I've decided a great conclusion to my summer in Newport is to summarize the experience into three categories: Newport Dictionary, Hoo-Rays and Yea God's. Enjoy!
Newport Dictionary:
*The Newport Dictionary is a compilation of words, phrases, etc. I picked up throughout the summer.
~ Y'ins: a slang term for 'you ones', which is a synonym of ya'll and you guys; as in "What y'ins doing this weekend?" Apparently it's a common term in Pennsylvania too.
~Si'goggled: a combination of side and goggled; meaning crooked or lop-sided; as in "That picture frame is all si'goggled."
~Bless your heart: a phrase used as a buffer after you insult someone; as in "That meal tasted terrible, bless her heart."
~ Sweet Tea: Classic southern drink. We made it every Sunday for dinner. So good!
~ Bleeding: When your neighbor during a card game shows you their cards.
~ As Useless as a Tit on a Boar Hog: Hal Valentine's description of how helpful I was during the ministry days. LOL
~Fixin': 1) to get ready to; as in "I'm so hungry I'm fixin' to faint!" (a direct quote from a Kid's Club kid trying to bribe us to give her snack early, lol) or 2) an assortment; as in "We have salad and all the fixin's"
~Down the road: anywhere from 1 block to 10+ miles
~Tote: a large bin used to store things, like a box
~Bougie: abbreviated from bourgeois; meaning rich people or things; as in "The mayor owns a pretty bougie car." (this isn't actually a Newport term necessarily; Erik said it a lot)
~Mamaw and Papaw: grandma and grandpa, respectively
~D'jeet?: Did you eat? Because if you haven't, any southerner would gladly give you something to fill your belly with.
Hoo-Rays:
*During Club Sunday through Tuesday we had a time for the kid's to give mad props to people who have done cool things throughout the day. We decided to call them Hoo-Ray's after a... ahem... bar and grill in Newport (as if that wasn't enough, to introduce Hoo-Rays on these nights, Daniel impersonated Popcorn Sutton- a recently deceased moonshiner from the area. lol). Anyways, here are my Hoo-Rays from the summer:
~Erik, Brooke and Daniel: These guys were my support system all summer and they were great. There were times when we wanted to choke each other, but for the most part it was a really smooth summer. They did their jobs with excellence and so many participants told me how great they were. I will miss seeing them every day!
~Hal and Debbie Valentine: They offered their home, food, and encouragement to keep us going all summer. I claim them as my surrogate grandparents because they really took care of us.
~Marcie: Funny that I don't even know Marcie's last name. Marcie worked with Hal at Camp Eagle Point and had an amazing testimony- a few months ago her husband left her for another woman, taking just about everything with him. Her house got repossessed in all of that, so she took Hal up on an offer to live at Camp Eagle Point as an intake worker and has been living in a camper since. She really taught me how to be content in any circumstance, trust God through everything, and choose Joy.
~Isaac and Haylee: My two most favorite Kid's Club kids. Brooke and I never figured out how they were related- cousins we think- but they were so spunky and energetic. I thoroughly enjoyed hanging out with them every day.
~Maria, Laura, Hope, Deja, Lindsey: These 5 girls were the ones who latched on to Brooke and I the most at KC. They taught us how to braid with a single strand of yarn, they dyed our hair with Crayola markers (I highly recommend it if you want temporary relief from your boring hair color), they were incredibly helpful in with passing out snacks. They were a lot of fun and I wish I could have spent more one-on-one time with each of them to learn more of their stories.
~ The Dirt Way Kids: This was a group of kids at Kid's Club who were pretty rough around the edges and gave us a difficult time some days, but they were great for two reasons- 1) they owned pigs and 2) they showed me what one on one attention can do for a kid who gets none.
~ Jonny and Mackenzie: also two KC kids. Jonny was the biggest thorn in my side at KC, as in he was the one who sprayed the fire extinguisher at KC. He taught me patience with troublemakers. Mackenzie, Jonny's sister, taught me to invest in instead of get annoyed with the very clingy kids. lol.
~ Jon: Jon was the youth from middle of the summer who came up to me and thanked me for the conversations I had with him. He showed me that in the midst of a difficult situation or when I don't feel like doing anything, I still have a purpose and I still have the responsibility to share Jesus.
~ Week 3: Week 3 was the worst week of the summer. The youth were obstinate and so were the adult leaders, but I learned that even those kinds of people need love and patience just like everyone else.
~Steve Brown and Hurricane Ridge: These guys were an awesome Bluegrass band that played for us every Tuesday night. They were so great- check them out!
Yea God's:
*Yea God's was the time in Club where we shared how we saw the face of God each day. I'm kind of going to modify it and tell you how I saw him work in my life and the lessons he taught me this summer (some painful, but all good). These are in no particular order:
~ Yea God for the beauty of the Smoky Mountains and the breath-taking landscape of Tennessee
~Yea God for the kids at Kid's Club who taught me how to love "the least of these"
~Yea God for reminding me that EVERYONE needs his love and EVERYONE needs to be loved by me- not just those who I think deserve it
~Yea God for giving me the charisma and boldness to briefly share his word with 65+ youth participants and their adult leaders 5 nights a week. Without that opportunity this summer I might not have realized that I really do enjoy teaching others and I want to tell them about the things for which I have a passion (Jesus, health, etc)
~Yea God for putting people in my life to "vision punch" (i.e. correct) me and show me that weeks 7, 8, and 9 deserve the same amount of energy and attention as weeks 1, 2, and 3. To translate that into non-YouthWorks life: I need to work with the same veracity on days when I'm so so tired, angry, annoyed, etc., as those days when I am at 100%.
~ Yea God for placing difficult people in my life to show me that I really did/do think I was/am better than others and that my way was/is best. I've always thought that I was a patient, humble person and I realized this summer that I most certainly was not. I was constantly thinking about a better way to do something and constantly grumbling when something wasn't to my liking. I'm really sorry to say all that because I didn't think I was that type of person. In fact, it hurts my pride to see, in retrospect, that I was like that. This is an area that I am glad came to light now, but one that I desperately need to work on.
~Yea God for teaching me to be content in any circumstance and to choose Joy. This summer, it became very real to me that I can't blame anything or anyone for what happens to me. Like I said above, I spent way too many days this summer complaining about how things didn't go my way. Life is NOT fair and most of the time it doesn't go how I planned it. What's the saying? Life is 10% circumstance and 90% attitude. My attitude needed/needs a big 180.
~Yea God for teaching me to live in the moment and not anticipate the future so much. Yes, it is important to make choices for the future, but that's not what I mean here. I mean that too often I can't wait to get out of my current situation and into the greener grasses of what is coming next. I need to focus on what is happening now and how God can use me now, where I'm at in that moment.
~Yea God for a great support system in my family and with Brian, who were willing to listen to me complain. lol.
I'm sure there will be other lessons and such that God will reveal to me later as I look back on this summer. It was most definitely a challenging summer and sometimes I hated it. But God is made perfect in our weaknesses and we are commanded to consider it pure Joy when we have such experiences. Besides, I feel like I can conquer the world now that I've made it through a YouthWorks summer in Newport, TN. :) As difficult as this summer was, I needed it. Please keep praying for me as I jump back into the real world and continue to wrestle with all that happened this summer.Thanks!
I suppose that's it. I've been working on this post for three days. lol. It's time to put it up now.
~Sarah Jane Scott
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Friday, August 5, 2011
DONEEEE
Another week ends- the FINAL week ends! Holy cow. I can't really say this summer went by fast, but it go by at a reasonable pace. I'll let you know my thoughts on the summer in a later blog. As for this week, highlights include:
- A group from Michigan! They were loud and silly, but fun. Their leader also encouraged me with my speaking skills. He said I had a gift for public speaking and teaching and that I should use that in my future!
- Last week, we had 17 people either vomit or get nauseous between Tuesday night and Friday morning. This week the same thing happened. Between Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, 5 people threw up. By the end of the week, more than 10 people got sick. It's so bizarre and we can't figure out what caused it because we've done the same thing every week. Nothing was different between this week, last week and all the other weeks. Bizarre.
- Kid's Club went surprisingly well every day except Monday, but the kids are always wound up on Mondays. Thursday we threw a big party for the kids with homemade pinatas, a cake walk (with fun prizes instead of cake), pizza and free school supplies. We had been warned by our Area Director (who had been on staff in Newport in 2009) that the kids go CRAZY on Thursday because it's the last day. Surprisingly, though, the kids handled the last day very well. They were occupied the whole time and the only chaotic part was handing out the school supplies because they all wanted the at the same time.
