La Casa De Cristo Youth Ministry

new songs and pictures

2011-06-25T18:58:00.000-07:00

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

2011-06-24T09:21:00.001-07:00

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

2011-06-24T07:55:00.001-07:00

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

2011-06-23T12:47:00.001-07:00

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

2011-06-22T13:45:00.001-07:00

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

2011-06-21T13:55:00.001-07:00

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

2011-06-20T18:17:00.001-07:00

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!

Carl Robbins - Sophomore

2011-06-20T13:19:00.001-07:00

So this morning we travelled to the Los Angeles Food Bank. Our goal at the food bank was to pack food into boxes. Some of the food items including cereal, milk, vegetables, and many other needed items for good nutrition. I personally was on the start of the line and began by putting the cereal in the big bags inside of crates. The previous most number of boxes put out in one day had been 2,500. Our goal was to beat that record by at least 1,000.

At the beginning of our packaging, things were a little slow. We had to get into a pattern so that we could beat the goal, things picked up. We began cranking out boxes to a point that all of the crates were backed up. I personally had a great time talking to all of the people who were in my work line. Many of them I had never talked to before and I got to know them a lot better. A big surprise that came to a lot of the people in my cereal section of the packaging was how fast things got moving. We began to go through piles and piles of food.

Personally, in the beginning of the packaging, I didn't think that we would make at least 1,000. At the half way point I thought we only had a few hundred boxes done, when we had at least 2,000 already, but we didn't know! After the half way point work began to drag out because we were standing around a lot because supplies got low. Once we got more supplies we began working fast again and made a final hurrah to beat the record, which we didn't think we were closed to at all.

At the end of the work day, we had 3,600 boxes packaged! I think this experience really showed me and the rest of the people in the high school ministry how much our work truly makes an impact on the community. We were told that the food bank serves over 1,000,000 people including over 400,000 kids. We beat the quota by over 1,100 and astonished the people working at the food bank. They could not keep up with our need for supplies, which isn't a bad thing!

Overall a very successful day and our work will be noticed and appreciated by the community in and around Los Angeles.

Location:Carlos Ave,Los Angeles,United States

Keegan Jennings - Senior

2011-06-19T23:53:00.001-07:00

Sarah Flaaen met USHER!!!!!!!! Now for all of you that don't know who that is, well then you also don't have a child in high school. But anyway, i'm getting a little ahead of myself...
After our lunch, which consisted of hotdogs, (I had five... Yuck), we eventually headed down to Santa Monica Pier. Once there, everyone split up and did certain things.
The first thing was obviously to go walk along the pier where you could ride a roller coater, play different games for a large array of prizes, or just let yourself be entertained by all of the different random people that would show off their different talents. There were also many stores where you could could buy food drinks, or ice cream.
The second thing a lot of people did was to shop at the big mall right by the pier or just ton shop at the different stores all around the area. there were a lot of good stores and many cool things.

The third thing you could do, that was suggested to us by Neil, was to talk to homeless people that resided near the pier. Most people have no clue how much it means to them to just have a simple conversation with them. Even just introducing themselves can make there day, or even week. We eventually had dinner, small groups and then worship, which was very good. After all of this, we had amazingly crafted red velvet cake from the suburb cooks! It was a very good day!

P.S. Happy Father's Day to all of the fathers out there! I love you Dad!!

Keegan Richard Jennings I

Location:Carlos Ave,Los Angeles,United States

some photos from the trip so far!

2011-06-19T23:51:00.001-07:00

Figured you might like to SEE some of what we've been up to...

first rest stop.

lunch on the road.

ready to be there.

jockeying to slap pastors hand and be the first back to the vans.

unloading...

unloading and unloading and unloading.

still more unloading.

listening for instructions.

at Santa Monica Pier.

Sorry for the blog with the messed up photos! hope this one works! Keep watching for more blogs later today!

Brian

Location:Carlos Ave,Los Angeles,United States

Sarah Flaaen - Junior

2011-06-19T23:12:00.000-07:00

On the first official day of the Summer Trip we were awoken by Pastor Garman's wonderful singing voice. It was an early start this morning as we had to get 180 people showered and to church. We were graciously welcomed by the YMCA to shower at their facilities, but they didn't know what they were getting themselves into. All I can think of is the poor women who tried to shower when we were there!

