2009 Tri-State

So Long...Farewell...

noreply@blogger.com (ob Tours) — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 15:19:00 +0000

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.

noreply@blogger.com (ob Tours) — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 03:46:00 +0000

Clowning around!!

Crazy dancing!

Luke playing with the kiddos!

Kaitlyn talking it out!

Devon sharing with a little girl!

Seth working the popcorn stand!

Elizabeth chilling

Stephanie sharing her heart.

Morgan and Devon getting to know a member of Clear View Church.

Tomatoes performing their execution skit

A Clearview of CLeArViEw!!!

noreply@blogger.com (ob Tours) — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 04:28:00 +0000

Taylor clowning it up.

Claire in deep conversation.

Tyler and Kaitlyn crushing some ice.

Stephanie making friends.

The disciples in the boat with Jesus.

Keegan sharing with Silas and Seth.

Luke connecting with a family.

Gina making her own ministry:) That girl is unstoppable.

Seth talking it out.

A day in the life of Morgan Ricciardi

noreply@blogger.com (ob Tours) — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 03:30:00 +0000

Tri-State’s day started a little late today, as we all enjoyed an extra 2 ½ hours of sleep. Thank you leaders! We were all happy to wake up and see that Kaitlyn had returned safe and sound early this morning (1:00 a.m.!). It was cool to hear her stories, and she reassured us that it is going to be difficult returning home and maintaining a ministry-minded lifestyle. After devos, we were given the opportunity to ask our leaders any questions we wanted to over “gray areas.” That means anything we have questions about, from tattoos, to drinking, to martyrdom, to pre-destination. They took all of their responses straight out of the Bible, and it was really neat to be reminded of how much the Bible does have the answers for our daily struggles. Everything applies to us now as much as it did when it was written.

After a much-appreciated lunch, we met up with Andy and Trisha (both former OBers) from Clear View Church. They started the church plant from scratch, and now have around a 50-person congregation that’s meets in a YMCA. Their energy and excitement for outreaching to the community was really catching. We were able to canvas multiple neighborhoods in Gahanna to spread the word about our park program later on in the evening. There ended up being a great turnout, with over 100 people. Only 15 of those people were already connected with Clear View, so it was awesome to see how God worked in bringing people in from the community. The program went great, and many people came up to us at the end, saying how much they enjoyed it. Some so much that they’re coming back to our program tomorrow night! From listening to my teammates, it sounds like there was some pretty cool spiritual conversations going on. I was able to talk to a lady who doesn’t attend a church, but she seemed really interested in starting. Hopefully we were able to make connections with some of these people and challenge them in their walk with Christ.

Later, when we got back to Powell, we were able to continue our discussion from the morning. Overall, today was a great day of outreach and now it is time to rest up for whatever is in store for us tomorrow!

HAPPY HEARTS!!!

noreply@blogger.com (ob Tours) — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 03:08:00 +0000

Morgan playing some b-ball.

Luke chatting with a camp organizer.

Katie developing her fishing skills.

Steph sharing the gospel.

Devon hanging with a little lady.

Paul with a buddy for the day, Garrett.

ob's first program ever in a horse barn.

Lauren petting Poka-Dots the horse.

Cailyn scratching the cat.

Happy Hearts & Horses!

noreply@blogger.com (ob Tours) — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 02:14:00 +0000

After a wonderful day at Cedar Point yesterday we drove back to Powell to sleep and gear up for another day of ministry. So this morning we awoke and jumped on the bus to work with a ministry of the Grace Church of Powell called “Happy Hearts.” This camp is a one-day event that’s held each July for any child or teen with a special medical or functional need. Our team fully embraced their various responsibilities and thoroughly loved spending time with these children and their families. Jon and Ben gave their best efforts in helping with the crafts making spider webs.

