Let me begin by saying how thankful I am to have the 
opportunity to work with such a wonderful group of 
young adults.  Christi and I, along with our four girls, 
are excited about the challenges that lay ahead for us
in the upcoming weeks, months, and years.

As many of you may already know, it is my desire to
work towards being a pastor in the Methodist church.
With that said, I believe that this opportunity is
nothing more or less than God opening a door for me
to begin my ministry.

When discussing my ministry plans with a pastor friend
of mine, I had mentioned that perhaps I was a little old to be
making this kind of life-changing move.  He counseled
with me and explained that I had been in a hallway for
the first part of my life.  He said that God had opened and
shut doors for me, but that until now He had not intended
for me to use any of those.  I had been waiting for the 
right one.  The right one is here and now...First United
Methodist Church, Van Alstyne, Texas.

I would like to invite you to come out and be a part of this
high-energy, Christ-centered, growing youth ministry.

Donny Haywood, Youth Minister

Well, it has been some time since I wrote the previous post; 5 years in fact! But even today, we are still seeing new and exciting things. As you can see from the two photographs, we have gone through some changes in that amount of time. That is the case for the youth ministry as well. We have seen kids come and go and move on to the next chapter in their lives. We need, as a church and as a youth ministry, to learn from the past and implement changes to help move the next group forward. At First United Methodist Church, Van Alstyne, we are still focused on the ministry and the message of Jesus Christ. Come out and be a part of it. Peace!

Donny Haywood, Associate Pastor