When we returned from the showers, we started our first day of devotions and digging in deep with God. After our devotions, Pastor Garman and the kitchen crew made us a wonderful new creation, egg casserole. Soon after, all of us headed to church and sat in the balcony area. It was a wonderful sight to see all the delightful people who opened their arms to us to stay at their church. The people here are so amazing and welcoming to our whole group. We are so blessed to be staying here at Hollywood Presbyterian.

Lastly I would like to make a shout out to my mom! Hi, stop worrying about me!

And in the afternoon, two of the most amazing things happened to me, my older brother got charged for being late (haha!) and I was 10 feet away from Usher (for those who don't know who he is, he is a singer!)
while we were out and about today! See pics below.

Location:Carlos Ave,Los Angeles,United States

Travis Geyer - Freshman

2011-06-18T23:13:00.001-07:00

Today after a day a riding we toured the beautiful Hollywood Pres. Church. The campus is filled with amazing gardens and cool rooms. Then it was time for worship where everyone was involved in singing to the Man.

After worship we learned about care cards then soon after that we broke off into small groups. Care cards are a great way for us to write encouraging notes to each other. My small group is filled with eight other amazing people and I look forward to getting to know them through the week!

We wrapped up the night with a tasty treat...ice cream! I can't wait to see what happens tomorrow!

Location:N Gower St,Los Angeles,United States

Maria Petersen - Graduate

2011-06-18T17:56:00.001-07:00

Running in the church parking lot to the white vans for the very last time was bitter sweet. I was already claimed by Pastor Ruby as his shot gun so my mission was easy. As for incoming freshman I don't think that they were expecting this stampede of an experience.

We started on the 51 singing so many country songs I think PJ has a southern twang now. Switching vans with friends was very fun, and I felt like I knew all the tricks in the book.The drive over was a breeze. Literally. When we stopped for lunch we were almost gone with the wind. Sitting with everyone and eating the infamous summer trip sandwhiches was a blast.

I have been begging Tim Hatlestad to let me shave his head for a very long time now.As I was trying to squeeze a yes out of Tim, PJ walked up. Tim said "Maria why do you want to shave my head? Why not shave Pastor Jeffs?" Pj just started laughing. Tim and I asked PJ was it was worth to him. He said one thousand dollars. That is when the most perfect idea dawned on me.

So, here is our fund raiser as a youth group for the week. If we raise $1,000 by dinner time Thursday; I Maria Petersen am going to shave Pastor Jeff's head. All of the money is going to the mission trips through church. $500 of it is going to Helping Hands in Africa, and $500 of it is going to the Navajo mission trip through La Casa. I hope that we can make it! I am confident that we will be successful! Within 15 minutes we raised $130. Pray for this amazing fund raiser!

I am so excited to see what God has in store for all of us this upcoming week. These trips are absolutely amazing. Being back on this campus has brought so many memories back to me, and I am so excited to make new memories now with all of these beautiful people.I have a feeling this is going to be one excellent week.It is going to be hard for me to say goodbye, but its going to be a see you later for me. Not a farewell.
God Bless!

Maria Petersen Graduating Senior

Location:N Gower St,Los Angeles,United States

Summer Trip Meeting TONIGHT!

2011-06-15T11:44:00.001-07:00

see you all there at 7:30 PM!

SUMMER TRIP 2011!

2011-05-19T14:23:00.000-07:00

Summer Trip 2011 begins in T-Minus...

Friday and Saturday Posts: Morgan, Cindy and Amanda

2010-08-02T05:00:00.001-07:00

Saturday: Amanda Cole’s blog:
So as I speak we are sitting in the airport waiting to board our flight home. But I’m mostly going to tell you about yesterday (Saturday). We all woke up in the morning to birds chirping outside because we stayed at the game preserve, Kwa Maritane. This hotel was very nice and really had me feeling guilty at first but Michelle explained before that this is a great opportunity for the people to have jobs. We ate breakfast at the buffet and sat outside on the balcony and watched all the animals come by the watering hole, including zebras. Then we had a little time to walk around and see other things at the hotel. We then met everyone in Mike and Michelle’s room to have a meeting about “What do we do now?” The meeting got me excited to come home and get involved in so many different ways with Helping Hands. They explained all the projects they have going right now and some new ones they are trying to start up. After the meeting ended, we had a couple hours to go back to our room and journal or nap. I sat outside of the girls room to journal. It actually helped me in some sort to focus because I love the outdoors and just the weather was fantastic. We got some lunch and met outside to go on our safari adventure! It was like a huge jeep we rode in. The dinner that night was so delicious! Our talks at dinner are ones I will always remember. Some being serious conversations about our week and some ending up with everyone laughing so hard that the whole restaurant had eyes on us. Mike and Michelle got to experience our real personality’s during this time and they also came out of their shells which was cool to see! We all eventually went back to bed and slept like babies! This morning we met again with Mike and Michelle and we all told our stories of this week that really moved us and told them the main thing we were taking back home and how we could apply it to our regular lives. It was awesome hearing everyone’s different out takes on this week. It is actually really bitter sweet being in the airport, preparing to come home but I am excited to see my family and friends and tell them all about this awesome experience. Nothing will ever top this week and nothing will ever make me forget it. I love these 14 people so much. They now know me so well and we all are connected together with this awesome bond. But I love the people and kids of South Africa with all my heart. Nothing is ever getting in the way of that and my love for them will never die. “Pelo ya ka e mo South Africa”- My heart is in South Africa.

