Hey there... This post is bittersweet because MOVE13 is almost over and today was so FANTASTIC!!
Today was slightly different than the rest because the high school team and the middle school team split to two different places.
First for the high school team. Before lunch, they started at Harmon Glass Building, right next to MC3, cleaning the floors and painting the walls. This building is going to be used for Carpenters Hands. Also, before lunch, half of the high school group worked on a house that has been vacant for years. Zion Chirch bought this house to rent out to one of this missionaries and we were blessed to help them clean it out. I wasn't with that group today but I heard that they got to use a jackhammer and "sledge" apart an old piano. Sounds like a lot of fun to me.
Second for the middle school group. We have had the privliledge to work with the Center for the Homeless. Today's tasks were to separate and tidy up the donation room. The blessing was so many clothes and things were donated that they almost didn't have room for all of it. Another group served lunch to the Veterans and to the residents in e cafeteria. I heard they were able to actually eat lunch with a few of the older ladies and were blessed by the ladies conversation. The third group, which was a big group, worked out on the garden. There was a lot of ground to cover, a lot of weeds to pull, and a few flowers to plant. It was a hot one today but the kids did such an amazing job.
After lunch both the middle and high school groups switched places. High school went to the Center for the Homeless and did the exact same thing the middle school group did, sorting in the donation room and weeding in the garden. There was a ton of work to do there!! The middle school group went to MC3 and worked with Alfreida and Ana Marie in the community garden. Again, a lot of weeds to pull and a lot of vegetables and fruits to plant. We also got to use our creativity and painted and set up a few signs to name the garden "Helping Hands Children's Garden." The coolest part in my opinion is before the work started, we circled up, read a blessing lead by LeRoy King and prayed ove the garden for provision, protection, and unity.
The Community Garden was started a few years ago in order to help the community be able to afford good produce. Alfreida's vision was to bring the community together, serving together, loving one another, and helping fill some tummies. I would say that vision is well on its way, they now have three different gardens and the kids of the community enjoy being a part of something so huge!
Parents, you would be proud of how well your kids did today, and this week...we covered a lot of ground... LITERALLY!
After all the hard work from the past three days, we all went to Hackers to end with some fun and friendly competition. So blessed to be able to use the gifts God gave us to serve our community.
God's Peace,
Huffy
Saturday, June 22, 2013
Friday, June 21, 2013
Friday Recap!
Hello again! We have had another great day here on MOVE13, and what amazing, hard working group of young students you all have! I (Gessica Hufnagle or "Huffy") and the rest of the GSM staff are so blessed to serve with you and your awesome kids!
Today we were blessed to do something no other MOVE trip has ever done. We ALL walked around the city of South Bend praying over the buildings and for the people in, out and around those buildings! As awkward as it can seem laying hands on buildings around lunch time in a city...it's actually pretty amazing what God does in and through all of us.
A few short stories from the prayer walk...
A group of leaders and students were praying for a gas station and they saw a man from inside the building counting them. Not knowing what he was doing they continued to pray hoping he wasn't irritated, which they soon found out he wasn't. He was actually counting to see how many water bottles to bring out. He thanked them and extended his appreciation for praying.
Another group shared they were actually in one of the South Bend Orthopedics buildings and shared with the nurses how they were praying for the people of South Bend. Then nurses asked if they would pray for them. They did of course right then and there!!
And LOTS of other amazing stories (don't forget to ask your students to share with you).
Along with the prayer walk, about half of the entire MOVE13 team blessed the Monroe Circle Community Center (MC3) by cleaning the entire building. I mean, they not only did your typical clean the counters and sweep the floors, but they scrapped gum off of furniture, dusted, cleaned out cabinets, washed walls, painted, and much much more. We were told later that what was accomplished by our wonderful MOVE13 team in a few hours would have actually taken days to do. LeRoy King, GCC staff member who runs point on everything involving MC3, thanked us tremendously and reminded us of how the work done today communicates how loved the people of MC3 are and how grateful they are of the work done.
