GYMSOX Summer Missions

The Best Present of All

2009-07-29T20:37:00.000-07:00

The past two weeks of my summer have been so amazing; I feel like each moment has changed who I am as a person. I was on the mission trip to Charleston and then went straight to Fun in the Son. In Charleston, we helped three really special women and I felt that I grew so much closer to God in my faith. I also spent a lot of time with really close friends and we’re like a family now. The time in South Carolina drew to a close quickly though, and we moved on to Georgia. I didn't go to Fun in the Son last year, so I didn't know what to expect.

Honestly, I can’t even begin to explain how amazing that week was. I don’t think I can put words to my feelings during those few days. My birthday was the first full day in Jekyll Island, and the best present of all was feeling so close to Christ. During the evening program that night I felt as if the speaker was talking directly at me. It was so strange; I hadn’t ever felt like that before. The things he kept saying applied to my life at that very moment. It seemed like he knew what was going on in my head. And then the next night, it happened again. This time, he told everyone to go find their own little spot to ask where God was leading us. I went and sat down and just looked up at the sky.

I remember seeing the outline of the top of a palm tree I was sitting under, and I could hear the waves crashing, and I looked up at all the stars and I was just amazed at how incredible God is. I had so much on my mind, and there was so much going on in my life, but right then, I felt like He took it all away. When we went back inside, the speaker talked for a little while longer. Again, everything he was saying completely applied to me. Then he asked if there was anyone who felt like God was calling to commit themselves right then. And I don’t even remember raising my hand, but I looked up and it was there. That night I really committed myself to Christ. It was so incredible; I don’t think there are words to describe it.

Almost more than anything else, I remember all the people that were with me through that night and the rest of that week. I think of everyone who was there as a big family and I don’t think they’ll ever know how much it means to me. Basically, those two weeks were a huge step in my walk with Christ and I feel like I’m back on the right path now. And I have proof now that God has a plan for my life and I can’t wait to see the rest of it! -Courtney (:

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...and finally, one last pic of Kieren!

Fun in the Son

2009-07-22T18:40:00.001-07:00

Hey Guys! This is Anna and Callie on our third day at Fun in The Son! Last summer here we both committed ourselves to live for God. This year was a different experience for the both of us. A couple nights ago we felt God re-enter our lives through seeing other people experience what we experienced last year. It was truly amazing to see God enter the lives of some of our closest friends. We feel that because we had already committed ourselves to Christ last year that we were able to relate to the way that our friends were feeling when God entered their lives for the first time. Not only was it amazing to see our friends being changed, but when we looked around at all 900 others all loving God there weren’t words to describe what we felt. This was an amazing experience that we were lucky to be a part of. This has been an epic journey and we are learning so much about our faith!

Anna & Callie (:

...and no GYMSOX summer posting is complete without a super-cute pic of Kieren:

Update

2009-07-17T16:49:00.000-07:00

This week in Charleston has really put my life into perspective. I now understand how extremely lucky I am to have a safe house to sleep at night. I’ve always taken little things for granted. We are all so blessed to have had this opportunity to see and experience things like this. I’ve also learned that I need to see myself and other people through God’s eyes. He sees no fault in any of us and I need to remember that all the time instead of judging other people and myself so harshly. “Give me your eyes” is probably my new favorite song. This trip has been very fun and rewarding.
Thanks,
Deanna & Carson

It's Friday night and we have finished our work for the week with the 3 Marys. We worked for 2 Mary Browns and 1 Mary Miller. We finished one Mary Brown's yesterday, had a little bit more on the 2nd Mary Brown's, and worked hard painting at Mary Miller's today. Today was a day of great work.
We've had a great time during our group times and the students seem to be engaging our theme "Give me Your Eyes." I'll try to get you one more update before the end.

Thanks,
Casey

Johns Island

2009-07-15T14:10:00.000-07:00

We arrived in great fashion yesterday and got settled at St. John's Parish, our home for the week. It's a great little Anglican church. We got to drive around with Anderson and see some of our potential worksites.
Our dinner that night was the best part. Each Tuesday, Rural Mission, our partner for the week hosts a meal for all the groups with real seafood and soul food. We had fried chicken, homemade macaroni & cheese, fried fish, gumbo, rice, cornbread, etc. It was amazing! I ate my face off. We headed out to this little shopping area called Freshfields afterwards for some ice cream.
We had our group time when we got back where we laid out our theme for the week, Give Me Your Eyes. I think the students are really interested.

Today we got a good start to the work, maybe too good. We finished a project in about 90 minutes that I think Rural Mission thought would take us at least till lunch or maybe all day. Another group was starting on Mary Brown's house. Mary lost both her legs in the last year, so we are doing a few different things around her house. A 3rd small group worked at Mrs. Brown's house on some drywall. It was a productive first day.

Now, we are resting and excitedly waiting for our chicken fajita dinner!
Keep praying, especially that we would have plenty of work to do.

Thanks,
Casey

Wednesday Update

2009-07-01T20:14:00.001-07:00

So, it's still raining here! I think this rain has covered their average yearly rainfall. It just keeps coming. So, our work today was pretty limited. We did a few small projects @ Beth El, but stopped working at lunch time. We made great use of our afternoon, though, by playing ultimate frisbee for a LONG TIME. We first played 6 on 6 with our group and then played our group first Millbrook UMC (yes, the one from Raleigh, that Casey grew up at). We played forever and now everybody is really sore. Almost like we worked really hard.
There was one major surprise today! Sass came to hang out with us. Since he leads the small group for these guys he came to join us. The best part was that Doug stirred them up and got the students to bid money to see if we could get Sass to come by the end of the day. The money he raised would go towards a house in Mexico. Aaron has bid $64.07. We called Sass to tell him about it and he played it off well. We even got Justin to chip in $20 and Tracy to chip in $50. Needless to say, they were a bit surprised to see Sass walk into the dorm this afternoon!
I'll post some more pics later!
Pray that it will STOP raining!

Cheers, Casey

pic updates

2009-06-30T19:57:00.001-07:00

At the Rays game on Sunday

After a hard morning of work.

The girls before dinner Monday, at the Beach.

Tampa Update

2009-06-30T12:14:00.000-07:00

Things are going well in Tampa, but the weather short circuited our work today. It was raining so hard that they made us quit and come back to our home, Eckerd College. Our group is working at Beth El, a migrant farmworker ministry. They have been at it for about 15 years now. The center has a school, classes for adults, food pantry, church, and several other things. We have been working on some roofing, building, painting, and clearing land so that they can plant a garden.
Yesterday we did much of the same work at Beth El and then had a cookout dinner down at the beach with all the other groups. It was a fun night. Then, we had a late night Dairy Queen, McDonald's, and Wal Mart run. Your kids know how to spend money they don't need to!!
I'll post pictures soon. Pray that the weather will hold off enough for us to work longer tomorrow.

Cheers,
Casey

Tampa Trip

2009-06-27T19:35:00.000-07:00

The Rising Seniors leave tomorrow for their trip to Tampa! Check out the updates here!

Pray for them!

2009-06-27T07:57:00.000-07:00

Home Sweet Home

2009-06-27T07:52:00.000-07:00

After a great day on Thursday of fun at the falls, time at the market, a great dinner to celebrate the week, and some incredible closing group time, many stayed up to see the beauty of a Jamaican sunset and then packed to come home. We said goodbye to all of our friends at the Cloisters and then traveled home on Friday. It was an incredible week and one that will not soon be forgotten.

2009-06-25T12:02:00.000-07:00

2009-06-25T12:01:00.000-07:00

Hospital Day

2009-06-25T11:58:00.001-07:00

So our usual morning routine was interrupted as Sarah, Eryn, and us got up at seven to get ready to go to the Ochos Rios Hospital! Bucky had met a missionary doctor at church who offered anyone going in to the medical field to come check out what they were doing at the hospital. We drove up to long lines of anxious Jamaicans awaiting their eye surgery, and as soon as Dr. Evans and his team arrived we jumped in to it. Decked out in scrubs we looked like legit medical professionals. We went to surgery first and helped a few patients get dressed and prepped for cataract surgery. We waltzed in to the O.R. and watched with amazement from only a few feet away; we even got to look in to the microscope! After the surgery we talked with the doctors about our own futures and got some pointers. We caught the beginning of a hysterectomy and then went down to the eye clinic to switch out with Eryn and Sarah. Right when we got there, we learned how to check in the patients, and began to give eye exams. After, we walked into the exam room and looked through more microscopes at patients’ scarred eyes. One of the Jamaican doctors we had met earlier promised that we could watch a c-section, so we put our scrubs back on and went back up to the O.R. It was one of the most memorable experiences we have ever had. Unsure of how the day could get much better, we headed back to Hooleberry while Sarah stayed to catch any more action. The group finished our cement pouring early, and the leaders informed us of a surprise adventure. We wound up at an amazing waterfall and played in the falls and surrounding waters. Some people climbed to the top of the falls, and some of the boys swam out to a sand bar trying to avoid the coral underneath them. Finally we returned to Cloisters and headed for another amazing meal. Although we miss the normal water pressure, air conditioning, and bug free beds, it’s crazy to think the week is coming to an end. We will definitely miss all the new friendships, inspirational barking (“Where ma dogs at?!” –Colby), and even picking the cement out of our hard worked scars. However, the trip is not over yet, and we’re definitely ready to make the most of our last day.
Love always,
Mackenzie and Stefanie

