So Long...Farewell...

After 44 days of training, equipping and ministry, Operation Barnabas 2009 is officially winding down.  For the next two days, ob students will spend time with their teams reflecting over the work that God has done in and through their lives this summer and preparing to return home.  It has been one incredible journey and words can not express the immense gratitude and overwhelming joy we have for our God and Savior.  We stand in awe at the magnitude of His unconditional love and faithful provision for us that was continuously evident as we served Him this summer.

For one last time, all three ob 09 teams joined together to worship along side the Worthington Grace Church on Sunday morning.  During the Sunday School hour, Keystone did a program for the children’s ministry complete with puppets, dancing and stories.  Team Central used pantomimes and skits to lead discussion groups in Jr. High while Tri-State did the same in High School.  As pastors and guests from all over the country were pouring into the church for the start of Equip 2009, ob students were quick to mingle and interact with everyone.  They have learned this summer that Barnabas was a greeter and it is clear that they have begun to develop this character trait in their own lives.  

For the combined Sunday Worship Service, the choir sang a plethora of songs in worship to the Lord...and it sounded absolutely beautiful!  When 90 voices are singing in harmony, worshipping at the foot of the cross and responding to the Almighty God...there is nothing quite like it...it is absolutely beautiful.  Students from each team shared the testimony of how God is refining their lives and guiding them to be more like Jesus.  We rejoiced with the congregation at the lives saved as a result of God working through the ob ministry around the country.  During one of the testimony times, Tri-State student Luke C. shared how God has been teaching him that he needs to be 100% reliant on the Lord in every aspect of his life...even when things get tough.  At Momentum, we were all in fervent prayer for his mom who was undergoing an operation.  In an answer to prayer, she was able to return home that same day and we rejoiced in that.  However, yesterday Luke discovered that she was back in the hospital battling the illness and he once again was reminded that God is sovereign and the only source of our peace, hope and healing.  All of the students gathered around Luke as prayers were lifted up asking that God heal Mrs. C. and bring her quickly home to her family.  May God be glorified...      

It was evident that God was moving in that place...His presence was felt and hearts were changed.  Many people committed to living their lives as a daily sacrifice to the Lord and stood to make that public profession as the ob choir sang “I Give You Me.”  We pray that the students will continue to give the entirety of who they are to the Lord even as they return home...all that they have, all that they are and all that they will become.  We pray that they will continue to seek out opportunities to love God and love others through servanthood.  We pray that they will never stop becoming more like Christ; developing a heart for God, a heart for the lost, a heart for encouraging believers and a heart for full time vocational ministry.  

The debriefing process is now underway...TK taught on the pitfalls of returning home and warned the students of obstacles they will likely face.  He encouraged them to remain steadfast in the word and fervent in prayer on a daily basis and to actively seek an older believer to be mentored by.  Teams will now continue meeting and debriefing and hanging out together before goodbyes on Wednesday morning.  

It’s hard to believe...but this will be the final blog for the Operation Barnabas 2009 tours.  From the bottom of our hearts we thank you, faithful blog readers, for supporting our ministry and being diligent prayer warriors.  We have experienced God’s answers to your prayers and we would not have been nearly as effective without your support.  Please continue to pray for the ob students as they travel home and jump back into their daily lives with a deeper passion for the Lord.

From Sara, Phil, Eric and all of our guest blog writers...thank you...thank you...thank you...and adios!

Last day of Pictures at Strongsville

Sam washing tables.

Anna washing windows!

Suzie painting crosses at Village Grace.

Drew wiping off computers at Village Grace.

Kelley, Wade and Brenden hanging out on the bus on our last big bus ride together.

Alyssa, Katie, Mary and Hannah during the bus ride.

Daniel, Zac, Brenden, Suzie and Jenna on the bus.

Keystone Team on the bus to Columbus for debriefing.

Getting food at the picnic.

Thank You Very Much song at the church picnic.

Kelley connecting with some girls from the church.

Alyssa and Rachel W. connecting with some girls.

Melisa cleaning the windows at Village Grace.

Matt and Daniel cleaning up water at Village Grace.

Hannah washing the windows.

