Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Hey everyone! Sorry this update is so delayed. The past week has been insane! I know all of you are wondering about Sandy and how we were affected by it. Well.. we weren't affected at all! Other than hearing some winds and Feeling the rain when we were outside. We didn't even lose electricity! That was quite a blessing. Anyways, lets dive into the week.
Monday morning we went back to Dr. Decaro's and talked about how to prove that the bible is real. After that we went to operation exodus (the after school program) that was a lot of fun, as usual. Both of us are really enjoying getting to know the kids in our classes. We really enjoy creating relationships with children! The rest of the night we just hung out at the apartment
Tuesday morning the people who had breakfast ministry did that and then we did the Joyshop series in the afternoon. In the evening the spanish speaking teams went to spanish class and spanish church. Karla and I went shopping with Bonnie. Then came home and learned some Thai. That was when Karla started to have an extreme amount of pain in her right side. This really scared us because we thought it was appendicitis. We all surrounded her and prayed for her before we took her into the hospital. We decided since i (bekah) am her team mate that i would be the best person to come with her. I was only allowed to stay with Karla for about an hour before they told us that they only wanted one person in the room with Karla and the other person had to wait in the waiting room. Bonnie figured it would be better for her to stay because she was responsible for her. I ended up coming home on the bus. It was a very long and stressful night filled with blood work, CAT scan and an ultra sound to try and find out what was wrong. Finally the doctor came to the conclusion that she had an ovarian cyst that ruptured. Karla and Bonnie got back at around 5am. Karla slept for as long as she could and has been feeling much better since.
Wednesday morning we went to the bowery and served there until around 2 then we all came home and everyone quickly took showers and got ready to go see Wicked on broadway. I would suggest that if anyone wants to see a broadway show, they see Wicked. It is an absolutely fantastic show. I think the whole team agree's that it was amazing.
Thursday we had most of the morning free. We did some more of the Joyshop series. In the afternoon we went to the after school program again. The rest of the evening we just hung out
Friday in the morning we went to world vision. In the afternoon we hung out around the apartment and in the evening we went to the spanish church again. The service was very fulfilling and just what everyone needed.
Saturday in the morning we went to serve with manna of life again. We went to a family shelter rather than the living room. It wasn't as cold outside as it was last time so that was nice. We made some new friends there too. In the afternoon we went and rode the Staton Island ferry so we could see the Statue of Liberty. That was pretty fun
Sunday we went to church in the morning. Went shopping in the afternoon. In the evening we had a very long team meeting about everything that was on our hearts basically. It was cool to see everyone talk to each other in a very mature way
Monday was the day that the hurricane was the worst. The mentor we were supposed to have did not come because it was pretty dangerous. We finished up the Joyshop series in the morning and sat around and watch movies all day. All of us were pretty bored for the day. We went outside and played in the rain for a little bit. It was hard to sit inside all day
Today! woohoo. Okay this morning we got up and made our individual team goals and mission statement. That was pretty fun to come up with. Some of us went to the park and played football and walked around since we didn't get to go outside most of monday. Now were just hanging around the apartment and talking with each other.
This trip is coming and going so fast! Only 2 and 1/2 more weeks. That is bittersweet. Were excited to see what God has in store for us for next week!
Monday morning we went back to Dr. Decaro's and talked about how to prove that the bible is real. After that we went to operation exodus (the after school program) that was a lot of fun, as usual. Both of us are really enjoying getting to know the kids in our classes. We really enjoy creating relationships with children! The rest of the night we just hung out at the apartment
Tuesday morning the people who had breakfast ministry did that and then we did the Joyshop series in the afternoon. In the evening the spanish speaking teams went to spanish class and spanish church. Karla and I went shopping with Bonnie. Then came home and learned some Thai. That was when Karla started to have an extreme amount of pain in her right side. This really scared us because we thought it was appendicitis. We all surrounded her and prayed for her before we took her into the hospital. We decided since i (bekah) am her team mate that i would be the best person to come with her. I was only allowed to stay with Karla for about an hour before they told us that they only wanted one person in the room with Karla and the other person had to wait in the waiting room. Bonnie figured it would be better for her to stay because she was responsible for her. I ended up coming home on the bus. It was a very long and stressful night filled with blood work, CAT scan and an ultra sound to try and find out what was wrong. Finally the doctor came to the conclusion that she had an ovarian cyst that ruptured. Karla and Bonnie got back at around 5am. Karla slept for as long as she could and has been feeling much better since.
Wednesday morning we went to the bowery and served there until around 2 then we all came home and everyone quickly took showers and got ready to go see Wicked on broadway. I would suggest that if anyone wants to see a broadway show, they see Wicked. It is an absolutely fantastic show. I think the whole team agree's that it was amazing.
Thursday we had most of the morning free. We did some more of the Joyshop series. In the afternoon we went to the after school program again. The rest of the evening we just hung out
Friday in the morning we went to world vision. In the afternoon we hung out around the apartment and in the evening we went to the spanish church again. The service was very fulfilling and just what everyone needed.