Navajo- Friday Update

2009-06-23T10:08:00.000-07:00

On Friday we finished up all of our projects around the church and Ray and Darlene’s house. It was also our last day of Vacation Bible School. The kids had a great time singing, learning about Noah and the Ark, and playing water games. Because of the strong bonds made with the children throughout the week, saying goodbye was tough for both us and the children. One child in particular, Mariah, a ten year old, really connected with Taylor Orlando and a few of us other girls. On the first day of VBS Mariah loved Taylor so much, following her around and always sitting next to her. The second day of VBS Mariah didn’t show up, so Taylor and some other girls made her a friendship bracelet to bring to her. Then on the third day, Mariah came back. She was so excited to see Taylor that she ran up the mountain where Taylor was. They had so much fun the last day but when it came time to go, it was really hard for both of them. Mariah told Taylor about her family life and how her parents drank and weren’t very nice to her and how she had to take care of her family. She told Taylor that she was the only one who has ever been so nice to her. Even though we are leaving, Taylor and some of the other girls will continue to keep in touch with Mariah and help her through her troubles.
Also on Friday, groups set out to wrap up various projects around our job sites. Some of us went to Ray and Darlene’s house to finish tarring the roof and cleaning up around the house. The finished product was a newly painted, trimmed, roofed and repaired house for the whole family of six. We also finished painting both the inside and outside of the church and began mixing and laying concrete for a walkway that the next groups can finish up.
After lunch we went to the Painted Desert. This set of canyons were made entirely of sand, with dark purple, yellow, and red layers that give them their name. This breathtaking view wasn’t only for show, our whole group actually hiked down into them! Quickly many of the guys figured out they could slide down the huge hills after Parker McDonald’s epic first slide down on his behind. Then some guys found an old mattress and attempted to sand surf down one of the largest hills. The suspense was thrilling, but sad to say the raft only went about ½ a mile per hour. (FAIL). I (Brittany) led the newly adventurous Taylor C. sprinting down and up steep hills, where she was thinking she was sure to die, but the whole experience was fun and invigorating.
At the end of the day, our church group and many local Navajo people had a huge cookout to celebrate the whole week. My prayer group and I (Taylor C.) got the opportunity to talk to two really sweet ladies, Mrs. Curly and Mrs. Whitehorse. They talked to us for a very long time about their lives and families. We prayed for them and they said a prayer for us in Navajo. One of the ladies even went home and made each of us a necklace to remember her by. Many other relationships were formed as well. Carrisa, Ray and Darlene’s 15-year-old daughter, made strong connections with many of the girls here. It will be really hard to say goodbye to her and her family.
After the cookout we sang a couple worship songs and enjoyed an awesome slide show Clark made for us. The slide show had great pictures from the whole week including one extra long picture of Nick and his “girlfriend” Jasmine, a little girl from VBS who had a huge crush on him. Then some people from our group and some of the natives here shared their views of our work and how the trip affected them. Some people had accepted Christ into their lives for the first time, and to the delight of many of the Navajos who were with us in the chapel that night, Michael Costa shared his experience in accepting Jesus. After that, we shared communion and prayed for God to continue working through us as we return home to our lives.
This whole week has been so much more spiritual for our group as a whole, I (Britt) feel as if my heart has been stripped away of the barriers that have been keeping Christ out. Despite some of our doubts coming into this trip, everyone agrees that this experience has proven itself to one of the best of our lives. Each and every day we could see that all of our work immediately affected the lives of the Navajo people and the gratitude and love coming from them was inspiring to watch. We look forward to a fun time at the Grand Canyon today and are sad to see this trip come to an end.

Brittany Lademann & Taylor Crain

Navajo- Thursday Update

2009-06-23T10:07:00.000-07:00

On Thursday we had another great day. In the morning we woke up bright and early to a wonderful and beautiful day. Granted it was a whole lot less windy than the day before which included countless sandstorms. The day started off with half of the groups going to Ray and Darlene’s and the others working here at the church. The roof on Ray and Darlene’s house was almost completed by lunch and a few people went back to finish the roof after lunch. The groups working at the church did a variety of things including painting, relocating and digging up trees, and finishing odds and ends around the church.
That afternoon we hosted our second round of VBS for the Navajo children. We sang songs, danced, ate, made crafts, heard the Daniel in the Lion’s Den story, and engaged in countless games of intense kickball. We also taught them the infamous Grace Community Church game of “Cow, Cow Lasso.” The kids really had a fantastic time and could not wait to come back the next day.
After VBS, we hopped in the vans and headed off to the Hopi Indian Reservation on the Second Mesa, about 45 minutes away. The views from the mesa were spectacular and we learned a lot about the Hopi culture. We were told before getting to the Mesa that we were to put all of our cameras away. The Hopi believe that when their picture is taken, their soul is stolen from them. We looked at some of the beautiful artwork that the Hopi’s made including Kachina dolls and rock paintings. We also sampled some of the amazing bread made on the Hopi Reservation. Some of us negotiated good prices on the artwork and purchased our favorites. The experience was a lot of fun and definitely a new one for us.
The night concluded with our last worship service of the week. We sang worship songs and then listened to the last part of our four part series this week. After that we all went outside and washed the feet of out prayer group members as a way of humbling ourselves like Jesus did to his disciples. The night was great and we went to sleep after feeling a lot closer to each other. We look forward to our last day of work tomorrow and then the Grand Canyon on Saturday before heading back east.

Connor Pendergrass and Alex Fletcher

2009-06-23T09:44:00.000-07:00

2009-06-23T09:43:00.000-07:00

Wa’gwon!

2009-06-23T09:37:00.000-07:00

Wa’gwon! (What’s going on...Jamaican style) As we sit here on the front porch of Cloister’s Methodist Center, we’re not really sure how to even start describing our trip so far. Today started out with Bucky politely sounding an air horn in order to make sure we were all awake on time. Although that was quite the awakening, it was still hard to get out of bed, but totally worth it considering the fresh papaya, blueberry muffins, bacon, and eggs awaiting us for breakfast. Our day started off even earlier because Hop picked a few of us to take Bobby (one of the Street family boys, 12) to school. It was great because we got to see the inside of the Street family’s house and see what our church had done in the past years. We then headed over to the Hoolebury Church where our four groups continued work from Saturday. We worked with Bucky by hammering and sawing (Donna’s probably so proud) lumber to keep making the bleachers. Other groups poured cement and formed columns at the Street house. Working through the intense Jamaican sun was no problem for us though as the Jamaican kids quickly taught us how to tell which mangoes were ripe enough to enjoy. After we got back to the Cloisters and shockingly enjoyed semi-warm showers (our vans was one of the first ones back so it was an all out sprint for us) we met for yet another delicious dinner made by the women here. Once everyone had a chance to eat we met on the porch for group time. Ms. Johnson shared her inspiring and raw personal story that touched all of us and small group time afterwards was composed of challenging questions that made us all think. After all the deep thoughs and thinking, we were worn out and needed some munchies. Thanks to Billy and Pat, however, we found that the snacks had been hijacked and after attempting to sell the snacks and charge for a “delivery fee” they are now attempting to offer ransom to Sass as long as they get first place in line for meals. I swear, we really did have a mature group time tonight. Continue to keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we are serving our new family in Jamaica and challenging each other. Mom (Cheri): we wish you were here! Dad’s been a beast, but he can’t quite keep up with me ☺ Donna, David, and Kacey I miss you and can’t wait to see you even though I don’t ever really want to come home!!

All our love,
Kelsey and Eryn

Heyyy mon!

2009-06-22T15:40:00.001-07:00

June 21, 2009

What a beautiful and blessed day it has been! We got up this morning and went to the church service at Hoolebury and received a warm welcome from all the wonderful members of the Hoolebury church. The people here are so lively and fun to be around, they are also good at the drums which was personally my favorite part of the music at the church service. It may have been 95 degrees inside the church, but it didn’t get in the way of our fun one bit. It was a full house! After church we came back to The Cloisters for a delicious brunch the women had prepared for us. Pancakes, bacon, fresh pineapple…it was awesome! With full stomachs we loaded up in the vans, not knowing where we were headed (they only told us to put on our swimsuits). The place we arrived at was the closest to my idea of Heaven that me, and probably everyone else, had ever seen. A beautiful house with an enormous pool in the backyard that went right on to the beach. (Mom – I took lots of pictures for you). We spent the entire afternoon swimming in the pool, cutting open coconuts and drinking from them with straws (not as good as it looks in the movies), and playing in the crystal clear ocean. I think Pat and Colby even tried to swim to Cuba – we didn’t tell him he was on the wrong side of Jamaica. After all that fun in the sun we came back to take showers and eat yet another amazing meal, and then headed to a concert that Hoolebury put on for everyone. It was SO MUCH FUN! The Jamaicans truly know how to have a good time worshiping. We danced and sang and clapped our hands all night long as different people came up to sing. Me, Kenz and Bullard got to try some homemade ice cream, which was the cherry on top of this super fun night. Now we’re back at Cloisters, peaceful for the most part until a moth the size of our hand or an unidentified green thing that looks like a mutated cricket lands on someones head. Personally, after waking up with my pillow case filled with ants on the first morning, the giant moths and “crickets” are the least of my worries. All in all we’re having a blast and OF COURSE wearing lots of sunscreen. Sorry Mrs. Greene – Colby didn’t exactly follow that rule! Miss you all & much love mon!
- Molly & Bullard

Hey from Jamaica!