Todd Shoemaker led the fishing group and didn’t catch a single fish while several of the camp children caught multiple fish. One boy even caught 12 fish, thus showing up all of the ob students! Most of the team rotated from crafts to fishing to horse rides to rides on the tractor. It was a very stretching day seeing our students stepping out of their comfort zones on so many levels. Taylor and Claire were able to have a very encouraging conversation with a man who worked at the camp and were able to very clearly present the gospel to him. Many of people heard the good news of Christ today through these students and everyone was invited to come Sunday morning to worship with us at the Grace Church at Polaris.

After leaving Happy Hearts, it was back to the church to clean up and head off for dinner. We decided to give them an opportunity to have some time together as a team without the leaders around and so we took them to the grocery store and gave the team $14.50 to spend on dinner. (In case you’re doing that math, that’s $.50 per student … and yes we are missing one … Kaitlyn will be back from CA tonight! AND YES! We have missed her greatly as she adds so much excitement and joy to this team!) SO since we had the team do dinner on a dollar at the beginning of the summer, we figured that we’d give them a more difficult challenge. After we dropped them off at the grocery store, they came back in 5 minutes with food for everyone AND they had $.83 in change! Which means they spent $.47 per person. The guys insisted on doing all the cooking, cleaning and preparation. They also stole 17 flowers from the flower beds at the church and gave them to each of the ladies as they entered for dinner … awww how sweet right?! :) Sorry Delaware Grace Brethren Church for the missing flowers!

Now Dani is leading in a teaching time, Amy and Todd are following along closely while I type up this amazingly descriptive blog post for you all to read! It’s been another great day and I’m sad to say that we only have a few days left.

Tri-State's day off in the eyes of Paul Moak

noreply@blogger.com (ob Tours) — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 22:32:00 +0000

On Wednesday morning we woke up and our leaders told us to get clothes on that would be good for walking around a lot in. So we kind of thought we were going to be canvassing. Then we loaded up in the bus and did our quiet time and devotions for like an hour. After we’d been on the bus for a while, Eric told us to listen and then announced that it was our free day. We ate breakfast and drove some more before we were told that our free day was going to be at Cedar Point. The bus erupted with screams and shrieks of joy, but our leaders reminded us that even though it was our “free day” there were still many people in the park that needed to hear what Jesus has done for us.

Following the leaders saying this we prayed in groups that we would stay focused on telling people about Jesus during the day. We all knew where our focus should be and what we needed to be doing, it was just a matter of doing it. Before giving everything we have to Him, and just getting our hearts in the right place. Then we arrived at the park ready to have a great day of ministry and fun.

The day was very overcast and it started raining not long after we got there. The rain was actually a blessing in disguise because it opened up so many opportunities to talk to people in line. One guy I was able to talk to was not a Christian and he didn’t really have any belief. So I asked him what he thought would happen to him if there was a heaven and if there was how would you get there. He replied that he hoped so and he thought that as long as you were a good person you would go. Then he asked what I believed and was able to share the gospel with him and confront him with the fact that you can’t get to heaven by good works. Then he kind of lost interest and turned away from me, but God gave mean opportunity to plant a seed and I did.

Throughout the day many people on our team were able to have spiritual conversations with the people around them in line. When we got back to the bus all we could talk about was our amazing day of doing ministry. During the day we had fun going on the coasters and spending time with each other. But we did God’s will while we were at the park, which was the best thing we could do. Knowing that we did what Jesus would have wanted. Today was an amazing feeling and something we all want to take back to our churches!

A day of TRAVEL!

noreply@blogger.com (ob Tours) — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 05:08:00 +0000

This morning the students were back at the church and ready to work! After having an hour alone with God they were put to work around the church and around the pastors homes. Youth Pastor Adam Johnson told me that the team did more work in his yard than he would have gotten done all summer. While that may have been true, I think it was clear that he had been saving all of that work for them to do. His wife was very happy! :)

Virginia, Morgan and Taylor were some of the ladies who helped wipe down and clean every wall and surface area in the church to help prep for a painting project. The teamwork was excellent, as they made sure to cover every inch. Many of the guys were fortunate enough to work outside and pulled weeds, put down mulch and many other things guys do outside when working in the yard. After working hard, it was time for lunch and the team was delighted to learn of the plentiful potato bar awaiting them inside. Picture a scene from High School Musical where there’s a well timed jump of celebration and then freeze framed picture as everyone bursts into song … well it was something like that.