Friday: Morgan Hatlestad’s blog:
Today (Friday) was quite a day. It was an amazing experience yet heartbreaking at the same time. In the morning we went to the primary school in Top village. We split into two groups and walked around teaching a short lesson and “Jesus Loves Me” to all the classrooms. That was great seeing how that simple song made them so happy. I never really realized what their school would be like. I thought that they would just be like the schools we have at home, but they aren’t at all. There are supposed to be 40 in a classroom, and in every one we visited, they had way more than that. There were children sitting three to a desk, and sitting around the classroom without a desk.
After we finished teaching, we went and helped to serve the children lunch. We started by giving them a third of a mug of beans, a sandwich, and half a mug of juice. Near the end though, we had to start giving them less of everything, which was heartbreaking, because the teacher said that it is usually the last time they eat before Monday. That gave me a terrible feeling deep down in my gut, but that quickly went away when we went to play with the kids while they were on break.
I was serving juice in line and there was one little boy who just stood there next to me the whole time, and when I finished and started to walk away to go play with some of the kids, he ran up and grabbed my hand, and then he was just glued to me the whole day. He frequently would kiss my cheek when I was holding him, and would hug my leg while he was standing by my side. I have never felt so loved in my whole life. He had known me for only a few minutes and he was already so attached to me. There is no possible way for me to explain that feeling.
After we played with the kids for a while, and sweet Precious taught me some Setswana words, we went and watched some of the kids dance for us. The part that I saw was truly amazing, but I was kind of preoccupied because 5 girls were trying to put my hair into some crazy updo. (Sometimes I wondered if they knew it was attached to my head). That whole time I knew that I just had the biggest smile on my face. I had three kids in my lap, my little buddy holding my hand, and so many girls just wanting me to tell them about myself. (They were really interested in hearing about my older brother, Griffin, in particular).
When it came time to leave and the woman showing us around told us how much it meant having us there is when I started getting teary-eyed knowing I won’t be able to do that every day like I have been doing. Then we hugged all of the children goodbye, and somehow I lost my little buddy. I was so sad knowing I would never see him again, and that I didn’t get to hug him and tell him that I love him. But when I was walking back to the van he saw me and came running up and literally jumped into my arms. That is when I just lost all the composure I had left. I hugged him as hard as I could and kissed his cheek and told him that I loved him. I don’t know if he knew what I was saying, but he wiped off my tears, and hugged me back. I watched him walk back to his classroom and waved goodbye and he gave me a bigger smile than I had seen all week. That little 6 year old boy made the biggest change in my life, and I hope I made a difference in his.
Later that day we of course went to VBS like normal, but of course this day was different, because it was the last day. It was hard to keep myself composed but I managed to by seeing the smile on my friend, 6 year old Kesentsang. She has been my friend all week, and every day runs up and grabs both of my hands and motions to me that she wants me to swing her around by her arms. We had all of the kids from the after school program sing songs with us one last time and during Lean on Me I have to admit I did lack a tad bit of composure, but it was only because I loved seeing how happy they all were. After that we had the awesome experience of giving the kids new backpacks and uniforms and shoes.
At the beginning of the week one child prayed that God would give him shoes, and it was an overwhelming feeling seeing that prayer fulfilled. I helped Kesentsang open her backpack (that was almost as big as her), and helped her put her brand new shoes on. The whole week her favorite thing to do was color, so the first thing I showed her was her new markers and crayons. She had the biggest smile, and her face was filled with awe. She even hugged the markers which may have been the cutest thing I have ever seen. We took their picture and a group picture and finally had to say goodbye. It wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be, just because I knew they finally had everything they needed. It was harder saying goodbye to Rose and Tumelo who have been with us all week. They are some of the best people I have ever met.
All of these children truly are special, and they ministered to me more than I ever hoped I would minister to them. It is hard leaving them behind, knowing that I might not ever hold them, or pray with them in my lap. But it helps knowing these awesome people are here allowing them to have everything they could possibly need.
From Cindy Nelson:
This morning I woke up at 7:40 with just enough time to get ready as fast as I could and make breakfast which was ready at 8:00 and consisted of Tim’s delicious eggs, cereal, leftover muffins from yesterday, and everyone’s favorite mango/orange juice. I think that I am finally getting adjusted to the time zone here – just in time to go back home in a few days! We were told that we had to have our luggage packed and out into the front room by 8:45 so that Lorato could see it all and decide just how big of a trailer we would need to transport it all. So, you can imagine what it looked like after breakfast with everyone trying to get all of their stuff together, checking each room to make sure nothing was left behind, taking the sheets off of our beds, and cleaning up the house. Thankfully we were all ready in plenty of time to leave for our morning activities.
