Mission Trip Blog

 Junior High
Vero Beach, Florida

Mission Trip Theme:
There is No Better Time than NOW!

Tuesday, June 23

     Day 2 of work - just a little harder to get up this AM - but we were actually a little early to the worksite even!  Hard day of more drywall - but during lunch the festivities started.  First with a "Rap-Off" with Stephen and Wes Cole - (Wes won!) which turned to a dance off - Kelso Hartly really showed us all up with some of his moves on the dance floor - We were having a blast - but we had to get back to work because we only had an hour left in the work day!  The professional Drywall contractor came and did a walk through and was shocked at how well we did - we had to fix a couple of small patch boards - but other than that - he was impressed - the once "shell" of a building is now looking more and more like classrooms of a church.  Pastor Roger of Immanuel Church (the worksite) says there is a renewed energy - the congregation is getting excited - they can now see the progress - and they are so grateful of the work we are doing! - I am writing this as a group of youth are playing games in the Fellowship Hall with some counselors and another group is at the beach with the rest - we know that dinner will be great tonight again -Tacos!  and that worship will be another amazing experience!  

Moday, June 22

     Our first day of work was awesome.  Many times I heard from professional drywall contractors -that they were concerned with Junior Highers putting up drywall - one even told me that we could have our group clean up after them when they make a mess!  I told them immediately that wasnt what we were here for - we were going to hang drywall.  So, before we started working - Stephen took the adults and the Junior Counselors in the church and showed them the project - while I chatted with the youth about construction site safety - I ended up telling them that there are tons of people that dont think we can do the task at hand - and we have an easy goal - prove them wrong - if we only hand one sheet of drywall - thats more than the church currently has!  - All I can say is we proved MANY people wrong - our drywall looks pretty professional if i do say!!  (yes, we can be contracted out when we get home for a rather large fee - we are that good!) It was awesome - watching all of our youth working together and smiling and having a great time working.  We ended work and headed back to the church for a quick snack and then off to the beach! (We love the beach!!)  We were surprised with Tova's arrival!  we enjoyed the Klondike bars she brought for us and then headed off to the beach! - Home for dinner - grilled chicken and Lucy's awesome potatoes!  Worship was awesome - Wes Cole brought a cell phone text message interceptor on the trip - its one of the highlights of the trip to see the text messages that are sent illegally on the trip.  Some are pretty incriminating - but all in good fun! 

Sunday, June 21

     We had a slower start our Sunday than usual (at least for the youth staff)  We had to be at church at 10:15.  Stephen was the preacher and Vincent Lusk and Caroline Gould were the readers for the Service.  Our mission trip band, McLendon, was there to lead the congregation in praise and worship time and special music.  We could sense a welcoming from the congregation - there was an excitement in the sanctuary as we filled the first 3 rows on each side of the isle!  It was a GREAT morning.  From there we went to the inlet side of the water and were lead by Kayaking Adventures by a 3 hour kayaking tour.  We stopped on an island and hung out and swam around for about an hour and had many laughs - putting stinky mud in peoples hair.  The best part of the day was when the tour guides told me away from the youth that they had taken many groups of Junior Highers kayaking and they had never experienced a group like ours - they went on about how they felt that our youth are so polite and friendly.  It was a great feeling - we know how great our youth are but its awesome to hear that from a perfect stranger.  They said they really enjoyed their time with us!  - We went back to the church and had a great dinner prepared by the moms of the trip.  Then the worship time opened.  It was so awesome to see our youth worshiping and being in the NOW allowing themselves to experience what God has in store for us!  What a sight to see!!

Saturday, June 20

     The group arrives DFW early in the AM to board an Air Tran flight to Orlando.  One memory from the flight is a group of youth watching Allie Klien - find a blanket and a sweatshirt for a child that was travling.  He was shivering cold in the plane and was not dressed for the cold! Allie took it upon herself to help this child that she doesnt know!  WOW - it shocked but didnt surprise me that Allie would be so selfless! -- The group arrived Orlando International airport to see Drew, Robert and JJ in their "Florida Gear" which consisted of matching ugly flowered shirts, flowered shorts (that didnt match) and an ugly hat - they got lots of stares - but were so glad to see the group excited and ready to experience what this Florida Mission trip has in store.  From the airport we headed to Sebastian, Florida - we are staying at Sebastian UMC - we dropped our stuff and headed to the beach as fast as we could!  We could have not asked for a better day in the water - it was great day to be on a mission trip!!  In the evening we had an appearance from the host of the hit children's show "The Wiggles", Cleatus, and Cassandra.  All that can be said for the three of them is -WOW!!

Thursday, June 18 - Friday, June 19

     Spending the time getting the work site and the church we are staying at ready for the group!  - we had a great time with lots of hard work!  The heat is much different in Florida than Dallas - the temp is not hot but the heat index is hot - one day we were showing temps of 88 while the heat index was about 100. 

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

     Truck loaded with the stuff leaves for Vero Beach at 3am - packed on the bench seat were John Jacob Klein, Robert Howard, and Drew - the conversation on the 22 hour van ride will cause memoriies.  This group will spend the next few days preparing for the arrival of the Junior High Mission team.  So far the trip has been filled with lots of laughs which i know will continue for the rest of the week!

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

     Truck packing day!