Lo, the long-awaited moment has finally arrived. No, not the first day of fall. And no, not the second day of fall either.
The moment YouthWorks finally released their promotional videos!
For those that read my YouthWorks recaps as they were being posted live this summer, you’ll remember that a camera crew came to film us in Milwaukee during our last week of programming. Well, at long last, they’ve compiled their footage and released three promotional videos — two fast-paced, and one slower-paced and more in-depth. Out of their 75 sites, I love that YouthWorks randomly employed Milwaukee for their promos.
Man, I miss Milwaukee. “Miss” can’t even begin to describe it, really. You have no idea how much I grieve over Milwaukee. Watching these videos brought back so many vivid memories:
- Steve and Priscilla: the smiling dread-locked dude and his wife who head up this awesome ministry, Adullam Outreach. Gosh I admire them, their heart for Christ and the community of Milwaukee. Before we even started programming for the summer, we enjoyed dinner with them and some of their friends and they prayed over me and my team. Just a truly special way to begin the summer with some of our ministry partners. They’re turning this rundown warehouse into an incredible place of refuge for the needy, and it was awesome to witness the building’s transformation from summer’s start to summer’s end. I can’t wait to visit Milwaukee again and see the continued progress of this God-anointed ministry.
- Sister Clara: an African-American woman who the camera crew captured perfectly for the briefest of moments, just sitting and smiling on her Gingerbread Land porch. I’m pretty sure the camera crew interviewed her too, so I’m hoping there’s another promo video with her in store; you just have to hear her speak to appreciate the true beauty of Sister Clara.
- Pastor Kevan: the pastor of Unity, the church me and my team stayed all summer long. He constantly held such a welcoming/serving spirit, both to my YouthWorks team and to the hundreds of students that poured in throughout the summer. Just a genuine man of God worth modeling one’s life after. He has the sweetest family and I can still hear the infectious giggles of his little daughter and son chasing each other around the church.
- So many quick, little scenes come together and form a beautiful mosaic of this Milwaukee summer: students circling up in the Club room for morning stretches, students piling into vans as they start ministry days, students serving/eating/communing at Unity’s weekly soup kitchen, students painting and playing with kids. Students from many states and denominations coming together and simply doing awesome things for the Kingdom.
We’ve all heard the phrase, “go back and do something again in a heartbeat.” I can’t say that I’d apply this statement to many moments in my life.
High school? No way. Not for a million zillion dollars/euros/pesos.
Studying abroad at Oxford? I did enjoy traveling the UK, but if I had to write all those painful papers again, well, my brain just might go insane.
YouthWorks Milwaukee? Yes. As fast-paced and wearisome as this job was, I’d absolutely relive my YouthWorks summer in a heartbeat.
But barring a supernatural life reversal, that reliving can never happen; this summer is forever gone.
And so I weep over the loss of this brief Eden in my life. I’m so glad these videos exist; they brought many smiles to my face. I’m glad you can witness just the sneakest of peeks into my life-changing summer.
And so I continue wandering…
