Last Day

Last Day….

We woke up tired and sad that it was our last day. The week had gone by so fast. We were still making new friends both at our ministry sites and with the kids from other churches who are here.. At our devotional time (devo) in the morning we talked about how we could make our last day here the best.

The Green Monkeys were excited about visiting a new ministry site today. No more sorting, sorting, sorting (did I mention they did a lot of sorting) at the Goodwill. Today they were going to the CP (cerebral palsy) center to work. They were a little nervous, as most of them had no experience with people with CP. They weren’t sure how uncomfortable they might feel around people with this sort of disability. Their fears were short though. As soon as they got to the center, they got a tour and orientation. They found out that all of the people they’d be working with would be teenagers and they would be going on a field trip with them. They met up with the group at Lambeau Field for lunch and a private tour of the facility. Keith and Dave (the other adult in the Green Monkeys group) were excited about that. They had a terrific tour with the clients of the CP center, then went back to the center for some fun and games with them. They became comfortable fairly quickly, and were sad they only had one day there. They will tell you more about that when they share in worship this Sunday and Next Sunday.

The Silver Snakes spent their last day at Village Gardens in a variety of ways. Breaking into groups playing Scattergories at the beginning of the day led to an outing at a local park for lunch and a band concert with some residents. We came back and weeded and did some paperwork until it was time for the afternoon social (popsicles!) and our goodbyes. That was the hardest part. We felt like we really got to know many of the residents and staff there and we’d really miss them. We took pictures to remember them, and we gave them a gift for their garden so they’d remember us. That place really touched our hearts this week, and we hope we were able to show God’s love while we were there.

Thursday evening we had a community cookout. Many people from the Youthworks ministry sites were there enjoying hamburgers and hot dogs. People came from the Salvation Army, Paul’s Pantry (food pantry) Boys and Girls club, Village Gardens (3 of the recreation therapy staff we’d been working with) and other ministry sites. It was a nice way to end the week, chatting with our new friends and seeing how many people Youthworks groups impact during the week. God's love sure was being spread around.

Thursday night’s Club included a foot washing experience. The Youthworks staff wash the feet of and pray over the adult leaders, who, in turn, wash the feet of and pray over each of our kids. It was an incredibly moving and meaningful experience. We were also pleased and honored to be invited to join another of the visiting groups from Minnesota for communion after the foot washing. It was a beautifully spiritual evening.

Friday morning, we were up early after very little rest to pack up clean up and head out. Lots of hugs and email address exchanges went on before we loaded up and took off for home with a stop in Chicago and the Museum of Science and Industry along the way. (No time for me to drive to Starbucks before breakfast to post a blog entry.)

All in all, it was an amazing week. I was impressed, surprised, uplifted, encouraged, moved, and pleased with the Geneva Mid-Highs. They are a terrific group of kids with very loving hearts filled with God’s spirit. His love poured out of them this week. If you see Lauren, Amanda, Madelyn, Billy, Marilyn, Beth, or Steven, or Keith I’m sure they would love to tell you their story and where they saw God working in Green Bay.

We’ll be sharing a little bit in church on July 5 and July 12 and I’ll be posting more pictures soon, so keep posted.

Thanks for your support and prayers.