Crazy Summer

Wow, two months since my last post. Wanna know why? This has been the craziest summer on record--big highs and some major lows:

- Our church got an intern. Finally, someone who's in their 20's and single on the OBX! Christa, you rock!
- I helped out with my home church's mission week, Highland Service Project. I got to serve with people who were youth when I was their youth leader. There's nothing cooler than that!
- My cousin, Jonathan, was killed in a car accident that week.
- Christa and I rescued three girls from Kyrgyzstan from an abysmal living and working condition here on the OBX. Nothing like social justice in action! We were able to find them places to stay (though two ended up returning home), and we found the other one two jobs for the remainder of the summer (I work with a ministry, Pathways International, who reaches out to the 2800 international college students who come to the OBX every summer). The girls are Muslims, but we were able to share the gospel with them. My hope is that they will soon accept Christ as their Lord and Savior. Turns out that the girls live in the same town as my missionary friend, Kathy, so, she is trying to stay in touch with them when they return home! It's crazy how God brings people together.
- I went back to Raleigh for another mission week with three of my youth.
- I was the recreation leader for VBS.
- I got drop kicked by a 4 year old (actually, that's become a bi-weekly ritual with my buddy, Cooper).
- God reminded me that I am called to resurrection ministry. Sometimes churches can feel spiritually dead, but God has begun to raise mine to life. God's promise, "I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh." (Ezekiel 11:19)
- 10 churches on the OBX came together for a local mission week called Impact Outer Banks. It was AWESOME! Now, we have 80 youth on fire for Jesus in our community, and they are pumped up about going back to school and impacting their campuses. The Christian youth on the OBX are beginning to be known for how they love and serve!
- My youth group is experiencing revival. We led the worship service last week, and our congregation was amazed at their spiritual maturity. We've come a long way in the last 2 years.
- A few of my key adult youth ministry leaders stepped down. :( We're struggling to find adult leadership.
- We are thinking about moving our youth group to the local youth recreation center on Sunday nights, but we still have to get it approved since they usually don't let churches use county buildings. On the bright side, our youth want to start meeting every week instead of every other week. That's HUGE!
- My young adult small group has decided to go retro and take on the Wesleyan model for small groups. That's right, we'll be using the 21 Holy Club accountability questions to guide our discussion. And . . . we've decided we want to meet weekly instead of bi-weekly!
- I got a new roommate, Amber, a few weeks ago. She's called to youth ministry, too, but she is still waiting to find out if she will get a job at one of our local churches. Again . . . hooray for single, 20 somethings on the OBX!
- I'm training for a 50 mile bike ride on September 13th.