Take me home, Country Roads

I am sitting in Taylor Books right now, enjoying my last hours here in Charleston. I am overwhelmed with an extreme mixture of emotions. I am very sad to leave the community and the kids here in Charleston. I have been going around this past week and have been saying my goodbyes. It was not until the middle of an adult leaders meeting this past week that I started to feel the connection that I have for the city. The leaders were talking about one of the ministry sites, and I felt sad that I would be leaving them soon. I can think of individual adults or kids at these sites that I have really grown attached to. So... needless to say I am feeling sad to be leaving this amazing place.
I am also feeling a little sad to be leaving the staff and community friends. I have become close with the staff and have learned a lot about myself from them. I have enjoyed watching April grow in her faith as she has really given this summer her all. It has been a lot of fun to be around Andrea and see her passion for these ministries in the city. And I have really enjoyed Jordan's friendship and willingness to do anything to get the job done. It is weird, but we have sort of become family throughout the summer.
I have a great feeling of uncertainty as I leave Charleston. I am uncertain of what the immediate future will be like. I go back tomorrow to finish my YouthWorks responsibilities and I become the Assistant RD at Geneva on Monday. So I will be going straight from one job to the next. To make things a little more complicated, my family is moving in the middle of training week. So I have to figure out any last minute moving things, but my parents and Jessie have been an INCREDIBLE help with this.
I also have a great feeling of excitement to be back in the same state as Jessie, at least for a few weeks. She leaves for Kenya in less than 3 weeks, but hopefully we will be able to spend a lot of time together before she leaves. I will be so glad to get back into the routines of Monday movies and other fun things we like to do together.
I am also excited to spend some time with my other friends who I have not seen all summer and chill with them.
I can't believe that I am writing a goodbye to WV entry right now, but I know this place will have a special spot in my heart. The people here have been amazing, and I will be praying that God continues to do some amazing work in this city. Thank you to all of you who are reading this and have been supporting me along the way. You rock too.
Peace and love from WV...

God Shows Up... Yet Again

This past week has been amazing. I came into the week thinking, three more weeks left. We are not really to the point where it is the home stretch. The staff (including myself) was feeling tired and just ready for a break. Well the groups didn't call and cancel, so we were not given a full break. However, God gave us a break of sorts.
The groups arrived on Sunday and I had a good feeling about them from the very beginning. The younger group seemed like a lot of fun. Then the older groups came and they seemed really ready to serve and pour into the community. This was just so refreshing and it came at the perfect time. The group was incredibly spiritually mature. The first night, we did lights out at 11 and there were a few kids who came out of the sleeping rooms to read their Bible before going to bed. God is really good! I am coming to the realization that there are tons of great young people in the church today. There are kids coming on this trip who really get the reason they are serving. There are many more who leave at the end of the week, who really understand the cause.
I remember the first week of programming at our site. There was an amazing leader named Donna who was an associate pastor at her church. I had a conversation with her about ministry and she said something that I will always remember. She said there is nothing like ministry because we get paid to witness such incredible change in people's lives. I have experienced that first hand in Charleston.
Thank God for an amazing group and for the people who continue to pour into me even though they are here to serve this community.

The Week That Was...

Another great week is almost over. This past week has been interesting. We only have 2 groups. One is only high school and the other is only middle school. However, that have worked together well. The leaders have really made this trip great as well. All of the leaders are really excited to be here and they are so much fun. I have been able to have some good and fun conversations with the leaders of the all high school group. One of the leaders reminds me of my Uncle Jay. He is a big jokester but is very caring. It is such a blessing to see this church because it is primarily being led by all adult volunteers who just really love and care for these kids. It continues to amaze me how God really shows up every week.
It was very encouraging yesterday and this morning because Belinda (Regional Director) was in town. She really encouraged us and told us that our site has been doing really well. Some of that may be her doing her job, but it was still great to hear and it was clear that her words were from the heart. All of the support and love have made my job so much easier. Praise God.

