Dog Days of Summer

I feel a little weird about the title of this post, if not only because I don't think we should be allowed to have them in the first half of the summer. But I'm no meteorologist... If there is anything these ridiculous temperatures have done, other than scorch our lawns, it has driven us to the lake to escape the dense never-seen-A/C air of everywhere I live, work, and drive. I think I've been to the beach more times this summer already than probably the last 3 combined. Living in a small town means that often everyone has the same idea, which for us means huge ministry opportunities. 


Over the past few weeks, we've taken kids hiking on the mountain, to the beach, and met up with them at the skate park, pier, and lots of other places around Collingwood. What an incredible way to reconnect with our youth after 3 weeks away for training and holidays. Being able to meet up with them, planned or informally, during these times allows us to remind them how much we care for them and how much we enjoy being in their presence. We talk a lot about the sense of family and community, and how we seek to build positive memories with our youth, and these connecting points that we all share together. 


We have about 8 youth that we see nearly every day of the week. It's amazing how our relationship with them grows when it moves beyond our drop-in or high school connections to really living our lives together. We spend lots and lots of face time with our youth, and that is an incredible privilege. We find out what is going on in their lives. We support them as they need to find housing, jobs, or reconciliation with family and friends. But far more important, we pray for them, and with them, and we share the hope of Christ with them, in hopes that they receive God's strength to persevere for even the next minute. 


Those type of moments don't typically happen in the midst of a busy drop-in program (although they do), or a quick stop to chat on the sidewalk. They happen when we spend hours and hours growing closer together and sharing in this wonderful, weird community. 


In a couple of weeks, we will take a group of our youth to CampFire. My goal this year is to have 10. I'll leave that in God's hands, but we know that regardless of who comes, they will become a part of our wider Youth For Christ family. They will join the mix of crazy laughter, poignant stories, and sometimes intense self-reflection. And through it all will be a mix of loving staff and new friends who welcome them, no matter what is going on in their life, and who will become a part of that youth's summer story. The dog days of summer are so much easier when we can live them together. We bear the humidity a little more gracefully, splash each other in the cool water, and look forward to our days spent together. And that is why I love this time of year. 

Taking a Breath

We finally feel like we have some time to breathe, and that things at The Door Youth Centre are soon returning to some sense of "normal" (I say that because things are seldom ever normal for us). This weekend we are taking off with some of our staff to camp, reconnect, and enjoy some leisure time together before we begin another year of ministry. After all, a youth workers calendar always starts in September.

I was thinking about the past two months this morning. We got a lot done this summer. We joined our Canada-wide staff in Montreal for our national conference, led two camps, one for elementary aged youth, and one with a number of other Door Youth Centres. We were part of a team that led a group of youth to Mississippi, which we blogged earlier this week. In the middle of that, we joined our youth on a number of weekly day trips, and continued our year-round drop-in ministry.

We also ran a fairly successful "Breakfast Club" before our Wednesday events. This program was highly experimental, since we didn't know whether we would be able to rouse adolescents at 9am in the summer, or whether they would be interested in reading and discussing the Bible during that time. The first week, we were shocked when 6 youth showed up, and even more surprised when they participated in our discussion of 1 John! This number stayed fairly consistent through much of the summer, only dropping off a few times. We will definitely keep this program next summer.

Our camps were a lot of work, but very worthwhile. We partner with a couple of churches in town to run a Jr. High day camp. We see many of the youth that Aaron works with at one of the local elementary schools. We had over 30 campers this year, and we explored the theme of "Who Are You" in our daily sessions and small group. I have to admit, I have a soft spot in my heart for the 11-13 age group - they are so free, and I have some of the funniest camp memories (in over 10 years of being involved in this particular program) from this year.

We did take a small break to go on a much needed vacation to New Brunswick and to share in celebrating a family wedding. This time was really important to us.

Our YFC camp, Campfire, was a success as well. We were a little lower in numbers, and with our executive director being on sabbatical this summer, many of us took on roles that we hadn't in the past. While camp had a much different feel this summer, God was really working in the lives of our youth, and we were blessed to have opportunities to minister to our youth in ways that we hadn't in the past. One night, Aaron, one of our co-workers and I had a chance to pray for a young man in our Collingwood ministry, and it was an incredible experience! Being able to bless him and let him know that he was not alone in his struggles was such an honour. We took 4 youth from Collingwood.

So with all of this, Project Serve and summer coming to a close (dislike), we are now looking ahead to the fall. Our regular programming will resume soon, with Soul Food coming back on the radar. We have our eyes on some new media projects to engage our youth, time geared specifically for elementary aged youth and for our girls. We are open to God's vision for our centre, and anticipate new ministry opportunities to both our larger community of youth and individuals. I'm excited for when I get to share those stories with you!

Guest Blog: Beca Osmond

I would like to start by introducing myself. My name is Beca and I am the summer student working here at the Door. This is such an awesome opportunity as the Door is basically missions on our own front step. The teenage years are a time when kids are evaluating life and trying to figure out who they are. They go to extremes to both create an identity for themselves and to be accepted by others. What amazing opportunity for us to step in and provide for them a place where they are accepted and to guide them towards finding their identity through Christ. Through building relationships with the youth who come here we are able to offer them hope.

Over the course of the summer, I have been able to sit down and really get to know one of the young girls here. One time when we got together we talked about her hopes and dreams. What she wants to do with her life. Where she wants to go to school in the future. I told her that God has a plan and purpose for her life. I challenged her to work hard towards those dreams and not get distracted by lifes ups and downs. I wish you could have seen the smile on her face after that talk. I wish life were easy and I could rest assured knowing that she will make all the right choices, but I know that is not always the case. Now we need to continue to walk with her on this journey, encourage her and pray for her. I believe that we need to commit to walking with these youth on their journeys and commit to praying for them. This is what Aaron and Danielle are doing here at the Door which is absolutley amazing and I am excited that I get to be apart of it.