What a Mighty God we Serve!

Today was an incredible day that ended with me and the other advisors on this trip in pure awe of the God that we serve and the work that He was doing in the lives of our students this week but especially during the covenant service tonight at club.  All week club (the time when we gather in the sanctuary for a game, worship, and message) has been incredible with an amazing worship band just rocking out the joint but tonight was on an entire different level!  Tonight the worship band brought out their acoustic set and set a very reverent ton for the service.  Scott Smith shared his testimony with the students and also challenged the students to surrender whatever burdens and struggles they have been dealing with over to God!  God is bigger than any of the pains, struggles, temptations, and sins that we are living with and He does not want us to carry that burden, and not only does he not want to carry that burden He wants to carry that burden for us!  Tonight our students had the opportunity to join in a covenant with God, a covenant to let go of those burdens and to turn them over to Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.  If the students were ready to make this covenant with God then they had the opportunity to put their hand print on a canvas filled with other hand prints from students just like them who joined the covenant with God earlier this summer.

Michaela and I had the opportunity to pray with our students, paint their hands so they could put their hand print on the canvas, wash the paint off of their hands, and then pray with them again.  Earlier in this post I said I was in awe of the mighty God that we serve because He was working in the hearts of every one of our student’s heart because every single one of them came up and either joined in a covenant with God for the very first time, or they renewed their covenant with God for the second, third, fourth, or twentieth time!  Not only were our students emotional over the work that God was doing in their lives but they were also supporting and praying for one another and as their youth pastor there is nothing that brings me more joy then to actively see God working in the lives of our students and to see our students ministering to their friends!  Please continue to pray for all of your students and for the covenant that they all joined or rejoined tonight! 

Our God is an Awesome God!!

Wednesday Already

What a beautiful day God has blessed us with here in the city!  Everyday this week I have thanked God that he called us to be here in the city this week and not last week when the crazy heat wave was in town.  Today was TPP Free Barbecue.  Every Wednesday during the city TPP hosts a free Barbecue for whoever wants to stop by and have some free dinner, great conversation, and then stay for an incredible worship service, over 150 were at the dinner and it was a great evening!  I am always blown away by how amazing our students are and their willingness to do whatever is asked about them.  I could sit here and write story after story about how God has been working in the hearts of our students and how God has used them to touch the lives of others but I want you to hear firsthand from the students when they get home from this week.  Please be sure to ask them how God has been changing their hearts this week.  Here are some more pictures from this week and for more picture be sure to check out TPP facebook page!

Will You...

We had another great day at the Project.  It is such a blessing to be able to come on these trips with our students and watch them come together in the name of Jesus Christ and serve to the best of their ability with all of their strength.  Weather our students are loving on little kids at the summer camp, painting a wall, ripping out old flooring in a kitchen, building a deck, or doing whatever else is asked of them they do it without question and with a smile on their face.   (The only real time they aren’t too happy with is when I don’t let them drink soda or any other caffeinated and sugar drink at 11 o’clock at night and make them go to bed, I know they won’t verbally thank me in the morning but their bodies will.)

One of the many aspects of The Philadelphia Project that I love so much is the evening club that they have.  For those of you who have never experienced club it is a time where we play some crazy game and then move into a time of worship, which is led by an incredibly gifted team of volunteers, and a message.  These first three nights at club our students (and leaders) have been asked the question “Will You…”  On Sunday we were asked “Will you allow God to renew your heart?”  We all have areas in our heart that we try to keep hidden from God because we know that He is not glorified through those thoughts and actions.  All of our students were challenge d to think of a specific area in their life that they feel God is calling them to turn over to Him and pray Psalm 51 where David prays to God saying “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.  ¹¹ Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.  ¹² Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.”  Just as we have all been asked what question I ask you, Will you allow God to renew your heart?”

On Monday night we were asked, “Will you live a radical, unashamed faith in God?”  Often times we do the right things for the right reason but we are afraid to tell others the reason why we are doing time.  We are called to be unashamed of our faith in God and to live our life that reflects our hope that we have in Christ Jesus and be share the hope with others.

Tonight we were asked, “Will you be a pursuer of Justice?”  The tricky thing about this question is that we have to make sure that our hearts match where our hands are.  We have to make sure that we are not doing “good things” because we know that it is the thing that we are supposed to do or well this is what God expects me to do so I better do it.  It is out of our response for the love that God has for us that we serve him.  It is our way of saying thank you God for the blessings that you have given me.  It is important for us to make sure that we are not just going through the motions but rather seeking out justice in response to God’s love for us.

