The past two weeks have been a blur and an absolute blast. It began with Ben making a big decision. After driving 35-40 minutes to hang out with kids a few days a week he decided that he needed to be living in Rocky Mount if he was going to do this thing right. Two weeks ago he moved in with me, into a large closet that used to be my prayer room. It's cramped to say the least, but Ben wouldn't have it any other way. He'd do anything or live anywhere for kids to hear the Gospel. A few days after Ben moved in we got to attend one of the most important things we do in Young Life, the Prayer Overnight. At PO over 1,000 people cram into Rockbridge, the camp we went to for Fall Weekend, for twenty-four hours to do two thing; pray and fast. It was incredible to be with so many people desperate for kids to hear the Gospel. One of the most powerful things about this time is praying for areas that don't yet have Young Life. As a disclaimer, I know that Young Life is not the only way for kids to hear the Gospel. However, seeing the affect that Young Life has had on my life as well as many, many others I know how the Lord uses it in crazy ways. I'd love to see him continue to do that as we step out in faith in other areas. People have been praying for Franklin County to have Young Life for years and here we are. I don't know why the Lord chooses to work through the prayers of His people, but I guess I don't really need to know.
Ben's moving in has made our house the place to be. Simply having another person here has given it the feel that something is always going on. Kids have caught on to that and have found themselves here at all times of the day. David is here as our VPS every afternoon, and two of our other friends have been joining us during their lunches or before work just to hang out. Kids are coming over before games, after games, before practice or just whenever they're in town. We've hung out with kids in 'neutral turf' more in the past two weeks than we have the rest of my time here combined. We've even started a Sunday night tradition. The guys loved coming over for the Super Bowl so much one made the comment "We need to do this every Sunday night." After nicknaming our house 'The Destination' we had our first 'Destination Night' on Sunday filled with FIFA 2013, tomahawk throwing and junk food. It was awesome. We're stoked to be able to kick kids butts in video games. On a serious note though, the relationships we're building because of this is nuts. We're excited that a lot of these kids are coming to club with us also as we are visiting other young life clubs.
When I say other clubs, I do mean clubs plural. Our nomadic trek through Southwest Virginia to different Young Life clubs has been a blast. It all started when we were invited to the Roanoke Young Life Dodgeball Tournament. We put together a team and dubbed ourselves 'The Girlscout Rejects'. Besides placing third out of fifteen teams and having our smallest freshman be the hero of two different games (something that he'll remember forever), our guys got to talking to some Cave Spring girls about Franklin County YL. They told them we'd been visiting the Hidden Valley club because we hadn't started our own yet. The girls then insisted we visited their club the next Monday. Something I've found to always be true; when a high school guy is invited to something by a high school girl he thinks is cute, he goes. When they told Ben and I about the conversation we told them we would absolutely go. We also talked to them about other clubs in the area. In all, there are four within reasonable driving distance and they wanted to check them all out. The clubs are all very different; Hidden Valley and Cave Spring clubs are both pretty suburban, but unique. Patrick Henry is more urban while Floyd is more rural. Getting to see club in such different areas is going to be a huge gift, and give our kids vision to the many different kids we want to be at club.
Our nomadic band took residence at Cave Spring's Young Life club this week. A good friend of mine, and fellow staff associate, Eric 'Mezz' Messmore graciously hosted us as we brought our troop and crammed in another high schooler's basement. Cave Springs club is about half the size of Hidden Valley's and I think it was good for our kids to see a more intimate club. After being unsure of who would venture out that way with us Ben and I ended up taking 12 kids along for the ride (pictured left). We even got dinner with some Cave Springers before club who were very excited to have us come. It was so encouraging for us to be welcomed in such a big way. Our kids talked often about who they were going to bring in the weeks to come and how they wanted to see different clubs. We were also stoked to see more underclassmen along for the ride, and even girls! Not having girl leaders has put us in strange positions as far as an unbalanced ministry, but its all working out in the end.
However, that's not to say that nothing is going on with the girls at FCHS. Kerri and Becca, being the phenomenal leaders that the are, had a girls night the other night and spent the night with 11 girls in Franklin. Seven of those girls went to Fall Weekend with us but the other four hadn't. A few that had never been with us to club before wanted to go, including freshman. We're excited for what that means for the years to come. I don't have any pictures of that event, because I wasn't there! So instead I put a picture of myself swinging on a tire swing at our very own David Sicher's house. Many have asked if this picture is fake, but I assure you it is not. It was terrifying. Also as a side note; all of these pictures are on my instagram. Often, the only things I instagram are pictures of kids and wherever we happen to be hanging out with them. So if you want a more constant flow of updates and whats going on in Franklin, that would be what to check out (instagram name is theimonkey.
