I've spent a fair amount of time in Johnstown, PA in the past three years. And each week that I lead a team here, we spend at least one day in Colver.
Colver is one of those towns that you don't realize exists until that day when you are really REALLY lost and stumble upon the quaint little place with ten streets and a bar. But Colver is where God led Jeremy Barclay, and eventually He led us there as well.
In short, and through amazing acts of God, Jeremy purchased a 100 year old hospital in Colver with the sole purpose of turning it into a youth center. See, in Colver, there isn't much to do. In fact, at one point, the bar provided day care.
Teenagers+free time= trouble! 
Enter God. (Side note, don't we serve an amazing God of grace that cares even for the teenagers in a random small town in PA??)
Changing this 10,000 square foot hospital into a youth center wasn't going to be as easily as changing the sign and adding some video games. It involved a major re-haul- tearing out all the walls and ceilings, tiles, wires and pipes. As a self employed contractor, Jeremy was prepared to bring his team in for a couple of weeks and finish the project completely and professionally. However, God had different plans.
One cold day when Jeremy walked into the hospital, he found his tools… well, actually he didn't. All of his tools had been stolen. Windows had been broken, different spray painted messages with colorful words were found through out the building.
Shortly after, Adventures in Missions started sending teams into Johnstown. Swarms of teenagers were sent to Colver to help Jeremy with the youth center. And in the process, the hospital that would one day become a youth center, became… a youth center! What else can you call a place with dozens of teens having fun and helping others?
The first summer I spent in Johnstown, working in Colver one day a week. God started to show me something beyond what I could see.
Here was this old abandoned house, useless and broken down. The process of making it what it was going to be started with tearing out everything that wasn't needed. Old walls, old wiring, pipes that no longer served any purpose. Before any new things could be built, the old had to be torn out.
Isn't that just what happens when we give our lives to the Lord? He starts by taking out everything in our lives that shouldn't be there- our pride, our worries, our selfishness, our ambitions, our deceitfulness. Sometimes that process hurts and it may take a long time. But as God rips out our old wiring, He can replace it with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness and self control. 
Through this old hospital, God shows us what our lives look like before He takes over. And He is faithful to finish what He starts. And like what the youth center will one day be, our lives will have spiritual healing and purpose through Christ.