2009-06-22T15:38:00.000-07:00

June 20, 2009

After a long day of traveling Friday we finally made it ☺! We woke up this morning to beautiful Jamaica weather and a gorgeous view. We started of the day with a delicious breakfast made by some of the sweetest ladies. Then we were off to the Hoolebury church to start our projects. There were four groups that each completed different tasks. Some groups built bleachers from scratch, some did rebar, some poured columns, some laid down tile and others poured a cement basketball court. Each group got a lot of work done and had a lot of fun. We came back after a long day of work and had the most delicious spaghetti we have ever tasted! We all got to chill and enjoy the weather and the amazing view ☺! We are all having a bunch of fun and cannot wait for the church service and the beach tomorrow! Ps Jessica says she’s alive and love you mom ha ha. We have gotten used to the other side of the road driving and moths.

Much love
Chelsea, Katie, Emily and Grace

How from the Res...

2009-06-22T10:04:00.001-07:00

The Navajo trip is back home. We have two more posts for you, but they will be delayed as I accidentally left my computer at the Reservation! Whoops! Those two updates are for Thursday and Friday and I really want you to be able to read them.
Saturday we had a great visit to the Grand Canyon. It's such a majestic place. I think for almost every student it was their first time there. We made the leaving process a little interesting by getting to Phoenix a little late and my insistance that we have dinner at In & Out. With road closures and time getting close we dropped off the vans with all the kids in them and put all the kids and the luggage on the shuttle. The AirTran group quickly checked in, rushed through security, almost didn't get Grey through, and then got on the plane with no moments to spare. It was a little more stressful than it needed to be!
But everybody got home safely and are hopefully sharing the many stories of the things that God taught us and showed us.

Praying for our friends in Jamaica,
Casey

He Mon ... From Jamaica

2009-06-20T13:13:00.000-07:00

Well, it's our turn! As our friends in Arizona are on their way to see the Grand Canyon and make their way home, our trip to Jamaica with the rising college freshmen has now begun. The group had a rather long day in various airports yesterday and finally landed in Montego Bay at just after 10:30 p.m. local time. After going through immigration, customs, getting luggage, and driving the hour or so to St. Ann's Bay, we probably got to bed at around 2:30 a.m. Everyone was great through the whole process and ready to jump into the week.

And jump in we did. This morning we woke up to the beautiful Jamaican coast, had breakfast, and headed to Hoolebury to get started. A few groups are working on pouring a sports court at Hoolebury Methodist Church and another group is forming up the roof on the next part of the Street house for us to hopefully pour this week. Needless to say, we'll be deep into concrete all week.

We'll update again tomorrow and hopefully have some photos. We'll be going to church in the morning and then having a little fun on a Sunday afternoon :). For now, we're here and all is well.

Sass

Wednesday's Update

2009-06-18T14:30:00.000-07:00

You have to hear from me today because of the events of the night didn’t allow for a student to write. I’ll explain all that in a minute.

Austin engaging some kids

Wednesday was a great day for our group. The morning continued with our work at Darlene & Ray’s and at the church. We are so close to be finished at their house. That family has become very significant to us, so we are all excited about finishing.
In the afternoon the group split up because we were starting our VBS program. We passed out flyers in the community the day before to invite the kids to the program. The kids came in so nervous and wary of what was going to happen. But our kids instantly grabbed them and got them involved. Even the older kids that thought they were “too cool” were in the midst of the program by the end. I was so proud of our kids for the way that they engaged them. The rest of the group continued working on Darlene and Ray’s house, but had to quit early because the intensity of the wind was too strong and made it a bit treacherous on the roof.

Teaching new songs at VBS

We had some free time before dinner and we learned how to make Navajo Fried Bread. It was delicious and had a similar texture and look to a funnel cake or elephant ear, but not quite the same taste. We used them later for Navajo tacos and a dessert with honey and sugar.
Later our nightly program blended with the church’s Wednesday night program. Their band allowed Dalton and Parker Stacks to join them in helping to lead worship. They fit right in and did a great job. Clark, one of the Team Effort staff, shared that night. Our prayer groups this night were particularly good as the kids are starting to open up more and more. Clark asked us to share our testimonies in our groups, so it was good to hear kids sharing where they are and have been spiritually. It was already a great night, but it got more intense.
Everybody was suddenly asked to come back to the chapel around 9:15pm. A young man named Kiao, who is part of the church and had been around earlier in the week, died earlier that day when he fell at a creek, hit his head, and drowned. Some people were on their way to visit this 22-year-old young man’s family, who aren’t believers, and they asked for our prayers as they went. They shared about Kiao’s life, his recent decision to follow Christ (about a year ago), and the things that brought him joy. This experience obviously got the attention of our students. We knelt around Bo and his wife, the people who were going to visit with the family, laid hands on them, and prayed. It was certainly a prayer experience that our kids won’t soon forget. At that point, though, many of our kids were shaken. They slowly dispersed to different parts of the sanctuary or back outside. But some the leaders realized that we needed to be together and continue talking this out. Kids were really dealing with the eternal significance of all of it. We gathered the boys together in one corner, and the girls soon gathered in another. The boy leaders shared that they loved the kids too much to not confirm that each kid knew their eternal destination. We talked for a while, some of them shared what they were feeling, and then we invited them to kneel in the middle if they needed to pray to receive Christ as savior and LORD. A handful of them joined us there and we prayed through them asking Christ to take over their lives because they knew that they couldn’t get their on their own. The girls had a similar experience where they girls were invited to pray in their own hearts to accept Christ.
To say the least, it was an intensely powerful evening. God has desperately been trying to get the attention of these students. He did it through some unique experiences and year ago in Brooklyn and He is doing it again. Please pray that He would genuinely get their attention. Not in a way that lasts for a week and it gone, but in a day-to-day long term personal relationship way.
On a fun note, Sarah Wiehe, on of the small group leaders for this class who recently moved away to Colorado surprised the group and flew in last night. What an amazing surprise for a group of girls that really missed her!
God is doing a lot here. Pray for our VBS this afternoon and our visit to the Hopi Indian Village after that.
Cheers,
Casey

The daily Kieren Pic

Tuesday's Update

2009-06-17T10:02:00.000-07:00

The cliff jumping you read about the day before!

Tuesday was a great day. And the Lord is really moving. Our group time last night was particularly powerful. The spirit of the Lord was heavy and then as we started to head off to our prayer groups, Darlene, who we are working for, asked to share something. She spent 10 tear-filled minutes sharing about her experience coming back to Christ a few years ago. It particularly connected with our scripture passage that night from Luke 7 speaking about the woman washing Jesus' feet with her hair. It was a particularly powerful moment. Please keep praying that God's spirit will be thick. We start our VBS this afternoon and really want that to be an important time.

Working on Ray and Darlene's roof.

Here is the update from two of our students:

Dalton and Tuck-Tuck here from Dilkon, AZ with your daily Tuesday BLOG!!!

For some the day started with an adventurous journey in the mountains, scaling the rock-face in the dawning sun. Such beauty from the peak it was. Awestruck we were, jaws dropped, as we gazed upon the thousand-mile desert. Others slept in.

Our quiet times were spent separate from each other as we focused on CHRIST. It touched on using our different abilities and gifts that God has blessed us with to help spread the word of God.

After our delicious pancake breakfast, we dispersed to our different worksites, ours happening to be at the home of Darlene and Ray. They are Navajo Indians living on the reservation. We did many tasks to help both the exterior and interior of their home. Some people laid down the floor on the inside; some painted the house, and many did shingles on the rooftop.

I don’t know what the other group did at the church. However, when I arrived back there, it was very yellow and clean. Plus, we actually had running water so we could shower.

After everyone finally showered we enjoyed a steak dinner and got our Jesus on. When the service was done Darlene shared her testimony with us. The entire room was filled with tears as we listened to her life-changing story. We then split up into our prayer groups and talked about what had happened that day. Some groups cried more.

When we were done with that. Most of the church went on a hayride around town. But Dalton and me stayed behind and wrote this. Goodnight. Talk to ya’ll later.
Agone (uh-go-nay) (Navajo for goodbye).

You need an update picture of Kieren everyday!

