Taking time...

Wow!! It’s been two weeks since I’ve taken the time to sit down to put my thoughts on paper. This past couple of weeks has really been incredible part of ministry. I think I’m finally getting used to the altitude here. I don’t seem as tired and worn out in the afternoons as I have in the last month. Another reason maybe that I am now sleeping on a single bed instead of a couch. Tony and I have moved down to Evangel Assembly of God’s guest house for hopefully the summer. I didn’t think I was going to like that situation, but last week felt really well being in my own room and sleeping on a real bed. I thought I was going to be hot, but it really cools down at night and with the windows open the breeze just blows right through the little house. I talked to Daddy a couple of nights ago and he mentioned that it was 95 degrees during the day and 40 degrees at night. It has rained here about 20 minutes in the past 5 weeks. When I talk to friends and love ones back at home they tell me that you sweat just by stepping outside. It’s so hot the dog doesn’t even want to go out.

Like I mention, ministry is taking place. These young people from all over are coming to Cortez to serve this community. It’s incredible to fathom that the youth groups don’t know a single person in Cortez when they arrive on Sunday night, but by the end of the week on Friday morning they have made such good friend and have ministered to those who might not even know the love of Jesus. Granted that a lot of people that we serve know Jesus as their Lord and Savior, but it may be someone who is just a bystander looking on to see what is being done to their neighbor houses or it may be the parents of the kids that are being picked up at kids club, or it may be someone at Wal-Mart who sees the staff buying $1100 worth of groceries for the week. It is these people that may be in the background that sees Jesus in the faces of the staff, or the youth or the adult leaders. I guess the point is, we don’t know who we are going to effect with our words, with our actions, or with our service. We all need to be looking for ways to show the love of Christ to everyone we come in contact with.

I tell all the youth this in my work projects orientation. It is so easy to be looking at the task that is before us that we loose site of the ministry opportunity that is right there in front of us. When we can minister to those whose houses we are working on, by being their friends, asking about their family, asking about hopes and their dreams then it is easy to show them the love of Christ because it becomes easy to share your heart with those who you have built a relationship with. These young people from all over know what it means to build those relationships. They have built them with the community, with each other in their own youth groups, with the other youth groups and with staff here. It is really a wonderful thing when the body of Christ comes together for a common purpose. Lives are changed and they get the sense that their time and energy can change the world for another person and for themselves.

In the past two weeks we have churches from Oregon, Nebraska, Colorado, and Arizona in our 2^nd week and Alabama, Pennsylvania, and Minnesota just this past week. Every week I think I am not going be able to connect with these young people, but God proves me wrong every week. (snap! snap!) (Yeah God!!!) By the end of week I have made new friends that have shown the love of God to me by their willingness to serve and to be a friend to me. God has been so good to me by the fact that we all can be so foreign to each other on Sunday night and then hate to say goodbye at the end of the week. I have seen the love of Christ manifested in these young people and it grows by leaps and bounds from Sunday to Friday. I am truly impressed by these youth leaders and the jobs we have done. All these youth are respectful and understands what it means to serve others. I can see it on their faces, I can see it in there actions and most important I can see it in there heart. They get a sense of satisfaction of helping another in need and spending time listening to those that are hurting and just need someone to talk with.

God is in Control...

Today has been a great day. It has been a time of rest and a time to unwind from a busy, busy week. It has been a time to reconnect with friends and family, some of whom I have not spoken to in a long while. I feel it is important to reconnect every now and then. True friends are hard to come by and I think we should be intentional about checking in with each other every now and then. I know we all get busy and don’t find time to talk to those who are important to us, or we feel that we are such good friends with people that we don’t need to encourage one another or just call and say hello. I’m trying to be intentional about that, though I must admit I not as good as I seem to be writing this. For those of you that I have not talked to in a while, I think about you every now and then and I’m praying for each of you as I run across your name or a special memory or two. Know that you are missed and you are loved.

I find myself wanting to journal during the week, but it is virtually impossible because of the schedule that we are all keeping on a YouthWorks site. We get up at 6:30am at the latest and get down sleeping around 11:30-12:00 every night. This happens Monday through Friday, by the time Saturday roles around we are all exhausted. Ministry happens all during the day and I’m very thankful for the opportunity that God has given to me to be able to minister to this community of Cortez. Programming with the participating youth groups has been going on for just a week now, but the lives of the community members that they have touch will last a life time.

