From the beginning....

Our church is called New Beginnings.  It is significant to me because Jesus is the only beginning any of us will ever need.  There are times that I question if I should even be a youth pastor, I mean how can you even be cool at 37, but it is in these moments like here in Jamaica that I see and feel Jesus change even me. As a youth pastor who sees time and relationships as a 24 hour, life time commitment, it is hard for me not to long for our youth to find New Beginnings.  Thank you to you who have invested in the lives of our youth.  A mission trip is never an easy, nor inexpensive endeavor, but I promise it is worth it.  Camps, retreats, food on Sunday nights is just part of the full picture.  Mission Trips are an essential part of the development of all Christians.  Even Jesus took the disciples on mission trips.  Our world shirks, our mind is expanded, and Jesus becomes real.  I hope their lives will be changed, that Wal-mart never looks the same, that they begin to see the needs around them daily. That something new begins in them that will impact the world around them.  We all need reminders of the blessings that we have, Jamaica helps me see that my problems, my issues have always been in the hands of a Savior that loves me more than I deserve.  So again I say thanks for allowing me personally the opportunity to see God work in the lives of our youth.  And I thank you for supporting our youth.   So I shed a tear and I say a prayer and I hold on to hope that from the beginning He is always faithful....