After cleaning and prayer walking, the entire group had a chance to love on the families, mostly rhe kids, of the MC3 community. There was face paint, sidewalk chalk, crafts and sports which did not take long to rally up the kids, such a blessing to show them they matter to God and to us! The trip to MC3 ended in an ALL-OUT Tickle War!! The kids were on the backs or shoulders of someone from the MOVE13 team and literally ran around for an hour just tickling. It was FANTASTIC! There is nothing quite like the sound of a child laughing, you cannot help but put a smile on your face when you hear. Actually, a group of moms were standing around the outside just watching, one of them called me over and said, "What you and your church do for us is amazing. Thank you, you don't have to do what you do, but you continue to bless us and we love it. Thank you again."
Lastly, to top off the night, we got to enjoy some MOVE13 team time at Silver Beach and had a cookout. The water was just shy of freezing and the sand was wet but it didn't stop us from diving in head first and having a blast - celebrating what God can do when we all work together as one for His Name.
Until tomorrow...
-Huffy
Today we were blessed to do something no other MOVE trip has ever done. We ALL walked around the city of South Bend praying over the buildings and for the people in, out and around those buildings! As awkward as it can seem laying hands on buildings around lunch time in a city...it's actually pretty amazing what God does in and through all of us.
A few short stories from the prayer walk...
A group of leaders and students were praying for a gas station and they saw a man from inside the building counting them. Not knowing what he was doing they continued to pray hoping he wasn't irritated, which they soon found out he wasn't. He was actually counting to see how many water bottles to bring out. He thanked them and extended his appreciation for praying.
Another group shared they were actually in one of the South Bend Orthopedics buildings and shared with the nurses how they were praying for the people of South Bend. Then nurses asked if they would pray for them. They did of course right then and there!!
And LOTS of other amazing stories (don't forget to ask your students to share with you).
Along with the prayer walk, about half of the entire MOVE13 team blessed the Monroe Circle Community Center (MC3) by cleaning the entire building. I mean, they not only did your typical clean the counters and sweep the floors, but they scrapped gum off of furniture, dusted, cleaned out cabinets, washed walls, painted, and much much more. We were told later that what was accomplished by our wonderful MOVE13 team in a few hours would have actually taken days to do. LeRoy King, GCC staff member who runs point on everything involving MC3, thanked us tremendously and reminded us of how the work done today communicates how loved the people of MC3 are and how grateful they are of the work done.
After cleaning and prayer walking, the entire group had a chance to love on the families, mostly rhe kids, of the MC3 community. There was face paint, sidewalk chalk, crafts and sports which did not take long to rally up the kids, such a blessing to show them they matter to God and to us! The trip to MC3 ended in an ALL-OUT Tickle War!! The kids were on the backs or shoulders of someone from the MOVE13 team and literally ran around for an hour just tickling. It was FANTASTIC! There is nothing quite like the sound of a child laughing, you cannot help but put a smile on your face when you hear. Actually, a group of moms were standing around the outside just watching, one of them called me over and said, "What you and your church do for us is amazing. Thank you, you don't have to do what you do, but you continue to bless us and we love it. Thank you again."
Lastly, to top off the night, we got to enjoy some MOVE13 team time at Silver Beach and had a cookout. The water was just shy of freezing and the sand was wet but it didn't stop us from diving in head first and having a blast - celebrating what God can do when we all work together as one for His Name.
Until tomorrow...
-Huffy
Thursday Recap
Hey everyone, Johnny here and wanted to let you know that MOVE 13 is underway and what a great start we've had! I apologize for the delay in getting a post up, we've had some internet issues.
The team gathered on Wednesday night at the hotel and went through final preparations for the trip and even had a little time leftover for fun in the pool.
Thursday the whole team headed down to Crooked Creek Ranch in Wakarusa. Cindy Shuder owns and operates the ranch that will serve over 400 at-risk and underprivileged children throughout Michiana. Organizations like Center for the Homeless, ADEC and Son City Kids bring groups out for a chance to experience the woods, horses and nature. The Ranch is maintained purely through volunteer efforts and donations so the project list was massive and the team jumped right in!
Groups tackled projects like rebuilding horse pen fences, offloading over 600 bales of hay and lifting them up to the loft of a barn, installing a new volleyball court, mucking horse stalls and lots of woods property management like chainsawing, weed eating and clearing paths.
The students served so well and the leaders led admirably. It was a phenomenal first day and there was some great relaxing together as a team after dinner at the pool, playing cards and just hanging out!
Feel free to leave some comments, we'd love to share your encouragement and prayers with the team!
We'll get a Friday post up tonight and hopefully some pictures as well!
