Week 1 and Week 2 down!!!

Ok, so I hate to admit, but I have forgotten about my blogging in the past few weeks, and will take a slap on the wrist so many apologies...however all is well, thankfully I remembered and will update you on my adventures thus far in Steubenville OH. So As my status says I have completed only my first two weeks, it is such a long process to get ready for groups to come, by the time you actually start, a good portion of the summer has already ended.

Anyhow, my first week here went really well, the youth that attended were awesome and I really felt God's presence here throughout the week. Being the first week there were a few hiccups, and a little trouble from a few of the adult leaders, but overall beyond the stress of a first week I was continually reminded why God has brought me here. The youth really reminded me this week that God has not only a plan for them, but my presence here is making a difference. The most powerful part of the week was the foot washing service, it is always a great time to not only feel God's presence, but to see it in the youth as they pray with their adult leaders and where I get the opportunity to pray with them. It is always my favorite part of the week because God's presence is so clearly evident and it is refreshing to be in that atmosphere. Also, Week 1's youth took quite an interest in the many riddles that I have acquired throughout the years. The one that stumped them the most was the "Stick Game." If you don't know what that is, don't worry about it, I'll tell you sometime in person,but I warn you, it will probably drive you insane! So a quick shout out to week 1's youth, you guys were awesome and God Bless

Week 2's youth was equally awesome. The groups that came the second week didn't quite enjoy my riddles as much as the first group, they couldn't stand being confused which I found amusing, but none the less it was also another great week. Week 2 went a lot smoother concerning organization. A lot of the hiccups associated with week 1's nightly activities and programing were corrected which was good. This week the youth had the opportunity to paint the house of someone in the community. Ishmael was the name of the man who owned the home. He is from Africa and has lived here in the U.S. for over 25 years. Ishmael has been struggling for money and can't afford to have running water in his house or to even have it painted, so we were blessed with the opportunity to be there to help him accomplish some of the things he couldn't afford to do. He is also probably one of the nicest, most generous people I have ever met. Ishmael has had a rough life, one of his sons was murdered in a drive by shooting right outside his house here in Steubenville. They confused Ishmael son with somebody else. Ishmael has gone through a lot but is still trying to be strong and live life to the fullest. Below his house, Ishmael used to own a store, some time ago, he left to visit some family and people broke in and stole everything thing in the store. Since then he has closed the store. The house looks great now after the youth painted it and Ishmael has found new pride in his home. There are a bunch of clothes that he raised money for in the store part of his house that he was going to send to a refuge camp in Africa, but he couldn't afford to send them. So God willing, we are hoping to spend some time clearing out everything in this store part of his house in the next week. If this gets done, Ishmael says he will re-open his business. It is awesome to see the difference something small like this has done to change someones life around. Ishmael was also very good with the youth and if was awesome to see him interact with them. The youth who participated in Kid's club also did great ministry this week as well. I was able to see growth in many and was truly blessed by this experience. Week 2 was also another God filled week. Another shout out to week 2's youth, you guys were great!!

So since my two weeks of ministry here we've had a little down time. This being week 3, we have had no youth, but have continued to do Kid's Club which is one of the three ministries we do at this site. In Kids Club we feed and plan activities for younger kids, ages 4-13 that live in the projects, or poorer parts of the city. These kids can be pretty crazy but are also a blessing. A lot of them don't get to eat, so it is great that we are able to help provide them with food. A lot of them also don't get much attention at home. Many of them get attached to you right away, and if you give any of them a piggy back ride, you can expect to be giving them one the entire week for 3 hours every single day because they never stop asking for one, so other than that, they have been fun to be around. Other than kids club, the staff and I have been working on planning for our Multi-Generational weeks coming up here in a few weeks, and re-charging our batteries. We all went to Pittsburgh for the 4th which was tight, and have been watching a lot of movies, and I mean a lot of movies!..a looot of movies....

On one final note, tonight I had a God moment. Their has been a homeless guy, probably in his late 20's that has been continually wandering into the church at random times, constantly asking for money. The church warned us at the beginning of the summer to never give out money to the homeless people, but to offer them canned food that the church had in it's basement because we don't know what they are going to use the money on, and a lot of them use it to buy drugs. Well, this guy comes up to us tonight when we were outside after it was dark out (me and one of my staff members had gone to Wal-mart in town to return some red box movies) and the first thing I thought was, "oh no, he's gonna ask for more money and I'm gonna have to turn him away," because every time we run into this guy he asks for money, and we tell him the same thing, "we can't give you money, but we can feed you," and when we offer food instead, he run's off every time! Well tonight was different, as he is walking up to us he just yells, "I just got saved tonight!"..And he just went off talking about how great God is and the powerful feeling he felt when he accepted christ, that's all he talked about, and then instead of asking for money, he asks for food. Now this surprised us because he always ran off when we offered him food and whenever we ran into him before, that's all he talked about was how much he needed the money. This time I could see something different in this guy that I didn't see before. We gave him some food and he was telling me how he had found a place to live now, and that he was ready to make a change in his life. He said that he was sick of the streets, that their is so much evil out there and he was done with all that, he was done struggling and feeling sorry for himself, it was time to change. This just blew my mind hearing it from this guy, because we have run into him several times, and this is the first time he has ever sat and had a conversation with us. Now I don't know how much of what he told me was true, but I saw something different in this guy that made it believable and I believe that what he told me was true. So that's a testimony of what God has done this week and for all of whom may be reading this, continue to keep Steubenville, Ohio in your prayers, their are a lot of people that are struggling here and that need a change in their lives. So God's peace you guy's, I hope everyone is enjoying the summer and I look forward to seeing many of you soon in the near future!..so until my next post, God Bless and Peace out..

-Joe