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Hey Yawl,
Today was another youth ministry day, but it was planned relatively last minute. So there were about 10 students from the youth ministry that did fun stuff with us today. In the morning the students met here at the church offices and we went to play putt putt golf. Some students played in the arcarde. This was awesome to see that our kids have basically stepped away from their comfort zone and their own group of friends and began making friends and literally hanging with the people they met less than a week ago.
We then went all together to watch ice age 3. Which by the way watching movies here and getting gas is way CHEAPER!
After this we were able to come back to the offices get ready to have a bbq at a member's house that we have been showering at. We got a pool volleyball game going and some of us played wii. The cajun sausages were awesome and sweet tea is so good! By the end of the night you could tell the reationships we made were here to last for all the students of our group have all the Bridge City students numbers and they are already texting eachother (phones are allowed at night). And honestly a few of the boys would not let us leave and were just hanging on the van. Many said they were coming with us and going to try to sneak onto the plane.
Tomorrow is the beginning of our trek back to Seattle. We have a night in dallas and then we fly out the next day. Thanks for the prayers and I will keep you updated on the journey home.
-Mark
Today we embark on the youth ministry days because the sports camp is over, we are now really working on hanging out and being with the students of the town. It started at 9 am for us to get going by 10am. So, today we went to the coast (the beach) with some of the teen boys in the town! Well, most of us went to the beach.
I am so proud of Terry, Joe, and Kyle for they have been working on finishing up Cliff's house so his family can move back in and out of their fema trailor. They told him on Wednesday that they would come back and work today and finish up the last little bit and so even when the plans changed and the group was going to the beach they stayed and worked. (others would have to but it was only a 3 person job).
The beach was great according to Jolie and Sharayah. It wasn't as clean because there was trash left all over the place from lazy people and careless trashy people. Which was lame but the water was so warm it was like taking a bath in the ocean and the students loved it! We also got a game of beach football going which was awesome and a great connection with the boys of the town. The lame part of the beach was that almost everyone got sunburn (no one majorily, most are just red) and the only person who wore sunscreen was yours truly (Mark), which I didn't realize because I borrowed the sunscreen from the cowins who got the most red and none of them wore sunscreen.
On the way out of the beach we got stuck in the sand and were just spinning the tires (this is a 12 passenger van we were in). And 2 drunk ladies tried to come over and help us but their best help was having us put our towels under the tires and getting the towels dirty. But just in the nick of time a Hertz rental truck which was a huge truck pulled us out and we were good!
After the beach we showered and headed out to the Benoits (a family in the town who has 2 teen daughters) to have Blue Bell Ice Cream (which is legendary to the people in this town) and hang out with the students. We played a game of 4 on 4 basketball Seattle vs. Texas but we aren't going to mention the outcome.
Tonight we are hanging out and most people are fighting off sleep. But tomorrow is our day to sleep in so of course the teens want to take advantage of staying up. haha Because tomorrow doesn't start till around noon because of the teen activities of the town. I guess this town has teens like our city they love to stay up late and then sleep in.
On specific prayer is for a kid named Ty I found out today that he hadn't been coming to the youth group and he didn't come to the church. But you wouldn't have known it this week because he has been a part of everything. He has been here every chance he can to hang out with us. Which is awesome, that we are helping him get plugged in and his girlfriend too for his girlfriend is now going to highschool church camp next week because of us talking with her and so are a few other people.
-Mark (with help from Jolie and Sharayah, while Chris was eating) :)
Hey,
Its been awhile since you heard from me so I figured I should quickly update. Kay posted for day 6 this is just a side note. Today there were three teams one was from what Kay talked about (painting) the other was still helping the guy rebuild his room. Tomorrow they should finish. The last team was with me and we were helping a family with their yard work and some room trim.
For the most part everyone is kicking their butts out here and working hard. Some need more motivation than others but overall its amazing. Also we are at the point where we all are getting tired and people were getting on eachothers nerves today a little bit. :) Nothing like living with people for over a week. But overall I have been super blessed with a great group of students.
So, my update is more for specific prayer questions for this team and me personally.
Today we started work at 9:00 a.m and everyone was super tired to get up but we had to. What we did was we all were separated and had to do different jobs. The group I was in had to go paint a house which was really hard because everyone was sweating alot because it was so hot but it was worth it to know that it was for a good reason. We painted the house until 3:00 p.m but we had a lunch break and ate at a mexican restaurant. Painting the house today was really fun because we all got to help with that and be a part of it. After painting we went to a family's house to go take showers which was very kind of them.
