Blog for 7.19.08 to 7.20.08, trip end and final notes…
Alan adds…(don’t forget to read Jordyn’s blog at the end!!!)
Sorry for not blogging sooner, the trip back was long and I looked forward to sleeping in my own bed when I got home.
The last few days of our trip were time for debriefing, recollection, and a well deserved rest! Starting in the morning we finally had a decent breakfast and great lunch! Both were provided by the Northwest churches and not Camp Victor. Now have I said that the Camp Victor food was lacking? Well, when you have a few of our cooks go to work, nothing but the best results and it was good ol’ home cooking! Yum-o! We also had a small time to hang out and talk about the week’s activities, the goods and bads. We discussed the projects and what the outcome was of them. We got A LOT of work done in the heat of the South. Both teams did an excellent job, although some wish that the trip went another week, longer…including yours truly.
That evening we went back to Ms. Ruby’s to say our farewell and also stopped by a house at Brown’s Point. There was basically a concrete foundation and some artifacts left by the hurricane. Some remains of a book, PC, umbrella, and the metal poles of the house are the only things that remained. It’s as if the people deserted the place and never came back. What a sad feeling it was.
Dinner that night was a celebration! We laughed, talked, and enjoyed some nice southern cooking at The Café New Orleans. Ron Delzer suggested it and most of us liked the food. The only thing I forgot…a lot of southern food is deep fried! Mind you I enjoy a good deep friend catfish, deep fried oysters, and deep fried shrimp…but in moderation. My portion was absolutely huge! (I can hear Ron saying I told you so right now…). It was quite the meal (gut bomb!) and all of us gave our left over fried shrimp to Emerson, he ate the rest of it!
Later that night we did a prayer walk over the main bridge that connects Biloxi to Ocean Springs. The whole group of 70 people from thenorthwest churches went about 15 minutes up the bridge, praying for the people of Mississippi, praying for the kid’s relationship with Jesus, and many more. The bridge walk was a good exercise, especially after the friend gut bomb dinner! At the top we joined with another church for prayer. Looking to the east we saw the small town of Ocean Shores…complete and peaceful. To the west we saw the shores of Biloxi, with several casinos in the distance. Yes, unfortunately that county opened the way for gambling in the area. I believe the view is ruined because of the casinos…it looks like Las Vegas, not Mississippi! Mmm…
Sunday, our day of departure saw an important part of our debrief…the love fest, a larger love circle. This activity in our trip has one person in the hot seat, surrounded by the group. We bombard them with words of Love and outpouring affirmation. It does make one a bit nervous and odd feeling. But it is an important part of our team building and communication. This process lasted over 2.5 hours with 31 people! Now we have done a love circle, which is more in depth with only 12 people…and that took over 6 hours! The building of stronger relationships is a result.
The departure home was sort of a bitter sweet end to a great trip. It went smoothly mind you and everyone was reminiscing about it. But I and some others start to feel the loneliness…the term we made up as “Post Partum Mission Trip Disorder.” It doesn’t fully set in till you go to sleep and wake up the next morning in your own room. I mean, when you are with a bunch of great people, your expecting them to be there at your bedside, in the next bunk, or at breakfast; but they are not. For some, it last longer than others. I for one still miss my group, but will definitely remember the great times!
Okay, let me end this since Im rambling. I learned 2 things on this trip.
1) Its not about the project, its about the people. I mean, the projects are helping the Katrina survivors get back on their feet, into new homes, and back to normal life, so they are important. But ultimately it is about those people and spending time with your people, our missions group. Sharing God’s Love with the people you Love, is cool!
2) This brings me to my second point. Hope you can get what Im saying. In my application that I did not turn in…I said that one of my prayers on this trip was to love the kids as God love’s them. This did happen, but with a twist! The kids ended up loving me more, with God’s love, than I did to them! Wow! Now, Im not the touchy, feely, huggy type and a good hand shake will do. But the kids have showed me how to love more, so I can show more love…you know, a hug here and there; and saying nice things or starting a conversation, like a Godly brother and sister type love. I still say Wow and hope I can be more loving to people.
Well, thank you all for your prayers and support on our trip. I hope this blog has brought you some insight on how the trip went. If you have any questions, just let me know. J
I will actually let Jordyn’s blog end this blog series. I feel that her blog is an important testimony of faith for you to read. She and Tyson are taking the steps to get to know Jesus better…they have accepted Christ in to their lives! I am very happy for both and can’t wait to see how they grow in Him! Please read on!
God Bless
Alan Chung
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Jordyn adds…
So this whole week was really fun and a great experience and just what I needed spiritually. I think that the last few days were the most powerful. I really enjoyed going on this trip bcuz as a group we bonded really close and we just acted more like a team than ever. Today was really sad bcuz we were leaving to go back to Seattle which I guess isn’t too bad but I’m really gonna miss the ppl of Mississippi.