- During Club on Wednesdays, we do a skit to show off the shirts we sell at the end of the week and this Wednesday we let two of the most outgoing adult leaders do the skit for us. It was interesting... well interesting might be an overstatement. It was like watching an awkward episode of The Office. Sometimes I don't think people ever get filters. It was uncomfortable all around- I'll just leave it at that.
- Thursday evening, we had our very last community cookout. It was royally sad. My favorite girls were there and it was a little difficult to finally say goodbye- especially after they gave Brooke and I bracelets. My other two favorite kids, Isaac and Kaylee were also there and we hung out almost the entire time. We ran through dirt piles together. I'd love to adopt these kids.
- This morning a group of 8 from Asheville decided to leave late to help us transport all our stuff out to Hal's barn for storage. Once everything was packed in their mini- bus, it only took us 45 minutes to get to Hal's, unload and get back to the church so they could leave. To put this into perspective, with just our van and car, it took us 3 trips out to Hal's at the beginning of the summer- probably around 3 hours. Having this group stay behind to help was a HUGE blessing.
Tonight we are hanging at Hal's house for the night as part of our goodbye. Currently we're watching Shark Week (!), but soon we'll be watching Prince of Egypt. We've all been craving PoE since this morning (the soundtrack was part of our wake up playlist this morning). Tomorrow we unload the very last bit of our supplies into Hal's barn and then... I dunno. We don't have to prepare for another week or anything. We just have to get ready to go back to Birmingham for Exit RAMP. We leave for Exit RAMP Sunday after church and are there until Tuesday morning. Daniel and I are driving up to Indiana together- he lives a few miles down the road from my good friend, Allison, from Taylor whom I'm staying with Tuesday night.
I am soooo excited to go home. I have a list of things I want to do when I get there and I can't wait to do them. Please pray for safety on the way home and that we'll all get plenty of rest when we get there. Thanks!
~Sarah
- A group from Michigan! They were loud and silly, but fun. Their leader also encouraged me with my speaking skills. He said I had a gift for public speaking and teaching and that I should use that in my future!
- Last week, we had 17 people either vomit or get nauseous between Tuesday night and Friday morning. This week the same thing happened. Between Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, 5 people threw up. By the end of the week, more than 10 people got sick. It's so bizarre and we can't figure out what caused it because we've done the same thing every week. Nothing was different between this week, last week and all the other weeks. Bizarre.
- Kid's Club went surprisingly well every day except Monday, but the kids are always wound up on Mondays. Thursday we threw a big party for the kids with homemade pinatas, a cake walk (with fun prizes instead of cake), pizza and free school supplies. We had been warned by our Area Director (who had been on staff in Newport in 2009) that the kids go CRAZY on Thursday because it's the last day. Surprisingly, though, the kids handled the last day very well. They were occupied the whole time and the only chaotic part was handing out the school supplies because they all wanted the at the same time.
- During Club on Wednesdays, we do a skit to show off the shirts we sell at the end of the week and this Wednesday we let two of the most outgoing adult leaders do the skit for us. It was interesting... well interesting might be an overstatement. It was like watching an awkward episode of The Office. Sometimes I don't think people ever get filters. It was uncomfortable all around- I'll just leave it at that.
- Thursday evening, we had our very last community cookout. It was royally sad. My favorite girls were there and it was a little difficult to finally say goodbye- especially after they gave Brooke and I bracelets. My other two favorite kids, Isaac and Kaylee were also there and we hung out almost the entire time. We ran through dirt piles together. I'd love to adopt these kids.
- This morning a group of 8 from Asheville decided to leave late to help us transport all our stuff out to Hal's barn for storage. Once everything was packed in their mini- bus, it only took us 45 minutes to get to Hal's, unload and get back to the church so they could leave. To put this into perspective, with just our van and car, it took us 3 trips out to Hal's at the beginning of the summer- probably around 3 hours. Having this group stay behind to help was a HUGE blessing.
Tonight we are hanging at Hal's house for the night as part of our goodbye. Currently we're watching Shark Week (!), but soon we'll be watching Prince of Egypt. We've all been craving PoE since this morning (the soundtrack was part of our wake up playlist this morning). Tomorrow we unload the very last bit of our supplies into Hal's barn and then... I dunno. We don't have to prepare for another week or anything. We just have to get ready to go back to Birmingham for Exit RAMP. We leave for Exit RAMP Sunday after church and are there until Tuesday morning. Daniel and I are driving up to Indiana together- he lives a few miles down the road from my good friend, Allison, from Taylor whom I'm staying with Tuesday night.
I am soooo excited to go home. I have a list of things I want to do when I get there and I can't wait to do them. Please pray for safety on the way home and that we'll all get plenty of rest when we get there. Thanks!
~Sarah
Friday, July 29, 2011
Oh my gosh- ONE MORE WEEK LEFFFFFT. This is crazy. All sorts of emotions happening. For one, I am very ready to go home and see everyone back home, sleep in my own bed, eat something other than pasta and tacos and pizza, sleeeeeeeep as long as I want to... you know that kind of stuff. But at the same time, I've really grown to love this place- I love love love a handful of kids at Kid's Club, I love love love the community members I've met and I really enjoy the small town feel here. Next week is going to be weird.
Highlights from this week:
- Last Saturday, Brooke and I took a church member up on his offer to take us all fishing. Daniel and Erik were too lame to come or something, so it was just the two of us. It was most fantastic- Dale showed us around the ginormous Douglas Lake and all the giant houses built along it. They were beautiful! Then the four of us went to see Captain America in Morristown- it was a really great movie. Probs the best superhero movie thus far.
- Sunday, we found out we had more high schoolers than middle schoolers. This may not seem like a big deal, but difference between the maturity level and willingness to serve of the two is huge.
- Monday, I was able to go out to Camp Eagle Point- the ministry our friend Hal runs. It was really great to talk with him and his co-worker, Marcie just about how the summer's winding down. Also Monday, we had to cancel our evening hike due to thunderstorms, so we played Minute- to- Win- It games. It turned out pretty decent- with more planning it woulda been better, but the youth enjoyed it.
-I also received a package of goodies from Terri Clark, my mom's cousin!
- At 4 o'clock Wednesday morning, I woke up to use the restroom and a participant had just thrown up. Turns out 5 youth had thrown up during the night and 5 more were feeling queezy that Wednesday morning. They ended up sort of quarantined for the day so they could recover and the rest of us bleached and Lysoled every room we used and every surface we touched. The church seriously smelled like a Lysol bomb went off or something. We ended up canceling work projects and Kid's Club so as not to spread the virus and took the healthy youth to the park for some fresh air. The rest of the afternoon until dinner, we just hung out and watched movies. It really was a fantastic break from the monotony of the typical YW Tuesdays. I took a nap and it wasn't a big deal! After dinner we proceeded with the normal activities, but all of us staff moved out of the church to the house to avoid getting sick. Unfortunately, Brooke and I did end up with some stomach cramps and headaches.
- Thursday we went back to our normal schedule, but there were still 10 or so who stayed back at the church (some who were sick Wednesday and some who were new to the virus). Brooke and I were still feeling pretty rotten Thursday, but we made it through the day.
- The best part about the whole week was that EVERYONE had a fantastic attitude. I decided this week that it the week depends heavily on the attitude of adult leaders. The leaders this week were fan-freakin-tastic and were joyful and wonderful. They were incredibly encouraging to us and totally vision punched their youth about ministry and service. Therefore the youth were wonderful as well. They understood that they were here to serve the community and that was such a relief for us.
- Tonight Brooke and I invited 5 of the older girls from Kid's Club over to the church for a sleep over. Right now they're watching I am Number Four and later, hopefully, they'll sleep. haha. Should be a good time either way.
That's it. This week was way out of the norm, but it was a wonderful week. Keep praying for us- we have ONE MORE WEEK! and then we pack everything up, head to Birmingham for a few days and then go home! Huzzah!
~Sarah
Highlights from this week:
- Last Saturday, Brooke and I took a church member up on his offer to take us all fishing. Daniel and Erik were too lame to come or something, so it was just the two of us. It was most fantastic- Dale showed us around the ginormous Douglas Lake and all the giant houses built along it. They were beautiful! Then the four of us went to see Captain America in Morristown- it was a really great movie. Probs the best superhero movie thus far.
- Sunday, we found out we had more high schoolers than middle schoolers. This may not seem like a big deal, but difference between the maturity level and willingness to serve of the two is huge.
