There's No Place Like Home

This morning our Mission Team gathered back at our "home" church, FUMC. We filled 3 rows with our new black T's and our church family came to welcome us back and thank us for our work. What a great sight it was to see a full parking lot on a hot summer morning, by the way.

The photos we will place on the blog for our final post of the week show the "finished products" of our week of hard work. We tore out the old fixtures and completely repainted and applied new molding to the Thrift Shop, we applied primer and paint to the inside of two "play houses" and then created masterpieces that looked like homes for our new little friends to enjoy, we went out into the community to check on persons with disabilities to be sure they were okay during the extreme heat, we cleaned and sorted a storage closet that was full of treasures once we organized it and we tilled and planted annuals and perennials on the side of the building of Kingdom House. Everywhere we go, people are amazed at the amount and the quality of the work that a group from FUMC Gastonia can do. Our Youth are LIVING their faith OUT LOUD every day, but especially LOUDLY one week out of each year. We should all be proud!!!

A special thanks to Becky Greene for all of the hard work she has done on all of the many Mission Trips she has taken our youth. She never ceases to amaze us all with her organization and spiritual depth she provides. Our church is so very blessed to have such an amazing leader for our youth. And no, Becky, you can't erase this part!!!

Anne Mallonee-for Becky Greene

CAROLINA IN OUR MINDS

In my mind I'm goin' to Carolina
Can't you see the sunshine
Can't you just feel the moonshine
Ain't it just like a friend of mine

Like James Taylor we have Carolina in our minds today as we head for home. We left out around 3:30 this morning. We will see everyone later this evening when we arrive back in Gastonia. Calls should be made by the group when we are about an hour away so you can be waiting with open arms to greet us.

THURSDAY, BACK TO WORK

Sorry to be coming to you a little late about our day yesterday. We are keeping a tight schedule. We began our day a little sluggish but our morning glow team challenged us to "keep our heads". We listened to Andy Grammer's song " keep your head up" and prepared ourselves physically and spiritually to greet the workday.

We continued to work on the thrift store, dollhouses, landscaping and daycamp. Two new projects, organizing the eqipment room and cleaning all the daycare toys for an EHS inspection were added. After a long, hot, tiring day of work, the showers were wonderful! We cooked our evening meal of tacos and ice cream sundaes, and it was enjoyed by all and a much needed night in.

After some downtime, we enjoyed a very meaningful and significant devotion session. We began the evening as we began our morning, playing "Keep Your Head Up" to help us center and focus. One line in the song states, "after rainbows must come rain and know the sun will shine again". So in our daily work teams we discussed our rain (messes) and then our rainbows of the day and where we saw our SON shining. After we celebrated our rainbows we began our personal journaling session.

We listened to the song "Angel by Your Side" and were reminded that each day we walk with angels by our side (God and the people on this trip), as well as other angels who are already in heaven, who continue to guide and inspire us. After journaling about those angels that keep our cups overflowing and reciting the 23rd Psalm, we affirmed our graduated seniors with blessings and communion from Jim and Becky. Then, as a way to symbolically pass the torch to the rising seniors, the graduates served our 12th graders with communion. The expanded leadership team served the rest of the group and then we discussed what an amazing experience it was to serve and be served. We closed with the UMYF Benediction.

Lions, and Tigers and Bears! Oh My!

Sorry we didn't post the blog yesterday, but we were too busy having FUN! We went to the "World Famous" St. Louis Zoo! Many of the animals were seeking any relief from the heat they could find, but we still had an amazing time. After the zoo, we headed to the mall to get some lunch and relief from the heat. Then, we went downtown to the ARCH! Many of us had to conquer our fears of height and claustrophobia in order to squeeze into the egg-shaped cars that would transport us 650 feet into the air above St. Louis. We managed to fit all 42 of us into the 8 cars at the same time so that we be at the top together. The view was beautiful and will be a life-long memory. After we got back down to Earth, we created a special message using our bodies on the ground. Thankfully, our cell phones allowed us to receive direction from above-with Rawlings telling everyone which way to turn so our letters would be straight. Our photo message will be a forever reminder that we should always Live Out Loud! We ate some delicious pizza at Imo's Pizza and came back to the church for devotions. More later about our third work day at Kingdom House...

Top 10 Reasons to go on the Mission Trip

Today we continued our work at Kingdom House. Once again, at the end of the day, as we reflected we realized that we are making a significant difference in the lives of those we meet, building significant relationships with each other in our own group and strengthening the significant relationship we each have with God. There are many ways we could recap this day but we decided the best way to show you first hand how meaningful these trips are to us are to share with you one of our exercises from devotions tonight.