One thing that kinda stuck out to me this week was when we went over to Mrs. Ruby’s house to have catfish which was a whole nother experience that I had…haha but when we went to her house, she had a couple of friends and family that was over and we got the opportunity to hear their stories about what went on with them during the hurricane. Mrs. Ruby’s friend Angela shared her story and that was the most powerful story I think that was told. She told us about what it was like when the water was in her house and how it was her and her sister and that they were both scared that they were gonna die and then when they thought it was safe they went and looked outside to see the impact that the storm had made and like just her telling us that God had protected them and that the water went over their house and that He had protected them. She also told of an elderly woman that had written a song during the storm and it was, “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. Thank You, Thank You, Thank You. Thank You, Thank You, Thank You. Thank You, Thank You, Thank You.” Angela added her own verse in that went, “Deliverer, Deliverer, Deliverer. Deliverer, Deliverer, Deliverer. Deliverer, Deliverer, Deliverer.” This really blessed me and hit home and just how I need to be praising God in all situations and not just in times of trouble.
This week I also took a step forward in my new walk with God. I mean I’ve always been a Christian but this week I made the decision to be a Christ follower for my own benefit and not just cuz my family are Christians. Tyson also became a Christian and it was really an answer to prayer bcuz I know that so many ppl had been praying for this day to come and it was a really great experience for the both of us. This trip has really meant so much to me bcuz before I came on this trip I wasn’t really sure what the real reason why I was going on this trip was but throughout the week I found out what my purpose was on this trip. I found out that God wanted me on this trip so that I can realize that it is never too late to come back to Christ and that God is always there for me and that He’ll never leave me and that He will wait for us to come around. This trip was definitely what I needed to get back on track with God and just get my mind back on spiritual things and to just readjust my thinking towards God. On Friday of this week I surrendered my life back to Christ but really after I thought about it, I was just accepting Christ into my life but it was for real this time cuz it was for my own faith and not just cuz it was my parents/family faith. I thank God that I was able to go on this trip cuz it was just a great privilege and I just can’t get over how this trip has really helped me get back on track and go back to the life that I wanted to live. So, for anyone who is reading this, if you could just pray for me and just pray that I will have a servant’s heart in all that I do and that God will help me stay on the right track on this new life that I want to live. So thank you to all who were on this trip bcuz you made this trip so memorable and you make my life worth living (after God of course). =) yupp so thank you all and I would appreciate it if ya’ll would keep me in your prayers. =) <3 always Jordyn
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Blog for 7.18.08
I asked Ron Delzer to blog today…he just said…”Tell ‘em the old guy is still alive.” If you know Ron, his humor is quite sarcastic? Yeah…
Anyway, today was the last day on both our projects. Tim’s team did some more painting of the house and cleanup. At our site we finally got all our painting completed, including a trellis, which unfortunately we didn’t have time to put up. Casey, Emerson, Adam, Jordyn, and I did two more decks that went up, one of which will be a wheelchair ramp to meet ADA standards. Also Josh and Mike continued on the pentagon bench but unfortunately got only as far as three legs done. They simply were waiting around for materials and expertise since it was a technical project. Today we also decided to work later than our 12pm stop time…we worked a regular schedule to get more things done! Way to go team!
Oleg adds…
Ok so it Friday and this week was amazing, I can’t spell so do worry about that.
On this trip I’ve been practicing humility and patience, I was stuck inside the house we where working at doing drywall, it was frustrating. But it helped me grow we met a lot of interesting people from Pennsylvania. Most of all that I learned is to listen to the Spirit for guidance and respond to it right away.
Oleg
Ill add more tomorrow…sorry for being a day behind, our schedule is tough!
I asked Ron Delzer to blog today…he just said…”Tell ‘em the old guy is still alive.” If you know Ron, his humor is quite sarcastic? Yeah…
Anyway, today was the last day on both our projects. Tim’s team did some more painting of the house and cleanup. At our site we finally got all our painting completed, including a trellis, which unfortunately we didn’t have time to put up. Casey, Emerson, Adam, Jordyn, and I did two more decks that went up, one of which will be a wheelchair ramp to meet ADA standards. Also Josh and Mike continued on the pentagon bench but unfortunately got only as far as three legs done. They simply were waiting around for materials and expertise since it was a technical project. Today we also decided to work later than our 12pm stop time…we worked a regular schedule to get more things done! Way to go team!
Oleg adds…
Ok so it Friday and this week was amazing, I can’t spell so do worry about that.
