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Powhatan Mennonite Church P.O. Box 220, 3540 Old Buckingham Rd. Powhatan, Virginia 23139-0220
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Youth News YOUTH CENTER REMODELING NEARING END Over
the last weeks, our Youth Fellowship have been working on the Youth Center that
serves as their classroom and meeting room.
They have brightened it up
with a new paint job and adding “family room”
furniture – sofas, comfortable chairs, video and audio sound system,
and other furniture. Furniture and
equipment that was stored in the Youth Center by various church departments has
now been moved to other storage areas. In
this new setting, participants in fellowship and classes will be more
comfortable, enjoying the new “homey” atmosphere.
For that we are grateful to Andy and Amanda Powell for heading the
refurbishing job and to various members of the Youth Fellowship who have worked
long hours. By Pres Nowlin Youth Retreat-2006
Can
we do it? Can we make it up the
hill? Can I make it?” Those were the
thoughts that ran through the minds of fifteen young men and women as the salty
sweat dripped from their noses. It
was a steaming hot June day as a group of youth and their leaders looked at the
long, steep hill they had to drag a sheet of plywood up.
But there was a problem. It
was not just a simple sheet of plywood. It
had to have a bale of straw and two teammates on it at all times.
Along with that difficulty, only three hands could touch the tow rope at
one time. Once started, the sled
could not stop, and if it did….we had to start all over again.
We had already failed twice, but we were not going to be beat. Somehow,
we would finish...we just had to! The girls who
were out scouting the trail came back. “Come
on guys, we can do it. We were
almost at the top of the hill last time. We
can do it. It’s easy once we get
to the top.” We drank in those
words like liquid hope. Despite the
cramped legs, bruised bodies and burning lungs the discouraged team took
positions to try again. Two people on the sled, two with the tow rope around
their waists, three hands on the rope and the rest ready to switch places when a
teammate on the ropes got tired. “One, two,
three”...the sled jolted to a start. Voices
rose as the youth and their leaders began screaming encouragement and yelling
for a switch. Halfway up the hill
with the leg muscles burning and feeling weak, the sled kept moving.
We can do it. .. Three quarters of the way, people switching, sled still
moving. There is mud ahead.
We can do it…. The sled slowed down, but we are pulling hard.
Through the mud. Almost to
the top of the hill. We are going to
do it. Over the hill, though the
yard, down the driveway. Sled still
moving. We got it beat.
Across the finish line! We
did it! Funny, the leg muscles
don’t really hurt now and the lungs don’t burn.
We did it, and it wasn’t just about me or the team or the mission.
It was about all three and when all three were equal, we accomplished our
goal. This was just
one of the incredible team building activities we did during our youth retreat.
Others include everyone trying to stand a eighteen inch square, setting
mouse traps and arranging them on top of each other in a circle-with a spoon, or
our favorite, having to climb over a log seven feet in the air with everyone
silently holding hands. Marlin and
Lesley Herr from Red Lake, Ontario, were the ones behind the lessons and the TDA
(team development activity) during the youth retreat.
The program they brought was designed to bring groups together for a
strong ministry team. They taught us
that we have to find our gifts to be able to contribute to the team, and to have
perfect ministry we have to have equal amounts of three things: the individual,
the team and the task. If one out weighs the other two then our ministry won’t
be perfect. We can’t think too
much of ourselves or constantly be trying to please everyone, and we can’t
just think of the task that has to be done at any cost. The neatest
thing of the weekend was seeing the youth grow stronger as a team and to see God
work in each of us, taking care of some of the issues that needed care.
This was the conclusion of the Powhatan Mennonite Youth Group Retreat
2006. What a great God we serve! By
Amanda Powell |
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For questions or comments you may email the pastor at timbev2@yahoo.com or the webmaster at hffinc@i-c.net |