-john keim
The team gathered on Wednesday night at the hotel and went through final preparations for the trip and even had a little time leftover for fun in the pool.
Thursday the whole team headed down to Crooked Creek Ranch in Wakarusa. Cindy Shuder owns and operates the ranch that will serve over 400 at-risk and underprivileged children throughout Michiana. Organizations like Center for the Homeless, ADEC and Son City Kids bring groups out for a chance to experience the woods, horses and nature. The Ranch is maintained purely through volunteer efforts and donations so the project list was massive and the team jumped right in!
Groups tackled projects like rebuilding horse pen fences, offloading over 600 bales of hay and lifting them up to the loft of a barn, installing a new volleyball court, mucking horse stalls and lots of woods property management like chainsawing, weed eating and clearing paths.
The students served so well and the leaders led admirably. It was a phenomenal first day and there was some great relaxing together as a team after dinner at the pool, playing cards and just hanging out!
Feel free to leave some comments, we'd love to share your encouragement and prayers with the team!
We'll get a Friday post up tonight and hopefully some pictures as well!
-john keim
Saturday, June 23, 2012
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 :)
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 :)
Friday, June 22, 2012
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!
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 :)
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 :)
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
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).
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).
Sunday, June 26, 2011
More photo's - Friday & Saturday!
Hey everybody, DC here sorry for the delay. Busy Friday and Saturday...and Sunday, haha! Then had some grad parties today. Finally getting around to putting the rest of the photo's up!
Couple things I learned on Friday. Only so many ways to capture people swinging a hammer! haha. Also, Silverhawks game was too much fun to be spending behind a camera so I didn't take any photos. Just spent time with the group!
Hope you enjoy.
Couple things I learned on Friday. Only so many ways to capture people swinging a hammer! haha. Also, Silverhawks game was too much fun to be spending behind a camera so I didn't take any photos. Just spent time with the group!
Saturday, June 25, 2011
SATURDAY Recap!
What can we say? Today was more of the same, the MOVE '11 team cranked out some serious hard work. Today the team started off working down at Monroe Circle Community Center. Half the team helped out sorting out and doing some cleaning at the Center while the other half went over to work at the Garden with Alfreda. We did some serious weeding and planted some new vegetables and plants!
The team then joined up with dozens of volunteers from GCC to accomplish a Micro Food Drop! While the volunteers unloaded into the Karl King Towers Community Room the GSM team took a trailer full over to St. Joseph Apartments and started going door to door passing out food and personal care boxes. It was so cool to see this team take huge steps as they began to talk with and pray for all the residents. These students (and leaders) did amazing and had a great time doing it! We then joined up with the GCC volunteers and canvassed an entire neighborhood to pass out more boxes. All in all the team ended working really well!
Everyone's getting some good sleep tonight and then we're back to GCC for the 1130 service! It's been a phenomenal trip and it's sad to see it come to an end, but we're confident the steps taken and the way this team has been changed won't end just cause the trip is over, this team is going to keep on serving and keep on loving because Other People Matter.
The team then joined up with dozens of volunteers from GCC to accomplish a Micro Food Drop! While the volunteers unloaded into the Karl King Towers Community Room the GSM team took a trailer full over to St. Joseph Apartments and started going door to door passing out food and personal care boxes. It was so cool to see this team take huge steps as they began to talk with and pray for all the residents. These students (and leaders) did amazing and had a great time doing it! We then joined up with the GCC volunteers and canvassed an entire neighborhood to pass out more boxes. All in all the team ended working really well!
Everyone's getting some good sleep tonight and then we're back to GCC for the 1130 service! It's been a phenomenal trip and it's sad to see it come to an end, but we're confident the steps taken and the way this team has been changed won't end just cause the trip is over, this team is going to keep on serving and keep on loving because Other People Matter.
Friday, June 24, 2011
Friday Recap
Another day on the MOVE '11 mission trip, another CRANKING HARD WORKING PROJECT! This team knows how to work hard! We headed down to Center for the Homeless and had the privilege of meeting Brenda, one of the guests at the center. We got to hear her story and were so encouraged by her kindness and warm welcome to the team. She encouraged everyone saying "we love when you come through and simply smile and talk to us, it let's us know were still part of this world.". That was all the motivation the team needed to get their sore muscles moving today!
