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