Three more things I want to say. First we have seen the Lord move in big ways in kids hearts. We have a few guys that are going harder than ever and truly catching the vision for going after their friends for Christ's sake. These guys have been waiting for something like Young Life to come to be a vehicle for presenting Jesus to their classmates. Its been and honor and privilege to guide them as they do this and deepen them in their faith. Their voice is the strongest we have in the school, stronger than any leaders' voice could be. These guys are building a community and an example that we'll be able to see as the foundation of Young Life in Franklin County forever. Its an awesome thing to witness. Pictured left is Brad Rayburn filling out his application for work crew. Work Crew is an opportunity for high school kids to serve at a Young Life camp for a month. It meant to much to me in my walk with the Lord, and we know it'll mean the same for Brad. We're hoping he will be accepted into the same assignment that I'll be on and I'll be able to spend the session with him at North Bay.
Secondly, I don't love doing prayer requests. My vision for this blog is that you would see where we are lacking, and be prayerful without my having to ask. However, I've come to find I've never been good at asking people for anything, especially help. As we move forward we know that we will need a team of people behind of praying us forward. Praying for big, big things. The Lord can do anything, so we want to ask him to. There are two prayers that are bigger than I can imagine happening. The first is that we are looking for a place for club, no matter when we start it. We've had many families that have offered their houses which is great and extremely generous. However, I have the nagging feeling that we're supposed to ask for more. Smack dab next to the high school, and a stone's throw away from my house, is a shut down Chinese restaurant called Tianjin First. I can't think of a cooler and more convenient place to have club. I want that. Secondly, we are looking at our financial situation for the upcoming year, and we are in a fairly good place. However, I know the blessing it is to not have to worry about money or fundraising for the area. This prayer request isn't meant to be a clever ploy to guilt you into throwing us some cash, its much deeper than that. If the Lord wants you to give to us, he'll put it in your heart on his own. With that said, as much prayer as we could receive in this area, the better (as with everything).
Lastly, my hope is that this blog doesn't become a stumbling block to anyone. Specifically, I'd love for FCHS students not to see it. There are many reasons for that, but the biggest is that this blog is meant to be a behind the scenes look for the Body of Christ, not a "Hey come look what FCYL is doing". I think it would be weird, especially for a lost high school kid, to see that I'm asking that they be prayed for! Rarely do I go into detail about specific kids, or even give their names, because I don't think that's necessary. I feel I may have explained that poorly, but I hope you get the gist of what I'm saying. Share this blog with wisdom. I thank you all so much for your support of us. The Lord is doing big, crazy, wild things here. It's a beautiful thing.
The past two weeks have been a blur and an absolute blast. It began with Ben making a big decision. After driving 35-40 minutes to hang out with kids a few days a week he decided that he needed to be living in Rocky Mount if he was going to do this thing right. Two weeks ago he moved in with me, into a large closet that used to be my prayer room. It's cramped to say the least, but Ben wouldn't have it any other way. He'd do anything or live anywhere for kids to hear the Gospel. A few days after Ben moved in we got to attend one of the most important things we do in Young Life, the Prayer Overnight. At PO over 1,000 people cram into Rockbridge, the camp we went to for Fall Weekend, for twenty-four hours to do two thing; pray and fast. It was incredible to be with so many people desperate for kids to hear the Gospel. One of the most powerful things about this time is praying for areas that don't yet have Young Life. As a disclaimer, I know that Young Life is not the only way for kids to hear the Gospel. However, seeing the affect that Young Life has had on my life as well as many, many others I know how the Lord uses it in crazy ways. I'd love to see him continue to do that as we step out in faith in other areas. People have been praying for Franklin County to have Young Life for years and here we are. I don't know why the Lord chooses to work through the prayers of His people, but I guess I don't really need to know.
Ben's moving in has made our house the place to be. Simply having another person here has given it the feel that something is always going on. Kids have caught on to that and have found themselves here at all times of the day. David is here as our VPS every afternoon, and two of our other friends have been joining us during their lunches or before work just to hang out. Kids are coming over before games, after games, before practice or just whenever they're in town. We've hung out with kids in 'neutral turf' more in the past two weeks than we have the rest of my time here combined. We've even started a Sunday night tradition. The guys loved coming over for the Super Bowl so much one made the comment "We need to do this every Sunday night." After nicknaming our house 'The Destination' we had our first 'Destination Night' on Sunday filled with FIFA 2013, tomahawk throwing and junk food. It was awesome. We're stoked to be able to kick kids butts in video games. On a serious note though, the relationships we're building because of this is nuts. We're excited that a lot of these kids are coming to club with us also as we are visiting other young life clubs.
