My name is Michelle Schiller and I am the Youth Leader at Hope Episcopal Church in Suntree. I had the privilege of being an adult counselor at the March 2015 New Beginnings Weekend for the first time. I attended with another adult counselor and three of our church’s youth group members were group participants.

What a joy it was to hear the Praise Team every day! Mike, the music director/keyboardist, Zach the drummer, and Stephanie and Katie the singers, made up half the Praise Team, and were all from our church. A few people said to me, upon learning that my daughter was one of those singers, that they were thrilled to have female voices up there this time. The song selections were awesome to sing and watch, as participants and team members bounced, swayed and raised their arms in the air to praise Jesus together.

I enjoyed the small group opportunities. As an adult counselor, I was told to act like a group member. I thought that would be a hard job since I’m so used to leading the youth. It turned out our group leader, Val, was awesome and performed her job spectacularly. When there was a quiet group she asked questions, and when the answers she received could have been a little closer to the point, she encouraged them to give us a little more.

The two sharing times on the stage knocked my socks off. I was elated when one of my reserved youth groupers went up and spoke, and at the end of Sunday, wanted to be a group leader.

My list of people to pray for has definitely grown, as has my circle of friends. I will treasure the time spent at Camp Wingmann/New Beginnings, and hope to be going back in September with more Youth!

Michelle Schiller, Youth Group Leader
Hope Episcopal Church, Suntree, FL