On this trip I’ve been practicing humility and patience, I was stuck inside the house we where working at doing drywall, it was frustrating. But it helped me grow we met a lot of interesting people from Pennsylvania. Most of all that I learned is to listen to the Spirit for guidance and respond to it right away.
Oleg
Ill add more tomorrow…sorry for being a day behind, our schedule is tough!
BTW, added a video, hope you can view it okay. Remember, its not all hard work, you gotta have some fun with the kids!
Alan
Alan
Friday, July 18, 2008
Blog for 7.17.08...on 7.18.08...late!
Blog for 7.17.08...really late edition!
Soory, not much info today since I forgot to blog…it was a long day. Both sites got more work done on the houses. Our site we did more painting and got one of the decks up for stairs into the building since it is about 3 feet off the ground. Josh and Mike continued on a Octagon bench for the site as well. Tim’s site finally finished the siding on the whole house! Way to go! Their next chore was sitting around since their contractor didn’t show up today. However, I believe they started painting the exterior, while Annie and Oleg continued with drywall on the inside.
Garth, Casey, Katie, and Tyson went on third project out to Ms. Annie’s house, where a bathtub, sink, toilet, and vanity were being put in. The cargo van we had was full of supplies for this house…and we didn’t see them all day since it was ~30 miles east of us.
The night saw a great end with a feet washing. Yes, at our worship time we washed each others feet just as Jesus had done to his disciples. It was a very happy, yet tearful moment for us…the symbolism of this gesture being that in order to serve Christ, we must be served by him. For me it was a happy time, seeing all the kids taking in the moment.
Alright, gotta get to bed…I know Im going to snooze the alarm a few times tommowrow!
God Bless
Alan
Soory, not much info today since I forgot to blog…it was a long day. Both sites got more work done on the houses. Our site we did more painting and got one of the decks up for stairs into the building since it is about 3 feet off the ground. Josh and Mike continued on a Octagon bench for the site as well. Tim’s site finally finished the siding on the whole house! Way to go! Their next chore was sitting around since their contractor didn’t show up today. However, I believe they started painting the exterior, while Annie and Oleg continued with drywall on the inside.
Garth, Casey, Katie, and Tyson went on third project out to Ms. Annie’s house, where a bathtub, sink, toilet, and vanity were being put in. The cargo van we had was full of supplies for this house…and we didn’t see them all day since it was ~30 miles east of us.
The night saw a great end with a feet washing. Yes, at our worship time we washed each others feet just as Jesus had done to his disciples. It was a very happy, yet tearful moment for us…the symbolism of this gesture being that in order to serve Christ, we must be served by him. For me it was a happy time, seeing all the kids taking in the moment.
Alright, gotta get to bed…I know Im going to snooze the alarm a few times tommowrow!
God Bless
Alan
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Blog for 7.16.08...10pmish...
Blog below after pictures...
Alan continues…
Tonight’s outing was on the go, since we visited three of the houses that the adults have worked on down here in D’Iberville. Ms. Ruby’s was one of them. We had deep fried catfish…mmm…mmm delish! Along with some Louisiana hot sauce and sweet tea. We also had a few stories of what people did when hurricane Katrina hit almost 3 years ago. The stories were absolutely heart warming and brought a tear to one’s eyes. It was wonderful to hear them and I think it will give a nice boost to the team as we hit through the latter part of the week here. One thing though, through the stories, God is a wonderful God! That was the message…don’t you guys think he is too!? These people were great witnesses to all of the team. They could not thank us enough and we could not be more blessed to be able to be here and serve them! Once again, how wonderful is our God!!!
As I mentioned earlier, Garth went to the hospital with Ron and got some blood tests done. Looks like he will be just fine and up for work on a new project tommowrow. He was able to join us for the house visits. Garth and I took a quick trip to Lowe’s to grab stuff for his project…including a toilet, vanity, tub, sheetrock, and supplies.
Anyway, off to bed…we need some good rest for the rest of the week…thanks for all the encouragement and prayers!
God Bless!
Alan
Blog for 7.16.08
Well, seems like we started the day off slower, but we got going pretty fast once we got out to our job sites. Our site, we hauled off all the scrap wood to the dump in two loads with a trailer. We got the final painting done on the outside walls and all the trim and fake shutters up to dress the trailer home up. We also did some minor clean up as well as planned the beginnings of a stairway and two wheel chair ramps. I also went to the other site, where they were putting up some drywall on the ceilings and a few of the braver ones were doing siding on the outside of the house, 15-20 feet up. I got some interesting pictures from that site. Things also got more interesting from there. First one of our students got hit by a 2x6 falling off the roof of our trailer. She is okay, just with a little bump on the head. We had her rest out a good part of the morning till she felt better.
