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Awesome awesome awesome!
That's the word that keeps coming in my mind looking back on the week. And no, it's not because I can claim that we had 50 or 100 kids at the park tonight...i can't even claim to have had 10 locals. But what I can and will boast about is the way that this team of teens has allowed God to use them this week. The way that they put aside their selfish desires or dreams about what results should look like, and just went after the opportunites they were given, no matter how small or big, is simply amazing. They exhibited humility, obedience, love, and determination in their walks with Christ in the town of Shasta this week. I'm praising God for what He has done through them this week.
This morning we finished up the service projects we had lined up. Half the crew got as far as they could in the painting at the parsonage, which was nearly completely done minus one side.The rest went back to Jerry & Peggy's, the couple we went to on Wednesday, and did a lot more work for them. They were super grateful, and the students there worked their butts off and were very impressive.
We again got to spend most of the day with Fox, Anthony, and Danielle. The way that we've been able to fold this family into our group has truly been one of the highlights of this trip. They have a very unique family and there's been plenty of opportunuties for our teens to speak into their lives and help them. Please pray for these three that as we leave, the seeds sowed and the love we've shared creates life changing impact in each of the three.
We got to have a barbecue with the church here in Shasta this evening for dinner. We followed that up with our last night at the park. We actually did get more locals out tonight then we ever have, including three new kids. Total we had about 8 local teens playing games with us. Once we were done, Chelle did an amazing job telling her testimony, and we enjoyed some great worship that everyone stuck around for. This finished with some time to just hang out and have more conversations, which our team again did a great job in seeking out. Please be in prayer as we depart tomorrow, that God would continue to work in the hearts of those we met and spoke to...that the love we've shared would impact their lives.
As I've said, I can't say enough about what I think of this team and how God has worked here in ways that we totally weren't even looking for as we came here. Most of us thought we knew what was going to happen...what we wanted, but God presented us with something totally different, but praise God that our team was faithful to Him in going after what it is that He wanted...not us.
Two biggest prayer requests as this blog comes to an end: that our team wouldn't allow their chasing after God to end once they get home tomorrow. That they would hold each other accountable as they pursue mssions back home in Seattle. Second, that we have a safe trip home tomorrow. It will be a long one, so be praying for us all! See you soon Seattle!
God Bless,
Nathan
Hey Everyone,
Well you already got some great reports on the early part of today by Charley and Chelle. Suffice it to say, we had a lot of fun hanging out with Dr. Stone today. It ended up being a lot more driving that we probably would have hoped for, but all in all I'd say it was worth it. Not to mention it was pretty sweet that Fox, Danielle, and their brother Anthony got to join us for the entire time. Now, all 3 of them are spending the night with us as well. Continue to pray for these three and that our students wouldn't let tomorrow's sun go down without making sure on where each of these three are at in terms of a relationship with Christ.
Tonight's time at the field saw three guys come that haven't previously come. Jeramiah, Christian, and Jacob all played games with us at the field. Joseph also came back. And of course we had the three siblings who had spent the rest of the day with us. Talia shared her testimony tonight after some games of link tag, rabbit sticks, and kickball. She did an amazing job talking about how God has been there throughout her life.
Please pray for us as we look to finish out tomorrow. Pray that these students would continue the great work they have started this week and that they wouldn't slow down a bit. And start praying for a safe drive home on Saturday! Thank you all for your prayers.
God Bless,
Nathan
Today we spent the day with Dr. Stone exploring around Shasta. We went to Burney Falls and walked about a mile and a half which was hard for me since I rolled my ankle last night but I still had fun! We also went to the subway cave which is a huge lava tunnel made by the volcano erruption in 1919. It was super cool and really dark even when we were just a few feet in. In the middle of the cave we turned out our flash lights and sang amazing grace which was also a great experience. We also rested a little at the Stone's super nice house. Today was a super great day and I was really happy that Danielle, Anthony, and Fox (some kids from the neighborhood) hung out with us the whole day! Please continue to pray for us to finish out this mission trip strong, have the engery to face the week, and just to be encouraged!! Thank you for all your prayers and I hope you'll all doing well!
- Charley
This week has definitely had its' struggles. The first couple nights we didn't get any kids out to the field. Before we came we were told that the kids here were kind of hard to connect with. At the mission retreat we were talking and many of us decided to take it as a callenge to make good relationships with the people here. So far we have two kids that have been constantly coming to the field with us. We went canvasing the other day at Oak Bottom lake, and met this pretty cool guy named Skyler. He's part of a youth group and he told us he was planning to bring his youth group, and possibly another youth group on Friday. It has been super cool getting to know some of the kids here and help out the community doing service projects for them. One of the things that all of us need prayer for is having the energy to finish this week with a boom. All of us have been getting very little sleep and the sleep we've been getting doesn't fully energize us at all. So please keep us in your prayers!
