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We cannot believe the trip is almost concluded! We have been BUSY these last few days thus the lack of blog posts. We have great things to report!!
Wednesday night we had two sophomore boys join us for ultimate frisbee- JJ and Travis. Annaliese and Sklyar showed up again and brought two of their friends. Even Annaliese's one year old brother CJ and mom Tessie showed up to play on the playground. I stayed back with Tessy and CJ while the rest of the kids played ultimate frisbee. My time with Tessy was amazing as she shared the brokenness and pain of her life story. I was able to share the hope and love I have found in Jesus and I invited her to church on Sunday. We both had a few tears in our eyes as we talked about things. Magen and Mike shared their life stories to those playing frisbee with us. Later, Travis and JJ came over to the church with their other friend John, a senior. We all played cards before the boys' moms called for them to come home. A wonderful night!
Thursday was a nap day as we were experiencing fatigue. Gino, Jessica, Alex, and Britannia had Sunday worship practice with Suzanne and Dale, the church's worship leaders. We took it easy after many days of playing, working, and serving. On our way to Payson, we stopped at Camp Verde Creek to swim. I jumped off a rope swing, unsuccessful the first time. I have scrapes and bruises to prove it from the rocks. We all jumped off a big rock and a wonderful lady named Staci took pictures of it. I wish we would have brought our camera cord to show all of you pictures while we are on the trip. Look for those on Facebook! In the evening, we were in Payson with a skate park ministry that a couple from the church are involved in. The youth group from Anthem, AZ came with us and spent the night with us. Their youth pastor Michelle brought them to check out Youthmark and she is pretty stoked about it.
Friday morning, we and the Anthem group drove to Fossil Creek. Before spending some time swimming, AJ (Anthem group) led our group in a few worship songs. A few guys who were swimming asked about AJ's guitar and I told them we were singing some worship songs. One of them asked if we were Christians and after saying yes, they joined us for worship. One of their leaders, who plays guitar, said he was moved by the Holy Spirit and inspired by AJ's playing. AJ was born without part of his forearm but plays guitar. After Michelle prayed for us, we spent a few hours making relationships with the Anthem group and the new friends we met at Fossil Creek. In the afternoon, we helped Marla and Ken again before canvassing the community. After dinner, we headed to the playfield to meet JJ and John. They brought two other friends, Tanner and Lane. Ultimate frisbee ensued again and Magen talked with four kids on the bleachers, Barbie, Cooper, Duke, and Harley. And yes, those were their real names! Gino willingly volunteered to tell his life story and did a great job. Once we got back to the church, our kids taught the boys how to play Uno. There was much laughter and relationship building. After they left, we had a great time of prayer as a team. You could definitely see God moving in the hearts of all the students.
Saturday was debriefing at the Grand Canyon. It was absolutely spectacular. Our time together as a team looking back over the trip will be something I remember for a long time. Please be praying for Alex and Britannia and their family as they have experienced a very tragic loss in the family. Watching the kids minister to Britannia and Alex was truly beautiful. We had a great sit down dinner at a Mexican restaurant before our long ride back home.
Sunday we slept in a bit before attending Bible study and the worship service. All of our team participated in it somehow. Robyn, Gino, Magen, and Tawnie were greeters. Britannia played a solo on the flute during the offering and sang alongside Gino, Alex, and Jessica. They did a fantastic job leading worship with Dale and Suzanne. Mike and I said a few prayers and read Scripture. Genevieve did a responsive reading and helped Robyn, Tawnie, and Magen with the offering. We taught the congregation to say, "Thanks be to God." after the Scripture reader says, "This is the Word of the Lord." So cool to be a part of it! John and Simone joined us for lunch. We prayed for them and I loved hearing the prayers from our kids. Some of us spent the afternoon with JJ and some of us went swimming. Now we are about to head over to the park for fireworks in Payson.
See everyone tomorrow! We love you all. Continue to pray for our growth and adjustment as we merge into life back home.
Here I am again at the Payson Starbucks. This time our entire team is canvassing the community, going out in groups of two. Last night we had two girls show up at the playfield, Skylar (9) and Annaliese (7). We played monkey freeze tag with them and ended up getting into a “weed war”. That included pulling up the weeds from the field turf and throwing it at each other. Robyn, Genevieve, and I ended up talking with the girls’ family at their home and telling them why we were there. Although they weren’t teenagers, these two precious girls told us stories about their lives and were beaming with smiles telling their family just how much fun it was to play with the “bigger kids”. They wanted to go back tonight so we will see if they come back. Britannia and Genevieve invited a girl who was at the Pine library and was excited for the playfield.
