Friday and Returning Home

We had a great time at King's Island. Spencer faced her fear of heights and roller coasters and ended up riding almost every ride, including the slingshot! We all bonded together at the end to ride together and share funny stories about our mission trip!

Over the whole week, I saw amazing changes take place in the lives of 5 wonderfully blessed youth. Steve, Gary, and I had the privilege of working with the kids and being apart of fantastic growth: spiritually, and otherwise. The kids all have amazing things to say about the trip and their own personal growth and understanding of their relationship with Christ. They made lasting memories and are already finding their new friends on Facebook and MySpace.

The trip was so much more beneficial than the work that we can see on the surface. The kids made an incredible impact on the appearance of Garden of Hope and are all very proud of their work. The other benefits will affect them for the rest of their lives. This is the first of many mission trips to come, and the kids are already planning next years.

They will be in church Sunday to share their experiences with the congregation and to thank everyone for their love, prayers and support.

Thank you for everything,.

In Christ,

Steph

Thursday Night Worship

After 4 days of working for God, He is now working in us! God has been speaking to our youth kids all week and has moved mountains in their hearts!

Worship tonight was so powerful. The kids had quiet time to pray and reflect. We laid our burdens at the foot of the cross and left brand new. We each talked about the positive changes we are experiencing this week and how we are going to take it Home.

The glory doesn't stop here!

We can't wait to come back home and share our experiences with our families, friends, and congregation!

Pray for a safe trip and fun day at kings island, as well as safe travels home.

Wow He is so good!!

Steph

Free Time!

During our free time today, we went to the Newport Aquarium. One word: MAGNIFICENT! The kids, Steve, and I LOVED it! We had a lot of time left so we went to the movies and saw Karate Kid. We are now sitting down to enjoy pizza together and then head back to the church to show off our Souled Out shirts and have our closing worship service! Should be fun!

Steph

Thursday

Sydney and Bailey working w/ preschoolers

VBS Thursday

Bailey and Sydney and Steve worked with the preschoolers. Sydney was awesome at taking the lead and working with the kids!Spencer did a great job taking the lead with the elementary kids as Jeremy led the questions and Donnie squirted the kids with water! I think we have 5 eligible crew members for our VBS August 2-6!

Good Evening!

We have heard Isaiah 6 today twice. I know that I am called to ministry and have been praying for my youth kids to be open to what God is calling them to do. After an amazing worship tonight, some of the kids have spoken up about how God has been speaking to them this week. They are all coming out of their shells in their own way and having so much fun. They don't want to leave! I love it! Prayer really pays off!

The kids usually have free time. The past few days they have Hung out with each other but tonight they really branched out and made new friends! The girls and I had a BLAST singing karaoke! Donnie and Jeremy made new friends playing cards and stacking cups!

Before worship, right at dinner time our final Souled Out member arrived! -Steve!-

He had a great time getting to know everyone, learning that he missed all the dirty work, and enjoying the worship and devotional time with us.

The kids worked very hard and are all very tired! After playing hard during free time, its time for SLEEP!

GOOD NIGHT!

Steph

Wednesday Continued....

Everyone was feeling pretty worn out today...the Garden of Hope was very successful, though. Jeremy, Donnie, and I chopped some serious shrubbery before beginning the other work. I discovered muscles I forgot I had!

Bailey and Spencer helped paint. Sydney worked with TEAMeffort staff member Rebecca finishing up the weeding. Donnie helped wherever needed. Jeremy, Gary and I uprooted and untangled some serious vines with huge roots. All of us pitched in wherever needed to continue to make the Garden of Hope look great! It's wonderful because we can see our progress before we leave!

Wednesday.....

Spencer, Donnie, and Jeremy played a shark game with the elementary kids and taught them that GOD'S WORD IS SURPRISING!!

Tuesday...

The Lord works in mysterious ways..And in wonderful ways for our youth group!!

Today was awesome! The kids overcame their apprehension about leading VBS groups and working out in the hot sun to completely shock me and make me SO PROUD!

As we worked at VBS, Sydney discovered her new love for preschoolers as Spencer found her inner voice! Jeremy and Donnie led the elementary kids in an awesome obstacle course!

At the Garden of Hope, I continued to be energetic and cheer on Team Souled Out (Our youth group is named Souled Out...just in case you were wondering :) ) as they helped tidy up the garden. The girls were so awesome about initiating work and they even split up and worked with other youth and leaders!!! I am so proud of how hard they worked today!

Jeremy was all over the place helping wherever was needed. Gary loved working with power tools and helping everyone work together. Bailey and Donnie were given praise tonight at worship for their awesome job today! I didn't even see Donnie at the garden because he was off working hard the whole time!

Sydney and I are master weeders! The place is looking AMAZING!!! Worship tonight was really powerful. The kids are really opening up in our discussions and God is really working great things in their hearts! COS SOULED OUT ROCKS!

More tomorrow!

Steph

Monday's Work

We ate lunch with another youth group who was working at the warehouse. Last week, TEAMeffort sorted hundreds of pounds of clothes to send to Ghana.

After lunch we set out on our next mission...

Today we had the privilege of stepping foot in the tomb where Jesus was buried. Well not the exact same, but an exact replica of the tomb in Jerusalem. The tomb stands in Covington, Kentucky at a wonderful place called Garden of Hope.

The owner of G of H gave us an amazing tour of his wonderful property. There is a statue of Jesus weeping, a chapel, lots of artifacts including a 500 lb rock from Solomon's wall!

After learning so much, they put us to work! The kids worked for hours in the hot sun weeding and helping to make the tomb and the G of H look fabulous! Even through the miserable heat, the kids did a great job! The tomb looks so much better!!

Just in one day, the kids have overcome some whining and discomfort to begin to understand that they are here for God and to do God's work! I'm so proud of them!

After an amazing shower, we had pizza and some free time! Worship is at 8 ! Pray for God's continued presence!

Peace to you this evening,

Steph

VBS "R" Us!

Jeremy is GREAT with the preschoolers!

Sydney and Bailey working with the Elementary Age children.

Working with VBS

Our first "work" Is to work with the church's VBS. We led games for preschool and elementary age kids and the good news is that we're awake we are having a great time!!

Good MONDAY Morning!

Sleepy..zzzz..








Lining up for breakfast...
NOT morning people!








PANCAKES!!!




Jeremy got his appetite back... notice the empty plate on the table while he goes back for seconds!

Sunday Night

The trip to Kentucky was not too bad! We stopped to eat at kfc/taco bell about 10 miles to our destination. When we arrived at the church, we had an interesting adventure trying to figure out which door of the gigantic church to go in! Once we found the right door, we were greeted by the TEAMeffort staff. They were very energetic and welcoming. We had time to get settled in our rooms and hang out before worship.

There are 2 other youth groups here. One from Greensboro, NC and the other from Pennsylvania.
We received a great intro to the week with an energetic musical performance by the staff, praise & worship singing, prayer and a video describing the theme for the week: scaffolding.

Scriptures for the day:
Proverbs 3:3-6 and Romans 12:1

We are looking for the things beyond the schedule: the unique, Unexpected things God has planned for us this week!!

Pray that God can build a scaffolding around each youth member here so that He can build and renew in each life.

Thank you all for the prayers,

Steph

Worship

Settling In....