Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Monday, June 8, 2009
Week One... And so it begins...
The first week or so of our summer missionary journey has been quite interesting. Few are the weeks in which I have accomplished so much, and met so many and interesting people.
FSBC Lake Havasu (LH) really took great care of us, they treated us to Olive Garden for our first meal (softening us up eh? :P) and then we started the drive up. Patrick, the Matts, and I rode up with Pastor Bob, he is a really neat guy and told us several great stories (including the aforementioned Glasses/Peter story) and generally kept us entertained on the way up... Didn't even read my book (which those of you who know me know is quite rare...)
After we got to LH we meet our host families, Mark and Deanna were the host family for us guys, they took great care of us, kept us supplied with snacks and such, and even washed our clothes for us a couple times.
We sang during the morning service at church while Matt Howard and Patrick played their guitars, I think we did a fine job. After church we ate at the church's potluck lunch that they had that day. After lunch we went over to the Pastor's house and had a pool party, it gave us a chance to meet several of the church's youth, and to just hang out with each other.
Monday, the real work started. We show up and move materials into their sanctuary for the train we built throughout most of the week. We also were shown the huge pile of music we needed to sort, I have to admit that when we first saw that stack of paper (almost the length of my entire arm…) I wondered if we were going to be able to finish sorting in the week we had (we did actually only took us two days of near-constant work…).
Besides sorting the music, we also: built a train for their Worship Rally - complete with train station and signage for said train station, passed out about a thousand flyers to houses around the church, helped decorate several of their VBS rooms, Matt and Patrick played and sang at their Wednesday Youth service, and we even helped them clean up for their next Sunday service.
Needless to say, they kept us plenty busy, but I think this week was very good for our group, it gave us time to work all together as a complete team, and to get to know each other better before we split up to our various churches. We learned that even when the job seems insanely hard, or just very tedious, that if we stick together and keep our trust in God, we can do most anything.
Moving on from the not-so-brief synopsis of our first week to more spiritual matters. I really felt God moving in our group this week, I never saw someone just sitting around when there some something readily available to do (which for a bunch of college kids is rather impressive…), even when we were facing a task that seemed insurmountable people kept on going, and there was more singing that week that I have heard in a while, someone was always singing a hymn or praise song… and not just because we were sorting a bunch of praise music, even after we had finished we were still randomly singing… The spirit of worship was just continuously with us the entire week. God has already done some great things with this group, and I believe that he will continue to do so…
I know this has been rather long, will try to keep the later ones closer together but shorter. Then again, I like typing, so no promises on that account :D.
Thanks for reading,
Troy (Craig) Daniel
FSBC Lake Havasu (LH) really took great care of us, they treated us to Olive Garden for our first meal (softening us up eh? :P) and then we started the drive up. Patrick, the Matts, and I rode up with Pastor Bob, he is a really neat guy and told us several great stories (including the aforementioned Glasses/Peter story) and generally kept us entertained on the way up... Didn't even read my book (which those of you who know me know is quite rare...)
After we got to LH we meet our host families, Mark and Deanna were the host family for us guys, they took great care of us, kept us supplied with snacks and such, and even washed our clothes for us a couple times.
We sang during the morning service at church while Matt Howard and Patrick played their guitars, I think we did a fine job. After church we ate at the church's potluck lunch that they had that day. After lunch we went over to the Pastor's house and had a pool party, it gave us a chance to meet several of the church's youth, and to just hang out with each other.
Monday, the real work started. We show up and move materials into their sanctuary for the train we built throughout most of the week. We also were shown the huge pile of music we needed to sort, I have to admit that when we first saw that stack of paper (almost the length of my entire arm…) I wondered if we were going to be able to finish sorting in the week we had (we did actually only took us two days of near-constant work…).
Besides sorting the music, we also: built a train for their Worship Rally - complete with train station and signage for said train station, passed out about a thousand flyers to houses around the church, helped decorate several of their VBS rooms, Matt and Patrick played and sang at their Wednesday Youth service, and we even helped them clean up for their next Sunday service.
Needless to say, they kept us plenty busy, but I think this week was very good for our group, it gave us time to work all together as a complete team, and to get to know each other better before we split up to our various churches. We learned that even when the job seems insanely hard, or just very tedious, that if we stick together and keep our trust in God, we can do most anything.
Moving on from the not-so-brief synopsis of our first week to more spiritual matters. I really felt God moving in our group this week, I never saw someone just sitting around when there some something readily available to do (which for a bunch of college kids is rather impressive…), even when we were facing a task that seemed insurmountable people kept on going, and there was more singing that week that I have heard in a while, someone was always singing a hymn or praise song… and not just because we were sorting a bunch of praise music, even after we had finished we were still randomly singing… The spirit of worship was just continuously with us the entire week. God has already done some great things with this group, and I believe that he will continue to do so…
I know this has been rather long, will try to keep the later ones closer together but shorter. Then again, I like typing, so no promises on that account :D.
Thanks for reading,
Troy (Craig) Daniel
Because copy/paste is my best friend!!
I posted this for some friends as a facebook note on Saturday morning, and we did learn to share growing up ;D
"This week was the first week of summer missions.
how wonderful it is! : ) It has definitely not been what i expected, but wow, God is good!
The team that I am working with is pretty stinking awesome, and its neat how quickly we joined together and started working -as a team-..
Week one was spent at Lake Havasu, which is an absolutely beautiful place. A lot of what we did was preparation for their Vacation Bible School, and little jobs that were needed around the church! To be honest, when we walked in and my first job was to organize the music library, which had things that needed to be filed dating back to 2007, I just wanted to turn around and book a flight back home, but that job, as mediocre and as slave labor as it seemed, really brought the team together and i think it helped us grow as a team! We were able to finish it in two days, something none of us expected possible.
