Another Summer Adventure

Almost four years ago (June, 2013), I went on a missions trip to San Francisco. We spent a day and a half road tripping from Centralia to San Fran with many seat rotations and the inevitable staying on a church floor. When we arrived to the church we were staying at, we proceeded checking in for our week. The first thing I wondered about was where the older staff were. There were surely adult-adults around and our week wasn't going to be directed by these barely adult college students?

Well, those "barely adult college students" were indeed facilitating our week. They were the ones leading worship. They were coordinating meals for 3+ varying youth groups each week. They were speaking with the ministries we spent our week volunteering with. They dealt with budgets and they had put countless hours into preparing for the week we were going to talk about for a long time after.

Those four college students had chosen to spend their summer away from a typical summer job at home. They instead chose to spend their summer working with youth groups and helping to make a change in a community they weren't familiar with.

I am so so excited to let y'all know that this summer, I get to be one of those staff members! I have been hired as a Community Service Coordinator with YouthWorks. All I know about where I will be this summer is my training location (Pittsburgh, PA) for the first and last weeks. I will spend the summer leading ministry with my team, getting to know the various needs of my community and then working with various organizations to discover how these youth group volunteers can help them further their ministry.

I also get to put into action some of the things I have learned through DTS and SOW in this position as well as another part of my summer, being the Worship Leader for our team!

I am seriously anticipating this summer and all it will hold as my team and I move forward! It is a little bit intimidating. I look at the summer as one eleven week chunk and the two things I know as of now are I will be lacking sleep all summer and I get to go to Pennsylvania for the first time. I am sure even through too little sleep and messing up a few times in what I'm doing, big things are going to happen.

As always, prayers are greatly appreciated. With so many unknowns at this point, I have a lot of general prayer points, yet as we get closer to go time, I hope to update you with more specific prayers.

• Please pray for:
• YouthWorks recruitment team: they continue to fill empty positions throughout their various locations for the summer
• Pray for discernment as teams are pieced together and people are hired for this summer.
• My team and I: At this point, I have no idea who I get to work with this summer (but my extroverted self is pretty excited!). There is a lot of prep going into this summer between practicing worship songs, preparing our hearts to lead countless students this summer, and getting ready for a full summer with a rigorous schedule.
• Pray as we book travel, complete paperwork, and prep for what this summer holds!
• Students: Each week, approximately 60-80 students will arrive at each YouthWorks location around the US. They could be arriving for their first missions trip. They could be away from home for the first time. They will come from a variety of backgrounds.
• Pray for their hearts as they get ready, provision for finances, and peace of mind for their families.

Thank you so much for your support and prayer! If you would like more information about YouthWorks, here is their website where you can find FAQs and probably any questions you have may be answered. If you have any questions or prayer requests, let me know! Shoot me a message or comment or text or whatever!

Thank you all!

God bless and love from me,

Erin