We now present to you each groups Top 10 Reasons to go on a Mission Trip:

Group 1:

10. Luxurious transportation and accommodations

9. Morning Glow/Devotions

8. Bill's Ghost Stories

7. Watching Becky play just dance

6. Life-long friendships

5. Life-long memories

4. The feeling you get from helping others

3. Being Significant to others

2. Growing in our faith

1. Spreading the word of God

Group 2:

10.Trying new things

9. Backrubs

8. Being fed

7. Traveling

6. African Tribal Dancing from the Daycare

5. Leaving Problems at Home

4. Barnacle

3. Becoming closer

2. Becky!/Counselors

1. Growing with God

Group 3:

10. To get dirty

9. Unique shower situations

8. To get away

7. See new places

6. Meeting people from different backgrounds

5. Bond with friends

4. Find out about yourself

3. Be significant

2. Do God's work

1. Spread the love of God

0. JULIE!

Group 4:

10. Barnacle/FMWI

9. Wednesday

8. Unlimited amount of fast/junk food

7. Getting' out of G-town

6. Bus Rides

5. Unforgettable memories and experiences

4. Live Out Loud

3. Finding significance in being significant

2. Relationships with God, each other, people in community and ourselves

1. Make a difference in the lives of others.

Group 5:

10. Because you will never be lonely in the shower

9. To master the game Just Dance 2

8. To run head first into a wall

7. To sleep on an inflated air mattress and wake up on the ground

6. To make friends you'll have for life

5. A front seat to the FMWI

4. To learn to be flexible

3. To be with Julie for a week

2. To make a significant difference

1. GODISNOWHERE

We have had another successful and significant day. We are a "special kind of tired" but it has all been well worth it. We look forward to a day of rest and relaxation tomorrow as we explore the city of St. Louis and continue building friendships with one another. We want to thank you for your continued prayers and support--with your help we have been able to show our faith to others here in the "Show Me State" of Missouri.

"Will you be my friend?"

Today was our first day on our site, Kingdom House. Kingdom House provides many services for the community, including a day care, summer camp, food pantry, thrift store and services for the elderly. As is typical for our first day on site, things started out a little slow as we had to go on a tour and learn about Kingdom House. Then, we divided into our work groups. We did landscaping, worked in the summer camp assisting with the children, completely demolished the thrift store (in preparation for our remodeling!), and began a basketball camp. We figured out through our mathematical skills that the number of hours that we will be putting in at Kingdom House over the four days would take one person 24 weeks to accomplish!!! That is what we call being SIGNIFICANT! We look forward to seeing all of the changes that we will create this week!

After our work day, we showered in a very nice YMCA--Yay! We were stinky! Then, we found a Five Guys Burgers & Fries and a Steak 'n Shake for dinner. For dessert, we had St. Louis custard-a new treat for most of us. Clay actually turned down extra fries AND the custard due to all of the food he has been consuming. So don't worry about us not getting enough to eat!

Our devotion for tonight centered around a Shania Twain song, "Today is Your Day". The song reminds us that "nothing can stand in our way". Our Bible verse was 2 Corinthians 13:11-"Finally, brothers, goodbye. Aim for perfection, listen to my appeal, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you." This related well to our Morning Glow topic about perception. Read the following... "GODISNOWHERE". What did you read?

God is nowhere? Or God is now here? It all depends on how you look at it. We are learning to adjust our perceptions to be more optimistic and positive.

Expecting the Unexpected-Ten-foot men, Midgets, Barnacles and Prince

When we woke up this morning to get ready to attend the church service at Kirkwood UMC, we realized that the church members who were coming to Sunday School did NOT get the memo that their Sunday School rooms were going to be filled with air mattresses and sleeping girls. In typical FUMC form, we went into flexibility mode and "It's not about me" mode and helped them get over their initial shock.
At the church service, to our surprise, we found out that Patrick has a twin who had the lead role in the Children's play, "Overboard". After the service, Patrick was actually congratulated for a job well done. In the play, Jonah said, "Cast your presence over me. Hold me in your arms, Dear Lord and listen to my prayer." This is very similar to the prayer we asked you to pray for us this week.
We went to fast food restaurants such as Taco Hut, Pizza Bell, SubDonald's, and McWay.
After lunch, we quickly changed into our bathing suits and headed out to an awesome water park. The Lazy River and the pool were a big hit, but we weren't a big hit with the lifeguards and other pool-goers. We cheered, chanted and screamed for everyone going off the diving boards-even the people who were not a part of our group. We got our first shower, and for many of us it was our first experience with an automatic, motion-sensored shower. They seemed to have a mind of their own and shut off, while we were covered in soap or shampoo.
We came back to the church and had our Annual Pizza Party--thank you, Mrs. McKenzie! Then, we moved to the gym to play "THE FUNNEST GAME EVER!-Barnacle. We played some more team-building games, including skits for imaginary projects such as "remodeling a kitchen for a 10-foot man", "organizing a closet for a midget", and "painting a house for a person who loves the color purple-even more than Prince".

Our devotions for the evening were based on the scripture Joshua 1:9. Like Jonah and Joshua, we are promised that we should not be afraid, for the Lord will be with us no matter where we go and we must listen to his call. We were given a "time capsule" to keep all of our Mission Trip memories. It included a journal and pen for our personal journal time. Thanks, Julie Heath, for all of the time that you spent hand-engraving the glass jars with Mission Trip 2011 with the cross and flame! As we journaled we listened to "You've Got a Friend in Me" from Toy Story. During this song, we thought about how God would always be our friend, and the things that we want to be our "keepers" from the trip--just like Andy wanted to keep Woody. Our second song was titled, "This is the stuff". Our key verse was "In the middle of my little mess, I forget how big I’m blessed." In other words, the little things aren't worth worrying about and God has a plan for us and sometimes uses things to teach us.

Overall, today was a great day. We really started bonding! We are looking forward to our first day at Kingdom House where we will begin to share the love of Christ with others whose "little mess" is much bigger than ours. We love you and thank you for supporting us!