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I just spoke with Brenda, who was just sending the kids to bed (10:45 lights out), and here is her recap on the day.
Another day of hard work, partially obscured by rain, but overall the weather held out and they were able to start on the deck of the mobile home. Some work was accomplished on the parsonage as well. One fun note: our kids were on the news tonight, 5:30 ET! TV station WBTV was out at the sight where many were working, and interviewing many people, including some in our group. Brenda said that it did air on the news, but I have not been able to find the video on the website (WBTV.com) yet. If any of you come across it, please share the link!
After a long busy day, they returned to the church, where church members prepared the meal and had great fellowship with our team during dinner. Our team just feels so loved on and supported, and Brenda says the blessings were flowing both ways between our team and their church community!!! What a huge PRAISE!!
I guess the Wednesday night service was a dual event, with their church leading parts and our kids stepping up as well. Our team was introduced and Bob Fredericks shared some about SCA and the role of Missions at our school; then 5 of our youth volunteered to speak to the church as well. What a neat time that must have been!
Family time was a time of debriefing, looking to the Lord, and affirming one another. She says these times have been very sweet, and the team is really great at loving and encouraging one another.
Prayer requests for tomorrow:
Praises that the team has bonded well and is showing great unity!
Also praise for the weather, although somewhat rainy, has been warm today.
Tomorrow will be another early start, and another long day of work. Her goal is to have them finish well, leaving nothing unfinished, and no regrets for what might have gotten done/said/shared with others. Please pray for rest, and recuperation from the hard work.
Pray for their last Family Time tomorrow night. Another chance to finish well with the Lord and each other.
Pray that the kids will display thankfulness, gratefulness, love and faith. That they will keep their eyes on the Lord. Pray about the deep, lasting work of the Lord, as He calls each of our students to Holiness and being set apart for Him. Pray about His calls on their lives, purpose for life and their dreams.
I just spoke with Brenda, who described our team as "TIRED, but a GOOD tired!!" Here is the scoop on their activities today (Tuesday):
The day started early with 7:00 breakfast, and departure around 815. Today the team worked at a mobile home park/lot where many mobile homes were demolished or swept away in the tornado. The team worked together on one mobile home that is still standing, but needing extensive repairs. Today they learned to hang vinyl siding, and dug out the footing of the trailer so new skirting could be put in. Lots of nailing, measuring and work. When they were not occupied at that unit, they sorted through debris of the homes that had been devastated. The Red Cross provided lunch, and they returned to the church for a hot meal provided by the church women. Today was Michaela's birthday (!), so they celebrated her with cake, too!
Brenda says the kids are WILLING to go and do. They are showing great unity, yet saddened for Stephen since he had to leave early. She is very happy with all the kids' attitudes and hard work.
Prediction is for rain tomorrow. If it does rain, the kids will do work indoors at the parsonage or another location. If not, then lumber is being delivered to build a deck onto the home they worked on today. Also, the evening worship service at the local church is going to be led and directed by our young people!!! This is a great surprise and opportunity for them to serve and bless their new community in a different way. Pray that they have great creativity and purpose in doing the worship time, and that they would not have any fear or trepidation in sharing the gifts they have.
There are general prayer requests for tomorrow:
Praise for God's provision over all the travel: planes, vans, dinner, accommodations.
Praise for overall health among the team. Pray for continued health and protection.
Please pray that there would be no rain, if that is the Lord's will.
Pray for continued unity, and attitudes of respect for each other and the leaders.
Pray for courage to persevere, and strength as they begin to tire.
Pray for willing hearts to serve with all their strength.
Pray for the Lord's purposes to be established in each of our student's lives.
Dear Friends, Family, and Prayer Warriors,
We appreciate your prayers so much and have seen them work this week. Unfortunately we have not had wifi access where we are so we have not been able to post daily as we had intended. Fortunately, we have been able to get information out by phone which has been relayed to our parents back home. The next two posts are those emails, composed by our wonderful prayer mom, Marilou. Thanks so much for all your support, and keep praying!