Saturday in the morning we went to serve with manna of life again. We went to a family shelter rather than the living room. It wasn't as cold outside as it was last time so that was nice. We made some new friends there too. In the afternoon we went and rode the Staton Island ferry so we could see the Statue of Liberty. That was pretty fun
Sunday we went to church in the morning. Went shopping in the afternoon. In the evening we had a very long team meeting about everything that was on our hearts basically. It was cool to see everyone talk to each other in a very mature way
Monday was the day that the hurricane was the worst. The mentor we were supposed to have did not come because it was pretty dangerous. We finished up the Joyshop series in the morning and sat around and watch movies all day. All of us were pretty bored for the day. We went outside and played in the rain for a little bit. It was hard to sit inside all day
Today! woohoo. Okay this morning we got up and made our individual team goals and mission statement. That was pretty fun to come up with. Some of us went to the park and played football and walked around since we didn't get to go outside most of monday. Now were just hanging around the apartment and talking with each other.
This trip is coming and going so fast! Only 2 and 1/2 more weeks. That is bittersweet. Were excited to see what God has in store for us for next week!
Sunday, October 21, 2012
Why hello to all you wonderful folks who have stuck with us so far. How are ya? This week has been going by so fast. I cannot belive we already have to write another blog. WHOA HEY!
So, a few of you have mentioned that I, this is Karla by the way, should no longer write blogs because I am sporadic. I am here to say...Stuff it! HELLO! I am STILL HERE. Watch out and put on your seat belt! Mwahh ha ha ha haaaaa..... Thank you. Enjoy.
Anyway. Lets get on with our schedule, shall we? So Monday, the 15th we went to Dr. DeCaro's apartment for our mentor time. We learned about theology and Christology. That was quite interesting actually. Once we returned home, we started our Anita Keagy series. (She is not actually here; we just watched her on DVD. For all of you who do not know Anita Keagy, she is a wonderful lady of GOD who talked to us about seeking God and getting excited about His word. It was my fourth time hearing h er speak, but every time I learn something new so Bekah and I were okay with it-she knows her too.) I don't exactly remember what we did the rest of the night. Most likely, we just talked all night long.
On Tuesday, Beth lead us in devotions and for worship. We finished the Anita Keagy Series together and then the Spain and Columbia teams went to the Spanish Church. Oh!-Bonnie's husband, Steve and her granddaughter, Janessa, came for two days. She. Is. ADORABLE! She's four years old and 100% girl. She brought so much joy to our lives for those two days though, and we watched sooo many movies! :O While the other teams were gone, I played hide and go seek. Her best hiding spot was behind the couch...it was very cute. She just sat in the hallway behind the couch. Once everyone returned, we watched Tangled. Such an amazing movie! :D We were all a bit tired after that because we had been playing with Jay (Janessa) all day long! So, we went to cuddle underneath our blankets for the night.
The next day, which was Wednesday the 17th of October in the year 2012, we went to the Bowery again. Beth served the food while some of us cut up the food for supper. A few of us had to go back in the pantry and organize pepper. Yes, thats right. We wore masks, and we dumped two containers of Cayenne Pepper into a bag so that they could hand it out to the homeless later. That was quite interesting. We were still sneezing a bit when we left. YIKES! Then, we went to the after school program, Exodus, at Manhattan Bible. Those kids just never get old. They're so full of life and joy Whenever they have announcements, they start and end with prayer. Hands go straight up to the ceiling when asked who wnats to pray. And they're powerful prayers too. Crazy! My favorite part is worship. Although, I'm usually pretty hot by the end because I just lift the little people (kids) up and down the whole time. The leaders have motions for all of the songs though so the older kids follow along with them. I think we just played games the rest of the night.
Thursday Asher, Karla and Eryca went to Breakfast Ministry. Then, Asher led us in worship and devotions. We went to the food pantry at Manhattan Bible. We bagged carrots and lettuce to hand out to the people that went through the line. School Program afterwards. Night? Umm...kinda a blur. Ask Bekah. Sorry. We chilled or watched a movie or something I'm sure.
FRIDAY! FRIIDAY FRIDDDAAYY! Guess who came to visit us again? Aunt Vicky and Shari came, and Shari talked to us about our life purpose. Holy snap! What a good discussion. A lot of us opened up and discussed issues we were dealing with. We each learned a lot about each other and about ourselves. Throughout the day, we each went with either Shari or Vicky and talked to them about ourselves until we discovered who we really were and made a life purpose statement. Now, we each feel fulfilled. The rest of the day we spent bonding with them. We played Catchphrase again! :D YEAH BUDDY! That was exciting! THEN! Oh boy oh boy oh boy! Then!!!! We watched Bourne Identity! snap, if you have not watched this movie please stop reading and go watch it! Its very good and it has Matt Damon so its obviously a terrific movie! :O We talked for a bit more with Aunt Vicky and Shari until we all went into our bedrooms. The girls had a major Girls Bonding Time staying up late talking and giggling and such. We may or may not have kept Vicky and Shari up. Whoops!