Then our intrepid contractor man had to be driven to the hospital for an acute pain. Please pray for him, he is doing okay as I type this. Ill give you an update on this later tonight if I can. Finally, I returned to out job site and people were cleaning up a bit early for some reason. Well…we were digging a hole for our post and the foreman on our site hit a gas line! Oops! Needless to say, that was our day and hopefully they’ll have someone out there soon to repair the line.
So, we are back at Camp Victor relaxing and cleaned up before we go have a nice southern meal at Ms. Ruby’s house. Should be nice after having dorm like food here at camp. We wont be going to Sonic tonight however…that’ll be the next night!
More to come…
Jacob adds…
Hello world, I’m excited to write this blog and let everyone know how I am doing. Today was hard because it is the middle of the week and I am tired. But the Lord is answering my prayers and giving me the strength to keep going and to keep a positive attitude. Although the work is difficult, it is so much fun. We are building a house for a lady who was told that her old neighborhood was too devastated by Katrina to rebuild. So we are building a new home for her and her two daughters in a completely different area from where she used to live. For the past three days I have been nailing the siding into the side of the house. It is so cool because I am about two stories off of the ground, on some scaffolding, and using a nail gun. And we are told that we are doing just as good a job as the contractor would. Its really rewarding and I am learning some valuable lessons from the bible. One thing I am learning comes from the parable about Jesus feeding the 5,000 men. At the work site it is slow moving and it doesn’t feel like we are doing a lot but I learned that Jesus can take something really small and multiply it. So I know that the work we are doing will be multiplied by God and used for His glory. Also I learned last night that we serve Jesus by serving others. This came from the parable about the sheep and the goats. For instance, when I feed my friend or stranger who is hungry I am actually feeding Jesus. And vis-versa. If I ignore people in need then I am ignoring Jesus. This helps me a lot to have a more compassionate heart and it makes me really look for a way to server others. So thats all and I hope everyone is having a great summer back home and I can’t wait to get back and apply what I am learning.
In Gods name!
Jacob
Well, seems like we started the day off slower, but we got going pretty fast once we got out to our job sites. Our site, we hauled off all the scrap wood to the dump in two loads with a trailer. We got the final painting done on the outside walls and all the trim and fake shutters up to dress the trailer home up. We also did some minor clean up as well as planned the beginnings of a stairway and two wheel chair ramps. I also went to the other site, where they were putting up some drywall on the ceilings and a few of the braver ones were doing siding on the outside of the house, 15-20 feet up. I got some interesting pictures from that site. Things also got more interesting from there. First one of our students got hit by a 2x6 falling off the roof of our trailer. She is okay, just with a little bump on the head. We had her rest out a good part of the morning till she felt better.
Then our intrepid contractor man had to be driven to the hospital for an acute pain. Please pray for him, he is doing okay as I type this. Ill give you an update on this later tonight if I can. Finally, I returned to out job site and people were cleaning up a bit early for some reason. Well…we were digging a hole for our post and the foreman on our site hit a gas line! Oops! Needless to say, that was our day and hopefully they’ll have someone out there soon to repair the line.
So, we are back at Camp Victor relaxing and cleaned up before we go have a nice southern meal at Ms. Ruby’s house. Should be nice after having dorm like food here at camp. We wont be going to Sonic tonight however…that’ll be the next night!
More to come…
Jacob adds…
Hello world, I’m excited to write this blog and let everyone know how I am doing. Today was hard because it is the middle of the week and I am tired. But the Lord is answering my prayers and giving me the strength to keep going and to keep a positive attitude. Although the work is difficult, it is so much fun. We are building a house for a lady who was told that her old neighborhood was too devastated by Katrina to rebuild. So we are building a new home for her and her two daughters in a completely different area from where she used to live. For the past three days I have been nailing the siding into the side of the house. It is so cool because I am about two stories off of the ground, on some scaffolding, and using a nail gun. And we are told that we are doing just as good a job as the contractor would. Its really rewarding and I am learning some valuable lessons from the bible. One thing I am learning comes from the parable about Jesus feeding the 5,000 men. At the work site it is slow moving and it doesn’t feel like we are doing a lot but I learned that Jesus can take something really small and multiply it. So I know that the work we are doing will be multiplied by God and used for His glory. Also I learned last night that we serve Jesus by serving others. This came from the parable about the sheep and the goats. For instance, when I feed my friend or stranger who is hungry I am actually feeding Jesus. And vis-versa. If I ignore people in need then I am ignoring Jesus. This helps me a lot to have a more compassionate heart and it makes me really look for a way to server others. So thats all and I hope everyone is having a great summer back home and I can’t wait to get back and apply what I am learning.
In Gods name!
