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 Kingswood youth group from Amarillo, TX arrived at YWAM Tyler for their SST Mini the day after the Servant's Heart youth group. Jake and Brittany stepped into the leadership position and thought the group was amazing. During that week Kingswood served alongside Servant's Heart, adding a team of 24 students and leaders to the Servant's Heart group of 22. Together, they participated in work projects throughout the week.
For the first two days they went into the city of Tyler to work with the organization PATH (People Attempting To Help - find it on the web at http://www.tylerpath.org/). While with PATH they gutted a house and prepped it for remodeling. In just two days, Kingswood, who brought an assortment of tools including hammers, drills, and a table saw, had the whole house ready for renovation. They did everything from taking down ceiling fans to putting up dry wall, scraping mold from the "popcorn" ceiling, and fixing up the yard! It was such a blessing to see this generation rise up to help the community of Tyler through physical labor, and not complain about it. After Kingswood tore down and renovated the PATH house, they spent the third full day of their SST Mini working on the YWAM Tyler base. Using their trailer full of tools, the students and staff worked on a house here on campus and helped move dirt along the newly paved section of campus road. The best part of working with the Kingswood group was seeing their positive attitudes; it was evident that they are Jesus-loving people.  
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Last Updated on Wednesday, 02 June 2010 16:41 |
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On the final morning of the Oklahoma-based youth group's stay at the base we spent time debriefing, asking the students to share a favorite day or moment from the past few days. Many of them talked about the East Texas Rescue Mission and how getting to talk to the men there opened their eyes to the needs in that community. We asked each student to fill out a short evaluation and to write a story from the week on the back of the paper. Stephen, a 16-year-old, wrote this: "This week was amazing. We got to go to the Rescue Mission and help cook for the homeless people. The teachings affected me a lot and I got closer to my friends, the staff, and my youth leaders. During this week I felt like I was away from the world, had peace, and that everything I was doing was for God. Doing so much for God and being in His presence all the time was awesome."
In previous posts I focused on the service projects that the students did during the day, but I've waited until now to really disclose what we did in the evenings. We gathered in a classroom for teachings every night, touching on Lordship, Quiet Times, Relationships, and the Family Heart of God. The students were impressed with how easily they could relate to the speakers and had a clear desire to hear what they had to share. After they were given the Quiet Times teaching, which gives direction on how to have a relationship with God, we had the students spend half an hour reading their Bibles in the mornings. They were amazed at how God clearly spoke to them as they prayed, and when He directed them to a verse in the Bible. Elizabeth, who is 14, talks some about Quiet Times here: "When we had Quiet Times, God and I seriously connected all over again. It honestly touched my heart. I have to say the hardest part about the SST Mini is actually putting into practice what I've learned. Here I am surrounded by people living for God, but when I go back to school or work I won't be, so I'll have to change the way I live. I loved absolutely everything about the SST Mini, and I loved getting to go out and serve other people. The experiences were truly amazing."
It encourages me to know that God desires a relationship with His people and it doesn't matter how old we are. He has a purpose for each of our lives, how awesome it was to spend a week with these kids and see them gain understanding of the love and life that God has for them! After many group photos and some teary goodbyes, the Servant's Heart youth group loaded their vans and headed for home. We hope to see them again this summer since many of them expressed interest in the summer SSTs, and thanks to things like Facebook, Twitter, and texting, communication with them is hardly limited. |
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Last Updated on Tuesday, 13 April 2010 15:56 |
 Thursday morning our students rose early again for breakfast and a devotional time with God. As the hands of the clock pointed to 9:00 a.m. we loaded the vans and headed to the maintenance barn on the YWAM campus. Again, our students were split into groups and spread across the 300-acre base. One group was handed shovels and rakes as they were instructed to dig a drainage ditch against the newly paved road on campus. A new phone line was going in the ground next to the large storage building at the back of the property so shovels were given out for that job as well. Drywall needed to be hung in a recently gutted campus house and a group of ten students headed that way. Finally, an old water testing site that had been renovated into a storage building needed an exterior paint job; a handful of students and staff picked up paint brushes for that. As the day wore on, the sun rose higher in the sky and we could feel the "farmer's tans" setting in on our skin as we brushed paint across the rough wood of the building. Although several red wasps tried to deter us from getting close to the building, we swatted them away