-Chelle
Hey Everyone,
So we had another successful day here in Shasta. God continues to use our team in great and positive ways. While around half of the team stayed to continue the painting at the church parsonage, the other half went to an older couple's home, Jerry & Peggy. That group did a ton of different things, from cleaning out gutters, weed whacking, pressure washing a fence, and moving a ton of wood (while dealing with big spiders...glad I wasn't there :P ). Both Jerry & Peggy were real thankful for all the work, and it works out that we'll likely be taking the same team back on Friday to paint the fence we pressure washed.
After lunch, three people stayed back to do some more work on the painting of the parsonage, while the rest of us went back to Lake Redding Park to do some more meeting of teens at the local skate park and area around it. That went pretty well, as they met several people. I can't praise God enough for the way these teens have boldly went out and started up conversations with so many people. It doesn't matter to them that so far it hasn't resulted in many people showing up, they still are just being faithful to what God has called them to do.
One of the best parts of today was that Fox & Danielle, a brother and sister we've hung out with at the park the last few nights, both spent the day with us. They helped with the painting, and then went into Redding with us to canvas. Later, they played games at the park as well. Tonight, Fox is even staying the night.
Tomorrow we're taking a fun day to go with Dr. Stone on a bit of a sight seeing trip of some falls, Mt. Lacid, and a cave called the Subway Cave. We're excited to see everything, and Fox, Danielle, and their other brother who we have yet to meet are all planning on coming. Pray for those continued (and new) relationships tomorrow!
Please continue to pray for our final two days here. We noticed a bit of tiredness seeping in at times today. Pray that God would energize the team and keep them sprinting through the finish line this week!
God Bless,
Nathan
Hey Everyone,
It's been another great day here in Shasta. The girls (plus Micah now) continued the painting on the church parsonage where Joshua and his family live. They have almost the entire front and porch done (might not sound like much, but the whole porch...which goes for the entire length of the front of the house, needed to be coated with primer first. So it's been a pretty big job, and they're all doing great.
The rest of the team continued to clean up the yard area around the church. We were able to get a lot done, although we got informed Will had to stop mowing the grass because apparantly you can get cited out here for mowing after 10 AM, due to fire hazards. Who knew?? Apparantly woods and fire equals badness.
We got treated by Dr. Stone, the Sr. Pastor of the church, to lunch at In-N-Out today. That's right...we got to go to the famous burger place again. And yes...it was so worth it! Afterwards Dr. Stone, a very gentle, loving older guy who happens to work as a professor at Shasta Bible College, took us around to a few sites (including the college...had to recruit our older high school students). Upon getting back, we all piled into the van to check out another local beach location, where we got to cool off plus meet a few more people since it's pretty much the only public thing to do around these parts if you aren't going into Redding. The teens on our team are still doing a great job of getting out of their comfort zones and meeting total strangers, inviting them to come join us at the park even if it hasn't paid off in huge numbers at all. It's so awesome to see them determined to do God's work no matter what earthly results we see.
At the park tonight, we saw four locals come out. Danielle, Nikki, and Joseph all came back. We also met Fox, who is Danielle's brother, tonight. We enjoyed doing games of Rabbit Sticks, kickball, and football. Aaron shared a bit of his testimony and why we're here in between the kickball and football game. After the games and eating some ice cream, we invited the three who were still there to come back to the church and hang with us while we did worship songs. Normally we'd have done it there on the side of the field, but it actually rained ever so lightly today! Crazy for a normally dry, hot place in the summer. Anyways, Fox joined us and seemed to enjoy his time worshipping with us. Ally and Micah walked him back home once we were done, before we all headed to showers.
All in all, the team enjoyed our Tuesday here in Shasta. We're excited to see God continue to work, because we know that He is no matter how small it may seem to be in our view, we know it's so important for Him, because He placed us here this week. I continue to praise God for the attitudes and good spirits of the team. Please continue to pray for us, and pray for the teens we've gotten the chance to meet and hang out with, that we may be able to truly share God's love with them both through words and actions the rest of the week!
God Bless,
Nathan
Hey Everyone,
Sorry I haven't been able to update this more than once a day or get a student or two blogging yet. So far we've managed to stay fairly busy around here.
This morning, we did a lot of service project work for the church facility. Several of the girls spent the morning priming and starting the paint job for the church parsonage. They got a great start on it and seemed to really enjoy their work. The two other girls planted some flowers under the church sign and also worked at weeding a memorial garden they have here. The guys did several miscellaneous jobs around the church grounds that included a lot of lawn care, weed pulling, stone moving, all while dealing with the most annoying burrs that like to stick to all parts of your clothing and your hair. However, be proud and continue to pray for this team, as all of them worked very hard and didn't complain at all (outside of to state the obvious...the burrs are annoying :-P ).
After lunch, the team all piled in our van (15 passengers for a 15 passenger van...we are getting close!) and headed to a few spots in Redding. We decided earlier to try a new tactic in meeting people. So we first went to Lake Redding Park where there is a skate park, river, and a walking trail. We ran into a lot of people and the teens invited several to the park. Of course...the catch is that these people are all in Redding...and the school in the town of Shasta (which we now understand everyone calls Old Shasta...because Shasta is actually the name of the County as well) where we do our evening ministry is a good 15 minutes away. So it's a little bit of looking for a needle in a haystack to find those certain teens that will actually come..but our team is determined to try, doing the work that Christ has called us here to do. We also made a visit to the nearby mall (no...the team did not go shopping!) to meet some teens as well. Even though none of the people we met ended up attending the field ministry tonight, the team came back encouraged that they had opportunities to meet new teens still.