After that we went to the Sports Camp and played baseball with the kids today. It was really fun to see all of their faces - they are very cute and happy to be around us. We got to meet new people and talk to them. Afterwards, we helped with cleaning up, which wasn't that bad. Then we came back to the office and played with the youth kids from Bridge City and had a good conversation. And now all of us don't want to leave...well, some of us. Because everyone here is so nice and welcoming us and I wish we could stay longer. 
Prayer Requests:
- That tomorrow goes well
- That everyone is in a good mood
- That we'll all stay in good health (Jennie is feeling WAY better!)
- For the people in Bridge City, to guide them to God and protect their families, especially in this next hurricane season
Today was awesome! We worked really hard.
We started our morning at 10am and broke into two different teams. A group of three boys returned to a gentleman's house (Cliff) to finish their work sheetrocking his house. The rest of us headed to a woman's house to paint the entire exterior of her house a bright yellow. Her landlord has apparently not taken the initiative to repair the damage from her home after all these months so we volunteered to do the job. We never met her because she was at work the entire time we painted at her house. The students were so funny - we showed up in t-shirts so we wouldn't ruin our clothes and they were quickly peeled off. I literally mean "peeled". We were sweating so much that are clothes were dripping and sticking to us. After painting, we were treated to lunch at Sonic's and then returned to finish painting the house. We called it a day at 4pm. It was then off to the next thing!
We hurried through our showers and rushed to the batting cages where the church is hosting their Sports Camp. (I don't know how much has been written regarding the church in previous blogs, but they meet in the batting cages at present due to the community center being damaged. They will eventually move back to the community center where they set up and teardown their entire church every Sunday.) The camp went really well! We went from 29 students to 45 students! After Camp, we went to the local coffee shop, The Coffee Beanery, and hung out with the youth group. Then it was back to the church office for family time and now, bedtime.
The people here are absolutely amazing! There are continual comments about how welcoming, generous, friendly, and courageous the residents of this town are. They are constantly opening their homes, preparing meals for us, flowing in and out of conversation with no pressure. Honestly, it reminds me of the pocket that BFM is. The congregation of BFM is so inviting, so generous, and so welcoming that it is only a matter of time before new people feel like they are part of the family. It is like that here. People just seem to embrace others regardless of appearance, personality, or past. It's a privilege to be part of a body of believers that also resemble this amazing part of the body here in Texas. We can't wait to get home and share with you our stories of meeting some amazing believers!
Some helpful things to pray for:
Can't wait to see y'all and tell you our stories!
Hello Everyone!
This is Melissa Heu posting the blog for today. :) So today we all woke up and got ready for the busy and somewhat unplanned day ahead. As soon as we were ready we all left to go to the neighborhood and hand out cards for the sports camp that we are currently helping at. We walked around in groups of 3 or 4. We walked and looked for a while. But there were NO kids outside. But I understand to why they wouldn't be outside. It was very hot! I believe almost 100 degrees. We were sweating and our feet were very tired. But we kept going so that we could help get kids to come to the sport camp. After a certain amount of time we went back to the van all sweaty and gross. That group then went back to the office and cooled off and ate our lunch. While all of that was happening Terry, Joe, and Kyle were serving at another house doing dry wall. They worked very hard! :) Later the group that was at the office went to this womans house and helped her paint the outside other house while some people were digging a trench for the new pipes. We then stopped working and took some time and talked to the lady about hurricane Ike and what had happened to some of the people and her house. She had said that she lost about 40 years worth of stuff in her house. It made alot of the people in our group realize how fortunate we are to not have to go through all of this and that we still have all of our belongings and especially our lives. We then headed back for the office to get ready for taking showers. Then we had come back to some GREAT dinner. We had baked potatoes with salad. Most of the people enjoyed having salad instead of fried fast food. We were off to our second night of sports camp! We sang songs, played baseball, had some talks, and a lot of laughs. It really is fun to see all these kids come here to learn about God and play baseball. After a great camp we went to Coffee Beanery and enjoyed coffee with the youth group. Then we were back to the office for some great family time. Now its bed time! Need to get rest for tomorrow! We got a busy day ahead of us!
Prayers -
- Some of the youth is having difficulties dealing with eachother, so we need prayer that everyone can settle down with eachother and get along so that we can do what we came here for. Which is to serve others.
- Continue to pray for Sports Camp, childen in sports camp and the people helping there.
- The hearts of our team and the students in this town.
- All of our service pojects that we will be doing tomorrow for people in the community.
- THE WEATHER!
