North Carolina 2009

 

 Sunday, June 14th 

Dear Friends and family,

Hello. This is Jarrod. First off, I wanted to Thank you so much for all your love and support. I can not believe we are already here. We made it down here safe and sound. It actually went really smooth. I don't know about everyone else but my van had a ton of fun "going on picnics" and finding every letter of the alphabet to start a word. Special thanks also goes out to the quality inn and the makers of the Xterra or else we never would have gotten through the alphabet. 

I was really proud (and you should be to) of how well our students have prepared and how they have been handling themselves so far. As a side note, our students definitely yelled the loudest for the opening ceremony.  I can here our kids outside playing now and having fun. I am really excited with anticipation for what God is going to do in and through us. Please continue to pray. I will try to get more students to write later and more pictures up, but for the first night I want to let our students unwind after the long drive. More to come later.....

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Monday, June 15th 

Dear family and friends,

(this is Krysten Villareal) Today was A LOT harder than I thought it would be! I figured "Oh, sure. Digging will be hard but we'll do fine." Well, we did fine, even though it was hot, humid, and it rained this afternoon. What I thought was really cool was that everyone just really encouraged each other and we had a lot of fun! We had cheers, and we sang songs [including some "Barney" songs!!!] It's really just so cool to see our team working together and putting others first like we've been studying.        

(this is GARY COLE) Today was all about teamwork. First we got to the work site and got to meet the people of the house: grandmother,jenive then granddaughter,Samantha then the two great granddaughters, lexi and destiny. After we met them we started digging. For the digging we had some awesome chants two were from Remember the Titans and one from Bob the Builder. We got most of the digging done except a little bit. For the end of the day we get to play outside and we will meet as a group and talk about our amazing day.     

Hello Parents, Family, and Friends!! 

This is Lydia. We started the day with invigorating worship and a challenge to consecrate our lives to God and to live in the freedom of the Holy Spirit! It is always an awesome way to start the day!

I wish you could have been here today to see how hard your students worked, all the time encouraging each other and always being willing to do what is asked of them. They have really risen to the occasion and worked hard at the task that has been given to them. They accomplished much more than we anticipated and even in the pouring rain! (So don't let them get off the hook at home for not doing their chores ; )) 

It is always a privilege to serve as a leader on these trips, to see your students be out of their comfort zones, to be able to process with them what it means to trust God with every area of their lives, and to put their faith into action! You should be so proud of them! Thank you for entrusting them with us and allowing us to be part of their lives! 

 

(Jarrod) Well the day is about wrapping up. Once again our students stepped up to the challenge. We heard from many of the leaders down here that they were surprised how much we got finished in one day. We are ahead of schedule. Everyone seems to be holding up well, but I will be curious to see how much quieter it is tonight when we go to bed. Yet, they can't be too tired. We worked and dug in the ran, and then they all came right back and played soccer in the rain. More to come later....

                                 

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Tuesday, June 16th

Hi y'all (we are in the south now) this Albert John

Man these days are going too fast!!! Why can't time slow down?? Today we did a new task... digging!!! We dug and dug and we even dug some more. It's tiring, but fun at the same time. Its tiring because you use a lot of energy, and you get blisters and bee stings. Its fun because we sing and chant about pain and fresh bread. Also I found out water and showers are the best. (I wanted to make a long story short) 

Hey everyone!!!

So far this week has been amazing!!!! It has been a lot of hard work, but its worth it! We met the family and they are great! Lexi(4) and Destiny(3) are sooooooo adorable! Whenever i get tired i just remember that were digging the septic system for them! Everyone is having a blast digging, with all the chants and such.  God has been so close with all of us so far, and no one has been seriously injured.  Tomorrow is our day off and everyone is looking forward to it! Thanks for your prayers and keep them coming :)

~Erin Horstman :)

 

Hi there parents, family, friends... and other readers!
(this is Emily)

Waking up this morning was a little slower because of all the hard work yesterday, but we really wake up quickly when worship starts. The worship here is different than I'm used to, but such a great way to start the day! We sing and dance and jump in the house of God, we yell prayers and scream and shout, but we are also moved and humbled by the messages. After worship we headed to the worksite... and I have to be honest with you all, I have been so amazed by how hard all of our 7th graders are working! Guys and girls alike have been out there in the trenches, digging to show God's love to our new friend Genevie and her family. It is so cool to see students even at this age using different strengths to either encourage others, help someone who is struggling, get to know the little girls who live at the house, tend to a teammate with a headache, and of course to just continue working hard even though it'd be so easy to give up. We're all really looking forward to tomorrow's fun day to rest and get ready to finish our work project!

Soon we'll be giving some gifts to the each family member that lives at the house (as each group was designated one of those people to be praying for and get a gift for). Please be praying that they receive the gifts well and that the students may have great opportunities to share the reason behind the gifts and the reason we are serving them and showing love to them.

