This is the sixth of ten blogging installments from my life-changing summer in Milwaukee. In this recap I review my fifth week of programming, which aligned with the special week of July 4th. Be sure to check out my postscript thoughts at the end! A logical place for such thoughts.
If you’ve missed any of previous recaps, flash back to Week 0. Also, check out what a camera crew produced when they visited our site during Week 9.
***
I loved this week’s group. I mean, I love every week’s groups. Or at least I’m supposed to say that. Out of these first five weeks of programming, sure, I’ve had my greater favorites and my lesser favorites. But needless to say, this week’s group really rocked. I was almost immediately amazed at the unity that started occurring between Baptists and Presbyterians, with churches from West Virginia to Canada. I was blown away by the connections these students of different denominations and even different nationalities were experiencing with one another.
Unity in Christ, all over our church building and amid the Milwaukee community; it was incredible.
The week started out psychotically with the 4th of July from Hades. Okay, that’s probably a little harsh. But it was crazy. Our normal volunteering schedule was thrown out the window for a day as we scrambled to get our volunteers work on a day not usually prone to work-doing. Not to mention, we also had to find a different shower location than our usual community center, which was closed on the 4th.
Also worth mentioning: I sliced my thumb on a broken jelly jar. Ouchtastic.
Those Canadians — they must’ve cursed our 4th or something.
Nah. Once the dust settled it actually turned into a pretty good day. Despite the morning chaos, we had some fun times at the park across the street which culminated with a spectacular fireworks display at night. A different way to start out a YouthWorks week, but certainly something unique to remember when it’s all said and done.
On Tuesday nights we go to an event called Life Changers where ex-gang members and drug-users give their testimonies to our students. You’d think it’d be the same exact thing week after week for myself and the Milwaukee staff, but it really isn’t. Every week I hear something new from these same people and am consistently amazed at how far away from God they once were — only for Him to bring them all the way back to Himself.
Some questions consistently asked at Life Changers: why do people join gangs? To do drugs? Kill? I love the answer:
Hurt people hurt people.
People get hurt…and so they hurt back in retaliation. After all these weeks at Life Changers, I’m learning more and more of the true, freedom-instilling power of forgiveness. On Wednesday nights our program coordinator delivers an excellent message on forgiveness, which follows nicely after that intense Life Changers session. Week after week, students are left in tears and I see them having obviously difficult conversations with their adult leaders all over the building. It was after such a Wednesday night message that I was able to connect with that one tearful student back in Week 2.
Wednesday nights are always powerful, and so are Thursdays. We do foot-washing services every Thursday night before the students leave Friday morning, and this week’s foot-washing was particularly moving for me. As I walked over to wash one adult leader’s feet, I was instantly moved. Three or four of his male students were completely showering their arms over him, weeping an intense outpouring of love as music played in the background.
I’d never seen anything like it; so much love.
So much love. I don’t know how I got through my post-wash prayer without totally losing it. It was just a fantastic week. I’ll miss these guys. Truly.
Five weeks of programming are now in the books; only four remain. Crazy. It’s becoming more and more of a reality that my time in Milwaukee is drawing to a close.
I’m unsure how I feel about this.
To be continued…
TMZ PS: I basically said in this post that I’m not supposed to pick favorites, but now that the summer’s over I’ll just go ahead and say it: this week’s group was my favorite from the summer. Their instant unity across denominations and even countries still astounds me. They were the only group this summer to come up to the staff at week’s end and ask us to help them compile/distribute a list of student names and email addresses to help them stay in touch. And I’m fairly certain the largest portion of our 100+ Facebook group members come from this week’s students. Just a truly special group of kids and I’m forever inspired by their passion for Christ.
TMZ PPS: Oh, yeah. July 4th. Easily the most stressful day of the summer. From closed shower facilities to a propane-less grill, the hits just kept on coming. But what a great metaphor for life: seeing those fireworks at day’s end. It was all okay. And by week’s end it was certainly way more than just okay.