- Monday, I was able to go out to Camp Eagle Point- the ministry our friend Hal runs. It was really great to talk with him and his co-worker, Marcie just about how the summer's winding down. Also Monday, we had to cancel our evening hike due to thunderstorms, so we played Minute- to- Win- It games. It turned out pretty decent- with more planning it woulda been better, but the youth enjoyed it.
-I also received a package of goodies from Terri Clark, my mom's cousin!
- At 4 o'clock Wednesday morning, I woke up to use the restroom and a participant had just thrown up. Turns out 5 youth had thrown up during the night and 5 more were feeling queezy that Wednesday morning. They ended up sort of quarantined for the day so they could recover and the rest of us bleached and Lysoled every room we used and every surface we touched. The church seriously smelled like a Lysol bomb went off or something. We ended up canceling work projects and Kid's Club so as not to spread the virus and took the healthy youth to the park for some fresh air. The rest of the afternoon until dinner, we just hung out and watched movies. It really was a fantastic break from the monotony of the typical YW Tuesdays. I took a nap and it wasn't a big deal! After dinner we proceeded with the normal activities, but all of us staff moved out of the church to the house to avoid getting sick. Unfortunately, Brooke and I did end up with some stomach cramps and headaches.
- Thursday we went back to our normal schedule, but there were still 10 or so who stayed back at the church (some who were sick Wednesday and some who were new to the virus). Brooke and I were still feeling pretty rotten Thursday, but we made it through the day.
- The best part about the whole week was that EVERYONE had a fantastic attitude. I decided this week that it the week depends heavily on the attitude of adult leaders. The leaders this week were fan-freakin-tastic and were joyful and wonderful. They were incredibly encouraging to us and totally vision punched their youth about ministry and service. Therefore the youth were wonderful as well. They understood that they were here to serve the community and that was such a relief for us.
- Tonight Brooke and I invited 5 of the older girls from Kid's Club over to the church for a sleep over. Right now they're watching I am Number Four and later, hopefully, they'll sleep. haha. Should be a good time either way.
That's it. This week was way out of the norm, but it was a wonderful week. Keep praying for us- we have ONE MORE WEEK! and then we pack everything up, head to Birmingham for a few days and then go home! Huzzah!
~Sarah
Friday, July 22, 2011
Week 7
Highlights:
- I stayed at Kid's Club all week to help Brooke out. It went really well because while Brooke was giving the adult leaders the run down of the day, I was able to help the youth plan their activities for KC. KC was a lot more organized and the first three days went really well (relatively. I mean KC will always be a lot chaotic; it just seemed to be organized chaos this time.)
Unfortunately, Thursday was rough- as it always goes. We have water day every Thursday and it just is never planned well and the kids are used to it being a free day so they tend to be nuts. In the first half hour I took a kid home because he was constantly disrespecting the facility after multiple warnings to stop.
Then, as I was in the kitchen chopping up watermelon with one of the older girls (she's Julia's age), a youth came in to tell me Brooke was looking for me. I found her in the storage room with Quinton, whose 6 and who had a huge gash in his foot because the door scraped it. She needed help cleaning it up. So I left her to find some peroxide and gauze and tell Laura, the girl in the kitchen to clean up the watermelon. As I was headed toward the kitchen, another youth came up to me to tell me that Jonny, another KC kid unpinned the fire extinguisher in the stairwell and sprayed it all over. All that happened in a matter of 2 minutes. Good grief. You can't do much when that happens but laugh.
- Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday I felt much more energetic and open to the youth and adult leaders than last week. In fact, I had a lot of conversations with both. At the end of the week, though, I was told that people still noticed that I was tired. I'm royally frustrated by the comment because I really thought I was energetic. Perhaps I shouldn't be honest when adult leaders ask if I'm tired or if the summer wears me out. Or maybe I should just fake smile all the time because my neutral face must look tired, or maybe I should always be active because the moment I sit down I put on my neutral face and I stare off into space, or maybe I should just go home. [insert grumpy frown face].
Earlier today we went out to eat with Edwin, our main contact at the church and I got to hang out at the end of the table with his 3 adorable kids. They were hilarious and kept me quite entertained. Although Lucy, the 5 year old, said "Guess what?" to me and I responded with "Chicken butt" and I think I started something bad. I don't think they're allowed to say stuff like that. oops. Now we're at Hal's farm hanging out and vegging for the evening. We're all tired and pretty whipped today. Hal's is the perfect place for internet, big screen TV and some TLC. Tomorrow we're probs going fishing with a church member and then just hanging out for the rest of the day. We need a break.
That's it. Honestly, I'm ready to come home. I may or may not even be more excited about starting school again than finishing this summer. No, maybe not. But I do want to see everyone back home real bad. Please keep praying for us this summer. One of us in particular has an attitude that's bringing us all down. Plus pray that Kid's Club continues to improve, or just that we'll even have hair left at the end of the summer. And definitely pray that the next two weeks of youth coming in will have open minds and servant hearts and that the adult leaders have the same. Thanks!
~Sarah
LABC
Attn: Sarah Scott
234 Lincoln Ave
Newport, TN 37821
- I stayed at Kid's Club all week to help Brooke out. It went really well because while Brooke was giving the adult leaders the run down of the day, I was able to help the youth plan their activities for KC. KC was a lot more organized and the first three days went really well (relatively. I mean KC will always be a lot chaotic; it just seemed to be organized chaos this time.)
Unfortunately, Thursday was rough- as it always goes. We have water day every Thursday and it just is never planned well and the kids are used to it being a free day so they tend to be nuts. In the first half hour I took a kid home because he was constantly disrespecting the facility after multiple warnings to stop.
Then, as I was in the kitchen chopping up watermelon with one of the older girls (she's Julia's age), a youth came in to tell me Brooke was looking for me. I found her in the storage room with Quinton, whose 6 and who had a huge gash in his foot because the door scraped it. She needed help cleaning it up. So I left her to find some peroxide and gauze and tell Laura, the girl in the kitchen to clean up the watermelon. As I was headed toward the kitchen, another youth came up to me to tell me that Jonny, another KC kid unpinned the fire extinguisher in the stairwell and sprayed it all over. All that happened in a matter of 2 minutes. Good grief. You can't do much when that happens but laugh.
- Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday I felt much more energetic and open to the youth and adult leaders than last week. In fact, I had a lot of conversations with both. At the end of the week, though, I was told that people still noticed that I was tired. I'm royally frustrated by the comment because I really thought I was energetic. Perhaps I shouldn't be honest when adult leaders ask if I'm tired or if the summer wears me out. Or maybe I should just fake smile all the time because my neutral face must look tired, or maybe I should always be active because the moment I sit down I put on my neutral face and I stare off into space, or maybe I should just go home. [insert grumpy frown face].
Earlier today we went out to eat with Edwin, our main contact at the church and I got to hang out at the end of the table with his 3 adorable kids. They were hilarious and kept me quite entertained. Although Lucy, the 5 year old, said "Guess what?" to me and I responded with "Chicken butt" and I think I started something bad. I don't think they're allowed to say stuff like that. oops. Now we're at Hal's farm hanging out and vegging for the evening. We're all tired and pretty whipped today. Hal's is the perfect place for internet, big screen TV and some TLC. Tomorrow we're probs going fishing with a church member and then just hanging out for the rest of the day. We need a break.
That's it. Honestly, I'm ready to come home. I may or may not even be more excited about starting school again than finishing this summer. No, maybe not. But I do want to see everyone back home real bad. Please keep praying for us this summer. One of us in particular has an attitude that's bringing us all down. Plus pray that Kid's Club continues to improve, or just that we'll even have hair left at the end of the summer. And definitely pray that the next two weeks of youth coming in will have open minds and servant hearts and that the adult leaders have the same. Thanks!
~Sarah
LABC
Attn: Sarah Scott
234 Lincoln Ave
Newport, TN 37821
Friday, July 15, 2011
Hello from North Carolina!
Yep, we've taken a break from Newport and headed to Taylorsville, NC to hangout with one of our sister sites for the night and then tomorrow we're going to see the final installment of the fabulous Harry Potter series! So excited! Anyways, it's great to be around fellow YW staff and swap stories and realize that we're all going through the same stuff.
This past week was a little rough. Part of it was because the kids were very young- almost all of them were going into 7th, 8th and 9th grade and only a handful were Juniors and Seniors or just graduated. It's so hard to help 12 and 13 year olds understand what service without complaining is.