and continued until we ran out of paint, leaving one side of the outer fence unfinished. From the building we painted we could see the diligent road workers shoveling and raking dirt, gradually extending the drainage ditch the entire length of the road. At dinner, the students who had hung drywall were covered in a thin layer of chalky, white dust-evidence of their hard work. Dinner was much appreciated and the exhaustion the students felt was apparent on their faces. Loading the vans after dinner, we gathered in the Village to play Frisbee and take showers. Each night of the week the students of Oklahoma had congregated in a big, cabin-turned-classroom for a teaching on Quiet Times with God, Lordship, and Relationships. Thursday night was no different and at 7:00 p.m. we headed for the classroom for a time of worship and a teaching on "The Family Heart of God." |
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Last Updated on Tuesday, 13 April 2010 15:31 |
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Having risen for a 7:00 a.m. breakfast, the students were ready by 9:00 am for their service projects on Tuesday and Wednesday. Again we headed into Tyler, accompanied by the youth group from Amarillo, Texas to work with an organization called PATH (check them out here: http://www.tylerpath.org/). Upon arriving at the work site we split into three groups-two went to work on PATH community houses and one headed for an area park to do landscaping. Wearing PATH t-shirts given to us by Rodd, a program director, our groups worked hard all day, breaking only for lunch and the bathroom.  Arielle was part of the group landscaping the park and they were told that when the park was first built it was to provide a safe playground for the kids in the area. Unfortunately, we found the swings pulled down and trash thrown all over the ground. It didn't take long to fill several trash bags as we picked up pop bottles, broken toys, and pieces of glass and brick. We spent the rest of the two days we served there pulling up weeds, raking leaves and wood chips, and cutting down old bushes. On Wednesday, before we set to work on the landscape, Rodd requested the group's help in one of the community houses neighboring the park. We passed the morning replacing the air vents and light switch plates. After a couple of tries and some appreciated help from Jonny, Arielle and a student named Kandice successfully learned how to hang a window blind. Larry, one of the youth leaders from Oklahoma, was experienced in electrical work and was able to lend a hand in rewiring some of the light fixtures. 
While the group worked at the park, the other two groups worked tirelessly at the PATH houses. The group from Amarillo had brought many tools which greatly aided in hanging drywall and scraping the "popcorn" ceilings free of the growing mold. Our Alaso staff was so impressed by the diligence of these teenagers and their willingness to serve so selflessly on their Spring Break. Thursday we would be serving on the YWAM base and we could tell the students were looking forward to what lay ahead for us there. |
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Last Updated on Friday, 09 April 2010 21:36 |
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As mentioned in the previous post, Jonny and Arielle took charge of a group of students and their leaders who had come to YWAM Tyler for their Spring Break. Their desire was to serve our campus and the city of Tyler, and we had a busy week laid out for them. This group consisted of 17 students and four youth leaders from the Oklahoma church, Servant's Heart Fellowship. 
On Monday, March 15, we drove the students to an old Post Office now housing the East Texas Rescue Mission for men. Several tasks lay ahead of us that day: cleaning the center, organizing a clothing room, sanitizing mattresses, and preparing lunch for over 100 people. Wasting no time, the students spread out through the building, sorting men's clothing, cooking meat and soup in the kitchen, or picking up bottles of sanitizer. A couple hours later, a delicious lunch was served consisting of soup, turkey, carrots, and bread. It was quickly consumed by the hungry students and members of the Mission. After lunch we went to work organizing a storage attic full to overflowing with bags of men's, women's, and children's clothing, toys, and miscellaneous items. The director of the Mission shared that 500+ meals are served every day to men and women of the Tyler area. Some men are permanent residents while others only come for a shower, a hot meal, and a place to sleep for the night. The permanent residents are part of a year-long discipleship program that the Mission offers. One program attendee, Tony, explained that while he had been in the program for nine months, some men leave the Mission soon after starting the discipleship classes, either preferring the life they had on the streets or because they are too addicted to some substance to stay committed. 
Once they have had a chance to clean up, a chapel service is given each night at the Mission, ministering to the men who live on the streets of Tyler. The services each night are given by a different preacher from the Tyler church community. Upon hearing this, we were greatly encouraged, realizing that the church is aiding these men in their places of need, both spiritually and physically. To learn more about the East Texas Rescue Mission, follow this link: http://www.etrescuemission.org/ |
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Last Updated on Friday, 09 April 2010 19:08 |
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