The days started off going reeeeeallllly slow, and I took it as a bad sign of things to come. (What can I say, some times I don't think on the bright side) So what do you do when you are feeling ;pessimistic a bout doing the work that God has called you to do?! Pray! And in that prayer he showed me something really neat!
We are all given tools to share the word, but how many of us utilize the tools that have been given to us? "I believe that with the faith of a mustardseed, I can move mountains"... A mustardseed is SO small, but we say that our faith is HUGE. so why are we not moving moutains?! It worries me to no end that these tools that we are given (and our faith is definitely one of the tools) are going to waste, and that we, as christians, are too. Romans 10:14-15 says: But how can they call on Him to whom they have not believed? And how can they believe without hearing about Him? And how can they hear without a preacher? And how can they preach without being sent? As it was Written: How welcome are the feet of those who serve the Lord....... How beautiful the feet of those who serve the Lord. This summer we are serving, but more than that, I hope that after this summer, this team that I am a part of can have the ability to say that they have beautiful feet. Our feet are just another tool used to go spread the gospel and to show people the love of our God who loves us more than we could ever know.
How wonderful a feeling that is.
This was long and drawn out, but one last thing.
My prayer for this summer is that as I grow, in my walk and in the more literal ways, physically and emotionally, I hope that the glory of God shines through my words and my actions, I pray that people see the light shining through, not only me, but everyone that is here for that purpose this summer, God is good! And we live in a generation that is not sharing that love, and that goodness, its time to change that!
if you would, please:
Pray for me, today, this week, and this summer.
Pray for the team that I am working with, and pray for the people we encounter
it is going to be quite the trip!
:)
-amanda"
how wonderful it is! : ) It has definitely not been what i expected, but wow, God is good!
The team that I am working with is pretty stinking awesome, and its neat how quickly we joined together and started working -as a team-..
Week one was spent at Lake Havasu, which is an absolutely beautiful place. A lot of what we did was preparation for their Vacation Bible School, and little jobs that were needed around the church! To be honest, when we walked in and my first job was to organize the music library, which had things that needed to be filed dating back to 2007, I just wanted to turn around and book a flight back home, but that job, as mediocre and as slave labor as it seemed, really brought the team together and i think it helped us grow as a team! We were able to finish it in two days, something none of us expected possible.
The days started off going reeeeeallllly slow, and I took it as a bad sign of things to come. (What can I say, some times I don't think on the bright side) So what do you do when you are feeling ;pessimistic a bout doing the work that God has called you to do?! Pray! And in that prayer he showed me something really neat!
We are all given tools to share the word, but how many of us utilize the tools that have been given to us? "I believe that with the faith of a mustardseed, I can move mountains"... A mustardseed is SO small, but we say that our faith is HUGE. so why are we not moving moutains?! It worries me to no end that these tools that we are given (and our faith is definitely one of the tools) are going to waste, and that we, as christians, are too. Romans 10:14-15 says: But how can they call on Him to whom they have not believed? And how can they believe without hearing about Him? And how can they hear without a preacher? And how can they preach without being sent? As it was Written: How welcome are the feet of those who serve the Lord....... How beautiful the feet of those who serve the Lord. This summer we are serving, but more than that, I hope that after this summer, this team that I am a part of can have the ability to say that they have beautiful feet. Our feet are just another tool used to go spread the gospel and to show people the love of our God who loves us more than we could ever know.
How wonderful a feeling that is.
This was long and drawn out, but one last thing.
My prayer for this summer is that as I grow, in my walk and in the more literal ways, physically and emotionally, I hope that the glory of God shines through my words and my actions, I pray that people see the light shining through, not only me, but everyone that is here for that purpose this summer, God is good! And we live in a generation that is not sharing that love, and that goodness, its time to change that!
if you would, please:
Pray for me, today, this week, and this summer.
Pray for the team that I am working with, and pray for the people we encounter
it is going to be quite the trip!
:)
-amanda"
The girls are at Hi-Way Baptist Church this week, and so far, its been pretty fun! :) This will be the first evening VBS that I have ever done, so that should be a fun new experience!
y'all have a great day!
-amanda
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Rediscovering the Jesus Way
The life of a missionary is hectic but exciting. Since arriving in Arizona, I have meet a lot of wonderful people each one passionate about Jesus and their ministries. I went on a retreat with Elevation Church where I am interning for the summer. The members needed some time to really rediscover why they began Elevation Church and what their purpose is. They were frustrated and tired after two years of hard work with little results. I could see in their eyes that they really wanted share Christ with the world yet they had begun to lose momentum. Their job was not to fill the pews but to show people the awesome love and sweet mercy of God. To share His love with the world and for us to love the world also. After two day of examining themselves and their purpose, they made a breakthrough and realized that it started with the heart. Now the church can move forward refreshed and with a new purpose: Love God, love people, and make disciples.
Elizabeth Peterman
Elizabeth Peterman
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Spleen splitting laugh fest
So we arrived in destination Uno, Lake Havasu. We are about 4 hours away from civilization haha jk. so today me, Smitty, and Amanda are going to be on a radio show which is awesome. SO last night I get to this house that we are staying at and I realize Ahh!!! I left my phone charger in the hotel from the past couple nights haha. The drive out here was long but fun and awesome, I got to get to know one of the pastors, pastor Bob, and he got to know me. and he had some hillarious stories that he told us. Like how a pastor friend of his once said by accident, Please turn to 1st glasses while I pull out my Peter. hahaha In front of a whole church. I'm really on fire for this summer already like I just can feel that God is present and Things are going to happen, which is just Amazing
Patrick fry
Patrick fry
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