in co-ed groups this year we are learning about having a “heart of a champion.” Having a heart of a champion means having a heart for others, for serving others, and growing in spiritual beliefs.

A Heart for Quality Relationship taught us that “to be a MVP you need VIPs in your life.” the VIPs that we are have learned are the people that validate us, improve us, and pray for us. Learning how all of the people that care about us, have shaped us as individuals, means a lot to every one of us.

A Heart for Others taught us that we should accept everyone and care about how others are feeling. We discussed in worship that night that listening is very important and that we should all strive to be better listeners.

The co-ed groups and worships have opened our eyes so that we can have a “heart of a champion” and hopefully when we return we will be able to have what we learned thus far be evident to each and everyone.

~Beckie

Sorry there were no blogs yesterday. We had a big day. Full day of mission and the water park. The water park was a pleasant surprise. It was huge! Mission went well, except for the fact that we have to repaint a garage because we painted it with interior paint instead of exterior…AWESOME! (Don’t worry the paint was given to us, we are smarter than the average bear). Everyone was exhausted last night.

Today we get to lay linoleum and paint an entire house! Gonna be hotter here today but not quite the 90’s that you guys are having. BIG, LONG today. We will definitely let you know how it goes later.

We are having a great time and have bonded strongly over the last couple of days. Between Larius and of course the Amber Beauchamp stories, we have shared a lot of laughter and good times.

Hope the rest of the week goes just as well. -Stacey

Let me tell you a little about my buddy Lars! Lars is normaly a quiet kid who doesnt speak much and maybe says 5 words in an hour. That is no longer the case! lol Lars has busted out of his shell like dynamite in a walnut shell! Hes definetely a great asset to this trip! He makes everyone laugh and yesturday we went and played with kid from the boys and girls club and Lars was perfect for the little kids! He talked to them and played games with them along with the other youth. If the kids got out of line he would rastle them all back up! To sum it up, Lars is one of a kind and has some funky dance moves!!!!!!!! Keep rockin Lars!!!

Joe

Well…what a time we have had so far!!!   We have done LOTS of demo (and guess what - even the youth that were hestitant to knock down a wall ended up enjoying it!).  My Day 1 crew (Morgan, Katie, Traci, Kenidy…yes ALL girls) demolished most of the upstairs walls (3 bedrooms and a hallway) of a home owned by a single mom with 5 children.  The children wanted to help us demolish so bad (9 & 11 year old boy).  Then they got to the point that they would play with us and pop up behind things and try and scare us.  Our youth really enjoyed both the hard work and the interaction with the families.

We have paint scraped, painted (of course), removed linoleum, cleaned…and lots more, with lots more to do.  Today it rained, so the afternoon was spent at the Boys and Girls Club helping to entertain their summer camp kids.  Watching Joe, Lars, Megan, Morgan and Beckie play Octopus with a bunch of 8-10 year olds was GREAT!

Our youth are wonderful and have worked above and beyond everyone’s expectations.  The work camp that we are here with thought we would only get to 2 sites in the first 3 days and we have already been to 6 sites.  They are quite impressed.

Having a wonderful time.  Tired, of course, but in a really good way.

the first 2 days of the youth trip service were fun. I had the privilege of smashing and demolishing walls both days. Monday, Joe, Lars and myself went to town on this mans creepy porch and took off paneling and drywall and at one point went sami told us to take off the drywall, Lars got too exited and smashed the wrong wall. and today, we demolished an attic room thing and took out all the walls and me and mags tied in our competition to see who can take off the biggest piece of partice board, maggie won the top part but i came back and tore off the whole bottom piece. nbd. then me, Lee, and austin ripped up an entire kitchen floor.

Stacey and I woke up to the sound of water running and loud engine-like sound at 3am. We were nervous the sump pump was broken or something and the church was flooding so we walked around for two hours trying to figure out what was making the sound. We couldn’t find it. Then, we thought maybe it was an air conditioner (they have wall AC units). We checked to make sure they were all off because it’s cool at night. They were all off, but then one turned on. Strange. So, we tried to figure out what unit was on, but every time we got close it stopped. Eventually, we surrendered and went back to bed. Needless to say, we are exhausted and thanks be to God we have Lee! (who got a great night sleep) Stacey and I think the church is haunted. Just kidding, but it’s the running joke right now.

For those who dont know of the game Sardines its basicaly like hide and seek except when you find the person you hide with them until all the teams have found them then the first team that found them get to hide next. Playing Sardines at this location was really fun because this is a really big church with passage ways and many doors and hiding places. One of the people that was incharge of getting us to the right mission sites was Erin. She’s a college student who is studying to be a youth director and she is really cool!!!!!!!! Her, Megan and Me were on a team and the girls were both scared and i was on the fence of being scared but one time we were opening a door and Erin freaks and grabs my arm and makes me jump! It was funny! lol There was another time we were walking into the sanctuary and Lee jumps out and scares us and i almost punch him in the face. lol I jumped back and got into a fighting stance and then i realized it was him and i felt pretty bad. I loved playing Sardines! I definatly had the best team!!!!!!! :) p.s This doesnt fit the Sardines theme but the sanctuary here is amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Dear church council, we need a grand piano!!!!!!!! :)

Joe

today we realized that Lars is not the best painter. he was dripping paint of the floor and in my hair( you kinda get the picture). well sami likes to keep entertained by asking people to tell her stories, so she asked me. and as i was already giving lars trouble about he bad painting job, i thought i should just make up a storie about him. and so i did! of course i was just saying what ever came to mind, but it ended up being funny. so as the day went on, so did the stories! just a funny thing that happened on this trip and i thought i would share it with everyone :) i may post a story on a later date!

-Maggie

today was the first day of mission and i was in a group with Stacey, Traci, Kenidy, and Morgan. we had to smash walls with hammers and a crowbar :) it was incredible i loved every second of it and the people we did it for were so sweet the little kids wanted to help so bad it was really cute. when i was sweeping the giant mess the back of my shorts got hooked on a nail and i couldnt get it off and someone (not naming names) was nice enough to touch my booty to set me free. it was a good day:)

                                                                                                                         -katie

cost of trip- $175

car ride- 6 hours

arriving here and serving God- PRICELESS

-Maggie