Monday's Update

2009-06-16T19:05:00.001-07:00

“I was standing on the corner of Winslow, Arizona, such a fine sight to see.”

Ya-ta-hey! We are already turning into quite the fluent Navajo Indian speakers. After a never-ending day of traveling from RDU to Phoenix by plane, followed by a four-hour van ride, we arrived to our home for the next week, Dilkon, Arizona welcomed by our new friends from Team Effort. We were all exhausted due to the three-hour time change but have quickly adapted.

It’s only the first day on the reservation, but it has been a real eye-opening experience leaving us realizing how blessed we are. Today we split up into two different work groups, each working on different projects.

My group and I went down the road to a home of a family of six to help reconstruct parts of their house. We started off with some people on the roof tearing off the old, worn shingles and pulling out rusty nails, then measuring out new pieces of plywood to help keep the new roof sturdier. The rest of us worked on taking off the chipping paint, smoothing the surface, and preparing the wood to be re-painted. The woman had a ten-year-old and a three-year-old boy who we played with ALL day, from playing baseball to shooting the “monsters” Stacks and Spencer with Tristian’s new water guns. Just seeing the smiles on their faces was enough to make our day! (Caroline)

My group stayed at the church we are sleeping at to paint one of the buildings to match all of the others. We first had to prepare the walls by removing all the old caulk and then adding new caulk. We then painted the outside walls of the building beige. It was quite an experience standing on the tall ladders trying to reach the gutters while avoiding the paint dripping from above. We completed one whole side of the building, and almost finished the other three sides as well. At the end of the day, we were all covered in paint from head to toe. (Shannon)

After a long day of hard work, sunburns, and some tears (What can I say… That roof was really high up! –CK) we were taken forty-five minutes away to a river to go cliff jumping. What an experience! The adrenaline rush as you ran to the end of the rock to the screams as you were mid air (and from the freezing water!) left us refreshed. We came home to a yummy meal of hamburgers waiting for us followed by awesome worship by Team Effort. We heard a jaw dropping experience from Bryant about when he was younger, awesome music by Casey, and a fun (yet very unfair… what parents don’t know who the Jonas Brothers are… Youth so should have won that one, sorry leaders!)

“Whatever you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God” -1 Corinthians 10:31. This bible verse is the purpose of our missions here this week. In everything that we do, we must remember that it is all for Him, and that we must serve Him daily, not only while on our summer mission trips. We have seen that we are very fortunate for everything that we have, and that we take things for granted WAY too much. We must share His love with everyone that we encounter and be the hands and feet of Christ in all that we do.

-Caroline Kohls and Shannon Kelly

We're in Dilkon!

2009-06-14T11:51:00.000-07:00

Hello Friends and Family!!
We have made it safe and sound to Dilkon! The two flight groups met at the airport and we made our 3 hour drive to the Navajo Reservation, passing by some beautiful scenery. After unloading and getting settled we headed off to town (35 miles!) to get dinner and pick up supplies at Walmart. Looking forward to a good nights sleep after an early morning and long day of traveling. We are excited to get to work tomorrow! There is no internet access at the Reservation so will update the best we can. Keep us in your prayers.
Cheers!
Casey

This is going to be great...

2009-06-11T19:43:00.000-07:00

The Navajo trip is coming quick and I finally checked the weather. It's going to be incredible!
The weather during the days will be in the low to mid 80s and the nights will get cool and brisk, down in the 50s. Won't that be awesome!?!?
Get those prayers going for the rest of the trip, since we already know the weather is going to be awesome!

Revving back up...

2009-06-08T14:15:00.001-07:00

It's time to get the GYMSOX Summer Missions blog revved back up.
The summer is upon us and we've got tons in store.

Navajo- Sophomores- June 14-21

Jamaica- Seniors- June 19-26

Tampa- Juniors- June 28-July 4

The Great Escape- Middle School Camp- June 28-July 2

Charleston- Freshmen- July 14-19

Fun in the Son- High School Camp- July 19-24

Check back for more updates as the summer as we get going.

Final Update

2008-07-07T09:05:00.000-07:00

This is the final update of Senior Mexico 2008. Don't go away totally, though. We will continue to post some messages about important events and messages in the future. Thanks for following along this summer. This is the update from the final night.

This morning was unusual in Mexico. For the first time in many years we were allowed to sleep on the roof, however around 6 a.m. everyone is sound asleep when it begins to POOR rain. Of course you can imagine what 50 plus people do while sleeping on a roof when it begins to rain. Then the day sort of begins people wake up scattered around the complex. We wake up, have breakfast, and begin to share our stories on how we got off the roof during the middle of a downpour.
After breakfast, everyone began their quit-times and packed up to head out. After quit-times and the vans were packed we headed back to Texas. As my van (Bullard) went through the border the officer there asked me, “What are you bringing back from Mexico?” Very instinctively I answered, “Full Hearts!” It’s a great description of how we all feel at the end of an amazing week. We have full hearts for each other, the Mexican people, and most importantly God.
We dropped the luggage off at the Church, and headed to lunch. Then again another strange thing happens. My van of course leaves before the rest and (Michele) decides to get lost. After driving for about 30 miles we get the idea to call for help. Although to find out after receiving help, Casey had told us to move the total opposite way away from the Chic-Fil-a. After all is said and done, we make it to Chic-Fil-a and then head for the Market. Once we got to the Market we split up and shopped for about an hour and a half. After we met back up around 5:45 we leave for dinner at Wallbangers (Real nice choice, I must say).
After dinner was over the vans went back to the church where we played a massive game of knockout (Casey lost at the end to Alex Reese). Group time followed where we sent out thank you notes for Sponser-A-Youth and signed up for Crew Ministries for next year. Now everyone has been doing the same thing for about 4 hours straight. We are playing basketball, cars, spinning in circles, still playing basketball, and not sleeping. It’s now really late and the early flight will be getting ready soon. Yeah so, that was our day. Everyone says goodnight.

DAN TYSOR AND CHRIS BULLARD and Suzanne Kirkland (sort-of)

Friday 7/4

2008-07-05T21:19:00.000-07:00

Today is July 4th. At home in Raleigh all of our friends are inevitably celebrating with the typical 4th of July accessories: hot dogs, hamburgers, and fireworks. But here in Mexico those quintessential American traditions had no effect on our day at work.
Many of us sleeping in the sanctuary started our day with a scream as Bethany and Casey decided it would be funny to wake us up by banging pots and pans together. After two cups of black coffee and morning devotion it was time to head off to work. My group finished laying block on top of a house that we have been working on all week. It was really meaningful for us to finish this because we have worked on this house all week and we saw something tangible of what all our hard work was for.
After a hard morning of work and a big lunch it was time for my daily siesta. But as it seems to happen a lot around here, my sleep was rudely interrupted by a few people I won’t name. (Sarah Starbuck and Jessica McNeil.) I have found this week that nothing wakes you up like applying a fresh coat of sunscreen. So, with a new coat of sunscreen on, I began to shake off the drowsiness and I was ready for work.
In the afternoon we poured our last roof of the week. This was a big deal for a lot of people because it would likely be the last work they’d ever do in Mexico. So, with the undying motivation of going out with a bang, everyone took their places and began to work. My role in this afternoon’s work was being a member of the “dream team of shoveling.” The team consisted of Drew Bailey, Hunter Starr, Walt Roberson, Patrick Walthall, and I.
About halfway through the roof the sky opened up and it began to pour. I learned in English class this year that water symbolizes change or revival. So, with our theme this week being change I think that it is really fitting it has rained most of the time we have been here. The rain cooled our bodies and washed the cement off of us, giving us the strength to finish the roof.
Casey’s message tonight was a call to action. On the first night he challenged us to ask ourselves whether or not we are actually Christians. Tonight he called on us to answer that challenge. I was particularly moved by his sermon because he quoted some scripture I had read in my morning devotion. The verse was Luke 9:24, which says, “Whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it.”
It has been a hard week at work, and I know that we are all tired and ready for a fun day at the market tomorrow. I know that we will all miss the times we have had in Mexico, but we will never forget the love that the Mexican people have shown us this week.

Billy Wollman

Thursday 7/3 Hola!

2008-07-04T11:24:00.000-07:00

Hola from MEXICO!
Today has been very busy but so much fun! In the morning, groups broke off into 5 different work sites. Doing various jobs such as pouring the ring of the roof, preparing for foundation, rebar and many more. Around twelve we met back at the compound for lunch and then the dedication of two houses we built. The dedication was very humbling because we realized the true impact it made on the whole family. Also we bonded so much with the families because we made real connections to their lives. After dedication we all went to pour a roof for a lady named Gabby. With our large group we finished quickly and had time to come back for Vacation Bible School. We played many games, sang songs and at the end we gave the ninos Bibles. Right after VBS we had a fiesta with the families in the neighborhood and the people whose houses we have been working on all week. During dinner we (Chelsea Queen and Rachel Ross) sat with a group of women who spoke no English. There was an obvious language barrier but we could still understand each other. We talked about the animals here and the horrible conditions in which they live. Towards the end of the meal one of the ladies asked if we were finished so she could save the food for another meal. We realized how much we waste and don’t appreciate. After everyone was finished eating and playing we had our group time talk where Sarah talked about “Surely we can change the WORLD.” It was really powerful because she showed us not matter what age you can still do so much. Mike led us in worship that was amazing as usual. We just got back from a mid night taco run and woo took us it was AMAZING. Bullard just showed up and he wants to tell everyone hello yahhh. We are having a great time and this week has gone by really fast and we are all really sad that tomorrow is our last day at work ;(. Hope everyone’s doing well and we love you all!!