With smiles and laughter the team jumped right into working in the Community Garden and the Veterans Center. Every Move mission team for the last 5 years has worked on the community garden and it's great to be back in it again this year. The team in the veterans center got LOTS done as well. They were able to frame together around 15-20 of the interior walls and got most of them raised up and secured into place! It was a beautiful sound as dozens of students pounded hundreds of nails all at the same time, it was a symphony of hammers!
After cranking it really hard two days straight it was time for the team to unplug for a little bit and take in a silver hawks game and some post game fireworks! It's awesome seeing the team that has been working so hard together have so much fun together! Time for bed so we can hit. It hard again tomorrow!
With smiles and laughter the team jumped right into working in the Community Garden and the Veterans Center. Every Move mission team for the last 5 years has worked on the community garden and it's great to be back in it again this year. The team in the veterans center got LOTS done as well. They were able to frame together around 15-20 of the interior walls and got most of them raised up and secured into place! It was a beautiful sound as dozens of students pounded hundreds of nails all at the same time, it was a symphony of hammers!
After cranking it really hard two days straight it was time for the team to unplug for a little bit and take in a silver hawks game and some post game fireworks! It's awesome seeing the team that has been working so hard together have so much fun together! Time for bed so we can hit. It hard again tomorrow!
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Thursday Photos!!!
These photo's get pretty 'compressed' when we upload them so they're not as sharp as the full res copies but if you want the full res copies let me know (DC) and I'll about a way to get em to you! :) (I have no idea how that'll actually work out but hey i'm willing to give it a shot! Enjoy!)
Also, there's lots of photos on here on purpose! click the slideshow to view all of them in a non-slideshow format for faster scrolling as you look for 'your' kid! :)
THURSDAY RECAP
What an awesome day!!! The team got up bright and early for some good breakfast and then jumped right into quiet times and group time, an awesome way to start the day! From there we loaded up and headed down to crooked creek ranch which is a phenomenal horse ranch that blesses a bunch of other local ministries. Kids and adults from center for the homeless, MC3 and Faith Mission are able to come out to the country, experience nature and ride some horses. It really is a special thing that they do for those kids.
So today we had the chance to do a ton of work to help keep the ranch clean and running! We spent a huge portion of our time clearing the woods. First we walked through all the trails and cleared larger branches that had come down from a storm. After that we moved to clearing out larger limbs that had come down and even some BIG trees. One of the coolest things to see today was when about 2/3 of the team (30 people) all came together and lifted with all their might to carry one giant tree! It was pretty cool to see all those students encouraging each other and coming up with ideas on how to accomplish the task. And after all that work on one tree we jumped back in as they began to cut down scores of smaller trees. These trees were 15-25 feet tall and some bases as thick as a DCs arm!! You couldn't have known how heavy they were though cause everybody was grabbing them and hauling them out to one of the biggest burn piles ive ever seen!
After all that hard work it was time for some horseback riding, some donke riding and ending with a bonfire and smores! All in all it was a fantastic day! The team worked hard, loved each other well and played hard! And now everyone is sleeping hard after all that work! Which is a good thing cause tomorrow were off for another solid work day tpat Center for the Homeless!
So today we had the chance to do a ton of work to help keep the ranch clean and running! We spent a huge portion of our time clearing the woods. First we walked through all the trails and cleared larger branches that had come down from a storm. After that we moved to clearing out larger limbs that had come down and even some BIG trees. One of the coolest things to see today was when about 2/3 of the team (30 people) all came together and lifted with all their might to carry one giant tree! It was pretty cool to see all those students encouraging each other and coming up with ideas on how to accomplish the task. And after all that work on one tree we jumped back in as they began to cut down scores of smaller trees. These trees were 15-25 feet tall and some bases as thick as a DCs arm!! You couldn't have known how heavy they were though cause everybody was grabbing them and hauling them out to one of the biggest burn piles ive ever seen!
After all that hard work it was time for some horseback riding, some donke riding and ending with a bonfire and smores! All in all it was a fantastic day! The team worked hard, loved each other well and played hard! And now everyone is sleeping hard after all that work! Which is a good thing cause tomorrow were off for another solid work day tpat Center for the Homeless!
Wednesday Photos
Hey everybody! We had a great start to this trip last night!!! This is going to be a FUN GROUP!!!
