Our new
YouthWorks-Detroit program director, Chad
Shellabarger, and his wife, Doris, have been blogging
as they transition from college to a life
together in community
outreach in Detroit, gladly serving
their King!
How did a small-town boy from a
nice neighborhood in Ohio end up in Detroit? Well,
there are two versions of the story: the short one
and the more detailed one. First, the short one.
Jesus.
The second version of the story
could take a few coffee (or hot chocolate for me!)
dates to explain, but I will give the shorter
version. The first connection of note occurred
during my first semester at Huntington University
(HU). I decided to minor in youth ministry and
ended up in a class with professor Tom Bergler. It
turns out that Tom was well acquainted with YouthWorks-Detroit.
The Lord gave my spirit power to
conquer my timid flesh and I eventually made a
trip to Detroit during my first January term at
H.U. The Lord took me to the front lines of
Detroit's poverty and my heart and worldview were
shattered so that He could build one on HIS
foundation. Near the end of the Urban
Encounter, the YouthWorks-Detroit
staff presented an opportunity for the upcoming
summer: Detroit Summer Outreach (DSO). I strongly
considered it and the 5 of us on the trip returned
to Huntington with a new fire burning in our
hearts.
Through some divine interaction
and the help of my financial supporters, I was
able to participate in DSO 2010 as a StreetTeam
intern. When it came to a close, I was sad to
leave, but had a strange sense that I would be
back. Sure enough, the Lord opened a locked door
the following summer and I came back on as a
StreetTeam crew leader. Once again, I left with
the familiar feeling of leaving home, even though
that is where I thought I was heading!
During my senior year at H.U., the
Lord revealed that He wanted me back again, this
time to accept a dream job offer of being the
StreetTeam director during the summer and Program
director during the year. My wife and I are
privileged to be steadfast lamps burning bright in
God's city and we look forward to witnessing it
rise from the ashes.
Youth-Works
Detroit Staff: Top row from left to right: Evan
Kresta (Gapper), Camille Chippewa
(Bezalel),
Ryan
Corr (Gapper), Emily Hoffman (Finances/Urban
Encounter); Front Row: Matt Hagen
(Gapper),
Chad
Shellabarger (Program Director), Anna Bode
(Women's Mission Leader)
Some highlights of our mission
journey to Detroit
Tuesday May 21, 2013
5:15 a.m. and we were off! The car
was packed to the max as Doris and I pull out of
Chad's parent's driveway in Rockford, Ohio to
start our new life of mission in the city of
Detroit. Staff training began at 9 a.m. in the
YouthWorks-Detroit office and we were welcomed
with open arms by our brothers and sisters who had
chosen to intentionally live a Christ-centered
life in the city. This year's DSO (Detroit Summer
Outreach) staff consisted of 10 plus talented
individuals from the U.S. as well as all over the
world, and it was amazing to witness how little
cross-cultural differences mattered when we worked
together in the Spirit. This was the perfect spot
for us to start our life of service
together.
Before diving into many hours of
planning and preparation of an amazing summer
program for young adult intern as well as city
youth, we came before the Lord to worship and seek
His counsel. This summer was only the beginning of
what God had in store for us in Detroit and we
praised Him for surrounding us with a solid
community that made us feel at home right away!
Tuesday, June 4, 2013
After a week of staff training,
all of the interns flew in from all over the
world. We have interns and staff members from
Germany, Costa Rica, Mexico, Ireland, Scotland,
and all over the United States. One of the most
amazing aspects of the first week is how quickly
the group meshed together. We all shared a common
bond in the Lord Jesus Christ and once we gathered
to worship, it did not matter where we were
from.
As far as StreetTeam, we kicked
off the summer with our annual "Job Readiness
Workshops" (or JRWS). The workshops are part of
the application process of joining StreetTeam and
they consist of 3 days of 3 (one-hour) sessions
with business men and women from the city and
surrounding communities. The topics included:
Financial Literacy, The Profile of an Excellent
Employee, Goal Setting, Interview Tips, Building a
Resume, and Communication Skills. The
workshops build toward fulfilling the motto of
Youthworks-Detroit, "Equipping youth for the
fullness of life." We do not want to offer a job,
or a church camp experience, we strive to provide
a summer job and skills training for Detroit
high-schoolers as well as an environment where
they can start or grow a relationship with Jesus
Christ. After meeting some of the kids, we are
extremely excited to kick of the program for 2013!
Early July 2013
In early July during my daily
Scripture reading, I began to read the Book
of Exodus and the story of Moses. It had been
quite a while since I have carefully read the
narrative surrounding the life of Moses. So I was
not surprised that the Lord spoke personal words
of wisdom for me through reading about
Moses.
Diving into my new position was
not short on emotions. The excitement of a new
journey was exhilirating, but the plethora of
tasks was crippling. I found myself in between
deep joy and nagging thoughts of insufficiency.
How could I possibly create a spiritual
environment like my predecessor did? Am I a fluent
speaker for this job? What if I fail miserably? -
The doubts crept in and I denied my
annointing.
If you know anything about Moses'
story, you may know where I am going with this.
After the Israelites were enslaved in Egypt and
God called Moses to deliver them, he questioned
the Lord's beckoning. Even with the obvious
miracles the Lord was doing in his sight, Moses
felt weak. BUT, God did not choose the wrong
guy. He tells Moses that HE made him and HE
will use him to fulfill his purpose. This truth
cut right through my filthy doubts and
strengthened me to lead!
Life in Intentional Community
by
Doris
This
summer, I have the unforeseen joy to serve as the
StreetTeam "Who's Your Neighbor?" (WYN?)
program coordinator and experience life in
intentional community in the women's household. When
Chad and I first arrived in Detroit May 22, I had no
idea what to expect.
