Good morning! Here are some thoughts from yesterday:
Crew #1- "Today my Crew and I got to help a lady named Rita with her yard work. At first, I was overwhelmed by all the things she wanted us to do, but after awhile I realized we could do it. We trimmed bushes, pulled weeds, trimmed the trees, and mowed the lawn. At lunch time, Rita offered us some watermelon, which was a really great treat since it was so hot. As we were eating, Rita's daughter Shawn was on the phone to thank us for our hard work. I loved hearing from someone that what we are doing is making a difference. Im super excited to see who we get to help tomorrow and can't wait to see how they impact our life." -Hannah K.
Crew #14- "We had an encouraging day at the Boys & Girls Club today! Some of us got to spend some 1:1 time with some boys as their "buddy" to help them focus at their various stations. A few of us spent some time outside with kids. It was hot & muggy today. We tried to focus on uplifting the kids today & being examples for life. After lunch we spent time caring for the building they use with the help of a few kids. This gave us an opportunity to bond with a few more children. We organized games, mopped a gym floor, cared for a garden and helped move things. Matt Kinsman may or may not have cleaned a toilet. His Mother would be proud. Curtis Wooley may oray not have used a mop. Also a proud Mom moment ;) it's been a great day as a leader to see your kids smile & here their laughter. My Crew has had a great opportunity to gain some confidence & assertivness. We have also gained some appreciation for our own families & the people that love us daily. Pushing forward with one of our big words of the week for Crew 14-- #perseverance. (for my girls Cayla & Darby)" -Carrie
Crew #6- "This week, my Crew has been helping out at a local VBS. The second half of the work day, we do physical labor around the church. Today was the first day things really started to go well. The kids are beginning to trust and love us. We are also starting to understand the church layout better. It has been rewarding for us as well as the kids I'm hoping! Our Crew is also growing much closer as friends." -Bailey
Crew #11-"Today our Crew helped a few people clean up there apartments. Today some of us played dominos with an amazing guy Harold. The smile he had on his face the whole time was huge, it was great to see him so happy. We also met a sweet lady named Annie. We talked for hours and later she imvited us into her apartment to see all of her "blang blang!" She used to model so she showed us some of her old outfits an purses that she wore. She also told us that she was 93 years old, but she didn't look like it all. Talking to her was fascinating, Im going to be sad when we have to say goodbye to her. Today was awesome getting to know some of the people better and im super excited for tomorrow." -Hannah G.
From 2 days ago, our free night!:
"Yesterday, Tuesday June 16, 2015, was our group free night and night off. We left the church where we are staying and headed off to Jack's Barbecue for dinner and enjoyed some amazing pork, chicken, mac & Cheese, beans, and cole slaw! It was great! Then from there we drove about 30 miles to Honeysuckle Farms for some zip lining fun! I was terrified and I know others were too! But as a group with all the support and confidence boosts we all pushed through and went down the zip lines. We started out on the bunny slope and then we went down one a little faster, and then finally got to the real deal zipping through the woods! We had to make about eight stops, travel down eight or nine zip lines, and walk across two wooden bridges hanging by cables to make it back to the ground! Once we got started there was no going back! We had a blast! After zip lining we had a couple hours until we could make our way back to the church so we headed to Dairy Queen and got some ice cream. We enjoyed our ice cream in the amazing air conditioning of the bus and our strong stench of sweat lol! Then we did some fantastic worship right there on the bus and went around to share how we were all feeling and shared an abundance of God sitings from our day at our work sites! Then as Adam drove us all back to the church we spent the half hour ride singing and worshipping in the darkness of the bus! It was very beautiful and so heartwarming to hear everyone joining in without lyrics in front of them and just going off the instrumental music we played off our phones! We had an amazing night off building trust, friendships, and faith as we basked in each other's stench and faithful hearts! Could not have asked for a better night as a group! The love, support, and encouragement we all give to each other shows how true and real our youth group family is! So blessed! "
Korey Arend
Sorry for the delay in blogging! Today is our last day of service with an early departure tomorrow morning. Last night there were lots of emotions floating around with love sprinkled into all of our lives.
