First Work Day!

We had a great first day of work! The “wicked” crew (Jeff, Zach, Alex and some people from Minneapolis) spent the day working at the home of Emily, a single mom with a 5-year-old girl. They swept the deck, then sanded the deck, caulked all around and smoothed it out. They had an “epic” lunch break, according to Jeff. They walked down to a park for lunch and enjoyed the beautiful weather. Then after lunch while waiting for their wood filler to dry, Adam, the man from One Roof Community Housing ,took them on a hike in a park along a river with a series of waterfalls.  Adam also told them a lot about the history of Duluth. Once they got back to the site, they started priming the deck. They didn’t have a chance to finish, so they will finish tomorrow.

When I saw them after their work day, before their showers, they had a bit of primer on them, but they were also smiling, they had a good day!

The ‘seek’ crew (Nancy, Nathan, Brenna, Lindsey, Luke and Louie) got dropped off at Union Gospel Mission and were immediately put to work peeling potatoes and quartering potatoes. It only took ½ hour before we had our first casualty (Lindsey’s finger was cut with the potato peeler, but it was fixed with a band-aid.) After the potatoes were finished, we had a chance to visit with the guests of the mission. People were very nice, and the kids did well interacting with strangers. A few were a little shy, not talking too much, but they quickly relaxed and some genuine conversations were taking place.  We ate our lunches early, then, set up a table with donated bakery items from a local food store. We stocked the table with breads and rolls and sweets that guests could take home after they ate lunch. Once we finished stocking, it was time to serve the guests for about an hour. Once the guests left, we cleaned up (wiping tables, sweeping and mopping) It was more food preparation. We peeled and cut cucumbers (no accidents this time!) and peppers.  You’ll hear more about the Union Gospel Mission when we share more about our trip Sunday after church.  

Tonight’s dinner was tacos/nachos/burritos. The staff here had a challenge. They called it “Messy Mexican Monday” they challenged people to eat their dinner without using their hands. Jeff, Luke and Louie accepted the challenge! I’m not thinking we are going to institute this at home…. It got pretty messy!

Tonight we’re going to Canal Park to hang out a while…. More tomorrow.

Thanks again for your prayers….

Day Two- Travel, Leisure and Arrive at Youthworks!!

We left Marquette bright and early this morning (stopping at Starbucks of course for Nancy)

This morning’s car ride was much quieter than yesterday’s. Most of the morning the kids slept or read in the car while Jeff and I listened to worship music. We arrived in Duluth at about 12:00 central time, and began looking for a place to eat lunch. The lead car’s GPS (not ours) told them there was a McDonalds not far, but it sure seemed far by the time we got there!

After lunch we said our good-byes to the high schoolers as they went on their way to Red Lake Reservation (check out their blog at genevaseniorhighs.blogspot.com - Mike will be posting…)

We had about 3 hours before we could check in at our Youthworks site. Someone suggested a movie, and there just happened to be a showing of Despicable Me 2 in about 5 minutes, about ½ mile away! So off we went.

We all enjoyed the movie, but we still had about an hour to kill so we went to Canal Park for a bit and walked around.

Once we checked in at our Youthworks site, we met the staff: Mike, a recent graduate who would like a job in Youth Ministry; his wife Rachel, beginning graduate studies in the fall; Macy, a college student and Starbucks fan (I like her already!) and Kelly a student at Colorado State University.  The staff is warm and friendly.

As soon as we unpacked and set up our sleeping areas the girls, Brenna and Lindsey began playing cards with girls from another church while we waited for dinner.

After dinner was adult leader orientation and youth orientation. In the adult leader orientation, we learned how our church groups were split up and what sites we’d be going to. At this orientation, I was reminded that all mission trips aren’t ideal. That we don’t always get to do what we want to do or have the experiences that we want to have, but that God will be able to use us no matter what. I  found out that our group was not split evenly (or close to it) but into a group with one leader and 5 youth and no other churches working with us, and another group of one leader and 2 youth - working with another church. Part of the reason I like mission trips is so our youth get to meet other kids, but for 5 of our youth, they’re going to have to meet and hang out with other kids not during work time. The good news is we actually are traveling to our work sites with another church (they are going to drop us off…) so I guess that’s something.

Our crews are broken up into “Seek” - Nancy, Brenna, Lindsey, Nathan, Luke and Louie and “Wicked”- Jeff, Zach and Alex (along with some people from another church).  “Seek” will be hanging out Monday and Tuesday at Union Gospel Mission, primarily known as a soup kitchen and food shelf. Wednesday and Thursday we’ll be at Chris Jensen Rehabilitation Center, a nursing home and short-term rehab center. “Wicked” will be working Monday and Tuesday with One Roof Community Housing, which is an organization to promote and sustain home ownership in Duluth. On Wednesday and Thursday, they’ll be at the Union Gospel Mission.

I can’t wait to see what God has in store for us this week. Thank you for your continued prayers!! 

First Day of Travel!

Saturday morning we picked up our 2 vans. I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to reach the pedals, but I could!  After deciding tat we had to remove the back seats to fit our luggage, we packed up and were on the road around 10:00 AM.

