Today our team had the opportunity to serve at Center for the Homeless in South Bend.  Maribeth Roncz heads up the center and did a wonderful job leading us there.  We started our day with a tour of the new Veteran's Center, which many of the students helped build on the MOVE trip last year!  It was really neat for them to see the finished project that they worked SO HARD on.  The Veteran's Center houses 24 homeless veteran's at a time.  Did you know that South Bend is the FIRST city in the whole country to open up a center specifically for homeless vets?!  How cool is that!

During the morning, the team divided into different groups and did all kinds of hard work around the center.  We weeded the garden and planted beautiful marigolds, did laundry, cleaned and organized the food pantry, helped served lunch to the residents, and sorted a variety of donations.

After lunch, we got the privilege of hearing from a former resident at the center and a current vet living at the vet's center.  Laura shared with us about how she used to be an alcoholic and addict.  As she touched our hearts with her compelling story, we learned about her recent successes, how she has overcome alcoholism and her addictions, and now finds peace and strength in God.  She recently moved out of the center into her own apartment, has a job, is doing very well, and absolutely loves her life and the people she has met along the way that she calls her "blessings in disguise."

We also got to hear from Don, a current resident who is about to move out on his own as well within the next few weeks.  It was amazing to see Jesus in him as he shared with us his story, his successes, and how he overcame abuse as a younger child (among many other things).  I think he really opened up our eyes and made us take a step back to realize just how much we might take for granted every day, such as family and friends.

The team spent the rest of the afternoon throwing an ice cream party for the residents!  We got to spend some time with them, hear their stories, and play some games.  What an amazing day we had!!

We ended our day with a little team fun night at Hackers!!!  We're finishing off our trip tomorrow by attending the 11:30 church service together at GCC!  Our students are rock stars, and God is so good!!!

Blessings :)

Today the team went to serve at Monroe Circle Community Center (MC3).  LeRoy King and Lavon Kil led us as we helped clean and detail clean the entire facility that serves families of all ages, offers meals, GED programs, kids programs, and MUCH MORE!  It was really cool to be able to see immediate results when going from seeing something that is completely dirty to seeing something that is completely clean.  Such as a chair...with crumbs on the seat...sticky messes on the frames...all clean and shiny after one of our students got a hold of it...that might be used to seat a member of MC3 during their weekly gathering.

You should be REALLY proud of these students, because they not only cleaned, but went above and beyond to leave the place spectacular.  It is amazing to see this team giving their all and serving with excellence, because that is exactly what God deserves!!!

In the afternoon, we got to spend a few hours hanging out with the kids in the community.  We played soccer, threw footballs and frisbees, and LOTS of face painting (be sure check out all the pictures on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram).

After working and playing so hard all day, our team took a fun trip to Warren Dunes!  We had an awesome cookout with hot dogs and s'mores, did our team debrief on the beach behind a beautiful sunset, and spent some quality time hanging out together!

What an awesome day! Tomorrow is too good to waste today, so we're all headed to bed to rest up for another work day.  Goodnight for now!

The MOVE team kicked off our first work day yesterday at Crooked Creek Ranch.  We got to hear from Cindy Sandine, who owns and runs the Ranch. She shared her story with us about how the Ranch came to be, and told us about some of the different people that her and her team help and serve there.  Our team got to hear Cindy's heart and passion behind everything she does, including teaching children from Son City Kids  how to ride horses!  God has blessed Cindy with such a compassionate heart, and we were honored to help serve her and her team at the Ranch yesterday.

Some of us spent hours picking up stones in the arenas so that the horses won't get bruised and be unable to be ridden.
Some of us built a mounting deck to get up onto the horses.
Some of us cleaned horse stalls and filled their stalls with hay at mealtimes.
Some of us power-washed decks and furniture.
Some of us cleaned the hair of the saddle mats.
Some of us got down and dirty and raked horse poop!

If I know one thing, our team worked HARD!!!  Parents, your kids are doing awesome and Cindy and her team were so blessed and thankful for the time we spent there!

What a GREAT start to our trip...and it's only just begun!  Don't forget to leave comments...we'll read them to the team during our debrief time :)

MOVE 2012 is underway!  The first GSM mission trip of the summer starts right here in our own community!  We've got 42 students and adult leaders who are ready to make a difference over the next 4 days as we serve locally at great organizations like Crooked Creek Ranch, Monroe Circle Community Center and Center for the Homeless!

The team is prepared, they've been getting ready for this experience for the last 4 months.
The team is excited, many have worked and saved and raised support.
The team is well led, there is a phenomenal team of adults who have taken vacation, made plans and are here leading these students as they engage the work ahead.

We're in for a great couple days, so come along on the journey with us!  Check back here daily for updates on the team's day as well as photos and feel free to leave a comment! The team loves hearing from the friends and family supporting them!

You can also follow along during the day with little snippets by following us on Twitter (@gsmlive), Instragram (gsmlive) or on Facebook (Granger Student Ministries).