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..."