people in" for this very reason, and I am yet another person doing the same. Three of the staff are full-time and will remain, but I have come in, told the teens about the wonder and grace found in Jesus, told them how much they mean to not only God but to me, and now. . . I leave.
It will be hard to say goodbye on Thursday without this guilty nagging feeling inside my head. This sumer has been an amazing opportunity to minister and has given me plenty of ideas for future ministry, but I still can not help but feel perhaps in some ways it does more harm than good to come and go like this, especially with people who have experienced so much of it already. I hope they realize that God will never leave them. I am glad that there are three staff who permanently stay to impact these young lives.
Work Force continues in different ways in the fall with a youth group on Wednesday nights and youth church on Sunday afternoons; there is also an after school homework club that meets twice a week I believe. They are always in need of help! So, if you or someone you know might be interested in an amazing ministry send an email to Teresa Zehr.
Word and word.
Also, an update on the prayer request I sent out on here a couple weeks ago: The situation has not been resolved yet, but I am just trusting God and continuing on the direction I believe He has pointed me on. Thanks for your prayers!!!
This bugs me quite a bit actually. These teens have had enough people come and go in their lives. Parents, family, friends; they come in for a season and then dissapear. Some of the teens bounce around from foster home to foster home. It is hard for a lot of these teens to open up and "let people in" for this very reason, and I am yet another person doing the same. Three of the staff are full-time and will remain, but I have come in, told the teens about the wonder and grace found in Jesus, told them how much they mean to not only God but to me, and now. . . I leave.
It will be hard to say goodbye on Thursday without this guilty nagging feeling inside my head. This sumer has been an amazing opportunity to minister and has given me plenty of ideas for future ministry, but I still can not help but feel perhaps in some ways it does more harm than good to come and go like this, especially with people who have experienced so much of it already. I hope they realize that God will never leave them. I am glad that there are three staff who permanently stay to impact these young lives.
Work Force continues in different ways in the fall with a youth group on Wednesday nights and youth church on Sunday afternoons; there is also an after school homework club that meets twice a week I believe. They are always in need of help! So, if you or someone you know might be interested in an amazing ministry send an email to Teresa Zehr.
Word and word.
Also, an update on the prayer request I sent out on here a couple weeks ago: The situation has not been resolved yet, but I am just trusting God and continuing on the direction I believe He has pointed me on. Thanks for your prayers!!!
Monday, August 11, 2008
T - 2 Weeks
It's Monday morning and I'm having trouble getting words out :) So read with that in mind!
Well the countdown is now on; there are only two weeks left of the Work Force program. Some of us are stressed about winning young souls, seeing the conversions, getting the numbers in! Haha. Me, I'm just going with the flow. We've presented the Gospel and many of its truths, the rest is out of our hands. See John 16:6-16. It is a good passage to use to remind ourselves sometimes that we are not the ones that actually do the convincing when it comes to people's salvation. Just present the message that Christ gives you and then move on in faith. God knows what He's doing and already knows who will accept salvation and who will not. We can not let ourselves get hung up on numbers, relationship checklists, how many times we have led someone through the "sinners prayer," etc. If we do get distracted by such things we can run the risk of forgetting to build real relationships that conveys a message of love. Ministries tend to get so caught up in the latest "Purpose Driven..." formulas we miss out on doing the simplest of things and truly being effective.
Word.
Well the countdown is now on; there are only two weeks left of the Work Force program. Some of us are stressed about winning young souls, seeing the conversions, getting the numbers in! Haha. Me, I'm just going with the flow. We've presented the Gospel and many of its truths, the rest is out of our hands. See John 16:6-16. It is a good passage to use to remind ourselves sometimes that we are not the ones that actually do the convincing when it comes to people's salvation. Just present the message that Christ gives you and then move on in faith. God knows what He's doing and already knows who will accept salvation and who will not. We can not let ourselves get hung up on numbers, relationship checklists, how many times we have led someone through the "sinners prayer," etc. If we do get distracted by such things we can run the risk of forgetting to build real relationships that conveys a message of love. Ministries tend to get so caught up in the latest "Purpose Driven..." formulas we miss out on doing the simplest of things and truly being effective.
Word.
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