 |
|||
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|
Hi Everyone!
Sorry I’m a little slow on the final update for our blog. We returned home on Monday evening, July 5, at about 10:30 and I’ve been recovering from sleep deprivation and a bad cold that has me under the weather and coughing. In fact, all our team came home with colds. Daniel says his throat was sore from singing loud all week as he led the VBS kids in the opening ceremony, a music rotation, and again in the closing ceremony. We all are a bit tired of singing the same songs over and over, but they all had good messages about God so we hope they stick in the student’s heads as well as they have stuck in ours!! Our ministry to the kids at VBS finished up strong with contact being made with about 60 students all together. Several students in the 5th and 6th grade expressed interest in knowing more about being a Christian and their names have been passed on to the pastor who invited us to come. Our youth made several new friends amongst the youth group students in Malta. E-mail addresses were exchanged and I’m sure they’ve found each other on Facebook by now so I hope they will all be encouraging each other in their spiritual growth as their friendships develop. Pray that our students make the most of those opportunities. Personally, I developed a friendship with one of the youth group students and an adult from the Elim Lutheran church that I plan to continue to nurture.
It’s hard to know for sure what the total impact of our involvement in the community of Malta has made at this point. It was interesting to hear from the adults in the community about how our willingness to come serve in the VBS made it possible for their churches to put it on this year. The woman who usually heads up the effort at Elim Lutheran has been battling cancer so their church had pretty much decided not to do a VBS this year. The members of Grace Fellowship shared with me about their membership mostly consisting of older people who had felt a bit overwhelmed with putting on a VBS last year so they also had decided they weren’t up to the task this summer. But then when Pastor Joe of Grace Fellowship was approached by Youthmark Ventures about a team coming to Malta, the two churches joined forces and the rest is history. The stories I heard about some of the youngsters who attended gives me reason to hope that our ministry will have made a positive impact in their lives and point them in the direction of entrusting Jesus with their lives. I also hope the relationships that were built between the two churches will foster more unity amongst the body of Christ in Malta and they will work together in the future to reach their community for Christ.
We were blessed in many ways by the generous hospitality in Malta with abundant delicious meals, warm and welcoming new friends, a place to stay in the basement of Grace Fellowship Church, showers in the “Old Gym,” and the work done by many volunteers in Malta to make the VBS a success. Many heart-felt thanks are in order to all who received us and those with whom we served at the VBS. THANK YOU!!!
And thank you to all of you have supported this endeavor with your prayers and financial gifts. As God brings this mission trip to mind, would you continue to pray for us as we seek to serve God back in our own communities with a deeper commitment to sharing our faith with others and taking on roles of leadership to serve others. In the next month, those who were on the trip will be working through a study guide that looks at Joshua’s life as he takes on the new role of leader for the Israelites. Pray that this tool will be useful for our spiritual growth.
May God’s Name Be Gloried to the Ends of the Earth!
Brenda Smith
Howdy, everyone!
Today has been a good day at VBS with a clear presentation of the ABCs for becoming a Christian...Admit you are a sinner and repent, Believe Jesus is the Son of God and accept forgiveness of sins he offers, and Confess to others of your faith in him. We are praying some of the kids will share with one of us or their parents or pastor that they are making a decision to follow Jesus.
Carl's post explained some of the fun we had last night with Elim Lutheran's youth group taking us to four different locations for a four course meal. The youth between all the groups are interacting amongst each other so well. Another surprise evening of fun is planned for us tonight. We are encouraging our students to look for opportunities to discuss spiritual matters with them so prayer for deeper conversations to occur would be great.
Rebecca's mosquito bite that blistered is better. All of the kids who are suffering from bug bites are trying the home remedy of baking soda plasters before bed to keep them from itching too badly. 
Well, hope all is well for you and we'll be in touch again soon.
