WEEK 1 REPORT

My Activities
5:00-6:00 : meet the staff and learn the general rules for the youth group
6:00-7:00 : meet the kids, introduce myself, relationship building and order keeping
7:00-8:00 : watch over the proceedings of the evening, keep the kids involved and following instructions
8:00-8:40 : hang out with the kids, participate in their games, maintain order
8:40-9:00 : close up shop

Personal Reflection on My Ministry
I arrived at College Wesleyan church at 5:00 just as I was told to. My first surprise was that the youth pastor that I was supposed to meet wasn't even there. He hadn't given me any warning even though we had exchanged e-mails a few days before. So, I met the guy filling in for him, Britten, and he had me meet some of the staff. They showed me the facilities and gave me an overview of a general night at the JC Bodyshop. I met a few of the kids that help lead worship there. Matt plays the drums; Dallas plays the electric guitar; and Amy helps sing. They have a college graduate that leads on the guitar and sings. I was inspired to retrieve my guitar from my dorm so I asked Britten about it and he gave me the go ahead. It was a good idea because it broke the ice between Dallas and I. We were able to talk about guitar things until the rest of the kids arrived. I was introduced to his friends and we had some good conversation. The evening was a lot more relaxed than I had anticipated. Some of the middle school kids and I just built relationships until worship started. The biggest difference between this group and my middle school experience is the size. Not only are there many more kids, but the facilities are much larger. Therefore, the worship experience was much different. These kids come from rougher backgrounds than did the kids at my middle school and so the group has made concessions for that. They have to sign in and are not allowed back in if they leave. The worship looks a lot more like a concert with all the kids rushing to the stage area and jumping around. It's good for releasing energy, but I don't think most of the kids understand what is going on. I hope that the time of worship brings the kids closer to God. It seems like the group is much more focused on bringing the kids to a place where they can have fun than to a place where they can meet Christ. I did not see much difference between this group and an after school club. There was praise music and a message spoken, but I don't know if the kids really get it. I need to find out more about what the group is doing to help the more mature Christians in the group grow. Games are good, but the most important part about a youth group is that it brings people to God.

Spiritual Reflection
God asked some difficult things of me this week. I had some confessions to make and some forgiveness to ask. However, God blessed me by providing forgiveness and giving me the drive to change. By overcoming these challenges I was much more confident in helping out at the youth group because I figured that if I could obey God in those other things than certainly I could do what He called me to do at the group. I am gaining boldness for Christ and that is very exciting for me. I have been reading Acts in my devotions recently and have been really struck by Paul's amazing confidence in what he believed and what he knew he could do. He healed people and brought people back from the dead as if it were nothing new. I want that. I want to be able to have supreme confidence in what God calls me to do and confidence that He will truly empower me to do these things.