Contrary to Chad and other staff,
this was my first DSO and all I could do was trust
the Lord that He knew what He was doing. As
you can read in Chad's testimony, he was the one
who felt the Lord tugging on his heart to follow
Him to Detroit. Now he was returning to his
beloved city - with me. Both of us are passionate
about inner city ministries, so diving into DSO
seemed like a logical first step for the wife of
Youthworks' future Program Director.
Unfortunately, I am a child of
little faith. Even though God has placed me in
many leadership positions serving youth and young
adults in the past, I doubted my abilities to lead
a children's ministry, encourage inner city teen
employees and keep up with the crazy DSO schedule
while preparing for life in Detroit after the
summer. In fact, when I first met with my awesome
"Who's Your Neighbor?" (WYN?) team of
interns I was convinced that any one of them could
do my job much better than me. Yet other staff
reminded me that everybody in DSO, regardless of
past experience, must always rely on the Lord for
strength and His blessings on the program. Now I
know that God's first blessing was to surround me
with wise people. This summer has taught me once
again that each one of us is created uniquely and
with a specific purpose. God gives each one of us
tasks and challenges because He has equipped us to
master them with Him. And this summer He has
decided to give WYN? to the new kid around
the block.
|
A day in my (Doris) life
during DSO
It is
now my turn to give you all some kind
of idea what I was doing all day while
Chad was planning the Street Team
programs. I did... a lot more than I
thought I would do, but it was blessed
work and I enjoyed my time in the
summer program. Here is a general
overview of a day in the D and what
"my" StreetTeam Crew "Who's Your
Neighbor? was all about:
6:00
a.m. -> rise & shine!
6:15
a.m. -> breakfast
6:40 -
7:40 a.m. -> morning prayer/
meditation
7:45
a.m. -> off we go!
8:30
a.m. - 5 p.m. (Mondays) ->
StreetTeam "Who's Your Neighbor?"
8:30
a.m. - 2 p.m. (Tue, Wed,Th) ->
StreetTeam "Who's Your Neighbor?"
2
- 4 p.m. -> drop off teens, office
work, etc
6 p.m.
-> dinner
Rest of
the night: either staff meeting, small
group, prayer meeting, date night, or
prep time
|
"Who's Your Neighbor?" (WYN?)
is a relatively new Street Team program which
focuses on reaching out to children in the
neighborhoods of East Detroit. Originally, we only
accepted children age 7-14. However, after
learning about younger siblings being left at home
with often inconsistent care, we decided to
respond the obvious need by opening our doors to
any child old enough to participate in a summer
day camp. Now we teach and play with children as
young as three years old until lunchtime when we
serve them a free meal. Our program ranges from
bible stories to crazy dancing to songs like
"Father Abraham", consistently reading to and with
individual children, crafts, games, field trips,
conflict resolution small groups and much more.
Thankfully, the Lord has blessed us with a
wonderful Street Team crew consisting of six High
School students from Detroit who are doing a great
job interacting with the kids and leading
activities. It is our (staff) job is to invest in
them just as much as we invest into our WYN?
participants which stretches the program's age
span that requires our attention from 3 to 17 year
old children and teenagers. If you count the DSO
interns which fall under my care, it goes up to 23
which leaves us with a total age gap of 20 years
between the youngest child and the oldest intern
all combined in one program. If somebody
would have told me that out of all people I would
be leading the staff of this program I would have
not believed it.
We started the program with very
little supplies and even less instructions as to
how to run it, yet the materials and food came in
abundance and the children kept on bringing in
more family members and friends to join in the
fun. The Lord provided in mysterious ways and He
laced people and situations into our program that
He had prepared me for the years leading up to
this summer. I simply couldn't see it when I was
first assigned to lead the WYN? crew, but
now as I look back I can see why God picked me and
not somebody else and that experience is very
rewarding and encouraging. Don't get me wrong,
working with children is exhausting and teenagers
can be frustrating, but it is in those moments
when God comes in and equips me with new strength
and authority to finish what He has given me to
do. I found that God often transforms me the most
when I try something I might not be naturally good
at, yet He knows what He is doing after all.
This year's WYN? Crew
became like a family away from home to many of us
and I consider myself very blessed by the many
talented co-workers God has called to the program.
Every program day is made possible by the
contribution of each intern, teen, child and
donors that bless us with their resources and
time. As we approach the end of the summer, we
often speak with disbelief of the life after DSO
when we will not be together anymore and that
feeling of sadness confirms in my heart that God
has proven Himself faithful once again.
"Trust in the Lord with all your
heart and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways submit to
him, and he will make your paths straight."
Proverbs 3:5-6
End of Detroit Summer Outreach
2013 (July 31st)
Wow, what a summer! As always, DSO
called young men and women from around the globe
to come together and serve, worship, and commit
their lives to their creator. It was a
privilege to witness the transformation of fellow
staff, interns, and the youth we are serving. The
Lord helped build a lot of great relationships and
it was sad to depart. However, it was not a
solemn occasion "leaving" the youth this
time.
Every summer, we close out our
StreetTeam program with a formal reception
consisting of hors d'oeuvres and desserts,
as well as a program that honored the kids for
their work and displayed our program to parents
and benefactors. My previous two experiences at
the StreetTeam reception have been bittersweet
because of the pending move away from the city.
However, this time was different! When a few of
the youth came up and asked if I would be leading
youth group in the fall, I could happily smile and
nod, instead of mustering up enough courage to
tell them why I was not staying.
See related
stories from YouthWorks-Detriot >
