Hey, it's a busy week around here with over 125 kids in VBS, but I wanted to take a moment and just put some quick updates up about our summer.
Kentucky Pictures: In the next 24 hours a KY image gallery should appear to the right. To see full size images simply click on any picture. Pictures are hosted by Picasa, and they allow you to purchase pics from a number of vendors (including Walgreens, which will send them to a local store and thusly no shipping charge). BLAST does not endorse nor profit from any of these vendors, this is simply an option we are able to offer.
Lake Day: We had an amazing lake day for middle school and high school last Wednesday. Nearly 60 middle schoolers were able to participate (it was an outreach event for that ministry), as well as 20 high schoolers (we used it as a community building event for them). Special thanks to Damon Huibregtse for the use of his lake and waterslide, and to Greg Dirkse for the use of his amazing boat.
Middle School Dolfin's Cabin: We had nearly 40 students for an amazing weekend focused on building the Heart of a Champion. The weather really cooperated, meaning we were able to fit in all our great lake activities, including tubing, jet skiis, swimming, the water trampoline, and more. We also had some great activities, including our now famous Woodchipper game. God really moved over the course of the weekend, with 15 students accepting Christ for the first time and many more making some awesome new commitments. Thanks to Todd and Laura Dolfin, as well as our huge team of adult and high school volunteers, for making the weekend such a huge success.
Monday, July 26, 2010
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Kentucky mission trip: Wed and Thr
God continues to do amazing things here in Jackson County. Our shed building team has everything all enclosed and is putting the finishing touches on as I write. We plan to hold a dedication in memory of Taylor VanderWeele later tonight. The poor team at the house continues to be plagued by difficulties. Yesterday they simply checked above the ceiling (they were told it was "all good," but thought smart to check anyway), and were summarily bathed in coal dust that had gathered up there from the coal burning stove days. They thusly worked overtime for the second straight day trying to get to a good place. While they may not make it to their goal they have been a massive help and have set the stage very well for the next work group. They have really dealt with some tough set backs and conditions, yet have stayed upbeat and positive because they know they are really making a difference. My hat is really off to that crew.
The daycamp is getting close to wrapping as I write. Not only will we wrap our time with them at 3pm today, but it is also the last daycamp of the summer (many have come for three weeks now). Jackson County School District ended up with only around 30 some days of summer vacation this year due to having over 30 snow days this winter. So, JCM had to cram all their summer programs into one month (which is why there is not only our daycamp this week, but a horse camp, drama camp, and an evening VBS run by a group staying at JCM). There have been some awesome connections made between our students and the daycampers, and some hopefully eternal seeds have been planted in hearts.
Last night we got to hear from Denny Pehrman, the youth chaplain from JCM. He was INCREDIBLE! He shared stories of heartbreak and triumph. Jackson County Schools have had over 30 teen deaths related to drug overdoses and suicides over the past 8 years. In the midst of that Denny has probably saved many times that number of lives, as well as 100's of souls. He challenged out students to move from being believers to being disciples who really act on their faith. It starts simply by reaching out and seeing what needs you can meet at school, in your home, at work, etc. The students were really moved by his message and made some great commitments afterwards.
One of those commitments involved one of the students from the Barnabas Home for at risk youth located at JCM (some are there because they are at risk, some because they have committed crimes). Our students went from being scared of them, to cautiously playing hoops with them, to befriending them. One of the students from the home is moving back home to a tough situation today. Our students wrote him a letter they had the JCM staff deliver to him to offer him guidance, prayers, and encouragement. In fact a basketball game yesterday turned into simply sitting down and talking about life and God. It has been awesome seeing our once scared students MINISTERING to these other kids!
Tomorrow we will have a free day, which will include a trip to Cumberland Falls (the "Niagara of the South" and the original KFC. Should be a nice end to an amazing trip.
The daycamp is getting close to wrapping as I write. Not only will we wrap our time with them at 3pm today, but it is also the last daycamp of the summer (many have come for three weeks now). Jackson County School District ended up with only around 30 some days of summer vacation this year due to having over 30 snow days this winter. So, JCM had to cram all their summer programs into one month (which is why there is not only our daycamp this week, but a horse camp, drama camp, and an evening VBS run by a group staying at JCM). There have been some awesome connections made between our students and the daycampers, and some hopefully eternal seeds have been planted in hearts.
