GOOTH Mission Trip Pictures

Another GOOTH Mission Trip has now ended, and everyone is feeling the effects of it. GOOTH have been walking around dazed, sleepy-eyed, confused, and dragging their feet for the last two days. Even Tony almost fell asleep during worship yesterday morning…and he only had to hear the sermon once. Hopefully, everyone will be rested up today. The week was a difficult & demanding week, because of the level of hard work, the level of heat, and the even higher level of humidity. I am very proud of the work that the GOOTH accomplished both on the houses and as a growing family.

Many youth groups have a difficult time mixing the middlers with the high school youth. But our GOOTH do not fall into that category. They mix very well as a group. Yes, they enjoy their time separated from one another, but they also enjoy getting to know the other age youth. The youth traveled in 7 vehicles on the way to SC, where they were grouped according to age and/or gender. The van rides always end up being a lot of fun. Luckily, the fun was limited to 6 hours on the road! As for the workgroups, the GOOTH were divided up according to age and/or gender. This left each group with roughly the same skill level, maturity, and age range. For the most part, each group basically had 2 6th graders, 1 seventh grader, 2 8th graders, 3 9th graders, 2 10th/11th graders, and 1 12th/college youth. They worked very well together. The older youth helped teach the younger youth when needed, and the younger youth gave assitance to the older youth as needed.

I would like to thank all of the adults who went on the trip for their time, skills, and ministry. The trip would not have been possible without their help. We had a wonderful food team of Bill & Cathy Teller, who kept us hydrated, fed, and satisfied. The workteams were led by 1) Anne Lowder, Cameron Lowry, and myself; 2) Allen Cooper, Tony & Phyllis Stovall, and Nanita Heasley; and 3) Joe McGowan, Lee Norris, and Egla Garcia. My brother, Mark, assisted on the first day with group 1.

We stayed in a church in Andrews, SC, and ate our meals together. Breakfast was done as you arrived, lunch was brought to the worksites by the Tellers, and dinner was eaten together – whether in the gym, at a restaurant, or a picnic shelter. The A/C worked all too well in the church…some nights, we nearly froze to death, while others we were hot because we adjusted the A/C so as not to freeze us. Oh well. You can’t win them all…if the A/C not working properly is the greatest of our problems, we’re doing well. The church complemented the youth on how well they kept the church tidy and clean. The cleaning lady, Diane, came in everyday and was amazed that the bathrooms were in as good of shape as they were. We all know that teenagers can mess up some bathrooms…but they treated the church like their home and kept it all clean!

As I said before, the work was difficult. But the GOOTH rose to the challenge, stretching their boundaries so that they could learn something new and help someone at the same time. The houses we worked on require more work than what one group in one week can do. The house that my group worked on had been a worksite for three weeks prior to our arrival. The other two groups may have been the first groups to work on their houses…if not, then the second. The youth learned how to use new tools, new techniques, and stretched their minds with situations that required them to problem-solve either alone or together. It was a joy to watch the light bulb come on in the eyes of the youth as they understood the need for certain action, the cause of a problem, or how to do the shortcut. As the week progressed, the youth became more skilled and comfortable with the tools they used. Some ventured into the land of power tools, while others opted to watch at a safe distance. Some became masters of measurements & fitting, while others became fantastic nail-pullers. Some learned how to lay shingles, while others learned how to put up walls. Some learned how to remove & put in new windows, while others learned how to level new doors. The variety of work made each worksite a unique learning environment for the GOOTH. By doing the work on these houses, the GOOTH helped raise the living conditions in the homes to comfortable, safe, and clean standards. The GOOTH’s eye’s were opened to the dirty and run-down conditions in which some people live.

Thank you for following our trip on the blog, and for your support – both financially and with prayer. The trip would not have been successful without the help of the church family & friends.

Here is a public link to my pictures on my facebook site. In time, some more links may be posted as comments to this post – so check the comments! http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=549&id=305700031&l=89a1359df8

Peace,
Jay

Brittany’s pictures on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2013104&id=1401300092&l=c424099af5

Katie’s pictures on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=26834&id=1343135336&l=21afc4893e

The GOOTH Days of Christmas

At GOOTH tonight, we sand a new version of the 12 Days of Christmas!

On the first day of Christmas,
the GOOTH gave to me,
a Mission Trip RSVP.

On the second day of Christmas,
the GOOTH gave to me,
2 flip-flops,
and a Mission Trip RSVP.

On the THURS-day of Christmas,
the GOOTH gave to me,
3 biscuit combos,
2 flip-flops,
and a Mission Trip RSVP.

