the seventh one about nyc: final reflection

when I first proposed the idea for GOOTH to go to nyc for a mission trip, I never realized the impact that this trip would have on the GOOTH. I had hopes for the GOOTH to learn, grow, have fun, and be enlightened…but they surpassed my hopes and expectations. you can read all about their experiences in their own words in the previous nyc posts, but no blog can capture the experience of the “emotional devotional,” as chelsey called it, that happened on thursday night.

thursday’s devotion started like any other. we would let someone from each workgroup share their experience that day with the rest of the group. two simple comments were made that caught my attention in huge and complex ways. hannah platt, a graduated senior, commented that while we did a lot of “fun” stuff together as GOOTH, we needed to do more service stuff back in clemmons as a group. sarah hoyle, a rising 9^th grader, said that she and hannah had a deep conversation that day about their experience. sarah said that by working with people this week, it hit her that the once nameless homeless people now had names…and thus made more human in her mind. (you can read their own words in the sixth one about nyc.)

Hannah and sarah thought they were making simple observations…ones that, to them, were now obvious and “no-brainers.” they are simple observations. but, their comments hit me like a mack truck. their simple statements and the reactions, head-nods, and agreement of the GOOTH made me realize that they GOT it. these youth “got” it. there are many ways that youth react to such mission experiences, and many of them are self-centered or my-world-centered. but their reflections were NOT – they were neighbor-centered. since this was the first such experience for many of the youth, I expected to hear self-centered reflections, such as, “I learned that I’m very lucky to have what I have,” or “I learned that I’m fortunate to be born in clemmons and into a stable family,” or “It’s a shame these people don’t have what I have.” but, that’s not what I heard…not a single youth expressed these or similar comments to me or at the devotion. instead, the GOOTH saw Jesus in one another and the people with whom they worked and encountered during the week and their learning was truly neighbor-centered.

hannah’s observation about us doing lots of “fun” stuff was a significant observation, because that has been my plan all along. I came to CPC in august of 2006, but I had started planning for the youth group 7 years ago. in 2001, I learned my biggest lesson about youth ministry: It’s All About Relationships. over the years since, I began to be attentive to God’s leading for youth ministry and to make mental notes about ways that I could build relationships within the “youth group i would have one day.” we find a theological basis for relational theology in the greatest commandment: love God and love neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:37-39; Mark 12:29-31; Luke 10:27). and if you love neighbor as yourself, then it is clear that you are to also love yourself as your neighbor. Calvin says to know God is to know thyself. the inverse is also true: know thyself, know God. GOOTH has spent the last 2 years building and strengthening relationships within ourselves and developing an identity. by knowing who we are, and by loving ourselves – both as individuals and as a collective GOOTH – we can in turn love our neighbors as ourselves, love God, and know God.

only after a group knows and loves itself can meaningful things be born from it. GOOTH now wants to work side by side more often. GOOTH now understands who their neighbor is, and what it means to love them. GOOTH is closer to God because GOOTH knows who they are. this is the point i prayed for over the last 7 years. even before i knew who the youth at CPC were, before i was called to CPC, and even before i went to seminary, i began praying for God’s guidance to lead the youth group i would one day work with. i asked God to help me find the way to build relationships and create a youth ministry program that exemplified relationship theology. God has done that. and the GOOTH are ready to lead themselves on their continued faith journey.

they have reached this point quicker than i thought imaginable. when i heard hannah, sarah, and others talk about their experience with this mission trip, it hit me. i broke down and cried with joy, amazement, wonder, excitement, love, and praise to God for all that God has done with GOOTH. The Spirit was definitely present that night at the emotional devotional. God only knows what is in store for GOOTH, but i am excited to find out what it is!

 

the one about meredith

many of you are now aware that one of my GOOTH members is in the hospital awaiting surgery. meredith was taken to the hospital on tuesday evening, and after a battery of tests, she was diagnosed with a brain tumor, surrounded by a cyst. her mother, penny, sent an email to friends and family this morning describing the current situation:

The good news is she is fine right now, just some headaches periodically. And the other good news is that all indications are that the tumor is benign, probably a craniopharyngioma (for those of you who need more information).

The bad news is that the tumor is located deep her brain between her pituitary gland and her optic nerve. The tumor itself is very small but a characteristic of these tumors is that cysts grow off of them and that is what has happened to her and that is what is causing her symptoms now.

The goal of surgery is to drain the cyst to relieve the pressure on her brain to get rid of the headaches and to get rid of the tumor so that it doesn’t “grow” any more cysts. The hard part of that is getting the tumor out without damaging surrounding structures (ie. the pituitary gland and the optic nerve).

the family is “hanging in there right now” by the grace of God and the support of friends and family. through prayer, words, and acts of encouragement, their “spirits are good,” according to penny.

after visiting with meredith several times, it seems hard to believe that she has a brain tumor and will be having a craniotomy tomorrow. one wouldn’t know that she has this tumor in her head by her outward appearance. she is fully alert, fully competent, fully dressed, and unhooked from all the monitors. so many of her friends came to visit today. she said it was like an all-day party. she is the life of the floor. when a couple of her friends came in late this afternoon, all they had to say at the nurses’ station was, “we’re looking for m-” before the nurses pointed over their shoulder and said, “that’s her room.” all the nurses know who meredith is. she has so many people praying for her and offering encouragement…in the midst of this major surgery, God has placed her among a thousand angels to look after her and lift her up on their wings.