Thank you to everyone who is following along, all the prayers, and thank you for making it possible to come on this trip in whatever way that you contributed.
See you soon!
Darby
Thursday, June 18, 2015
Monday, June 15, 2015
Comfort Zones are Crushes
That's a wrap on day two! This was the first day at our work sites and was a time of settling into the environment we are placed in, getting to know the people and what work really needs to happen in the facilities. Someone times what seems to be just a simply day of pulling weeds can turn into a day of diving into loving on the people you encounter and trying to form relationships that will have an impact. I think that a lot of us realized today that we aren't the entire picture isn't these peoples' lives. Just smiling at someone you pass on the sidewalk could be the only love they encounter and seriously place a piece of God in their hearts.
Here is a glimpse into each site:
Crew #11 - We visited the senior living facilities. We met some wonderful and wise people. We assisted Gloria who was the service coordinator. There were people who became her assistants, some taught the residents how to use the computers, and others helped by going door to door giving surveys and just getting to talk to the residents. It was very encouraging to talk with some of the residents and to see how strong their faith is and getting to know a little bit about them and gain pieces of wisdom. I can't wait to see what the rest of the week holds for us! -Leah
Crew #6 - Today we went to a church not far from the Titan's stadium. My Crew got to work with kids at their VBS for the first three hours, then we helped organize chairs and tables for the church. We somewhat got dispersed, but most of us were with the 3 year olds. There were 22 of just them so it was exciting and also overwhelming at times. Almost every Crew member got to hold one or two of them. -Sara
Crew #14 - Our group went to a boys and girls club where children of all ages can come for the summer for a place to hang out, as well as a place to better their education. Some of our group hung out with teenage boys, playing basketball and other games with them. Others hung out in the 5&6 year olds' room. The 5&6 years old kids definitely need love. They misbehave often with strict disciplinary actions to follow. As the leaders that work at the club seem hard on the kids, we can tell that the leaders do genuinely care for the kids. This boys and girls club is in desperate need of love, as it is the craziest, loudest place I've ever been. -Cayla
Also! Nickelodeon will be filming at the Boys and Girls Club tomorrow for their World Wide Day of Play. We're all excited to be apart of the process! -Darby
Crew #1 - Our group went to a house with some much needed yard work so we helped out sweet Mary Rucker with some unwanted weeds, gunk in the gutters and trimming some bushes. We were outside in the heat, and it was very hot, but it was really nice to see Mary so happy when we were working around her house. It was fun to be outside in Gods beautiful nature and able to talk with eachother and enjoy the time together. I thought it was so neat that Mary was so welcoming to us and that we could use her bathroom and wash up our sweaty faces. She is so compassionate to complete strangers and loving everybody. It was amazing seeing Gods love working through her. -Jessica
After getting over some nerves of a new environment, everyone is starting to get excited for the rest of the week! Thanks for following along and all the prayers for our group. I can't wait for the stories that are to come from this week!
Goodnight!