On the fourth day of Christmas,
the GOOTH gave to me,
4 boxes of popcorn,
3 biscuit combos,
2 flip-flops,
and a Mission Trip RSVP.

On the fifth day of Christmas,
the GOOTH gave to me,
Five hundred miles!
Ya-da-da-ta!
4 boxes of popcorn,
3 biscuit combos,
2 flip-flops,
and a Mission Trip RSVP.

On the sixth day of Christmas,
the GOOTH gave to me,
6 GOOTH green shirts,
Five hundred miles! Ya-da-da-ta!
4 boxes of popcorn,
3 biscuit combos,
2 flip-flops,
and a Mission Trip RSVP.

On the seventh day of Christmas,
the GOOTH gave to me,
7 colored noodles,
6 GOOTH green shirts,
Five hundred miles! Ya-da-da-ta!
4 boxes of popcorn,
3 biscuit combos,
2 flip-flops,
and a Mission Trip RSVP.

On the eighth day of Christmas,
the GOOTH made me eat,
8 freebie hotdogs,
7 colored noodles,
6 GOOTH green shirts,
Five hundred miles! Ya-da-da-ta!
4 boxes of popcorn,
3 biscuit combos,
2 flip-flops,
and a Mission Trip RSVP.

On the ninth day of Christmas,
the GOOTH gave to me,
9 David’s drumming,
8 freebie hotdogs,
7 colored noodles,
6 GOOTH green shirts,
Five hundred miles! Ya-da-da-ta!
4 boxes of popcorn,
3 biscuit combos,
2 flip-flops,
and a Mission Trip RSVP.

On the tenth day of Christmas,
the GOOTH gave to me,
10 bags of chips,
9 David’s drumming,
8 freebie hotdogs,
7 colored noodles,
6 GOOTH green shirts,
Five hundred miles! Ya-da-da-ta!
4 boxes of popcorn,
3 biscuit combos,
2 flip-flops,
and a Mission Trip RSVP.

On the eleventh day of Christmas,
the GOOTH gave to me,
11 FISH Sticks,
10 bags of chips,
9 David’s drumming,
8 freebie hotdogs,
7 colored noodles,
6 GOOTH green shirts,
Five hundred miles! Ya-da-da-ta!
4 boxes of popcorn,
3 biscuit combos,
2 flip-flops,
and a Mission Trip RSVP.

On the twelfth day of Christmas,
the GOOTH gave to me,
12 Diet Cheerwine,
11 FISH Sticks,
10 bags of chips,
9 David’s drumming,
8 freebie hotdogs,
7 colored noodles,
6 GOOTH green shirts,
Five hundred miles! Ya-da-da-ta!
4 boxes of popcorn,
3 biscuit combos,
2 flip-flops,
and a Mission Trip RSVP.

“I Saw God Today” Middle School Retreat

The Middle School GOOTH attended the Salem Presbytery Middle School Fall Retreat on November 1 and 2, 2008, at Camp Hanes in King, NC. 14 youth and 4 adults attended the event and had a great time. Here are some words from two of our youth who attended:

Sara, 8th grade:

The Camp Hanes Middle School Retreat was really fun. We did energizers and sang songs. Then we had our keynote speaker-Dianna Wright. I really enjoyed her sermons. She had a very unique way of preaching. The theme of the weekend was, “I saw God today.” We had small group time and got to walk all around Camp Hanes and look for places where we saw God. This was fun, because the leaves on the trees at Camp Hanes were at their peak so they were all different colors. It was such a pretty weekend, it was easy to see God. Later that night we had a talent show. From our church, Janeth read a really cool poem and Olivia, Carter, and Meghan sang a song. Then we had the Darty.-(dance/Party) Overall, the Camp Hanes retreat was soooo much fun!

Sammie, 8th grade:

Camp Hanes this year was really fun. I made so many new friends. I learned a lot about how you can see God in other people and things. When we left the retreat I looked at everyone differently not because I had gotten to know them better, but because I noticed some of their wonderful qualities. Even though it was my last middle school retreat I really enjoyed it. And I know everyone else did too.

Great start to GOOTH!

GOOTH is off to a great start this fall. After a fabulous Kick-Off Event, we had quite the time at our Parent-Youth Event the following week and at Kick-Off Part Deux last Sunday. The Parent-Youth Event was not the typical fill-out-the-forms meeting. We did mixers, energizers, sang songs, and had a great time of fellowship, before getting down to business – an hour or more’s worth in close to 30 minutes! woohoo!

Last week at K-O Part Deux, we continued playing some of the games and activities that we didn’t have time for at the first Kick-Off. Again – fun times.

