On day three of our mission trip we started the day with facility work, kitchen prep, and team building. After our morning activities, we had a big breakfast prepared by the students. After breakfast, the students worked on the facility for two and a half hours, and then had lunch that we prepared. We had a group game of kickball, and then proceeded to have free time to bond with each other. After free time, we had team building classes. For dinner, we simulated developed, developing, and under developing. We did this by giving three people a big, nutritious meal (which included pork chops, carrots, potatoes, and dessert), the developing countries ate beans and rice, and under developed countries ate bread with water. This taught us about gratitude and how to be aware an help others in need. We will end the night, with a campfire side worship time.
Wednesday, April 05, 2017
Freshmen Mission Trip Day 3
Posted by: Evangelia Gavrilos and Christine Stepkin
On day three of our mission trip we started the day with facility work, kitchen prep, and team building. After our morning activities, we had a big breakfast prepared by the students. After breakfast, the students worked on the facility for two and a half hours, and then had lunch that we prepared. We had a group game of kickball, and then proceeded to have free time to bond with each other. After free time, we had team building classes. For dinner, we simulated developed, developing, and under developing. We did this by giving three people a big, nutritious meal (which included pork chops, carrots, potatoes, and dessert), the developing countries ate beans and rice, and under developed countries ate bread with water. This taught us about gratitude and how to be aware an help others in need. We will end the night, with a campfire side worship time.
On day three of our mission trip we started the day with facility work, kitchen prep, and team building. After our morning activities, we had a big breakfast prepared by the students. After breakfast, the students worked on the facility for two and a half hours, and then had lunch that we prepared. We had a group game of kickball, and then proceeded to have free time to bond with each other. After free time, we had team building classes. For dinner, we simulated developed, developing, and under developing. We did this by giving three people a big, nutritious meal (which included pork chops, carrots, potatoes, and dessert), the developing countries ate beans and rice, and under developed countries ate bread with water. This taught us about gratitude and how to be aware an help others in need. We will end the night, with a campfire side worship time.
Local Lyfe (the Florence Fuller experience)
Posted by: Kori Clark and Beatrice Olmos
Florence Fuller has been a very eye opening experience. I (Kori) have been working with the babies. They need a lot of love all the time, but I've been really happy to just be there and give them attention. Beatrice has been working with the 1-3 year olds. They've been great, but it can be chaotic at times. It's great to spend time with them, love them, and play with them. All in all they are going to be missed by us because they were a great joy to be with. I've gotten attached to them because while many students have larger classes, I only have eight in my class. Florence Fuller has been a great experience for all of us and we are really thankful to the women that dedicate their lives to serving these children every day. We are excited about finishing our trip strong and are looking forward to seeing everyone soon!
Florence Fuller has been a very eye opening experience. I (Kori) have been working with the babies. They need a lot of love all the time, but I've been really happy to just be there and give them attention. Beatrice has been working with the 1-3 year olds. They've been great, but it can be chaotic at times. It's great to spend time with them, love them, and play with them. All in all they are going to be missed by us because they were a great joy to be with. I've gotten attached to them because while many students have larger classes, I only have eight in my class. Florence Fuller has been a great experience for all of us and we are really thankful to the women that dedicate their lives to serving these children every day. We are excited about finishing our trip strong and are looking forward to seeing everyone soon!
Ninth Grade Mission Trip Day 2
Posted by: Evangelia Gavrilos and Christine Stepkin
The wake up call on the second day was thunder, lightning, and a heavy downpour. From the morning until after lunch, the buildings flooded. We mopped up the carpets from being soaked with water, dried and moved all the chairs, and Kevin and Adam went outside in the rain to make a barricade for the doors to stall the water coming in. Everyone was having a great time and making the best of the situation.
The wake up call on the second day was thunder, lightning, and a heavy downpour. From the morning until after lunch, the buildings flooded. We mopped up the carpets from being soaked with water, dried and moved all the chairs, and Kevin and Adam went outside in the rain to make a barricade for the doors to stall the water coming in. Everyone was having a great time and making the best of the situation.
After the storm passed and almost all of the water was dried up, we took a survival class and learned how to build a fire. When the sun was at its brightest, we went on a Creation Nature walk through the forest, and learned about venemous animals, poisonous plants, and more.
Tuesday, April 04, 2017
Ninth Grade Mission Trip 4/3/2017
Posted by: Evangelia Gavrilos and Christine Stepkin
The freshmen class arrived at Lake Swan Camp at noon on Monday, April 3. We immediately headed towards our respective cabins to offload after a six hour bus ride! Afterwards, we headed to the Dining Hall for lunch and then headed off with our teams to help out around the camp. This included team building activities, facility work, and survival classes. After a long day of working hard, bonding, and learning, we headed for a well-deserved dinner. Following dinner, we cleaned up around the Dining Hall building and went back to our cabins to clean ourselves up! Then we spent time together as a class in a time of prayer and worship. Lights out at ten!