Pray for teenagers to show up at the playfield.
Pray for Skylar, Annaliese, and their family.
Pray that we would not be discouraged by the lack of people at the playfield.
Pray for momentum.
Pray for the students to be open to what God wants to do on this trip.
We love you all! Thank you for your prayers.
I’m sitting in a Starbucks in Payson and reflecting on the last couple of days. Yesterday was a great day as we visited Eric, an elder in the church and his wife Sally. The two of them were very hospitable and it was such a blessing for them to open up their home to us for a couple of hours. After lunch we went out to canvas Pine and we found it difficult to find any teens within the town limits. We were very disappointed to not have anyone show up to the park yet again but we are ever hopeful and trusting that God will lead those who need to be there to us and to the park. We ended our day with a good family time where everyone shared what they felt their purpose for being on the trip is and what they hope/expect God to do in and through them on this trip.
Today has been a bit different in the start. The girls joined Simone, Pastor John’s wife, in a women’s bible study while the guys went to the house of Ken and Marla to do some yard work. Ken and Marla are a great couple from the Church on Randall Place and our team has been truly blessed through both the service and the fellowship with them as well as others. We are now canvassing both Payson and Strawberry in order to hopefully reach some teens for the sake of having fellowship with others tonight.
Prayer Requests:
~Please be in diligent/unceasing prayer for teens to come to the park tonight for fellowship and outreach
~That our team would be bold in sharing their faith and inviting their peers to the park
~That our team would be able to stay well rested and energetic as the heat has been somewhat draining
~That all the team members would be able to utilize the strengths that God has given them to glorify His name
~The teens of Pine, Strawberry, and Payson
Thank you all for your prayers and support. You are here with us as we serve.
God bless!
Wow, today was a long day. And Pine is beautiful, hot, and small! This morning we joined Pastor John for prayer at 8:00, Bible study at 8:45, and service at 10:00. We were warmly welcomed by everyone and just couldn't get over how friendly people are. Things move very slowly and people tend to linger. We met three older women selling jewelry they made. That took a good chunk of the afternoon. However we don't see any teens. We invited the middle school students from the church to the play fields but no one ended up coming. Please pray for encounters with local teens as we venture into Pine and possibly Strawberry (three miles away). We are all happy but tired from the heat. Thanks all! Good night.
We made it safe and sound to Northwest Community Church in Phoenix for our "Launch" which is like a mini Spring Retreat. Brian Aaby met us there along with a group from Pine Valley Church in San Diego. After some icebreakers and training, we played a quick game of soccer before heading to bed.
This morning the youth group leaders from Pine Valley and Seattle met to talk about the morning training. We played a training game called Our Town that helped remind us to get out of our comfort zone while in Pine. It also reminded us to not alienate the people we will be meeting because we are in a big group. Rather, we want to seek out people and reach out with the love of Christ.
Prayer Request~
~Britannia: courage to talk to people in Pine
~Jessica: not feel like you are alone, be able to get along with people that are different than me
~Genevieve: I would be changed through this experience by stepping out of my own comfort zone and the relationships made
~Magen: endurance for the hot weather; to recognize opportynities to talk about Christ
~Alex: ability to make relationships with people in Pine, wisdom with spiritual conversations with people even in the midst of asking my own personal faith questions
~Tawnie:endurance for the heat
~Mike: the ability to be a support to Stephanie, John, and Simone, and team
~Stephanie: the infection in my finger and that my antibiotics would work quick, sensitivity to God and the team and people of pine
Pray for our team to have boldness, courage, and sensitivity to people and the Holy Spirit. Pray for Gino and Robyn to arrive safely on tomorrow's flight. A sense of unity within our team and those in Pine. Laughter and fun!
Thank you for your diligent prayer. We love you all! Peace out home skillets!
(We are leaving now for Pine and update when we arrive.)
I am sitting in my office tying up some loose ends for our youth ministry to run smoothly **crosses fingers folds hands in prayers** while I am away. I can definitely feel the power of prayer that is surrounding our team. It has been so incredible to get the support slips back in the mail with BIG check marks on the We are supporting through prayer line. I sense God's peace and am looking forward to what God will do in our hearts.