This weekend, we have TWO lockins. Middle School tomorrow night, and High School Saturday night. I think i’m insane for trying it, but i figure this way, my sleep pattern is only disrupted for ONE weekend, rather than TWO! I’ll let you know how it went on Monday!

We are also excited about Sunday night, because we are going to Greensboro to see David LaMotte in concert! It will be my 5th time in the last year, I think. I’m pumped. The youth are, too, since we had him in concert in April.

Can’t wait to see the GOOTH again!

GOOTH Kick-Off 2008

GOOTH had our annual kick-off tonight and had a fabulous time! we had 46 youth and about a dozen adults! that’s a record high number of youth for clemmons presbyterian! we had a great time with an odd assortment of food: finger-food rolled mini-wrap sandwiches, watermelon, and cake. yum! we sang several songs, including bebo norman’s “I AM” that we learned and fell in love with at montreat. then did three energizers: sparkle, istanbul, and run around. that took most of our time. we rounded out our time with some fun noodle games outside and a nice rousing chorus of “bambera”!! (jarrett you’d be proud!)

we missed those youth who couldn’t be there tonight, for whatever reason. some had games, some were out of town, some were sick. we had a lot of visitors and we hope they come back! it was great to have some new faces in the group. i’m looking forward to next week and continuing this year with this great group of youth!

montreat pictures

here are a couple of my facebook albums with pics from montreat. GOOTH, feel free to post your public links as comments to this post for others to see.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=367&l=00c39&id=305700031

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=366&l=954eb&id=305700031

Click on the “comments” below to see more albums from other GOOTH.

the one about the name GOOTH

*this is me recollection of the birth of the word GOOTH, while some of the details may be wrong or backwards, this is the general story. i apologize if its long, it takes time for such an amazing name to take root*

gooth. what a crazy word right? well we are a crazy group of youth, but where did this name come from and why is it such a big deal? it all started a long time ago ( about a year and a half ago) in a land far away (the high school room)….

In the fall of 2006 Jay, our newly installed associate pastor, threw out the idea of naming our fabulous youth group and so we took a Sunday evening to brainstorm among our separate middle and high school groups for possible names with the goal of coming together at the end and discussing our favorites. I personally thought that this was just a filler activity, something to keep us busy, little did I know how this fun brainstorming session would change our youth group forever (or at least the next few years). The high school room was particularly full that night and so there were a lot of side convorsations and very few serious ideas being mentioned…things like “cupcakes” and “frogs” i think made it on the board and I was starting to get frustrated when a few of the boys in the back started to talk about combining some of our favorites into one word. group of youth i think was already on the board and so they started playing with that…grouth….groyth….gyouth….and then gouth…wait no it’d be funnier to spell it gooth. I remember discussing the spelling of our newly invented word for a good 10 minutes. but there it was…GOOTH.

I’m not sure what it was about this word but the high school youth quickly became obsessed with it. Jay had told us that the name could not become official until everyone had a chance to discuss it and come to a consensus (jay later informed me that “it was an exercise of using consensus as much as it was a way to choose a new name”), but the high schoolers didn’t care. We had decided that this was going to be the unofficial name whether or not anyone liked it. When it came time for the actual “consensus session” we were able to convince everyone that gooth was the best choice for a name and it became official on january 14th 2007.

after that the name took off. Gooth became this wierd word that instantaneously bonded anyone associated with it. jay, who might have missed his calling into marketing director, ran with it and had gooth tshirts made, gooth magnets, business cards, postcards, even this nifty blog.

I truely believe that God cares about things even this small and so I think that God had a hand in the naming of our group because without some kind of divine intervention i’m not sure that a) our youth could have agreed on one name and b)it could have had this effect because honestly….GOOTH? its crazy word…but then again, we are a crazy group.

much love

Chelsey McElwee

the fifth one about montreat (part3): week in review

Last Sunday evening, after spending the afternoon in a sweat soaked T-shirt and realizing that a shower wasn’t really much help in this humidity….I was thinking I would celebrate Friday (today) and be ticking off the minutes to go home. Wrong again! I feel sad today that this week is drawing to a close. I have a list of new favorite things, even though the “singing youth” are still high on my list. Sharing scripture with teenagers, watching them share scripture with each other, listening to their challenging questions and very passionate discussions.