After lunch the team packed up to head for Ohio. We packed the Penske, prayed with the pastors and all the other alliteration things we could do before leaving. Just when we were ready to leave, we noticed that the brake fluid was leaking … again. Sure enough, when we started the bus, the brake pressure light went on and the beeper started beeping. Pastor Adam quickly got on the phone and had a mechanic from the church there in minutes to fix the bus. We were able to spend that time watching a video on humility that we had planned to watch later that day. The students had some good conversation following the sermon they had just heard on the topic of letting go of pride and learning to be humble. By the time the video was over and the conversation had died down, the bus was up and running again. We then had a several hour trip back to Ashland, Ohio, where we are spending the night. We will be departing in the morning for our team’s free day and I think it’s safe to say that most of the team is expecting it to come tomorrow! I’ll leave it at that and let the suspense build for another day! :)

Fun, not in the sun!

noreply@blogger.com (ob Tours) — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 04:45:00 +0000

Tri-State was very excited for their day off.

Fun at Cedar Point.

Our team loves to smile.

:))))

Getting pumped for a day of ministry at the Point.

What a day.

noreply@blogger.com (ob Tours) — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 05:22:00 +0000

Devon is our only representative today. More to come. Today was very eventful, yet very stressful as a leader. Thanks for your grace. More pics tomorrow. Please read the blog.

A day in the life of Claire Scott

noreply@blogger.com (ob Tours) — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 17:58:00 +0000

Yesterday was another awesome day of ministry! In the morning, we did something called seven-minute servants with the Martinsburg Grace Brethren Church Youth Group. We went door to door asking if people wanted help around the house. Several of us got to pull weeds, pick up debris, wash windows and various other things. Some groups also got the opportunity to pray with homeowners and even share the gospel with them.

After getting to know the Martinsburg youth group at lunch, we headed off to do a program at a nearby nursing home. We sang LOTS of choir songs for them and showed them some of our puppet and clown songs. We were able to socialize with some of the residents after the program. Beth, Spencer, Lauren & Katie connected with a man named Harold, who told them his life story. They also sang “You are my sunshine” and “Jesus love me” with him. Keegan connected with a man named Paul after Olivia and Devon introduced them. They found a common interest of guitar and they were able to sing a few hymns together. These are just a couple of stupendous experiences we had at the nursing home. After spending a wonderful afternoon at the nursing home, we went out for ice cream at Ritchey’s! It was REALLY good! We cam back to the Martinsburg GBC for a spectacular chicken dinner! But before dinner our leaders left us and Spencer led us for team time. He asked us questions about our goals for our last week of tour and what we want to do when we get home. Some people said they wanted to be involved in discipleship while others said they wanted to change things in their youth group and schools, being used powerfully by God.

After a wonderful day of ministry, our host homes picked us up at the church. We were able to spend an evening getting to know our host families. My host family took us to Altoona where we did some shopping! It was really nice of them to show such kindness and hospitality for us when they knew we haven’t gotten to go shopping for a while. Overall, it was yet another exciting day in the life of an ob student.

Rocking to the Oldies:)

noreply@blogger.com (ob Tours) — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 04:35:00 +0000

Devon, Olivia, and Keegan singing along at a nursing home today.

Virginia making friends.

Spencer lending a helping hand.

Drea chatting it up.

Tyler having some juice and cookies over a little conversation.

Beth building relationships.

Ben taking in some sun.

Keegan hanging with the guys.

Caleb enjoying some company.

Sam reaching out.

Katie made a new friend.

