Faces of YU: Elizabeth

Get to know Elizabeth Bosscher from Holland, MI

  1. What is your role at Youth Unlimited?

I am the Canadian SERVE Coordinator, which means I handle all the administrative details for our Canadian SERVE Sites. I am also the resident technology help and troubleshoot any technology issues we may have.

 

  1. Where are you from, and what brought you to Youth Unlimited?

I grew up in Mankato, Minnesota and just moved to Michigan this last August so my Husband could attend school in the area. I searched for a job for a few months after we moved here before I happened to meet one of Youth Unlimited’s board members who told me about the open position. I had an interview the next week and ended up feeling like this was the job God had been telling me to wait for.

 

  1. When you were a student, what was the most faith-formational experience you had?

I think the most faith formational part of being a student wasn’t one experience for me but instead it was a youth pastor who saw potential in me and was constantly encouraging me to get past my comfort zone and learn to take my faith on as my own. He showed me what it looks like to live passionately for Christ in everything you do, not just at church on Sunday.

 

  1. What were you most excited about for SERVE 2017?

I was so excited to visit SERVE Sites and see what this is all about. I knew SERVE in theory before this summer, but since I had never been on a SERVE trip I was excited to see it in action.

 

  1. If you were a student now, what would be your favorite thing about SERVE?

My favorite thing about SERVE would be that I would get to experience the community and friendships that come when you spend all week focused on serving Christ together. There is something about hard work for a good purpose that bonds people together and often results in a lot of fun and joy that you don’t always find in everyday life. It’s amazing what can happen when you put aside your selfish tendencies and focus on tangibly showing Christ to others.

 

  1. What’s your favorite youth group game to play?

I used to love “Bigger or Better”. We would start with a penny and go around town with our small groups and knock on people’s doors asking if they had anything bigger or better than the thing we currently had that they would be willing to trade with us. This game is how our youth group acquired most of our youth room couches.

 

  1. When you were a student, who was your greatest mentor and why?

Apart from the youth pastor I mentioned earlier, one of my greatest mentors was my cousin. She moved into my hometown for college when I was 10 and she became one of my best friends. She is so intentional about asking me how I’m really doing and she helps me process life. I have had the privilege of getting to watch her go through college, get her first real job, get married and have kids. I have learned a lot from watching her go through those milestones and she has passed her wisdom on to me when I have faced some of the same milestones.

 

  1. What’s your favorite late night snack?

Depending on the mood I am in I will either go for some chips and salsa or something chocolate.

 

  1. What type of service project do you love so much that you could do every day?

I have always been a fan of painting. I loved how such a simple act could make a house or a room or really anything feeling refreshed and taken care of.

  1. What is your favorite vacation spot?

I love exploring new cities and places! So, I guess that means my favorite is the place I have never been before.

 

This is an excerpt from the Fall 2017 Magazine. To read more stories click here: https://www.thereforego.com/magazine/

Faces of YU: Ron

Get to know Ron DeVries from Edmonton, AB

  1. What is your role at Youth Unlimited?

I am the Canadian SERVE Director.

  1. Where are you from, and what brought you to Youth Unlimited?

I am from Alberta, Canada. For the last ten years, I had served as the Youth Ministry Consultant for the Christian Reformed church, Classis Alberta North. Following many conversations with Jeff at Youth Unlimited, we could see how a Canadian Director could be a blessing for Youth Unlimited, who would be working alongside a US Director so we said, let’s try it.

  1. When you were a student, what was the most faith-formational experience you had?

I had grown up in the Christian Reformed Church where our youth group experiences began at age 16 and ended around the age of 25 or when you got married. At the age of 22, I had a friend who died in a car accident and this hit home for me. The fragility of life became so clear and Christ became so powerfully real to me in those days.

  1. What were you most excited about for SERVE 2017?

I was most excited about the possibility of seeing youth from across North America experience the Authentic Communities that God has laid out for our teams.

  1. If you were a student now, what would be your favorite things about SERVE?Ron deVries

The SERVEant and the SERVE 2017 Authentic Community Blend coffee would have been my favorites for 2017. Oh, and the shirts were awesome this year!

  1. What’s your favorite youth group game to play?

Four on the Couch – The purpose of the game is to get everyone from your gender in the four seats on the couch (or position on the floor).

Players sit in a circle. One chair, or spot, in the circle, should be open.

Have everyone write their name on a piece of paper. Collect the papers and pass them out again so that everyone has a paper with someone else’s name on it. Players should not show anyone who they have.

The player to the left of the open spot says someone’s name. Whoever is holding onto the paper with that name must get up and move to the open spot. Then the player who moved must trade papers with the person who called the name.

The player sitting to the left of the new open spot then says the next name and the process continues.

By memorizing who has what name and what the names are of those on the couch, players try to get their gender to occupy all four seats on the couch. When one gender does this successfully, they win.

  1. When you were a student, who was your greatest mentor and why?

My dad was my greatest mentor because of how he lives for Christ.

  1. What’s your favorite late night snack?

Peanut Butter sandwiches.

  1. What type of service project do you love so much that you could do every day?

Working in places that reach out to those who are on the fringes of life. It is hard work, but all of God’s children are important to the kingdom

  1. What’s your favorite vacation spot?

Hawaii.

 

This is an excerpt from the Fall 2017 magazine. To read more stories click here: https://www.thereforego.com/magazine/