It was another great day in Bridge Suty, Texas! God is continuing to use our students in incredible and tangible ways. The generosity and graciousness of the people in the church here continues to astound us all. They have provided pillows, blankets, sleeping bags, air matresses, and numerous meals for us. The day started out with the guys from our group getting up early to help set up for the church service. They helped set out chairs, bulletins, tables, and the stage. Meanwhile, they allowed us girls to sleep in a little longer after a very late night last night. The church meets in batting cages, as they don't yet have a church building. Regardless of an actual building, the Spirit of the Lord was definitely there as evident from an amazing church service. We all enjoyed mingling and having a time of fellowship with these wonderful people.
The main event on today's agenda was the kid's sports camp that was held at the batting cages and surrounding fields. We arrived about an hour ahead of time, after many of us spent time blowing up literally hundreds of plastic bats and balls (used as prizes)! Again, the students got right out there, volunteering helping hands to get things prepared and ready for the event. The event started out with some fun kid's songs led by the worship leaders and some of our own girls from BFM! Then, our students partnered with the kids aging from 5-12 and played some fun games. They then sat in and helped out with the sports time and bible time. Our students will actually have the oppurtunity to teach some of the bible times tomorrow. I loved seeing our BFM students interacting with the kids. It brought to my mind how Jesus asks us to have faith like little children. All of these children placed faith in us tonight to make this a fun and exciting experience! I believe we lived up to that expectation. I also believe that in turn, we as a group are called to place our faith in our Amazing God. I pray that we have faith to keep on moving ourselves out of our comfort zones, talking to people that we may be a little afraid to talk to, do things that we may not think we are able to do. We serve an amazing, Almighty God, who is doing great things in this town already.
I ask you to keep praying for us and the people of Bridge City. Pray that our group remains strong and perservering, to glorify Jesus, emulating Him in everything we say and do. Also pray for the people of this town. They all have a touching story to tell about how the hurricaines have impacted their lives, but also how the Lord has shown through these trials that they have had to go through. Some had up to 4 1/2 feet of water in there houses, fish, sharks, and other animals displaced into their backyards, and furniture and houses ruined. We look forward to helping some of these people through service projects to come this week. To God be ALL the glory!
Honestly, there is not much to say about the first day in Texas besides we were lost in Dallas for most of the day. :) And by the time we figured out where everything was....we had to drive to Bridge City to learn a new town.
Day 2- We drove for about 5 hours from Dallas to Bridge City. When we arrived in Bridge City we were welcomed with open arms. The church we are at is extremely gracious and amazing. They went out and bought pads for us to sleep on and extra blankets and pillows! Everyone is super nice here!
On the side of our students....they are amazing and doing great. Tonight, the church set up a movie night in the park with a 40ft screen! We watched Horton Hears a Who. Our students served popcorn and sodas to the people that came which was primarily non-christian people! They stepped out of their comfort zones and talked to people they have never met and have already made new friends on our first night! Kay, Melissa, Jessie, and Jennie were meeting and talking to all the people that stood in line for popcorn. JJ and Chris went out and were talking to people while they were giving out sodas. Sharaya, Malia, and Jolie all went up to people and just initiated conversations with people there. Kyle, Joe, and I went over to the baseball field and watched some crazy high school baseball and talked to some people.
The leaders also all did amazing and they have been a great help to me. Please keep praying that we stay united as a group and we continue to talk to people in this town that leads to convos about Jesus!
Thanks
Mark
...and lots of stuff to get done and complete.But good news. Just found out that since I am covered on the church's insurance I can also drive the rental van in Texas! Awesome! So, now we can save some money by having Pam drive the rental car through Alamo.
One thing Brian told me all the way through was God provides. And even though there were plenty of times in my life that God has provided for my needs and his plans I was still nervous. In fact about half way through this fundraising process I was sweating, I was nervous that we wouldn't be able get all the funds we needed and I would either A. go to the board and ask for the remainder of the money or B. ask the parents/students to fork over what was needed.
So, My prayer life took a drastic turn in which I was desperate. Haha but everytime I got nervous it seemed like a huge amount of money came in. God was reminding me he was in control and I needed to just trust in him. So at about 5k short with 2 months left I just relied on God and just waited for Him to bring in the money.
That is when one of my leaders became nervous but everytime she got nervous a ton of money came in and her nerves were calmed.
And here we are 6 days away from leaving and I just did some calculations and we are about 40 bucks away per person. Haha and I got a text from one of the parents saying they had money to give me from support letters and that money should cover the remainder.
THANK YOU GOD!
We are a youth group from Burien, Washington. We are serving in Bridge City, Texas. It is exciting to be a part of building this community and to partner with the local church. Keep checking our blog for updates on our trip!