Sunday, September 7, 2008

Baptism Celebration 2008

Even though our trip is over, our team is still taking steps towards Christ. Six of our students from the team were baptized this weekend. I am so proud of them!!!!

Here are some pictures that Dave took. Thanks for sharing them Dave!

Monday, July 28, 2008

Prayer and Pictures

Hey team let's get together and pray for our brothers and sisters that are in Mexico!

Huge Prayer Circle for the Mexic08 Team
Thursday, July 31st @ 6:15 by the pond behind the church
We'll pray together and then head to worship.
Bring your family and friends if you want!!!!
Here are some of my pictures from the trip. Enjoy!

Friday, July 25, 2008

A Great Week!

Hey Chicago team! Johnny here and I just wanted to say again what a great week Chicago was! You were truly a team, as we worked, as we served, as we played, you all came together and operated as a team! And the team outperforms the individual every time! If you haven't had a chance you should jump over to DC's blog to see the before and after pictures of the baseball field, it is breathtaking!

Remember what happened on the Chicago trip, take a moment to look back through your journal. If you didn't journal much on the trip, stop whatever you're doing right now and capture all your memories while they're still fresh!

I could not be more proud of all of you, including your leaders! They served you and loved you so well all week long! And then there's Skoutz! She put SOOOO many hours into this trip long before we ever left and she poured so much into the preparation and leadership of this trip and I believe that is one of the big reasons why the trip was as amazing as it was! Your teamwork, cooperation and respect honored her. Thank you!

Another big reason why the trip was so amazing is because there were COUNTLESS people praying for all of us! Parents, Oasis/Lifeline leaders, supporters, families, Camp teams, the MOVE team and the MEXICO team, the staff of the church and the list goes on! Prayer is a HUGE part of everything that we've all experienced this summer! That's why I wanted to ask all of you to continue praying for the Mexico team! We fly out tomorrow (Sat. July 26) and will be on mission ALL week until next Saturday when we fly home! Keep the team in your prayers and if you have some time to keep up with what is going on south of the border check out the blog at www.mexic08.blogspot.com

Once again, well done team!

-Johnny

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Finished Strong

The team arrived home last night to a welcome party with signs and lots of cheering. We were all pretty tired so seeing everyone was very exciting.

We woke up early Tuesday morning to check out of the hotel and head back to Good Seed to finish the field. We did a little surprise clean up the church lot before we actually went to the field. When we got to the field we found Pastor Bone and his students hard at work. They had been there since 7:45 spreading the dirt. After about three hours of hard work the field was done. The difference was incredible.

They allowed me to throw the first pitch on the field. I was honored and humbled. After everybody taking turns pitching we stood back and let their students play. Some of our students joined in. For about an hour we did nothing but celebrate and play baseball. It was a blast. Watching the boys (and girls) eyes light up as they played on THEIR field was priceless. We finished with a huge prayer circle around the pitchers mound.

Hopefully next summer we'll be able to watch an actual game on the field. We are hoping to have a reunion next month and hit up a White Sox game. There is also a chance their team will be coming back to the area for another tournament, which means more Yummy Pizza.
We will be sure to keep you posted.

Our students served well. They gave everything they had on this trip and it showed. Be sure to check out DC and Dave's blog for pictures. I'll have some coming soon on mine as well.

Thanks for a great week everyone!!!

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Rain Delay

In case you didn't know already, let me just tell you that our God is good, very good. Today was beyond incredible. We headed back to Good Seeds this morning and met their students and Rob and his family only to find no dirt and a field still full of water thanks to the night rains. We weren't too surprised the city hadn't shown up with the dirt but the water on the field was a surprise.

Our team was pretty bummed but they worked hard on finishing the weeding. Rob did some investigating, which ended with Pastor Bone on the phone with the grounds keeper for the White Sox. His name is Roger or the Sodfather, as some call him. That conversations ended with a SEMI full of professional grade field dirt scheduled to be dropped off tomorrow morning. This is the same dirt that is used on the infield at Comiskey Park. You should read the entire story on Rob's blog. It is amazing how God works!

So we did all the prep work on the field that we could today. We had lunch at Pizza Hut with the Good Seeds students. After the work was done we cleaned up and went downtown for some "Pie in the Sky." We had Giordano's pizza and went to the top of the Sear's Tower.

It is really late and we have an early morning tomorrow. We'll pack the bus and head back to the field to finish things up. This has truly been an amazing trip.

Monday, July 21, 2008

More Good Seed Ministry Pics

Hey Everybody, DC here.

Here's some pics I took today at Good Seed Ministries. You can read my blog to hear more of my thoughts on today! The trips going fantastic! Leaders are leading strong and students are following well.

Everyone's safe but God is stretching them to the max in some areas! I love it.

Chicago Photo's via Jeff Myers

Hey CHICAG08 family and friends!  Jeff Myers here.  I have been in absolute awe of the hearts of your students.  Every single thing the kids have done this week has been done with great energy, enthusiasm, and always with a smile.  I can't wait to see what kind of fun comes during tomorrow's work project.  I wasn't able to get photo's of everything because I shot a lot of video but DC will be along shortly with more photo's I'm sure. Rob Wegner also stopped out and he's got some photo's too.  Here are just a few that I took today (there's also 5 photo's from some of our staff retreat earlier in the trip).  Keep praying for our kids and leaders...it's working.  
-Jeff