-Darby
Here is a glimpse into each site:
Crew #11 - We visited the senior living facilities. We met some wonderful and wise people. We assisted Gloria who was the service coordinator. There were people who became her assistants, some taught the residents how to use the computers, and others helped by going door to door giving surveys and just getting to talk to the residents. It was very encouraging to talk with some of the residents and to see how strong their faith is and getting to know a little bit about them and gain pieces of wisdom. I can't wait to see what the rest of the week holds for us! -Leah
Crew #6 - Today we went to a church not far from the Titan's stadium. My Crew got to work with kids at their VBS for the first three hours, then we helped organize chairs and tables for the church. We somewhat got dispersed, but most of us were with the 3 year olds. There were 22 of just them so it was exciting and also overwhelming at times. Almost every Crew member got to hold one or two of them. -Sara
Crew #14 - Our group went to a boys and girls club where children of all ages can come for the summer for a place to hang out, as well as a place to better their education. Some of our group hung out with teenage boys, playing basketball and other games with them. Others hung out in the 5&6 year olds' room. The 5&6 years old kids definitely need love. They misbehave often with strict disciplinary actions to follow. As the leaders that work at the club seem hard on the kids, we can tell that the leaders do genuinely care for the kids. This boys and girls club is in desperate need of love, as it is the craziest, loudest place I've ever been. -Cayla
Also! Nickelodeon will be filming at the Boys and Girls Club tomorrow for their World Wide Day of Play. We're all excited to be apart of the process! -Darby
Crew #1 - Our group went to a house with some much needed yard work so we helped out sweet Mary Rucker with some unwanted weeds, gunk in the gutters and trimming some bushes. We were outside in the heat, and it was very hot, but it was really nice to see Mary so happy when we were working around her house. It was fun to be outside in Gods beautiful nature and able to talk with eachother and enjoy the time together. I thought it was so neat that Mary was so welcoming to us and that we could use her bathroom and wash up our sweaty faces. She is so compassionate to complete strangers and loving everybody. It was amazing seeing Gods love working through her. -Jessica
After getting over some nerves of a new environment, everyone is starting to get excited for the rest of the week! Thanks for following along and all the prayers for our group. I can't wait for the stories that are to come from this week!
-Darby
Day 1 the drive down
We made it down safely here to Nashville. We made a few short stops, Taco Bell, DQand rest stops. The youth were fantastic travelers and we were ahead of schedule so we made a stop at Mammoth Cave in KY.
The church is an old church that used to be a main church in the heart of east Nashville. Two years ago the church decided to reframe how they lookes at and did ministry. The result has been a change of involvement in the community. It has become a ministry center hub for the area.
The evening program focused on reframing how we view and see Jesus. Then we broke down into our project groups and learned about our projexts forthe week.
group 1 - Adam Adam Andrew Hannah K Jessica and Kylie - working with community partners. doing yard work, painting, tree trimming etc. and geting to meet to residents that live in each home.
group 2 - kyle bailey caleb sara and peyton - working at a vbs and then helping with various church projects.
group 3 - carrie curtis matthew darby and cayla - working with the boys and girls club
group 4 - jenna korey lynne hannah leah and brooke - working with senior, helping them w daily tasks and spending time in conversation with them.
More to come.
The church is an old church that used to be a main church in the heart of east Nashville. Two years ago the church decided to reframe how they lookes at and did ministry. The result has been a change of involvement in the community. It has become a ministry center hub for the area.
The evening program focused on reframing how we view and see Jesus. Then we broke down into our project groups and learned about our projexts forthe week.
group 1 - Adam Adam Andrew Hannah K Jessica and Kylie - working with community partners. doing yard work, painting, tree trimming etc. and geting to meet to residents that live in each home.
group 2 - kyle bailey caleb sara and peyton - working at a vbs and then helping with various church projects.
group 3 - carrie curtis matthew darby and cayla - working with the boys and girls club
group 4 - jenna korey lynne hannah leah and brooke - working with senior, helping them w daily tasks and spending time in conversation with them.
More to come.
Friday, June 12, 2015
T-Minus 39 Hours...
We are just a little over 39 hours away from go-time, when the big white bus pulls out of the parking lot!
The Youth are ready.
The Youth are ready.
Korey, Peyton, Sara, Bailey,
Hannah G, Leah, Brooke, Hannah K, Matthew, Adam, Jessica, Darby , Lynne, Cayla, Curtis, Caleb, Andrew, Kylie. Or at least I hope.
The Leaders are ready: Kyle, Jenna, Carrie and Adam
I spoke with some of the Nashville staff a little while ago (Chris, Kristin and Brady). They are excited for us to get there on Sunday. They are working on putting in window A/C units upstairs where we'll be sleeping. That's a plus.
The drive, according to Google, should take 7 hours. But with bladders and a bus - will take longer.
Let's Rock!
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