Wakey Wakey! Because we had an egg and sausage casserole on Saturday! Bonnie's treat because Vick and Shari were here. We hung out with them until they had to leave and then we all went to the park. Beth, Karla and Aaron played some football, and we just enjoyed laying down out on the grass for a while. Saturday was a super relaxing day. We went to Central Park at like 10:45pm to go star gazing! That was wonderful! Renee taught us about all the stars and the background behind them. We got to have some good alone time, just reflecting on how big GOD is. I think everyone saw at least one shooting star. We layed down on a huge rock in the middle of the park to look up through a hole the trees had made to the sky. Wow. It was amazing. I saw a satellite! We stayed out till like 1am I guess it was. It took about an hour or so to get back home. Then, the girls stayed up until 4am talking...haha! Yeah, great idea but it was greatly needed. Just talking about how great our GOD is that we serve. How vast the universe is. How much we all love each other. Great! It was good. We finally decided we needed to stop and try to go to bed...it was a bit rough though because we were all soooo awake! :O
Anyway, Sunday comes along. We went to Fellowship Chapel and lead the congregation in worship to the songs: Days of Elijah and GOD of Justice. If you have never heard the song GOD of Justice before, it's basically our teams new song so you should go listen to it. I think it's by Tim Hughes. GOOD SONG! People from Bethany Assembly Church came and danced. We had communion and dedicated our missions statements to the LORD. Snap. I don't even know how to describe the service today. It got me. I'll say that much. The Spirit was definitely in that place, and it was an experience! :D Anyway, we've been chilling here ever since we got back. Beth and Karla went to the park across the street to have quiet time while everyone else stayed in the apartment. We watched End of the Spear. Now, we're all dying down and planning on going to sleep soon. Tomorrow we're going back to Dr. DeCaro's. The end. Thanks for reading to day folks! Until next time! Have a wonderful day! :D
So, a few of you have mentioned that I, this is Karla by the way, should no longer write blogs because I am sporadic. I am here to say...Stuff it! HELLO! I am STILL HERE. Watch out and put on your seat belt! Mwahh ha ha ha haaaaa..... Thank you. Enjoy.
Anyway. Lets get on with our schedule, shall we? So Monday, the 15th we went to Dr. DeCaro's apartment for our mentor time. We learned about theology and Christology. That was quite interesting actually. Once we returned home, we started our Anita Keagy series. (She is not actually here; we just watched her on DVD. For all of you who do not know Anita Keagy, she is a wonderful lady of GOD who talked to us about seeking God and getting excited about His word. It was my fourth time hearing h er speak, but every time I learn something new so Bekah and I were okay with it-she knows her too.) I don't exactly remember what we did the rest of the night. Most likely, we just talked all night long.
On Tuesday, Beth lead us in devotions and for worship. We finished the Anita Keagy Series together and then the Spain and Columbia teams went to the Spanish Church. Oh!-Bonnie's husband, Steve and her granddaughter, Janessa, came for two days. She. Is. ADORABLE! She's four years old and 100% girl. She brought so much joy to our lives for those two days though, and we watched sooo many movies! :O While the other teams were gone, I played hide and go seek. Her best hiding spot was behind the couch...it was very cute. She just sat in the hallway behind the couch. Once everyone returned, we watched Tangled. Such an amazing movie! :D We were all a bit tired after that because we had been playing with Jay (Janessa) all day long! So, we went to cuddle underneath our blankets for the night.
The next day, which was Wednesday the 17th of October in the year 2012, we went to the Bowery again. Beth served the food while some of us cut up the food for supper. A few of us had to go back in the pantry and organize pepper. Yes, thats right. We wore masks, and we dumped two containers of Cayenne Pepper into a bag so that they could hand it out to the homeless later. That was quite interesting. We were still sneezing a bit when we left. YIKES! Then, we went to the after school program, Exodus, at Manhattan Bible. Those kids just never get old. They're so full of life and joy Whenever they have announcements, they start and end with prayer. Hands go straight up to the ceiling when asked who wnats to pray. And they're powerful prayers too. Crazy! My favorite part is worship. Although, I'm usually pretty hot by the end because I just lift the little people (kids) up and down the whole time. The leaders have motions for all of the songs though so the older kids follow along with them. I think we just played games the rest of the night.
Thursday Asher, Karla and Eryca went to Breakfast Ministry. Then, Asher led us in worship and devotions. We went to the food pantry at Manhattan Bible. We bagged carrots and lettuce to hand out to the people that went through the line. School Program afterwards. Night? Umm...kinda a blur. Ask Bekah. Sorry. We chilled or watched a movie or something I'm sure.
FRIDAY! FRIIDAY FRIDDDAAYY! Guess who came to visit us again? Aunt Vicky and Shari came, and Shari talked to us about our life purpose. Holy snap! What a good discussion. A lot of us opened up and discussed issues we were dealing with. We each learned a lot about each other and about ourselves. Throughout the day, we each went with either Shari or Vicky and talked to them about ourselves until we discovered who we really were and made a life purpose statement. Now, we each feel fulfilled. The rest of the day we spent bonding with them. We played Catchphrase again! :D YEAH BUDDY! That was exciting! THEN! Oh boy oh boy oh boy! Then!!!! We watched Bourne Identity! snap, if you have not watched this movie please stop reading and go watch it! Its very good and it has Matt Damon so its obviously a terrific movie! :O We talked for a bit more with Aunt Vicky and Shari until we all went into our bedrooms. The girls had a major Girls Bonding Time staying up late talking and giggling and such. We may or may not have kept Vicky and Shari up. Whoops!
