Author: William Douthwaite

Posted in Ministry

YW Mission Trip (day 5): Demonstrate

Posted on by William Douthwaite

Our last full day of the mission trip (Thursday, July 10) was a flip-flop of day three. My work crew spent our morning at Audubon Acres widening a trail, followed by an afternoon at the food bank, sorting donated food. We went through box after box of non-perishable food, everything from canned beans to fruit snacks. And pickles. Jar after jar after jar of pickles. (Note to self: just donate the basics — canned green beans and corn, pasta and sauce, tuna, peanut butter and cereal. Omit canned artichoke hearts, capers, cream of yuk soup, and pickles.)

 

Following our afternoon showers, we shopped for some Youth Enterprise shirts, went to Chester Frost park for the end-of-week community BBQ, and then came back to church for Club.

The last night of every YouthWorks trip ends up with footwashing for each group. We circle up in our respective church groups and the staff washes the feet of the leaders. Then, we leaders wash the feet and pray with each of our youth. It never fails to be an emotional and unforgettable part of the trip. It’s one thing to read about Jesus doing it. It’s another to experience it. I am thankful to have seen each one of our youth grow during the week. Afterwards, we our group talked about some of the lessons they learned. I think each point is profound:

(1) Don’t take today for granted. There’s no guarantee of a tomorrow.

(2) Jesus doesn’t pressure us to serve. He sets us free to serve.

(3) I wasn’t sure anyone liked me. I feel differently now.

(4) It’s nice to be with other believing youth. I don’t feel so alone.

Some profound lessons I believe a lot of us Christians need to be reminded of often. A number of our group said they would be interested in working as YouthWorks staff in the future. I think each of them would be great in that role!

 

 

 

 

 

Posted in Ministry

YW Mission Trip (day 4): Let go

Posted on by William Douthwaite

On day four (Wednesday) our work crew took on some new projects, spending the morning at the Chattanooga Area Food Bank and then the afternoon at Audubon Acres.

wpid-Photo-20140719090933.jpgThe “Chatty Food Bank” is an amazing operation, a 40,000 square foot warehouse where one million pounds of food comes in and goes out every month. It supplies food to agencies in a twenty-two county area around them in Tennessee and Georgia. We were a little apprehensive after another group told us they spent their time throwing out rotten, maggot-infested potatoes. We were spared that duty. We spent the first hour packing up small bags of food that would be distributed to families. After we packed up about 135 of those, we moved on to filling bigger fifty-pound boxes. I think we loaded up five pallets of those. Continue reading “YW Mission Trip (day 4): Let go” →

Posted in Ministry

YW Mission Trip 2014 (day 3): Step in

Posted on by William Douthwaite

photo (30)Day three in Chattanooga (Tuesday, July 8) took us to the beautiful 100-bed St. Barnabas Healthcare Center in the morning. We made some birthday door decorations for the residents and then attended the Tuesday healing and prayer service led by one of the chaplains. The service was attended by about two dozen residents who all enjoyed singing a variety of old gospel songs. After prayers, we chose our partners for “dancing with the starts,” holding their hands and swaying to some upbeat music. Evan got to talk to Ed, who goes by the nickname “Cadillac.” Ed is an avid sports fan with just about as much knowledge as Evan, and with just as strong opinions about the Heat, LeBron, draft picks and the like.

Continue reading “YW Mission Trip 2014 (day 3): Step in” →

Posted in Ministry

YW Mission Trip 2014 (day 2): Reach out

Posted on by William Douthwaite

IMG_8048Days begin early on these mission trips. I snuck downstairs and found the coffee about 6 am, taking advantage of a little quiet time to read, write and pray. After waking the kids up at 7 to be ready for breakfast at 7:30, I attended the daily adult leaders meeting to get our assignments for the day. 

Our group was divided between two work crews, nicknamed Wicked Awesome and Free Falling. My group, Wicked Awesome, included a leader and some youth from Marysville, MI, incredible new friends to work with. The rest of our church group joined some of the youth from Texas, Michigan and Indiana to form the Free Falling crew. 

After we cleaned up breakfast, packed our lunches and had some devotional time, our (Wicked Awesome’s) first day involved planning for Kid’s Club and then implementing our plan at the Avondale Recreation Center in the afternoon. We divided up into teams that would read a story, make a craft and then play some games with age grouped children. We were told to expect as many as sixty children, but there were only thirty-some — ages five to eleven — to entertain that afternoon. The staff and children at the rec center were great, energetic and loud, but a lot of fun to work with. Games? Forget it — everyone just wanted to play basketball. Evan was glad to oblige them. Crafts? They were definitely into it? Reading? FInished the story (Feeding of the five thousand) in about ten minutes, then looked at other cool pictures in the story bibles we were using. IMG_8126

After showering at the nearby YMCA, we had pizza for supper and headed out for Rock City. Our group size got us a huge admission discount, and we really enjoyed the passageways, gnomes and views. 

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At club that night (the group evening program time), we talked about how to “reach out” like Jesus. When two blind men asked Jesus for mercy (Matthew 20:29-34), he stopped, asked, loved and touched them (SALT). A great acronym to help us engage the people we encounter. It’s hard to do all that in our loud, busy and impersonal world. 