Most of the problem this week, though, was that I was (am?) burned out. It's getting to the point in the summer where I feel like I'm repeating the same things over and over- I mean, I am repeating things over and over- I was (am?) just a little tired of it all. Thankfully, my site director and area director were able to give some encouragement and vision punch us. We were reminded that weeks 6,7,8, and 9 need to be as energetic as weeks 1 and 2. Man, that's hard. But I know that with God all things are possible.
Also this week, three people went home early. One woman had anxiety real bad and her son was very obstinate and after discussion realized it would be better to go back home. They left on Tuesday. The third was a youth, Jared, with whom I really had some good conversations, but who knew how to push the right buttons too far. I only saw him lose his temper once during 4-square, but apparently there was a lot more happening during the week. He ended up taking a flight home Thursday morning.
Half way through the week, Jess, our AD, read us an article about how much the church is missing the point of serving our communities. We try so hard to make church hip and use the best technology and cater to the cool crowd, yet we tend to shut out those who need church the most- those who are not hip and cool. And she related it to how we run our YW sites. This week we had two youth who were very difficult to handle leave and many more difficult ones stay. They are the reason we are here- not exclusively for the cool and hip youth, but to love and serve those who are a handful. It really convicted me because my attitude this week towards these youngins was really sour. I owned up to it, but my fellow staff members and even the adult leaders noticed that I was dragging and annoyed some of the time. I realized that it's not acceptable to excuse myself because this was week 6 and we've been going full steam for 8 weeks and it's not acceptable to blame the youth, my staff or adult leaders or any other circumstance. Like I said, the youth at the end of the summer deserve the same energy and love from us as the youth at the beginning of the summer.
Other highlights from this week:
- It was HOT this week and the air conditioning stopped working in some of the rooms.
- Thursday afternoon for Kid's Club we took the kids to the park down the road and Brooke and I got burnt real bad. I can't wait for the skin to start peeling off in a week or two...
- Thursday night was the most emotionally difficult club for me yet. Before we even finished worship, the kids were sobbing. Then one of them, Jon- with whom I had a great conversation with earlier that day, came up to me and thanked me for all I've done that week. And then he told me that he realized that Jesus really is just waiting for him with his arms wide open. I did not know how to respond so I fumbled my way through a "you're welcome. I'm glad you came this week." But it just added to the conviction from earlier this week that I am here to serve Christ by serving these youth.
Prayer requests:
-Energy, attitude and resistance to burnout. I still feel pretty whipped and I'm still ready to go home, but I know I'm here for three more weeks and I need God to shore me up a lot.
- The next three weeks we have 73, 75 and 68 participants coming and it has the potential to be good... or terrible. I'm a little scared. lol.
- Decisions about grad school, work, living situations, etc. for the fall.
Thanks so much everyone!
~Sarah
LABC
Attn: Sarah Scott
234 Lincoln Ave
Newport, TN 37821
This past week was a little rough. Part of it was because the kids were very young- almost all of them were going into 7th, 8th and 9th grade and only a handful were Juniors and Seniors or just graduated. It's so hard to help 12 and 13 year olds understand what service without complaining is.
Most of the problem this week, though, was that I was (am?) burned out. It's getting to the point in the summer where I feel like I'm repeating the same things over and over- I mean, I am repeating things over and over- I was (am?) just a little tired of it all. Thankfully, my site director and area director were able to give some encouragement and vision punch us. We were reminded that weeks 6,7,8, and 9 need to be as energetic as weeks 1 and 2. Man, that's hard. But I know that with God all things are possible.
Also this week, three people went home early. One woman had anxiety real bad and her son was very obstinate and after discussion realized it would be better to go back home. They left on Tuesday. The third was a youth, Jared, with whom I really had some good conversations, but who knew how to push the right buttons too far. I only saw him lose his temper once during 4-square, but apparently there was a lot more happening during the week. He ended up taking a flight home Thursday morning.
Half way through the week, Jess, our AD, read us an article about how much the church is missing the point of serving our communities. We try so hard to make church hip and use the best technology and cater to the cool crowd, yet we tend to shut out those who need church the most- those who are not hip and cool. And she related it to how we run our YW sites. This week we had two youth who were very difficult to handle leave and many more difficult ones stay. They are the reason we are here- not exclusively for the cool and hip youth, but to love and serve those who are a handful. It really convicted me because my attitude this week towards these youngins was really sour. I owned up to it, but my fellow staff members and even the adult leaders noticed that I was dragging and annoyed some of the time. I realized that it's not acceptable to excuse myself because this was week 6 and we've been going full steam for 8 weeks and it's not acceptable to blame the youth, my staff or adult leaders or any other circumstance. Like I said, the youth at the end of the summer deserve the same energy and love from us as the youth at the beginning of the summer.
Other highlights from this week:
- It was HOT this week and the air conditioning stopped working in some of the rooms.
- Thursday afternoon for Kid's Club we took the kids to the park down the road and Brooke and I got burnt real bad. I can't wait for the skin to start peeling off in a week or two...
- Thursday night was the most emotionally difficult club for me yet. Before we even finished worship, the kids were sobbing. Then one of them, Jon- with whom I had a great conversation with earlier that day, came up to me and thanked me for all I've done that week. And then he told me that he realized that Jesus really is just waiting for him with his arms wide open. I did not know how to respond so I fumbled my way through a "you're welcome. I'm glad you came this week." But it just added to the conviction from earlier this week that I am here to serve Christ by serving these youth.
Prayer requests:
-Energy, attitude and resistance to burnout. I still feel pretty whipped and I'm still ready to go home, but I know I'm here for three more weeks and I need God to shore me up a lot.
- The next three weeks we have 73, 75 and 68 participants coming and it has the potential to be good... or terrible. I'm a little scared. lol.
- Decisions about grad school, work, living situations, etc. for the fall.
Thanks so much everyone!
~Sarah
LABC
Attn: Sarah Scott
234 Lincoln Ave
Newport, TN 37821
Friday, July 8, 2011
Hokay, so this past week was AMAZING. It helped me seriously enjoy what I am doing this summer. Not only did just about everything go smoothly and on time, but the attitudes of the groups really made the difference. They were super energetic (e.g. starting dance parties in the Sonic parking lot), but still laid back and their attitudes were great.
Highlights:
1) Only 12 kids at Kid's Club on Monday- by far the best Kid's Club this summer.
2) 30 kids at Kid's Club on Tuesday- the worst day at Kid's Club in almost three weeks- they were all so wound up and cranky from staying up too late during the 4th of July holiday. One kid had to sit out for 25 minutes because he was just not listening.
3) The participants were so energetic at the bluegrass concert Tuesday that we barely had to get them up and dancing. Let me tell ya- that makes our job so much more enjoyable :)
4) Wednesday I went with a group to Habitat for Humanity ReStore and listened to a lady talk about the tornado that ripped through here in April- she was thrown 9 feet from her house, but wasn't seriously hurt and her car was completely totaled. However, all of her plant pots on her porch went untouched. God displays so much power, yet almost gentleness during tornadoes. It's just amazing.
5) Also Wednesday we had an awesome dance party in the Sonic parking lot with our favorite waitress, Katie!
6) Interesting conversations with adult leaders about different beliefs and stuff.
7) Maria and Hope (two of my favorite Kid's Club kids) decided to play with my hair on Thursday- by play with my hair I mean color it with Crayola markers and braid beads through it. It. was. awesome. Brooke's looked even better because she has blonde hair.
8) The adult leaders gave us a lot of encouragement this week- which is a nice ego booster, but really, it was all Jesus. There was no way we could have done it without him re-energizing us and sending great people our way.
Prayer Requests:
- my family and situations going on back home
- Grandpa Paul's recovery
- Rest this weekend
- Amazing groups for the rest of the summer
Love all of you! Thanks so much for your prayers and encouragement. Please keep sending them!
~Sarah
LABC
Attn: Sarah Scott
234 Lincoln Ave
Newport, TN 37821
Highlights:
1) Only 12 kids at Kid's Club on Monday- by far the best Kid's Club this summer.
2) 30 kids at Kid's Club on Tuesday- the worst day at Kid's Club in almost three weeks- they were all so wound up and cranky from staying up too late during the 4th of July holiday. One kid had to sit out for 25 minutes because he was just not listening.
3) The participants were so energetic at the bluegrass concert Tuesday that we barely had to get them up and dancing. Let me tell ya- that makes our job so much more enjoyable :)
4) Wednesday I went with a group to Habitat for Humanity ReStore and listened to a lady talk about the tornado that ripped through here in April- she was thrown 9 feet from her house, but wasn't seriously hurt and her car was completely totaled. However, all of her plant pots on her porch went untouched. God displays so much power, yet almost gentleness during tornadoes. It's just amazing.