After a week of rest?

noreply@blogger.com (ob Tours) — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 03:13:00 +0000

Just kidding about that week of rest part. Even though Momentum was a break from the regular routine of Operation Barnabas it wasn’t the week for catching up on sleep. God was certainly moving on many levels and our ob students came back to the team geared up for another 10 days of ministry. Overall the team seemed to do a nice job of spending time with their youth groups and re-establishing themselves among their peers for a week. I was very pleased to know that they missed us leaders and each other as well as that they were also looking forward to continuing to step out of their comfort zones.

So after a 3-hour bus ride in the rain to Martinsburg from Pittsburgh, we arrived at the church safe and sound. We quickly unpacked, setup the sound equipment and puppet stage and it was off to bed … only to awake early this morning! The service started at 9 am and it was a packed house. Then the students enjoyed a wonderful carry-in meal, in which we got to have hamburgers (for the FIRST time this summer, believe it or not!) before doing some team time. The afternoon consisted of doing catching up on laundry and we had the team fill out an assessment to discover their spiritual gifts. Tonight we had a pool party with the youth group and a near by pool and Tyler, Seth, Ben and Paul learned that they were far weaker that their Senior Leader’s strength. J It was a wonderful day at a wonderful church with wonderful weather!

Sunday swimming!

noreply@blogger.com (ob Tours) — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 02:25:00 +0000

Ladies hanging in the pool!

Claire making pals at the pool.

Caleb pal-wowing at the pool!

Gina and Kayla making potato chips.

Our kids have so much energy they decided to push the car to save on gas.

Steph churching it up.

Drea and Steph socializing.

Breakfast?!

Take Two!

noreply@blogger.com (ob Tours) — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 04:12:00 +0000

So here's the rest of the blog post from yesterday. And as promised, here is the link to watch the Tri-State "Embracing Accusation" pantomime and interviews that aired on Family Life TV. We technically had a 5 minute spot to do our pantomime and then explain what ob is and somehow that turned into an extended time of interviews and opportunities. Praise God for opening doors to be used.

Our time Sunday morning at Pike Grace Brethren Church was equally as cool. The team was focused and ready to be used. It was a powerful morning as the sanctuary was jam-packed and God was definitely moving. Tyler gave his sermon and talked about the power of prayer and Ashley gave her children’s story to dozens of eager listeners. I think that the entire team enjoyed our stop at Pike GBC because it was so clear to everyone we were there to encourage a church that is currently without a pastor. The church family seemed to be encouraged and many of the elders and host families communicated how powerful and well timed our visit was. God is moving and doing things in Johnstown, and I look forward to seeing how that will continue.

The key piece of the day that I’ve left out so far was our afternoon ministry. Once we were stuffed from the carry-in lunch at Pike, we hit the road for Kittanning. We made a much-needed bathroom break at the church before hitting the amphitheatre where we helped with the church with a concert of praise for the community. This was a very sweet event that was planned and organized by the Kittanning GBC. Several other local churches had their praise bands each rotate through and lead in a time of worship. Our team was able to help with the transitions between each band with some of our skits and pantomimes as well as being the key communicators of the gospel. We were able to present the good news through the cross illustration and by the many … MANY conversations that were had for the course of our four hours there. Edrea was on a role and had “incredible spiritual conversations” with everyone she met, while Katie spent a majority of her time talking with one woman. Luke and Olivia were helping to keep some of the younger kids entertained by sacrificing themselves to get blasted with squirt guns, while Caleb was putting his great question asking and listening skills to work. The team did a wonderful job of spreading out, looking for opportunities to talk to people and had dozens of great spiritual conversations. It was a great day of ministry!!!

Now we continue for a week of Momentum and then we’ll wrap up with ten more days of tour before debriefing. You can follow what’s happening at youth conference through the Momentum website as we won’t update this blog until the conclusion of conference. Thanks for all your prayers and support and let us know what you think of our TV spot!