Jacob
Alan continues…
Tonight’s outing was on the go, since we visited three of the houses that the adults have worked on down here in D’Iberville. Ms. Ruby’s was one of them. We had deep fried catfish…mmm…mmm delish! Along with some Louisiana hot sauce and sweet tea. We also had a few stories of what people did when hurricane Katrina hit almost 3 years ago. The stories were absolutely heart warming and brought a tear to one’s eyes. It was wonderful to hear them and I think it will give a nice boost to the team as we hit through the latter part of the week here. One thing though, through the stories, God is a wonderful God! That was the message…don’t you guys think he is too!? These people were great witnesses to all of the team. They could not thank us enough and we could not be more blessed to be able to be here and serve them! Once again, how wonderful is our God!!!
As I mentioned earlier, Garth went to the hospital with Ron and got some blood tests done. Looks like he will be just fine and up for work on a new project tommowrow. He was able to join us for the house visits. Garth and I took a quick trip to Lowe’s to grab stuff for his project…including a toilet, vanity, tub, sheetrock, and supplies.
Anyway, off to bed…we need some good rest for the rest of the week…thanks for all the encouragement and prayers!
God Bless!
Alan
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Blog for 7.15.08, 4pmish...
Blog for 7.15.08…4pm
Just got back from the work site we are at. Our site is an office for case workers that place people in homes, out of those nasty FEMA trailers that everyone has heard about. We have quite a bit of work to do, but have finished quite a bit. We have already painted, done some clean up work on a pile of scrap wood, and trimmed the building. We still have to construct two stairways and a wheel chair ramp, as well as finish painting and cleaning the site.
Another part of our group is working on a fresh from the ground up house. This included insulation, drywall, and siding. They have quite a bit of work to do as well. And another group stayed back at camp and cleaned the whole place…mopping, sweeping, and dinner prep. Looks like both of our groups will be at our respective sites for a few more days.
Oh…the weather…not bad today, less humid as there were no clouds. Felt good…hot still, but better.
Josh adds…Today we finally finished digging holes for the fence, or at least I think it’s for a fence. I really got to know Meagan who is an addition to our team from Grahm, and Ryan; we painted trim for all the windows and doors and got paint all over. To make time go faster we played a game where if you saw a bug of any kind we had to name it then paint over it. At lunch we had a swinging contest to see who could jump the farthest. When we got back to camp Meagan, Ryan, and I walked around the town and got coffee.
Hi Mom, hi Aaronito. I miss you <3
Rachel adds…Instead of going to the work sites today, a few people from our group and I got to stay at Camp Victor and clean. We scrubbed toilets, mopped floors, watered plants, and more. Even though we were cleaning all day, we had a fantastic time. Plus, we got to shower before a line formed. There is a really super amazing coffee place that we can walk to that I visited today. It’s nothing compared to Starbucks, but it’s good enough until we get back to Washington.
I love you Mom and Dad and Shannon and Adam!
Lauren adds…Well, I have pretty much become the master trailer painter. That’s all I have done for the past 2 days is paint the trailer. Ron has started calling Abby and I the A & L painting company. We had a contest between me and Abby and Amy and Jordan. We each started on opposite sides of the portable and painted towards the center. The prize for the winning team was milk shakes from Sonics. Abby and I won by a hair but all four of us got milkshakes for a great job. J I’m having a great time but I miss the Washington weather! It wasn’t as hot as yesterday but I still sweated a ton! Tomorrow we are going to Miss Ruby’s for a catfish dinner. That will be interesting.
Hi Mom, Dad, Benny, Grace, Anna, Pedro, Tamale, Barboach, Blueberry, Molly, Freddie, Eddie, Gunny, and Gidget! I miss you all!
We hope you are all having great week so far, thanks for praying, and have a great night!
Off to SONIC we go for a late night snack! HAHA!
Alan
Just got back from the work site we are at. Our site is an office for case workers that place people in homes, out of those nasty FEMA trailers that everyone has heard about. We have quite a bit of work to do, but have finished quite a bit. We have already painted, done some clean up work on a pile of scrap wood, and trimmed the building. We still have to construct two stairways and a wheel chair ramp, as well as finish painting and cleaning the site.
Another part of our group is working on a fresh from the ground up house. This included insulation, drywall, and siding. They have quite a bit of work to do as well. And another group stayed back at camp and cleaned the whole place…mopping, sweeping, and dinner prep. Looks like both of our groups will be at our respective sites for a few more days.
Oh…the weather…not bad today, less humid as there were no clouds. Felt good…hot still, but better.
Josh adds…Today we finally finished digging holes for the fence, or at least I think it’s for a fence. I really got to know Meagan who is an addition to our team from Grahm, and Ryan; we painted trim for all the windows and doors and got paint all over. To make time go faster we played a game where if you saw a bug of any kind we had to name it then paint over it. At lunch we had a swinging contest to see who could jump the farthest. When we got back to camp Meagan, Ryan, and I walked around the town and got coffee.