At the field tonight, Joseph came back. Also, two girls Danielle and Nikki came out tonight. We had met Danielle's twin sister yesterday in our initial canvas walk around the block yesterday. So it was awesome to see a few come out from that work yesterday. Our team did a great job getting these local teens involved in games and getting to know them. All of them ended up taking off before we even had a chance to have one of our team member share their story and why we're here...so please pray that we'll be able to keep having conversations with these teens and find a different way to share our stories with them.
Overall, I'm real pleased with the attitudes of our team. As I've stated, discouragement could probably easily happen, but all of them are staying very positive. Our prayers have been constantly about keeping our eyes focused on Christ and His work, no matter what it is! Please keep praying for us. And pray for the teens that we have been able to meet and talk with so far!
God Bless,
Nathan
Hey Everyone,
So we've finished our first full day in Shasta. We had a good time attending church this morning. Their Sr. Pastor, Dr. Stone, had a lot of us smiling and enjoying his funny comments. Both Ally and Claire shared their testimonies in church and did a great job. They even had to field some questions afterwards. Tim & Claire also shared some impromptu special music and did a great job doing so.
During the afternoon, a few students went with myself and Joshua, the youth pastor for the church, on a canvasing walk to a few students' houses that Joshua knew about. We met two students and invited them to hang out with us at the park. Overall, we've found ourselves facing some pretty big obstacles to getting a huge outreach ministry going. Shasta Community Church hasn't really had a regular youth group meeting for a few months now, and there aren't any from the area that attend the church at all. Add to that the fact that there's no real regular place that students hang out (most stay indoors away from the heat or go to one of about a million different swimming holes, different ones each time). However, we're trying to remain encouraged and are determined to just do the work Christ has for us this week. We did get to spend an hour at the lake today to cool off. Everyone enjoyed that. At the park, we hung out as a group for a while along with Joshua and his family. The cool thing was after about an hour, one of the local boys who heard from one of the kids we met on our walk showed up. His name is James, and he said he'd be back hopefully with others. So praise the Lord for some encouraging signs and just pray that we get to see James again.
Keep praying for our group as a whole. I'm thankful that they're listening well and trying to remain encouraged despite the temptations to be discouraged by human standards of 'success'. Pray also for unity, as there are times where the closeness of the group can work against itself, as the family feel sometimes leads to feelings of annoyance and impatience towards one another.
Thank you so much for your commitment to praying for us. Tomorrow we'll be doing some service work for the church building/area itself. We'll also be painting the parsonage where Joshua and his family live. Pray that we're able to work hard despite the heat!
God Bless,
Nathan
Hey Everyone,
So we made it to Shasta. The drive over the mountains went pretty smooth...when the van wasn't shaking while trying to brake. But no worries parents...everything was safe.
In all seriousness, we've had a chance to get settled in here. We're excited for church in the morning with Shasta Community Church. We've selected Ally & Claire to both be ready to tell their testimonies tomorrow during the service. We had a chance to check out the field of the elementary school where we will be doing ministry this week. The heat is quite something...but at least it's a dry heat. Will commented that 5 minutes after wiping his sweat on his shirt, his shirt was already dry as it evaporated that quickly (great mental picture for you all, right?!).
Anyways, after driving around a bit, we traveled back to Redding for dinner. That's right...we all had In-N-Out Burger! You can check out the picture below to see the aftermath...a bunch of happy, stuffed people.
On a serious note, please be in prayer for our group. We're already getting a major feel of Satan trying to set up a web of discouragement surrounding our ministry here this week, and we haven't even gotten going yet. Pray against discouragement, and pray that each of our team members would be passionate and have faith in what God has for us this week. We believe God has us here for a reason, so pray that nothing would discourage us from this truth!
God Bless,
Nathan
Hey Everyone,
We've made it to Roseburg, OR, where we're spending the night at Wellspring Bible Fellowship. Funny story about how we ended up here. Last April, their youth pastor sent me an email asking if they could spend the night at our church on July 5th and 6th. I hadn't started searching for a church for us to stay in yet, so I told him sure, as long as they could repay the favor two days later. Pretty awesome when the global church of Christ can serve one another like that!
So far God has provided us with safe and smooth travel. Please pray that it continues as we drive to Shasta tomorrow. We had our first family time tonight. It went really well. We talked about Philippians 3 and what it means to get to the bare bones of just seeking after Christ. Way too often we get too confident that we "know" how to live the Christian life and do 'missions'. Pray for each member of the team that they would put aside any self confidences or any worries from back home and purely rely on seeking Jesus this week!
We'll be posting next from Shasta. Keep praying!
God Bless,
Nathan