Mardell cleaning the tables.

Melissa, Kelley and Alyssa washing windows.

Kaitlyn painting crosses on the doors.

Last Day of Tour!

The day started with the students arriving at Southern Hills Community Church at 8 am. We loaded on the bus and headed to Village Grace in inner city Cleveland to do 2 hours of labor.

After working hard we came back to Southern Hills where we packed up the Penske for the last time and headed out to a picnic with the Southern Hills church.

As the team said bye to the last church of our tour they loaded on the bus and headed to debriefing. We stopped at the Polaris mall near the Worthington church and school to eat dinner and share Christ with people there. The students have grown so much in evangelism as God has opened their eyes to the needs of people around them for the gospel.

Now we are at Grace Church in Columbus sound checking the choir for the church service tomorrow morning. We are spending the night at Delaware GBC for all of debriefing. God is so good in how He has worked in and through these students this summer!

Our soul waits for the Lord, he is our help and our shield. For our heart is glad in him, because we trust in his holy name. Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us, even as we hope in you. Ps. 33:20-22

All the leaders do is drive the bus.. a day in Rachel W. and Drew's life

The day began with a much needed laundry run and a refreshing hour with God. After a wonderful bagged lunch prepared by our awesome host parents (THANK YOU SO MUCH!) We were treated to a a question and answer session with our leaders. Some of the questions were pretty cool and ranged from personal ob experiences to controversial biblical subjects. This was really beneficial and allowed us to get some much needed incite. After question time, we prayed with the compassion team at Southern Hills for the ministry of their church.

The team was then split up between two ministry opportunities. One group went to Laura's Home, a shelter for abused women and their children, where they weeded the front fortress of weeds to make it presentable to the public. They then set up for a program there, where we had one of the most receptive and responsive crowds, despite their mandatory attendance. The other group dispersed to the homes of different church members, and completed manual labor tasks there. The groups then reunited back at Southern Hills for a pizza party a.k.a. dinner -yum.- with the youth group. We performed a quick program for them, but playing Duck Duck Goose definitely stole the night. The night then turned rambunctious when the youth group brought out Nerf Guns, and the entire team geared up for battle. The host parents soon arrived, and we set out for another wonderful night with our host families.

-Rachel W. and Drew J.

Pictures from July 24

Playing Duck Duck Goose with the Southern Hills youth group

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The unibrows embracing their accusations for the youth group

Rachel S. and Luke playing with legos

Showing Glee during the Laura's Home program

Luke, Mary, Branden, and Daniel pulling weeds

Melisa and Alyssa using their gardening skills

Southern Hills

The day started off with breakfast made for us by some of the body here at Southern Hills Community Church. After breakfast the team split into two groups, one stayed at the church and the other went to a pregnancy center and mulched like there was no tomorrow. The group that stayed at the church did various jobs to clean the church and be a blessing to the people.

After the labor we ate sandwiches for lunch and then split into two groups again and went to two retirement homes. At the homes we sang, one group did a program, hugged, held hands, and got kissed by old ladies. On our way home we stopped at a grocery store and gave each student a dollar. They had to come together as a team to buy dinner for themselves with only thirty dollars. So... it turned out to be PB&J, but it does the job.

After dinner we watched a Mark Driscol video on stewardship. He focused on our stewardship with money and it provoked good discussion after the video. We realized that everything we have belongs to god and we are just managers of our time, money, gifts, and our very lives.

After the Driscol video the team made another attempt at the pole game. Praise God! They finally got it!!! It was good times in the Southern Hills sanctuary when the team finally lowered the pole to the ground while everyone kept their index fingers on it.

The group is in host homes tonight and tomorrow is our last full day of tour! Wow! can't believe it is here already. Pray that they really push hard to love people tomorrow despite the fatigue and nearness to the end.

Southern HIlls Community Church Pictures 2

Keystone team has finished the Pole Team Building Exercise yay!

Jimmy, Daniel, and Corp during the pole game.

Zac Gibson walking with a lady from North Royalton nursing home.

Alyssa encouraged this lady who was on hospice who smiled for the first time in a very long time!

Sam talking with Charles from the nursing home.