Bullard is back and he says good night.

With mucho mucho mucho amor,
Chelsea Queen and Rachel Ross.

Wednesday July 2nd

2008-07-03T16:26:00.000-07:00

Our third day of work here in Mexico was very eventful. We started out by splitting into our different work groups doing several things such as laying blocks, pouring floors, and digging a foundation. The process of laying block involves laying down large cinder blocks and using the cement for mortar. It is imperative that the blocks are straight and all the same height. Pouring a floor is very similar to pouring a roof. First you mix the cement, pass the cement along in buckets, and then pour the cement on the flooring. Digging the foundation proved to be very difficult as the ground is extremely rocky and tough to dig. After lunch, we had a short church service with the Mexican families we are building houses with. We sang songs together in Spanish and enjoyed spending time worshipping together. Then we were all surprised with a trip to the Rio Blanca, a river close to where we are staying, to swim and have a relaxing afternoon. We swam all the way down the river, over slimy rocks and mud, only to get kicked off of a private Mexican farm playground. On the way back down the river, many boys and Sarah Starbuck climbed up trees and jumped into the river. Playing in the river was a refreshing way to end our afternoon. Driving to and from the river, Woo, the driver’s ed. teacher who taught many of us to drive, was pulled over by the Mexican police twice. However after explaining that we were here doing mission work they let him off the hook. After our trip to the river, we held VBS for the Mexican children. We sang songs, played duck duck goose, and tie dyed t-shirts with the kids. It was fun for everyone as we all formed special relationships with the ninos. We ended the day with a delicious American meal of hamburgers and hotdogs. At night, Casey talked about changing the way we view the world and how we treat others around us here and at home. We are all exhausted and can’t wait to get a good night’s sleep so we can work hard again tomorrow.

Liz Sims, Becky Spitzer, and Katie Kelly

Tuesday Update!

2008-07-02T08:09:00.000-07:00

As the 2nd day of work comes to an end, everyone is tired and exhausted from the intense roof pouring that went on today. The main purpose for today’s work was to pour a roof. The majority of people went to this worksite while a few people went to finish laying blocks for the walls of the house. After the people laying the blocks finished their work they came over to help the rest of the group with the roof pouring. Pouring a roof takes a lot of time and effort. To pour a roof you have to first mix the cement then pass it along a bucket line towards the scaffolding and up to the roof where it can be poured. This work is some of the hardest work you experience because you can’t take a break and you have to work through lunch. It is however rewarding when you finish and get to see the completed work and how thankful the family is. Today we poured the roof from around nine in the morning to two in the afternoon. After we came back and had lunch the workgroups split up and went back out to do work on different houses. Some groups went and did rebar, some dug foundations, and others laid block. For dinner tonight the group went to Granero Grill. We got to eat Mexican food consisting of meat and tacos. Towards the end of dinner many people decided to start to eat the jalapeño peppers. It started out with boys such as Walt, Stewart, Dylan, Patrick and Billy indulged in the peppers. It exceeded into a challenge between Bucky and Colby to see who could go the longest without water. The competition began with each eating a pepper; it then went on with each other trading spoonfuls of hot sauce, each trying to outdo the other. It ended with Colby not being able to down the last spoonfuls, and eventually in tears. Bucky is a man of men and should not be tested by anyone. Afterwards we came back to the colonia and hung out for a while before going up on the roof where Brad Gwinn spoke and challenged us by questioning us if we really were Christians. Everyone is exhausted from today’s work but cannot wait for tomorrow to come.
Bullard would like to let his mother know that he loves her and Molly wants to say that she misses her mom and will see her when she is a year older.

Colby Greene and partially Jenna, also accompanied by Woo, and the story of the competition was kept straight by the great Bucky.

Hola from Mexico Monday 6/30

2008-07-02T08:05:00.000-07:00

Hey from Mexico! Today was the first day that groups began their work. They split us up randomly so that we could be with some of our close friends, as well as bond with some of the others we do not normally surround ourselves with. The work sites included: two houses being built up with cement blocks for their walls, a clinic where cement was poured into the foundation, rebar, and digging. At group time in the evening, we gathered in the sanctuary because Mexico had it’s first big rainfall for months-we saw a rainbow! In the sanctuary groups shared what they had experienced throughout the day and what their hopes were for the week ahead. In worship and devotion we talked about loving your neighbor as you love yourself and having a true desire for something more this week than what was experienced last year. We are continuing to live out the summer message of ‘surely we can change something’. Casey announced that we are going to all pour a roof tomorrow, which we are incredibly excited about. The niños were very energetic and excited for our return. The Millbrook boys found it necessary to teach the boys about teif (you don’t want to know). Woo decided to fly a kite at the worksite today, which broke just moments later. Casey Prince is proud to announce that he successfully fought and utterly destroyed Patrick Walthall. Colby would like to tell his mommy that he loves her and misses her dearly. Due to his incredible working skills his muscles are now even more “swoll” (if at all possible). Mrs. McNeil, we would like to inform you that Jessica’s air mattress is officially three stories high and furthermore cannot fit in her bunk bed…she’s sleeping on the floor. However, her circumstances are much better than Patrick Walthall’s, who is unfortunately sleeping on a pink pool raft for the remainder of the week. Can’t wait for the week ahead and stay updated for more stories. Special shout out DOOBIE!!! ☺ And Maria and Odom family, we love you all!
P.S. We designed the t-shirts and they are the best yet.
Adios Amigos!
Brooke Odom and Jenna Murray

We are here and doing fantastic

2008-06-30T21:45:00.000-07:00

Sorry that it is Monday night before the first update. We are just having too much fun to rip myself away for too long. And internet access is limited.
The trip down went fine. All flight were delayed at least a little by either bad weather or missing gyros! But we got everybody here eventually.
Today was a great first day of work. One Group even got all 10 rows of block done today which is as far as they would have been able to do. That certainly does not happen often.
Tonight for our 2nd group time David Starbuck shared "Surely we can change how we Serve". It was very challenging and also really cool to see "Bucky" with a new role.
Tomorrow morning we are pouring a huge roof but this group is ready because of the roof they poured last year.
Look forward to another update early tomorrow. And please be praying for the roof pour and that the students would realize that "surely they can change".

Good Night,
Casey

It's Over...

2008-06-28T15:52:00.000-07:00

The first week is over. The groups left today after really NO sleep! We had great games of basketball (where the leaders served up some humble pie to the students) and dodgeball. And celebrated the Lord's Supper together to close out our time together. This final update is from Meredith Cook after our last day of work on Thursday. I know you'll enjoy this. She was 'getting' many of the things we were hoping students were getting.

I can’t believe that today was our last day of work here in Mexico. We poured a roof this morning as one large group for the family of Margarita and Santos. It was really hard work to get the buckets of cement up that high, and the scaffolding was potentially dangerous (Dave even fell! But don’t worry, he’s okay.), but we all pulled together as a team to finish the roof very efficiently! All of our work from the past four days has definitely been tiring, as most of us are noticing right now (everyone is incredibly tired…it’s midnight here and we just got back from Group Time), but it’s definitely a “good” kind of tired, you know? I don’t think I’m only speaking for myself when I say that I feel so incredibly full of God’s love right now as the service we have done for these Mexicans gives a greater feeling than anything else in the world. I am sitting here on a constantly deflating air mattress in a room with no air circulation, I still have dried cement all over my body despite my shower this afternoon, my back has about eight knots in it from shoveling sand and rocks all day, and it’s a struggle to keep my eyes open. Yet I feel such pure joy and happiness. To me, that is one of the main lessons I will take away from this trip: we don’t need the things that we THINK make us happy to actually achieve joy. All we need is the bliss we receive from glorifying God through service to others and simply living our lives for Him. The people I have met this week have none of the things I used to rely on to be happy: no iPods, no DVR, no expensive designer clothes, no text messaging…the list goes on and on. Just ask yourself what makes you happy in your free time. Chances are, the list will undoubtedly include things that these people don’t have. Nevertheless, the people I have met experience more of God’s joy in its purest form because they have faith, they follow Christ, and they trust in His plan for their lives. I don’t think I have ever been in a place where people are more friendly and always smiling! It will be strange to go back to Raleigh in a few days and drive down the road and not have every single person I see on the side of the road wave and yell “Hola!” At the beginning of the week, I thought that we were the ones who were coming to help those less fortunate. However, my mindset has switched to the opposite. WE are the ones less fortunate if we do not have the same faith and love for God as these people. We can’t experience pure joy if we’re constantly being distracted by things we desperately seek after to try to please us. Yes, the Mexicans here might have a house the size of an American bedroom and make $3 a day. But I consider them lucky because of the joy they have in their hearts. No material possessions are blocking their road to Christ. I feel that I have attained this amazing joy this week after serving and experiencing life through their eyes, and I pray that I can continue to harbor this joy in my heart and keep it close in my mind that I do not need the things I once thought I did in order to be happy. All it takes is the will to follow Christ forever, wherever He may lead you.
Meredith Cook

Be praying for the following week!
Casey

Work is Done

2008-06-26T16:18:00.000-07:00

Hello Friends and Family. The work is done for this week. It finished with pouring a roof this morning and some other tasks in the afternoon. Everybody seems to be in good spirits and health. Pray for the hearts of the kids. They seem to be thinking through a lot of things and challenging their previous ideas about things. It's exactly what we wanted, but I think it's painful sometimes for them.
Here is a reflection after Wednesday night from two of our students.