When I say other clubs, I do mean clubs plural. Our nomadic trek through Southwest Virginia to different Young Life clubs has been a blast. It all started when we were invited to the Roanoke Young Life Dodgeball Tournament. We put together a team and dubbed ourselves 'The Girlscout Rejects'. Besides placing third out of fifteen teams and having our smallest freshman be the hero of two different games (something that he'll remember forever), our guys got to talking to some Cave Spring girls about Franklin County YL. They told them we'd been visiting the Hidden Valley club because we hadn't started our own yet. The girls then insisted we visited their club the next Monday. Something I've found to always be true; when a high school guy is invited to something by a high school girl he thinks is cute, he goes. When they told Ben and I about the conversation we told them we would absolutely go. We also talked to them about other clubs in the area. In all, there are four within reasonable driving distance and they wanted to check them all out. The clubs are all very different; Hidden Valley and Cave Spring clubs are both pretty suburban, but unique. Patrick Henry is more urban while Floyd is more rural. Getting to see club in such different areas is going to be a huge gift, and give our kids vision to the many different kids we want to be at club.
Our nomadic band took residence at Cave Spring's Young Life club this week. A good friend of mine, and fellow staff associate, Eric 'Mezz' Messmore graciously hosted us as we brought our troop and crammed in another high schooler's basement. Cave Springs club is about half the size of Hidden Valley's and I think it was good for our kids to see a more intimate club. After being unsure of who would venture out that way with us Ben and I ended up taking 12 kids along for the ride (pictured left). We even got dinner with some Cave Springers before club who were very excited to have us come. It was so encouraging for us to be welcomed in such a big way. Our kids talked often about who they were going to bring in the weeks to come and how they wanted to see different clubs. We were also stoked to see more underclassmen along for the ride, and even girls! Not having girl leaders has put us in strange positions as far as an unbalanced ministry, but its all working out in the end.
However, that's not to say that nothing is going on with the girls at FCHS. Kerri and Becca, being the phenomenal leaders that the are, had a girls night the other night and spent the night with 11 girls in Franklin. Seven of those girls went to Fall Weekend with us but the other four hadn't. A few that had never been with us to club before wanted to go, including freshman. We're excited for what that means for the years to come. I don't have any pictures of that event, because I wasn't there! So instead I put a picture of myself swinging on a tire swing at our very own David Sicher's house. Many have asked if this picture is fake, but I assure you it is not. It was terrifying. Also as a side note; all of these pictures are on my instagram. Often, the only things I instagram are pictures of kids and wherever we happen to be hanging out with them. So if you want a more constant flow of updates and whats going on in Franklin, that would be what to check out (instagram name is theimonkey.
Three more things I want to say. First we have seen the Lord move in big ways in kids hearts. We have a few guys that are going harder than ever and truly catching the vision for going after their friends for Christ's sake. These guys have been waiting for something like Young Life to come to be a vehicle for presenting Jesus to their classmates. Its been and honor and privilege to guide them as they do this and deepen them in their faith. Their voice is the strongest we have in the school, stronger than any leaders' voice could be. These guys are building a community and an example that we'll be able to see as the foundation of Young Life in Franklin County forever. Its an awesome thing to witness. Pictured left is Brad Rayburn filling out his application for work crew. Work Crew is an opportunity for high school kids to serve at a Young Life camp for a month. It meant to much to me in my walk with the Lord, and we know it'll mean the same for Brad. We're hoping he will be accepted into the same assignment that I'll be on and I'll be able to spend the session with him at North Bay. 
Secondly, I don't love doing prayer requests. My vision for this blog is that you would see where we are lacking, and be prayerful without my having to ask. However, I've come to find I've never been good at asking people for anything, especially help. As we move forward we know that we will need a team of people behind of praying us forward. Praying for big, big things. The Lord can do anything, so we want to ask him to. There are two prayers that are bigger than I can imagine happening. The first is that we are looking for a place for club, no matter when we start it. We've had many families that have offered their houses which is great and extremely generous. However, I have the nagging feeling that we're supposed to ask for more. Smack dab next to the high school, and a stone's throw away from my house, is a shut down Chinese restaurant called Tianjin First. I can't think of a cooler and more convenient place to have club. I want that. Secondly, we are looking at our financial situation for the upcoming year, and we are in a fairly good place. However, I know the blessing it is to not have to worry about money or fundraising for the area. This prayer request isn't meant to be a clever ploy to guilt you into throwing us some cash, its much deeper than that. If the Lord wants you to give to us, he'll put it in your heart on his own. With that said, as much prayer as we could receive in this area, the better (as with everything).
Lastly, my hope is that this blog doesn't become a stumbling block to anyone. Specifically, I'd love for FCHS students not to see it. There are many reasons for that, but the biggest is that this blog is meant to be a behind the scenes look for the Body of Christ, not a "Hey come look what FCYL is doing". I think it would be weird, especially for a lost high school kid, to see that I'm asking that they be prayed for! Rarely do I go into detail about specific kids, or even give their names, because I don't think that's necessary. I feel I may have explained that poorly, but I hope you get the gist of what I'm saying. Share this blog with wisdom. I thank you all so much for your support of us. The Lord is doing big, crazy, wild things here. It's a beautiful thing.
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