Drew, Rachel and Anna during manual labor at the church.

Jessi cleaning out the fridge.

Katie and Kelley picking up trash.

Lexi cleaning during church cleanup.

Suzie scrubbing the carpet.

Pictures from our fancy dinner at Olive Garden

Matt's birthday was today so we celebrated with some cake!

Kaitlyn, Mary, Rachel, Sam, Branden,Kristen,Katie, Anna and Kelley at dinner at OG.

Josh,Jimmy,Melisa,Alyssa,Zach G.,Drew,Phil,Jenna,Lexi and Corp at dinner.

Mardell,Brenden, Jordan and Kelsey at dinner.

Jessi,Rachel S., Daniel,Sarah, Hannah and Luke during dinner at Olive Garden.

Suzie, Matt, Mathew and Wade during dinner!

Keystone Day Off!

Today was the day off for the Keystone team! In the morning the leaders made breakfast for the team and then left for an afternoon at Clays Park in North Lawrence, OH. The team spent the afternoon swimming, water sliding, beach volleyballing, kayaking, and zip lining. After cleaning up we got on the bus and went over to Olive Garden and had an awesome meal together. By the time we got back to Southern Hills GBC there was enough time to talk about the expectations for the next day and go to bed.

Please pray that the students would push hard these last few days. They see that the end is near but its not time to slow down yet. It is so evident that God has been moving this summer in and through us and we trust that He will be faithful to complete what he has started in us (Philippians 1:6).

Southern Hills Community Church

The day started at with work at Leamersville GBC where students mulched, vacuumed, disinfected, and mopped until lunch time. After lunch Drew gave his message to the team where he challenged us to be bold in sharing our faith because as Christians we really have nothing to fear. After that Matt R. spoke to the team about freedom in Christ and how before people know Christ they think they are pursuing things that will benefit them and give them freedom but in actuality freedom is only found in Christ.

After the teaching time the team loaded on the bus and packed the Penske and headed for Strongsville, OH. We made a WalMart stop along the way to pick up anything that people might need. We arrived at Southern Hills around 8:15 pm and used the time for team building exercises and prayer for one another.

We are really seeing the Lord work in our students especially in the area of evangelism. They are improving so much and really being bold for Christ. Praise God! Please pray that the team would remain focused, keep pushing hard as things near the end, and be well prepared to return home. Thanks for your support!

Pictures For My Peeps!

Kelsey and Jordan talking with a lady they met.

Corp and Branden praying with a man at the nursing home.

Kelley and a lady at the nursing home.

Melisa, Alyssa and Jordan praying.

Tunnel!!!

Pushup during the sidewalk chalk path!

Jenna playing with a baby after the program.

Daniel talking with a boy at the Sunday morning service at Leamersville GBC.

Hannah playing Duck Duck Goose with the kids.

Embracing Aqusations Pantomine during the church service.

Choir during the service at Leamersville.

Mardell, Jimmy, Brenden, Caitlyn and Hannah during wheels on the bus.

KEYstone blog is BACK!

Keystone left momentum Saturday with the other ob teams after singing in the evening session.  We got into Leamersville GBC Saturday night so that we could minister to them Sunday morning.  On Sunday the team did two programs, one for their sunday school and the other for their actual service.  Zach Corp gave his sermon and challenged us to accept Christ’s forgiveness and to forgive others.  

After church the team went to Burger King for lunch and then went to a park to spend time with God.  While at the park the team met together to develop goals for their last full week of tour and to encourage each other.  The team actual initiated prayer for the leaders and it was a great blessing to us.  The students ate dinner at their host homes on Sunday night and are in host homes for our time in Leamersville.

Today the team started by going to a nursing home in the morning to do a short program and to spend time with the people there.  It was a great time to connect with the elderly and to see how much people there need the interaction with people and crave it. 

When we got back to the church we ate lunch and watched a Mark Driscol sermon about the crucifixion of Jesus.  It was a very powerful message that led into discussion about how amazing God’s forgiveness is to us in that Christ became sin for us and took all of God’s wrath on himself so that there is no wrath left for those who are believers in Christ.  Praise God!!!  After the video the team spent an hour with God.  This week is a great week for the team because we are passing a lot of responsibilities on to the team that are usually held by the leaders.  For example we are letting the students decide what we are doing in the programs and today we gave the team the things that need to happen tomorrow and let them plan how and when these things will happen.