Wakey Wakey! Because we had an egg and sausage casserole on Saturday! Bonnie's treat because Vick and Shari were here. We hung out with them until they had to leave and then we all went to the park. Beth, Karla and Aaron played some football, and we just enjoyed laying down out on the grass for a while. Saturday was a super relaxing day. We went to Central Park at like 10:45pm to go star gazing! That was wonderful! Renee taught us about all the stars and the background behind them. We got to have some good alone time, just reflecting on how big GOD is. I think everyone saw at least one shooting star. We layed down on a huge rock in the middle of the park to look up through a hole the trees had made to the sky. Wow. It was amazing. I saw a satellite! We stayed out till like 1am I guess it was. It took about an hour or so to get back home. Then, the girls stayed up until 4am talking...haha! Yeah, great idea but it was greatly needed. Just talking about how great our GOD is that we serve. How vast the universe is. How much we all love each other. Great! It was good. We finally decided we needed to stop and try to go to bed...it was a bit rough though because we were all soooo awake! :O
Anyway, Sunday comes along. We went to Fellowship Chapel and lead the congregation in worship to the songs: Days of Elijah and GOD of Justice. If you have never heard the song GOD of Justice before, it's basically our teams new song so you should go listen to it. I think it's by Tim Hughes. GOOD SONG! People from Bethany Assembly Church came and danced. We had communion and dedicated our missions statements to the LORD. Snap. I don't even know how to describe the service today. It got me. I'll say that much. The Spirit was definitely in that place, and it was an experience! :D Anyway, we've been chilling here ever since we got back. Beth and Karla went to the park across the street to have quiet time while everyone else stayed in the apartment. We watched End of the Spear. Now, we're all dying down and planning on going to sleep soon. Tomorrow we're going back to Dr. DeCaro's. The end. Thanks for reading to day folks! Until next time! Have a wonderful day! :D
Sunday, October 14, 2012
hey everyone! were back for another update on how New York is. i guess we can just start off with saying how amazing our time here has been so far. God has truly blessed us with a fantastic team and people to work around. Almost all of us have been sick by now. Beth and Karla were getting over a nasty cold, and Bekah had a sinus infection. Asher and Aaron got some sort of stomach bug. Renee and Eryca have been the only ones to not get sick so far! it seems like satan is really trying to take us down! not gonna happen!! we are all getting used to our busy weekly schedules. its a lot of things in a week to handle, but its becoming routine and not so much chaos and stress. praise the Lord for that.
Karla left off on saturday night so i guess i will start with sunday. In the morning we went to fellowship chapel for church. It was a very good sermon and she challenged us to write a missions statement of what we plan on doing to serve the Lord. afternoons here are normally pretty quiet. i think everyone took a long nap and relaxed the rest of the day.
On monday, Mike came to share to us about the importance of evangelism and different ways to do it. In the afternoon we went out on the streets to do evangelism. some of us were more nervous than others but once all of us got out there it wasn't so bad. everyone split into teams of 2 to take surveys on spiritual interest and hope that a conversation would spark from there. there was one particular person that Renee and Eryca talked to that seemed very spiritually confused in what he believed and his view on God. that was definitely a challenge for them to stand up for their believes and question him. Other than that, conversations seemed to go smoothly, and people seemed to be open to talk for the most part.
on Tuesday it was basically the same thing, Mike had sessions with us in the morning and then we were out talking to people on the streets after that. we weren't so intimidated because we had done it the day before. There was another person who spoke to Karla and Asher who also seemed very confused on his view of God and said a lot of things that didn't really make sense. it was also a challenge for them to stand up for their believes. i guess this is just a small taste of what we could be getting in Thailand! that evening all of the teams that have to learn spanish went to a spanish class and then to a spanish church, while karla and i had the apartment to ourselves. We did some Thai lessons and had some really great conversations. it was nice to have that time to spend just as a team to get a taste of what it will be like in Thailand.
Normally on Wednesdays we go to the Bowery in the morning but this week we did not have to so we pretty much had all morning to ourselves. it was nice to be able to sleep late and spend some alone time with the big man upstairs! in the afternoon we went to the after school program (operation exodus) in Manhattan. i think we can all agree that we had a blast! all of the kids are so much fun and we really enjoy spending time with them. they were so loving and welcoming. all of us came home exhausted with sore muscles from picking them up and jumping around and dancing with them. we definitely slept well that night!
thursday was another late morning. we went to the love kitchen where people in need come in to get groceries. i think that is pretty stressful because the majority of the people there only speak spanish. the language barrier is a challenge for sure! after that we went to the after school program again. this time we were more prepared for the amount of energy that they have. they are just so lovable!
friday we went to world vision in the morning. we split up again. half of us went to the old site and the other half stayed at the new site. Bekah, Eryca, Asher, and Aaron went to the old site and destroyed some more things that they didn't need anymore. Beth, Karla, Renee stayed at the new site and folded cloths all day. we came back to the house and all took a nap for about an hour. in the evening all of the girls (minus renee) went to times square church again. this week was a missions conference, so instead of just the young adults having a service, it was the whole church. we got there extra early to get good seats. the service was fantastic.
saturday is normally our chill day for the week. but in the morning we went to manna of life to serve the homeless food and to serve the day workers lunch. we all went home and went to the park and walked around for awhile. the evening we just hung out for the rest of the evening
sunday! today! whew. okay. this morning we went to church in the morning again. this afternoon we went to central park. when we came home we watched the phantom of the opera and bekah made muffins. its been a relaxing day.
ill try to add some pictures tonight or tomorrow. thanks for reading again!
