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!

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...

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!

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!

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!

MOVE DAY 2 PHOTOS