Last night we got to hear from Denny Pehrman, the youth chaplain from JCM. He was INCREDIBLE! He shared stories of heartbreak and triumph. Jackson County Schools have had over 30 teen deaths related to drug overdoses and suicides over the past 8 years. In the midst of that Denny has probably saved many times that number of lives, as well as 100's of souls. He challenged out students to move from being believers to being disciples who really act on their faith. It starts simply by reaching out and seeing what needs you can meet at school, in your home, at work, etc. The students were really moved by his message and made some great commitments afterwards.
One of those commitments involved one of the students from the Barnabas Home for at risk youth located at JCM (some are there because they are at risk, some because they have committed crimes). Our students went from being scared of them, to cautiously playing hoops with them, to befriending them. One of the students from the home is moving back home to a tough situation today. Our students wrote him a letter they had the JCM staff deliver to him to offer him guidance, prayers, and encouragement. In fact a basketball game yesterday turned into simply sitting down and talking about life and God. It has been awesome seeing our once scared students MINISTERING to these other kids!
Tomorrow we will have a free day, which will include a trip to Cumberland Falls (the "Niagara of the South" and the original KFC. Should be a nice end to an amazing trip.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
KY Mission Trip Day 3
Morning y'all!
WE continue to have an amazing experience here in Jackson County, KY. On Tuesday our daycamp kicked off, with around 50 students attending. We must have done well, because today they all came back and some even brought new friends! Melissa did such a wonderful job planning everything before we got here, and it has run really well. Our students have been awesome teachers, role models, pool toys, and jungle gyms! They are really making a positive impact on the young people here.
Work crew #1 is building a shed in honor of Taylor VanderWeele and, as I speak, are to the point of raising the roof. They should finish tommorrow. Their adults have been really impressed by their work ethic, and they are building a great structure. They did have the joy of raising truses in a mega downpour, but otherwise the rain has done well avoiding them. They are in for two days of scorching heat, so pray for breezes and good hydration as they roof in 100+ temps.
Work crew #2 is working on rehabing a house, with their project being the bathroom. The have torn out EVERYTHING, and are now putting in a new appliances, floording, finishings, walls, etc. They have had quite the experience owing to the lack of coding in KY, which led to poor Jacob going into a crawl space that ended up being where the kitchen and I believe a bathroom had been empting into for decades (he politely requested NEVER to go in there again). Some of the pipes just simply dump to the outside, including a bathroom into a creek. Scott has certainly had his hands full plumbing, but they are getting much done and VASTLY improving the living conditions for the family.
Our team continues to mesh amazingly. It's an amazing community of adults and young people. They are being so unselfish and getting along with everyone, which is really awesome to watch. I'm off to film a roof raising (yes, film, not participate in. The joys of being in charge!) We'll update you all again soon. Blessings!
WE continue to have an amazing experience here in Jackson County, KY. On Tuesday our daycamp kicked off, with around 50 students attending. We must have done well, because today they all came back and some even brought new friends! Melissa did such a wonderful job planning everything before we got here, and it has run really well. Our students have been awesome teachers, role models, pool toys, and jungle gyms! They are really making a positive impact on the young people here.
Work crew #1 is building a shed in honor of Taylor VanderWeele and, as I speak, are to the point of raising the roof. They should finish tommorrow. Their adults have been really impressed by their work ethic, and they are building a great structure. They did have the joy of raising truses in a mega downpour, but otherwise the rain has done well avoiding them. They are in for two days of scorching heat, so pray for breezes and good hydration as they roof in 100+ temps.
Work crew #2 is working on rehabing a house, with their project being the bathroom. The have torn out EVERYTHING, and are now putting in a new appliances, floording, finishings, walls, etc. They have had quite the experience owing to the lack of coding in KY, which led to poor Jacob going into a crawl space that ended up being where the kitchen and I believe a bathroom had been empting into for decades (he politely requested NEVER to go in there again). Some of the pipes just simply dump to the outside, including a bathroom into a creek. Scott has certainly had his hands full plumbing, but they are getting much done and VASTLY improving the living conditions for the family.
Our team continues to mesh amazingly. It's an amazing community of adults and young people. They are being so unselfish and getting along with everyone, which is really awesome to watch. I'm off to film a roof raising (yes, film, not participate in. The joys of being in charge!) We'll update you all again soon. Blessings!
Monday, July 12, 2010
KY Mission Trip Days 1 and 2
Howdy! We have now been in Annville, KY for two days, and I think I can speak for basically everyone here when I say we are having a great time. We had a great bus ride down Saturday that seemed like it went really fast, even though we were on the bus over 12 hours. I was so awesome to see so many of the school, group, and grade barriers break down almost right away as everyone moved around, sat with different people, and filled out many an "interesting" mad lib.