5) Also Wednesday we had an awesome dance party in the Sonic parking lot with our favorite waitress, Katie!
6) Interesting conversations with adult leaders about different beliefs and stuff.
7) Maria and Hope (two of my favorite Kid's Club kids) decided to play with my hair on Thursday- by play with my hair I mean color it with Crayola markers and braid beads through it. It. was. awesome. Brooke's looked even better because she has blonde hair.
8) The adult leaders gave us a lot of encouragement this week- which is a nice ego booster, but really, it was all Jesus. There was no way we could have done it without him re-energizing us and sending great people our way.
Prayer Requests:
- my family and situations going on back home
- Grandpa Paul's recovery
- Rest this weekend
- Amazing groups for the rest of the summer
Love all of you! Thanks so much for your prayers and encouragement. Please keep sending them!
~Sarah
LABC
Attn: Sarah Scott
234 Lincoln Ave
Newport, TN 37821
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Another Week Gone By
Good morning everyone! It is the ripe hour of 6:30 AM here in Dandridge, TN. Yep, Dandridge, TN- not Newport. Our good friend Hal Valentine and his wife, Debbie, are out camping for the 4th of July weekend and they've asked us to farm sit/ feed the animals til Sunday evening. Let me tell you, it is most fantastic. These people are a prime example of a typical Tennesseean farm- out in the middle of Nowhereton, in beautiful rolling hills (that just look AMAZING when the sun is coming up), with three dogs and horses, a dozen turkeys and cats and more chickens than you can count. And all of them but the horses roam the property freely. The only parts I dislike are 1) I forgot tennis shoes, so there isn't much protection against chicken poop- lol (but the dew felt real nice on my feet this morning) and 2) They own a Bantie (banty?) rooster that thinks he's bigger stuff than he really is and also thinks that crowing outside the front door with his ultra wimpy cock-a-doodle-do is a good idea. I told him to hush talk when I walked out the door- but really he just wanted to remind me to let his harem out of their roost because I haven't heard him since I did that.........and the dog just came in the doggy door all muddy :/ LOL
Anyways.... this week was a much better week. We had three church groups that were for the most part excellent workers and had great attitudes all week. One group had been to Newport two years ago and a couple of the youth were really excited to see how different everything was, in part because of what they did two years ago (e.g. a thrift store that was in shambles two years ago was much more organized and functional this year, and that helped them understand how much their work actually impacts the community... if that makes sense).
A couple of highlights in the order in which they enter my mind:
- BRIAN IS VISITING THIS WEEKEND!!! We haven't seen each other in 7 weeks (I know, not a long time span for some) and it is such a blessing to have him here (and have a face-to-face conversation instead of one over the phone. lol.)
-Also! Aunt Judy and Uncle John are stopping by today and tomorrow to visit! We're going to catch up with them today and maybe drag them along to some fireworks tonight and then they're going to church with us tomorrow. :)
- The energy and attitude of this group was refreshing and made me actually enjoy what I'm doing this summer; the adult leaders were fantastic and encouraging to all of us on staff and I actually wanted to build relationships with the participants.
- We had a severe peanut allergy and a mild egg allergy (the same girl) this week, but we muddled through feeding everyone with no problems (and I learned that you can substitute applesauce for eggs).
- Taking a nap on my Wednesday afternoon breaks is a bad idea- I wake up more groggy and grumpy than before.
- The transmission on our van was going south, so we had to take it in, therefore losing the use of our biggest vehicle. Then Thursday evening, our rental car got clipped- thankfully it was still drivable and we were able to trade it for free.
- Our 5th staff member, Erin, was reassigned to another site :( She was a utility staff (basically a YouthWorks float- she went where help was needed), but she was with us for 3 weeks and we royally miss her. Where the four of us permanent staff are energetic and sometimes complainy about the way the week is going, she was gentle and often reminded us why we are here.
- Sometimes church groups really do NOT believe the same things we do- or seem to have VERY different doctrine and interpretations of the Bible (e.g. Jesus isn't the only way to heaven). I know that those groups have every right to be at YW, but it is difficult to grasp because some of those things are fundamental beliefs about God.
-The week started off with about 5 different curve balls, but instead of freaking out too much, I prayed and God delivered.
- Club and my club talks are getting A LOT better. We had mid-summer evaluations this week and my Site Director (boss) told me he's really enjoyed seeing me grow in that area. But I also learned that I really need to write things down because I forget to do them and I need to learn to communicate better. bah.
-We had a little girl come to Kid's Club this week with lice. We checked all the participants' hair and our own and so far only Brooke (our KC staff) and I have found questionable things in our hair. Don't worry, we've bought the shampoo and are continually checking our hair. It's kinda gross, but whatevs. It happens.
A few prayer requests:
- my grandpa is in the hospital and my great aunt is recovering from surgery
- The family I talked about a few weeks ago (Brittany, Skylar and Jesse) moved out of the area. They were definitely the most difficult kids to deal with and I don't miss the chaos they brought with them, but they did have a place in our hearts because they need Jesus so bad. Please keep praying for them even though they won't be coming any more.
-Austin, the kid who brought marijuana to KC, was put on a one week probation last week, and he was allowed to come back this week. He was devastated when we told him he couldn't come for a week, but this week he did so well and was so much more cooperative.
-Rest this weekend as we're coming off from this week and are preparing for next week.
Hokay, that's all for now. My body is telling me it needs more sleep and I want to squeeze in some more z's before the guys come in a few hours for breakfast (they slept back at the house in Newport, while Brooke and I managed the farm). Thank you so much for all your support and prayers! We still need them, but God is working so much in our lives and in this community!
Blessings,
~Sarah
Anyways.... this week was a much better week. We had three church groups that were for the most part excellent workers and had great attitudes all week. One group had been to Newport two years ago and a couple of the youth were really excited to see how different everything was, in part because of what they did two years ago (e.g. a thrift store that was in shambles two years ago was much more organized and functional this year, and that helped them understand how much their work actually impacts the community... if that makes sense).
A couple of highlights in the order in which they enter my mind:
- BRIAN IS VISITING THIS WEEKEND!!! We haven't seen each other in 7 weeks (I know, not a long time span for some) and it is such a blessing to have him here (and have a face-to-face conversation instead of one over the phone. lol.)
-Also! Aunt Judy and Uncle John are stopping by today and tomorrow to visit! We're going to catch up with them today and maybe drag them along to some fireworks tonight and then they're going to church with us tomorrow. :)
- The energy and attitude of this group was refreshing and made me actually enjoy what I'm doing this summer; the adult leaders were fantastic and encouraging to all of us on staff and I actually wanted to build relationships with the participants.
- We had a severe peanut allergy and a mild egg allergy (the same girl) this week, but we muddled through feeding everyone with no problems (and I learned that you can substitute applesauce for eggs).
- Taking a nap on my Wednesday afternoon breaks is a bad idea- I wake up more groggy and grumpy than before.
- The transmission on our van was going south, so we had to take it in, therefore losing the use of our biggest vehicle. Then Thursday evening, our rental car got clipped- thankfully it was still drivable and we were able to trade it for free.
- Our 5th staff member, Erin, was reassigned to another site :( She was a utility staff (basically a YouthWorks float- she went where help was needed), but she was with us for 3 weeks and we royally miss her. Where the four of us permanent staff are energetic and sometimes complainy about the way the week is going, she was gentle and often reminded us why we are here.
- Sometimes church groups really do NOT believe the same things we do- or seem to have VERY different doctrine and interpretations of the Bible (e.g. Jesus isn't the only way to heaven). I know that those groups have every right to be at YW, but it is difficult to grasp because some of those things are fundamental beliefs about God.
-The week started off with about 5 different curve balls, but instead of freaking out too much, I prayed and God delivered.
- Club and my club talks are getting A LOT better. We had mid-summer evaluations this week and my Site Director (boss) told me he's really enjoyed seeing me grow in that area. But I also learned that I really need to write things down because I forget to do them and I need to learn to communicate better. bah.
-We had a little girl come to Kid's Club this week with lice. We checked all the participants' hair and our own and so far only Brooke (our KC staff) and I have found questionable things in our hair. Don't worry, we've bought the shampoo and are continually checking our hair. It's kinda gross, but whatevs. It happens.
A few prayer requests:
- my grandpa is in the hospital and my great aunt is recovering from surgery
- The family I talked about a few weeks ago (Brittany, Skylar and Jesse) moved out of the area. They were definitely the most difficult kids to deal with and I don't miss the chaos they brought with them, but they did have a place in our hearts because they need Jesus so bad. Please keep praying for them even though they won't be coming any more.