Karla left off on saturday night so i guess i will start with sunday. In the morning we went to fellowship chapel for church. It was a very good sermon and she challenged us to write a missions statement of what we plan on doing to serve the Lord. afternoons here are normally pretty quiet. i think everyone took a long nap and relaxed the rest of the day.
On monday, Mike came to share to us about the importance of evangelism and different ways to do it. In the afternoon we went out on the streets to do evangelism. some of us were more nervous than others but once all of us got out there it wasn't so bad. everyone split into teams of 2 to take surveys on spiritual interest and hope that a conversation would spark from there. there was one particular person that Renee and Eryca talked to that seemed very spiritually confused in what he believed and his view on God. that was definitely a challenge for them to stand up for their believes and question him. Other than that, conversations seemed to go smoothly, and people seemed to be open to talk for the most part.
on Tuesday it was basically the same thing, Mike had sessions with us in the morning and then we were out talking to people on the streets after that. we weren't so intimidated because we had done it the day before. There was another person who spoke to Karla and Asher who also seemed very confused on his view of God and said a lot of things that didn't really make sense. it was also a challenge for them to stand up for their believes. i guess this is just a small taste of what we could be getting in Thailand! that evening all of the teams that have to learn spanish went to a spanish class and then to a spanish church, while karla and i had the apartment to ourselves. We did some Thai lessons and had some really great conversations. it was nice to have that time to spend just as a team to get a taste of what it will be like in Thailand.
Normally on Wednesdays we go to the Bowery in the morning but this week we did not have to so we pretty much had all morning to ourselves. it was nice to be able to sleep late and spend some alone time with the big man upstairs! in the afternoon we went to the after school program (operation exodus) in Manhattan. i think we can all agree that we had a blast! all of the kids are so much fun and we really enjoy spending time with them. they were so loving and welcoming. all of us came home exhausted with sore muscles from picking them up and jumping around and dancing with them. we definitely slept well that night!
thursday was another late morning. we went to the love kitchen where people in need come in to get groceries. i think that is pretty stressful because the majority of the people there only speak spanish. the language barrier is a challenge for sure! after that we went to the after school program again. this time we were more prepared for the amount of energy that they have. they are just so lovable!
friday we went to world vision in the morning. we split up again. half of us went to the old site and the other half stayed at the new site. Bekah, Eryca, Asher, and Aaron went to the old site and destroyed some more things that they didn't need anymore. Beth, Karla, Renee stayed at the new site and folded cloths all day. we came back to the house and all took a nap for about an hour. in the evening all of the girls (minus renee) went to times square church again. this week was a missions conference, so instead of just the young adults having a service, it was the whole church. we got there extra early to get good seats. the service was fantastic.
saturday is normally our chill day for the week. but in the morning we went to manna of life to serve the homeless food and to serve the day workers lunch. we all went home and went to the park and walked around for awhile. the evening we just hung out for the rest of the evening
sunday! today! whew. okay. this morning we went to church in the morning again. this afternoon we went to central park. when we came home we watched the phantom of the opera and bekah made muffins. its been a relaxing day.
ill try to add some pictures tonight or tomorrow. thanks for reading again!
Saturday, October 6, 2012
pictures!
Branching out, New Experiences- "AH! A Stink Bug": The Growing Days
Why hello there to all you wonderful people who have been reading our blog. Right now it is 11:18pm and I am just now starting to write this thing for all you people down there is PA. Anyway! Here we go... Thanks to Bekah for writing this thing for the past two weeks and now it is Karla's turn...of course Bekah will have to make sure this is approprate so we shall see how it goes. To all of you who do not know me, Hello. I am Karla. Nice to meet you. Please join me for my first adventure-writing a blog. Let's go!