The middle schoolers and high schoolers are traveling in separate cans. Jeff and I are with the middle schoolers. Almost right away, this group started playing games together. They played car games,(the alphabet game, pictionary telephone and mafia) the entire way!! Jeff and I thought we were going to have to be the instigators in getting the kids to talk with each other and interact, but we didn’t have to.

The high school van was a little quieter we hear, with reading, sleeping and small conversations…

Thanks to someone having to stop for a bathroom break, we stopped at a rest area that was right along Lake Michigan. Dan and I couldn’t resist getting our feet wet, so we all stopped for about ½ hour, walking through the water and getting refreshed. The water felt really good.

We made it to Marquette just before 7 PM and were welcomed by a member of the First Presbyterian Church with plates of homemade cookies! After being shown to our sleeping rooms, we went to a park on Lake Superior to swim. We were told the water was 41degrees, but that didn’t stop 16 people from going swimming! (3 of us were out getting pizza for the rest of the group.) We have a very brave and courageous group!

After staying in Marquette for the night, we left bright and early to head towards Duluth. We plan on eating lunch together, then the high schoolers will head towards Red Lake and the middle schoolers will stay in Duluth to start our week of mission!

It was warm but worth it!

We might have chosen one of the hottest days of the year so far to walk around downtown Detroit, but I think it was quite worth it! After a few minor glitches (Family Fun Days on the River Front and an afternoon Detroit Tigers game we didn't account for, which made parking a little more of a problem) we made it!

6 youth and 3 adults (including me) made 22 lunches that included a sandwich, fruit cup, water bottle, chips and cookies  to hand out to some hungry people we met. Since this was our first attempt at this mission activity, we started on a small scale. In less than an hour, our supplies were gone! We all came back to the car saying we should have had more!

I think the best part of this ministry is that we don't just give hungry people food, we also pray with them and for them. I don't think many indigent people feel that they are worthy enough to be prayed for. I think (hope) we're able to show them that they matter in the eyes of God.

I hope more people can join us when we do this ministry again. I'd like to make it a regular thing!

What do you think?

Moving to Summer and Missions!

This week is our last week for Breakfast Club until the fall. Since last September we've covered so much of the bible through reading and discussing The Story! It was a long journey but I'm really happy we did it. I think we read and heard lots of stories from the Bible that we've never heard before.

These last few weeks we've been talking about service and mission and what the needs are, why we're called to do it and how do we serve. I'm hoping this creates an excitement for the service opportunities we'll have this summer.

In June (Sunday, the 23rd) we'll be following Jesus' teachings and 'feeding His sheep.' After church we'll get together to make a bunch of sack lunches. Then we'll head downtown Detroit and hand them out to people who look hungry. We did this ministry several years ago during our Detroit mission trip. The youth and adults who took part loved it! It was a wonderful experience to be able to feed a hungry person. I hope that we have many people (adults and youth!) who can join us this year. (You'll need a yearly permission form on file!)

In July, we'll be heading to Minnesota for our summer week-long mission trip. I'm really looking forward to seeing how God will use us on this trip. If you aren't able to join us this year you can help us by praying for us and considering joining us next year!

In August we'll be sprucing up our own church by pulling weeds and trimming bushes. As always, this service will end with Ice Cream! (Everyone needs incentive to pull weeds!)

If you have other local service or mission opportunities you know about and would like us to do, please let me know! I'm always looking for ways to serve!

Success!

Hey everyone! Great job on another A Night Out success! We worked hard gathering donations, setting stuff up, serving and cleaning up after. We've even got all our thank you letters written and sent out! Amazing work everyone. Together, we raised $7,000 towards the cost of our mission trips this summer.

I heard lots of compliments about the evening, ranging form the great service, to the good food to the wonderful entertainment. I agree! I was super impressed at how well everyone came through remembering their lines, being where they were supposed to be and performing wonderfully- whether it was skit or music or joke! I was especially impressed with the youth that had never participated in A Night Out before- Great job!

The only thing left to do is make sure you follow through with your auction services. Don't let it get too late before you complete your services! If the person who won your service hasn't contacted you in a month or so, PLEASE contact them, and at least remind them.

It's almost Auction Time!

How important is this event?

In the past, each student would have had to pay almost their entire mission trip expense. There were some small fundraisers (Super Bowl Subs, Pancake Breakfast, Car Wash) but they didn’t make a significant impact on expenses. There were also Youth Serve opportunities, but these were sporadic. The big fundraiser was our “A Night Out” dinner. The entire profit from this dinner was typically $1500. (split between all mission trip participants.) In 2010 we implemented a silent auction portion to our fundraising dinner. The  average profit from the auction alone has added between $3,000 and $4,000 to our expenses. Since we implemented the auction, no student has had to pay more than their $50 deposit. All expenses have been covered.

This year, we have the added expenses of extra travel days, which creates more meals needed and more gas to purchase. We’ve also added the cost of 2 passenger van rentals. This year, more than ever, we want a very successful fundraising dinner and auction.

How can you help?

Parents and Youth: Encourage bidding! Mingle with your guests or others at the auction tables, encouraging them to bid and even overbid on the items.  (It’s for a good cause!)

Parents: bid yourselves! Yes, you’re still spending money, but you’ll be getting some wonderful items for it! Or, maybe you’ll just be increasing the amount that other people will pay for that item!

Remember the mantra.... Bid high and bid often!