This past week there were three youth groups that came from Arizona, Nebraska, and Iowa, for a total of 38 participants. The gelled right off the bat and by the end of the week were hard pressed to say goodbye to each other. They served along side each other, encouraged each other, served each other, and prayed for each other. It was a great week in all aspects. The community members were encouraged and strengthen in their faith.

Anna is doing a great job organizing the Kids Club down at Evangel. I believe the first day the kids club staff had like 12 kids from ages 5-10 and by the end of the week they had as many as 35 kids show up. What a great testimony of faith and perseverance on not only Anna part but on the youth groups that took on the responsibility to help promote and gather the kids. My prayer is that these numbers will only continue to grow and their will be many, many more youngsters that will show up for kids club in the coming weeks.

I couldn’t ask for a better start to work projects than what I had this past week. The groups were able to minister to four couples not only by painting their houses, but also by building relationships with the homeowners and the children in the neighborhood. It was so sweet to see how the kids in the trailer parks just flocked to the youth as they jumped out of their vans to start painting houses. I believe I learned a great lesson that day when I realized that ministry is just not doing the physical labor of painting a house, ministry also happens on a relational level as these young people showed the love and grace of Christ this week. Sure painting houses is what gets us in the door, but ministry is so much more. It is encouraging one another and lifting each other up to a higher place. I believed this was done this week with each of these ministry sites and this is just the tip of iceberg. I don’t believe everything in this county will be solved by the end of the summer, but I do believe that these youth groups that are coming here to serve this summer will make a tremendous impact on this community and Cortez will be a better place, both in a spiritual sense and a physical sense at the end of the summer. I’m thanking God for this last youth group and praying for the youth groups yet to come in the next 7 weeks. God has a plan and I’m very excited to see what that plan is and how it will transpire.

The Lord placed me in a location at the right time and I’m so very thankful that He did. I was there to encourage a young lady and to be present when the Lord grabbed a hold of her life and changed the outlook on her life. It was God ordained because I was the last staff person out of the fellowship hall when another young lady came in crying about a conversation happening in her church group time. I was in the midst of talking to her, when this other young lady came running in with tears in her eyes exclaiming that she could feel Him taking her sins away. She fell down at the table and soon afterwards her friend where there to encourage her as she gave her life over to Christ. I didn’t do anything but be in presence of the one who does it all and being obedient to what He is trying to tell me. I’m very thankful that He allowed me to be witness to his transforming presence in these young ladies lives.

Ministry happens when we are available to Him to do things through us to minister to others. Whether it be on the job site, in the kids club activities, on the evening activities, in the kitchen, or even just talking to an individual, Christ works through our inabilities and our conversations to lift up those who are hurting and don’t know the saving grace of our Lord Jesus. Christ works through us to encourage others who are on the striving to be more like Him every day. We are all vessels to spread the Good News of Christ. It doesn’t matter how young we are or how old we are. Christ wants to use us in a powerful way.

Getting out of the way...

Today is a blessed day; it’s Sunday. Today around 4:00pm the youth will start arriving here in Cortez. I’m really excited about the summer getting started here in Cortez. I’m excited because I know God will continue to do ministry here in this community through the teams that will be present. I’m excited to get to know the youth and the adult leaders. I gain my strength through interaction with them. I’m excited because we get to make a difference in the people that we will be working on their houses. Working on houses is a great way to get to know the homeowners. My prayer is that the homeowners and the youths will be blessed by getting to know each other this week. God will continue great things in this community this summer and these are just some of my prayer request as we start off the summer here in Cortez.

A prayer request I have for myself is that I would get out of the way and allow God to take control of my actions and my relationships. I need to let go of my controlling attitude and get my pride out of the way and let God work through me as I get out of the way. I would love this summer to be a summer God works wonders in my life as well. I do not have as much responsibility as I did last summer and I’m trying so hard to let that just lie. I know that God wants to do something through me this summer and I don’t have to be in charge or even have that much responsiblity. I sure don’t want to shortchange the youth, adult leaders, the staff or even the community. There needs to be a balance in these areas and I trying to locate my place among all four aspects of ministry this summer.

Today’s devotion was that God works in all situations encouraging those that are in ministry with Him and drawing those who don’t know Him closer to the thrown of grace. God is in the midst of every day life. We, as his children need to open our hearts up and let him have complete control. He can do so many more things through us than we can do alone. He can work through our hurts, our expectations, our frustrations, our disappointments, our excitements, our relationships and even ourselves for the glory of knowing Himself through the Son Jesus Christ. God can do anything when we just allow Him to come along side us and we share the love of Christ to everyone we encounter.

