We're Coming Home

I apoligize for the delay in posting for the last two days, but I am happy to announce that we will be headed for home right after church today. Our expected arrival is at 9pm and many of the kids are ready to see all of you. More posts will be done tomorrow as I catch up. Pray for our safe travels and we will see you tonight.

Ain't That Nifty, Look Who Turned 50!!!

We were thrilled to celebrate Pastor Chuck's 50th birthday with him tonight and he had his favorite cheesecake (Jell-O Brand) and a t-shirt with 50 Dum-Dum suckers attached......"50 Sucks".

Please leave comments and we will pass them along to our new half-centenarian. Maybe we will get some new discounts on our hotel rooms on Saturday night........

Sweetly Broken

When we prepare to go on a mission trip, we try to prepare ourselves spiritually to serve God and we hope that the people see Christ thorugh our acitons. I can only speak for myself that when God shows up, we can't possibly be prepared for what will happen. Last night, Adrian challenged the kids to rid the sin in their lives by confessing it to a leader or their friends. What happened was beautiful and full of love as several of the kids confessed and consoled each other. It was a great example of the invitation to have the Holy Spirit take over the night.

The weather provided a great workday with the completion of two projects today. A wall project was done and the terrace has been fully covered with stone and is now ready for the new deck and the stairway. VBS has the kids in the neighborhood ready for the big carnival tomorrow. Please pray that we can finish our remaining projects and also be ready to head to the park and have a great time with the Level 2 group and the kids on The Island.

Lost in Worship

Our main song for worship to this point is How He Loves by The David Crowder Band. I am posting the lyrics so that you can read them and download it to sing with the kids after we return. It is transforming all of our relationships with God every night.

He is jealous for me
Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree
Bending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy

And all of a sudden I am unaware
of these afflictions eclipsed by glory
And I realize just how beautiful You are
And how great Your affections are for me

Oh how He loves us,oh
Oh how He loves us
How He loves us all

Yeah, He loves us
Oh how He loves
Oh how He loves

We are His portion and He is our prize
Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes
If His grace is an ocean, we’re all sinking

Heaven meets earth like an unforeseen kiss
And my heart turns violently inside of my chest
I don’t have time to maintain these regrets
When I think about, the way…

That He loves us
Oh how He loves us
Oh how He loves us
Oh how He loves

Yeah, He loves us
Oh how He loves us
Oh how He loves us
Oh how He loves

Yeah He loves us
Oh how He loves us
Oh how He loves us
Oh how He loves

I'm A Believer

I want to introduce you to the two crazy guys that are responsible for the ministries that we are serving.

Bill Halle (L) and his family run The Net and other services through the Grace Youth and Family Foundation. Some of those services include services to the county for drug and alcohol offenders, providing a caring place for teens to perform community service, hosting AA meetings, running a school for children that the school district won't handle and just when you think they don't have any time, they support, coach and transport a youth football team.

Tom Bowser (R) is a family man, works midnights at a printing shop and runs Fishbone Minisitries which is the simple explanation of what he does. Fishbone Ministries has "The Brown House" in an area of Butler known as "The Island". I have surmised that "The Island" is where the alienated, the lost and troubled live in a concentrated area. Tom's heart is so open to them and in turn he and his family have made a huge difference in the area. Whether it is a mother who has had a past of drug use and in trouble with the law or a seven year old nicknamed Bubba that needs to hang with a buddy, Tom is visible on a daily basis and shares himself openly.

This is such a small glimpse into their lives, so here is the link to the services from GYFF. Please check it out and pray for these Godly men. http://gyff.org/programming

How He Loves

I believe that each of us expected to put in substantial time working to meet the goals that we set at the beginning of the week. Those goals are well on their way to being met and more. What has been awesome is the time we have spent in D2W (or Debrief, Worship and Word). This is when we hear a message from Adrian, worship the Lord and give him praise for the sightings of His work. The Holy Spirit was in attendance as we worshipped well in to the night.

The random acts of kindness included water, roses and suckers being given to total strangers and with some hesitation from the recipients. Bingo and great discussion at the Salvation Army with the elderly were a great source of stories from Mrs. Maschino through Adrian. Mrs. Garl's team served lunch at the soup kitchen and it all looked great.

Today, we need your prayers for wisdom to use the sunscreen that we have. Going to be in the upper 80's and sunny. Gatorade is ready to go.

Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap

Well.....you can imagine that 33 kids and 8 adults can make a place pretty messy if not cleaned regularly. Shelley organized an indoor cleaning crew that took on all of the bathrooms, garbage and other general cleaning. Sara, Jamie, Bronwyn and Abbey volunteered and dusted, sprayed, vacuumed, polished and disinfected 5 bathrooms, the snack bar, the eating area, the window sills and all the wood in the first floor. We are all thankful for their service to us and our living space for the week.

Adrian McKinney is our worship leader for the week and this is our worship time tonight. I hope the kids can hang with him. We all just finished Blizzards at the local DQ. THANK YOU MRS. PRENTICE!!

L to R - Jamie, Aaron, Brad, Bronwyn, Adam, Molly, Mary, Kaylee, Emily, Anna, Jenna and Lauren breaking for a photo opp.

Here Comes The Sun

Breakfast.....check.
Devotions.......check.
Hardly a cloud in the sky as we attacked our work projects at The Net with great energy and excitement. Bricks stacked, railroad ties removed, weeds pulled, walls prepped for a new layer and the scrap metal is ready to take to the scrapyard. The youth were AWESOME as they saw a great opportunity to serve The Net.

Level two put on VBS-At-The-Island and hosted just under 20 children who were eager to play, learn, eat and craft! Children from 3-12 heard the how Christ was sent to be the bridge between God and people and how his sacrifice for our sins can allow us to join God in Heaven. They began to learn the Fruit of the Spirit memory verse, made a cross necklace or a bookmark, ate Goldfish (crackers of course) and fruit snacks! We saw our kids love on the kids of Shore St. And we heard an adorable little 4 yr old boy get so excited when he heard Jesus name! "I know Him! God is His Father!" Wow, what a blessing! Can't wait for Day #2!

Getting To Know You

What a day!! We started the day with a wonderful breakfast and then off to church at Grove Community Church in Cranberry. We found out that our host at The Net is also pretty blessed on the drums.
After coming back and devouring some awesome beef tips and noodles for lunch, Adrian McKinney instructed us on the street mission for the afternoon. We delivered boxes of Mac and Cheese to the neighbors and handed out flyers inviting them to the cookout last night and their kids to the rest of the events of the week including VBS through Thursday and the BIG CARNIVAL on Friday.
The youth were awesome as we went door to door and talked to people they had never met. We had a great time with the neighborhood, sharing food, games, discussion and the love of God. Please pray for today as we get down and dirty with the level one projects and random acts of kindness. Level two will be service projects, serving at the local Salvation Army working on projects with the elderly and running the VBS.
We only had one minor illness yesterday, but all are up and eating to charge up for the day. We can't wait to see God today.

Until next time (hopefully later today)........

The Net Outreach building in Butler. Girls on the second floor and boys on the third.

A beautiful day at The Net.

Th Long and Winding Road

After leaving Midland we made our way to Butler and arrived at 9pm. Or at least most of us.....the level 2 team fell behind after their fearless leader took them on a bit of an adventure (yes, Pastor Chuck took a wrong turn).
All arrived well with no reports of illness or injury. We are headed to chruch and will report to you later. We will covet your prayers and thoughts as we spen day 1 in Butler. Off to church.