H15 Ministries to open a second night

H15 Ministries to open a second night
Dave Mast

H15 Ministries director Andy Schafer, left, joins a host of teens in the recently completed courtyard at the teen ministry in Millersburg. As the center gains momentum, the ministry has added a second night on Thursdays for older teens.

                        

When H15 Ministries opened its doors to area teens several months ago, it began a journey to connect with teens in a meaningful spiritual way. That odyssey began with the H15 building being available to teens on Tuesday evenings.

That was not what Andy and Tammy Schafer had in mind when they began, but with limited volunteer staff, it was what they had. Now that they have more volunteers, they will expand to two nights.

“We have been able to add a second evening of operation,” Andy Schafer said. “We are now open Thursday evenings as well, but it is for older teens age 16-19. This has given us a quieter evening where we have been able to connect more deeply with the older ones and be able to really get to know them better.”

This additional night has been spent playing the Parker Bros. game of Risk.

“I have ended up connecting with these three guys who love to play the game Risk,” Schafer said. “We have had a couple of epic games that lasted the entire evening. The camaraderie that has formed through this classic game has been wonderful. I have lost every game we played, but that’s OK because we are all winning as God allows us to connect more and more.”

Schafer said one of the most popular questions they hear is when they will be expanding their hours. He said the teens are begging them to be open more. While they were able to expand to a second evening, the desire is to continue that trend, but the biggest hurdle continues to be finding volunteers to make that happen.

“We need more volunteers,” Schafer said. “The thought of hanging out with teens might be intimidating or even frightening to some people, but let me assure you, you have nothing to worry about. The teens that have been coming in are soaking up the attention and eager to connect with us. You don’t need any special skills or to be some cool, awesome character to be a volunteer. It just takes a love for teens and a heart to serve God. All you have to do is be willing and available.”

Schafer said they need people willing to commit to a particular schedule to be able to expand the evenings they would be open to teens, but someone who can’t do that is still welcome to join the volunteer team on a part-time basis.

“We try to schedule the minimum number of volunteers, but I love to have floaters who come in when they’re able,” Schafer said. “The more volunteers the better. The ultimate goal is to be open six days a week, but that is going to require a lot of volunteers.”

For anyone wishing to volunteer, the link to find out more and fill out an application is at www.h15ministries.org/apply/.

Feel free to contact Schafer if you’d like to talk directly about what is involved with being a volunteer or stop in on a Tuesday evening and soak in the experience as a visitor.

Anyone wishing to volunteer in other ways has an opportunity. H15 is still seeking volunteers to come in and help with the regular cleaning.

“Tammy is doing as much as she can, but as we add more hours, it is more difficult,” Schafer said. “Sometimes it is getting done by the volunteers on the nights we are open, but they would rather be spending that time with the teens.”

While being open a second evening was the big excitement, it wasn’t the only news. Another surprise was a donation from the Millersburg Eagles club. Schafer said they contacted H15 out of the blue to notify them that they had raised $1,100 for the ministry.

They invited the Schafers to come down to receive the check.

The giving didn’t stop there.

Another Historic Downtown Millersburg business, Hotel Millersburg, is implementing “Give Back Mondays” as a way to invest back into the community and has chosen H15 as one of the organizations they are going to support.

On the third Monday of every month, 10 percent of the profits for the entire day will be donated to H15. The other organizations include OneEighty on the first Monday, Darb Snyder Senior Center on the second Monday and the Church of God Food Pantry on the fourth Monday.

One other way to help the ministry is to contribute some smaller items like snacks and drinks to serve to the teens; baked goods and chips or fruit; board games and card games; paper products like plates, napkins, toilet paper and tissues; art supplies; hobby-type items; a couple more comfortable arm chairs; and school supplies.

Also, if there are any churches, families or organizations that would like to make a meal for the teens, that is always welcome.

“If anyone has something they think we might be able to use, don’t ever hesitate to check with me,” Schafer said. “Maybe we can use it and maybe not, but we’ll never know if people don’t offer.”

H15 Ministries can be called at 330-231-7147.


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