June 29, 2019-This past week of missions at EY2S has been different because we have not had any student missionaries join us throughout the week. After our original plans fell through, this week turned into a great time of finishing some intensive projects, pouring into the kids at VBS and also resting and bonding together as a team.
Joining the leaders this week was Justin. Justin served as an EY2S intern; an intern position is for anyone who is in 11th and 12th grade, or older, who wants to learn, in a practical manner, how to be an EY2S leader. We seek to specifically challenge them to step out of their comfort zone to empower others. Justin was challenged this week to welcome the kids to VBS and lead our evening Reflection Ceremony.
This week has been a great time of rest for our leaders. God was gracious in how He timed events for this week. With Sam back home to be with his family, Lydia stepped in as our sole site leader this week and has done an amazing job: organizing teams, making decisions, and providing guidance. When we as leaders were battling illness and exhaustion. It was such a huge blessing to be able to take extra rest and slow down as we needed to.
For the work projects this week, our main focus was to prepare for the remaining four youth groups. The aim is to set up all of our future weeks for success. All the leaders went to Lowes and purchased supplies for a shed we are building at Norview Baptist Church (NBC), tiling materials for Mrs. Arlene’s house and lumber for the fences we are building next week for her backyard.
This week we finished tiling Mrs. Arlene’s kitchen and dining room floor. Because the tile needs time to set, we wanted to knock this project out so that Mrs. Arlene would be able to use her kitchen over the weekend while we waited for the next team to come in. Kat, one of our amazingly talented leaders with great tiling experience, was able to lead the tiling team to finish the project in two days.
Next week, I will post the pictures of the completed floor.
Tuesday, we squared the bottom frame of a shed that we are building for Norview Baptist Church and EY2S to use. Then we returned to Mrs. T’s house; we worked with her in the summer of 2017. We were able to fix her front steps, extending down the risers so that no one would catch their feet. We also added an additional step an the bottom to lower the height of the bottom step. It was such a joy to see Mrs. T again; she has such a welcoming and open heart.
While at Mrs. T’s house, we went on a couple of prayer walks. We were able to pray for Mr. George and his family. Praying with Mr. George was such an encouragement because of what he said to us. He said that he was one “who never turns down prayer.” He showed us just how God’s grace has permeated everywhere; whether he believed in God or not, he had faith that prayer could help his family.
At different points we were able to bless a couple of homeless men, something that we normally cannot do because of the kids that stay with us. We ate breakfast with a man named Mr. Benny and he was able to share with us his testimony.
It was so good to be at Young Terrace Recreation Center. This week was the first week of their summer camp program. Mrs. Foye and the Recreation Center team has been very gracious to allow EY2S to put on a VBS during their summer camp program.
We invited the youth from Avalon to join us, and having them there was such a huge help. For VBS this summer, we are focusing on the Fruits of the Spirit. We focused on love this week with students telling the stories of The Lost Coin, The Lost Sheep, and The Prodigal Son.
Even though we are not able to say Jesus or God while we are in the Recreation Center, we have found how we can allude to Him through our actions and other words. Even though it has only been three days, kids have already started asking us questions about God. It has been so exciting to hear their questions. As we delve into the following weeks, we pray that the relationships we are building will launch us into further gospel conversations into the next four weeks.
Next week, we look forward to hosting Virginia Beach Community Chapel and for all the energy they will bring to everything they do!