Today I was driving to work and saw an airplane flying overhead. Of course, my mind went directly to our flight tomorrow. I also just got off the phone with United Airlines to ask a question about our itineraries. I told the woman helping me (who had an incredibly thick and wonderful accent) that I was traveling with a youth group to Phoenix. As I was getting off the phone, she asked me if I enjoyed working with the kids. I said yes and asked me what I did. I told her I was a youth pastor and she asked if I preached. I smiled and said I haven't preached in front of our entire congregation (yet 
) but that I preach for the youth ministry. She thought it was so great and confessed that she practices praying and loves to hear preaching. It was a little thing but thought how cool it was to get a woman like that on the other end of the line.
Please excuse the randomness of this post. I am a blogging beginner. Look forward to more updates!
Wow, I cannot believe we leave in four days! It seems like just yesterday we had our initial Youthmark meeting in the youth center. I remember going over the details, philosophy, and answering questions. Our studies through the Book of Acts on Sundays have been stretching for me. The Spring Retreats were fabulous. Our team ended up going to two different retreats. Me, Jessica, Britannia, Genevieve, Tawnie, Magen, and Michael attended Lake Retreat while me, Robyn, Gino, and Alex attended Canby Grove. They were wonderful weekends. Genevieve even told a story about her afternoon "assignment" that Brian asked the entire group to do. God moved in wonderful ways.
Please be praying for our time in Pine, specifically for the people there and the relationships we will build.
Here is the team calendar! Look here for specific dates and to make sure you are on track for the training.
MARCH 2010
3/14 Study One of Story
3/21 Study Two of Story (Pod 2 complete), Group Gathering, FFMC, 12:30-2:00 PM
3/28 Study Three of Story (Pod 4 begun)
APRIL 2010
4/4 Study Four of Story
4/7 Checkpoint #1, FFMC, 5:00-5:30 PM (Pod 4 complete, begin Pod 6)
4/10 Fundraiser & Group Gathering, FFMC, 10:00 AM-1:00 PM, Homebuilders Brunch- We will be eating brunch with the Homebuilders group and cleaning up afterwards as their program goes on. Be prepared to split up and talk with the Homebuilders! Their theme for this Saturday is Servant Hearts so it will make for great conversation.
4/11 Study Five of Story (doing Pod 6, begin Pod 7)
4/18 Study Six of Story (begin Pod 8), Group Gathering, 12:30-1:00 PM
4/25 Study Seven of Story (begin Pod 9)
MAY 2010
5/2 Study Eight of Story (begin Pod 10)
5/7-5/8 Spring Retreat @ Lake Retreat in Ravensdale, WA, meet @ FFMC @ 6:30 PM on Fri, arrive back @ FFMC around 9:15 PM on Sat
5/9 Study Nine of Story (begin Pods 11 & 12)
5/16 Study Ten of Story (begin Pods 13 & 14), Group Gathering, 12:30-1:00 PM
5/23 Study Eleven of Story @ 9:30 AM (begin Pod 15), Joint Worship Service @ 10:30 AM with reception following for Mark & Mary Ann Abbott
5/30 Study Twelve of Story (begin Pod 16)
JUNE 2010
6/6 Study Thirteen of Story (begin Pods 17 & 18), testimonies given in Bereans class, Group Gathering, 12:30-1:00 PM
6/13 Study Fourteen of Story (finish any incomplete Pods)
6/20 Be at FFMC at 9:00 AM to turn in Story and for Group Gathering
6/25 Arrive Phoenix for Launch training
6/26 Drive to mission community
6/27-6/30 At mission community
JULY 2010
7/1-7/2 At mission community
7/3 Team debriefing at the Grand Canyon
7/4 Church service and Fourth of July celebrations in Phoenix
7/5 Fly back home to Seattle!!
6/6-6/22 Daily study in Merge
6/23 Continue your own study of Scripture, prayer, and life of mission!!
We are already in our third week of training for our Youthmark Mission Venture. This is the first post of our blog where you can track our progress and find out information about what we are doing. I must admit, this is my first blog entry on any blog EVER! I used to be anti-blog but I guess life makes you do things you never thought you would. Anyways, I am very excited about what we are doing and what is to come. I am anticipating God to meet us and move in our midst through our study, prayer, fellowship, and service. Please be in prayer for our team members- Stephanie, Jake, Robyn, Gino, Jessica, Genevieve, Tawnie, Magen, Alex, Michael, and Britannia. We had our first team meeting last Sunday over Zeek's Pizza and our first Group Prayer time last Thursday. Please join us in prayer as we seek God through this unique opportunity.