The freshmen class arrived at Lake Swan Camp at noon on Monday, April 3. We immediately headed towards our respective cabins to offload after a six hour bus ride! Afterwards, we headed to the Dining Hall for lunch and then headed off with our teams to help out around the camp. This included team building activities, facility work, and survival classes. After a long day of working hard, bonding, and learning, we headed for a well-deserved dinner. Following dinner, we cleaned up around the Dining Hall building and went back to our cabins to clean ourselves up! Then we spent time together as a class in a time of prayer and worship. Lights out at ten!
Monday, April 03, 2017
Demolition and Work at LVR
Posted by: Jack Oden, Madison delBosque,, Pedro Morais Giacomo Fabiani and Emma Vallely
This was our fourth day in Tennessee, and one of our best days yet. We started the morning with a beautiful sunrise, somewhat blocked by clouds but still visible.
The other team stayed at Long View Ranch and worked on painting the new cabin. Together, almost all of the cabin was painted in no time! Some people also cleaned the trails for the 5K Cherokee Trail Run that LVR is hosting. After both groups were finished with painting and chopping wood everyone headed down to the barn to help paint the horses fence. Since it was raining outside work ended early and most people went to the game room or stayed in their cabin.
This was our fourth day in Tennessee, and one of our best days yet. We started the morning with a beautiful sunrise, somewhat blocked by clouds but still visible.
We were served a delicious breakfast of pancakes, regular or chocolate chip, along with sausage and cereal. Many of the boys played a pretty funny prank on Giacomo. He was complaining the other day about Felipe wearing his clothes a few days ago, so most of the guys raided his suitcase and wore his clothes to breakfast. Even Mr. Weil got in the prank (it was his idea)! The reaction was hilarious!
After breakfast and devos, we were split into two random teams. One team of 13 students and 2 chaperones took the Long View Ranch van to a new church that was just getting started and needed a huge demolition of offices that had been in a warehouse. Many of us took crowbars and hammers to destroy frames, walls, and metal beams. It took many hours, but it payed off seeing that we saved the church almost $20,000!
The Demo Crew begins work on first wall |
Gzifo and Felipe working in the middle of the building |
The crew at end of the day in the spot where the first wall had been! |
The other team stayed at Long View Ranch and worked on painting the new cabin. Together, almost all of the cabin was painted in no time! Some people also cleaned the trails for the 5K Cherokee Trail Run that LVR is hosting. After both groups were finished with painting and chopping wood everyone headed down to the barn to help paint the horses fence. Since it was raining outside work ended early and most people went to the game room or stayed in their cabin.
One group all pitching in on carrying planks of wood |
Madi delBosque and Mr. Weil working on painting the cabin |
Juliana Egan helping to paint the new cabin |
Trenton ringing the dinner bell - which is tradition at LVR |
For dinner, we had delicious steak, broccoli casserole and biscuits with LVR's famous strawberry jam. After dinner we went over Ephesians 5 which talked about what a man's and woman's roles are in a marriage. Then we took a spiritual gifts survey that was originally put in our devotional book by Mrs. Poole because she remembered taking one when she was in 10th grade. We all got to see what everyone's strengths were and met with those who had the same gifts as us. After devotions Mr. Hood played a movie for us called "Do you believe" it was a very emotional movie.
We are signing off from the sophomore class!
Local Lyfe
Posted by: Local Missions Team
Greetings everyone from your local trip missionaries,
Greetings everyone from your local trip missionaries,
This year our local mission trip is
off to a great start as we see the need to serve right here in our local
community. In the mornings, we have been visiting the Florence Fuller Children
Center. Students have been teacher aids to
children ages 0-5 years in the center. Many of these children are in low income
or poverty level situations which makes the need for volunteering extremely
important. In addition to the classroom help we have also assisted in putting
on a “Family Fun Day” to encourage parents to come out and be a part of their
child’s lives and educational experience.
In the afternoons,
we have been serving at Boca Helping Hands. Students have packaged silverware
for daily meal distribution, made food bags for the hungry, processed donated
food, cleaned tables, and much more. God is teaching us the importance of
serving, but also to be thankful for the blessings that we have living here in
Boca. Our team unity has been growing since day one and we have enjoyed strengthening
relationships that were weak before the trip began.
Please continue to pray for our group as we work locally to
love on the community. Thanks for all your support.
In Christ,
Local Lyfe (that’s our self-appointed mission trip team
name)
Costa Rica - Day #4
Posted by: Matthew Wright and Victoria Oliveira
Today was sensational! We attended church service that was
none like any of us have ever been to. You can tell they loved God so much by
the way they were so passionate about worship and even though we couldn’t
really get what the pastor was saying, you can see how powerful the message was
by his way of delivering it. After lunch we went to our afternoon VBS time.