Building relationships...

I’m sitting in a local coffee shop in Alamosa taking the afternoon off from programming at the site. I’m not playing hooky; they actually told me to take a break. I’m fine in the mornings while we are at the work sites, but I have been so tired in the afternoons, my energy just gets zapped. I guess I look tired and just need a break. We are so fortunate this week to have two other staff persons here on site. Programming is just not as stressful as the next eight weeks will be. Plus, the following weeks programming will just be us and not twelve others trying to do the work of one. There will be an ownership aspect to the next eight weeks.

I was telling Tony Monday that I just was so exhausted I didn’t know how I was going to survive for the whole summer, but then a wonderful thing happen. The youth started to come in Sunday afternoon and by Sunday night I knew why I wanted to do YouthWorks again this summer. It’s all about getting to know the youth and building relationships in the Lord with the youth. To see the smiles on their faces when they accomplish a painting job, when they connect with kids who come to the kids club program, when I can call them by name and watch their faces just light up. These are the things that have brought me back this year. The youth are having fun in all aspects of the week I suspect. We are particularly enjoying 4-Square. The church where we are staying have three courts of 4-Square and there is always a game going on. I’m having a ball interacting with the youth while playing. They are such competitors and have a great time beating each other, but they also have a great sense of gamesmanship and are very gracious in letting others have chances. It’s so good to see the youth having fun and learning what it means to help out others when they are in need.

It has been a good week to get back in the grove of YouthWorks. The team is continuing to come together and really rely on each other for encouragement and inspiration. Even though we have been with nine other staff persons it is refreshing to see how the four of us are bonding. We will need that bond if we are going through this summer being the hands and feet of Christ. The only way to show unity to the participants is to have unity among ourselves as the ones leading groups into the presence of Christ. I am thankful for the team which God has placed at Cortez this summer. I expect tremendous things to happen throughout the course of the summer.

Create in me a clean heart...

This is the Lord’s Day; well everyday is the Lord’s Day. Let us rejoice and be glad in it. We shall rejoice because He has bestowed many blessing upon us. Today, in Alamosa, the youth arrive. This is a wonderful day because all the hard work and pray that has gone into preparing for this summer will start to shape today through the end of the summer. There is just something about having the participants show up. It is putting something we have prayed for, practiced and prepared for into fruition. The team is ready to jump in and make this experience for the participants one to remember. They may be painting houses, sorting through a thrift store, or working with the local kids in a VBS style activity.. They will fellowshipping, they will be playing games, they will be eating, they will be worshipping at club time, and they will be sleeping. No matter what the activity they will be serving at Christ will be right there with them. The hope and pray is that Christ will be evident to them as they travel down the road, as the serve the community, as they get to know others, as they worship Him.

Today’s devotion has to do with just that. Mark 4:35 On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, "Let us go across to the other side." The disciples were scared because a great windstorm had come up while they were heading to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. They did not know what to do so they decided to wake Jesus who was sleeping peacefully at the bow of the boat. Jesus wakes up and rebukes the wind and calms the sea. Then he gently rebukes the disciples, “Why are you so afraid, you of little faith” Don’t you know that I am with you always. That is good news, Christ is with us wherever we may go. He wants to bless us, he wants to make the rough waters in our paths smooth, he wants to calm the wind of bitterness, of frustration, of disappointment, of sin in our life. He wants to take all that away so that we are able to come and worship Him with a pure and clean heart. I’m reminded of the song,

“Create in me a clean heart”

Create in me a clean heart, O God,
And renew a right spirit within me.
Create in me a clean heart, O God,
And renew a right spirit within me.

Cast me not away from the presence O Lord
And take not thou Holy Spirit from me
Restore on to me the joy of life's salvation
And renew a right spirit within me

Create in me a clean heart, O God,
And renew a right spirit within me.
Create in me a clean heart, O God,
And renew a right spirit within me.

Cast me not away from the presence O Lord
And take not thou Holy Spirit from me
Restore on to me the joy of life's salvation
And renew a right spirit within me
And renew a right spirit within me

Christ wants to walk through life with you and with me to know the Father even better today than we knew Him yesterday. Christ is right here beside each of us encouraging us, helping us, and lifting us up toward the Father.