BBC Youth

Thursday was a tiring day! We began the day by canvassing and continued until mid afternoon. By our estimates, we canvassed around 3,200 residences within Juniata. We’re all a bit sore, a few sunburned, but all thankful that God allowed us to canvass almost the entire area set aside for us in one day (we were planning on two days of canvassing). Praise the Lord for His enabling. We attended the Kensington Neighborhood House Bible Study in the evening and met some of the folk that come to this ministry of Bethel Chapel Church. It’s amazing to see how different an inner city ministry is, yet the focus on PEOPLE can be applied to any ministry we’re involved in. Please continue to pray for us as we wrap up the week and our ministry here in Philadelphia.

Well, Tuesday night was an adventure as the ladies had a bit of a scare. A thunderstorm was brewing and the strong wind was coming in the downstairs bathroom and causing the door to open and shut. The ladies thought it was something more nefarious. We called Pastor Scudder and he came over and checked out the church, which was, of course, safe.

Wednesday was spent sightseeing in the morning and resting in the afternoon to recoup our strength. We had a wonderful prayer service listening to testimonies from our teens and Bethel’s church members. Afterwards we canvassed a few streets until dark and ended the evening with ice cream sundaes!

So, Tuesday was spent doing mostly work projects. The ladies rolled up their sleeves and executed a death warrant on dirt in the church. By the end of the day you could see sparkles just about everywhere. Meanwhile, the men made the weeds in the flower bed cry for mercy as we ripped them out one by one. A mere six hours later the bed was gleaming with red mulch, blue junipers, barberry and dwarf holly. They then mowed the grass and did a few other landscaping tasks. It was a very productive day that was a blessing to Bethel Chapel Church.

Sunday was a great day and we hope it was for you as you worshiped the Lord. We enjoyed the Sunday services at Bethel Chapel Church. The teens attended the teen class and Mrs. Peterman had the privilege of teaching a ladies’ class. She thoroughly enjoyed that. Several of the teens handled Junior Church with great excitement as young ones were able to hear of Christ’s love for them, as well as hear a Missionary story, sing Gospel songs and do a fun craft.

The afternoon had great potential as most of the teens took naps while the designated few of teens rode to Target. The biggest necessity was energy drinks - not that we aren’t doing anything!

At 4:30pm, we all went to the Auditorium to practice our numbers and to prepare ourselves for the evening service. The Lord blessed as we sang during the evening service. The teens did a great job in singing and they really were loved and appreciated by the people. Eric Peterman spoke on Making a Difference for God. Following the service, we all made our way to the fellowship hall where we enjoyed the real deal Philly Cheese Steaks! The overall opinion was one of “We must do this again before we leave!” They were roughly 12″ long and about as big around as a spaghetti jar - absolutely to die for!

Monday turned out to be a fantastic day as Mr. John Ashley did an excellent job in orchestrating and showing us the sights of Philly including the Liberty Bell, National Constitution Center, Independence Hall, and Reading Terminal Market. We started our day with a train on the “EL” or the Elevated Train - that was really cool for us southern folk. It is much like a subway, but most of it is above the city streets on an elevated track. We will see a little more on Wednesday.

The highlight of the trip came as we arrived at the nursing home on Monday evening, where the teens performed several numbers for a group of 50 elderly folk. What a fine bunch of people! We had a great time mingling and just getting to know them a little. The service went well, but what happened after is what made the night so special. Following a message by Eric Peterman on John 14:1-6, 2 people asked Jesus to save them from their sins, 1 received assurance and others were asking questions and received literature from our team. Our hearts were rejoicing to see the lost saved and the saints praising God as the sinner came to repentance.

We ended the night by stopping at the Philadelphia Water Ice Factory for water ice. It is compared to nothing else! It was amazing! Please pray as we work that God will continue to work in the hearts of the people in this city and in ours as well.

Well, the first day of our missions trip went very well. After stamping a ton (well, maybe a half-ton) of tracts we had a light lunch, though few of us were very hungry because we were so tired. After lunch, several of the sponsors along with Bethel’s youth pastor, Derick Scudder, made a trip to Lowe’s Home Improvement to purchase landscaping supplies. During our trip, the teens took a well-deserved nap. When we arrived back, we immediately got back to work, with the ladies cleaning for the evening activity and the men clearing a 3 foot by 90 foot strip of flower bed that was really a weed forest. In the evening, we had a teen activity with Bethel’s teens and our mission team. We had a chance to play their favorite games and have some fellowship around some tasty Philly pizza. One of Bethel’s teens gave a short challenge about being a real Christian and Pastor David Scudder preached on the burden for inner-city ministry. It is amazing to see the passion Pastor Scudder has for inner cities, and Philadelphia in particular. We pray that his passion will infect us throughout the week and that God will use him in a great way in our lives.