Mission Trip Itinerary

For all the forgetful parents out there (like me) here's our whole schedule, addresses included. One of us will try to update the site every night to keep you informed about all the amazing things your youth are doing :) Since they will not be permitted to cary their cell phones to their work sites we will have a set "parent check-in" time each evening. We're getting so close!!!


Mission Trip 2009 Itinerary

Saturday, 27 June 2009
7:30 am meet at church
8:30am depart for Forsyth GA
3:00 pm arrive at Super 8 hotel, Forsyth GA
436 Tift College Dr, Forsyth GA 31029
6:00 pm Dinner at the Whistle Stop Café

Sunday, 28 June 2009
10:00 am depart for Birmingham, AL
4:30- 6pm Check in with Youthworks!

Sunday, 28 June – Friday, 3 July 2009
Mission Week: Woodlawn UMC 118 55th St N Birmingham AL 35212

Friday, 3 July 2009
9:00 – 9:30 am Depart for Valdosta GA
2:00 – 3:00 Check into Days Inn Valdosta GA
4598 North Valdosta Rd Valdosta GA 31602
3:30 pm visit Wild Adventures theme park
3766 Old Clyattville Rd Valdosta GA 31601
7:30pm return to hotel

Saturday, 4 July 2009
10:00am – 11:00pm Celebrate Independence day at Wild Adventures Theme park

Sunday 5 July 2009
11:00am Depart Valdosta GA
5:00 pm Arrive in Cocoa Beach for parent pick up

We will have all youth call their parents when we get within an hour of home so you can know exactly when to be there to claim your precious (and exhausted) cargo :)

Please be in prayer for us during this week, We ask that you pray for eyes to be opened to the majesty of God, hearts to be drawn close to our Savior, and our safe travel.

An Attempt at a Well Needed Update

Caroline here, first to apologize for the lack of news lately.  We've all been very, VERY busy, especially Jesse and Dawn, and I have just been called upon to sort of, take over the blog.  Hooray? We'll see. 

So needless to say, a lot has happened since our last update, and I'll do my best to remember it all.

First of all, let me start and say that I am Caroline, Dawn and Jesse's "little helper".  I graduated from Cocoa Beach High School last year, and my sister Chelsea is a senior still in the youth.  I also help out and sing with the praise team at the First Wave service on Sundays.  As I am currently at BCC and always here, they asked me to come back and help as an "adult leader," and I've certainly appreciated that.  

Okay, so here goes. 

The youth group has grown tremendously!  It's truly amazing to see God working in these young hearts.  I could try to give you a head count, but I run out of fingers. :P  Since the last post, we have added Jake, a senior, the Bobo twins, Laura and Emily, juniors, and Rachel, who I believe is a 7th grader.  There may be more, forgive me if there is. They're really starting to see each other as family rather than a group of mix-matched friends with little in common.  Many of the kids are greatly looking forward to our mission trip to Birmingham this summer. :) 

We've also received another wonderful gift from God.  A few months ago, we had an individual donate a CAR to the youth group!  And no, not to teach the little ones to drive!  We used it as a fundraiser to help raise money for our mission trip this summer!  Well a few weeks ago we finally sold the beautiful blue Firebird!  To be honest, I don't remember the exact dollar value, but I consider this gift to be priceless.  To think that we were in the hearts of this person enough for them to give us a car?  It's truly incredible. 

This Christmas season we decided to enjoy dinner at a nice restaurant instead of our typical progressive dinner.  It was a good shift from the norm, not to mention the fact that it was my 19th birthday :P.  We went to Gregory's Steak House in Cocoa Beach, and filled a rather long table full of happy, hungry kids!  It was a very memorable evening.  For Christmas this year, Dawn and Jesse blessed the youth with a WONDERFUL gift: tickets to see MercyMe in concert in February!  More on that one later :)  Some of the youth helped with the children's Christmas Eve service.  Daniel, Chelsea and myself got to play around with puppets, and we found out that Jake is quite the wise guy, or shall I say Wiseman.  Its great to see the kids reaching our even to the little ones in our own church and community. 

Now to the concert. :)  It was held at this HUGE mega church in the Orlando area, Northland Church, and it was amazing!  The opening group, Addison Road, has become a favorite among the youth.  And MercyMe was phenomenal, as to be expected.  It was a very moving experience for many.  :)

This past week we did not have a lesson, as it was Chelsea's birthday.  Instead we enjoyed some Shepard's Pie and lemon bundt cake, as per Chelsea's request.  Most of us enjoyed the hot tub, but a small handful dared to conquer the pool, which was rather chilly.  The week before we watched the film "Fireproof" and it was really good.  Many "aww!!" moments among the girls!  As far as anything before, I'm just like everyone else who can't remember what they ate for breakfast, so I really couldn't tell you.  More to come this week, after we meet on Thursday.  Sorry for the sporadic attempt at an update! 

