new songs and pictures

ahhhh! how nice it is to be on my couch!

If any of you have pictures that you want me to add in with the rest of the summer trip pictures to be posted, you can use this site to get them to me:

https://public.me.com/brianderson

Go to this site and click on the folder that says "ST2011 Photo Uploads" and then click the "up" button at the top of the page and follow the instructions. Pease try and only upload your good photos...this will save me some time deleting duplicates and stuff.

I will be putting all the pictures including the ones taken with my camera on Facebook in albums in a few days, so upload them as soon as you can!

Also, here are the links to the new songs that we learned this week on iTunes. feel free to check out other stuff by these bands...they are all pretty awesome!

Rediscover You - Starfield 

The Earth is Yours - Gungor 

Sometimes - David Crowder Band 

Revelation Song - Kari Jobe 

Christ is Risen - Matt Maher 

You Have Me - Gungor 

Had a great week with you guys! Enjoy the songs!

Love,

Brian

Dana Stull - Senior

What a crazy day! We woke up to the soothing sound of Pastor's singing, as usual, had breakfast, and headed off to the food bank. I got to help with packaging bread, and sorting carrots. Finding a carrot shaped like an "S" was a particular highlight! Then, the mad dash to the showers began, and thanks to the gutsy driving of Jerry, we got to shower first (hallelujah). Lunch was burritos, with guacamole to die for- thank you kitchen crew! The afternoon activity was a tour through Paramount Studios, where our group got to see a kid's show being filmed, "crime photos" taken for a TV show, and an actress from The Office. Our tour guide was hilarious, and had a lot of insider stories about famous people- Tom Cruise is even crazier than I thought. We fueled up on Coffee Bean and walked back to the church, with very sore feet. When we got back, we had some free time to lie out in the grass. Then, we saw the Leader Awards, and Pastor Jeff got his head shaved since we met our fundraising goal. Around $1,300 was raised for the Africa and Navajo mission trips this summer! We also got our t-shirts, which are awesome. This week has been great so far, especially the worship, and I can't wait to see what else is in store. Also, mom; if you're reading this, David bought himself some really cool earrings today. (:

Dane "Train" Redifer - Senior

Upon wrapping up at the food bank, we headed back off to showers. Between the old folks we encountered to yapping graduates and leaders, it was a solid experience. We then enjoyed a wonderful baked potato bar and enjoyed more fellowship with our new friends on Friendsday Wednesday. Following our scrumptious meal, we then went to the enthralling Sony Pictures Studios. Breaking into 3 groups, we got to see the sound stage where John Williams worked, where the munchkins went down the yellow brick road, and Will Smith did numerous Will Smith movies. This certainly set the tone for a marvelous evening.

I could tell you about the yummy pork chops and salad bar we devoured, but it would not capture the essence of the evening. Our night began when a friend of the church, Christian songwriter Jason Ingram, came to visit us. His flight to Australia, where he is now writing songs with Hillsong United, was delayed. What a blessing it turned out to be, as Jason led us in a few songs and prayed with us until he had to return to the airport for his fourteen hour journey. Amazing.

Afterwards, we did what we do best: praise Jesus. An intense emotional rush hit us from the first few songs. The key word for the night would probably be redemption. As we sang the worship songs we had learned throughout the week we felt washed clean. Amy came and talked, showing us a video of people holding two sided cards. On the front was their deepest shame, something in their life that held them back from God. They then flipped the cards, revealing how God has transformed their lives and changes their past to brighten the present. We wrote our own cards and shared with our small groups the front and then helped each other write the backs. We sang more. The Holy Spirit's presence was heavily felt by all. For me personally, it was all about God's grace and redeeming love, no matter who we have been or what we have done, God loves us and wants our lives. He loves us for us, and that truth always blows me away. We spent forever in that sanctuary, praying with leaders and loving each other. Parents, ask your kids about it, because Wednesday was beyond perfect for it was God's night.

We were to eat dessert when finished up in the sanctuary, but many of us stayed until midnight. Continue to pray for and thank our leaders, because they have had such a lack of sleep trying to make this week awesome. They succeeded. It was a great day, and led to another lovely Thursday! May God bless you all!

Location:N Gower St,Los Angeles,United States

Emma Cody - Sophomore

This morning we were woken up by the sound of Pastor Garman's beautiful voice...? After we were awakened, we went down to the fellowship hall and had a delicious breakfast which consisted of eggs and sausage!

After breakfast, all of the teenage zombies (since we were so tired) sauntered out to the vans and we were off. We had a long drive to the food bank, but when we got there, we went straight to work. In the room next to us, they were sorting carrots, but in the room I was in, all was fine until about an hour in.

We were instructed to sort food. If the food was good, we would put it on the outside conveyor and if the food was expired or damaged, we would put it on the middle conveyor. We were only about 10 minutes in and all sorts of food was on all conveyors. Then about an hour in, the middle conveyors had so much food, soda cans started bursting! There was soda EVERYWHERE! Luckily, we got it cleaned up and lots of food was sorted.