Tonight the team went out to a mall near by to eat dinner and to share Christ with people in the mall.  The students are doing so well and growing so much in their boldness and ability to share their faith. They are back in their host homes tonight so I’m sure there will be more spiritual conversations tonight.  

As a leadership team we are so excited for what God has done and is doing in these students.  Please pray that God continues to do great and lasting things in the hearts of these student.  

Carnival Day

Today was a day full of carnival!  The team got to Community GBC in the morning, spent a half hour with God on their own and we spent a half hour in prayer as a team.  It was a good way to start a day filled with interacting with people from the community and the church.  The team did three short programs durning the carnival where we heard Lexie and Rachel W.'s children's stories. 

After the carnival Zach G. gave his sermon based in John 3:16-17 to the team.  Then I gave a lesson on the tongue and encouragement and challenged the team to use their tongue to build up rather than tear down.  The team did a great job today interacting with people so praise God for that.  Please pray that God is glorified in the two programs tomorrow for Community GBC and that the team has a solid day as we prepare for ministry at momentum. 

What is happening? Kids Carnival, Rain, Programs, Games and More pictures..

Pictures from the Carnival and three programs today. There are lots because so much happened!!

Lexi, Kelley, Suzie, Brenden and Matt blowing up balloons for carnival.

Hannah and Daniel talking with a lady from Everett GBC.

Jimmy and Kelsey preparing prize bowls.

Jordan face painting at carnival.

Jessi dancing with girl during wise man rock.

Lexi showing the cross illustration.

Caitlyn playing Plinko at the carnival with a little girl.

Melisa dancing with a little girl at the second program.

Kelley, Anna and Jenna during the second program.

Luke and Katie playing Andy and Anne.

Unibrows during silent night skit.

Josh sharing the cross illustration during the second program.

Rachel with two girls from the carnival.

Daniel talking to a boy at the third program.

Kelley playing with balloons and a boy.

The end of Johnstown and the beginning of Everett

Everett Pool Party

Mardell sharing the cross illustration.

Hannah giving her children's story.

Caitlyn facepainting at Liberty GBC Kids Fest.

Anna and Jenna registering at the fun fest.

Zac during the program with his little friend.

The Unibrows during the "Quack" skit.

Luke and Brenden sharing the cross illustration.

Everett, PA Pool Party

Rachel W, Lexi and Mary talking with some girls in the youth group.

Jenna, Suzie and Drew swimming playing with some kids.

Matt, Daniel, Brandon and Josh talking at the party.

Luke, Zac, Daniel and Zac C talking at the party.

Community GBC

The team has left Johnstown and is now in Everett Pennsylvania.  Yesterday was spent at Liberty GBC where we did manual labor in the morning and spent the evening at a church barbaque.  Keystone put on a program where Kaitlyn S. and Jimmy shared their testimonies and Hannah and Kelly gave their children's story.  The evening went well and the team went to host homes.  

Today the team spent time with God for an hour then Sam gave his sermon to the team.  He spoke about love from Romans 12:9-10.  Then the team traveled to Everett PA where half the team spent the afternoon doing manual labor and the other half laundry.  After the work the team headed to one of the family's from Community GBC's house for dinner and a pool party.  This was a good opportunity to connect with the church body here and to have some fun.  The team is in host homes again tonight so it will be a fun night of building relationships for them.  As you pray for the team, praise God for raising up solid leaders among the students on Keystone.  They have really been stepping up lately to move the team toward Christ and toward service to others!

Put your corn in your pocket and go!

Central Park in Johnstown was blasted with the "Mom Song," "The Crazy Dance," and the gospel today when the Keystone team did their thing. The students did a great job at spreading out and building relationships with the people in the park with the intention of sharing the gospel with people who don't know Christ. Anna and Mary gave their children's stories today during the program and they did a great job.

