The Best Present of All

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

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

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

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

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

At the Rays game on Sunday


After a hard morning of work.


The girls before dinner Monday, at the Beach.

Tampa Update

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

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

Pray for them!

Home Sweet Home

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.