Communities of Hope Day 1

So,

I am at the end of my first day for the Gathering of Communities of Hope that is being hosted here in San Diego by the National Network of Youth Ministries. Today was just the warm up to what promises to be a packed next two days of discussion and brainstorming with some Youth Ministry vets. I hope that I have valuable information to bring to the table as I am interacting with Youth Workers who have a lot more experience and wisdom than I do. However, we all share a passion for reaching young people for the Kingdom and I feel that I have a great deal to learn at the feet of these "experts". Here are a few highlights/Things I learned from today:

- Got to go to Petco Park and hang out with the VP of Marketing
-The Padres are actually a very cool organization, despite their inability to field a decent team on the diamond.
- Speed dating with Youth Pastors is a loud endeavor
- It is possible to be civil with Ohio State fans in the room, something that I didn't think was going to be possible
- I am starting to believe again in the Communities of Hope and I truly believe that there is going to be fruit from the conversations over the next two days
-It is possible to be in Youth Ministry for a long term career. Old Youth Pastors are super cool! Seriously!



I will return with my thoughts over the next few days...