Brenda
Wow so much has happened since we left its hard to recall it all. The drive over went well and was uneventful thankfully. We picked up our friend, Andrew, in Yakima and then drove over to Spokane where we met the rest of our team from Beaverton and also we met another church from Seattle that is going to three other towns over in Idaho. The next day we started off around 10:00 and arrived in Malta around 10:00pm so it was about 12 hours in the car. We drove with our Beaverton team so we stopped every now and then to eat lunch and take a tinkle. Over all it was not a bad drive over... I kinda enjoyed it.
Hey everyone!
It's been a full morning with about 43 kids attending VBS followed by prepping for tomorrow and running through a drama presentation we are doing Friday night with some of the youth group kids here. The youth group has plans for us to spend the evenings doing stuff with them. Tonight we will be playing baseball with them...should be a hot time in the old town tonight since it must be around 90 degrees.
Prayer requests:
Carl has some rather challenging kids in his group so pray for him to be able to direct their energy and communicate God's love to them clearly.
Alana (a Beaverton teammate) asks for prayer to handle her 13 kindergarten kiddos.
To be an encouragement to the youth group kids in their faith.
Becky Wetzel and Zach didn't sleep as well as they needed last night.
Becky Wetzel has an unusual blister on her ankle that we think is from a mosquito bite that is hurting her.
Praise: I SLEPT GREAT!!!Gotta run,
Thank you for your prayers!!
Brenda
Hi everyone!
Just wanted to right a quick note to let you know we made it to Malta safely! We arrived here last night at 10:30 after driving 9 hours from Spokane. We are using the Hubble's van which performed flawlessly for us...we really appreciated their effecient air conditioning and good shocks on the bumpy roads. The kids used the time to prepare for their VBS jobs and memorize skits along with some good fellowship.
In Spokane, we gathered with a large group for the Launch. The kids have been encouraged to think about coming into their ministry areas to serve others as the partner with the local church serving their own community. They are going to be looking for entry points in conversations to share what God leads them to share about himself.
Mosquitoes that carry off dogs are the big talk of the town....there are LOTS of them in the evenings, apparently.
Today, we divided up our groups and attended the two different churches we are working with on their VBS...Elim Lutheran Bretheren Church and Grace Fellowship. Daniel and his worship team led the worship at Elim. After church, the two churches hosted a wonderful, delicious potluck during which we got acquainted with the local folks. I met Caleb, an 11 year old boy who was in a VBS last week at the other Lutheran church at which Ethan happened to be here with his Flathead Lake Bible Camp counselors. Isn't that cool? And I met Ned M_____ who knows Sherman Adams in our church back home. Our kids made good connections with the teens from the churches here which was awesome! We hope they will be helping us with VBS, joining us for the drama camp, and hanging out in the evenings!
Since lunch, we've been feverishly working to prepare for tomorrow and it's looking good as many hands make light work. Teamwork is so essential in this venture.
Please pray for me (Brenda) to sleep well at night. Last night I slept a total of 2 hours and so I'm running on empty already.
Thanks for your prayer support!!!
Brenda
Isn't it great to be able to rest in God’s provision for all our needs?! Our transportation needs have had a little blip in the road this week as the Hubble’s van that we have been planning on using has had some “health” issues. At this point, our van is now in working order and the Hubble’s van may be ready by Friday so we may have TWO options.
Here are some things you can be praying about:
1) I am picking Daniel up at the airport tonight at 10:00 in Seattle. He has been driving my daughter, Laura, over to New York State. Pray that the one day he has at home would be refreshing so he will be ready to get behind the wheel again to help me drive to Malta. Also, he is responsible for leading the worship and opening assembly for VBS. Pray that God would direct him as he prepares.
2) Carl will be teaching the Bible lesson for 3-4th graders, something he has never done before. Pray that God also would direct him as he prepares and that he would be used mightily in the lives of the students in his class and with the teens he meets during the evening outreaches.
3) Becky Wetzel will be helping Daniel with the opening assembly and playing her guitar (Octavius). Since Daniel has been gone, the two of them have not had a chance to communicate about “the plan”. Pray that as we travel to Malta, they would be sensitive to God’s lead as they prepare for the opening assembly and worship.