Hey Team - word is we could be doing some construction in homes that are still not completely built.
We will be starting work at 8:30-9:00 in the morning so it could still be in the 30s as far as weather goes.
Plan on having warm layers on. Bring a coat on the plane with you. Add a scarf or hat for extra warmth. Hopefully we will shed some layers as the day warms up.
Looks like rain on Wednesday so we will probably be doing some indoor projects.
It has been awfully warm in Phoenix these last couple of days so I just wanted you to be prepared.
Love ya! See you early in the morning!
bz
Hey Mystery, Disaster Relief, Hildebran Team, We are ready to go!
In the morning we will be meeting at Terminal 2 at the Continental dest at 5:45 am! You will have packed and headed there to depart with us as a team. We've done all the training we can do before leaving. It's time to go DO the work God has prepared for us.
Please be prayerful tonight and in the morning. Pray for our team, our travels, your leaders - here and in NC, your mission prayer buddy, and especially the people we will be serving in NC!
James 2:18 "But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds." SHOW ME YOUR FAITH WITHOUT DEEDS, AND I WILL SHOW YOU MY FAITH BY MY DEEDS."
James 1:22 "Do not merely listen to the Word, and so deceive yourselves. DO WHAT IT SAYS."
Let our adventure begin!
bz
Welcome, Mystery Mission Team Members!
I have been anxiously awaiting meeting you and the day has arrived. God has put us together as a team to accomplish His purpose in .... wait, ... where ARE we going? We don't know yet - it's STILL a mystery.
I'm so thankful that God already knows where He is sending us, where we will be staying, and who we will be serving in His name. We have nothing to worry about. Surely a great adventure awaits us. I'm up for it - are YOU?
For some of you this is your first mission trip with SCA or maybe second or third, and for others it's your last school mission trip. We will all learn from each other, new and old and in-between, and grow in Christ together. I bet it will be a blast all along the way too!
Remember to be doing your "homework" along the way - it's vital to us being a unified team and will definitely teach us many things God wants us to know before we even go. It's also vital that you are talking and listening to God alot about our trip. He may have a message for the entire team that He chooses to reveal only to you and expects you to be responsible to bring that message to the rest of us. Or He may be telling us all the same thing, so we all need to be communicating with Him and each other.
Remember you can always reach me when you need/want to. Here are some different ways you can do that:
email - zig4god@cox.net
cell phone - 480-231-1450 (call or text)
home phone - 480-419-1589
Facebook - Brenda Zeigler (you can message me or friend me or both!)
The dictionary defines mystery like this: 1) a religious truth that one can know only by revelation and cannot fully understand, 2) something not understood or beyond understanding, 3) something which baffles or perplexes and defies explanation; all of these definitions make me think of our God. He is only known by revelation - through His true word, by His Son, Jesus, and by His Holy Spirit. Another person may make Christ more known to us, or creation may declare Him to us. God wants to be known - by all mankind. He can do this in many ways, like those just listed, or through visions, dreams, miraculous signs, etc. He is including us in making the mystery of Him known by allowing us to proclaim Him to mankind. We will do that through our words and our actions and for one week next semester we will do it TOGETHER. Personally, I like knowing that God is beyond my understanding and cannot be explained - it's proof that HE IS GOD and deserves my devotion and commitment. I wouldn't like it if I ever reached a point where I knew all about Him or could easily explain Him. Isn't He incredible? And isn't it incredible to know Him?
Try wrapping your head around this verse - and while you're at it, why don't you just go ahead and put it in there permanently by memorizing it:
"Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the MYSTERY of the gospel" Ephesians 6:19
While some things are still a mystery to us, we can rest assured that nothing is a mystery to God and we can fully trust Him, with our lives and with our 2012 mission trip.
Love you all already!
Mrs. Zig