Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Monday, October 3, 2011
Catching Up!
I realize I didn't blog any this summer, so let me catch you up! God did some pretty amazing things!
We kicked off this past summer with another one of our super competive basketball tournaments. Each of the the tournaments we've scheduled have been a huge success with the kids. This one however was OFF THE CHAIN! We had the largest group of teens, younger kids, and families to come out to the event than we have ever had. I'm sure part of the reason is we turned it into a block party. At one point in the day we had over 300 people from the neighborhood involved in this event! Teens played and/or watched basketball; kids got their faces painted, created art-work and played water-balloon toss; families played RockBand and Wii on two giant TVs. It was a blast! We truly made an impact in the Chelesa Park neighborhood, and continue to do so, through our Young Life initiatives. Because of Young Life, Chelsea Park is discovering there is a God who loves them and it is reflected in His people!
We were also able to take over 200 teens from NYC to our summer Young Life camp! During this camp teens got to go tubing, zipping on zip lines, rock climbing, mountain bike riding and much more! They also got to hear the gospel, many of them for the very first time. We were able to give these kids the best week of their lives and to share with them how to have the best life imaginable. A life in Christ. Over 40 teens came to know the Lord that week!
This has left me super excited as fall and the school year is here. God has given me a fresh vision for this year and a really committed team. I will be telling you more about it in the days to come. So stay tuned.
We kicked off this past summer with another one of our super competive basketball tournaments. Each of the the tournaments we've scheduled have been a huge success with the kids. This one however was OFF THE CHAIN! We had the largest group of teens, younger kids, and families to come out to the event than we have ever had. I'm sure part of the reason is we turned it into a block party. At one point in the day we had over 300 people from the neighborhood involved in this event! Teens played and/or watched basketball; kids got their faces painted, created art-work and played water-balloon toss; families played RockBand and Wii on two giant TVs. It was a blast! We truly made an impact in the Chelesa Park neighborhood, and continue to do so, through our Young Life initiatives. Because of Young Life, Chelsea Park is discovering there is a God who loves them and it is reflected in His people!
We were also able to take over 200 teens from NYC to our summer Young Life camp! During this camp teens got to go tubing, zipping on zip lines, rock climbing, mountain bike riding and much more! They also got to hear the gospel, many of them for the very first time. We were able to give these kids the best week of their lives and to share with them how to have the best life imaginable. A life in Christ. Over 40 teens came to know the Lord that week!
This has left me super excited as fall and the school year is here. God has given me a fresh vision for this year and a really committed team. I will be telling you more about it in the days to come. So stay tuned.
Friday, May 27, 2011
Words of Life
On several occasions I've had the awesome opportunity to teach a bible lesson at our weekly Young Life Chelsea meetings. Usually Young Life clubs include a message each week during many of their gatherings, but since we're still going through our formative stages I am still earning the "right to be heard." Truly thankful for even having a place to meet, trying to teach a lesson while in the middle of a busy Manhattan McDonald's doesn't lend itself to listening and learning. Recognizing this, our goal has been to create an environment that will build relationships that eventually lead to Christ. Soon we will have our own place and we should be able to teach more often!
Even with all of these limitations, the few times I have actually gotten to share the Gospel it has been amazing! We have been working through the Lord's Prayer and almost all the kids are giving me their undivided attention. This could just be out of respect as we have certainly poured a lot of ourselves into them over the past several months. However, I certainly think its something much deeper than that.
Recently, I was working through the part of the prayer where Jesus teaches us to say, "Give us this day our daily bread." I was making the point to them that Jesus provides for all of our needs and reinforces that fact by referring to himself as the "bread of life." This happens right after the feeding of the 5,000 in the Gospel of John. So in making that point I said, "Have you heard of the story where Jesus feeds 5,000 people with only a few fish and loaves of bread." They all just stared at me! Well... one of them who happens to go to a Catholic school piped up and said he had. All of the rest said they had never heard of the feeding of the 5,000! Simply amazing!
I'm starting to catch the magnitude of what is going on through Young Life Chelsea. We have about 15 kids every week and for all of their relatively short lives they have been... dead. Now, more than likely for the first time, they are getting to hear the words of life as we share the Gospel! Can you believe it, we're doing mission work with unreached young people in the middle of a Manhattan McDonald's!
Can you picture yourself where you had never actually heard any of the Bible before? Would you be dialed in as you hear the gospel for the first time? These kids are! And we get the privilege of being the ones who share the words of life with them.
Even with all of these limitations, the few times I have actually gotten to share the Gospel it has been amazing! We have been working through the Lord's Prayer and almost all the kids are giving me their undivided attention. This could just be out of respect as we have certainly poured a lot of ourselves into them over the past several months. However, I certainly think its something much deeper than that.
Recently, I was working through the part of the prayer where Jesus teaches us to say, "Give us this day our daily bread." I was making the point to them that Jesus provides for all of our needs and reinforces that fact by referring to himself as the "bread of life." This happens right after the feeding of the 5,000 in the Gospel of John. So in making that point I said, "Have you heard of the story where Jesus feeds 5,000 people with only a few fish and loaves of bread." They all just stared at me! Well... one of them who happens to go to a Catholic school piped up and said he had. All of the rest said they had never heard of the feeding of the 5,000! Simply amazing!
