Last Post

Last night while we were in Porterville we had a time to reflect on what the Lord has done in everyones lives while on this trip. The stories where both inspirational and even life changing for some of the kids. No matter what was said for each person, it would all boil down to one thing, Jesus Christ and how the Lord can maneuver in our lives both radically and individually, even when everyone is in the same place.

This will be the last post for the ACCF High School La Surpriso mission trip. We drove all day, stopping for breaks and food, and went all the way to Redding, California. We are staying here until our departure for home at 8:00am tomorrow morning.

Thank you once again for your prayers for everyone on this trip. Everyone had a great time, but everyone agrees we can't wait to get back into our own beds tomorrow night.

Until tomorrow night,

God Bless!

Link For Pictures

Here is the link for more pictures!!!

http://picasaweb.google.com/accfhighschool

LA SURPRISO PICTURES

Hangin' Out

We are now in the town of Porterville, California at Amy's brother's house. We will be spending the entire day here swimming in the AMAZING pool, playing field games in the yard and then watch a movie in our good ol' Athey portable theater. This will be a nice day for everyone to just hang out and have some time to rest after the past couple crazy days.

Yesterday we all woke up early and wen to everyones favorite place in the world, MAGIC MOUNTAIN. We stayed there from 10am all the way until 10pm. It was a long day for sure, but everyone had a total blast riding as many coasters as they could, such as the new 2008 X2 and Goliath with the 250 ft. drop.

The night before, like i said, we had a study and worship time on Huntington beach.

Everyone is enjoying there time  on the trip as their time they get to spend in the Word.

Thanks again for all of your prayers and we all can't wait to get back and tell everyone about the awesome things that have been happening.

Dodgers Win 5-0

That's right, Wednesday night we went to the famous Dodger Stadium to watch an AWESOME game where the Dodgers won over the White Sox 5-0, and had some AWESOME Dodger-Dogs for dinner! We got seats around center-left field, and of course took up almost an entire section! As if starting a wave (that went 6 and a half times around the stadium) and goofing around weren't enough, everyone got a GIANT surprise when we brought in our special guests... THE SLAUGHTER FAMILY! Everyone was super excited and couldn't even focus on the game after they came in. It was a major blessing having them come! After the game we all went out for ice cream before hitting the hay for an early morning!

This morning we woke up and had the opportunity to serve the people living at Amy Elliott's grandmas condo complex. This was one of the most amazing things to watch as the kids didn't hesitate whatsoever to not only cook and serve the elderly people that came for breakfast, but also how they interacted with them and had a blast doing it as well!

Now we are at Huntington beach, surfing, swimming and having a total blast!

Later on tonight we will have worship and a teahing on the beach around a bonfire.

We will have pictures of that up later.

I am also in the process of uploading all the pictures i've taken to a Picasa site so you can go there and look through them all!

Thanks again for your patients with the Blog, as well as your continued prayer for our trip!

God Bless!

Back In The States

Hola!

Greetings from north of the border! We made it safely in and out of Mexico with no problems whatsoever! We thought about leaving a couple of kids there, but relented at the last minute. So they are all present and accounted for. In all seriousness, it was hard to tear some of them away!

After a few days of traveling in a hot bus, we arrived to an even hotter Mexico. It was 112 degrees the day we crossed the border. Before heading to the Mission, we made an important stop at Pancho's where we enjoyed the authentic Mexican taco stand experience - complete with Mariachi singer and all. With our full stomachs, we headed to the Mission. That night was mostly about getting settled and oriented. Rich and Jon, the guys that look after the orphans - filled us in on all the necessities - what to do if you see a rattle snake, or a tarantula and explain what jobs we would be taking on while we stay there.

Responsibilities where broken up in such a way that everyone got a chance to put in some hard labor, as well as a chance to have some hands-on time with the orphans. The hard labor included everything from raking, pulling weeds, disassembling and cleaning a stove, cleaning bathrooms... The list goes on and on. Working with the orphans encompassed feeding them, swimming with them, changing their diapers, putting them down for bed and everything in between. The kids did us proud. It's not easy to keep on plugging away in a hot field with a smile on your face, or to help with a disabled person as you feel totally out-of-your-league. But they did! The staff members at the Mission kept talking about how blessed and refreshed they were by our kids being there and contributing to that ministry.

This update is being typed partly on a bus and partly in a hotel BINGO room. The bus ride back was a pretty cool debriefing time. It's so col to hear them talk about what the Lord showed them , how much they really fell in love with the orphans and how little it bothered them to change a diaper when they felt so much love for the ones they were helping. It is a blessing i can't describe to hear them talk about these orphans with such sincere love.

Jim shared this morning (now yesterday morning technically) about the lessons that can be learned just two days at that unique place. He talked about the blisters he had on his hands, and how it reminded him of the nail holes in Jesus' hands, how we all spent hours sweating in the hot sun, while Jesus sweat drops of blood in His agony, how we picked thorns out of our hands when our savior had thorns pressed into His brow. It was a perfect end to our time with these precious loved ones. The lessons these orphans have taught people over the years are potent and countless. It's a blessing to see our kids touched by those who are truly helpless. Only in God's economy could a little group of handicapped guys and girls have such a powerful and eternal impact.

So now we are off to Burbank where we will stay for the next couple nights.

We should be getting more regular posting out now that we have reception and are out of Mexico. WE ARE AGAIN SORRY FOR NOT POSTING REGULARLY, I AM TRYING TO UPDATE THE BLOG EVERY DAY NOW, SO KEEP A LOOK OUT FOR NEW POSTS!

Thank you for your prayers for the kids on the trips, we have already been blessed in so many ways!

Until next time-

God Bless!

On The Road Again

Once again, the big trip of the summer starts out with everyones favorite pass time... DRIVING! Day one we went down and spent the day in White City, Oregon down near Medford. The night was spent hanging out, telling stories and trying to feed the sheep hot dogs (don't ask). Day two we headed out for another day of driving, driving, and more driving. We went all the way from Medford and are now at a hotel in Buttonwillow, California for some swim time and a good nights rest for an early departure into Mexico.

More pictures and updates will be up later.