Our Ministry Leadership Council has decided to bring back one of Water’s Edge’s most popular series: You Decide, as we wrap up the 2010-2011 school year.
During the month of May, we’ll be fielding your questions each Wednesday night at Water’s Edge.
Is there a question about the Bible you’ve always wondered? Is there something you or a friend are dealing with, and you want to know what the Bible has to say about it? Do you have a question that you think will make Pastor Brad laugh? Any of these are great reasons to submit your questions to our You Decide series.
Read the rest to find out how you can submit your questions for this series.
Every Summer we kick off our activities with our annual Wilderness Retreat to the deep woods of northwest Michigan, and this year is no different. We will be returning to the Rose-Alvia Retreat with their 600 acres of woods, spring fed lake and beautiful lodge. And as if that wasn’t enough, we’re also planning on visiting Lake Michigan at the beach in Frankfort as well. And for $50 per person, it really is an affordable retreat!
Click on “Read the Rest” to learn all the details and download the information letter and permission form for the trip.
Today we fly home, though I’m sure a part of us will remain in Mexico for a very long time. This trip has been one of spiritual renewal for all of us, and though we have spent much of our time hard at work, this has still been a time of rest for those of us who worked with the people of Colonia Juarez.
I’m not going to write much, but I will sum up what we did with our “vacation” time here in Hualtuco. We arrived late on Saturday after we saw the amazing feat that is the pouring of the roof at the church in Colonia Juarez. We swam, ate pizza and went to bed. On Sunday we went snorkeling in the Pacific Ocean, ate some delicious food and went shopping at the local market. On Sunday night we attended a small Nazarene church where our own Ellias Cabello (Though I know already I spelled his name wrong) delivered a powerful message about following God’s will. Then we went back to the hotel where we had a time of reflection, then we went to bed.
Today, a few of us went to town, but it has been a time of preparation to go home. Our flight leaves at 3:55 Indiana time. Please pray for all of us as we make the journey home.
Today was our last full day of work at Colonia Juarez, though we will be there tomorrow to witness the beginning of the pouring of the roof. Thankfully, no one from our group will have to actually pour the cement. Those buckets are HEAVY. Instead, anyone who works tomorrow will probably be mixing.
When we arrived today, the first thing we all saw was tomorrow’s lunch. I’ll just say he had just recently passed. It was a somewhat disturbing way to begin the day for a few members of our team, though I thought it was the coolest thing ever! (which is why I took so many pictures)
Though we worked for most of the day today, there really wasn’t too much work for us to do except build some frames and carry 100 lb bags of cement mix. Schaad carried a total of 22 bags, which means he can now say he has literally carried a ton of cement. Not bad!
This evening, the church hosted a going away service for us, which I must say lasting far longer than it would have if I were in charge. I don’t mean to say that I didn’t appreciate it, but it was getting hard for me, at least, to pay attention. The touching moment of the service came when each member of our team received a hand made gift from someone in the church. I got a very ornate cloth with a verse stitched into it. Afterward, we were each treated to some tamales, though it is very clear to me now that I should have turned down the food. That food did not agree with me. Let me clue you in. The disagreement was about how well I would feel later. The tamales won.
Another day of work at the Church of the Nazarene in Colonia Juarez. According to the thermometer in Will’s van, it’s been triple digit temperatures here in Mexico the past two days, and it’s only supposed to get hotter. Personally, I have trouble believing it was that hot out, but the sun burn on my right arm and neck verify his claim.
The spirit of the people we are working with was visibly shaken today and there were fewer children at today’s VBS. This is because a murder took place in Colonia Juarez last night. I don’t know much, but from what I understand it was gang related and the victim, though not a regular church attendee himself, had family who were very closely tied to the church and it is heart breaking to imagine what they have to go through now in the wake of his death. I ask anyone reading this to take some time immediately to pray for that family. Don’t read another word of this until you have done so.
Though tragedy had struck, we still had a responsibility to hold the VBS that evening and it was our hope that we could be a light to shine in the darkness that clouded this village. If you ask me, we succeeded. Today, Danny and Bruce got a break from clown duty, passing the torch on to Schaad and I. I’ll just say it was a lot of fun, but I never want to do that again. Luckily, the kids seemed to think we were entertaining and they all had fun running up to us, poking our backs and then running away as fast as they could before we sprayed them with a spray bottle.