I would call that a successful work day.

Location:N Gower St,Los Angeles,United States

Emily Mclaughin - Junior

So from where you last read, yesterday afternoon after very fast driven showers, we went back to the Church and had a delicious lunch consisting of pulled pork on sub bread and potato chips with extra grease to make them that much better tasting. Personally I split another sandwich with Mckenna Thomas because it was so scrumptious.

After lunch we all sat around the fellowship hall and were told something that we have never done on the trip before. We had the chance to go shopping at the Fashion district in downtown Hollywood. On every street corner there were venders of every kind. Sunglasses, jewelry, clothing, exotic smells, and people of every culture lingered on my mind. My friends and I's favorite part was the jewelry that was $0.99. My friend Kylie and I got a donut key chain, that actually looks like it's real.

After this fun adventure we all returned to the church and waited for the best dinner ever to be served: Steak and cheesy potatoes. Complete yumminess. It was so good that I went back for seconds. We then got an amazing surprise, Neil's friend and musical producer Jason Ingram came and sang to us in the sanctuary. As Neil and others put it, it was the miracle of God that he came because, he was supposed to be flying to Australia that night but the sky was too cloudy for him to fly out. As we worshipped with him I felt like my relationship with God grew even more, that experience was amazing and I am so grateful that he came to worship and share his gift with us.

With Jason driving to the airport, we went to small groups and discussed our devotions for the day. With this amazing start to the night we went back in the sanctuary and watched bedroom of the day which was Lars Peterson. His dead fish and too old salsa sitting in his room i was grossed out but laughed a ton. Later as we worshiped and listened to Neil's sermon my heart lifted up and I was moved with how much God loves us and how we need to focus on his love and what he has to offer and not what we as people think we should do to achieve our wanting and what we think that people think of us.

This amazing night was topped off with brownies and ice cream made by Pastor Garman. That day was amazing and truly one of my favorites. I love my parents and friends who support me and love me no matter what. I miss all of them like crazy but this is one great experience that I would never give up. I hope all of you out there at home are praying for us and our leaders who are truly amazing for going on this trip with us. Thanks so much to Pastor Garman, Amy, and Neil who support all of us in everything we do.

Location:N Gower St,Los Angeles,United States

Riley Corona - Freshman

Hi everybody! i'm going to start off where we ended last night: dinner! Pastor Garman cooked up chicken, mashed potatoes, and corn for us. Needless to say we didn't have any leftovers. After we prayed, we went out into small groups and talked over our devotions for the day. It was all about the story from 2 Kings about Naaman the general with leprosy. Then Amy and Neil had us come in for worship.

We started out by moving away from our friends and going to stand next to people we didn't know so we could meet new friends and focus more on praising God. Then we had our Bedroom of the Day episode: sophomore Trevor Colceri! From the looks of the video he's really into reading and has lots of trophies. Brian and our amazing worship team taught us a new song and you could feel the presence of God in the air as we poured our hearts out to him. Amy told us about the two degree different and how the little things we do can make a big difference. We went out to small groups again and talked about what we could do differently to increase our faith. Then it was dessert prayer and off to bed.

This morning we woke up to Pastor Garman's lovely singing and went out to complete devotions. Breakfast was pancakes, sausage, and fruit! We prayed and drove off to the food bank. They split us into 3 groups and we got to work packing kits again... except today we had more food pyramids that fell over onto the conveyor belt! After we finished up, we went down to shower at the YMCA and came back for lunch. We're just about to leave for our next surprise and from the noise we can't wait!

We miss you all!

Hana Spence - Senior

After our work projects we headed over to shower at the YMCA. While waiting outside for our van number to be called in order to shower, we saw Rondell Sheridan who played the Dad in the Disney Channel show "That's So Raven". That was exciting for us Scottsdale kids seeing someone famous leaving the gym we were showering at! After speeding through showers we rode on back to the church for some delicious grilled cheese sandwiches, still warm and delicious thanks to Pastor Garman!

After lunch we were told half of us would be taking a trip to Hollywood Blvd to take a scavenger hunt, and the rest would go to Paramount Studios. Today my group went to Hollywood Blvd. We were given 15 clues to find the stars of the celebrities we were given. I spent most of the time looking for Justin Bieber's star... I later found out he doesn't have one. Oh well, some of the stars we were suposed to find were Big Bird, Mickey Mouse, Reese Witherspoon, and many more! We also saw many people dressed up as Actors and Actresses like Michael Jackson, Marilyn Monroe, and Spider Man!

I never realized how many less fortunate lived in Hollywood until we were walking around the streets. Seeing all of the homeless sleeping on the side walks, or holding a cup out asking for money. Today I gave a man in a wheel chair with missing a foot a dollar and some spare change and it was like I handed him 20 dollars. Being here and seeing all of these people has really opened my eyes. During this week we have talked about getting to know many people and their stories and it's awesome to know these are the people we are helping. I can't wait to get to know some of these people's stories and help out even more!