Week 9-Psalm 73:26

Psalm 73:26-"My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever."

Praise the Lord for another great week! We were so tired but the week was packed full of wonderful people and beautiful stories. It was really cool to hear that many of the youth ended up being placed at ministry sites where they were extremely uncomfortable and the Lord broke them down and they didn't want to leave their sites by the end of the week. We had some very mature youth that were such a blessing and encouraging to us as staff. The adult leaders were wonderful and spunky. They were truly a great group. Two of the adult leaders shared with me their stories after I had shared mine on Tuesday morning about losing Ryan. One of the adult leaders had actually been through the same exact thing at the same age. Her story was so encouraging and great to hear and see how far she had come since then and where she has gone and is going. I was comforted by her story and was reminded once again that I am not alone. God is good.

This week, Pastor Troy, the executive director of Halifax Urban Ministries (2 of our ministry sites are part of this organization) came and spoke to the youth on Wednesday night. His message about homelessness and youth without passion was extremely powerful. The youth were deeply moved and motivated to find their passion. He is a very passionate man and I really wish you all could meet him! Many of the youth came to me the next day said that they couldn't get what he said out of their heads. God was moving. Thursday night, the Holy Spirit moved with might and intensity. All of the youth had never been on a YW trip before, so they had no idea what was coming. There are no words to describe what I witnessed. Beautiful, simply beautiful.

This week we have 75 participants on site, our Area Director is here, and our Region Director and Director of Recruiting will be here Thursday. We will be overflowing! Please pray for yet another smooth, powerful, and Spirit-filled week.

Only 2 weeks until I come home. I can't believe it! I have truly enjoyed being here and getting to know the people of Daytona and the youth that have come to join us in our mission here. It will be really hard to leave but I am excited to see what the Lord has next. South Africa, maybe?