This evening we had our monthly youth club at the church center. It's pretty much organized chaos because we have the entire center with multiple activities throughout the building and any where between 50-60 youth ages 11-13 running around. The first hour is free time to play football, four square, make crafts, or one of the other various activities. The last half hour we have organized group gaming where we gather all 50+ kids into the main room to play dodge ball, tray jousting, etc. This month we had a cage football (It's exactly what it sounds like. You are locked into a cage to play 3 on 3 football.), Christmas crafts, and nail designs. We were also going to have a ping pong table, but we didn't finish building it in time.
The great thing about this youth club is you can see the changes in the kids who are simply coming for the social aspect with their friends. They start inviting their own friends to join, and we are now having a few come to our youth services Sunday. It's also a time to interact with the youth on purely a social level. There's no Bible study or talk to be led, and the leaders' role during the youth club is too simply have fun with the youth.
Today I am thankful for the youth club and the chance to see the youth create bonds with peers and leaders.
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| The ping pong table that we finally finished building. It was too late for this month's Link youth club, but it will be good to go come December. |
November 22
This morning I woke up bright and early at 6:15am to be at the train station at 7:20am. This is because I went into London with the vicar-in-training, my fellow MA, and one of the youth who helps lead the younger youth service for the Run Alpha Conference. For those of you who don't know, Alpha is a popular course to educate people on Christianity in a non-threatening way using lay terminology. It utilizes food, talks, and small groups to allow people to ask questions and have them discussed by people in different stages in their faith journey. My companions and I were attending this conference because we are all involved in running Alpha next term, particularly Youth Alpha (which can also double as a confirmation class).
This day was good for a couple reasons. I finally was able to learn what Alpha is. I had heard about it when I was first placed here, and, since I am someone running it next term, I really needed to know what it is. It was also a time to learn more about how people express their faith and why Alpha is incredibly important to people. It was a long day (about 8 hours of sitting on the floor), and by the end of the day I was completely exhausted
Today I am thankful for the conference and everything I learned and my bed which I immediately fell asleep on once arriving at home.
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| The conference started with the Emcee awkwardly singing "Happy Birthday" to one of the conference attendants. |
November 23
This morning at the morning youth service I gave my testimony about how I became a Christian. This was rather difficult for me because we don't give coming to faith testimonies at my church. We talk about when and how we experience God, but never when was the first time. My (rather dull) answer to the question was simply the transition from my parents' faith to my own personal faith was so gradual that I have no idea when it started transitioning or when it had fully transitioned. I could, however, point out the first time I noticed God working through me.
It was my first mission trip with Our Savior's Lutheran to South Dakota. We were coming back from our work site with a whole bunch of PB&J sandwiches left over from the kids' snack. We were driving down a street where there were several people who had drank too much and not eaten enough that day. So we pulled over the van, and my youth leader and I stepped out onto the street to start giving out the sandwiches. I was trembling because I was so far out of my comfort zone and frankly petrified at the idea of approaching complete strangers to offer food. Regardless, and with the support of my youth leader, I did hand out the sandwiches. Many barely looked at us as they reached for the food, except for one particular man. I can still remember his beautiful, pitch black eyes as he looked into my eyes and simply said "Thank you." It was a quick moment, but it was the moment when I realized you don't have to do much to reach out to people. You don't have to start this huge organization to end world hunger or travel to some new place (ironic since I'm writing this while in England) to be a part of God's mission. You simply need to be present for one person, whether it's providing them food, an ear, or a helping hand. It was that "thank you" from an anonymous man that made me realize that God was using me to help others every single day.
Today I am thankful for the anonymous man and the ability to be a part of God's mission every single day no matter where one is.
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| A girl and I playing at the children's program during the mission trip. |
November 24
This afternoon I was able to have meet my friend, Caz, for tea. We both work at the same church, but our individual ministries can have us going weeks without seeing each other, so we decided we need to have some time to catch up and chat. It kind of made me realize how much I have become a part of the community. I have friends I meet for tea and just chat, and watch movies, and simply relax.
The other nice part about meeting Caz for tea is that she really made me reflect on all that has happened over the past three months. (Believe me. Heidi, the director of YAGM, was completely right when she said this year was going to mess us up.) After about an hour of laughing and serious discussion, we went grocery shopping, which allowed me to make a pie for tomorrow's staff meeting (in order to share my Unconventional Thanksgiving with my coworkers).
Today I am thankful for the friends I have made since arriving in the UK, and for coincidental grocery shopping (which happens a lot when you live in a village).
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| This is a cranberry cheesecake pie. Caz helped me find the ingredients because I'm still getting use to the store layout and differences in food names. |
Three months of missing you, three months of connecting with you via messaging, blog reading, and Skyping.
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