9 Nov- Access 218

This Sunday we were treated to a worship band from Jacksonville FL. They Call themselves Access 218, and they rocked the house. Our youth who was there enjoyed them very much.

We put on our first fundraiser after the service, a Good Shepherd Pie luncheon. Jesse and I made 4 huge pans of Shepherds Pie and 16 Sweet potato pies, we also served salad and dirinks. Our youth served about 125 people dinner and desert. They really earned their money.

We would like to take a moment here to thank God for putting it on the heart of one of our congregation families to make a donation to our youth in the ammount of $1000.00. That makes a huge dent toward our fundraising goal for Mission Trio 2009!!

Thanks to all the youth who worked so hard, the parents who supported us and our pastors and their families who made today so very amazing!!!

Jesse and I would also like to say how impressed we are with your young men and women who pour their hearts in to everything they do. You should all be proud to call them yours.

Operation Christmas Child

OK So on Sunday, Nov 2nd we had a special guest at church. Her name was Tanya, a russian girl who grew up in a poverty stricken home with abusive parents. Her life seemed hopless until she was sent, at age 9, to live in an orphanage. Things from there turned out to be the old cliche' "out of the frying pan, into the fire." She was constantly told that no one will ever love her, and she'll never be anything worthwhile. Then she recieved a shoebox. This shoebox was filled with toys and a letter from someone she never met saying "We love you." Tanya is now 24 years old and going to be on Good Morning America talking about how Operation Christmas Child, and something as simple as the words "I LOVE YOU" can change a life.

So for youth group this Thursday, we decided to change some lives. Each youth was given a shoebox and we all went together to the dollar store to fill them. The care that each of these kids put into filling their shoebox was indescribable. SO much love and affection for children they will never meet, all packed into a tiny shoebox.

They did SUCH a good job in fact, the woman from our church who is in charge of Operation Chrismas Child, Jamie Irvin, asked us to do some more, with the donations she recieved from our church. HOW COOL IS THAT?!!!

23 October 2008

So WOW, last night was amazing! Pastor Patrice came by to do a "True Love Waits" sermon and discussion. The first question she asked was "What is your definition of love" The responses were anonymous and so amazing I just have to share them!

"Love is complicated, There is no definition for love, but we do have guesses. Love is hard to describe. So I can honestly say I don't know."

"Love is a feeling of compassion; mostly built on trust and honesty, shared with people closest to you, but it is also shared with those who need it most"

"Love- Love is seeing someone for who they really are and accepting them for that. Love is taking chances and trusting those closest to be there to catch you when you fall"

"gay"

"Love- is a feeling of care for one. A feeling that makes you want someone to be happy. A Selfless act of caring. Some feeling where you care for someone as much or more than you care for yourself."

"Love- (noun) everlasting care and heartfelt affection."

"Love is unconditional."

"To truly be committed to a person/ number of persons and trust them completely in a way you wish they would trust you. To know that, no matter what, they will always be there for you, no matter what."

"Love: The ability to unconditionally care and respect someone in your life"

Pretty amazing, Right?? This was followed by responsive reading and committing ourselves to God's will for our lives, which means abstaining from sex until marriage. We then presented each of them a ring and made these vows:

Youth Leaders: "Because we love you and believe in the work that God is doing in your life, We give you this ring. May it be a constant reminder of your commitment of purity before God, This church, and if God wills before your future marriage partner."

Student: "Believing that true love waits, I make this commitment and pray God will empower me to be a person of truth and wisdom. I make this commitment to God, my family, my friends, and if God wills, to my future mate and children"

Also, keep Ryan in your prayers, He was hospitalized Tuesday with MRSA. We saw him This morning and he looks and sounds really healthy. Hopefully he'll be home tonight!!

Thanks to Frankie for the huge, delicious sandwiches and a great big thanks to Pastor Patrice, she did an amazing job!!!

10 October 2008

OK, really, need I say more????

This week our program was on spiritual gifts. We went around and said one spiritual gift we have, and two about someone else. We also did Daniel's hair. I think "putting up with a lot of embarrassing abuse" is one of Daniels spiritual gifts :P Also, it was twin day at school.

Also, on October 23rd Pastor Patrice will be coming to talk to our youth about abstinence, and we will be making 'True Love Waits' commitments.

PRAISE TEAM!!!

Sorry it took so long to get this up, But our youth is now doubling as our praise team on Sunday

mornings! Don't they look great?! Way to go girls!