We got all settled in our hotel, we found of which group we're in for the week. We talked through our schedule and we launched the trip with a short talk about the sacrifice Jesus made for us, in that, His Body was broken and poured out for us and how we have an opportunity to do the same this week!
Here are some photos...
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
WE'RE OFF AND RUNNING!!
We finally come to it! The trip has finally started but the MOVE '11 mission experience really started months ago. It started back in January when a bunch of students and leaders listened to God and followed His leading to take a step and apply for a mission trip. After months of preparation the team gathered tonight at the hotel to officially start our time together on the trip.
We started things off like any good gathering of students and devoured some pizza! After that we recapped all the trip basics that will help us have a great time. And then one of our leaders, Alison SilverRaven, led us through a discussion and teaching on the history of sacrifice and how that led to Jesus paying the ultimate sacrifice for all of us. After walking through that a few of the leaders served the whole team communion and it was an AWESOME moment for the team to remember what Jesus did for us and why we are doing what we do on this trip!
It was a great start to our time together and now it's off to bed for a good night's sleep! Tomorrow we're off to Crooked Creek Ranch for a great workday! Remember you can leave comments of encouragement for the team and we'll read them during our daily debrief time!
We started things off like any good gathering of students and devoured some pizza! After that we recapped all the trip basics that will help us have a great time. And then one of our leaders, Alison SilverRaven, led us through a discussion and teaching on the history of sacrifice and how that led to Jesus paying the ultimate sacrifice for all of us. After walking through that a few of the leaders served the whole team communion and it was an AWESOME moment for the team to remember what Jesus did for us and why we are doing what we do on this trip!
It was a great start to our time together and now it's off to bed for a good night's sleep! Tomorrow we're off to Crooked Creek Ranch for a great workday! Remember you can leave comments of encouragement for the team and we'll read them during our daily debrief time!
Saturday, February 26, 2011
MOVE 2011
The MOVE 2011 team has been formed and over the next few months this blog will serve to update the trip progress, communicate important information to the team and ultimately serve to recap and tell stories of the MOVE 2011 trip! It is going to be an amazing journey!
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Friday Recap
My apologies for not posting this last night! We had a late night of fun at Hackers, after which my room went right to bed. =)
Yesterday was a challenging day for us on the middle school trip as we spent time with the residents at the homeless center and cleaned up the building for them. I'm continually amazed and inspired by how hard-working, loving, and caring all of our students are.
Quick story:
We were eating lunch with the residents at the Center, when I realized that our group had congregated into one area and hadn't been mingling with the residents much. Wanting everyone there to feel included, I thought I'd round up a few students with me to go talk to the residents. I, however, couldn't even act on this before I realized that some of our students WERE ALREADY DOING THAT! Two of our boys were going table-to-table talking and praying with the residents! During debrief time that night, these two boys got to pray for several of them by name, which was an awesome way for the rest of the group to be a part of what they did, too! I was so encouraged by that! I gave them a HUGE shout-out at debrief time, but I thought I'd give another one on here as well.
That's just one of the stories of the lives we've encountered crossing with the love of our students and leaders here on this trip. I'm so blessed to be here! Parents, families, and friends, be proud of your loved ones who are on this trip. I know I am proud of them; they are leading and loving well. We're heading to Monroe Circle Community Center today to do some gardening and cleaning and whatever else they throw at us! We'll then finish off the trip at the 5 service, so if you come, look for a giant blue blob in the crowd! That'll be us!
Friday, July 16, 2010
An Awesome Friday!
Hey parents and everyone, Johnny here just wanting to give a quick update on another awesome day! The middle school team spent there time today at Center for the Homeless. The team started off the day with a tour of the center and getting to hear the vision from one of the staff at CFH, Peter Lombard. After hearing from Peter the team had a chance to hear from Stephanie and Andrew, two of the residents at the Center. It was an amazing/inspiring/educational/encouraging time as these two great people shared their struggles and their hardships and explained how the Center helped bring them out of that and offer them hope and a hand up, not a hand out. After hearing and seeing the compelling vision of the Center, the team jumped in right away and worked incredibly hard in spite of the heat! The team worked on the Community Garden outside that the MOVE mission teams have been a part of since 2007 when the Garden began in what was then an old abandoned lot. The team also worked inside sorting through donations that had been cleaned and were ready to be sorted in order to provide clothing for some of the residents.
