Monday, March 27, 2006

The Last Two Days!


Posted by: Charlie
After church on Sunday, we helped throwing a block party at the Dream Center. The center is an old warehouse in a bad crime section of Sanford. They reach out to kids and families to “make dreams come true.” They also share the gospel with them. We helped with a cookout (hot dogs and hamburgers) and played basketball, dodgeball, jump rope, and football, and did crafts and face painting with the kids. It was awesome! Some of the girls helped the kids make salvation bracelets and a couple of them prayed with us!! Later in the day I was holding a little girl named Nadella while we did jumprope since she was too little to play by herself. She was really cute and she fell asleep in my arms. All the girls thought that was really sweet!

Posted by: Nick
The trip has been pretty “rad”! It started at the HEART center where we saw a cat ripping apart a squirrel, a dead snake that some people swore was moving, and four dead bunnies that were born and froze during the night, not to mention the blazing cold weather (like my oxymoron?) This new place, First Baptist Church of Oviedo is pretty spiffy. The Dixie Stampede was fun. Overall, this trip has been amazing. It’s been really fun being with all my class… before, to be honest, I thought my class was annoying and I really didn’t want to go on the trip. But I’ve had a blast with everyone and everyone’s been getting along. I’ve had an awesome time and the leaders have been amazing: Mrs. Wenzel, Miss Fisher, Mr. Smith and my own Daddy. I’m the one who always complains that I don’t like teachers, but I’ve had special moments with all of these leaders. I learned how amazing they all are. And I LOVE my class. Every person in it is amazing. As I sit here writing, everyone is talking and laughing, and I have finally realized for the first time in my life how blessed I am. God is good. And I’m so blessed. If there is one thing I will always remember from this trip… well, make that two things: 1) I beat Mr. Smith in every game of pool we played:-o and 2) how blessed I am. I hope and pray I don’t go back to my normal “Bocaey" self.

Posted by: Jennie
Today was Islands of Adventure! And amazingly, this is where I really discovered the power of prayer! Emily and Steph B. were waiting in line for Dueling Dragons when Emily underwent one of her unique panic attacks that she gets before she goes on roller coasters (even though she now loves them:) After a little bit, they decided to ask God to give her peace. And it worked! After that, Torie, Stephanie, Emily, and I were waiting in line for the front row of Dueling Dragons when Emily experienced another one of her “attacks”! We all gathered in a circle and prayed, and it was amazing to see the peaceful expression that took over Emily’s face. She knew that she was in God’s hands, and she and the rest of us had a great time.

Posted by: Miss Fisher
Although the HEART center made us aware of the financial, physical and spiritual needs of people overseas, yesterday’s experience at the Dream Center was a good eye-opener to the poverty and problems right in our own backyard. The block party we helped with was well attended, and I think the kids really had fun (both ours and theirs:-) In fact, everyone was having such a good time that the party lasted about an hour longer than originally scheduled! God’s really given the Dream Center’s founders a vision for helping the community both spiritually and materially in ways that were exciting to see. Last night’s sharing time reflected the emotional and spiritual impact that the trip has had on students. It was encouraging to see God moving and working in the lives of the kids as they thought about and processed the different parts of the trip. Please pray that God continues to use this trip and the truths students learned from it to strengthen the freshman class in their walk with Him and their relationships with each other. Please pray that the effects are not lost when we return to the routine of normal life.