-Austin, the kid who brought marijuana to KC, was put on a one week probation last week, and he was allowed to come back this week. He was devastated when we told him he couldn't come for a week, but this week he did so well and was so much more cooperative.
-Rest this weekend as we're coming off from this week and are preparing for next week.
Hokay, that's all for now. My body is telling me it needs more sleep and I want to squeeze in some more z's before the guys come in a few hours for breakfast (they slept back at the house in Newport, while Brooke and I managed the farm). Thank you so much for all your support and prayers! We still need them, but God is working so much in our lives and in this community!
Blessings,
~Sarah
Friday, June 24, 2011
Week 3
Tonight (Friday) we are watching How to Train Your Dragon. It's a much needed break after such a rough week here. I could use up the entire allotted blog space to complain about how terrible this week was, how I've had a headache since Tuesday night, and so on, but I really just want to remember the positives and the things I learned from this week/improvements that need to be made, so here goes (it's 10:17 right now, I'll let you know what time it is when I'm done because this might take awhile...)
Positive #1: During Duck, Duck, Goose on Monday, Isaac, this little blonde- haired, blue- eyed 5- year- old whom I adore sooooo much randomly blurted, "I love you!" Made for a swell Monday afternoon.
Positive #2: A one Brian Wybrecht whom I also adore sooooooooo much sent me a letter on Monday!
Positive #3: Amanda May Moore sent me a card on Monday!
Positive #4: I spent an hour or so singing hymns and Christmas songs while Phyllis, a local nursing home patient, played the piano. Phyllis is from Ubly, Michigan but played piano in New York and has paintings in a museum in North Carolina. Her family doesn't visit her that often and she doesn't really like to talk about them.
Positive #5: I realized my accent is all janked up now and I enjoy it.
Lesson #1: Praying for Club as a group is ALWAYS a good idea- especially when your attitude towards the participants stinks.
Lesson #2: When you're dealing with a younger crowd, make everything a competition- especially when vacuuming a large room or sorting clothes at Goodwill.
Lesson #3: Drink plenty of water all day- otherwise you have a headache all week.
Improvement #1: Incorporate staff stories into Club so that the participants can better relate to all of you.
Improvement #2: Monitor portion sizes because younger participants don't understand that one scoop means one scoop, not one and a half or two.
Improvement #3: Do inventory Thursday afternoon- it makes Friday mornings so much easier.
It's 10:56 and I can't come up with anything else. This week was very discouraging, but I realized that it is the small things that just might get me through this summer- like precious 5 year olds and talented 90 somethings and letters from great friends. However, I also realized that I am here not only to serve the community I've grown to love, but I am also here to serve the participants who come. Please continue to pray for rest this weekend, team unity, positive attitudes and joy from the Holy Spirit. We need a lot of prayer especially after this week.
Love ya'll!
Positive #1: During Duck, Duck, Goose on Monday, Isaac, this little blonde- haired, blue- eyed 5- year- old whom I adore sooooo much randomly blurted, "I love you!" Made for a swell Monday afternoon.
Positive #2: A one Brian Wybrecht whom I also adore sooooooooo much sent me a letter on Monday!
Positive #3: Amanda May Moore sent me a card on Monday!
Positive #4: I spent an hour or so singing hymns and Christmas songs while Phyllis, a local nursing home patient, played the piano. Phyllis is from Ubly, Michigan but played piano in New York and has paintings in a museum in North Carolina. Her family doesn't visit her that often and she doesn't really like to talk about them.
Positive #5: I realized my accent is all janked up now and I enjoy it.
Lesson #1: Praying for Club as a group is ALWAYS a good idea- especially when your attitude towards the participants stinks.
Lesson #2: When you're dealing with a younger crowd, make everything a competition- especially when vacuuming a large room or sorting clothes at Goodwill.
Lesson #3: Drink plenty of water all day- otherwise you have a headache all week.
Improvement #1: Incorporate staff stories into Club so that the participants can better relate to all of you.
Improvement #2: Monitor portion sizes because younger participants don't understand that one scoop means one scoop, not one and a half or two.
Improvement #3: Do inventory Thursday afternoon- it makes Friday mornings so much easier.
It's 10:56 and I can't come up with anything else. This week was very discouraging, but I realized that it is the small things that just might get me through this summer- like precious 5 year olds and talented 90 somethings and letters from great friends. However, I also realized that I am here not only to serve the community I've grown to love, but I am also here to serve the participants who come. Please continue to pray for rest this weekend, team unity, positive attitudes and joy from the Holy Spirit. We need a lot of prayer especially after this week.
Love ya'll!
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Highlights from Week 2
This past week was incredible! Somehow with only 5 of us on staff (instead of 13 the week before), we managed to be almost everywhere on time and only had a few minor hiccups- as in we ran out of milk halfway through the week. lol. But now that we've gotten an idea of how the rest of the summer is going to go with just the 5 of us, we know what needs to be done to make the week smoother.
There were several highlights from this week that I wanna share with ya'll (yes, I said ya'll):
We had one particular adult leader that we were very concerned about- she was a little bit spastic and temperamental at times and seemed difficult to handle at times. One of my life motto's though is to "seek to understand, not to be understood" so I took the opportunity to talk with this lady. I learned that while she is a little testy, she's been through a lot and she wasn't really that scary. She also opened her heart to me and shared that, while young kids aren't her specialty, she was incredibly touched by the kids at Kid's Club. God definitely altered my attitude towards her through our conversations and I was given the opportunity to wash her feet and pray for her at our Thursday night footwashing (every Thursday the staff washes the feet of the adult leaders and then the adult leaders wash the feet of the youth in their group).
The aforementioned lady's husband was also on this trip and he was most fantastic with the kids at Kid's Club. He is a huge guy and doesn't take crap from many people, but he's a real gentle guy and just loves on people. My favorite moment of the week was on Thursday afternoon. On Thursdays Kid's Club has "Big Fun Day" and this week it was all water games. Well there are two cousins in particular- Jesse and Austin- who are 12 years old and too old for Kid's Club. They come anyway and cause a lot of trouble. So Thursday we let them stay inside and play basketball with me and Dave (the adult leader) instead of being rowdy with the younger kids. It was going fine until Jesse decided he didn't want to follow the rules and tried to run away. Dave and I finally got him to settle down and Dave just spoke truth into his life- told him we loved him and that if he ever needed to talk that I was here all summer and then he gave Jesse his phone number. It was really great to see how firm Dave was with Jesse and still display Christ's love to him. I really wished Dave could stay the whole summer and just keep building relationships with these two kids because they respected him and he is the kind of role model they need.
One major almost- blessing was that because we were switching churches this weekend, the adult leaders decided they would stay an extra half hour Friday morning to help us move our stuff to Lincoln Avenue Baptist Church (it's only across the street from the other church). Unfortunately, some horrendous looking clouds rolled in and terrified us. I didn't actually see it happen because I was dealing with end of the week evaluations and stuff, but a few people said they saw the clouds rotating a little and both Brooke and Erin came to me all pale faced asking what we do in the case of a tornado. One of the adult leaders is a forestry dude and has to be able to predict weather for his job, so he was able to give us a real synopsis of what was going on in the sky. He said they were just like that because of the way they roll around the mountains. Weather.com didn't say anything about tornadoes either. Regardless, I wish we woulda taken pictures because those were the scariest looking clouds I've ever seen and for about an hour my heart got a pretty decent workout.... All that to say, there was a big storm system moving south of us and the adult leaders decided it was best for their groups to high tail it outta here, so they didn't help us move across the street. womp womp.
On an even more heartbreaking note: I realized this week just how much the kids in this city are hurting. Both Jesse and Austin come from abusive homes- physically, emotionally and sexually. Jesse's 10 year old sister, Brittany, and six year old brother, Skylar, also come to Kid's Club and just run rampant and don't pay attention to anyone. It's really difficult to get all four of these kids to cooperate at once, but we have learned that if Austin, Jesse and Brittany are allowed to help with the younger kids, they seem to work better. The problem is that they deal with their pain in destructive ways- Jesse is pretty big for a 12 year old and will lash out at anyone whenever he's upset; Brittany sasses back A LOT; and we just found out on Thursday that Austin escapes through Marijuana. He's only 12 and he's stealing weed from his aunt almost every Thursday. It just breaks my heart to realize that these kids are going through more crap than I ever will and the chances of them getting out of this cycle is incredibly slim. So please please please be praying for the youth in this city. They need Jesus real bad.