Hi Mom, hi Aaronito. I miss you <3
Rachel adds…Instead of going to the work sites today, a few people from our group and I got to stay at Camp Victor and clean. We scrubbed toilets, mopped floors, watered plants, and more. Even though we were cleaning all day, we had a fantastic time. Plus, we got to shower before a line formed. There is a really super amazing coffee place that we can walk to that I visited today. It’s nothing compared to Starbucks, but it’s good enough until we get back to Washington.
I love you Mom and Dad and Shannon and Adam!
Lauren adds…Well, I have pretty much become the master trailer painter. That’s all I have done for the past 2 days is paint the trailer. Ron has started calling Abby and I the A & L painting company. We had a contest between me and Abby and Amy and Jordan. We each started on opposite sides of the portable and painted towards the center. The prize for the winning team was milk shakes from Sonics. Abby and I won by a hair but all four of us got milkshakes for a great job. J I’m having a great time but I miss the Washington weather! It wasn’t as hot as yesterday but I still sweated a ton! Tomorrow we are going to Miss Ruby’s for a catfish dinner. That will be interesting.
Hi Mom, Dad, Benny, Grace, Anna, Pedro, Tamale, Barboach, Blueberry, Molly, Freddie, Eddie, Gunny, and Gidget! I miss you all!
We hope you are all having great week so far, thanks for praying, and have a great night!
Off to SONIC we go for a late night snack! HAHA!
Alan
Monday, July 14, 2008
Blog for 7.14.08, 4:30 pm
Jordyn adds...
I think that today was really fun with all my friends and cleaning the camp and helping other people at the camp was a really great experience. I had fun cleaning the bathrooms with Megan and with Brittnea and just working together and just how we all stuck together and pulled through. We woke up this morning all stoked to work as a team and then my group got separated into two groups and it was pretty cool cause like my team gotta go back to the camp and help the people clean up the camp and yeah so it was pretty chill. My group members consisted of Megan, Brittnea, Alycia, Tommy Ann, and Casey. We cleaned the showers and the bathrooms and the floors and helped prepare dinner and we did some laundry. It was a pretty chill day but I was happy that I kinda got the cleaning the camp day part over so that we could just work the rest of the week and enjoy this hot miserable weather and be a good sport aboot it. Yeah so that was basically my day and Im looking forward to eating dinner cuz of the watermelon and Megan and my hit list =)
~Jordyn
Megan adds…
Today I was at the camp all day long. I thought that it would be pretty lame but turns out it was really fun. I got to do some team bonding with a few people. It was nice and I didn’t sweat a lot like I would have if I was outside. I would say that it was a very interesting day filled with some good stories and one really rude human but I won’t say any names. I just hope that I have a good rest of the week.
-Megan
Jordyn adds...
I think that today was really fun with all my friends and cleaning the camp and helping other people at the camp was a really great experience. I had fun cleaning the bathrooms with Megan and with Brittnea and just working together and just how we all stuck together and pulled through. We woke up this morning all stoked to work as a team and then my group got separated into two groups and it was pretty cool cause like my team gotta go back to the camp and help the people clean up the camp and yeah so it was pretty chill. My group members consisted of Megan, Brittnea, Alycia, Tommy Ann, and Casey. We cleaned the showers and the bathrooms and the floors and helped prepare dinner and we did some laundry. It was a pretty chill day but I was happy that I kinda got the cleaning the camp day part over so that we could just work the rest of the week and enjoy this hot miserable weather and be a good sport aboot it. Yeah so that was basically my day and Im looking forward to eating dinner cuz of the watermelon and Megan and my hit list =)
~Jordyn
Megan adds…
Today I was at the camp all day long. I thought that it would be pretty lame but turns out it was really fun. I got to do some team bonding with a few people. It was nice and I didn’t sweat a lot like I would have if I was outside. I would say that it was a very interesting day filled with some good stories and one really rude human but I won’t say any names. I just hope that I have a good rest of the week.
-Megan
blog...err pictures for 7.14.08...more pictures at...
http://s93.photobucket.com/albums/l73/lutajoe/SERVE%202008%20Mississippi/
Will post more later.
Alan
http://s93.photobucket.com/albums/l73/lutajoe/SERVE%202008%20Mississippi/
Will post more later.
Alan
SOORY for the late post, I may be behind a day because of our very busy and packed schedule. Ill blog on that later and let you know how it goes...Here is yesterdays blog...
Blog for 7.13.08, 4pm
Casey says…The southern gospel church was a lot different from OSBC and it rained really really hard and I almost got struck by lightning but I jumped out of the way.