Hola Amigos!
In case you didn’t know, that means hello friends! We know that because we have been here for a total of three hot Mexican days. It has been so awesome trying out our limited espanol on the ninos who are very energetic. They love to use our cameras to take crazy pictures. We are also exhausted because they love endless piggy back rides and helicopter spinning.
Along with playing with the ninos, we have been working very hard. And with our trip coming to a close, today was no exception. This morning, Allison and I were shanghaied into the ring-forming group, so that we can pour cement and form a roof. After lunch, most of the group poured cement for the foundation for two new houses. It felt great working alongside our American and Mexican brothers and sisters in Christ. Today was a very successful day because we decided to pour another foundation after our usual end time, in a record time of 40 minutes! We feel so proud of each other because we strengthened as a team.
Still, the day was not over. Peyton was and amazing hotdog bun filler with the rest of her prayer group who prepared a fantastic dinner. After the delicioso dinner, we had group time, where Jock Murray portrayed his speech skills and taught us all about how to make the most of our lives. He read excerpts from a book called Don’t Waste Your Life by John Piper. Following this, we broke into small groups and had deep, thought provoking and in some cases spirited discussions about our thoughts. Some groups met for over one hour.
All in all, it has been a very wonderful day.

In His name,
Peyton Murray and Allison Cook

We leave here tomorrow to explore Reynosa and the Market. Packing and cleaning is always the most painful process!

Magnification

2008-06-24T09:53:00.000-07:00

This next reflection is from Troy Larimer after the first day of work. Don't worry I wasn't late for group time.

The first day of construction work awaited me with a beautiful sunrise. I slowly worked my way towards the kitchen to stock up on my favorite cereal…Honey Nut Cheerios. After noticing that Jacob Lyle’s right eyebrow was making no progress of returning, I went through my preparations in autopilot. My mind was consumed with the excitement of doing my first real construction mission (New Orleans does not really count because here we start from the ground up…LITERALLY.) What new faces would I encounter today? What kind of tedious task would I be assigned in our site? All would be answered after the 15-minute car ride supplied by Casey’s readily driving skills (resulting in many cases of “hang-time” in the truck bed,) we stopped at our destination. Nothing but a concrete slab and six rebars. By the time our crew was done with it, this slab would be a place of comfort, rest, and togetherness…this would be a home. By now the Mexico Mission trip can be described in three simple words; WE BUILT IT. With our two God given hands we moved the cinderblocks, mixed the mortar, and built a full story, minus the roof, in one day. That is a true accomplishment. The home my work group provided for was a 15 year old boy, Felipe. His mothers life was untimely claimed by cancer and he, his father, and his two sisters were devastated. For a few years of his life he was living in many different houses with his father was in the States. Finally we were giving him a place he could truly call “home.” The thing that really caught me off guard was that not matter what was going on, the Mexican workers, women, and ninos were always smiling. Wherever I looked I was greeted by a smile. It dawned on me our presence was something to smile about. God was gifting them through us and they were happy. Today during group, we all shared our experiences of working in the hot sun ALL DAY. Many complained of the blazing heat, some commented on Jacob’s missing eyebrow, but the universal message was, “Wow…what a great day to be serving God.” But I wonder, how are we serving God. What exactly do we do that is, “serving God?” Then it answered itself. Jock Murray took time to share his point of view of our service. He spoke of how 300 soldiers defeated the Mineanites, and how a small Shepherd defeated a monstrous man. He told us on how these things magnified the power of God, but not in the way you think. He is not magnifying it in the way a microscope does, making small things bigger than they really are, but in the way a telescope magnifies a star; It is so far off and mysterious, but becomes so close and clear that all of its power and majesty is seen. This hit me like the one of the cinderblocks I was lifting today. WE ARE MAGNIFYING GOD! We bring something so far off and rare in Mexico right to them with the work and interactions we have daily. That is how we are doing God’s work, and that is what put a smile on their faces. That’s all I can share about today, but I can tell you that I plan on drawing back Jacob’s eyebrow with a Sharpie.
-Troy Larimer-

Keep praying for us. We poured a floor this morning and finished our 2nd house. Leah Barefoot had a small accident today when she got hit with a bucket. Her forehead needed 4 stitches. Made for an interesting moment, but she's doing just fine.

Adios,
Casey

We're here and great...

2008-06-23T18:49:00.000-07:00

We arrived fine into Mexico on Sunday afternoon after a about 24 hours in McAllen, TX hanging out.
The work is progressing and the kids seem to be adjusting well.
One of the coolest things, especially for any old-schoolers out there, is that we are building a house for a kid named Felipe that many of our past students and leaders have fallen in love with. He's 15 now and he'll be living there with his father and two older sisters. His mom passed away a few years ago and he's been living part of the time in Roma, TX.

Here is a reflection on Sunday night from 2 students. I promise we'll have some pictures tomorrow. I'm just late for group time right now!

Arriving at the airport at 4:15 in the morning to get on a plane full of screaming babies, the big guy who takes up more than half the row, and the talker who wants to tell you their life story just to get to Dallas, Texas. And that was only the first flight. But that doesn’t even compare to what the Mexicans have to deal with on a daily basis. Coming into Mexico, we went from asphalt roads and big cities to dirt roads and small towns. The border is so close that when you stand on the roof of the church complex you can see signs and houses we passed while in Texas. So close yet so far away.
As Americans, we tend to take things for granted. When we’re hungry we can walk to the cabinet anytime and choose from a plethora of food on top of three meals a day. In Mexico, you are lucky to even get those three meals.
But that is not what we’re here to talk about. We are here to talk about how God is already starting to work in us. On this trip we hope to encounter a closer relationship to God and to become true Christians. Tonight we talked about the parable of the good Samaritan. We learned that we should love our neighbors as ourselves. Also, we discussed how we need to acquire more than just a ticket to heaven; not just to accept God as our savior, but to strive to become more like him.
A good thing to keep in mind is the golden rule: treat others the way you want to be treated!

Love,
Allie Pithers and Chelsea Buckingham! ☺

Cheers,
Casey

Jamaica...the trip that will never end...

2008-06-22T07:17:00.000-07:00

Ok so I'm sure many of you realize that we have yet to arrive home...but we are getting closer with each passing minute. We started our journey at 4 am Saturday morning when we left Cloisters...without sleeping any Friday night. We arrive at the airport in Montgo Bay at 5:30 only to find that after everyone is through security our flight has been delayed by an hour, and then and hour and a half. Finally we board our plane and flew to Miami for which should have been a short layover.
We made out and in of customs and then began the search for lunch in the Miami airport. After some amazing American food we met back at our terminal ready for take off only to learn our flight has been delayed for 30 minutes. That was fine, we are flexible. Then an hour, a little frustrating but we figured we would still be ok. Then we made a a new best friend with the agent at our terminal desk who gave us constant updates. At first the weather was bad and take off time was pushed back to 4:30. Our friend informed us that the weather was going to continue to worsen and they began looking for a new plane and pilot to help us get back home. We soon realized that this chance was very slim. Doug walked back from the departure board with tear in his eye, the board informed us our flight had been cancelled. The back up flight they had found us for that night was having extreme mechanical problems and we come to find out that our new Pilot is sick. We sent Sass to save the day at the ticket counter, only to find that the next flight to RDU was on Monday or Tuesday. We began to explore our other options only to find that the Amtrac (sorry about the spelling)is booked till Monday. Then we begin to explore the idea of flying into other cities, or maybe just walking home from Miami. We recieve a text from Sass "My phone is dying but I have it figured out." This was the best news we had heard in a long time. We were told that we would recieve a 10 dollar dinner voucher to eat in the airport and then would fly into Dulles on an 8:30 flight. We were planning on renting vans and driving back to Raleigh in the morning. Well to put the icing on the cake we couldn't rent vans from anywhere in DC. And in case we wanted any more surprises our flight was then delayed several times until we finally took off at 10:30. We all finally made it to our hotel by 3 a.m. and are now getting on vans to raleigh. Yeah! The crazy travel day! See you soon.

