Whew! What a week it's been! We are in day 2 of Victory Week 2 here. The staff are slowly, but surely, adjusting to the "conference week" schedule as opposed to the "guest group" schedule. It is much busier for them--all of the departments are definitely in full swing.

From the leadership end...things are going fairly well. I am still recovering from having my wisdom teeth pulled out so much to the delight of the staff, I had chipmunk cheeks and they are now a pretty green tinge from the bruising. Many pictures were snapped. :) Praise the Lord that He has strengthened and energized the Leadership Team daily to be able to lead with excellence.

Healthwise, we had our first "incident" last night when one of the staff had pretty severe pain from sunburn. Long story short, we took a ride to the ER where we recieved pain medication and all is well this morning. I told him "there's always one every year..." so here's to praying that last night was the only "one"! Otherwise, the staff has remained in good health overall.

This Friday we are taking our annual trip to Six Flags Great Adventure! The kids are all excited for some time away to have some fun. Also coming up: Iron Chef 2009 (August 8); Talent Show (tentatively August 14).

I have pictures on my facebook profile--here is the link if you're interested! http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2235687&id=55705017&l=288173abcb

Prayer concerns:
-continued strength and energy for the staff
-wisdom for the leadership
-a continued spirit of unity among each department and for the staff as a whole
-that God would use this coming week in the life of every staffer


Love!

Melia

A New Week!

Greetings from the aforementioned LT member. The internet has decided to cooperate tonight!

I must admit that I am not all that surprised with the first few weeks of this summer, but the full weight of the time has impacted me greatly. God is working. Prayer is powerful. We are growing.

I'm being stretched in new ways every day, which I didn't think could be possible for a K-12 Christian-schooler (I went for 13 years!). Now, three years out of that environment (senior year of college approaches for the fall), I am able to spend weeks at a time with guys who are at the same critical stages at which I found myself three, four, five years ago. My biggest stretch is preparing devotionals and sermons (!) every week. I'm an engineering major! Yet my primary responsibility is to provide for the spiritual well-being of 14 young men. Exciting!

I echo the need for prayer for the leadership team and our decision making. We have the opportunity and responsibility to design a summer that catalyzes growth in Christ's love and Godly wisdom. Pray for our guidance in this.

We're well into conference week #1! Godspeed!

In Christ Alone,

Andrew

ps: I'm the one eating the hot dog.

Yeah, about that...

So much for posting weekly. I had assigned one of the other Leadership Team Members to post last week, but there were some logging-in issues that prevented that from happening. Apologies for the lack of updates.

Anyway... there are moments in my job that I wonder why in the world I signed up for this *again.* More often, though, there are the moments when I realize that every headache, every heartache, and every frustration are so worth it, and I find myself humbled that God would allow me the privilege of working with this group of staff. Last night was one of those (long) moments. We spent about an hour in corporate prayer and worship as we head into the "real" summer season here. What a blessing to listen to the earnest prayers of these teens!!! It is during times like last night that I remember why I love my job so much. :)

Despite the praise reports, we do have some prayer needs if you're up for the challenge.
-A few of our staff are starting to get sick and/or burned out. Prayers for physical health and energy are much appreciated.
-Also, there are often situations where we as a leadership team find it difficult to discern a specific course of action that will be most beneficial, so prayers for wisdom are also coveted.
-Finally, at the moment we are fairly issue-free (praise the Lord!) save for minor disturbances which happen...pray that this spirit of unity lasts as God continues to mold and shape us.

Love!


Melia

One Week!

Well, today is the one week mark... Hard to imagine that 7 days ago at this time the Leadership Staff and I were frantically working to get Victory Hall ready for the arrival of the summer staff, and now we are full swing into our jobs! :) So far, we've been fairly impressed with the staff. It's still the adjustment period, but they're doing quite well.

Today the campground conference starts, which means that Children's Ministry will have children twice a day, and teen ministry will have teens in the evening. Pray that God would work through these two departments as they minister for the first time together as a team!

Other requests:
-energy and patience for the leadership
-a continued servants' heart
-that God would continue to change lives here at Keswick, whether through conferences, retreats, or summer staff

Blessings,
Melia