At the end of the day, our church group met to talk about our experiences and prepare for the next day. I was a bit concerned about some of the “I’m bored” and “I’m so tired” comments, but I knew I just needed to give them some time. We collected all the cell phones and music devices when we arrived, 017d5794f729b667b128376f4c35f356ea9bef0838so some of them were still detoxing.

This year’s program and material was excellent, from the Club talks to the devotional guides to the church group discussion questions. Nice job, YouthWorks!

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Posted in Ministry

YouthWorks Mission Trip (day 1): The journey

Posted on by William Douthwaite
SOTC YouthWorks mission team 2014 ready to depart on Sunday morning
SOTC YouthWorks mission team 2014 ready to depart on Sunday morning (Heather, Lauren, Rosemary, Lauren, McKenzie, Kirsten, Joshua, Nick, Evan, Hayden and me)

We left from the church parking lot in Palm Coast about 7:20 Sunday morning (July 6) for YouthWorks in Chattanooga, TN. I’m driving the minivan with half our 12-member group and Mark is driving Godzilla, his huge green pickup truck, with most of our gear and the remainder of our team. He’s got CB’s in each vehicle so we can keep in touch. That’s right, good buddy, CB’s. Continue reading “YouthWorks Mission Trip (day 1): The journey” →

Posted in Grace

YouthWorks Mission Trip 2014 (prequel): PB is not happy

Posted on by William Douthwaite

15 passenger-blackThis year’s mission trip adventure actually begins a few days before our departure for Chattanooga, Tennessee. After months of careful, deliberate and prayerful preparation, I called the van rental company (West Coast Van Rentals, Jacksonville, FL) on Thursday to confirm our Saturday pickup for Sunday’s departure. We have rented from them every summer since our first mission trip eight years ago. Never a problem. Until this year. Continue reading “YouthWorks Mission Trip 2014 (prequel): PB is not happy” →

Posted in Grace, Ministry

VBS Energy

Posted on by William Douthwaite

It’s been a week now since we finished up the annual Vacation Bible School at our church. As I reflect on those five nights, (we do a Sunday through Thursday evening program), I am once again impressed by the ministry energy and momentum generated by this effort.

This event pulls together nearly 100 volunteers from within and some from outside of our congregation, if you count the directors, station leaders, crew leaders, teachers, bakers, clerical help and donors. Those involved include most of our middle and high school youth along with young adults, parents, grandparents and seniors. Some who attended as children now serve in leadership. It is arguably the best fellowship and outreach we do all year, with the majority of children coming from outside of our congregation. Some in attendance deliberately vacation with grandparents the week of our VBS so they can attend!

The afterglow lasts for weeks. Old friendships are renewed and new ones forged. The songs play over and over in our heads. I can still hear the echoes of this year’s drums. Photo galleries and video clips flood Facebook pages. And rather than being exhausted when the week is over, we are energized. Before its over, we are already talking about next year. It is a week when we are at our best!

If only we could replicate this form of revival a few more times a year. In the fall, perhaps, as a new school year begins. Or after Christmas, when the busy holidays are past. I’m not sure what it would look like, but I know it would be very positive for our ministry.

I remember reading something in Henry Blackaby’s book Experiencing God about seeing where God is at work and then joining Him there. This is definitely one of those places to jump on board! I don’t know what it is about VBS week, but it is a rich blessing for us every single year.

 

Posted in Ministry

Just a sticky note

Posted on by William Douthwaite
“How do you do that?”

A first-time worshiper guest threw that question at me on their way out the door last Sunday. No, I didn’t know what they were talking about either. But I’ve become the master of the follow-up question.

“What do you mean by that?”

“You didn’t use any notes when you preached.”

“Oh, he had notes,” her husband quickly added.

I chimed in, “Yes, I did have a few notes.” But then they were out the door.

Honestly, I did have a few notes. I usually have a sticky note on the page opposite my sermon text with some words to jog my memory during the course of the sermon.

How do I do that? Good question. Maybe I should start from the beginning. Continue reading “Just a sticky note” →

Posted in Life

The Big Clean

Posted on by William Douthwaite

How hard could it be?

Dad had cleaned out a lot of things in the house years ago. He had given away clothes, linens, craft and sewing supplies and lots of books after my mom died nine years ago. He moved out of his home of 48 years about six months ago, moving in with my brother. He took most everything of sentimental value with him. With an interested buyer on the line, it was time to finishing emptying out the house and get it ready for sale. By today’s standards, it was a small home, two stories with a full basement. Maybe 1,000 sq. ft. How hard could it be?

I had no idea. The biggest surprise? The number of bookcases in that little home. The books were mostly gone, but my brother, sister and I must have carried out twenty-five book cases and cabinets of various shapes and sizes. Some were antiques, some were cheap pressboard “some assembly required” pieces, and others were handcrafted by my dad. One-by-one we carried painted, stained, metal, laminate and plastic shelf units to the curb, where many were picked up by folks alerted to our efforts via Craigslist.

Continue reading “The Big Clean” →