That's pretty much it for this week. God is moving in Newport and it's awesome, but the harvest is ripe. There is so much need here- so please be praying praying praying the city. Also be praying for team unity and rest for all of us this next week. We have 65 or so participants coming and we just moved to a new church, so pray that things go smoothly. Oh! And pray for my throat too- I have to use my "stage voice" every time I talk and I just feel like my throat is going to collapse. Thanks!
I hope this finds you all doing well. I miss you! Feel free to write/ email/ facebook or leave a voicemail on my phone to update me on your life.
~Sarah
Lincoln Avenue Baptist Church
Attn: YouthWorks- Sarah Scott
234 Lincoln Avenue
Newport, TN 37821-4048
There were several highlights from this week that I wanna share with ya'll (yes, I said ya'll):
We had one particular adult leader that we were very concerned about- she was a little bit spastic and temperamental at times and seemed difficult to handle at times. One of my life motto's though is to "seek to understand, not to be understood" so I took the opportunity to talk with this lady. I learned that while she is a little testy, she's been through a lot and she wasn't really that scary. She also opened her heart to me and shared that, while young kids aren't her specialty, she was incredibly touched by the kids at Kid's Club. God definitely altered my attitude towards her through our conversations and I was given the opportunity to wash her feet and pray for her at our Thursday night footwashing (every Thursday the staff washes the feet of the adult leaders and then the adult leaders wash the feet of the youth in their group).
The aforementioned lady's husband was also on this trip and he was most fantastic with the kids at Kid's Club. He is a huge guy and doesn't take crap from many people, but he's a real gentle guy and just loves on people. My favorite moment of the week was on Thursday afternoon. On Thursdays Kid's Club has "Big Fun Day" and this week it was all water games. Well there are two cousins in particular- Jesse and Austin- who are 12 years old and too old for Kid's Club. They come anyway and cause a lot of trouble. So Thursday we let them stay inside and play basketball with me and Dave (the adult leader) instead of being rowdy with the younger kids. It was going fine until Jesse decided he didn't want to follow the rules and tried to run away. Dave and I finally got him to settle down and Dave just spoke truth into his life- told him we loved him and that if he ever needed to talk that I was here all summer and then he gave Jesse his phone number. It was really great to see how firm Dave was with Jesse and still display Christ's love to him. I really wished Dave could stay the whole summer and just keep building relationships with these two kids because they respected him and he is the kind of role model they need.
One major almost- blessing was that because we were switching churches this weekend, the adult leaders decided they would stay an extra half hour Friday morning to help us move our stuff to Lincoln Avenue Baptist Church (it's only across the street from the other church). Unfortunately, some horrendous looking clouds rolled in and terrified us. I didn't actually see it happen because I was dealing with end of the week evaluations and stuff, but a few people said they saw the clouds rotating a little and both Brooke and Erin came to me all pale faced asking what we do in the case of a tornado. One of the adult leaders is a forestry dude and has to be able to predict weather for his job, so he was able to give us a real synopsis of what was going on in the sky. He said they were just like that because of the way they roll around the mountains. Weather.com didn't say anything about tornadoes either. Regardless, I wish we woulda taken pictures because those were the scariest looking clouds I've ever seen and for about an hour my heart got a pretty decent workout.... All that to say, there was a big storm system moving south of us and the adult leaders decided it was best for their groups to high tail it outta here, so they didn't help us move across the street. womp womp.
On an even more heartbreaking note: I realized this week just how much the kids in this city are hurting. Both Jesse and Austin come from abusive homes- physically, emotionally and sexually. Jesse's 10 year old sister, Brittany, and six year old brother, Skylar, also come to Kid's Club and just run rampant and don't pay attention to anyone. It's really difficult to get all four of these kids to cooperate at once, but we have learned that if Austin, Jesse and Brittany are allowed to help with the younger kids, they seem to work better. The problem is that they deal with their pain in destructive ways- Jesse is pretty big for a 12 year old and will lash out at anyone whenever he's upset; Brittany sasses back A LOT; and we just found out on Thursday that Austin escapes through Marijuana. He's only 12 and he's stealing weed from his aunt almost every Thursday. It just breaks my heart to realize that these kids are going through more crap than I ever will and the chances of them getting out of this cycle is incredibly slim. So please please please be praying for the youth in this city. They need Jesus real bad.
That's pretty much it for this week. God is moving in Newport and it's awesome, but the harvest is ripe. There is so much need here- so please be praying praying praying the city. Also be praying for team unity and rest for all of us this next week. We have 65 or so participants coming and we just moved to a new church, so pray that things go smoothly. Oh! And pray for my throat too- I have to use my "stage voice" every time I talk and I just feel like my throat is going to collapse. Thanks!
I hope this finds you all doing well. I miss you! Feel free to write/ email/ facebook or leave a voicemail on my phone to update me on your life.
~Sarah
Lincoln Avenue Baptist Church
Attn: YouthWorks- Sarah Scott
234 Lincoln Avenue
Newport, TN 37821-4048
Saturday, June 11, 2011
One Week Down...
We made it through our very first week with youth! It was incredibly chaotic and quite the learning experience, but it was a whole lot of fun. We were supposed to have 4 churches come, but for various reasons only two could come, so we only had 33 participants. It ended up being somewhat of a blessing because it would have been even more chaotic if all 60-some participants were here. And it would have increased the chances of more people realizing we didn't know what we were doing. lol.
Despite the craziness, the week did go pretty well. Sunday the participants came and we fed them dinner and then split up the youth and the adult leaders for separate orientations. After that we all came together and held Club (kinda like chapel- with skits, announcements, worship and a talk).
On Monday through Thursday, after breakfast and devotions, the youth were split up into groups- half went to 'work projects' and the other half went to 'kids club'. At work projects, they were again split up into two groups- one group went to God's Storehouse, a huge thrift store in town, and they organized shelves and things. The second group went out to our friend Hal's work place. Hal runs a camp/refuge near the mountains for troubled people who need a place to stay until they get their feet on the ground. So the youth helped clear brush and trim bushes around the camp. At kids club, the participants helped run a two- two and a half hour program for kids in the town. They do crafts, skits, music, games and other things for the kids.
In the evenings after dinner, we rounded up the participants for an evening activity- Mondays we took them to Smoky Mtn Nat'l Park for a little site seeing and a hike. Tuesdays we took them out to Hal's actual house and attended a blue grass concert put on by some locals- Hurricane Ridge. Wednesday we took them to another friend's house to swim in Douglas Lake. And Thursday we went to the city park for a community cookout and games and stuff.
After the evening activity each night, we came back to the church for Club. Evening activities and Club are really the two things I'm in charge of, so naturally those were my favorite parts of the day.
It was really great to finally experience a real YouthWorks week instead of just learning and preparing for it. We, the staff, learned so much and have already worked on changes for next week. Plus we have to modify a lot because 2/3 of last week's staff has left to go to their own sites. However, yesterday we picked up another staff person for our site- Erin. She will be with us at least through next week to help us move from First United Methodist, the church we're in now to Lincoln Avenue Baptist, the church across the street (we'll be at LABC for the rest of the summer). After the move she'll stay with us until she is needed at another site (she's kind of a YouthWorks floater).
Anywaysssss... the schedule for the week stays the same throughout the summer, except on Wednesday evenings we'll be at LABC's youth service for the evening activity instead of the lake. I'll definitely keep you guys on highlights of each week
In other news, Erin, Erik, Brooke, Daniel and I went hiking to the waterfall again and saw a mama bear and her cubs!!! It was sooooo awesome! But thankfully they were just far enough away that none of us were mauled or anything.....
Also, everyone makes fun of my 'accent.' lol.
Also- if you want to send mail (which I would LOVEEEEEE) my address here is:
Lincoln Avenue Baptist Church
Attn: YouthWorks- Sarah Scott
234 Lincoln Avenue
Newport, TN 37821-4048
or something to that effect.
Now I am going to go work on some things for next week. I miss you all and I hope this finds you doing well!!
Despite the craziness, the week did go pretty well. Sunday the participants came and we fed them dinner and then split up the youth and the adult leaders for separate orientations. After that we all came together and held Club (kinda like chapel- with skits, announcements, worship and a talk).
On Monday through Thursday, after breakfast and devotions, the youth were split up into groups- half went to 'work projects' and the other half went to 'kids club'. At work projects, they were again split up into two groups- one group went to God's Storehouse, a huge thrift store in town, and they organized shelves and things. The second group went out to our friend Hal's work place. Hal runs a camp/refuge near the mountains for troubled people who need a place to stay until they get their feet on the ground. So the youth helped clear brush and trim bushes around the camp. At kids club, the participants helped run a two- two and a half hour program for kids in the town. They do crafts, skits, music, games and other things for the kids.