SO! Where did Bekah leave off?....Oh! So Sunday, which seems like forever ago, we went to a cabin for a retreat. Oh my stars! It was so nice to be around trees and nature and such. I don't know if everyone else loved it, but Karla is from the country, so I loved it there! I forgot how much I enjoyed getting dirty in the woods. ANYWAY! It took us like four hours but we all got there in one piece. We stopped to eat and also to get gas for a potty break! SO! We got to stretch our legs, which was nice. Once we got there, we all, okay...I....rushed up and searched out the rooms to pick the best one. Once everyone was settled, we started playing round robin. WOW! If you did not comprehend this message before, here it is again: Our group is lively. We are outgoing. We are crazy. We do. not. stop. so! You can probably imagine what we may have been like while playing a game of round robin. We were slipping around and sliding. Dodging some ping pong balls Completely missing other ping pong balls and then, of course, those awkward ones that just barely miss your paddle and you're just sitting there like..."What da world? How did that happen?" making this face ;/ heh heh. It was super fun! Then Karla, Renee, Beth and Canada (Aaron) went to explore the premises. I'm pretty sure every single one of us tripped or got a scrape or SOMETHING in the woods! but it was still enjoyable. In the evening we had our cultural awareness lessons. a couple came in to talk to Bekah and I and then someone else came to talk to the Spain/ Columbia teams about the cultures, language, temperature, appropriate dress, etc. It was actually extremely helpful and we all got a lot of our questions answered. We are getting more excited to go to Thailand now that we know what to expect! The end of the day came with a round of ping pong and sitting by the fire.
The next day was Monday. (Odd, I know, that Monday comes after Sunday but you need to learn this some time people!) We had quiet time in the morning so some of us went oustide while others snuggled up on the couch by the fire reading their bibles. It was beautiful oustide. Another mentor, Dick, came to teach us about personalities. That was interesting. We all tried to figure out what Animal personality we were-The Retriever, Lion, Otter, or Beaver. Some of us found that we had different characteristics from all four categories! It was ridiculous! we spent the first half of the morning learning about our personality traits and then we had lunch Bonnie makes wonderful food, so we had a nice break before cracking the whip again at 1:00pm. the afternoon we learned how to put our personality traits to work. In the afternoon we went hiking as a team with Vicky. That was nice; we got to talk a lot and explore-my two favorite things so, of course... for dinner we all went out for Thai food. For some of us it was the first time eating it. I think we can all agree that we enjoyed the food and fellowshipping together. I loved it!- When we got back another couple came to talk to us about team dynamics. We just kinda chilled in the cabin the rest of the night playing games and doing a bunch of dance moves, reading, playing the piano, some karaoke, etc. Good day!
Tuesday came along with seven bright, cheerful faces awakening at 7:00am ready to help Bonnie make breakfast! Just kidding. No one does that. We have few morning people here-and Bonnie is one of them. Our next mentor, Larry, came (and no to you Veggie Tales fans, he was not green, but he was tall). He talked to us about dying to self and where our obedience should lie; he also talked about our priorities. Amy came and showed us a beautiful slide show on her experience in another country to help us focus more on adjustments and what that might look like to go to a different country. The same couple from last night came in the evening and did a crazy game with us! we played another game with them that required us to learn how to communicate with people who don't speak our language and are in a completely different culture. Super fun! Another happy happy day. Lots of learning. So much information in one day. I think everyone's brains were exploding by the end of the day. We crashed for the night...but! Not before another rowdy game of round robin!
Taking showers in the morning was glorious when we were in the woods and had to go to an area under the cabin's porch to take a shower. The water pressure wasn't terrific but it was hot, so we were thankful for that! We had worship with the team and then Vicky lead us in a silent retreat. Some of us stayed inside while others explored deep into the woods and really got into the woods. Karla went into the depths of the woods where no one could be heard and found a tree laying down with another right behind it still standing...it was the perfect chair! SO! I sat there for my time with the LORD. It was glorious! I saw this orange, black and yellow spider making its web between two trees. I just stopped right where I was and watched it. It's fantastic how God makes all of that happen. HE knits us together like that spider knitted its web together. It was just cool to see. After about an hour and a half, we all got back together and discussed things that stuck out to us in our reading or during worship. It seemed like everyone really enjoyed their time with the Lord. After that, we used some great teamwork to clean up the cabin so we could head on back to our apartment. HEY! It is now 12:01am. Today is officially tomorrow! Anyway, we had two volunteers, Randy and Ben, who said they would drive us back. We had lots of amazing discussions. God really does some wonderful, glorious things...I'll just say that much! Beth, Karla, Eryca, and Renee went with them while Asher, Aaron and Bekah went with Bonnie. Of course, we stopped at Walmart before entering the city to stock up on food and be able to stretch our legs out for awhile. We got back to the apartment, relaxed...then...we heard our beds calling us and gladly picked up our bodies and layed them under the comfort of our sleeping bags.
Breakfast for one and all! On Thursday, Beth and Karla went to Breakfast Ministry, then we all had some worship together and some downtime. We went to the Food Pantry for the first time. I know we don't believe in this, but, Holy Cow! (That was a quote from one of our mentors. So funny!) It was a bit hectic and overwhelming once people came. First, we had to put string beans and cucumbers into bags! The Food Pantry gives people cans of fruit, soup, vegetables and beans; boxes of pasta and milk and Raisins! (I used to love raisins when I was little so that was a nice blast from the past!) After working at the Food Pantry we had some down time at the apartment before another of Bonnie's delicious meals was stuffed into our bellies. We had some good old journaling time.
