My YouthWorks Summer: Week 2

This is the third of ten blogging installments from my life-changing summer in Milwaukee. In this recap I review my second week of programming. Be sure to check out my postscript thoughts at the end!

Postscript, end — seemed like a logical place for such thoughts.

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I’m now two weeks into summer programming and things are starting to come a little more naturally: cooking two massive pots of macaroni, flipping 80 burgers, making conversation with teenagers at meals, leading church groups to ministry sites, scrambling to call different service partners for backup plans, etc.

As a service coordinator in Milwaukee, I’m constantly on the move from service site to service site making sure everything is operating smoothly. I’m amazed at the diversity of needs that are out there — from the lonely elderly person to starving homeless people to kids that simply need a playmate.

I visited an awesome children-elderly dual daycare this week and was extremely tentative about entering a room filled with rambunctious two-year-old toddlers; I’m just never around kids that little. I saw one little boy sitting by himself while the rest of the kids circled round for story time. I decided to walk over to him, because I don’t know, those distant types just appeal to me. I sat down across from him and just started playing with this little toy. He started smiling and laughing and within moments he was climbing all over me, grabbing the hat from my head. Moments later, three or four other boys were also climbing on me and having a blast with my awesome YouthWorks hat.

I get paid for this.

That was probably the most powerful moment I experienced at a service site this week. Such an incredible surprising thrill of joy to have tiny human fingers and legs dancing all over me. Makes me ponder my future; makes me wonder if tiny fingers and toes I helped create will ever dance over me someday.

Another unexpected, touching moment this week came from a student one night. We’d just had a pretty heavy Club session in which our program coordinator spoke on forgiveness and healing. I was about to head upstairs to the staff area when I noticed one of the students sitting teary-eyed at a table by himself. So I stepped over and asked if he was okay, and then he proceeded to tell me about some darkness in his life.

I was simultaneously overjoyed that he would decide to be open with me about such things and yet also heartbroken that he would have to go through this situation. I could relate to much of what he described to me, and so I encouraged him as best I could and prayed with him afterward. I certainly didn’t expect to have such a conversation that night; if I’d known it were coming, I’m sure I’d have been a nervous wreck trying to figure out what to say.

As it is, I think that conversation went well; I hope I made a positive difference in this student’s life.

It’s not about me.

I’ll admit when I first applied for this job, and even in the first several weeks of being here, I came because I needed:

1. A life-plug between spring and fall.
2. Money.
3. New friends.

And while, yes, thus far God has provided me with each of those things, I’m learning more and more that it’s not so much about me-me-me as it is about these students who roll into Milwaukee each week and the poor heartbroken lonely aching community that they step into Monday through Thursday.

Are there ways I’d like to grow and things I’d like to accomplish while working here this summer? Of course. But I need to commit a major perspective shift, releasing the focus off my own million needs and onto this community. The students.

If you’re looking for something to pray about with me, I’d love your prayers over learning that difficult art of losing myself in bringing You praise.

To be continued…

TMZ PS: It’s amazing how clearly I can still remember these experiences: both the little kids climbing over me and the student who opened up to me that Wednesday night. I thought about this particular student several times throughout the summer, wondering if he was doing okay. That was a really challenging part of this summer: connecting with youth for a week, then having to say goodbye to them forever, left to wonder how their lives will turn out. Such a double-edged sword of emotion. Regardless of the painful goodbyes, I’m grateful God chose to put me in this situation to minister to this particular student. I still think of him, still pray for him.

And how I miss those toddlers too. They loved that YouthWorks hat way more than I ever did.