please pray for meredith and her parents and sister. because of meredith’s current pre-surgical state, it is difficult to grasp that this is a life-changing event. while the prognosis and hope are that meredith will fully recover from the surgery, this is still a big event in her young life that will forever mark a period of struggle. she is currently a member of our confirmation class and will miss joining the church with her fellow confirmands this sunday. but i know that this event will not keep her from completing her confirmation journey and joining the church at a later date. her class has pledged to stand with her on her confirmation date in the future as a sign of their solidarity with her in faith.

i am so glad to have her as a part of GOOTH and of the confirmation class. she is a bright, sharp, quick youth with a thirst for learning and a faith that is ever-growing. i know this surgery will mark a moment of struggle in her life, but i also am confident that she will grow in faith as a result of it. both at GOOTH and in confirmation class, we have talked about how our faith journeys are made up not only of “mountain-top” and other high experiences, but also of the deep valleys and struggles of our lives. it is in our doubts and our fears that our trust and confidences are built up.

please join me and our church family in praying for meredith and her family. as penny also said in her email:

Again, the power of Christian love in a crisis is a miraculous thing. In my 24 years taking care of people in crisis, I have seen it so many times and now have the opportunity to experience it. While I would rather my family not have to go through this and with everything in me wish that my Meredith didn’t have to go through this, I know that God will grow us all and one day perhaps we can look back on this day and see the lesson learned.

 

the one about ymiLIVE – high school cantata

CPC’s youth group (GOOTH) has entered the video contest at ymiLIVE.org, an initiative of the PC(USA) Foundation Group. the top 3 winners of the contest are awarded a $25,000 endowment for use with their youth ministry.

we finished the video last week at GOOTH – practicing it during one sunday night program, and filming the video during a second. i’ve never been part of a faster musical production! thanks to Ian and Brittany for editing the final video and posting it to the site.

the objective of the contest is to create a video that interprets micah 6:8

He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

we chose to do our video in the style of high school musical, and change the words to fit our interpretation of the passage. we hope that you enjoy the video!

to watch the video, one must register at ymilive.org. ANYONE can register as a “supporter” and vote for the video and show support for GOOTH. You need to vote before June 1! Here is what you need to do…

Go to http://www.ymilive.org/
Click on the “Register” tab on the right side of the page
Enter your information (first name, last name, email, and choose “I am a supporter”)
Click “Get Started”
Enter the additional information it asks for
(a “handle” is like a screen name)
Click “Register Now”
You should see a screen that tells you to check your email for a confirmation email with link
Check your email for the email from “ymiLIVE Support”
Click on the link in the email
Sign into ymiLIVE, browse, and vote!!!

you can do a search for our video, OR you can click on “videos” at the top (clicking on “vote” will only show you the rules for voting), then go to page 6 of the videos. find ours, click on it, and then click “cast your vote” on the right side of the page.

We have 59 votes so far, but we need many more! EVERY email address can be registered and cast a vote So, vote all you can!

thanks for your help and support!

 

the one about ARW

what a week i had at montreat! the weather was perfect last week…bright sunshine, clear air, gentle breeze, mild temperatures…montreat at its finest.

if you aren’t sure what ARW is, it is the Annual Recreation Workshop which is held the first week of may in montreat. for more about ARW, visit www.recreationworkshop.org. this is my 8th workshop, and i hope i never miss another one. for more about montreat, a conference center of the presbyterian church (usa), please visit www.montreat.org.

the two classes i’m taking this year are Games Galore and Breaking Bread Together. every morning, we play 2 hours of games of all sorts. i’ve learned some new techniques, tips, and variations on games i know, and a whole bunch of new games. i was also introduced to using common objects for game props…from climbing cords to doggie toys. i can’t wait to get back and try them out with my youth group (aka GOOTH!).

in my second class, we baked many types of breads! it was so much fun! yeast breads, corn meal tortillas, muffins, wheat breads, flat breads, biscuits, scones…we made much more than i imagined we would…including the communion bread for the closing worship service. i’m so excited about trying out the recipes again. i went out yesterday and bought a new pizza baking stone…we used one for baking many of the breads last week…it is a great way to cook.

recreation is an important part of ministry. God gave us our bodies and the joy of play as gifts of creation. playing games together, cooking together, eating together, sharing stories together – these all help to build up the body of Christ in the world. Jesus was a hungry dude…he was constantly eating in the gospels! and what was one of the first things Jesus did after the resurrection? he ate! he broke bread. he cooked fish. he served his disciples as host. the cooking class helped reinforce the tools of hospitality that i’ve learned growing up. i hope to be able to pass those along to others through the art and ministry of cooking.

i was reunited with many old friends and made many new friends as well. friends from california, to florida, to canada, to mexico, to haiti, to ireland were gathered together at Montreat last week…we’re all a part of the body of Christ…and we all enjoy the gift of play and hospitality.

take some time to play this week and enjoy the gift of play that God has given you.

PS – the cardinal in the window greeted me today in my first day back in the office after ARW!