Report 5

Record of Ministry Activities

• RAM Camp with IWU and E and D class
• Sunday Night Youth Group - 3 hours
• Meeting with Youth Pastor and other leaders/volunteers - 3 hours

Total time = 6 hours

Personal Reflection

This week for ministry has been great. RAM Camp went over so well. I stepped up and actually led a team-ops group (breakout group) and it was so much fun, so challenging, and so rewarding. It was great to be in fellowship with all of my classmates as well as the students and youth pastors/volunteers who were there! It went over well!

Sunday night i went to youth group. My plan was to meet with Kyle at 5 (youth group starts at 6) and go over my midterm evaluation, but he had other plans. First he was asking my opinion about a person and then we talked about that situation a bit. Then I found out he actually asked all the leaders to meet him there and then we just met real quick and then spent some time in prayer over the nights session. I believe this is something we are going to do on a regular basis and I'm so excited about it. It's cool to see how God works, if only we go to Him in prayer in the beginning. Eventually students came and we had a blast just playing uno, euchre, and wii for about 45 minutes to an hour. After that we had a follow up discussion/talk about what we talked about last week. It was cool to hear some of the kids speak up about it. We were missing some students because of the swine flu and Monday night I found out one of the students there was confirmed with a case of H1N1 monday...this stuff is kind of aggravating (not the students, just the swine flu craziness). After youth group I talked with one of the girls Jeni about a situation she is going through...it was great getting to talk to her.

Monday we met as leaders with Kyle. This was a great time of fellowship...i hadn't laughed that hard in weeks! The other volunteers I'm working with are great. We covered a lot of topics and are in the process of planning retreats (a "you are special; you have value" retreat for guys and girls - we will just split them up for talks but go together and have meals and stuff) and activities and revamps for the rooms. Its an exciting time for our group and we are so excited to see where it takes us. I've been given the go ahead for small groups, i just need to wait for Kyle to get me a list of names of the students so I can reach just more than 3 girls in this small group. One of the leaders, Erin, will be helping me out and I'm so excited to get it rolling. I'm actually supposed to go to the church soon and help Kyle out with getting a list of names together.

Spiritual Reflection

As I have stated in previous weeks things are really difficult right now. I talked with Russ today for my midterm meeting and I realized just how spent I am. I am pouring out all i've got and all my emotions into a friend situation, school, work, and the ministry and I've poured myself out to a very thin lining. I'm so glad Fall Break is here so i can go home and hopefully recoop by collecting my thoughts and myself! I have struggled finding the time to spend in the Word myself, and I'm hoping that this weekend will help that get back on track. I have really been learning to look for God and i am seeing him in so many cool and amazing ways. I'm also learning the importance of prayer because with my emotions spent and all, prayer is just about all I can do. I'm really leaning on God for some directions on some issues and I can't wait to find out the answers and do the actions and get moving forward! I think this weekend for fall break will be a nice way for me to relax and regather myself.

Have a great break!

Report 4

Record of Ministry Activities:

• Sunday School - 1 1/2 hours
• Youth Group - 2 1/2 hours

Total: 4 Hours

Personal Reflection:

This week was very laid back in our youth ministry since we were just coming off of the retreat. We had Sunday School and Youth Group on Sunday like we normally do. In Sunday School Kyle had a lesson planned, but he decided not to do anything. We are in the awkward time between switching gears/curriculum and so its easy to just not do anything. I shouldn't say we didn't do anything, because we were in fellowship with one another. We were all laughing and have a good time and I realized that at two points I said something that really could have been taken the wrong way. I talked with my mom about this later Sunday and I realized that the kids probably never really noticed it and I know Kyle never said anything to me, so thats great! I learned to watch what you say and how you say it (more particularly) from that incident. One of the girls I got to know on the trip joined us in Sunday school this week, which was great! Lynli was a good addition to our Sunday school class! I hope her sister is there this coming Sunday.