Unfortunately some of our locations got rained out but Smith’s group got to
stay at theirs.
Praising God at church. |
Staring contest. |
Indoor soccer. |
Birthday boy, James Mosey!! |
Sunday, April 02, 2017
Sunday in Tennessee
Posted by: Madison delBosque and Jack Oden
Today is Sunday, our third day at Long View Ranch, and some of us started the morning early and watched the beautiful sunrise at 7:00!
After watching the sunrise, we had a late breakfast at 9:00 of French Toast Casserole, along with bacon, cereal, bagels, and yogurt. Since it was Eman Guerrero 16th birthday we sang him happy birthday to him before breakfast.
We attended church at Disciple's Point, a small local church converted from an old automobile dealership. Pastor Tootie and Russell greeted us, and we began worship with the praise team. After praise and worship, we had a really neat large group discussion led by Pastor Tootie on Isaiah 12 and he also shared a small talk on attitude and how it can affect our lives. It was a very different kind of service than most of us experience on a regular basis. Many of our classmates talked with the families in attendance, especially with the young children attending the church.
Afterwards, we visited Walmart - where Mr. Hood gave us 15 minutes to run in and buy food and any supplies that we might need, then headed back to Long View Ranch to enjoy a delicious lunch of chicken sandwiches, and grapes. Eman was sung happy birthday yet again.
Then after lunch we played an exciting game of paintball, the teams captains were Mr. Hood vs. Mr. Weil & Mr. Nava. Once the teams were chosen, Tyson explained the rules of the game and the safety precautions involved when playing. Finally, the teams loaded their guns with ammo and the first round began. We played multiple game variations such as capture the flag and king of the hill. Both teams had some fun victories! After a thrilling day of paintball, to clean ourselves off, many of the sophomores jumped in the breathtakingly cold pond.
For dinner we ate taco salad which is a Long View Ranch tradition and for dessert we had ice cream sundaes. We sang happy birthday to Eman a third AND fourth time just for fun, but also bought him a cake with candles.
After dinner we had a brief but impacting discussion about Ephesians 4. In this chapter Paul talks about what we should and should not do as believers in Christ. We ended our devotions with a lovely time of small group prayer, which is when you get into a group of 3 to 4 people and share prayer requests among each other, then pray about it. It's been another awesome day at LVR!
Signing off from the Sophomore Class!
Today is Sunday, our third day at Long View Ranch, and some of us started the morning early and watched the beautiful sunrise at 7:00!
After watching the sunrise, we had a late breakfast at 9:00 of French Toast Casserole, along with bacon, cereal, bagels, and yogurt. Since it was Eman Guerrero 16th birthday we sang him happy birthday to him before breakfast.
We attended church at Disciple's Point, a small local church converted from an old automobile dealership. Pastor Tootie and Russell greeted us, and we began worship with the praise team. After praise and worship, we had a really neat large group discussion led by Pastor Tootie on Isaiah 12 and he also shared a small talk on attitude and how it can affect our lives. It was a very different kind of service than most of us experience on a regular basis. Many of our classmates talked with the families in attendance, especially with the young children attending the church.
Afterwards, we visited Walmart - where Mr. Hood gave us 15 minutes to run in and buy food and any supplies that we might need, then headed back to Long View Ranch to enjoy a delicious lunch of chicken sandwiches, and grapes. Eman was sung happy birthday yet again.
Then after lunch we played an exciting game of paintball, the teams captains were Mr. Hood vs. Mr. Weil & Mr. Nava. Once the teams were chosen, Tyson explained the rules of the game and the safety precautions involved when playing. Finally, the teams loaded their guns with ammo and the first round began. We played multiple game variations such as capture the flag and king of the hill. Both teams had some fun victories! After a thrilling day of paintball, to clean ourselves off, many of the sophomores jumped in the breathtakingly cold pond.
Signing off from the Sophomore Class!
Day #3
Posted by: Stephanie Casting
Edited by: Elena Bauer
This morning started off with some of our Juniors marching and chanting around the Phoenix Dream Center at six in the morning. They walked around the perimeter of the building for about half an hour, yelling phrases, such as "Hail Jesus." The purpose of this was to proclaim that they are here for the Lord and wanted those living here to know that, since many are not yet saved.
After marching around the Dream Center, the Junior class had breakfast with some of the disciples. Once that was over, everyone moved over to the sanctuary for a "Soul Winning" service. There, we enjoyed ordained praise and worship lead by a couple of the disciples. Singing "This is Amazing Grace" and "Open the Eyes of my Heart Lord," the class worshiped together with the disciples. In the same spirit of adoration, Pastor Walt, the founder of Church on Street, introduced Mrs. Barnhill as today's speaker. In her message, she went through the five steps of evangelism - Gift, Man, God, Jesus, and Faith and Repentance. She blessed us with a great message.