4) Andrew Hubble has the fun job of leading the students (along with an adult) in the recreation rotation. This can be a challenge as far as giving clear directions for games and keeping behavior under control. Pray for him to be very familiar with the games by the time we arrive.
5) I will be working alongside Liana Lounsbury (a teen from First Baptist Church of Beaverton) in the mission rotation. Pray that we would communicate clearly God’s love for people in all corners of the world.
6) We drive on Friday to Spokane where we will meet up with other groups that are being launched off for youth mission outreach. Pray that our focus would be on seeking God and the power of his Holy Spirit working through us to accomplish His purposes. On Saturday, we leave around 10:00 with a LONG DRIVE to Malta, Montana. Pray for safety and alertness for the drivers.
7) So many other important areas of prayer….for unity between our team and the youth group from First Baptist Church of Beaverton (FBCB) and the leaders and teens of the two churches we will be serving in Malta….that God would go before us preparing the hearts of students attending the VBS and the teens we meet during the evening outreach to be responsive to the good news about Jesus’ love and offer of forgiveness of sin and desire for relationship with them….that we would all be in awe of God’s power at work through us as we walk in obedience…that God’s purposes would be accomplished in and through us…pray as the Lord leads you!!
Thankfully walking in God's grace,
Brenda Smith
Greetings!
Thank you for your prayers last Saturday as we met with most of our team in Beaverton. Once again, the students thoroughly enjoyed being together. So much energy flows out of teenagers that I have a hard time keeping up with the flow of conversation and all that they are doing!
After dividing the teens into different leadership roles for the VBS, they spent some focused time preparing what they will be teaching for the first two days of the VBS. It appeared to be a profitable time for them learning how to use the materials and beginning to visualize how they will conduct their assigned job.
They also put together a video introducing themselves to the church in Malta which I invite you to view so you can visualize yourselves who you can be praying for.
http://www.youtube.com/fbcbeaverton#p/u/3/0SnoD3ZeFLQ
For the next week, please be praying for each of us as we continue to prepare the Bible lessons, the missions rotation, the opening assembly of the VBS, worship music, and the recreation activities. The students are fully responsible for the Bible lesson and opening assembly so the more preparation they put into it, the more clearly God will speak through them. Pray for them to listen to the Holy Spirit for guidance in how God would have them teach the children.
Also, the students are working to memorize lines for skits they will be doing throughout the week so pray for their minds to absorb and retain all they are trying to memorize.
In the coming days, the potential is there for Satan to discourage and entice us off the path of following Christ so we would appreciate your prayers of protection.
Thank you for your interest and support!
Brenda Smith
Greetings from Shoestring Valley Community Church's mission team! 
Looks like my first attempt at writing a "blog" is successfully underway. Let me begin by expressing our sincere appreciation for those of you who are checking in on this blog for the purpose of prayer. We realize how dependent we are on God to work in and through us if anything of lasting value for His Kingdom is going to be accomplished on this mission trip to Malta, Montana. Your partnership with us in prayer means sooo much to us!
The team members who are officially going on the trip has dropped down to five: Brenda, Daniel, and Carl Smith, Becky Wetzel, and Andrew Hubble. Thankfully, we are joined with the First Baptist Church of Beaverton to round out the total number of our group to about 12. We are sooo excited to be teamed up with them! In fact, tomorrow we are meeting up with them in Beaverton to go over the VBS materials that we are using, assigning Bible lessons and other jobs that need to be covered, and picking out some drama skits. Pray that we each use our remaining time before we leave on June 25 to prepare well for the jobs we are assigned to do so we will be able to be focused on developing relationships once we arrive rather than preparations.
Praise God with us for abundantly supplying our financial needs! And thank you for helping us on our way.
Well, that's about it for now.
Blessings to you,
Brenda Smith and the rest of the team