Welcome to Family Life TV!

noreply@blogger.com (ob Tours) — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 05:38:00 +0000

I’m literally speechless right now …

I honestly don’t even know where to start with recapping our day! So I’ll start from the end. We just got back from a local TV station where we were able to be a special guest on the Sunday Night program. The station is called Family Life TV and is based here in Kittanning, PA. Since it was a small station and we were a late edition, we were limited to only having part of our team there. So rather than making the decision myself … I did what any smart leader would do … let the team decide! They chose to do one of our more powerful pantomimes and so the “bacon” three group along with leaders Eric & Todd were off for Hollywood. Just kidding about the Hollywood bit.

But for now, Momentum is fast approaching, it’s getting late in the night (really the morning) and we have to be up super early, soooo … I’m just going to leave you all hanging in suspense about our TV appearance. I promise that as soon as the video is up and running on the website, I will post the link and let you all know when it’s available. I also promise to tell you about the rest of today. But as for now … this is your Senior Leader and blogger on the spot, signing off! Stay classy San Diego.

K-town!!!

noreply@blogger.com (ob Tours) — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 04:55:00 +0000

Devon praying for a wonderful woman!

Keegan chatting it up!!!

Kayla engaging in some spiritual conversation!

Lauren taking in the pantomime.

Joe chilling with a new home boy.

Claire bonding with a family of three.

Crossing the great divide in Kittanning, PA.

Taylor socializing with some ladies at Pike.

Cailyn is all smiles!

Choir is looking good!!

A Day to Remember

noreply@blogger.com (ob Tours) — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 05:19:00 +0000

Today marks the halfway point of our tour for the summer. It’s hard to believe that it’s already half over and yet at the same time it has felt like months. :) I am continually amazed with this team of students. They are gifted, caring, compassionate, very funny and most of all want desperately to be used by God. They have certainly had their ups and downs, but over all I think they are getting it. This morning we had our mid-tour evaluations and we asked the students what they felt their strengths and weaknesses were and it quickly became very clear that they understood completely what they needed to do. We then had some team time and had an incredible time of worship in the sanctuary here at Pike. We prayed for a revival and for this church to be able to find a pastor. The students were definitely sensing the Spirit’s leading and it was exciting to see their passion in prayer.

After lunch we began preparing for the Family Fun Day here in the gym and it was exciting to see all the people from the church and community come out to participate. The church had a free throw shooting contest and had several door prizes available. Finally, it was off to spend some time with the youth group for a cookout and pool party.

I know that our students are really wrestling right now with where God is leading them in life and what plans HE has for them. I plead with you to be lifting them up in prayer right now as they seek God’s will for their lives. In our culture today there are so many people and things competing for their focus and attention and these teens have learned to seek approval from all the wrong places. Many … many of them are wrestling right now with those decisions. With wondering what things they might have to sacrifice in order to live whole-heartedly for God. Some with relationships that may need to come to an end in order to keep their focus on their love relationship with the Lord. Some are even struggling with the expectations and desires that their parents and other people want and have for them and they are having to sort through all of that to determine what it is exactly that God is asking them to do. Please pray that these students would find the boldness to stand for what they know they need to do and that they would be obedient to see these things through. God is good. I can’t wait to see what the rest of this summer holds for this team of teens.

Fun in the Sun

noreply@blogger.com (ob Tours) — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 12:47:00 +0000

Today Tri-State awoke to a wonderful camp experience. The bell was ringing bright and early (7 am) and the showers were lacking hot water, actually they were lacking water all together. The team made their best attempts to get ready and tried their best not to complain. After a wonderful pancake breakfast the students spent an hour alone with God before we packed up to leave and said goodbye to all the new friends they had made.

We arrived in Johnstown, PA shortly after noon and the team was excited to see all of their mail. I was glad there was so much mail as well. Not because any of it was for me, but because passing out the mail is always a fun time. This round of mail was my favorite so far. Mostly because Cailyn had to give us her best cowgirl impersonation, while galloping on Elizabeth’s back. They were very impressive and stole the show.

