Thursday, July 14, 2011
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Tuesday/Wednesday Update
TUESDAY/WEDNESDAY
Hello Parents - Tuesday we had a great time as pastor Rick Hagans (our host) gave us a very personal and insightful tour of the Auburn University in the morning. In the afternoon we took the students to our surprise fun day which was at Six Flags Georgia. We had a good time and got to ride some rides and spend some energy. This morning we're already packed up and as I write this we've finished breakfast and are about to load the bus to depart back to Tampa to finish our tour with the big home concert tonight at Idlewild at 6:30pm. Come and hear music and testimonies of what God did in the lives of your kids this week. Thank you for your prayers and for safe travel back home. Your adult leaders/chaperones have done a tremendous job in protecting your kids, keeping them safe and also teaching them and mentoring them. I have the privilege to work with a great time. Make sure you thank them personally tonight. God is good! :)
Hello Parents - Tuesday we had a great time as pastor Rick Hagans (our host) gave us a very personal and insightful tour of the Auburn University in the morning. In the afternoon we took the students to our surprise fun day which was at Six Flags Georgia. We had a good time and got to ride some rides and spend some energy. This morning we're already packed up and as I write this we've finished breakfast and are about to load the bus to depart back to Tampa to finish our tour with the big home concert tonight at Idlewild at 6:30pm. Come and hear music and testimonies of what God did in the lives of your kids this week. Thank you for your prayers and for safe travel back home. Your adult leaders/chaperones have done a tremendous job in protecting your kids, keeping them safe and also teaching them and mentoring them. I have the privilege to work with a great time. Make sure you thank them personally tonight. God is good! :)
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Monday Update
MONDAY
We split into small groups and worked at His Place Farm, Hosanna Women's Home, and Harvest Thrift Store. The work in the farm and the home consisted mostly of gardening and yard work to beautify their grounds. After lunch we got to hear testimonies from the women at the Hosanna Home...these young women, who are only in their early twenties, shared with us how they got into drugs, pregnancy, and even jail as teenagers by leaving church, hanging out with the wrong crowd and falling in love with "bad boys" but also how by God's grace they were sent to that women's home and they've not only cleaned up but also found Jesus. They shared their dramatic testimonies for almost 2 hours and there was total silence in the room only interrupted by tears. It was probably the most important moment of the trip for me because these women challenged our girls to learn from their mistakes and gave them honest practical advise on issues of self esteem, attention, and finding Godly friends and boys/men in their lives which is a personal concern of mine with our girls. In the evening we got to do our long awaited Rodeo arena concert. We got a good crowd from the community and also young people and their parents that have been following us from church to church because they have liked our kids so much. After the concert some kids from the Lafayette church we sang at Sunday night invited us to go back and play volleyball with them one last time so we did. A couple of their parents were sharing with me what an impact our kids' presentation had had on them and how motivating it had been for their youth at the church to use their talents and gifts for God's glory. It was a full day filled with work, ministry, laughs and tears. Thank you for your prayers. - Leo
We split into small groups and worked at His Place Farm, Hosanna Women's Home, and Harvest Thrift Store. The work in the farm and the home consisted mostly of gardening and yard work to beautify their grounds. After lunch we got to hear testimonies from the women at the Hosanna Home...these young women, who are only in their early twenties, shared with us how they got into drugs, pregnancy, and even jail as teenagers by leaving church, hanging out with the wrong crowd and falling in love with "bad boys" but also how by God's grace they were sent to that women's home and they've not only cleaned up but also found Jesus. They shared their dramatic testimonies for almost 2 hours and there was total silence in the room only interrupted by tears. It was probably the most important moment of the trip for me because these women challenged our girls to learn from their mistakes and gave them honest practical advise on issues of self esteem, attention, and finding Godly friends and boys/men in their lives which is a personal concern of mine with our girls. In the evening we got to do our long awaited Rodeo arena concert. We got a good crowd from the community and also young people and their parents that have been following us from church to church because they have liked our kids so much. After the concert some kids from the Lafayette church we sang at Sunday night invited us to go back and play volleyball with them one last time so we did. A couple of their parents were sharing with me what an impact our kids' presentation had had on them and how motivating it had been for their youth at the church to use their talents and gifts for God's glory. It was a full day filled with work, ministry, laughs and tears. Thank you for your prayers. - Leo
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Sunday Update
SUNDAY
We got up bright and early, had breakfast and headed to our first church of the day. The challenge with Valley Baptist church was that although they are only 25 minutes away from where we're staying, they are on the other side of the time zone...they are Eastern Time instead of the Opelika Central Time. So basically, as soon as we arrived to the church we lost an hour and had limited time to do sound check before concert. Still we managed to start on time. We did our concert during their Sunday School hour and it was very well attended. The congregation was very receptive and supportive and they really got into our style of music. A highlight is that 4 of our students stood at the microphone in between songs and shared their personal testimonies with the congregation. Afterwards many members of the congregation came to us to let us know how impressed they were with our team and how blessed they were by the students testimonies. During their 11am worship service we did one song and a drama right before the pastor preached. The pastor kept expressing his appreciation to our team and how impressed he was. We came back to home base for lunch and a couple of hours in the afternoon of free time. In the evening we did our concert at LaFayette Baptist church. We again had a good crowd and a highlight was that we had a lot of young people in the audience. Pastor Paul thanked our team and remarked that our presentation was very polished but what impressed him the most was that the students were very sincere about everything they delivered. Afterwards, the church had prepared a social/fellowship for us and for the next 2 hours we ate hot dogs and played with their youth on their volleyball and basketball courts. Students seemed to be having a blast. I think they'll have NO problem going to sleep tonight ;) Thank you for your prayers... - Leo
We got up bright and early, had breakfast and headed to our first church of the day. The challenge with Valley Baptist church was that although they are only 25 minutes away from where we're staying, they are on the other side of the time zone...they are Eastern Time instead of the Opelika Central Time. So basically, as soon as we arrived to the church we lost an hour and had limited time to do sound check before concert. Still we managed to start on time. We did our concert during their Sunday School hour and it was very well attended. The congregation was very receptive and supportive and they really got into our style of music. A highlight is that 4 of our students stood at the microphone in between songs and shared their personal testimonies with the congregation. Afterwards many members of the congregation came to us to let us know how impressed they were with our team and how blessed they were by the students testimonies. During their 11am worship service we did one song and a drama right before the pastor preached. The pastor kept expressing his appreciation to our team and how impressed he was. We came back to home base for lunch and a couple of hours in the afternoon of free time. In the evening we did our concert at LaFayette Baptist church. We again had a good crowd and a highlight was that we had a lot of young people in the audience. Pastor Paul thanked our team and remarked that our presentation was very polished but what impressed him the most was that the students were very sincere about everything they delivered. Afterwards, the church had prepared a social/fellowship for us and for the next 2 hours we ate hot dogs and played with their youth on their volleyball and basketball courts. Students seemed to be having a blast. I think they'll have NO problem going to sleep tonight ;) Thank you for your prayers... - Leo
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Saturday Update
We made it to Opelika safely. The change to Central time helped make good time and we arrive EARLY to our first concert venue if you can believe that! We did our concert for the folks at the Harvest Thrift Store (largest in the world) and afterwards we worked organizing and restocking the store's merchandise and donated goods (toys, etc). Came to Hosanna Women's Home where we'll be residing for the next few days, ate dinner and went to bed early because we'll have a big day tomorrow Sunday as we have a morning AND evening concert at 2 different local churches. All the kids seem excited and in good spirits. Thank you for your prayers! - Leo
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