Ryan Heath says…
Well, today was interesting. We went to a gospel church which was amazing. Their way of worship in much different than how we worship. And the message was given in a very straight forward way which got the point across in a way that was understandable. After church we had time to walk around town. In a matter of a few minutes the weather went from warm and sunny to rainy and stormy. The walk back from the gas station we were at back to Camp Victor was not fun. By the time we were back to the camp were completely soaked from head to toe.
Megan Hertz says…….
Wow this trip has been pretty rad. We went to this awesome church today it was so bumpin’. The people were oh so friendly. To add to the greatness it rained really hard and I got pretty soaked. I am pretty much loving this trip
Peace.
The church we went to this morning was very different! Victory International Calvary Church is located a few miles from Camp Victor. They are full gospel church of about 150 members. They were very welcoming to us when we entered and even sang a song to us visitors! The Word of God was given first, followed by worship. Although the way they did the service, it seemed like the whole service was worship. The pastor was very charismatic in his sermon.Later in the day we got out to Wal-Mart and got through one of the many thunderstorms that are common in the area. There was probably about 2 inches of standing water in the parking lot after 1 minute of rain! It definitely doesn’t rain that hard in the Northwest!
Alan
Blog for 7.13.08, 4pm
Casey says…The southern gospel church was a lot different from OSBC and it rained really really hard and I almost got struck by lightning but I jumped out of the way.
Ryan Heath says…
Well, today was interesting. We went to a gospel church which was amazing. Their way of worship in much different than how we worship. And the message was given in a very straight forward way which got the point across in a way that was understandable. After church we had time to walk around town. In a matter of a few minutes the weather went from warm and sunny to rainy and stormy. The walk back from the gas station we were at back to Camp Victor was not fun. By the time we were back to the camp were completely soaked from head to toe.
Megan Hertz says…….
Wow this trip has been pretty rad. We went to this awesome church today it was so bumpin’. The people were oh so friendly. To add to the greatness it rained really hard and I got pretty soaked. I am pretty much loving this trip
Peace.
The church we went to this morning was very different! Victory International Calvary Church is located a few miles from Camp Victor. They are full gospel church of about 150 members. They were very welcoming to us when we entered and even sang a song to us visitors! The Word of God was given first, followed by worship. Although the way they did the service, it seemed like the whole service was worship. The pastor was very charismatic in his sermon.Later in the day we got out to Wal-Mart and got through one of the many thunderstorms that are common in the area. There was probably about 2 inches of standing water in the parking lot after 1 minute of rain! It definitely doesn’t rain that hard in the Northwest!
Alan
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Pictures for our Mississippi trip are posted at...
http://s93.photobucket.com/albums/l73/lutajoe/SERVE%202008%20Mississippi/
password: 777
Enjoy, much more to come in the next few days!
Alan
http://s93.photobucket.com/albums/l73/lutajoe/SERVE%202008%20Mississippi/
password: 777
Enjoy, much more to come in the next few days!
Alan
Blog for 7/12/08, 10pm
Hi everyone! We are safely in Ocean Springs, Mississippi. After a short flight from Atlanta, we got our transportation quickly and proceded to Camp Victor in Ocean Springs, which is 20 minutes from the Gulf Port/Buloxi airport. The weather...humid and hot as to be expected. The clothes on your back start sticking right away and it feels like your in a sauna. Good thing where we are staying has air conditioning!
Camp Victor is a converted warehouse that used to be four walls. Now it is filled with larger cubicles that house bunks for people that stay specifically for trips like ours. It also contains a kitchen, laundry and bath facilities. There are about 150 people total staying here from our large national group.
The rest of the day we spent either catching up on our sleep or having a little relax and fun down at the beach a 1/2 mile away. We also got to have some worship time with the other Northwesternes here and debrief with our OSBC group.
Before going to sleep though, we were viewing God's fireworks so to speak. There a frequent thunderstorms here in the Gulf during this time of year. For the locals, its an everyday thing, but for our northwesterners, it a fabulous and intriguing light show! We went down to the beach and spent a few minutes watching this wonder.
Otherwise, a nice day to grab supplies and relax a bit after our long flight from Seattle.
Once again, thanks for your prayers. Please pray for our team's health, strength, and maybe a little wind to help us keep cool!
God Bless and Good Night
Alan
Hi everyone! We are safely in Ocean Springs, Mississippi. After a short flight from Atlanta, we got our transportation quickly and proceded to Camp Victor in Ocean Springs, which is 20 minutes from the Gulf Port/Buloxi airport. The weather...humid and hot as to be expected. The clothes on your back start sticking right away and it feels like your in a sauna. Good thing where we are staying has air conditioning!
