Big Projects

Every summer I end up leading a few big projects or events for the church.  This year is taking the cake with, by far, the most I’ve ever tackled. So I thought I’d record it. It’s very exciting.

Free Soccer Camps
For 10 years now, VCF has sponsored free soccer camps to the community as  way to show people the love of God in a practical way without having to brow-beat them with it. It has been wonderfully successful each year. I’ve had the chance to meet some great people, make some friends, and most importantly, give Jesus a “good name.”  A lot of people have negative views of Jesus and the church, and I have found that these events shed a good light on us.

This year the response has been unprecedented. Normally I print over 1500 flyers and distribute them on driveways all around our area. Then by the time the camp comes, we have about 120 kids signed up between three different weeks.  

This year we have two weeks, and no flyers – just word of mouth.  And we filled up almost two months in advance! I just added a third camp, and it’s almost filled! We will have close to 180 kids this year! Plus, as a new added wrinkle, my dad and Lynn are going to offer free classes to the parents during the camp one day. The classes will discuss parenting and youth sports.  Cool right?

Project Timothy
I’m super excited about this idea—it’s a new one. Besides being the youth pastor at VCF, I am also the Regional Youth Task Force Leader for the Eastern Region of the Vineyard. There are over 70 churches in our region. This summer, I am leading (and VCF is hosting) a teen leader boot camp experience. Basically we are inviting teens from across the region who show leadership potential and will make a 1 year commitment to their youth group, to come and receive some great training. I have secured a bunch of great teachers from all over the region, so these teens will literally be immersed in a life changing experience for 7 days.  I think it’s going to be amazing.

I’m also part of the National Youth Task Force, and they are talking about next year making this a leadership boot camp for the nation.  Exciting!

Impact Week
This is an awesome new brainstorm idea that my dad and I have been working on. In July VCF is going to sponsor Impact Week.  Basically what we’ll do is provide at least one service or outreach opportunity every day for the entire week.  And the challenge will be for every single person in VCF to participate in at least one of these events during the week.

So on one day we might have a group serving food to the poor, another night we might be doing free yard work in a neighborhood, another night we might work on a someone’s house who is in need, etc. This will culminate in …

Water Park Day 
This year to follow up the soccer camps and Impact Week, we are going to put on a large scale Water Park Day on our 21 acres at VCF. We will invite the community and make this a great experience for kids of all ages. In a time when people’s wallets are tight, we want to provide a great family day without the expense.  I think it’s going to be hugely popular.

The Training School 
Last but not least, as youth pastor, I am organizing a week long “boot camp” experience just for our teens as well.  This one is less ambitious in scale, but no less important. It gives us a chance to really go “deeper” with our young people and help them explore their faith in a more complete way. They also get a chance to serve the poor of Wilmington through a free VBS, which is always a profound experience.

I think that’s it. A lot right? That’s why my facebook status lately has said a lot about “I’m planning….” These take an amazing amount of forethought and planning.  But I’m getting there!