God is Good... All the Time

It is hard to believe that I am sitting here, 51 days into my employment for YouthWorks. That is just so crazy!!! Even more crazy is that there are only 24 more days until the end of my YouthWorks summer.
This past week has also really flown by. I had the opportunity to head home this past weekend to attend a wedding of two of my good friends (Matty Lu and Anna). Jessie came down to Charleston early on Friday. That was so amazing. She helped with the last of our Friday duties. Then I was able to show her around the city a little. I brought her to all of the hot spots: Taylor Books, Charleston Boys and Girls Club, Bob Burdette Center, and Pastor Ealy's church. It was so much fun showing Jessie where I spend my time and where I get to hang out with the kids. We then headed home for the weekend. We were able to just hang out all night Friday and into the afternoon on Saturday. We hung out in the transforming house as it is being prepared to be sold. The wedding was on Saturday afternoon and it was beautiful. I was able to see my parents later that night as they traveled back from Florida. It was great to catch up with them for a little bit. I then picked up the rental on Sunday morning and headed back to WV after a great weekend.

Another week down, one more day

I am coming up on the end of another great week. It has been a challenging week at time and we have had to deal with a new dynamic of having one large church and three small churches. However, I came to see how God shows up when we need him. By Tuesday night, the rest of the staff and I had become frustrated with how things were going. We felt like things with the adult leaders were not going that well and even felt that the kids weren't really respecting us. We voiced our frustrations to each other before club on Tuesday. When we started club that night, we opened with a skit and some other fun stuff. But that was followed by an amazing time of worship. We started singing a song and I looked up from my drum to find the group swaying back and forth while standing arm in arm. It was a beautiful reminder that we are often the thing that is getting in the way of God working. It was such a clear sign that it didn't matter how bad we thought the week was going or how many mistakes we make, rather it is about the way God can move in any situation. That was followed by the worship service last night at Pastor Ealy's church. He is the pastor of an African-American baptist church and we rocked out. We were singing and praising at the top of our lungs. One participant said that he has had a tough year and that was one of the most fun, light-hearted experiences of the year. On our way back from the church, one of the van's was listening to the CD from the church and were rocking their van back and forth. They were so excited that they rolled down the windows and were singing gospel music the whole way back to the church.
I am excited for the things happening with these groups this week, but I am even more excited to see Jessie tomorrow. She is driving down tomorrow morning and we will get to hang out here in Charleston for the day. We will then drive back to Pittsburgh for my good friends', Matt Luchansky and Anna Craig. I have been really missing her and this week has been a countdown of sorts until Friday morning. I am excited about spending the time with her, but this is a bitter-sweet homecoming. I will be visiting my house, essentially for the last time. I will also have to tag and get some stuff ready to take back to school. Because the craziness of my life continues as I actually have negative 1 day from when I get back from YouthWorks until I start my RA/ARD job (I haven't really had a chance to even think about what that will look like either). So I will have exit training in Pittsburgh on August 11th for YouthWorks and training starts that morning at Geneva as well. So I will be splitting time that day and will be at Geneva for good starting that night. After that, I will be staying at school through training which will take me until my parents' move. Oh life is crazy.
As for this weekend, I am just excited to see Jessie and spend some quality time with her. I have realized how much I rely on her sometimes when I can't explain my feelings to anyone here when I am frustrated or need to just share something.
So now I will depart from Taylor Books and head back to the crazy YW week. God Bless you all and thank you for your support.

Making the news

Over the past week, I have been approached by the media twice for very different reasons. Of course one of them was on Friday when a television reporter was asking about the fire to our Jeep. He was gathering information about the incident and it's connection with other arson activities in the area. The other media experience happened earlier in the week when a YouthWorks group working at a local playground was interviewed. The article talks about the playground and what it means to the community. There is also a fair amount of information about the work YouthWorks is doing in the city. So I thought I would just share this link with you.
http://dailymail.com/News/Kanawha/200807040068?page=1&build=cache
Blessing...

An interesting week...

