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matthew mccage
When we started full time ministry, I will never forget how excited we were to spend time with students on a regular basis! What could be better than hanging out at the local ice cream parlor everyday comparing God’s grace covering our lives to the hot fudge covering my sundae?!? Yet, as the ministry grew from six high school students to eighty-three, it became very clear I could not do this on my own. I needed to find adults that loved God and really cared about His kids. I didn’t know what else to look for and I didn’t know really what to do with a “volunteer”. I only knew I needed other adults to not only keep an eye on things but to love the kids and to help them feel welcomed and important.
Enter Phil.
Phil is the best volunteer youth worker I have ever seen. He is there whenever I need him. His impact completely changed the year he went with us on our mission trip to a children’s home in east Tennessee. On that trip, ministry could not have been more real. That week Phil shared life with our high school kids in ways he had never shared before. He moved from volunteer to minister and has never looked back.
Below is a letter Phil wrote to a student after the mission’s trip to Tennessee. You can provide this to your volunteers as an encouragement for them to write letters to the students they minister to. Feel free to cut and paste!
Letter:
Mike,
I wanted to take a few moments to let you know how proud I am of you and the decisions you made this week at camp. I have been so excited to watch God work in and through your life this week and I cannot wait to see the impact your new heart will have on the rest of the ministry now that we have returned.
I know life has been tough and that you have been through a lot this year. I want to encourage you to keep your head up! Now that you are not at camp and surrounded by Christians, you will really be challenged to go back on your commitments you made at camp. No matter what, stay the course! Keep your focus and DO NOT LOSE HEART! You are not alone and you never will be. You can rest in knowing that God will always be there for you and He will never leave you high and dry.
Also know this . . . you will make mistakes. You won’t always do the right thing and with that comes embarrassment, frustration and guilt. Take it all to God and start over. He isn’t surprised by our sin and longs to clean us up after we fall. Know you are loved and I am so proud of you!
At His Feet,
Phil
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