What a journey

Hey everyone,

It has been about a week and a half since I have posted but it has been a crazy busy week and a half. There has been so much going on out here and I am simply amazed at how God is working in both the students of San Diego and my life. We attended a conference last week that was.....well different than anything I have ever experienced but one night in particular was just awesome. Thursday night Phil Wickham was there and I had an amazing worship experience and this is really when I started to see God move at the conference.

Also, this past Saturday marked the 3rd anniversary of when God called me into full time ministry. So personally this was a special week for me because I have been reflecting on the past three years and I am constantly amazed at the journey that God has lead me on. If you would have told me 3 and a half years ago that I would be in San Diego for 2 and half months during a summer and have been without a regular job for almost a year and a half I would have called you crazy. But as I think back on that night in Youngstown and remember my Dad saying "I know that you will provide for Seth where ever you lead him" and that has def been the case. I have been able to serve in churches throughout Georgia with things such as D-Nows and internships and now I am interning at a church in San Diego!! WOW!!

So if you can't tell I have had an amazing week. And I am constantly humbled that I am so unworthy to have been given these opportunities but God loves me enough to allow me to serve him. The following song by Phil Wickham was a huge encouragement to me this week.

It's falling from the clouds
A strange and lovely sound
I hear it in the thunder and rain
It's ringing in the skies
Like cannons in the night
The music of the universe plays

Singing, You are holy, great and mighty
The moon and the stars declare who You are
I'm so unworthy, but still You love me
Forever my heart will sing of how great You are

Beautiful and free
The song of galaxies
Reaching far beyond the Milky Way
Let's join in with the sound
Come on let's sing it out
As the music of the universe plays

All glory, honor, power is Yours, Amen
All glory, honor, power is Yours, Amen
All glory, honor, power is Yours, forever Amen

Things are moving along

Hello all,

It has been another busy week here in Southern California. Our summer hangout started this week which is where we are having the youth room open for the students to come hang out. Also this week we had a homework burning bonfire (about 30 students attended!!) We have finished the sound booth in the youth room. Jason and I went out yesterday morning and did our first wake up call of the summer. This is where we go into a student's room early in the morning and wake them up and just have some fun, which of course we video and show it in the youth service on Sunday morning. I had 7 students at my first class last Sunday on lifestyle evangelism so I am hoping that I can really prepare them to be a light in the schools here when next school year starts.

This week holds just as busy of a schedule as last week, if not more so. We have a performance group coming in to lead in worship tomorrow morning during youth service and the other interns have said that this has really gotten some of their students going so I am hoping that it will do the same for us. Later in the week we have a conference called Futurequest which will run from Wednesday to Friday each afternoon/evening. I am praying that this week will be something that is life changing for our students.

All in all everything is going wonderful and I can't believe that this week marks the halfway point for my time here. The schedule is starting to pick up and I know that the second half is just going to fly by. Thanks everyone for your prayers!!

Thankful heart and other things

Hello all I am still not believing that I have been in San Diego for 3 weeks now and I only have 48 days left here. I am finally plugging into the ministry that New Hope is doing. I have been at the church until 8 and 7 in the evening respectively the past two nights but I have loved every minute of it. Today marked the start of a seven week discipleship course with three of my students here in San Diego. I am taking them through the Seven Checkpoints by Andy Stanley, my goal in this is to prepare them to be better leaders in the student ministry at New Hope when the fall rolls around.

Also as I talked to Mom and Dad today they were telling me about how there was an amazing outpouring of support for a fallen solider in my hometown this evening. This has had me thinking how grateful I am to those who serve our country and that it is because of them that I have the freedom to even be on this trip. So thank you SSG Beale for your sacrifice and also to the rest of our Armed Forces who are serving and have served. I have personally had the honor to know men who have served and are currently serving (Pray for you everyday Kevin!!). This trip has made me realize how lucky I am to have the freedom to be here but also how much God loves us to sacrifice his son for us and that he thinks enough of us to serve him. I am humbled everyday here in San Diego!!

Starting out

Well I have been in San Diego for almost two weeks and I am definitely enjoying my time here. There are a lot of fun things going on at New Hope Community Church and especially in 180 (the youth ministry). My boss for the summer, Jason, is awesome and we are enjoying getting to know each other and getting to know how to work with each other.

Last week was all training with other interns around the area and we had a great time getting to know each other as well. They are an awesome bunch of peers for me and have encouraged me greatly in our time together. I am looking forward getting to know them better as the summer progresses.

So everyone can have an idea about what I am going to be doing I am pretty much working as an intern under a youth minister in what is considered a "large church" in southern California. I am teaching a class on "The one thing you can't do in heaven" on Sunday mornings so that should be fun. I will also be going to camp with the high school students at Lake Mead, Nevada in July so that should be fun. Well I hope that this will give everyone a pretty good idea about what is going on with me and I will update as much as possible.