I gotta start by apologizing for my lack of posts recently. It's been crazy here and I haven't had the time to update y'all on what we're up to. I'm pretty sure my last post ended just as we were beginning to put the finishing touches on HQ (TPP's main building) before groups arrived the following week. Let's pick up there, I guess...
That week we finished up the work that needed to be done on the building including but not limited to: finishing building the new showers, vacuuming, cleaning, and painting. On Wednesday I met Ms. Martina who is the owner of the home that I'll be working on all summer. I confess that my original thoughts about my worksite were sprinkled with fear and insecurity.
You see, my first project at her house was to rip the siding off the back of her house, tear out the old, rotted sheathing, frame out a window, and replace the wall. On top of that, we had to entirely replace the roof. So as Chuck brought me around the house showing me the things that I'll be working on this summer, I knew it was gonna be difficult. I began to pray for my worksite. Not only for the work, but for my own heart to be consumed with peace about the whole situation. Knowing that I'd be on the site in just under a week with a handful of high school students and one leader, I wasn't exactly calm.
However, as I prayed for the time that I'd be spending there, I actually became excited to work on Ms. Martina's house. Though I still had some fears about my ability (or lack thereof) to replace the outside wall on a house, I was also healthily anxious to see how it would work out.
The students from Colorado arrived on Saturday night as we were finishing up the showers in the new building. The other group from Virginia arrived Sunday afternoon. After meeting a lot of the kids, playing some sweet ice breaker games (shout out to Josh!), and having our first Club of the summer, we were ready to head out to the worksites on Monday morning.
The week began with a good bit of demolition on the wall. The entire wall was completely rotted out and in awful shape. I (somewhat) hesitantly told the students what to do and how to do it (even though I didn't even know myself). Regardless, the wall came down; and by the end of the week, a new one was up, the window was framed out, the new wall "tyveked" and even more, Ms. Martina had a brand new roof on the back of her house.
Looking back, I don't know how it happened. It might have been my constant prayers that everyone would stay safe, I wouldn't ruin Martina's house, and that God would use me to lead well. But no matter what it was, it worked out by the grace of God. The students worked incredibly hard the entire week which was awesome to see. It was one of those moments in life that you look back on and you'd be a fool for taking the credit for. It was so obviously the work of God through you and others that all you can do is say, 'wow'.
So, beyond the worksite, the week with the Colorado and Virginia groups was incredible. One of the most remarkable things about the whole trip to me was the fellowship and comradery that was formed as the week went on. It was truly a blessing to watch the groups come together and form friendships that never would have been there if it weren't for the Kingdom of God.
As the "Club Intern" I feel obliged to talk a little bit about how Club went for the week. For those of you that don't know, Club is our evening program that includes crazy games, a worship set, an occasional guest "performance", and a sermon, which all lead into small groups. I assist Scott in putting this all together. It's been a heck of an experience. I've been able to connect to a ton of different talented musicians, singers, and performers in Philly. And I've even seen those musicians connect in a really cool way
Programming-wise, I thought Club was as good as it had ever been on Sunday night. The music was there, energy was there, everything was awesome. It was the start of an incredible experience for the students that are coming through are able to be a part of. My heart for Club is to create an environment that invites the Spirit of God to work in the hearts and lives of all that experience it. There's a bunch of different programming decisions that are made in order to do this, but when it comes down to it, we simply pray. Entrusting the time to God and letting Him work through us and the decisions that we've made. The time of prayer before Club has honestly become a highlight of the day for me. It allows me to quiet my heart and just let go of all the logistics and understand that God is going to use the time no matter what.
Spotsylvania left on Friday afternoon and Colorado was set to leave the following morning. However, that night we were in Creation-prep mode. We were pushing all day long trying to get everything packed and ready to go for Tuesday morning when we would leave for a week long festival in the middle-of-nowhere, PA. A few of the interns (including myself) were chopping up wretched firewood for the week, when Anita comes over and informs us that Sara isn't feeling well and might have to go to the hospital. We prayed together, but continued working. Not much more time passed when we saw flashing lights and a fire truck pulling into the parking lot (there weren't enough ambulances at the local hospital so they sent what they had).
To be honest, I was scared. But I also knew that everything was gonna be okay. I was most blown away at the love that the group from Colorado showed Sara by getting together as a group and praying. Sara was taken to the hospital and stayed for a few days and was released back to us on Sunday. I don't want to get the diagnosis wrong so if you want to know, too bad! All I know is that we were incredibly happy to have her back serving with us.
So...Creation. Yeah.... what an experience.
The first night there was a torrential down pour that soaked all our belongings and almost blew away all our canopies. The rest of the week kinda followed suit. We served all the meals, went to all the night-time festivities, and enjoyed a lot of time with the 100 students on our campsite. Beyond the uncomfortable wet clothes, lack of sleep, and relentless rain, it was a great week... We were able to build relationships with students that will be coming to the project later this summer. Out of fear of rambling and complaining too much longer, we'll move on from Creation.
As soon as we got back from the exhausting week though, we had a lot of work to do. Cleaning out coolers, putting away chairs, cleaning tables, and tons of other miscellaneous tasks. We also prepped the buildings for the next day when a group would be arriving for a short week.
The group from Haverford arrived around 8:30 the next morning and we were ready to hit the worksites. I was given a different site to lead this week due to the lack of students that were in this particular youth group. I was a little nervous about going into someone's house that I hadn't served in before, but God guided my steps and made for a great day on the job. Though I thought it went awfully, I found out later it was the highlight of the students day. God was obviously laughing in my face due to the lack of faith and trust I had in Him.
I absolutely loved the group from Haverford. We had an incredible week and I speak for everyone when I say I wish that were there with us for a full week. The best part of the week for me was the relationships that I saw form between some of the students. It was really cool to see walls be torn down that I (again) didn't have enough faith to see that God could do it.
Anyway, so after an awesome barbecue on Wednesday evening and an incredibly powerful covenant time, the group headed out. The interns all blitzed the two buildings, cleaning, vacuuming, etc. and we were off. For the next three. stinken. days. (LotR reference for those that are confused).
Personally I had an unbelievably relaxing and awesome break. I slept, had good fellowship with some awesome friends, and ate some good food. Now I'm back here at the project helping RPC (Roxborough Presbyterian Church) put on a summer camp on for 100 little kids. I have the awesome opportunity of running slides and sound for them this week! (I'm seeing this as a week of rest).
Prayer points!!
Good rest when we get it
Selflessness
That God would continue to work in my heart
Vision on the worksite to see what needs are there and how we can meet them
My strong and lovely Aunt Anne who is in the hospital (and the ability to focus on things here while that's going on)
Faithful in reading the Word
So normally I would now talk about how God has been doing personal work in my heart in the latter half of the post, but this post is long enough without that! In short, God truly is shaping me into the man that He wants me to be and I'm super psyched about it! Sorry about not posting for 2 weeks. If you want to know how I'm doing, please please please text me. I may not answer right away but I'd love to hear from you! (seriously)
Thank you all so much for your prayers and support this summer. It wouldn't have been possible without you!
Pray for me