Worshiping and praising God alongside of our students and working through these tough questions with them and watching them wrestle with their faith is incredible and I thank God for this ministry that He has called me to and I thank you all for trusting me and the other leaders to spend this week with your kids so they can have this opportunity to grow closer to God and serve others in His name!

TPP - Monday

Good Evening, well by the time that you read this it will probably be the morning so I guess I should be saying good morning! It is a little late so I do apologize for all grammatical errors that will be in this post.  We have had an incredible trip so far and we all can't not wait to see what else God has in store for us.  Our group of students is split up into 4 different work sites, 3 home-repair projects and 1 group helping out with the summer camp.  The group that I working with (which includes Matthew, Caleb, Steven, and Emma) is working at the home of Willie and Barbra Rush and we are building them a new front porch.  Below are a couple of pictures from our day today.  I don't not have pictures of all of the different work sites however if you "like" The Philadelphia Project on facebook there are tons of pictures from this week that Laura (the media intern for TPP) has taken and will continue to take through out the week.  

If you could please pray for our homeowners because Willie Rush is in the hospital with really low blood pressure that has been causing him to pass out.  Our other two work projects are also having an awesome time working at the Malachi's home and the DuBrey's home.  It has been incredible watching our students not only work really hard but in the evening they have been worshiping and praising God with all of their hearts, souls, and bodies.  TPP has an incredible team of worship leaders and it is a blessing for all of us. 

Another awesome moment from the day was when Taylor won tbe ducktape award for all of her hard work at tbe summer camp. Every night TPP gives out a ducktape award to a guy and girl to give it their all for the entire day and go above and beyond what is asked of them. So we were very proud of Taylor for getting the ducktape award.

Thank you all for your prayers and I will be sure to upated you tomorrow with more info on the week. 

Location:Ridge Ave,Philadelphia,United States

"This is my blog - not yours"

This is Priscilla's blog post for Thursday, June 27  “This is my blog – not yours” (transcribed by Curt Equi)

I think today was the funnest day so far because we went to work on the bathroom today and I got to try 5 different new tools that I never tried before: the recipe say, the circle saw, but I just called everything the chainsaw.

It was fun talking to Timmy, who is Timmy Stewart.  He is the funniest man ever.  He calls me missy prissy.  He’s the guy who works for WVMAW and he’s funny and giving and lovable, he’s a lovable teddy bear but I wouldn't hug him because he’s always sweaty and busy. 

The other day he gave me a lecture about something.  It was a lecture about how to hold the pushy saw (ed. note – it was a drill).  That I have to push with all of my body weight because my body weight isn't enough.   And he told me I have to stop because I ‘m very pushy but I get things done. 

He told us we’re funny gals because we got muck on our faces.  And he blamed us for cutting his finger.  He came up to us and put it up to our faces and I was like eew..

And the best part was we talked to Betty (the homeowner), and she said “I want to adopt you three.” 

And then today, this morning, I walk in, and she’s like come in my granddaughters.  And her granddaughter was here.  And she asked her “How old do you think she is” and her granddaughter said 12.  And she asked me how old do you think my granddaughter is, and I said 19, and she said nope, and she said 16, and she said it was because of the tattoo and she if she were my daughter and you had that hair and that tattoo she’d be out of my house.

Oh the baby.  Alex is holding a baby, and Alex is sitting on the porch, and the baby is googy gagging Alex, and I’m like Alex loves baby.  And she’s like, here hold her maw-maw.  She kept rubbing Joel’s beard, but that’s beside the point.  She’ll be 7 mos on July 3^rd.  And then she’s like hold her.  And Alex is holding her.   And I’m like oooh baby.  And I said can I hold the baby.  And I’m bouncing the baby up and down on my knee.  And then Joel came and the baby loved Joel.

(Aside – as we’re writing this, Priscilla told Joel that he was the third sassiest man that she knows.   The first and second are Spanish men.)

After the baby disappeared with Betty, and then we talked to Samantha (the granddaughter.)  So we were sitting on the porch for about three minutes.  It was me Sondra and Alex and Samantha the granddaughter.  And we said, Do you think any of the boys here are attractive.  And she asked the question back to us – who do you think I was attractive.  And I said ##### (don’t put that was in the blog – that would be awkward)  And she said, I think the muscular one, I think she said that, was the hottest one and but the younger one thought the one with the spiky hair was the hottest one.