In the morning, Wade gave his sermon to the team and challenged us to love like Christ. Then Matt Rupple gave the team a lesson on worship and taught how worship is a life style rather than 2o minutes at church.

After the program, the team headed to Liberty Grace Brethren in Johnstown where we went to the mall and shared the good news with people. We are going back to a mall tomorrow so please pray for boldness and love for God and others as our motivation. The team is in host homes tonight so pray for a restful evening and good relationships to be built.

Central Park Program and Liberty GBC Pictures

Kristen, Jimmy, Wade, Brenden, Katie, Kaitlyn, Kelsey, Anna and Hannah during the Wheels on the Bus.

Jenna talking at Central Park.

Unibrows doing Wise Man Rocks song and Mustaches doing puppets.

Zach C praying with a man at the Park Program.

Jimmy and Sam talking with a man at Liberty GBC after dinner.

Kelley, Kelsey and Melisa making friends with girls at Liberty GBC.

Zach G, Daniel, Brandon P, Katie M and Luke during the park program.

Smitty meets skate park

Today started with a Mark Driscol sermon about humility. This was a powerful message that caused good thoughts and discussion among the group. The group spent time with God, ate lunch, and then did a few hours of work around the church we're staying at in Johnstown.

After the labor the team headed over to the skate park that Crucified Ministries owns. It's built in a warehouse and you would never know it's a skate park from the outside. The inside is all gratified and beat up. If you have ever seen Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles then it looks like the hang out place that the foot has for their ninja youth militia! Basically our team just hung out and built relationships with the skaters and the other people hanging around.

We did a program were Drew and Kelly talked about why they came on ob and what God has been teaching them lately and Matt gave his sermon and did really well. The group of skaters were so encouraging to the team and thanked us multiple times for coming. They even took a love offering for us where these teenagers were giving money. It was mind blowing because teenagers don't have a lot of extra money but they were so generous with us. Wow!

The evening closed with a teaching time on forgiveness by Sarah. It was a powerful and emotional evening were we were able to share our testimonies with the team in a method called "card board testimonies." Basically the students wrote something that described their life before Christ on one side and then how God had changed them on the other side. It was so powerful!

We ended with a time of worship by singing praises to God. Please pray that God would continue to convict the students in areas of pride and forgiveness. Also praise God for the work He did in hearts tonight!

Crucified Skate Ministry Pictures

Kristen cleaning the windows at Crucified Ministries.

Suzie painting the walls of the Sanctuary.

Jimmy and Brenden and Anna and Sarah helping to clear roof.

Daniel, Sam and Jordan ripping out walls.

Wonder Bread Skit during Skate Ministry From Life over death.

Hannah and Jenna hanging with one of the leaders.

Jordan and Kelsey talking at Skate Ministry.

A Skate guy teaching Jimmy, Sam and Daniel tricks.

Wolves among Sleep

Luke and Same talking to one of the members from the band Wolves among sleep.

Alyssa, Kelsey, Rachel, Anna and Suzie during the concert.

Zac, Brandon, Brenden, Daniel, Sam, Jimmy and Luke during the concert.

Boys were tossing Sam up during the concert.

Wolves among sleep during the concert. The kids were able to connect with them and the other ministry team while hanging out.

Skate Ministry!

Today the Keystone team got a taste of a ministry geared toward skate boarders. It's called Crucified Ministries and they are seeing God provide in miraculous ways in the three years they have been in ministry. God has provided an indoor skate park and recently a house and a church building. The Lord has been working powerfully through these guys and young people are coming to Christ and experiencing radical life change. I'm excited for the team to see a ministry that is outside the norm and realize that God can use any passion that they have for his kingdom.

A highlight of the day was a teaching time on how to study the Bible. The main points were to understand the passage in its original time and purpose. Then understand the difference between our time and theirs and find the principle behind what the author is writing. Finally apply that principle to specific situations in our lives.

The team also hit Johnstown twice today, the first time to pray and talk to people, and the second to pass out flyers to advertise for the ministry and our program on Wednesday. After passing out the flyers the team came back to the church where there was a concert going on.

The ob students spent time with the local people and the bands. Today was a good day and the team had some good encounters with people in Johnstown. Please be praying for opportunities to share our faith and that the students would be bold and take those opportunities.