Today we were able to spend the entire day at one of the primary schools in Top Village. Similar to the other school visits we did, we split up into groups and went from classroom to classroom doing activities with the kids. In my group we read a short story about how God gives us each a special talent and had them each stand up and tell us their name and say what one of their talents was. With up to 50 kids in a classroom, you can imagine just how long this took in some of the classrooms. We then played “Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes” with them and taught them “Jesus Loves Me.” In a couple of the classrooms they also wanted to sing for us, so we were able to hear them sing a couple of songs for us. I am still absolutely in love with the passion in which the kids here sing, and could literally listen to them all day.
When it was time for their lunch we got to see what the feeding program at the school is like. I was fortunate enough to be able to help serve the lunch, and had the task of serving them each about ¼ of a cup of a ground meat and bean mixture. As Tim, Griffin, Amanda and I kept serving the kids, the line just got longer and longer. When we were nearing the end of the pot of beans, and had only a few sandwiches left there were still about 40 kids left in line waiting for what we were later told would most likely be some of their last meals until lunch on Monday. This was easily one of the most heart breaking moments on the trip. The principal went to the students in the line and seemed to be choosing students who could probably wait until the next time they would be fed and had them get out of line thus making sure the ones who really needed the food would get something, even if it was only a spoonful or two of food. If the intensely blowing dust today didn’t bring tears to my eyes, this definitely did.
Thankful for the reprieve from the blowing dust, I then went into the tin shack where the 3 ladies that run the program were and helped them with what seemed to be a never ending pile of dishes along with a couple others from our team. While making small talk with them we learned that we fed around 438 kids at lunch, which gives you a picture of just how important this feeding program really is to the school. As soon as I left the tin shack, I was instantly surrounded by kids all wanting to hold my hand, touch my skin, or play with my hair. As I looked around the courtyard, I saw that the same was true of all of the members of our team. I saw Jake sword fighting with sticks with a group of kids on a dirt mound, Dane has a little boy on his shoulders and was running around playing soccer with some kids, Taylor was standing with probably 20-30 kids around her, all trying to get a hug or kiss from her, and Shaye was surrounded by a group of kids all trying to do her hair! It was one of the most awesome things I have seen on this trip. Before we left we were treated to a traditional song and dance that some of the older students did for us and was absolutely awesome! It was then time to say our good bye’s to the kids that we so loved after only knowing them for such a short time. We gathered up with the principal and some of the staff and were able to pray with them before we left. After praying, what I think was the Assistant Principal, Levo, announced to the group that he was holding the hand of his future American wife. I was definitely the one holding his hand, and was flattered, embarrassed, and laughing at the same time! Before leaving, they had me sign a visitors book they keep in the office saying who we were, where our group was from, and what we experienced while we were there visiting. It was awesome to know just how much our visit today meant to them.
After eating another delicious lunch made by Michelle at the mission house we headed off to our last day of VBS. It was a bittersweet day as we knew that we were going to be able to hang out with the kids and give them their uniforms and backpacks, but bittersweet because we knew we had to say bye to them at the end. We started with the lesson and then sang some songs with all of the kids – even the ones in the afterschool program. All this week I have been drawn to a little girl, Gloria, and I was happy when I saw her come in to sing with us and ask to be my partner again. I just love how this little girl gives her all when she is worshipping and couldn’t contain the joy that was in my heart. It was then time to give out the backpacks to the kids who attended VBS all week. We were all so excited to watch them open their backpacks and see all of the supplies that were in there and try on their uniforms and shoes. We took a few pictures with them wearing their uniform and holding their backpacks. There was not one person in the room that did not have a smile on their face.
Saying good bye to all of these kids that we have just been loving on and being loved by all week was definitely really tough. Thankfully we all held our composure together and the kids had a happy send off, running down the street with their new backpacks, smiling and happy – just as it should be. However, when it was time to say good bye to the staff members like Rose, Tumelo, Pastor Victor, and MacDonald it was much harder. It was so hard to say bye to these awesome people that are doing these great things, not knowing if we would ever see them again. As Michelle said though, we had to leave these people in God’s hands, knowing that He would not neglect them or forget about them.