The high school team meanwhile was over at the Monroe Circle Community Center working hard at some big projects that were needing some attention. So many great programs are using that space and thanks to all the great organizational work of the team today those programs will continue to have easy access to all the materials and supplies needed to run those ministries. The team then went out into the community and brought many of the kids back for a "Fun Friday" with Rick Glassman and his amphibian and reptilian friends! Rick was great teaching the kids about toads, frogs, lizards and snakes and even brought some along for the kids to see, touch and hold. It was an awesome time seeing some of the kids (and the Move team) with a 5 foot snake draped over their shoulders!
After getting cleaned up, the team had a fun night up at Hacker's golf 'n games! Driving golf balls, playing putt-putt, driving go-carts and hitting the batting cages with an amazing, hard-working, fun-loving group of teenagers and leaders is an amazing way to spend a Friday evening in the summer!
Tomorrow the teams flip flop, high school to Center for the Homeless and middle school to Monroe Circle Community Center!
The high school team meanwhile was over at the Monroe Circle Community Center working hard at some big projects that were needing some attention. So many great programs are using that space and thanks to all the great organizational work of the team today those programs will continue to have easy access to all the materials and supplies needed to run those ministries. The team then went out into the community and brought many of the kids back for a "Fun Friday" with Rick Glassman and his amphibian and reptilian friends! Rick was great teaching the kids about toads, frogs, lizards and snakes and even brought some along for the kids to see, touch and hold. It was an awesome time seeing some of the kids (and the Move team) with a 5 foot snake draped over their shoulders!
After getting cleaned up, the team had a fun night up at Hacker's golf 'n games! Driving golf balls, playing putt-putt, driving go-carts and hitting the batting cages with an amazing, hard-working, fun-loving group of teenagers and leaders is an amazing way to spend a Friday evening in the summer!
Tomorrow the teams flip flop, high school to Center for the Homeless and middle school to Monroe Circle Community Center!
VIDEO INTERVIEWS FROM FRIDAY
DC here, I made these little videos earlier today so you guys could hear a little bit about what we were working on today! Hope you enjoy. Leave comments and let us know!
We were at Center for the Homeless with the Middle School Group & MC3 for the High School Group.
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Thursday: Day 1!
Hello GSM parents and other readers! Tia Brown here! (I'm running point for the Middle School trip!) I can’t say enough how EXCITED/HONORED/GRATEFUL/THRILLED/ENCOURAGED/BLESSED I AM TO BE ON THIS TRIP! So many of our students and leaders have shown AMAZING leadership and work ethic; I’m inspired by how positive this group’s attitude is! DC already blogged about this, but it was HOT outside today! We were in a huge room with no a/c packing boxes with food for Feed the Children and didn’t take any breaks all morning! Our students and leaders worked right through it with no complaints and with huge smiles on their faces! (we even had a bit of a karaoke singing time going on at the two ends of the lines...who knew manual labor could be that much fun?!)
We also had the opportunity to do some cleaning at our home church, GCC. One of the facility care staffers told our group at the end of our day how great it was that we got to help out, because we can now go into the building with a sense of ownership regarding how AWESOME the building looks! The students worked so hard, and I believe that they’ll not only appreciate the cleanliness of that building more from now on, but they’ll also feel a sense of accomplishment along with it. Thanks for the opportunity, GCC Facility Care! Your team ROCKS!
God is doing HUGE things in this group already. The middle school and high school groups were together all day today, and they are both getting along great; it feels much more like one big unified trip than two separate trips for the two different age groups, which is great on every single level! Another thing I really see God teaching us is His power to help us “do all things through Christ Who strengthens me!” Philippians 4:13. We’ve really seen God’s power in us as we’ve all been worn out, hungry, and in need of a serious nap! He’s helped us not just work well, but work with smiles on our faces! I can’t wait to see what tomorrow has for us!
Here's a list of things that one of the students in my group, Kara Anderson, liked from today:
I liked lunch, because I had two PB&J’s, two cookies, and no chips.
I liked being fanned by a giant cardboard box. (context: At Feed the Children, one of the amazing middle school leaders Hugo Manriquez made rounds fanning everyone with a huge cardboard box and passing out water bottles. His encouragement kept us going!)
I liked being in the air conditioning in the church. (Did we mention that it was a bit hot outside today?) ;)
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