Hey everyone!
I realized the other day that it has been a long time since I’ve
last written an update on how things are going here. I hope that you all have been doing well!
The students and staff arrived back from Outreach in the
beginning of this month full of excitement and full of stories of what God did
while away. Once they arrived home, they had a day to rest and do laundry and
to get re-acclimated to the American way of life. Once Monday hit though, it
was full swing back into the schedule that YWAM is so known for. Monday through Friday were debriefing days
for the students. Helping them come to
grips with the fact that the whirlwind that the previous 6 months had been, is
coming to an end. They weren’t going to
be surrounded by the people that they came to love so dearly. As well as
helping them through this, we spent time every day that week affirming the
students. Telling them what we loved
about them, and just encouraging them in their daily walk with God. Once debrief week was over, it was graduation
day on Saturday. It was bittersweet for students and staff alike for sure. We had all become a family…a “YWAMily” if you
will. They had just gone through this
unbelievable life changing experience together for 6 months, through highs and
through lows. Some of them got closer than family, and they had to say goodbye.
Of course, some of them are going to keep in touch with each other, but the sad
truth is, that there are always the few people that don’t ever talk again. But each
of them knowing that they all were moving into bigger and greater things than
any of them could ever imagine!
The week after graduation was an off week for all the staff
that had staffed the school. And it couldn’t have come at a better time. Everyone was exhausted. But it was for good
reason. The week off was such an amazing
time of straight relaxation, and hanging out with friends…and taxes. Gotta love taxes…yeah, no, not really. Not at
all actually. But anyway, they had to
get done, so it made sense. Regardless though, it was nice knowing that I didn’t
have anything else super important to do.
Which brings us to this week. Unfortunately, breaks never
last long enough. And quickly it was
time to head back to Smithtown, and back to office grind. This week have the privelage of hosting the
Northeast Leaders meetings. Most of the leaders
from the YWAM bases all over the northeast, from New Hampshire, to Washington
D.C. are here for a week of meetings.
Next week is the staff’s debriefing time. Walking through what we think we did well
with, and what we think could use a little more work, as well as what we want
to continue to work at and get better with. Also during the debrief week, we
read over the questionnaires that we gave the students, to get their opinion on
how things ran, and how we can make the next school run even better than this
one did.
Well…that’s what has been going on, and what we have to look
forward to next week!
With the wind,
Mark