I will start off this entry by saying that I am safe. Everything is fine and God is good. Now for the craziness of the week:
The program part of the week went very well. This week we had older youth (averaging sophomore - juniors in high school). That was nice because they were able to process things on a deeper level and were a lot of fun. However, it was sometimes hard to get them to places on time because they were hanging out. In the scheme of things, that was a minor difficulty. Our programming was smoother this week as we had a week of experience under our belt. Clubs were great. They responded to "Ya'll Done Goods" and "Yeah Gods". They even bought into "Big Daddy Nol", the boxing champion of the universe/ announcement man. Jordan's talks were awesome as usual and it sunk in more with the older crowd.
The ministries went well for the most part. There was still some disorganized places with great ministry potential (mostly the Paul Dunbar Center). The group started to get into the flow by Tuesday and really loved on the kids the rest of the week. A definite highlight from my week came Wednesday afternoon when I was at the Paul Dunbar Center for their carnival/ block party. It was like something out of a movie. There was a DJ blasting Soulja Boy and Lil Wayne. Kids had squirt guns and people were dancing in unison to their favorite hip hop beats. It was a beautiful thing.
Well the week got interesting by Thursday night. Long story short: A leader's car got broken into and he had his laptop stolen. I went out there to wait for the cops with him after club was over. A cop finally came but there was some confusion. He thought we were two men that were in a fight in front of the local gas station, so he had us interlock our fingers. He then frisked us and asked us why were fighting in front of the Go Mart. He also asked if we were drinking and why we were acting lethargic (possible signs of a long YouthWorks week). The situation was finally settled as a misunderstanding.
However the craziness continued on Friday when we came outside to find that an arson had gotten to our YouthWorks vehicle. The person had opened the back seat and lit it on fire. So the Jeep has a hole in the back seat and is coated in nasty debris that is dangerous to breath. So we are waiting to get the Jeep cleaned and drivable again.
You know, just the average week here in Charleston. More to come soon. Thank you all for your prayers and support. God Bless you all.

Move

The YouthWorks theme for the summer is Move. Acts 17:28 states, "For in Him we live and MOVE and have our being". I guess God is really transcending this theme across all areas of my life. My dad has accepted a job at the University of Florida and will be starting there at the end of the summer. This is a great move for the family and has nothing to do with Pitt at all. It actually has a lot to do with family. This move will bring our whole immediate family within a 6 hour drive of each other. This has created some mixed emotions however. I am "stuck" in West Virginia while all of this change is going on in Pittsburgh. I have felt so supported by Jessie, my parents, and other friends at home. But it is still a weird time for me. I know that along with all other things, God has a great plan for this situation and I am excited to see that revealed throughout the coming years. I guess the only way to end this one is with two pretty foreign words.....
GO GATORS!!!

A reflection on the week and more

Wow. A week of programming in the books and all I can say is wow. I can't believe I am writing about a completed week here in Charleston. I thought this day would never come.
This week has been amazing. The youth were great. The leaders were amazing and really showered us all with kindness and love. I was talking with one of the adult leaders (an associate pastor from Indiana) on Thursday about the YouthWorks job here in Charleston and about ministry in general. She reminded me of something that I have found to be true in every ministry setting I have been in. Every time we help and minister to people, we are blessed more than we could ever bless others. This simple concept began to look very clear. After all of the hours on adult leader packets and preparation, I was ready to love and encourage the adult leaders. However, I felt encouraged and blessed by the way they lived and ministered to me this week. The leader Donna said it best... "There is just nothing like ministry". I am really starting to believe that. Where else can you get such an amazing return on investment?
I am also encouraged by the way the youth responded to our team here. They really bought into the ministries, skits, activities, and lessons. I think that can be attributed to our hard work on preparing the site, having confidence in what we are doing, and most importantly, relying on God. It did not take long to realize that God is the only thing that will get me through the week. Through his power, we can do amazing things.
I was also reminded of one more important piece of ministry this week. Sometimes it is easy to forget what ministry is all about because sometimes it is hiding behind mounds of paperwork and logistics. However, at its base, ministry is beautifully simple: love others. Many of the youth who were here this week could not recite a single Bible verse or tell you what predestination is, but they could love on others. They loved on the kids and people they worked with all week, and it was beautiful.

Romans 10:14-15 states: "How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the whom they have not heard? And how can the hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, 'How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!'"

Watching people, especially young people, do this is truly beautiful!

And it begins...

Home Sweet Home at Central
My local favorite... Taylor Books and coffee shop

Since I last wrote, my life has become a lot more busy. After leaving Bluefield early on Friday, Jacob (Utility Staff) and I drove to Huntington, WV to pick up two starters. The starters are people associated with YouthWorks who help us process through our first week of programming on our own. Our starter is Phil and he works in the YW finance department. He has been with me all week and has been a huge help. The week has been crazy hectic, even with the extra help. I have been driving around and trying to visit different ministry sites during the day, while also completing paper work, finances, other miscellaneous activities. I quickly found out this week that this miscellaneous category in my job description is quite large. This included a 6:20 am run to buy cheese. It also included figuring out shower shuttling and even includes figuring our who is responsible for a broken window. All fun and exciting things that I get to handle. In addition to the small chores, I have been blessed by incredible adult leaders. I am learning that a lot of my time is really spent with the leaders and it is a great ministry. I am excited for the coming weeks when I can get into a rhythm and figure our how to best use my time. Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers. I will try to share more of my week later on, but for now, God Bless.