Our small groups have also been a great opportunity for the students to share what God is teaching them and how they're doing. It's so encouraging that they are willing to open up to their peers and share lessons and prayer requests with one another. Thank you for your prayers, and I would ask you to please keep praying that God will reveal the lessons and truths He has to show them this week. It is obvious that He is here and working in the hearts of the students and I'm so excited to be here with them in the process.

 

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Wednesday, June 17th 

Hi this is Luc, today I had an awesome time at Fun Depot. Riding go carts, bumper cars, lazer tag, putt putt, batting cages and arcades. Fun Depot is by far the best entertainment center i've ever been to. 

After Fun Depot, we went to the sliding rock. the sliding rock is a natral water slide that is so cool! when we got there i found out that the water was going to be freezing. While my friends and i were waiting in line for the slide, we talked about the different tricks we wanted to do, how the water was cold and watching the others slide down the rock.

When i got to the top and found out how fast the slide was, i hesitated. i waited and l let some people pass me. After everyone in my group passed me, Jarrod and the rest of the group gave me some "positive peer presure" and that's when i knew i had to slide down. The last thing i said before going is "I hate you guys!!" but i was just joking.

 

Hey, Maddie here.(: We're having a great time here in NC! The weather's been amazing except for a few rain showers here and there. Everyone's been so encouraging to each other and we're getting TONS of dirt dug.(: We're actually ahead of schedule on the digging.

Today was our fun day and we went to Fun Depot, it's kinda like fun&stuff, there were go-karts...(: Then we went to a rock slide, it was this HUGE smooth, flat rock that you could slide down, the water was so cold, it was breathtaking. We had lunch outside, then we came back to the ReCreation place and just chilled, that's actually what we're doing right now.(: 

Everyone is getting lots of sun, but that's part of the fun! (: We get to go back to Lexi and Destinee and Samantha tomorrow and finish up our digging, then we start putting in the pipes. Everyone's EXTREMELY tired, myself included.(:

So i'm off to bed! Hope everything's good in Ohio.(:

-Maddie.(:

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Thursday, June 18th 

Hello! This is Abigail here... gosh i've had sooo much fun this week so far, i'm happy to go home but i'll be sad to leave.  My arms hurt as i'm sure many others do, and so do my thighs from playing a clapping game "Zoo"

P.S. Hi Mom and D.D. 

Hi! This is Kristen. Wow, this week has been amazing!! I have had so much fun, even though the work is extremely hard and tiring. Getting through the day working has been a challenge, but God has given me the strength to keep on going. It has been a blast hanging out with the new friends that we made and playing a super fun game called "Zoo". It stinks that the week is almost over, but I will be glad to get home. Toodles!!

Kristen :)

P.S. Hey Mom, Dad, Teed, and Kara!!! (I hope you have fun on your missions trip, Kara!!! Be safe!!!)

Hey!!! This is Mary. :) This week has been an incredible experience!!! It is so neat that we are digging a new  septic tank to help this family. Plus, I have made many new friends and have had so much fun hanging out with them!!! We have been playing an AMAZING game called "Zoo", (I am one of the champions) :).  Anyway, God has been teaching me so many new things. Well, bye!!!

P.S I love you fam and miss you!!! (Starkeys, Kristen says hi to Mac too.)

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Friday, June 19th 

Hello all. Jarrod here again. I personally feel I can speak on behalf of our entire team when I say I am exhausted. It is such a good tired though. Giving of yourself in serving others is so much more of a gratifying tired. Much to the delight of our entire team, we finished our trenches. I know all our kids felt really excited that we did get to finish. It was really close, but we fought hard and got it done. We gave gifts to all the people in the house that we were working at. They all seemed really grateful for the gifts and for all our hard work. I am glad the kids got to experience the joy of serving. 

We came back tonight to have our end of the week celebration. It was really good for all of our students. They showed a slide show of the week and the kids were really excited to see themselves on the screen. Afterwards our kids were really emotional. I think (and am hoping) that most were tears of joy. A lot of it had to do with the exhaustion from the week and the kids needed to let it all out. We ended with a challenge to not let their excitement die when they leave. This is where you come in. The fear of every trip is that everything they learned or felt ends with the trip. Please ask and prod your kids about what they learned. Whatever God taught them on the trip, help them to translate that into life change back home. Whatever they learned, help them to translate that into something tangible (serving regularly, praying more, repenting more etc...). 

We will rise early tomorrow to hit the road around 7:00. We should get back to Green around 4:45 pm, but remember to check the youth hotline to get a more accurate time of arrival (330.315.5615). As soon as we get a good beat on when we will be back, we will update that. When we get in for our last leg of the trip we will have a good estimation (about 2 hours before we get back). 

I am proud of our kids, proud that we finished and proud that their where no major injuries and all 310 fingers and toes are accounted for. Please pray for a safe trip home and for good rest for our drivers so all 310 fingers and toes will safely arrive tomorrow. Thank you again for all your prayers and support. We could not have experienced this amazing week without you. 

PS sorry it is too late to upload any pics. 

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