After mail call, we had a pizza lunch. I knew I shouldn’t have made mention of that in the previous blogs. J Then it was time for manual labor. Some of the students cleaned rooms, kitchens, bathrooms and floors, while others pulled weeds, emptied storage spaces and de-cluttered! I bet you’re thinking you’d like to have an ob team stop by your house right now! They worked very hard and did a wonderful job.

The team then was brought into dinner and I don’t think there was any way to prepare them for what was about to be served. I know they had worked up a good appetite from all the manual labor, but they were overjoyed when they saw the chicken they were receiving on each plate. The cooks had spent most of the afternoon barbequing some chicken in a fire pit out back. The smell and taste was amazing. The team ate what they could and were stuff to the brim. Several girls took to the challenge and were determined to eat the entire piece. Claire, Lauren, Kayla and Devon were a few of the victors! They were quite proud of themselves … until … we had to get on the bus to leave for canvassing.

We spent the remainder of the evening walking off the chicken, passing out fliers for tomorrow’s event and praying for the opportunities that were to come. Then it was back to the church where the students quickly discovered that host homes were there ready and willing to take them home and give them more food. Regardless to say, we are all excited about the things that God is going to do here at Pike GBC.

Work: Don't judge a worker based on his cover.

noreply@blogger.com (ob Tours) — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 03:45:00 +0000

Our team got a lot done today, they also had a lot of fun!

Muscles (question mark?)

Sam and Seth cleaning (question mark?)

Tyler...did all this (question mark?)

Broom wars (question mark?)

Paul freaked out by some old gum (question mark?)

Keegan...finally we find someone working ;)

Olivia working hard!!

Paul and Spency-Poo found this monkey in a shed...they couldn't resist (question mark?)

Taylor, Seth, and Beth scrubbing, supervising, and soaking(?)

July 9 Pictures

noreply@blogger.com (ob Tours) — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 20:20:00 +0000

Ben and Seth praying with some campers.

Tyler, Jon, and Keegan lead a time of singing and testimony.

God was totally working during a time of worship with the camp.

The ob students did skits and pantomimes, then discussed it purpose with other high schoolers.

Quite a few were present, its a exciting to see a camp alive and doing well.

Clean up after dinner.

Caleb's mom must have thouagh him well.

Seth with a servants heart.

Cailyn is very excited about her new job.

July 8 Pictures

noreply@blogger.com (ob Tours) — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 19:39:00 +0000

Paul praying with some VBS boys.

Seth spelling life.

Pastor Sean and Stephanie present the gospel with these young ladies.

Katie sharing her heart.

The team prayed over Gina's leg.

We have heard the surgery went well and she willbe meeting up with us Monday!! Very excited to see her soon!!!

Claire and Ben helping with the craft.

Kaitlyn making robots.

Clowns goofing off.

Clowns doing a 360 around the Son 365.

Wendy's trip!

Thursday, July 9 - Camp Albryoca

noreply@blogger.com (ob Tours) — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 19:22:00 +0000

This morning we left Columbus, Ohio to depart for Meyersdale, Pennsylvania. The good news is that we arrived safely and the bad news is that even the leaders were surprised at how long it took us. Funny thing is that we often don’t tell the team what the plans for the next day (or even the rest of the day) are, because we know they can change. It’s easier to communicate something once when you know that’s actually what’s going to happen, rather than communicate something 3 to 5 times and have to change what’s really going on. So as we were all planning on having a 5-hour bus ride, we didn’t take into account that our blue bus would average 20 miles and hour going up any hill larger than 25 feet high. In my mind, the funniest part was knowing that Todd was growing impatient with the lack of speed going up the hills as he drove and seeing the students pick up on that. Needless to say that we arrived in time for our ministry opportunities and had a great camp experience partnering with the leaders of this camp.