Once we pulled of the interstate in KY the scenery got absolutely amazing. So many tall tree filled hills, Mt. streams, and winding roads. It was simply a breathtaking drive from the interstate to Jackson Cty. Ministries. Once here we started getting acclimated to the really large campus they have. All of our students are housed in a 2 story dorm (that sadly lacks AC, but it has not been terrible). The accommodations are certainly good enough, and indeed a marked improvement from sleeping on a school floor as we did in LA 2 years ago. Saturday night and Sunday our students got a lot of free time to take advantage of all the recreational opportunities here, including swimming, basketball in the AIR CONDITIONED gym, canoing and paddle boating, and "fishing." I say "fishing" because it is not exactly sporting in their pond as the catfish are so clumped against the shoreline you could probably walk on them for awhile. Needless to say many fish were caught (it's catch and release here). \
Sunday we also attending worship at the RCA church on JCM's campus. WE probably trippled their congregation. Thanks to Dan, Mal, and Kathryn for leading the singing, Mal and Dan for singing a special music, and Kathryn for playing the offertory (we got pressed into service because their music director was gone and nothing quite got lined up in her absence). They had a substitute pastor, who had retired a few years ago after serving the area for about 40 years. He had known Nick and Kathryn's grandparnets, as well as Becky's mom's entire family, so it was cool for them to talk with him after worship. We also had time for our own devotions last night, which are focusing on the hard sayings of Jesus.
This am both of our work crews have already taken off. One is building a shed and canoe storage unit in memory of Taylor VanderWeele (the VanderWeele family has donated the money to JCM for the project). The other is doing a rather complete rehab of a house in the community, starting with totally overhauling a bathroom. We had a lot of fun learning about KY plumbing codes yesterday (translation: they don't really have those down here), and hearing that until 8 years ago you sewage could simply run into the nearest body of water to your house. Note: never swim in KY! Our daycamp team got a great start yesterday and will continue their prep work all day today. The campers start arriving at 9am tomorrow (Tues).
The students and leaders have been amazing so far, and I'm exciting to see what today holds. I HOPE to post daily and to get some pictures up, so stayed tuned! One prayer request we do have is that the forecasted rain showers don't affect our work projects and daycare too much. We're working on some adjustments, but no rain would be the best!
Once we pulled of the interstate in KY the scenery got absolutely amazing. So many tall tree filled hills, Mt. streams, and winding roads. It was simply a breathtaking drive from the interstate to Jackson Cty. Ministries. Once here we started getting acclimated to the really large campus they have. All of our students are housed in a 2 story dorm (that sadly lacks AC, but it has not been terrible). The accommodations are certainly good enough, and indeed a marked improvement from sleeping on a school floor as we did in LA 2 years ago. Saturday night and Sunday our students got a lot of free time to take advantage of all the recreational opportunities here, including swimming, basketball in the AIR CONDITIONED gym, canoing and paddle boating, and "fishing." I say "fishing" because it is not exactly sporting in their pond as the catfish are so clumped against the shoreline you could probably walk on them for awhile. Needless to say many fish were caught (it's catch and release here). \
Sunday we also attending worship at the RCA church on JCM's campus. WE probably trippled their congregation. Thanks to Dan, Mal, and Kathryn for leading the singing, Mal and Dan for singing a special music, and Kathryn for playing the offertory (we got pressed into service because their music director was gone and nothing quite got lined up in her absence). They had a substitute pastor, who had retired a few years ago after serving the area for about 40 years. He had known Nick and Kathryn's grandparnets, as well as Becky's mom's entire family, so it was cool for them to talk with him after worship. We also had time for our own devotions last night, which are focusing on the hard sayings of Jesus.
This am both of our work crews have already taken off. One is building a shed and canoe storage unit in memory of Taylor VanderWeele (the VanderWeele family has donated the money to JCM for the project). The other is doing a rather complete rehab of a house in the community, starting with totally overhauling a bathroom. We had a lot of fun learning about KY plumbing codes yesterday (translation: they don't really have those down here), and hearing that until 8 years ago you sewage could simply run into the nearest body of water to your house. Note: never swim in KY! Our daycamp team got a great start yesterday and will continue their prep work all day today. The campers start arriving at 9am tomorrow (Tues).
The students and leaders have been amazing so far, and I'm exciting to see what today holds. I HOPE to post daily and to get some pictures up, so stayed tuned! One prayer request we do have is that the forecasted rain showers don't affect our work projects and daycare too much. We're working on some adjustments, but no rain would be the best!