Tag Archives: MYLE

Jun27

Day 3 of the Multicultural Youth Leadership Event

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MYLE’s sub-theme for today is: One household, many rooms (John 14:2).

Again we started the day with “Jumpstart” and were led in powerful worship that celebrates the diversity of the Kingdom of God.

While each of us is different and has our own uniqueness to bring to the table, as one household, this is the sound of one voice, one people, one voice. A song for every one of us. This is the sound of one voice:

After worship, youth participated in affinity groups based on their racial identity. There, they heard stories and shared with one another about the shared joys and struggles they experience.

After affinity groups, we had some fun bonding over our lunch.

The rest of the afternoon included participating in Discovery Worship (a contemplative worship experience that included prayer and reflection stations), workshops, and small groups.

Following dinner, we headed back to our evening worship, which included global music, spoken word, and a beautiful reminder story given by Mary Huntington and a reminder to fill our full authentic selves.

You can view the full worship service here.

After worship, we bonded at community life activities:

You can hear more about our day from Jenny:

Jun26

Day 2 of the Multicultural Youth Leadership Event

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Our second day of the Multicultural Youth Leadership was packed with fun, worship, service, and learning.

After breakfast, we started out with “Jumpstart,” where the worship group “Ase” from Shekinah Chapel – an ELCA church in Chicago – led us in some incredible music to get us ready for our service learning project. (They rocked the house!)

And our very own Hope and Ngbarazere, helped lead us in dance!

Oh, and so did Jordan!

After Jumpstart, we hopped on a bus with a few other church groups to head to our service learning site.

Our group was assigned to work with the Prestige Learning Institute, which offers ESL classes and other skills classes to new immigrants and refugees in the immediate community. We ended up weeding and planting a community vegetable garden in the backyard of the home of one of the teachers at the institute. Refugee families from the institute will be able to work in the garden once a week and have free and fresh vegetables. Additionally, this garden will serve as a wonderful space for community building.

When we arrived, we were overwhelmed at how much weeding and work was to be done.

However, we got to work!

And made some new friends while doing so.

And despite the heat and the rain, we worked together and created a beautiful community vegetable garden! Shannon and her husband were so grateful for how much all of our hands could get done in one afternoon!

God’s work, Our hands!

After our work project and a little down time, we heard a really important story from Nomar, one of the MYLE volunteers who helped us with our service learning project today. Nomar is a college student in Puerto Rico, and he told us a little about what it’s been like as a Puerto Rican after the devastating Hurricane Maria.

Very little attention and media coverage has been paid to the stories of Puerto Ricans. So please listen to his story here:

Part 1:

Part 2:

After talking with Nomar, we did a little youth group bonding over dinner in the University of Houston dining hall.

Then we headed to the U of Houston’s Cullen Performance Hall for another night of amazing worship.

Today’s sub-theme at the Multicultural Youth Leadership Event was: One mission, many gifts (1Corinthians 12:4-11).

Rev. Patrick Gahagan reminded us:

“YOU are a gift because of who you are, not because of what you do. YOU are a gift, not because of what you do, but because you ARE.”

At the end of worship, we heard from the pastors and leaders of the Latin American and Caribbean congregations that are attending MYLE. They presented a beautiful dance:

After worship, youth met with their small groups and then we gathered together to celebrate Graciela’s birthday!

Then we headed back to the Cullen Performance Center for an awesome talent show. Although there wasn’t enough time for them to perform in front of the entire group, Steve and Ngbarazere did a private performance for our youth group:

Go Darth Vader! (Steve wrote this song on his own! We are so proud of you!)

Finally, we ended the night checking in with each other about our day. We were so grateful to have Kalleb (college student, MYLE volunteer, and former E.C.T. Youth Group member) join us!

What a wonderful and blessed day!

Listen to some of the day’s highlights from Maku and Xanath:

Jun25

Day 1 of the Multicultural Youth Leadership Event

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Meet the 13 Edgewater Congregations Together youth, 2 young adult leaders, and pastor who are going to the Multicultural Youth Leadership Event (MYLE).

MYLE is a pre-event to the triennial ELCA Youth Gathering, which “empowers multicultural youth groups, youth of color, and youth whose primary language is other than English to claim their story as God’s story” and to grow as leaders who serve and work for justice when they return to their home communities.

As described on the Youth Gathering website, at MYLE:

– Culture is explored. Participants will experience an inclusive community that seeks to build understanding and appreciation of the various cultures and ethnicities that are a part of this church.

– Leaders are formed. Youth and adults will learn about the issues in their communities and how to effect change.

– Identity is claimed. Participants will be encouraged to uncover their story and live out their God-given calling in the world.

– Faith is deepened. Youth and adults will explore the intersection of faith and life and how our faith calls us to act justly in the world.

– Friends are made. Participants will connect with peers who are looking to build relationships and have a good time.

This year, the ELCA Youth Gathering and MYLE are taking place in Houston. So today our group started the day at 3:00am in order to catch our 6:10am flight.

Despite how sleepy we were, we still had a lot of fun bonding over new experiences (no matter how scary some of them were.)

Here, John and Maku talk about their first time flying (or first time flying since they can remember.)

And here’s the infamous first response video to the flight taking off…

We definitely had some fun times on our flights to Dallas and to Houston!

And then it became official! We finally arrived!

Once we landed, we took a shuttle to the University of Houston, which will be where we spend our time for the duration of MYLE.

And guess who greeted us and showed us around when we did:

(Kalleb, right, one of E.C.T.’s original youth group members and now incoming junior at Valparaiso University! He is serving as a volunteer for MYLE and the Youth Gathering.)

The theme for MYLE this year is “ONE,” based on Ephesians 2:14-19, which ends by staying: “So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God.”

Each day has a sub-theme, and today’s sub-theme is: “One body, many parts” based on 1 Corinthians 12:14-26. Each one of us matters, is important, has so much to offer the world, and is needed by God JUST THE WAY WE ARE!

Here, young adult leader (and former E.C.T. youth) Ngbarazere and youth Lillian and Hope explain some of the highlights of the day:

There were so many powerful moments during worship:

Following worship, youth broke out into small groups (which consists of youth from many different churches and locations.) They will meet with these small groups throughout the rest of our time at MYLE.

And of course, we had to end the evening with a little fun!

We can’t wait to see what tomorrow has in store for us!