“Today we left Chariton, Iowa after being there almost two full days. While we were in Chariton we met a little girl named Emma. She was a host sister for some of my teammates, but she was a huge blessing to all of us. When we arrived on Tuesday we were able to have dinner with the youth, and Emma was there. At first when we met Emma she was a little shy, but as we spent more time there her smile came out, along with the giggles, and they became infectious. On Wednesday we did a program for the youth, but we were treated to dinner beforehand. Emma was there again, only this time she had a bunch of hearts made from construction paper in her hand. As we were getting ready to join everyone for dinner Emma sought out every single team member and handed us one of her hearts and gave us a hug. The heart said, “We had a great time. Thanks for sharing God’s love!” That little thank you card that Emma had made meant so much to us. We hadn’t even done our “official” ministry of our program yet, and here Emma was thanking us for being there.
 
Whether she knew it or not, Emma taught me a lot about faith that night. She taught me how amazing something so simple like the faith of a child can be. In the book of Mark, Jesus talks about having faith like a child. He says, “Let the littler children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.” It is simple faith like Emma’s that God desires, and it is that simple faith that I strive to maintain.”
 
                                                Becky Cordes
 
 
“We started the day playing for Bremwood, a children’s home. I could really feel that our uplifting Gospel message was an important ministry for this place. Becky’s sharing had an extra umph of Gospel in a way that really got through. Afterwards, we tore down and loaded up in twenty minutes with the help of some of the kids—a new record. That was especially awesome to have happened today because afterwards we went a couple of blocks down to start setting up in the Wartburg chapel. We had an unexpected turn out just short of a hundred and had a blast sharing our program with peers excited to participate. With the rejoice-filled clapping, dancing, and singing, it was impossible to not have a blast.”
 
                                                Shawn Juers
 
Check out www.youthencounter.org/teams/ for updated journal entries and stories from the road from each of our thirteen ministry teams!