From the beginning of this year, Jay has guided these young people in the direction of discovering their own spirituality. I have watched with growing interest thinking that it would be a long process. During our week in New York and this week at Montreat, this discovery journey has come to a point of realization. They get it……I mean they REALLY get it! They certainly have scores of things to learn, (I know I certainly do), but they have a sincere desire to grow in their faith. And they absolutely love doing that together….what a bonus! … Learning about the love of Jesus with some of your best friends. They have commented on other Youth who don’t have good experiences with their Youth Group. They realize how unique their relationships are within “Gooth”, but some of their experiences this week have confirmed those feelings. They think everyone should have a “Gooth”.

During this week in Montreat, as an adult chaperone, I’ve had much contact with other young people from different churches from quite a range of geographical locations. I’m sure there are a number of youth that are as excited about their faith and being part of their Youth Group as ours. However, it seems there is a far greater number that are just not. I feel privileged to have been witness to this experience, but more importantly to have been so deeply affected on a personal note. I am proud to be in the midst of these teenagers, they represent themselves (and you) very well.

I have to go; I understand from my young “advisors” that this worship service tonight is powerful. They are on their way, and I certainly don’t want to miss it.

Peace…….Ronda

(Sometime Later…..)

PS…Okay, now, I have another especially favorite memory….the Candlelight Service around Lake Susan. The beauty of that service would almost be an entirely separate BlOG.

the fifth one about montreat (part 2): candlelight

This year was my third and final year at Montreat. It’s been a great week. I’ve had a wonderful small group full of amazing people. We’ve had great keynoters and worship leaders. The keynotes and sermons all hit home with us on some level. The theme, as probably mentioned earlier this week was “throw open the doors”. We had sub themes that included doors of possibilities and doors to the church. We talked about things including the importance of holding each other and being held up ourselves, and just the importance of love overall. We learned so many new songs this week. At first we were all a little disappointed that the songs we had all loved for so long weren’t being played. By today though we had learned the new songs and have come to love most of them.

I waited until tonight to blog because tonight was the candle light service. It’s my favorite part of the week. At the end of the service on the final night everyone gathers around Lake Susan. We get candles as we file out of Anderson Auditorium and completely circle the lake. It’s so beautiful. We light the candles and sing a lot of the slower songs from the week. It has always been a really powerful and emotional night for me. Tonight was more emotional night than past years though because it was my final night at the high school conference. It was a combination of happy and sad. I was sad to be leaving, but happy to have had such a great experience both this week and at conferences in the past. Although, I did learn tonight at devotion that there is the possibility of coming back to be part of work crew next year. There is also a college conference in January.

Another great thing about this week was that I was able to see some of my friends from PYC for the first time since our final meeting, and I also got to see some of the people that I had met last year. Montreat has always been something I’ve looked forward to. It has been an amazing week: as amazing, if not more so, than I had expected. The group of us are so lucky to have each other. We have heard so many stories about youth groups that have people that constantly feel left out of their groups. I feel really lucky to be a part of Gooth where we don’t have that problem. I’m going to miss these experiences when I leave in August. I do, however, feel more ready than I did to leave. Parts of the conference helped me to feel this way. The day we talked about the doors of possibilities I talked about going to college with another graduated senior about our reservations about growing up and moving out. It helped me when I realized I wasn’t the only one with these reservations. It’s been such a great week and I can’t believe it went by as fast as it did.

Love, Brittany

the fifth one about montreat (part 1): candlelight

Colleen, Jacob, Niki, and Joey

Wassupppp Congregs,

We’re just straight chillin’ in the Happy Hearth (our house) listening to Baby Jay play the guitar. Small groups met for the last time today, so most of our groups did an activity called affirmations. It was sad that we wouldn’t go to small groups anymore this year. We passed around the “journals” we have been using all week and wrote nice little things about each other. Except sometimes there were quiet kids in our groups who we didn’t know well enough to say nice things about, so it was like “you were nice” or “thanks for having red hair” or “you ain’t dumb” or “way to be quiet, you idiot” or “I HATE YOU.” Just kidding. Left-overs for dinner tonight were pretty good, again. Pretty soon we are heading down to worship, and everyone is pumped for tonight’s candlelight service around Lake Susan which is always a powerful experience. This week has gone by uber fast. It’s sad that the week is coming to an end and we have to come home tomorrow, but it will be nice to see all of you again! (smiles!!)

Loooooove,

Us

Bethany

Dear church goers,

I’m sitting next to Joey, he’s being a sillybutt. He doesn’t think sillybutt is a word but I’m going to use it. Today I saw mountains. I was with Sarah and Jeremy most of the day. I brought them home to meet the fam. Oh course it got embarrassing. Everyone was singing and when I had a chance to escape they lured me in with hugs and kidnapped me! Jacob’s going to beddyweddybye. Umm. Sarah is getting a little emotional up in here. So night. I love you.

Love, Bethany