My YouthWorks Summer: Week 3

This is the fourth of ten blogging installments from my life-changing summer in Milwaukee. In this recap I review my third 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 cannot believe I’m three weeks into a nine-week summer youth missions program. That’s a whole third of the way there already. Insanity. This week was interesting in that it rained every single day and caused one of our outdoor ministries to be totally locked down. As a service coordinator at our Milwaukee site, I had to do a lot of early morning scrambling to get some backup ministry plans in place for our student volunteers. Thankfully everything worked out just fine.

It’s Friday night and I just came back from a Brewers game with my amazing team. I definitely wouldn’t still be here without their constant support. I’ve had some incredible conversations with these people, and it’s hard to believe I’ve only known them for five weeks.

It’s funny looking back on our first picture when we first came together for training last month. Alas, times were much simpler — and cleaner — back in Minneapolis. Here in Milwaukee, we’re lucky to land three showers a week, so we’re basically just greasy and gross all the time. Hooray, growing comfortable with one another, even in our most unappealing states.

The week started out great (and sorely) when I decided I’d wake up super early on my sleep-in morning to run with an adult leader and one of his students. I really didn’t want to on so many levels, and yet I’m reminded of last week’s blog and this heightened desire to look beyond myself. Our camp has a rule that students must always remain in groups of three, thus this student and his adult leader needed another’s presence on the running trail with them. Enter me.

So, I ran with them for a couple early mornings. And while those two runs absolutely killed me, I’m glad I opted for those memorable moments over silly old sleep. Who needs sleep, really?

This was my week for stepping out and up. Before this week began we had a fifth utility staff member who’d helped the four of us out big time. But then last week he got transferred to another location. And so it was down to our core four, and it was time for me to step up a bit during our nightly “Club” sessions, the part of the night where we gather the teens together for worship, skits, and a message.

As part of Club, there’s a segment called “Yeah Gods” where we all acknowledge the ways we saw God move that day. Up until now, Team Member #5 had been the go-to guy for Yeah Gods; now it was all on me. Gulp.

I sound silly, I know. Why was/am I so afraid to stand in front of 70 people and simply ask them how they saw God work today? But nonetheless, terrified I was, and again the support of my team carried me through this scary transition. Standing in front of everyone is not exactly the most comfortable/desirable thing for me to do here, but I want to be a team player and do my part. I don’t want to be the “extra guy” on this team. I wanna chip in too.

In addition to being Mr. Yeah Gods, I’m also now Mr. Thursday Morning Devotion Guy. Just a short two-minute intro on the various meanings of love. No biggie, right?

While public speaking of any sort continues to terrify me in my mind, I’ve yet to bomb in practice. I was never booed off stage or anything similarly traumatic. Looking back on this week, I wonder why I’ve held onto so much anxiety. Why do I often feel so incapable?

Feel free to pray for me and my incapability complex.

My Ministry Moment of the Week came from a camp for physically/mentally disabled youth, and I kinda tear up thinking back on it. I was only at this camp for 30-45 minutes, and yet the entire time I connected with this little boy by the pool. We introduced ourselves and then he said something I’ll never ever forget:

“We can be brothers now.”

I’m still blown away by those words. We’d barely said our names and this little boy was suddenly calling me brother. Brother. The weight of that word. As I walked around that disabled facility, I was amazed at the openness and genuineness all around me. No one held back. No insecurities. No social drama and secrets.

Just real people being real. I look forward to revisiting this particular organization throughout the summer.

Three weeks down, six to go. So far each week has had its own unique flavor, which I find exciting. Hopefully by the end of this summer, I’m able to look back on each of the nine weeks and remember something specifically about that week’s group. Obviously looking back on this blog will help me remember, so I’m glad I’m writing these things down.

Hope you’re enjoying the ride so far.

To be continued…

TMZ PS: In this post I mentioned being able to look back on each programming week, hoping I would remember each group of students distinctly. I do. Over a month after the summer has ended, and multiple months since the early weeks of the summer, I still remember each week’s “flavor.” I remember which groups were more boisterous, which ones were quieter, and which groups particularly drove us as a staff to truly love our jobs there.

Gosh, I was terrified about speaking in front of the students during Club and Thursday morning devotions. You have no idea. At times I was completely crippled with fear. But this was the week I stepped out and tackled those fears head-on (with much encouragement from my team). I survived; I didn’t die. And by summer’s end, I actually grew quite a bit in my abilities as a public speaker. Can I still grow today? Of course. But this summer was a great start.

Public speaking — just one of the countless ways I grew this summer.