So then after that we switched the topic and we started talking about what she likes to do when she comes to see Maw-Maw (that’s Betty).  And she’s like, around here, theres not much to do but I do go fishing ,but that’s boring, and hunting, but that’s stupid, but she does like to shoot guns, and she likes to hang around with three girls around here.  And then we switched the topic to Ohio, and (Alex is taking over now) and said, I think I’ve been to Ohio once, is that next to Wyoming?  And  then she said I meant Wisconsin…. I get my W’s mixed up.  And Samantha was just like, Huh?  And Priscilla said I have no idea how I made it to Senior Year, but I made it.

(Back to Priscilla).  This is my blog… not yours. 

Overall this week has been very fulfilling for me.  I learned that this can impact my life and I can impact others.  And that I can help other people, and I like the ability to impact others lives while they are impacting mine, and the opportunity to work.  So the week was very fun.  Very tiring but very good.

And this is my partner in crime.  Alex is my partner in crime. 

the barefoot preacher

The organization that we are serving with this week, WV Ministry of Advocacy and Workcamps, takes Wednesday’s off to give groups the opportunity to do some sightseeing or other activity in the area.  We didn't travel all the way down here to take a full day off so I was told get in contact with Rev. Greg Kuppar at the Summersville Presbyterian Church to see if they might have any work that we might be able to help them with and sure enough they did.  Our students were a little sad that they weren't going to be at Betty and Bernie’s house however they were thankful that they got a day off of being up on the roof in the heat that we have been having this week.  While we were at the church in Summersville  we help organize their entire stock of food for their food cupboard and check for items that has expired, we thoroughly cleaned the room that their preschool meets in, and students got to help families who came to the cupboard to get food.  All in all it was a great day of service and when we finished around 2 or so we all went to the Summersville Lake to go swimming, play volleyball, have a cookout, make s’mores, enjoy some great conversation, and play ultimate Frisbee.  So pretty much it was a great after noon/evening as well.

We did forget to take a lot of pictures today so here are two that I was able to find and if I get any more I will post them as well. 

Please be praying that our students get a great night’s sleep to be rested and re-energized for these last two days of service here in WV.   Thanks for all your prayers!

Day 2

We had another beautiful day here in Mt. Hope, WV and God blessed with a little overcast weather this morning which was very appreciated since we were up on the roof again today and will be for the next couple of days.  The sun did make its way back out around lunch time but the sun is much better then rain.



One of the most powerfully examples that we have learned from working on Betty and Bernie's home is that just because something looks good on the outside doesn't mean that everything is okay underneath.  When we first started tearing off all of the shingles and number of students asked how come we were working on this roof because the shingles look pretty good, and it was true the shingles did look good, however after we pulled them all off all of the rotten wood was exposed from slow leeks that got under the shingles.



The same is so true in times with our faith in Christ, we try so hard to make it look like everything is great but in reality we are falling apart inside. There are time where we are in Church on Sunday morning, however the night before we were making choices that we knew were not correct.  A friend might ask us how our relationship with God is and we say that it is going great, but there are times when if we are really honest with ourselves things we haven't anytime reading God's word and being in conversation with him.  We get so caught up worrying about how others view us but forget that God sees right threw everything and knows right where the rotten wood is.  The best thing about our God is that he is a loving God and wants nothing more to restore that relationship with us and threw the gift of his Son Jesus Christ that restoration can happen.

This evening after dinner, and I have to pause right here and give a huge shout out to Joan and Kurt Heiselmoyer who have so graciously come down with us to been out cooks!  The food has been delicious and the best part about it is that I have not had to think about anything food related other than how much I can consume because it is sooo good.  So the next time you see Joan or Kurt please thank them for this awesome gift they have given us.  Oh yes sorry so after dinner we went down to this park to hang out and play some basketball and Frisbee but when we got to the park there was a soccer game just starting but they need four more players so Caleb, Evan, Elliot, and I jumped at the chance to play some soccer when the other students got to teach some local kids to throw a Frisbee, and some of our other students play basketball with other kids as well.  It was a great way to meet some local people and share with them the work that were are doing this week.

Here are some more pictures of the work that we have been doing on the roof.  Also today Sondra, Priscilla, and Alex started working in the bathroom because once again there had been a slow leek around the tub that all the walls around the tub were totally rotten and were just crumbling with you touched them.  Here are some pictures of that too.



Grace/Peace,



Joel

Location:WV-16,Mount Hope,United States