Then, it was Friiiiiday. Friiiiday. Friiiiday. Wakey wakey! Eggs and bakey! World Vision. Yes! SO! Karla, Bekah, Aaron and Asher volunteered to go to the old building to move some " heavy stuff" around. Basicaly, we demolished old desks with hammers for an hour. Then we took down some shelves and stacked them on skids. Oh my stars! SO much fun! I love tearing things apart. It was a workout man! But super fun of course. We were laughing AND working hard at the Same Time! Crazy? Too hard? Not for us! We are tanks. End of story. Everyone else organized boxes at the old site. I'm sure they had fun though. Then, all four of us and our new best friend, Jaime, squeezed into a little truck to head back to the old site. (For Karla's folks, it was a truck with a front only a little bit bigger than Baby Blue, our Little Ranger. Okay, maybe! Maybe it was bigger than that. but the back seats were side ways and we were shoulder to shoulder in the front but still!) That was interesting. so! We forced him to take a picture with us once we got back to the new world vision warehouse where the rest of the team spent their day. Heh heh! when we got back to the apartment we decided to buckle down and read for awhile. We do have to do some reading here, although both Bekah and Karla are not the biggest fans of it, it still needs to be done. We got R done nice and good. (just kidding about that English. I don't always talk like that). Then, Of course! We went to the fun church service again! It was amazing. So energizing and full of life. We got some Starbucks afterwards since it is like Bekah's best friend supposedly. yup! Good times. Good times. I think it was exactly what we all needed. Some good coffee, good jumping, teaching, and loving on the One who deserves it. Night time came and we all went beddy bye.
This morning! Whew....didn't think Id be able to write about it.... yeah, so Saturday some of went running while others walked and, others shopped. Renee and Beth walked around most of the area around here...good sight seeing I guess. Bekah and Eryca went shopping; Aaron went running his own way at his own super fast speed while Asher and I ran at our own pace. We did some yoga and a bunch of stretching afterwards. So nice! Saturday is our down day for the week. We got a lot of stuff done though! Cleaned the whole apartment even-and get this, the BOYS cleaned the bathroom! Ahhhhh! Good for them. Nice work too. Anyway! Karla is getting tired now so hope this wasn't too boring. Thanks for stopping by! Tune in next time to hear Bekah sing Madame Blueberry! We'll get you guys some picture up in here too! Hopefully we can write again before next Saturday. It's almost 12:34 though so! Time for bed! Goodnight and have a wonderful day! Thanks for reading! :D
SO! Where did Bekah leave off?....Oh! So Sunday, which seems like forever ago, we went to a cabin for a retreat. Oh my stars! It was so nice to be around trees and nature and such. I don't know if everyone else loved it, but Karla is from the country, so I loved it there! I forgot how much I enjoyed getting dirty in the woods. ANYWAY! It took us like four hours but we all got there in one piece. We stopped to eat and also to get gas for a potty break! SO! We got to stretch our legs, which was nice. Once we got there, we all, okay...I....rushed up and searched out the rooms to pick the best one. Once everyone was settled, we started playing round robin. WOW! If you did not comprehend this message before, here it is again: Our group is lively. We are outgoing. We are crazy. We do. not. stop. so! You can probably imagine what we may have been like while playing a game of round robin. We were slipping around and sliding. Dodging some ping pong balls Completely missing other ping pong balls and then, of course, those awkward ones that just barely miss your paddle and you're just sitting there like..."What da world? How did that happen?" making this face ;/ heh heh. It was super fun! Then Karla, Renee, Beth and Canada (Aaron) went to explore the premises. I'm pretty sure every single one of us tripped or got a scrape or SOMETHING in the woods! but it was still enjoyable. In the evening we had our cultural awareness lessons. a couple came in to talk to Bekah and I and then someone else came to talk to the Spain/ Columbia teams about the cultures, language, temperature, appropriate dress, etc. It was actually extremely helpful and we all got a lot of our questions answered. We are getting more excited to go to Thailand now that we know what to expect! The end of the day came with a round of ping pong and sitting by the fire.
The next day was Monday. (Odd, I know, that Monday comes after Sunday but you need to learn this some time people!) We had quiet time in the morning so some of us went oustide while others snuggled up on the couch by the fire reading their bibles. It was beautiful oustide. Another mentor, Dick, came to teach us about personalities. That was interesting. We all tried to figure out what Animal personality we were-The Retriever, Lion, Otter, or Beaver. Some of us found that we had different characteristics from all four categories! It was ridiculous! we spent the first half of the morning learning about our personality traits and then we had lunch Bonnie makes wonderful food, so we had a nice break before cracking the whip again at 1:00pm. the afternoon we learned how to put our personality traits to work. In the afternoon we went hiking as a team with Vicky. That was nice; we got to talk a lot and explore-my two favorite things so, of course... for dinner we all went out for Thai food. For some of us it was the first time eating it. I think we can all agree that we enjoyed the food and fellowshipping together. I loved it!- When we got back another couple came to talk to us about team dynamics. We just kinda chilled in the cabin the rest of the night playing games and doing a bunch of dance moves, reading, playing the piano, some karaoke, etc. Good day!