Camp Victor is a converted warehouse that used to be four walls. Now it is filled with larger cubicles that house bunks for people that stay specifically for trips like ours. It also contains a kitchen, laundry and bath facilities. There are about 150 people total staying here from our large national group.
The rest of the day we spent either catching up on our sleep or having a little relax and fun down at the beach a 1/2 mile away. We also got to have some worship time with the other Northwesternes here and debrief with our OSBC group.
Before going to sleep though, we were viewing God's fireworks so to speak. There a frequent thunderstorms here in the Gulf during this time of year. For the locals, its an everyday thing, but for our northwesterners, it a fabulous and intriguing light show! We went down to the beach and spent a few minutes watching this wonder.
Otherwise, a nice day to grab supplies and relax a bit after our long flight from Seattle.
Once again, thanks for your prayers. Please pray for our team's health, strength, and maybe a little wind to help us keep cool!
God Bless and Good Night
Alan
SERVE2008 Mississippi Blog for 7/12/08, 6am
We are here at ATL, Atlanta International Airport. Half of the group is up and chipper and walking around, grabbing food and drinks. The other half is fast asleep on the blue chairs here. The departure went very smoothly from SEA and the flight was smooth. Most everyone slept on the plane, although there were a few that are not airplane sleepers, so they stayed up and read.
Some of the kids are flying for the first time in many years. Aryanna is flying for the first time since she was 2 and was very excited! Brittnea on the other hand was very apprehensive on take off, since she doesn’t like heights. She is fine though, she kept herself busy by drawing.
Right now we are sitting and waiting for a few hours for our flight to Gulf Port.
Emerson Marsh adds…
I did not sleep!
Casey Cox adds….
The flight was very long!
Abby Evans adds…
So pretty much the flight was all but comfortable or pleasant but here we are now in Atlanta, Georgia sitting around wait for our next flight to Mississippi!! Looking forward to what Mississippi brings!!
Ill add more when we get to Gulf Port. Cheers!
Alan
We are here at ATL, Atlanta International Airport. Half of the group is up and chipper and walking around, grabbing food and drinks. The other half is fast asleep on the blue chairs here. The departure went very smoothly from SEA and the flight was smooth. Most everyone slept on the plane, although there were a few that are not airplane sleepers, so they stayed up and read.
Some of the kids are flying for the first time in many years. Aryanna is flying for the first time since she was 2 and was very excited! Brittnea on the other hand was very apprehensive on take off, since she doesn’t like heights. She is fine though, she kept herself busy by drawing.
Right now we are sitting and waiting for a few hours for our flight to Gulf Port.
Emerson Marsh adds…
I did not sleep!
Casey Cox adds….
The flight was very long!
Abby Evans adds…
So pretty much the flight was all but comfortable or pleasant but here we are now in Atlanta, Georgia sitting around wait for our next flight to Mississippi!! Looking forward to what Mississippi brings!!
Ill add more when we get to Gulf Port. Cheers!
Alan
Monday, July 7, 2008
The first entry, first blog, 7.10.08
Hey Everyone!
After a busy week shopping for cool summer clothes, bug spray, batteries, and whatever we need on the trip, we finally come to the day of our departure. Its early on and a lot of the kids and leaders included are excited for our trip to Jackson County, Mississippi. Many are in their devotionals and getting spiritually ready for the trip ahead.
I hope to add to this blog daily, with a few interjections from our students and leaders as the days go by, so you may get a chance to see your child and/or loved one make a comment about the trip here. I'll see if I can keep tabs on it and keep it going!
You probably wonder what information is out there on what we are doing and where we will be staying. Here is the website for Project Forget Us Not...
http://www.projectforgetusnot.com
And we will be staying at Camp Victor Ministries, Ocean Springs, Mississippi; an old factory converted specifically for helping the community rebuild after Hurrican Katrina.
http://campvictor.org
Thanks again for all the support and prayers we have had for this trip! More info to follow...
Alan
After a busy week shopping for cool summer clothes, bug spray, batteries, and whatever we need on the trip, we finally come to the day of our departure. Its early on and a lot of the kids and leaders included are excited for our trip to Jackson County, Mississippi. Many are in their devotionals and getting spiritually ready for the trip ahead.
I hope to add to this blog daily, with a few interjections from our students and leaders as the days go by, so you may get a chance to see your child and/or loved one make a comment about the trip here. I'll see if I can keep tabs on it and keep it going!
You probably wonder what information is out there on what we are doing and where we will be staying. Here is the website for Project Forget Us Not...
http://www.projectforgetusnot.com
And we will be staying at Camp Victor Ministries, Ocean Springs, Mississippi; an old factory converted specifically for helping the community rebuild after Hurrican Katrina.
http://campvictor.org
Thanks again for all the support and prayers we have had for this trip! More info to follow...
Alan
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