It’s hard to imagine we’ve already been here for three days, not including Monday’s fiasco, and it won’t be long before we will be coming home. I pray that our team will not lose our enthusiasm, but rather keep up our hard work that we might best share the love of Christ to the indians of Colonia Juarez.
For Pastor Phil and I, today started a little later than everyone else, but that’s what happens when you forget to properly set the alarm. Even with the late start, we were still able to enjoy a delicious breakfast of eggs, hot cakes and fresh fruit. I can honestly say the food is one of the best parts of the trip.
It’s about a 30 minute drive to the job site in Colonia Juarez. The scenery is breath taking. Once we arrived, the church greeted us with a welcome service, but it wasn’t long before we were hard at work straightening rebar, making molds and doing whatever else we thought they were telling us to do (though the language barrier of Juave to Spanish to English makes that a little difficult at times). Overall, it’s been a lot of work.
At 4, we started the VBS. We sang, played soccer and made bracelets with about 200 kids. What a crowd! Funniest of all, we were able to convince Danny and Bruce to dress up like clowns (pictures to follow), though they frightened one child so much he didn’t stop screaming until they gave him an extra cookie then left him alone. Luckily, all the other niños and niñas just thought they were silly. It was a lot of fun to watch those two.
Once again, I feel I should remind all of you that thought you might come on this trip but decided not to, YOU ARE MISSING OUT. God bless everyone!
What a trip! It took us a while, but we are finally in our hotel in Salina Cruz. The plan was to arrive yesterday, the 14th, but that didn’t work out. All I could figure was someone put the engine on the plane upside-down, and the only tool in our galaxy that can fix it was in Madagascar! Actually, the de-icing system of the plane malfunctioned and they had to fly in a mechanic from Houston (our first destination) to fix it. Needless to say, we didn’t make our connection, so we spent the night in Houston.
The Airport Marriot is a very nice hotel, but I was very glad to make our flight to Huatulco today. When we landed, we were greeted by Will Lashmit and his friend Will, whose surname I have yet to learn. All I know is he’s a 16 year-old from Virginia who wants to learn some Spanish. He’s a cool kid, but he doesn’t talk much. I suspect he was just so thrown off by Danny’s personality that he was scared speechless.
We were also greeted by our good friend Mario, a man that I always look forward to seeing. Our group met him 13 years ago on the church’s first Work and Witness trip and he has come to greet us at the airport without fail every year we have sent out a team. It is truly a blessing to know Mario.
Salina Cruz is nice, but I’m looking forward to seeing our job site in Colonia Juarez. We’re going to being making the preparations to install a roof on their church building. It’s hard work, but it’s a blessing to work with these people. For those of you who thought about going on this trip but decided against it, you are really missing out!
We will leave from the church Friday afternoon, February 18, stay at Indian Lake Nazarene Campground Friday & Saturday night, ski at Bittersweet on Saturday and return Sunday, February 20.
Who is invited?
This event is open to all students in grades 6-12
How Much Does it Cost?
$165. This cost includes transportation, lodging, lift ticket, equipment rental, and a beginner’s lesson. It also includes breakfast and dinner Saturday, and breakfast Sunday. It does not include a fast food supper Friday, lunch at the ski resort Saturday and a fast food lunch on the way home Sunday.
On Saturday, March 19th we’ll be headed to Crestview Middle School in Huntington for District Celebrate Life 2011.
Celebrate Life is a talent and athletic competition sponsored by the Church of the Nazarene. Students can compete in a wide range of activities from sports (basketball, volleyball, tennis, ping pong, bowling, baseball, golf, 5k run, soccer, etc) to music (both vocal and instrumental solos, duets, trios and ensembles) to the arts (drawing, painting, sculpture, crafts, photography, etc), to other talents (speech, puppetry, mime, creative writing, science trivia, chess and lots more.)
Do well enough you can even qualify to compete at the Regional level at Olivet Nazarene University in May!
Our Ministry Leadership Council has decided to bring back one of Water’s Edge’s most popular series: You Decide, as we wrap up the 2010-2011 school year.