In the evenings after dinner, we rounded up the participants for an evening activity- Mondays we took them to Smoky Mtn Nat'l Park for a little site seeing and a hike. Tuesdays we took them out to Hal's actual house and attended a blue grass concert put on by some locals- Hurricane Ridge. Wednesday we took them to another friend's house to swim in Douglas Lake. And Thursday we went to the city park for a community cookout and games and stuff.
After the evening activity each night, we came back to the church for Club. Evening activities and Club are really the two things I'm in charge of, so naturally those were my favorite parts of the day.
It was really great to finally experience a real YouthWorks week instead of just learning and preparing for it. We, the staff, learned so much and have already worked on changes for next week. Plus we have to modify a lot because 2/3 of last week's staff has left to go to their own sites. However, yesterday we picked up another staff person for our site- Erin. She will be with us at least through next week to help us move from First United Methodist, the church we're in now to Lincoln Avenue Baptist, the church across the street (we'll be at LABC for the rest of the summer). After the move she'll stay with us until she is needed at another site (she's kind of a YouthWorks floater).
Anywaysssss... the schedule for the week stays the same throughout the summer, except on Wednesday evenings we'll be at LABC's youth service for the evening activity instead of the lake. I'll definitely keep you guys on highlights of each week
In other news, Erin, Erik, Brooke, Daniel and I went hiking to the waterfall again and saw a mama bear and her cubs!!! It was sooooo awesome! But thankfully they were just far enough away that none of us were mauled or anything.....
 |
| Taking a break at the waterfall (photo by Erin) |
 |
| Stream on the path (photo by Erin) |
 |
| Bear cub!! (ultra zoom photo by Erin) |
Also, everyone makes fun of my 'accent.' lol.
Also- if you want to send mail (which I would LOVEEEEEE) my address here is:
Lincoln Avenue Baptist Church
Attn: YouthWorks- Sarah Scott
234 Lincoln Avenue
Newport, TN 37821-4048
or something to that effect.
Now I am going to go work on some things for next week. I miss you all and I hope this finds you doing well!!
Sunday, June 5, 2011
The Youth Come Today!
So finally, a short breather to write things down on this. Two weeks ago I headed to Birmingham, AL for RAMP (orientation, basically) and I was there for 5 days learning everything I need to know for this summer and getting to know some awesome people- specifically the people on my team: Erik, Brooke and Daniel, and our area director, Jess.
A week ago we arrived in Newport and started getting things ready for this week- setting up projects, meeting community members, preparing the site, etc. It's been pretty intense and there were quite a few late nights and reaaaaaaal early mornings. Thankfully, we all kept our cool and were able to stay friends. lol. Early mornings are none of our strengths.
Friday afternoon the other site teams in my area came over to help us prepare for Early Bird (a sort of 'practice run' for the week- complete with real live participants). There are 3 other sites in my area- Blue Ridge, NC; Eastern Shore, VA and us- Newport, TN- there were 13 of us, so things got done rather quickly and we were able to spend some time at the lake last night!
Tennessee is incredibly HOT and Newport is in a valley so there really isn't much relief from the heat. It is absolutely BEAUTIFUL here, though, despite the weather. The whole town is surrounded by the Smokys- as in we can see them from our host church's parking lot! And last week, Erik, Jess and I went to the Smoky Mtns Nat'l Park to "test out" the hike we'll be taking the kids on later in the week... tomorrow actually. It is just beautiful- there are a TON of streams to stop and play in and, although we won't be taking the kids to this- there is a gorgeous waterfall with the best water I've ever tasted. It was sooooooo clear and cold and everything water should taste like. lol. We won't be taking the kids there b/c it's a 4.5 mile hike round trip and it's pretty treacherous- I tripped like 5 times.
Oh! Our area director just told us one of our groups is 10 minutes out- so I gotta go get ready to welcome them! Hopefully next weekend we won't be quite so busy b/c we already have things set up, so another post can be expected.
~Sarah
A week ago we arrived in Newport and started getting things ready for this week- setting up projects, meeting community members, preparing the site, etc. It's been pretty intense and there were quite a few late nights and reaaaaaaal early mornings. Thankfully, we all kept our cool and were able to stay friends. lol. Early mornings are none of our strengths.
Friday afternoon the other site teams in my area came over to help us prepare for Early Bird (a sort of 'practice run' for the week- complete with real live participants). There are 3 other sites in my area- Blue Ridge, NC; Eastern Shore, VA and us- Newport, TN- there were 13 of us, so things got done rather quickly and we were able to spend some time at the lake last night!
Tennessee is incredibly HOT and Newport is in a valley so there really isn't much relief from the heat. It is absolutely BEAUTIFUL here, though, despite the weather. The whole town is surrounded by the Smokys- as in we can see them from our host church's parking lot! And last week, Erik, Jess and I went to the Smoky Mtns Nat'l Park to "test out" the hike we'll be taking the kids on later in the week... tomorrow actually. It is just beautiful- there are a TON of streams to stop and play in and, although we won't be taking the kids to this- there is a gorgeous waterfall with the best water I've ever tasted. It was sooooooo clear and cold and everything water should taste like. lol. We won't be taking the kids there b/c it's a 4.5 mile hike round trip and it's pretty treacherous- I tripped like 5 times.
Oh! Our area director just told us one of our groups is 10 minutes out- so I gotta go get ready to welcome them! Hopefully next weekend we won't be quite so busy b/c we already have things set up, so another post can be expected.
~Sarah
Sunday, May 22, 2011
It Begins!
This is it! Today is the day! After a couple of z's, a church service and a double check of all my luggage, I am headed down to Birmingham! Well, actually, I am headed to Detroit to catch a Greyhound to Nashville where I will be transferring to another Greyhound bus that will take me to Birmingham.Whew!
This summer I am working with an organization called YouthWorks. One of the purposes of YouthWorks is to build up the church by building up its youth. This summer I will be on a team of 4 that will organize service projects for youth groups from all around the country. My specific job is to start the day with the kids leading devotions and end the day with "Club" -or chapel, if you will. The last couple weeks I've been working on the talks for Club and I am soooooo excited for God to use me to minister to these kids! This year's theme is about being different for God- in our beliefs, actions, reactions and in our love. Just reading the passages we'll be going through this summer has gotten me pumped to lead these kids!
So... starting Monday afternoon I begin orientation (or RAMP- Regional and Area Missions Preparation) and from what I've been told it is going to be an incredibly busy week. I'd love to update again on this, or even post a facebook status, but it might not happen. In fact, they've told us that phone calls might not be probable either.
After this intense week, I head to Tennessee with my team for the rest of the summer. We'll first have a week of prep and then the following week youth groups start coming!
This is going to be a crazy and intense summer and if you'd like to partner in prayer with me that would be absolutely wonderful! Here are some specifics you can be praying about right now:
1) Unity amongst my team
2) Safety when traveling to Birmingham and then again to Tennessee
3) Energy and focus- even when I am so so tired
Thanks so much! I will try to update as often as I can (which will probably be once a week b/c we really only get Saturdays off...)
Blessings!
This summer I am working with an organization called YouthWorks. One of the purposes of YouthWorks is to build up the church by building up its youth. This summer I will be on a team of 4 that will organize service projects for youth groups from all around the country. My specific job is to start the day with the kids leading devotions and end the day with "Club" -or chapel, if you will. The last couple weeks I've been working on the talks for Club and I am soooooo excited for God to use me to minister to these kids! This year's theme is about being different for God- in our beliefs, actions, reactions and in our love. Just reading the passages we'll be going through this summer has gotten me pumped to lead these kids!
So... starting Monday afternoon I begin orientation (or RAMP- Regional and Area Missions Preparation) and from what I've been told it is going to be an incredibly busy week. I'd love to update again on this, or even post a facebook status, but it might not happen. In fact, they've told us that phone calls might not be probable either.
After this intense week, I head to Tennessee with my team for the rest of the summer. We'll first have a week of prep and then the following week youth groups start coming!
This is going to be a crazy and intense summer and if you'd like to partner in prayer with me that would be absolutely wonderful! Here are some specifics you can be praying about right now:
1) Unity amongst my team
2) Safety when traveling to Birmingham and then again to Tennessee
3) Energy and focus- even when I am so so tired
Thanks so much! I will try to update as often as I can (which will probably be once a week b/c we really only get Saturdays off...)
Blessings!
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