Pastor Walt then took the opportunity to have some people testify what God has done in their lives. From people gaining back their zeal for the Lord to people breaking the bondages that lead them to prison, people shared their personal testimonies, and described what happened at Mill Ave last night.
The class proceeded to separate into groups for outreaches. The first group went to the Indian Reservation thirty minutes away from the Dream Center. There, the students played with the children, prepared hot dogs, and answered some Bible trivia. Neighborhood dogs also joined in the fun. Some of the children were timid at first, but after a while, they warmed up to the students without a problem and did not want them to go.
Another group went to Glenrosa, an apartment complex in the vicinity of the Dream Center. Students went around, knocking around on doors and inviting people to their outreach. The outreach was filled with the spirit of the Lord, hot dogs, and plenty of fun. Music was being played, faces were being painted, soccer was being played, and friendships were being made.
A brand new door-knocking ministry began too. A couple of students went around town inviting people in the community to Church on the Street and praying for them.
After all these outreaches, the students enjoyed a lunch with the disciples. Once that was done, the class separated once again for more outreaches. Some students went up to their rooms to rest, but others went out to the Skate park to skateboard; others went to the Trailer Park to minister to some more children; others went to Ocatillo, one of the projects. The students who rested went out to 19th and Camelback and 27th and Indian School to evangelize late into the night.
Overall, the students were led by the spirit of the Lord throughout this busy day.
Edited by: Elena Bauer
This morning started off with some of our Juniors marching and chanting around the Phoenix Dream Center at six in the morning. They walked around the perimeter of the building for about half an hour, yelling phrases, such as "Hail Jesus." The purpose of this was to proclaim that they are here for the Lord and wanted those living here to know that, since many are not yet saved.
After marching around the Dream Center, the Junior class had breakfast with some of the disciples. Once that was over, everyone moved over to the sanctuary for a "Soul Winning" service. There, we enjoyed ordained praise and worship lead by a couple of the disciples. Singing "This is Amazing Grace" and "Open the Eyes of my Heart Lord," the class worshiped together with the disciples. In the same spirit of adoration, Pastor Walt, the founder of Church on Street, introduced Mrs. Barnhill as today's speaker. In her message, she went through the five steps of evangelism - Gift, Man, God, Jesus, and Faith and Repentance. She blessed us with a great message.
Pastor Walt then took the opportunity to have some people testify what God has done in their lives. From people gaining back their zeal for the Lord to people breaking the bondages that lead them to prison, people shared their personal testimonies, and described what happened at Mill Ave last night.
The class proceeded to separate into groups for outreaches. The first group went to the Indian Reservation thirty minutes away from the Dream Center. There, the students played with the children, prepared hot dogs, and answered some Bible trivia. Neighborhood dogs also joined in the fun. Some of the children were timid at first, but after a while, they warmed up to the students without a problem and did not want them to go.
Another group went to Glenrosa, an apartment complex in the vicinity of the Dream Center. Students went around, knocking around on doors and inviting people to their outreach. The outreach was filled with the spirit of the Lord, hot dogs, and plenty of fun. Music was being played, faces were being painted, soccer was being played, and friendships were being made.
A brand new door-knocking ministry began too. A couple of students went around town inviting people in the community to Church on the Street and praying for them.
After all these outreaches, the students enjoyed a lunch with the disciples. Once that was done, the class separated once again for more outreaches. Some students went up to their rooms to rest, but others went out to the Skate park to skateboard; others went to the Trailer Park to minister to some more children; others went to Ocatillo, one of the projects. The students who rested went out to 19th and Camelback and 27th and Indian School to evangelize late into the night.
Overall, the students were led by the spirit of the Lord throughout this busy day.
Costa Rica - Day #3
Posted by: The Senior Class
We have had an extremely long day and we just closed with an AMAZING time of worship and group sharing. We are too tired for a full blog post, but since a picture speaks a thousand words, here are some pictures from our day!
We have had an extremely long day and we just closed with an AMAZING time of worship and group sharing. We are too tired for a full blog post, but since a picture speaks a thousand words, here are some pictures from our day!
The boys at Las Musas waterfall. |
Felipe and Andrew pounding it out. |
Ismael and David teaching the kids the Bible verse (Proverbs 18:10). |
Our mermaid, Ismael, on the water slide at Las Musas. |
Las Musas waterfall was an amazing display of God's beauty! |
Senior class of 2017!! |
Rocking the NCCI shirts the the Spidell's job donated! |
James racing one of the local kids! |
Run, James, run! |
Thanks NCCI! |
Henry bonding with a new friend. |