More pictures from July 5

Rachel, and Kelsey helping with kitchen staff at soccer camp.

Katie and Hannah helping with tattoos and hair ribbons.

Sam and Brenden making a tunnel for the kids to run through.

Happy Birthday to Luke!

June 5, 2009 Pictures

Alyssa building relationship with a girl from Grace Youth group.

Jessi playing with the three year old class.

Anna during the Work Out skit.

Mardell,Daniel and Drew talking to a guy in the grace youth.

More pic's to come for the soccer camp from yesterday!

Sunday at Akron--July 5

Today the Keystone team did a short program for the youth group at the Akron North campus where we presented the gospel clearly and challenged the group that Christianity is not just a head knowledge but a life that follows Christ. Luke gave his sermon this morning and Zach G gave his testimony. Please pray that the Lord used our efforts this morning to change the hearts of these teens.

In the afternoon the team participated in evangelism training where they observed the leaders in a mock evangelistic encounter then they engaged the leaders in an evangelistic encounter of their own. The activity was a great practice for the team and will hopefully pay off in real situations.

After the evangelism training the team set up for and helped with a soccer camp that the Akron church is putting on this week. We are leaving now to go to Johnstown. Its a 4 our drive and we will arrive at 11:30. Pray for safe travels and good time with the team. Thanks!!!

The birdy and the mitten

The birdy and the mitten has nothing to do with anything but that is what we titled our program that is happening tomorrow (Sunday) morning for the youth group at Grace Church Bath Campus in Akron.

Today began with a prayer walk for half the group and the other group went to do laundry. On the prayer walk Zach G, Kristen, Matt Rupple, and I stopped at a church were there were some high school age kids doing yard work. We passes by at first but then decided to go back and see if we could pray and talk with them. Kristen got to hear one girl's story and talk to her about the Lord. The girl said she wanted to come to see us at church tomorrow... we'll see what happens.

Zach and I were able to talk to a 15 yr old guy named Josh who was serving community service hours. Zach was able to share his story to relate to josh and show him that God could change his life. We presented the gospel to Josh and told him to think about it and accept the gift God has provided if that's what he wants to do. We made it clear that this is a trade in deal. When we choose to follow Christ we trade in our old life of sin and death and now our life is Christ's. This new life leads to eternal life with God in heaven and is filled with peace and hope while on earth.

It was evident that the wheels were really turning in Josh and the Holy Spirit was at work. I am confident that our encounter today was no accident so please pray for josh that other believers would speak into his life.

After that the team got to have lunch at the youth pastor Brad's house. It was a great time to bond over food and fun at a house. When we came back to the church, Katie taught on love and gave biblical examples of true love. At this point it was time to get ready for the services at church that evening where we were challenged to check ourselves to see that we are truly following Christ.

After church the team headed to down town Akron to watch some fireworks! We parked the bus in a school parking lot and hung out on a playground and watched the best firework show I have ever seen!

We appreciate the prayer support very much and would ask for prayers for boldness and wisdom in how to interact with people in order to share Christ with them. We would also ask for prayer for humility for the students... and the leaders... as this is a characteristic that is highly valued by God.

Akron Fourth of July

Jimmy and Luke serving breakfast for the girls today.

Kelsey and Matt prayer walking in Akron.

Rachel and Jordan playing with the kids in the nursery.

Zach and his friend Jacob during the 7:00 service at Grace Church.

Daniel, Jenna, Melisa and Drew during the kids program.

Katie and Luke doing hokey pokey.

Friday July 3, 2009 Pictures

Sam, Hannah, and Zach G. pulling weeds.

Rachel hoeing the dirt during manual labor at the church.

Anna, Alyssa and Jordan raking the dirt.

Luke helping to put the art project team building activity together.

The Finished Piece...by the Keystone Team

The artists themselves...Our Students!!!!

Leadership is an Art--July 3

Well... I don't know if leadership is actually an art but today was filled with leadership and art.

Sarah gave a teaching time on leadership and explained what Biblical leadership is using Paul as an example. Specifically she talked out of Acts 27 where Paul is shipwrecked and goes from a prisoner to someone in leadership.