I'm starting to catch the magnitude of what is going on through Young Life Chelsea. We have about 15 kids every week and for all of their relatively short lives they have been... dead. Now, more than likely for the first time, they are getting to hear the words of life as we share the Gospel! Can you believe it, we're doing mission work with unreached young people in the middle of a Manhattan McDonald's!
Can you picture yourself where you had never actually heard any of the Bible before? Would you be dialed in as you hear the gospel for the first time? These kids are! And we get the privilege of being the ones who share the words of life with them.
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Pray, Pray, Pray
Got some things for you to pray about:
- Pray for our Young Life Chelsea Bowling Day on May 28th.
- Pray that we have the opportunity to meet more parents of teens in Chelsea.
- Pray for our Young Life Chelsea basketball tournament / block party on June 28th.
- Pray that I can get at least 2 kids to get to Young Life Camp with me this summer.
- Pray that we find a private location to meet for Young Life Club in the fall.
- Pray for that we see salvation through Young Life Chelsea as teens come to know Christ!
We have been packin' um in at McD's and teaching the teens about prayer!
WE BELIEVE IN IT!
- Pray for our Young Life Chelsea Bowling Day on May 28th.
- Pray that we have the opportunity to meet more parents of teens in Chelsea.
- Pray for our Young Life Chelsea basketball tournament / block party on June 28th.
- Pray that I can get at least 2 kids to get to Young Life Camp with me this summer.
- Pray that we find a private location to meet for Young Life Club in the fall.
- Pray for that we see salvation through Young Life Chelsea as teens come to know Christ!
We have been packin' um in at McD's and teaching the teens about prayer!
WE BELIEVE IN IT!
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Momma's Day @ YLC (Young Life Chelsea)
This Sunday is Mother's Day. So, we helped the teens at Young Life Chelsea honor the mother-figures in their lives. By the way, we had five new kiddos. McD's (where we meet right now) was definitely the place to be last night!
First we started the evening playing the card-game "Mafia." What kid doesn't like "Mafia"? The hard part was keeping them honest. Always hard to do in any game with teens. Either way, we had fun with it!
After the game we made sure they knew about Mother's Day this coming Sunday. We led them in an activity where they filled out cards to their mothers. Each of the cards contained a dessert recipe the teens could make for them as well. They wrote in the cards as they listened to a pretty unique but fitting rap song from a kid in Brooklyn.
God has given us a great group of teens to minister to in Chelsea! However, I know that youth ministry is more than working with teens. A large majority of youth ministry has to be focused on ministering to parents. Pray that God would give us opportunities to pour into the lives of parents in Chelsea. Pray that parents of teens in Chelsea would draw near to the cross of Christ.
The above picture is a picture of my momma. It is also Momma Mills' birthday on the 5th of May. Be sure to wish this beautiful woman a Happy Birthday!
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Feeling Like a Champion @ Lake Champion
I have had the opportunity to get away from the city for the past couple of days. It has been refreshing and extremely educational. I am at Lake Champion attending the Multicultural Retreat for Young Life staff who work in urban settings. Being taught about how to do ministry in our setting and hearing the stories of others in the trenches like me has provided so much fuel!
Meanwhile my Young Life Chelsea volunteer team rocked it last night at club in NYC without me! When I say rocked it... they had over 15 kids attend club and did a tremendous job running everything without me! I feel like a champion because I am surrounded by a volunteer team of champions that are making ministry happen in the Big Apple (even while I'm by the big lake).
I'm telling you, this is exciting stuff and if you haven't been tuning in... make sure you do now. This stuff is about to explode! I feel confident that we will soon see kids introduced to Jesus and then be able to help them walk in their faith!
Pray for us:
- Pray that we will find a place to meet for our weekly club meetings (McD's ain't gonna cut it much longer).
- Pray that volunteer workers will continue to see themselves as missionaries.
- Pray that I am able to bring at least 2 teens back with me to Lake Champion for Young Life summer camp.
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
I Could Really Use A Wish Right Now
Young Life Chelsea kicked off a weekly club meeting four weeks ago and it has been amazing to see God up to some pretty cool stuff! A month in and we have established a weekly connection with a core group of teens and a great group of volunteer leaders. I am overwhelmed to be a part of this journey.
Tonight we met and had an incredible club! We had cheeseburgers and shakes, played the game "Apples to Apples", and talked about Jesus teaching us how to pray.
We played the song "Airplanes" by B.O.B. and Haley Williams while they wrote down three wishes they would want to wish for. We then shared with them that Christ wants to meet their needs and told them that prayer is an opportunity to bring those to Him. It was incredible as a few of the kids knew the "Lord's Prayer" and even recited it for us!
God is moving, and I am so thankful that you are a part of this journey. Please continue to pray for us and support this ministry. You rock! Young Life Chelsea is rocking! Jesus rocks! Can you tell I am excited?!
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