Thursday July 29th-posts by Drew Garman and Abby Diercks

2010-07-29T15:04:00.000-07:00

Dumella! Today the first portion of the day will be blogged by Drew Garman. This morning we went to the new village Rooigrond. It was such an emotional rollercoster. When we arrived I was surprised at how primitive the village looked compared to how Molelwane looks now. When Abby and I went into the classroom of 40 3rd graders, there wasn't a single smile across the room. Then I went on a "lion hunt" with them and they slowly started to smile. It was a contagious disease that spread like wild fire. We taught the class how to sing "Jesus Loves Me," which they thought was pretty cool. We then went into the soccer pitch and played red light, green light. Then when it was time to leave, the 300+ kids swarmed us and wanted pictures, to be tickled and played with, and HUGS! As Chris said, " they wanted to hug you with there entire being." Once we had finally given them all hugs we went to Gontse's (aunsee) house/ tin shack. They were so overwhelmed by the fact that 500+ kids were going to her little shack for food each day, that she went into a 21 day fast. On the 19th day a farmer showed up and Gontse asked for food and the farmer said, "No, I am going to build a structure." he started with a roof, and then he said that that was not enough so he went on to build the walls, and then said that that was not enough and that he wanted to make a floor for the building. On the 21st day pastor Victor showed up and started to get Helping Hands involved. Gontse told us that the has a water tower but no well so the tower has been dry for months. She took us on a walk of the village and we saw so many of those broken down tin shacks and someone asked how many people lived in the village. Her answer was that there were 800 homes with at least 10-20 members in each house, mind you that these houses maybe have two rooms totaling 300 square feet. You do the math. We stopped at the soccer pitch and Griffin, Chris, Dane and I started to play soccer with a tin Spam can. It made me think how often the children do just that but without the comfort of shoes? After that crazy experience we went back to the house for lunch where my comrade Abby will pick up/add whatever I forgot. :)

Hello from Mafikeng! Summing up the whole afternoon is going to be a challenge, but here goes. Michelle made lunch for us once again. Today's meal consisted of chicken and noodle soup with sandwiches. We are so so so thankful for everything that Michelle has done for us; between cooking lunch and taking us to the Mafikeng Game Reservation she has been such an awesome host. On our way to Vacation Bible School for the day we stopped at Wimpy for some coffee. I think we are all in agreement that Wimpy is our new favorite coffee hot spot. Then it was off to VBS. The lesson was the story of David and Goliath and the kids had a blast watching and helping us act out the parts. At the end of the day we all prayed The Lord's Prayer together, sending chills down my spine at the sound of us all in harmony.

Speaking of harmony, we started our evening with the youth in song. Rose and Tumelo led us in a song in Setswana. Just listening to everyone from so many different backgrounds singing together to the same God was truly inspiring. In return we taught them the song "Awesome God". Later a few of the youth danced part of a traditional african dance and tried to coach us in a few moves. As the night moved on we discussed a little bit more about our different cultures and ate dinner together. Taylor, Amanda, and I sat with three beautiful, young women. We had sat with them for a couple of nights and really had developed friendships. As the close of the night drew near, they asked multiple times "When will we see you again?" and "When will you be coming back?". The only way we could respond was by saying "Hopefully next summer!". In knowing that we were unsure as to the status of our return (if ever) one of the girls stated "Well, We'll see you in heaven." I was blown away by this statement. This week had always been a matter of building friendships and then saying goodbye at the end for me. But I now see that these relationships will simply be put on hold until next time, in heaven.

This evening after dinner we came home and had a ton of work to do. The uniforms, shoes, and backpacks for the children had arrived today. We stuffed all of the backpacks with school supplies, art supplies, and books. Today during VBS one of the older boys shared that he was asking God for new shoes. This makes me even more eager for all of the kids to receive their new apparel and school supplies.