In the evening we gave the team a project where they each got a half sheet of poster board and had to use it to make one work of art. Each person had to paint or draw or color their own poster board and they had about an hour and a half to complete it. This was a good exercise on uniting 30 people under one idea and seeing it out to completion. This also allowed different people to take leadership because the skills needed to succeed are different than the skills that apply to the usual ob activities.

After the art attack, the leaders left and gave the students time to have a meeting of their own where they could discuss their goals and refine them. They did very well and it was another opportunity for people to take leadership in the group.

Keep praying that the Lord would be number 1 among our group and that leaders in the group would emerge with a passion for the Lord and for others. Praise God for the great things he is doing with the Keystone team and in the world!

July 2, 2009 Pictures Akron- Inner City Ministries

Zach and Drew helping with insulation.

Melisa, Anna and Jenna painting at the Word of Life Ministry.

Kaitlyn and Wade cleaning the freezers.

Suzie and Jimmy painting at the Urban Vision.

Katie and her friend that she made cleaning the walls.

Kristen and a girl in the youth group painting the Urban Vision.

Luke, Drew and Daniel talking with the pastor at the encouraging church we stopped by at.

Great Experience in Akron--July 2

WOOOO! The spirit was moving tonight!!! Our group went over to Urban Vision again tonight to serve and at the end of the time, myself (Phil), Daniel, and Zach G. went walking around the neighborhood to find someone to talk to about Jesus. We walked a couple blocks and then heard some music coming out of a building so we walked up and looked in the back door of a church and a high school age guy told us to come in around the back. So the three of us walked around and were greeted by a man who invited us into a worship service and told us that testimonies were about to start. So we sat down and we were the only white people in the building. As we tried to sing the song we were greeted with a hug by the lady next to us. I knew this was an experience that would be awesome for the rest of the team so I left and got Matt to drive the bus full of students over.

The team came in and spread out among the small congregation of about 30, doubling the size of their group. We got to hear the end of the testimonies and praised God for what he has done in our lives. Then the pastor brought the message about the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives and how God is still working today in miraculous ways. He said we need to walk in faith knowing that the Lord is alive and at work.

It was clear to us that it was no coincidence that we heard that message and experienced that body because earlier in the day Matt and I gave a message about the gifts of the spirit. We gave a spiritual gifts inventory and then read scripture and discussed it.

The rest of our day was filled with manual labor at Word of Life Ministry in the morning and Urban Vision in the evening. This evening was awesome and the spirit was movin' big time! We were so encouraged by the brothers and sisters there and were so blessed by the message! Pray that we would continue to walk in faith, pray big, and see the Lord's work in us and through us.

Thank you for all your support!

Ohio! July 1

"KEYSTONE! On the bus!" The team spent a good chunk of time today moving from Union Town, Pa. to Akron, Ohio. The bus rides are always great times to bond as a team so none of the students are complaining about riding the bus for a few hours.

This evening we spent time at Urban Vision, a ministry near the Akron church that reaches out to children. The team paired up with the youth group from the North Campus Akron church to serve Urban Vision by weeding, painting, and doing paper work. This was a good chance to serve and also to connect with the students from the Akron youth group.

The team finished the day by doing a team building exercise where they had to work together to lower a long pvc pipe to the ground. The catch is that everyone has to be touching the pole with both their index fingers the entire time. They didn't get it tonight but I'm sure they will at some point this summer. This game is great to develop team work, integrity, and leadership. As we see leaders emerge please pray that they would move the team toward the Lord and toward seeing other's needs.

The First Day of July in Akron, OH--July 1

July 1, 2009 Pictures

Zach and Jimmy helping to fold letters to help North Campus Roll Out week.

Drew playing basketball with kids in the gym.

Lexi painting the wall.

Wade, Kelley, and Brenden scraping the wall.

Mary, Jenna and Phil picking weeds.

Anna and Rachel S. putting puzzles together.

Matt and Hannah pulling more weeds.

Hannah, Brenden and Rachel praying with youth from the Grace Church.

Playing the team building game.