We were able to fellowship alongside of the 80 some high school students here from around the Alleghany District and the ob team loved every minute of it. They were so excited to get to be with people their age and put what they’ve been learning into practice. You could just see it on their faces as they had spiritual conversations with everyone during dinner and during the discussion groups. We were able to use many of our skits and pantomimes in a program to have open dialogue in smaller groups, giving everyone freedom to share the real things that they face in life. I was so encouraged to hear and see several of our team expressing the things that God has been teaching them through this summer, because it directly relates to where these camp teens are at as well. They were all realizing that it doesn’t matter what point your at in your relationship with God, you will still always have areas to grow and mature in.

After the campfire, worship and testimony times, it was evident that the teen campers and our ob students had bonded. Many were encouraging for each other, lifting up each other in prayer and sharing their struggles. Praise God for a wonderful ministry here where everyone was both strengthened and challenged.

Encounter Day 2!!!

noreply@blogger.com (ob Tours) — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 04:41:00 +0000

Today is day two with Encounter Church. Their purpose statement is “seeking His Kingdom first” and their core values are “celebrate, grow, serve and multiple.” I have been very impressed with the vision of this church and how God has been using the people and families involved. The students arrived this morning excited about the opportunities they had to get to know many of these families and all had wonderful stories of conversations and things they did with their host homes.

We started the day off … just like every day thus far on tour … where the team had 45 minutes to an hour in the Word and in prayer. They also had time to continue reading “A Call to Die” by David Nasser. We gave them time this morning to share and process with each other how God has been challenging them through this 40 day devotional. The conversation was incredible as each and every one of us have been challenged and motivated to be obedient to the things that God is calling us to.

After having lunch at the nearby Wendy’s restaurant, we met up at the church with Luke Fields who helped us to canvas all of the Dublin area. He was the man today as he had all the maps prepared and even got the team some “Graeters” Ice Cream after wards. We were able to pass out several thousands of fliers inviting the community to the church and the students were extremely tired after wards. Joseph figured that his group covered 3-5 miles in just less than 2 hours of canvassing. The church is very excited to have this kind of help marketing and letting the community know of their existence. Pastor Sean mentioned that this upcoming Sunday would be just their 24^th week of ministry. I know that the students were very excited as well to be a part of this ministry and help to lay the foundation of this church.

Tonight was our second night of helping with Encounter’s VBS titled “Operation Space.” Stephanie from PA did a wonderful job entertaining the children, as Super Quimper and Spencer and Sam were fantastic once again working the hands and mouth for the big blue puppet during “Wise Man Rock.” The team is getting close to the point where they are functioning on their own for each program and have needed very little instruction. It’s exciting to see them starting to really click and gel as a team and to see how they are growing in that area. Tomorrow we leave Columbus and head back to PA for Camp Albryoca and another full day of ministry.

Please also be praying for Gina as she leaves the team again tonight for her ankle surgery in the morning. Gina broke her ankle last week and is very sad that she will miss several days of ministry with the team. She will be reunited with us again Monday at Momentum and we will SOOO greatly miss her. Our team is not complete without her as she has been a great leader and has had a wonderful attitude while she’s been on crutches. Pray that God would heal her, keep her safe from the enemies attacks and that the surgery will go well.

VBS memiors!

noreply@blogger.com (ob Tours) — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 03:55:00 +0000

Seth helping some boys with their time capsules!

The "Big Cadets" got to teach the Bible lesson for Encounter VBS!

Devon was working her clown magic tonight!!!

How many clowns does it take to help a confused child?

The Tri-State was all in it together tonight at Encounter.

Keegan and Cailyn trying to quickly pick up the worship songs that all the 9 year olds were singing.

Praying over the evening with the church!

Gina got to be with us today!!! Everyone severely misses her when she leaves for her broken ankle issues!

Jon and Virginia working hard to punch holes in over 10,000 contact cards!

The rest of the team caught some vision and blitzed the neighborhood with some serious prayer!!!