My travels to Bluefield

Since our programming does not start until June 22nd, I have spent this past week working in Bluefield, WV. The Charleston crew and I have been working alongside of the Bluefield staff to help run the week. It has been great to see a week of programming with another group first so we have a better idea of how the week will look. The four of us at Charleston have never done YouthWorks before, so now we have a little better idea of how the trips work.
Bluefield is beautiful, as shown in the picture above. It is the highest town in West Virginia and has some gorgeous scenery. In addition to the sites, I have also enjoyed getting to know some kids. The week as a site director is a little crazy with constant movement from here to there. Even in the craziness, I had a chance to see how awesome it will be to work with kids in the community. The Outrageous Sports Camp was awesome! It was so fun seeing the little boys and girls playing basketball and really warming up to the YouthWorks staff and participants. I can't wait for the OSC back in Charleston. I also was able to see some of the ministries and I am excited to help and encourage the ministries that we will be working with. I realized this week that these ministries are really working hard throughout the year and probably for many more years in the future. I feel blessed to work with people who devote so much of their life to serving everyday in these communities. More than anything, I learned that these trips are really about the ministries and just loving on the students, kids, and leaders. It is really simple when it comes down to it. As long as I keep that in mind, all of the logistics and other details that I have a tendency to worry about will take care of themselves.
Tomorrow starts my journey back to Charleston. I will most likely be leaving early in the morning to pick up the starter who will be helping us next week at our site. And Sunday at 4 o'clock, students are coming to Charleston, WV. It's crazy!!!

Life in Charleston...West Virginia that is

When I first heard Charleston on the phone when YouthWorks called me in April, I was extremely excited. The two words that followed that bummed me out real quick...West Virginia. I just knew of this as the hick state below Pittsburgh that I was taught to dislike growing up. However my experience since then has completely changed my view on this place. We drove down to Charleston from Pittsburgh on May 31. We have been blessed beyond belief everyday since arriving. We drove into the parking lot to meet Pastor Mark who immediately took us to look around the church. Even though he was not very familiar with the church (because of only being in there on Sunday mornings to preach), he still was very willing to make us feel right at home. We walked upstairs where we would be staying and it was a little warm. Immediately Pastor Mark looked at another one of our hosts, Margie, and said "We need to get the air conditioning on. Who can we call?" It was scary and very refreshing to have someone with the same intensity in those situations as my father. Since then we have been able to experience the many kinds of hospitality that the people in this community show. Over the last two weeks, we have had 3 dinners paid for (two home cooked!) and two lunches paid for. In addition to the meals, the church members thought it would be a good idea to buy us a strawberry and oreo pie...Are you kidding me? These people are crazy.
I have also enjoyed these moments with my fellow staff members. They are Jordan (Program Staff), April (Outrageous Sports Camp Staff), and Andrea (Urban Staff). We have been working hard over the last two weeks to get things ready. People probably think that to get ready you just have to make a few phone calls and hang up some signs. However, we have stayed busy from 7:30 am to 10 or 11 at night five and a half days a week.
We have accomplished such things as:
1. Setting up 8 or 9 different ministries for kids to go to (Thanks to Andrea)
2. Came up with an hour of programming for every night that campers are here (Thanks to Jordan)
3. Contacted and organized an outreach sports camp for kids in a nearby community (Thanks to April)
4. Cleaned and prepared showers for leaders
5. Built community contacts by visiting with church members, visiting the pastor in his office, going to Pastor Ealy's church service, and meeting with ministry partners
6. Cleaned and set up our Club room decorating it with hanging sheets, projector and screen, lighting, and even YE t-shirts
7. Decorated other parts of church with movie poster with MOVE pasted across, cutouts of our heads with little descriptions next to us
8. Came up with packets for our adult leaders to give them information about the ministries and our site (20 plus pages)
9. And many more things that would take me a few more hours to list...

So for now the initial planning is complete. We head down to Bluefield tomorrow to finally interact with some kids and help with their programming. I look forward to writing more about my experiences and the work God is doing here in Charleston. God Bless you all.
-Nolan