Youth Ministry

DAY 6: Thursday was an incredibly full day, which is something we were all thankful for. It is always neat to have days just full of opportunities. The morning consisted of going to a high school with a reputation of being full of troubled teens or teens that ended up there due to doing poorly elsewhere. The students we talked to were
far more interested in getting to know us than I had anticipated. I think we all expected for them to be “rough around the edges,” but at the end of the day, whatever they seem to be, they are all simply people, just as relational as the rest of us. Worship songs were sung, “King of Hearts” was performed, and Tucker shared his testimony with the students in a way that was conversational and relatable. After performing there, the team headed back to our work sight to finish the house we had started earlier this week. Lots of priming, painting, and sweating took place as well as the unexpected opportunity to meet and speak with the single mother who owned the house we were working on. In the midst of that work, three of the guys left early to dig a trench most diligently at the Heerah’s house. Naturally, their work ended with a massive mud fight that could not have been more fun. The team spent the rest of the afternoon in the word and preparing for the evening we were about to spend in Vega, a more rural area that is about twenty minutes away from the Heerah’s house. Once there, we broke up into groups and walked through the area meeting locals, attempting to stay away from stray dogs, and inviting the people we met to our upcoming street performance. Our street presentation in Vega was worlds different from our presentation in Sangre Grande, but we saw God at work nonetheless. Our crowd was in no way enormous, but they were certainly a crowd in need. After some worship “In the Light”
was again performed (giving me goose bumps, as always), Emmy Weeks shared her testimony, and Ronnie Heerah shared his testimony and the gospel. The response was overall very positive and we all enjoyed
spending the rest of the evening dining with the locals in Vega getting to know them, sharing with them, and never ceasing to pray for them.

DAY 7: Today was a day that we have long been anticipating. We have been advertising an upcoming free car wash to the locals since we arrived here and finally, today was the day. Every person had their job, be it washing, waxing, rinsing, or absurdly jumping and screaming “free car wash” to cars that passed by. All morning we worked with strange flows of one or two cars at a time or tons all at once. The single commonality between every person we saw, whether or not they agreed to get their car washed, was that none understood why anyone would give up their time to serve the community with no strings attached. Most did not understood why some American kids would give up their summer to serve. God truly seemed to make an impression on the people we came across. After the car wash we had a late lunch of…wait for it… pizza! Granted, pizza here is certainly different from back in the states, but either way it was pretty great to have a taste of America again. We spent our evening at Hope Community Church running an outreach that we called the “Minute to Win it Youth Rally.” It was fun to see a mixture of new and old faces showing up knowing nothing of what the night would hold. We started off the night by splitting into groups led by each of the RBC team members, who each shared a condensed version of our testimonies as well as attempted to get to know the Trinidadians on at least a basic level. Daniel Shull emceedthe evening, keeping the event full of fun and excitement by running the games and interacting with the Trinidadians. They all adore him. For the first time the skit “Silence” was performed, and Joshua Johnstone shared the gospel. I am thrilled to write to you that five hands were raised in indication of accepting Christ when Bob ended the event in prayer. And just like anything in Trinidad, the evening ended in “Trini” time. We had no real schedule for the end of the evening, so we all just “limed” (hung out) playing games and conversing with everyone we could. It was, most certainly, a successful event that was full of truth and love.

Please continue to pray that we help represent the church in this area and ultimately our God in ways that encourage the community.

(by Hope and Ashley)