Tuesday came along with seven bright, cheerful faces awakening at 7:00am ready to help Bonnie make breakfast! Just kidding. No one does that. We have few morning people here-and Bonnie is one of them. Our next mentor, Larry, came (and no to you Veggie Tales fans, he was not green, but he was tall). He talked to us about dying to self and where our obedience should lie; he also talked about our priorities. Amy came and showed us a beautiful slide show on her experience in another country to help us focus more on adjustments and what that might look like to go to a different country. The same couple from last night came in the evening and did a crazy game with us! we played another game with them that required us to learn how to communicate with people who don't speak our language and are in a completely different culture. Super fun! Another happy happy day. Lots of learning. So much information in one day. I think everyone's brains were exploding by the end of the day. We crashed for the night...but! Not before another rowdy game of round robin!
Taking showers in the morning was glorious when we were in the woods and had to go to an area under the cabin's porch to take a shower. The water pressure wasn't terrific but it was hot, so we were thankful for that! We had worship with the team and then Vicky lead us in a silent retreat. Some of us stayed inside while others explored deep into the woods and really got into the woods. Karla went into the depths of the woods where no one could be heard and found a tree laying down with another right behind it still standing...it was the perfect chair! SO! I sat there for my time with the LORD. It was glorious! I saw this orange, black and yellow spider making its web between two trees. I just stopped right where I was and watched it. It's fantastic how God makes all of that happen. HE knits us together like that spider knitted its web together. It was just cool to see. After about an hour and a half, we all got back together and discussed things that stuck out to us in our reading or during worship. It seemed like everyone really enjoyed their time with the Lord. After that, we used some great teamwork to clean up the cabin so we could head on back to our apartment. HEY! It is now 12:01am. Today is officially tomorrow! Anyway, we had two volunteers, Randy and Ben, who said they would drive us back. We had lots of amazing discussions. God really does some wonderful, glorious things...I'll just say that much! Beth, Karla, Eryca, and Renee went with them while Asher, Aaron and Bekah went with Bonnie. Of course, we stopped at Walmart before entering the city to stock up on food and be able to stretch our legs out for awhile. We got back to the apartment, relaxed...then...we heard our beds calling us and gladly picked up our bodies and layed them under the comfort of our sleeping bags.
Breakfast for one and all! On Thursday, Beth and Karla went to Breakfast Ministry, then we all had some worship together and some downtime. We went to the Food Pantry for the first time. I know we don't believe in this, but, Holy Cow! (That was a quote from one of our mentors. So funny!) It was a bit hectic and overwhelming once people came. First, we had to put string beans and cucumbers into bags! The Food Pantry gives people cans of fruit, soup, vegetables and beans; boxes of pasta and milk and Raisins! (I used to love raisins when I was little so that was a nice blast from the past!) After working at the Food Pantry we had some down time at the apartment before another of Bonnie's delicious meals was stuffed into our bellies. We had some good old journaling time.
Then, it was Friiiiiday. Friiiiday. Friiiiday. Wakey wakey! Eggs and bakey! World Vision. Yes! SO! Karla, Bekah, Aaron and Asher volunteered to go to the old building to move some " heavy stuff" around. Basicaly, we demolished old desks with hammers for an hour. Then we took down some shelves and stacked them on skids. Oh my stars! SO much fun! I love tearing things apart. It was a workout man! But super fun of course. We were laughing AND working hard at the Same Time! Crazy? Too hard? Not for us! We are tanks. End of story. Everyone else organized boxes at the old site. I'm sure they had fun though. Then, all four of us and our new best friend, Jaime, squeezed into a little truck to head back to the old site. (For Karla's folks, it was a truck with a front only a little bit bigger than Baby Blue, our Little Ranger. Okay, maybe! Maybe it was bigger than that. but the back seats were side ways and we were shoulder to shoulder in the front but still!) That was interesting. so! We forced him to take a picture with us once we got back to the new world vision warehouse where the rest of the team spent their day. Heh heh! when we got back to the apartment we decided to buckle down and read for awhile. We do have to do some reading here, although both Bekah and Karla are not the biggest fans of it, it still needs to be done. We got R done nice and good. (just kidding about that English. I don't always talk like that). Then, Of course! We went to the fun church service again! It was amazing. So energizing and full of life. We got some Starbucks afterwards since it is like Bekah's best friend supposedly. yup! Good times. Good times. I think it was exactly what we all needed. Some good coffee, good jumping, teaching, and loving on the One who deserves it. Night time came and we all went beddy bye.
This morning! Whew....didn't think Id be able to write about it.... yeah, so Saturday some of went running while others walked and, others shopped. Renee and Beth walked around most of the area around here...good sight seeing I guess. Bekah and Eryca went shopping; Aaron went running his own way at his own super fast speed while Asher and I ran at our own pace. We did some yoga and a bunch of stretching afterwards. So nice! Saturday is our down day for the week. We got a lot of stuff done though! Cleaned the whole apartment even-and get this, the BOYS cleaned the bathroom! Ahhhhh! Good for them. Nice work too. Anyway! Karla is getting tired now so hope this wasn't too boring. Thanks for stopping by! Tune in next time to hear Bekah sing Madame Blueberry! We'll get you guys some picture up in here too! Hopefully we can write again before next Saturday. It's almost 12:34 though so! Time for bed! Goodnight and have a wonderful day! Thanks for reading! :D
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