Hey all! Here is the information on the service opportunity that begins this MONDAY, July 6th and continues every Monday and Wednesday through the summer:
Monday & Wednesdays
Meet at the Fir Hill Entrance at 4:40pm
From 5pm-7pm we'll be playing with kids at South Street. Click Here to email Katie and let her know if you can come this Monday, July 6th!
Saturday was our last day of ministry. Tomorrow we head home. We will be waking up, packing, experiencing church, and then hitting the road. We plan to arrive around 5 pm at the Akron campus. Check the hotline for adjustments for this time of arrival.
We spent the morning and part of the afternoon moving Abe and his wife into there new home. This was a huge way we could bless them with a child on the way. Lots of hands makes moving easy as well. At one point the girls broke out into Disney song. I am still amazed with how close this team has become. They have served so well, and given all of their energy for the Lord. A great question to ask your student would be what lessons did they learn throughout the week. Or what is something they took away from this trip that will impact the rest of their life?
We also pushed to finish a lot of our projects at the church. Including the ceiling, and cupboard we have been working on all week. They get so excited when they actually finish a project!! Abe has told us numerous times how impressed he is with the teams hard work, sacrifice and service. Tonight was the last night of VBS. It was hard to see the kids leave but we pray that they will continue to pursue Christ and seek to glorify God.
Please pray for safe travel tomorrow! See you in less then 24 hours!!
This was a great day of ministry. We split our efforts between painting Abe's "new" house and three parts of the church (stage ceiling, a hallway and the kitchen cupboards). We are nearly done with these projects.
This afternoon we walked around the neighborhood. We went door to door asking if anyone had any prayer requests. I heard some great requests, and saw great interaction from the students. Ask your son or daughter for their story when they get home!
Tonight after VBS, we are joining in a Hip-Hop concert in the church. We all learned some new dance moves! One brother said "We can do perfect. That's doing the right thing at the right time. Like when you fall, you get up and you follow Jesus".
As I (Mark) talked with Pastor Abe's wife Joni yesterday, I asked, are the kids doing a good job? She said, "Absolutely. Your kids are so trustworthy - the best we have ever had. That makes them such good role models for the VBS kids - and has made this VBS a real success."
Abe has told me several times "these kids are wonderful - and are really helping us at a stressful time. You are welcome back ANYTIME!"
Ministry today was another mix of work projects and relational ministry. We are blessed to be able to serve this community with our time and resources.
Students were split up between a few different work projects. We continued to bless Abe by painting his house. We also painted a hall way in the church. Some students mulched and mowed around the church as well. Abe made a comment about how hard working the students are, and I completely agree. They are pouring there hearts into this place and it is great to see. VBS has been going smoothly, we are all excited about the local rap artist they are brining in tomorrow night! A great question to ask your child is if they had a chance to share the gospel with any of the VBS students.
Pray that we would have relief from the heat! It is just absolutely draining for the students and leaders alike.
Pray that students could continue to connect with kids from the VBS.
Thank you for your prayers! check in tomorrow, we believe will be spending time praying with people from the community!!
Today was a great day!! Though extremely hot, we feel like we never left the mountains where it was a high of 96 degrees. Today we saw about 92 degrees. We sort of have air conditioning in one room. But spend little time there. Pray that we stay hydrated and as cool as possible. Freezing water helps!!
We spent most of the morning working on a few different projects around the church. We began to sand and paint parts of the church. We also spent the morning weeding. In the afternoon we went to Pastor Abe's new house down the street and we literally began to paint and clean every room! This was so much fun! We are blessing Abe, his wife and baby that is on the way, in order that they can focus more on there ministry! It is easy for someone to give money, but time is just as available. We did about two weeks of work in one afternoon! Abe had tears in his eyes he was so thankful.
The VBS was slightly larger then last night. Students have been connecting well with the kids and have some sweet stories. A great question to ask your child is who did they try and connect with during VBS? Face painting has been a huge hit.
How can you pray!!
That more kids would come to VBS
That we would stay hydrated in this wicked heat
That students would experience the glory of God through service
Check out the pictures, there are some great ones!!
It has already been a full trip for the Cincinnati team. Students have become very close to each other already which is very exciting to see. We began the morning early by saying goodbye to the Ecuador team at the airport. It was bitter sweet to say goodbye to each team. I am amazed how quickly our students build friendships with other team members. We began our almost five hour drive to Cincinnati a little after 11 am. The drive was a sunny, beautiful mountain drive for the entire way. We arrived in Cincinnati a little before 4 pm.
We began to work on details for the VBS which started tonight. Make sure you ask your student to show you the dance moves we learned!! The VBS went very well, especially the face painting part! Pray that more kids would show up tomorrow. It is normal to start off slow and then to build in numbers, we are excited to see where the Lord will take this ministry.
Tomorrow should be a very busy day, excitement is building amongst the students to serve Covenant Nazarene and Pastor Abe blessing his ongoing ministry in the city.
![[home]](/templates/cha02_za_page/images/homebug.png)
![[the chapel]](/templates/cha02_za_page/images/chapelbug.png)
