On November 22nd, Vajaah posted an entry called “An Investment Worth Protecting.”  One of the questions she asked in that blog was “Are we brave enough to sin less…”

I still read that line over and over again thinking to myself, “Wow!”  When I think about “my walk” I’m often soooooo stressed out because I’m not where I think I should be.  I take little me and compare it to Big Him and I sometimes get so discouraged that it would be easier to forget about my relationship with God and all that it requires.  Next to perfection, we all look so horrible.  I’m not suggesting that we become Trump Card Christians: feeling like our walk with God is better because we’ve overcome a particular sin that the next guy hasn’t.

But the idea that we can focus on Sinning Less instead of giving up because we’re not Sinless is an amazingly simple concept.  I’m not sure where the theologians stand on this, but I think its something Youth and even Youth Workers should look into.  No human is perfect.  The Bible says we were created in His image, not that we were exact duplicates of Him.  Which makes sense because when I look in the mirror, I swear up and down that my hair has a mind of its own.  I stand in front of the mirror everyday working on my hair trying to get it to do what I originally planned for it to do.  That’s what God does with us.  He stands before us all the time, working on and with us attempting to make us look the way He intended for us to look.

Sometimes there are stray hairs, and sometimes the curly ponytail won’t lay straight down.  Although the image in the mirror doesn’t match the original image in my head, that mirror image is still beautiful and I’ll continue working on it everyday.

(…not just because I’m fly LOL!)

-Ruth D. LaToison
VCYC Executive Vice President

Greetings & Event Details
The first of many homegrown VCYC EC productions.

Laugh & Take Note!

ATTENTION YOUTH OFFICERS

I was chit chatting with a Pastor today. She said that one of the previous pastors of the church where she currently serves had always seemed like a hard guy to like. After she was appointed, she invited the pastor (who had served 20+ years — 2 pastors ago) to the church for an occasion. To her surprise, he LOVED her. She was confused as to why/how he loved her so…

After giving it much thought, she concluded that the former pastor loved her because she had not destroyed the church in which he had greatly invested his life. The church was revived and healthy, learning and growing. His passion was still evident through the influenced lives of the generations he had served. The edifice still well maintained. The administration, though changed, still a well oiled ministry.

Year after year, we wonder why VCYC officers seem to be less interested, less passionate, less sacrificial. We cringe at how youth officers have titles without work ethic and front seats without prayer lives. Perhaps its because we haven’t invested enough of ourselves. As each tenure passes, the current slate is receiving a smaller fraction of the dynamic power and dedication that once characterized this great organization.

Where does that leave us..?

• Do we have within us the obedience to God to represent and organize the youth of our respective areas?
• Are we brave enough to sin less so that we can accomplish more of God’s work?
• Do we care enough to make VCYC a priority along with our extracurriculars, sports teams, sorority/fraternities and other commitments?

The Varick International Christian Youth Council Facebook Group

Today I focused on inviting people to join the ViCYC group on Facebook. Though there are several VCYC and AME Zion related groups within the social network’s construct, I am hoping that we will be more effective in communicating ministry aims and disseminating information if we can blast one venue. The results are positive and approximately 50 people joined the group today. The group is “open,” anyone can join and anyone can send invitations for membership. The invite message was as follows:

Greetings!

Winter Meeting is almost here and the Executive Committee is pretty excited about what we have planned this year! In the near future we will be using, “The Varick International Christian Youth Council” Facebook group and the Winter Meeting 2008 group to keep you posted on all of the EXTRAS that we have packed into the program

There are several groups of a similar nature but we want to build the member base for this group so that we can maximize our impact on each blast. Please, invite all of your friends to join and stay connected.

Here’s the link: http://www.new.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2204730154

Thanks!
Vajaah – VCYC President

If you haven’t joined yet, please do. If you haven’t invited others to join yet, please do that too