March seems to be the time we focus on serving…and i love that b/c it’s as a church we tend to draw our attention to what God is doing on the missions field through our missionaries. missions week kicks up this sunday! how awesome is that?! and we’ll have some missions events for LHCyouth:)
PLEASE remember that we get the privilege to serve our church on the 21st for our missions banquet following the 2nd service. if you are able to help, please get in contact with me (pastor jimmy) so i can compile a list.
there is also a SR HIGH ONLY service project up at lake champion. we’ll be heading to Lake Champion from March 26-28 to help serve the high schoolers in our district while they are on their retreat. there is very limited space for this weekend and you’ll need to sign-up ASAP with pastor jimmy to make sure you can go. we’ll be connecting with stonecrest community church too…so you know it’s gonna be fun:)
feel free to use the contact page to let jimmy know~
can’t believe we actually made it through:) and to celebrate we did what most americans would do:
WE SLEPT IN AND THEN WENT TO STARBUCKS!
that’s right everyone, slept till 9:30am then took our time “Getting Ready”. we even did a little bit of filming…everyone gave some highs and lows: but we took it to the next level as well…when we had our debriefing team time together it got pretty intense. we’re talking like almost a 6 hour meeting where we all got a chance to look at each person individually and encourage them with the strengths we saw this week, but also to help sharpen them with areas of growth…
that may seem pretty odd, but i truly believe if we are a team…we have to be willing to be real with each other. the time for being real was so refreshing for everyone…even the ones who seemed totally freaked out about the idea. to give you a peak at that time, you can watch anyone’s video then read some of their strengths…i won’t list growth areas b/c that was just for our group:)
when we got back to the house, it was time to really fly on the work we had to do. all the last minute details literally took us to seconds before we handed over the keys. we wish we could explain to you the feeling. we wish you could’ve been there for this moment…
here’s the quick video of the house tour, and it had to be quick b/c warren was being pushed out of the house so we could hand it over:)
then we handed over the keys and had the chance to pray a blessing over the family…here’s what we were able to record:
one team went to the house project: they housed the house again. they got sooo much done it was so cool to see. all the sheet rock up, mudding done, painting, and started on the shelving!
one team went to the retaining wall: victoria and sean took that wall by storm. i was blessed by the reports of the extreme work ethic of those guys. constant shoveling and moving…really awesome to hear:)
one team went shopping for the family: we saw God move in an amazing way. after spending $100 on paint and wood for the shelves we had about $200 left. we went to the usual thrift store and they just weren’t willing to haggle. the family had nothing…so we were trying to get anything we could. the 1st place only gave us a deal of $200 for a kitchen set and cupboard. that’s wasn’t good enough for us…
so we went to thrift place number two and the guy spoke english! so we went to work haggling:) we ended up with a full kitchen set (tables and chairs), cupboard, bed frame, 2 beds & Box springs (full/twin), bedding, tons of plates, cups, and silverware for only $170!! we couldn’t believe it, but God saw fit to move on this guys heart to give us really low prices and we were able to bless this family beyond what we even imagined!
after our team reunited at the site, we made a group decision to head to the beach with the time we had before dinner. to be completely candid, i didn’t want to go…but most our crew did so we went. isn’t it funny in the moments of UGH, God meets us there?
when we got there, i sat on a rock while most the team ran directly into the ocean to play (IT’S COLD!!). like usual we were berated by bracelet sellers, hair braiders, tattoo (fake) sellers, and all that jazz. i just wasn’t in the mood. but alex wanted a bracelet…so they ALL came and were hanging out while the guy made the bracelet.
the man’s daughter (maybe 2 or 3 years old) was running around by us and fell. she was struggling to get in the sand so i went over (mustache and all) and just helped her up, smiled, and returned to my rock. within 10 seconds i was joined by the little nina on my rock. she just looked up at me, smiled, and offered some of her now sandy burrito. i smiled, refused (i don’t even eat sandy food from my kids!), and told her to eat it. we just smiled, played, and laughed on that little rock for about 15 minutes…
we met again as a team last night after dinner and talked through a whole lot and collected an offering for the family of our house. we’re going to go buy them some furniture and paint for their house! with just our group, we raised over $235 to go buy stuff with! i love seeing God work in the hearts and souls of our kids. i wish i could say i’m surprised, but i’m not…God has been moving like this for ages.