For youth group, Kyle had a former student, Jeni, who is now a sophomore at Purdue come in and share what God had been laying on her heart about evangelism. It was very good stuff and the youth were so excited for something different. The structure went very well. We are realizing that we may not need to plan a group game because this group of students are good with hanging out. I'm sure we will always have something for a backup though. Jeni presented very good information to the kids and the leaders stepped up and helped the kids understand that Evangelism isn't always easy, and that some people struggle with just walking up to someone, giving them a survey or asking the questions pertaining to a walk with God, and then talking to them about God. I, on the other hand am a very relational person and I try to evangelize through my daily actions and my relationships. One girl, Jenny, who was the sister of Lynli, came Sunday night and she was in tears by the end of the time. She has a friend who is pregnant and she just really feels like she doesn't have a support group at her school. She lives a good ways from Hanfield, but we assured her that we were here for her. There were tears, and lots of prayers with her, which was a such a amazing ministry opportunity. It was so cool to see God move like that. I'd never seen so many kids want to talk or have questions about this stuff like they did that night. All in all it was a good youth group night - one of the best i've had there in awhile.

Afterwards, some of us leaders sat and talked about some of the kids situations and also about ideas for the next couple of months. Kyle presented the idea to me about doing a girls retreat one weekend. I loved the idea and want to get this rolling because I know it will be so good for our girls!

Spiritual Reflection:

This week has been pretty good. I really saw God work and move in some amazing ways this week and especially this weekend. I am learning a lot about who I am as a child of God, as well as someone who is looking to be in Pastor role very soon. I'm learning that sometimes its okay to be angry with God, as long as we talk to Him about our frustrations. Sometimes the key is just to say "I don't understand!" and in a second its okay, because I know God's in control and he does understand. I am easily frustrated and I'm learning to deal with this in a way that is healthy. I'm in Theology II this semester also, so I'm learning a lot and being able to say, "this is what I believe..." or atleast, "this is what i'm leaning towards..."

Report 3

Record of Ministry Activities: Youth Retreat to Washington, DC - 4 days - waking hours 30

Personal Reflection: This weekend was great on the retreat. Yes, at times it was stressful, uncomfortable, and stretching, but all in all it was a good learning experience in which a lot of the times I had fun. The challenging part was taking 28 jr. and sr. high students to a city where lots of respect is due to our founding fathers and soldiers who have lost their lives fighting for our freedom (freedom of religion and speech for one!) The kids struggled with being respectful at some spots, but they amazed me at other spots. To see their interest in the holocaust museum and how their hearts broke for Danny (one of the exhibits at the holocaust museum). One of my favorite memories was a student who walked up to me (I have no idea who it was) and saying, "God is so evident here and was so evident back when our country began, how could some people not recognize this?" I was amazed by the maturity of the statement, especially because we were in the Arlington cemetary - a place where many wouldn't see God.

I also learned that it is okay to get on a student for doing something they shouldn't do (okay, this is something i am constantly learning). I have a very hard time being mean and when I do it I feel like I go back on what I just said a few minutes later. I am learning that it is important to maintain control which means sometimes getting on a student for doing something they shouldn't do, but doing it in a way that you reaffirm that you still love them and care about them. Kyle does a great job at this. I got to talk to him a bit about this struggle and it wasn't necessarily me bringing it up, he confronted me about it, but in a way that we also talked about other things I was learning on the trip. Kyle is always pointing out tips or learning areas and it may not be a weakness but he always will say, "here this is something you need to know about youth ministry".

The trip was great and I learned a lot. I will hate not being able to do the retreat with them next year since I will not be at IWU anymore after graduation, but I will always have these great memories!

Spiritual Reflection: These last two weeks have been a lot for me. Some situations have risen with the girls I live with that has affected all of us. There was a time two weeks ago when sitting in chapel was a struggle for me because I didn't understand the entire situation and how God was going to show us through. Please know that its nothing to do with me, but because I live with one of the girls it is affecting me. Some things we come to know we just don't understand and that is okay. I am learning to turn it all over to God. The "high" I felt I was on has withered a bit since the first time i posted (only 4 weeks ago) and that is okay. But believe me, I am doing my best to fully rely on God. One thing I have learned is there is a lot of things which are too big for us to handle. We need to hand those things over to God and let Him answer these huge prayer requests. I have a list of requests that I try to pray over every day. I actually learned this from a devotional i was doing and this was the suggestion. The challenge is that we are to wait and see how God answers them. I know He will answer and I can't wait to see His answer.

In ministry, I am learning to wait paitently for God. I love working with youth, but I'm not sure if this is exactlly where God wants me in the long run. I love learning about youth ministry and I love doing it, but I'm really searching God and what it is He is leading me to. I believe with all my heart He has called me into full time ministry, I'm just trying to figure out where it is in full time ministry He is leading me. Being my final year its scary thinking that I'm not sure what I want or what God wants for me, but I know He'll show me in His timing. I'm learning to fully rely on Him on this area too.