Thursday and Friday in Jamaica

2008-06-20T18:07:00.000-07:00

Last night, after a hard days work [DREAM TEAM: Spencer, Katie, Bobby!], we held our second of the three community events. This time it was held right down the mountain at St. Ann’s Bay Methodist. It was an incredible turnout as the lines for children’s games and crafts were always really long. Just like last night, the games and prizes were followed by a performance by the man, the myth, and the legend: Mr. Ben Glenn. His performance was absolutely mind blowing. Not only did he, again, impress the crowd with a ten-minute chalk masterpiece; Ben followed it with a projected video, something that can only be seen in person. Trust me, it was amazing. The reaction from the crowd was incredible. I think I enjoyed watching the reactions as much as the performance itself. After driving some of the ladies home, we all retired back to the Cloisters.

Today we slept in: at least the ladies did. The guys however were hard at work on a prank for the ages. To make a long story short, about fifty mattresses from the guy’s rooms were stuffed into the girl’s hallway, blocking all the exits to the bedrooms and most importantly, the entrance to the bathroom. More pictures and video of this later. After another filling meal from the Cloisters ladies, we were off to Dunn River Falls for what turned out to be an amazing time.

Dunn River Falls is one of only a handful of Jamaica’s national parks. It is a long series of rocky waterfalls that spans about the distance of half a mile. Hiking from bottom to top was a trek meant only for the fittest, but Team Grace managed to hold their own with few injuries. Dunn River Falls is without a doubt one of the most beautiful places I have ever been in my life.

Ocho Rios is the second biggest tourism hotspot on the north coast of Jamaica after Montego Bay. In the afternoon, we explored the town center, ate Jamaican food (Burger King for most of us…), and conquered the market. The markets were especially crowded since a Carnival Cruise line moored up this morning.

As I type right now on the porch of The Cloisters, I am watching Gary Greene and Scuba erect a brand new wooden cross at the top of our mountain. Hannah Ross is drinking ice water on “the rail”, Amy Bryce, Colleen Cook, and Caroline Kirby are taking pictures, and Doug Sibley is half asleep with his feet propped up out here on the porch. We are also in the process of setting up for our last dinner here at the Cloisters; a special dinner that is served outside here on the porch overlooking the town of St. Ann’s and the Caribbean Sea.

Please pray for all of us tonight and tomorrow as we travel once again. Tonight is almost definitely going to be an all-nighter for the majority of us as we enjoy eachothers company for hours on end. We leave tomorrow morning at 4am (!!!!) for a 7:00 flight which is followed by a five-hour (!!!!!!!) layover in Miami. We are, of course, excited to see all our family and friends once again tomorrow afternoon.

-Bobby Schultz

Let the Fiesta Begin...

2008-06-20T15:45:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow morning the first flight leaves for Mexico at 6am, that's right, gotta be at the airport at 4:15am. Terrible! Who makes these plans anyways? Oh, I do, whoops!
Please begin praying for all the adventures over the next 2 weeks of the Rising Juniors and then Seniors.

For parents of those kids, I believe I failed to leave my cell phone number on your final details letter in case you have an emergency. That number is 919-302-6345. Your kids can call you when they get there to tell you that they got there okay, but they are going to stop using their cell phones at that point, so don't call them!! :) We'll take good care of them, don't worry!

Cheers,
Casey

Brooklyn 2008- Friday

2008-06-20T09:41:00.000-07:00

It was another exciting day in Brooklyn, New York! We woke up bright and early yesterday, knowing we had a long day ahead of us. Like every other day, our groups went to different places such as the soup kitchen, Coney Island, and just down the street to Grace Baptist Church. After spending hours at each place getting a lot of work done, we quickly rushed back to the church and got ready to spend the night in "The Big Apple." With only minutes to get ready, all of us were pumped to "shop till we drop" and get some food in our tummies! The church had surprised us by planning a dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe. We all had a great time listening to the oldies music and enjoying our meals! It was really neat to see all the famous singers guitars and outfits displayed around the restaurant. After that it was off to explore the city, making the M&M and the Hershey store number one on our lists. It was awesome just walking around town at night and seeing all the beautiful lights light up the city. At about ten, it was time to end the fun for the night. We still had an hour subway ride coming and everyone was exhausted! Even though the trip is coming to an end, we can both see a difference in the growth of everyones faith since the beginning of the trip. God has been working through each of us in many different ways. We are thankful for all the people we met and worked with here in Brooklyn. We are excited to come home and see our families, but we will truly miss the crazy city and everything we have experienced. -Caroline Kohls and Shannon Kelly

A Jamaican Wednesday - Part II

2008-06-19T10:49:00.000-07:00

Today we started off the day with our normal prayer groups and quiet time that are always very informative and challenging and just a great way to start off our day. After an amazing breakfast prepared by a couple of the most amazing Jamaican women one would ever meet my life is better because the interaction with them every meal. Then we divided into our two work groups , one of which went to the local church which we have been working all week transporting sand and stone up to the top of the roof only to create our concrete on top of the roof by hand. This work is very grueling and requires breaks constantly but with the dedication and work ethic showed this week we have accomplished great amounts of work especially mixing by hand. The chemistry at this site is awesome and it is extremely cool to stand on top of the roof and overlook the clear ocean. The next work site was the Street family house. We are in the process of producing a foundation for a significant addition to their house. This is extremely tough job considering bedrock and wet clay lie close to surface of the ground and we need to dig approximately 18 inches. With a solid rotation and relentless work by not only the guys but especially the girls we accomplished a remarkable amount of work in the direct heat. Not only did we dominate this foundation but a pair of girls Hannah Ross and Carrie Moss tiled an entire bathroom in just a day and a halfs work. Of my entire 5 mission trips I have never and I repeat never experienced the chemistry and work ethic put into a single project. This work day was a hot one but we absolutely killed it out there.

After showering and having a quick dinner (also prepared by the wonderful Jamaican women), we headed over to Hoolebury Methodist Church to have our first children’s carnival/Ben Glenn experience. We started off in small groups, each at different game or craft stations. Tons of Jamaican children made foam crosses, won prizes for winning games, and walked around in animal masks. After about an hour of fun, the children joined the adults on the lawn of the church, and Ben Glenn began his chalk drawing. For anyone who doesn’t know, Ben Glenn is an amazing chalk artist who uses his talents to convey God’s beautiful creation and teach his audiences about the love of Christ. Tonight, Ben drew a beautiful scene inspired by a postcard from Sedona, Arizona. In his talk after he drew, he made a point of how troubles and trials can interrupt our seemingly-perfect lives by drawing a huge black line across the top right corner of a drawing he had just spent so much time drawing. However, he showed how God makes good out of our troubles by changing the black line into a rock bridge with a runner running across it. As someone who’s seen Ben Glenn draw in the past, I enjoyed the opportunity to see how other people responded and reacted to his drawing as seeing it for the first time. I also enjoyed watching how natural it was for the Americans and Jamaicans to sit together during the performance. There was no sense of separation, and this sparked many conversations about Ben’s drawing and the thoughts it provoked. Overall, it was an amazing experience, and we are all looking forward to enjoying it two more times. We hope that you are all doing well in Raleigh. We’ve heard that great things are happening in Brooklyn, and we ask that you continue to pray for both of our trips. Thanks for all of your prayers and support

Dan Fordice & Colleen Cook

Brooklyn 2008- Thursday

2008-06-19T08:37:00.000-07:00

It was always a dream of mine as a high schooler to write one of the coveted blogs on a mission trip. And to be honest, it was so I could look cool and have a list of shout outs at the end of the update. I had it all planned. In Mexico, I thought I could start with “hola” or in Jamaica I could start with a witty “hey mon.” Unfortunately, I never got the chance as a student to impart my wisdom on the World Wide Web. Well, readers, my time has come. It might have taken me 7 years as a student and 4 years as a leader to earn the privilege, but it is glorious.
Wednesday was a fun-filled day for all. Students woke up expected to head straight to their work sites. However, we surprised them by heading into Manhattan for the morning. Upon arrival, we took a round trip ride on the Staten Island Ferry to enjoy a unique view of the Statue of Liberty and the vast New York skyline. On the ride, we were entertained with the mind blowing beat box skills of Mike Alvarado, which were quickly joined by rapping ferry riders. How fun! We then took a trip to Ground Zero. Everyone here has a story to tell about where they were, who they knew, and the impact it has had on their life to this day. Seeing the huge pit where the towers used to stand brought me to tears. All I could think to do was pray. For the victim’s families, for the people of New York, but mainly that someway, somehow, the God can be glorified and lifted high in the midst of war and hatred. After returning to Brooklyn, we split up and either ministered to children at a local park or at the Cadet Program hosted by the local church. Seeing three year olds stand at attention and salute the flag is quite the sight to be seen!

“Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity” 1 Timothy 4:12

To say that big things are happening in Brooklyn is an understatement. The Lord is moving in new and exciting ways everyday both in the lives of our students and members of the Brooklyn community. The Lord calls us to take up our cross and follow him, which is exactly what these students are doing. I feel like a proud mother of fifty. Their willingness to constantly say “yes” to the Lord at such a young age is such an inspiration to me. These high school sophomores are praying with strangers, asking adults three times their age challenging questions about life and faith, and giving their left over food to the homeless. While their peers are at home soaking up the rays this summer, they are literally begging to go to the local park and play with young, inner city children. I am in awe. Watch out, Raleigh. Big things are going to happen because of these students. Prepare to be amazed.

In Him (Finally, I always knew I would end it this way!),

Lauree

A Jamaican Wednesday

2008-06-18T11:36:00.001-07:00

Please excuse me while I take a second to wipe the sweat off my face...

There, much better. Wow. It is hot! Yet somehow, it doesn’t seem to bother any of the students on the trip. As I sit writing this, every one of the kids on the trip is out under a baking son, serving a people that none of them have ever met, and most of them will ever see again.

That is just incredible to me. Yesterday a group of now-high-school-grads went over to the home of a local Reverend, helping to do work on the septic tank being installed in his house. Today, the group went to two work sites. The first went back over to St Ann’s Church, where they continued to pour the roof of the church. There is still lots of work to be done there, but they are working extremely diligently to get the job completed. Oh, and did I mention that they are doing all of the concrete mixing completely by hand?

The other group is over at the home of the Streets, a Jamaican family that Grace has built a relationship with over the years. Currently, the family of eight lives in a small three roomed building, but as we speak (not actually, but you get the point), they are laying the foundation for a completely new building there, which is a long complicated process they have charged head-on.

Meanwhile, all of us are very excited that we will soon be joined by Ben Glenn, whose art will allow all of us an excellent opportunity to continue building relationships with the locals in the community. We still have lots to do between now and tonight, but we know that it will all get done.

And also, in the midst of all our work, we are still finding ways to have incredible amounts of fun. I mean, we are in Jamaica, and that is just AWESOME. And feel incredibly privileged to be able to join this incredible group of young adults who can have fun under any circumstances, while still getting a ton of work done for the community here. The presence of God is definitely here with us.

So we thank all of you for your prayers, and ask that you would continue to pray for us as we continue sharing our faiths with the people here, and learning from both them, as well as each other along the way.

Raff

Now Back to You Guys in Jamaica...

2008-06-17T11:44:00.000-07:00

Well, after a great day of work on Monday we headed back to Cloisters for a great meal and our Group Time. We shared about the day, how we had seen God at work, and Raff (Stephen Rafferty) led us in some great worship. Megan Petcavich shared from a book she has been reading challenging us to live out our faith in our actions, all of the time. Sass helped us look at some scripture in James which echoed Megan's challenge. It was a great night. After a good night's sleep, we're off to work again. Reverend Benguche's house and the Street house are progressing along. We'll start pouring the roof of the church fellowship hall this afternoon. God is god, and working in Jamaica!

Brooklyn 2008- Tuesday

2008-06-17T08:21:00.000-07:00

Let me just say...Grace students are ALL-STARS!! We are now in our second day of ministry work. The students have already immersed themselves in this community. Right now while I type, we have two of our small teams walking down the streets of Brooklyn boldly sharing there faith with complete strangers. There has yet to be one student hesitant to step up and serve this community and each other. I asked one of our students, Zack Newbauer to write a blog, so here it is:

"Today is our third day and already the trip is going by too fast. Our first day we enjoyed getting settled in after the treacherous train ride, and monday it was off! Groups traveled to the soup kitchen, a couple helped right at the church, and others went down the street handing out smoke detectors to those in need. Today, my group is heading to Coney Island to reach out to the Russian population there. Everyone is working very hard and and we are learning so much about each other and ourselves. God is already doing GREAT things!" - Zack

Keep praying for our week! Here are some pictures so far!

Monday In Jamaica

2008-06-16T12:08:00.000-07:00

Work is off and rolling! We've got three sites going: the roof on the fellowship hall at Saint Ann's Bay, an addition onto the Street House, and moving earth at Reverend Benguche's house. We'll send a more in depth update later, but for now, here are a few images...

Sunday in Jamaica

2008-06-15T13:23:00.000-07:00

Well, we all made here safe to Jamaica, and so far, what an experience it has been! Upon leaving the airport in MOntego Bay Sass took us to the first of many surprises to come. We all had a scrumptious lunch at the Margaritaville while relaxing with each other in the Caribbean Sea. After having a great time there we traveled to where we will be staying for the week in St Ann’s Bay: The Cloisters Methodist Center. Already we have been establishing new relationships with the Jamaicans, especially those who help make the Cloisters function. Not only have we been enjoying the company there, but we have also created new connections with the people we have met at the three different church services we attended this morning. The amiability and simple ease to smile further encourages our mission here. We are excited about the opportunities yet to present themselves! Along with the work ahead of us, we hope to fully witness to the people we meet. Thanks for all of the prayers!

David Munoz

Brooklyn 2008- Sunday

2008-06-15T11:22:00.000-07:00

I want to start by saying thank you to all the parents for getting all of the 9th graders to the train station on time. It really made the departure easy! We arrived at Penn Station in New York last night right on schedule (I was really surprised). The kids were amazing on the train trip, parents you would have been proud of them! They were very respectful!

We were greeted in New York by a nice loud thunderstorm, followed by some intense rain. As we all slopped our way into the church, wet and pretty tired, I was once again impressed by the attitudes of the students.

This morning, we attend Grace Baptist Church. Four of our students (Austin Parsons, Brittany Ladermann, Shannon Kelly, and Caitlin Biddell) shared their testimonies with the congregation this morning. These four students did not know they were doing this until LAST NIGHT...yikes! Yet, each of them rose to the challenge and delivered four FANTASTIC testimonies. I truly feel like all of us were changed by their words this morning.

Our group has already been learning just how diverse New York City really is. Our ultimate goal this week is to move past the barriers that we face because of cultural differences, and provide hope through Christ to this community. Please continue to pray for the group throughout the week as we dive into what God has planned for us. I will post several times to keep everyone updated. I am sure each post will simply be a reminder of what great kids we have at Grace, as well as how amazing God is to all of us.

Happy Father's Day,
Jeff Cash

2008-06-13T19:29:00.000-07:00

Things are ready here and the group arrives tomorrow. Lots of work to do at St. Ann's Bay Methodist Church and at the Street's house. We have some great events planned for late in the week and I know that God is going to move in a big way. Pray for us!

Sass

We're Away! (at least I am)

2008-06-12T19:31:00.000-07:00

It's official. Our summer mission trips have begun, at least for me. I touched down in Montego Bay, Jamaica this afternoon and headed east towards Saint Ann's Bay to finish our final preparations for the week to come. I went straight to the Street's house and spent some time with Grandma, David, and Leroy finalizing our plans for the work to be done on their house this week. They are so excited for the group to come and get started. I then made it to Cloisters and goofed off with Barbara, Des, and Granny P. Tomorrow I'll meet with Rev. Benguche to finalize our other work and Saturday my friends will arrive. I can't wait to see all of you. If you see them, give my family a big ole hug for me. It's going to be a great week in Jamaica. Brooklyn .... ??? Anyone???

Sass

Surely We Can Change

2008-06-12T14:35:00.000-07:00

Our theme for the summer is "Surely We Can Change". It's inspired by a song written and performed by the David Crowder Band from their new Remedy album. Our hope is that through the summer we are proded by God to change our own lives while also being His agents for change in this world. Please pray that those things would happen in all of us: students, leaders, and the people we minister to.

Words to the Song:
And the problem is this We were bought with a kiss
But the cheek still turned Even when it wasn’t hit

And I don’t know What to do with a love like that
And I don’t know How to be a love like that

When all the love in the world Is right here among us
And hatred too And so we must choose What our hands will do

Where there is pain Let there be grace
Where there is suffering Bring serenity
For those afraid Help them be brave
Where there is misery Bring expectancy
And surely we can change Surely we can change
Something

And the problem it seems Is with you and me
Not the Love who came To repair everything

Where there is pain Let us bring grace
Where there is suffering Bring serenity
For those afraid Let us be brave
Where there is misery Let us bring them relief
And surely we can change Surely we can change
Oh surely we can change Something

Oh, the world’s about to change
The whole world’s about to change

This is Everyone's Call

2008-06-12T10:23:00.000-07:00

Some people say, "I'm not called to do missions." Well, J-Money disagrees because he's read the gospels. Check this out! Trust me, it's worth every second!

We're all together on this one!

2008-06-11T12:02:00.000-07:00

We may be sent out on four different trips this summer, but we go with one heart and one goal. That is to glorify Jesus and to share Him with people that we don't know. That's why we have one unified place for you to go and hear about all the summer trips. Now, you can hear about what God is doing on all the trips in one place.
We hope you enjoy and that you spend much time here celebrating with us, but also that inspires you to join us in prayer.

Cheers,
Grace Youth Ministry Staff