Lastly we played one final round of a game like charades. Which may or may not explain why I am blogging at 12:30 in the morning. We are all so excited to share our experiences with everyone back home. Lorato, Abby

Wednesday July 28th-Posts by Chris Cole & Shaye Cody

2010-07-28T13:00:00.000-07:00

Today went by very quickly! As I discussed with Taylor on the van ride back to the mission house, we accomplished a lot of short activities today instead of a couple long ones like the past few days. To start the day, the alarm that wakes the boys up to shower didn't go off and thankfully Dane woke up at exactly 8 to save us a small amount of time to shower before and after breakfast. We begun the day as a sort of offshoot of everything we experienced yesterday by visiting the Lonely Park Clinic.

Lonely Park Clinic:

CC: I thought it was very cool to finally see the place we had been hearing about where

MacDonald, one of the Helping Hands staff members, takes all of the patients to receive their care. The place was absolutely swarming with people, though, specifically mothers and their children. It was completely overwhelming seeing all that and hearing about the lack of a doctor or even a solid squad of nurses to accommodate the number of patients. As I walked in, without even being able to look past the large crowd, I could just completely feel the presence of many, many needy bodies. It seemed as if they were all crying out through the lack of smiles and silence of the mothers and the whimpers and wails of the infants in their arms. All of the mom wanted out of that important visit was good news, hope, and I pray that they received that today.

SC: For me, the clinic really set things in reality for me. Seeing hundreds of mothers and their children patiently waiting to be seen by one of the two nurses was heart breaking that these people don't have access to health care more easily. We met one of the nurses, Nurse Goliath, who gives me hope for all of these people. She told us shocking facts and statistics, and told us about the different parts of her job. Everyday she risks her life to help all of the women, men, and children, and she truly cares for each one of her patients. To me, Nurse Goliath is a bright light shining in a dark place. She gives hope to everyone and God is truly working through her.

Cemetery:

CC: The cemetery was a very interesting experience after visiting the clinic full of sick people. The first thing I noticed was a couple men digging a grave in the distance, which was pointed out by Pastor Victor with the news that the cemetery was running out of space. We were then given permission to walk around to view the makeshift headstones (simply metal signs) and discover just how young the people buried were when they died. It was difficult to walk through, as if stepping anywhere with my heavy feet full of lead would disturb those buried underneath. The graves were not flat, but piled with rocks, giving the appearance that the gravediggers were not given enough time to properly dig deep enough. Downtrodden flowers still laid among the rocks of each grave site, fluttering in the subtle wind as if they were being called to leave those they were given the purpose to comfort but couldn't and wouldn't. As we prayed with Pastor Victor, a drum beat far in the distance in the sound of a heartbeat, representative of a culture where every heartbeat could be a last and heads wouldn't turn in surprise and representative of the heartbeats that keep the staff and hope alive in the villages that they rescue daily. All that we have seen appears as scenes out of a movie, a reality that could immediately turn into the realization that we've been dreaming all of this trip. But it has all been real and a culture in which cemeteries give discounts for weekday funerals because they are so overwhelmed by the number of funerals and necessary graves is real. And it has been heartbreaking beyond words.

SC: When we first got to the cemetery, I was hesitant to get out of the van. I've been fortunate to not have lost someone and I knew how much pain the place has caused some people. When I did get out of the van, I slowly worked my way through the many rows of graves. I wasn't looking at the names of the people; rather I was looking at the dates of birth and death. Most of the people has been in the 20's, 30's, or 40's. In the states, when people die at the age, it's shocking and it doesn't happen very often. I made my way to the back of the cemetery when my heart truly shattered. The grave I saw was for a 9-year-old child. Nine years old. This child barely even got to live and his life was taken from him. It just doesn't seem fair. None of it seems fair.

Feeding Program:

SC: After having a rather rough start to the day, my spirits were quickly uplifted when we went and fed a few hundred kids. A simply hive five brought the biggest smile to their face and I was honored just to have met them. Each one of these children has struggled through things I can't even comprehend, yet each one smiles and shines a light so bright. They have hope amidst all the pain and suffering they are dealing with. I got out my camera and was SWARMED by the kids all wanting to take pictures together. As we were leaving, one child gave me a hug, squeezing me, and then said "God bless you. Jesus loves you and so do I." I was moved to tears. A boy whose name I don't even know hugged me like we had known each other for years. These children all give me hope for a new day and I am inspired by each and every one of them.

VBS:

CC: I have been realizing daily how much the loving kids of Molelwane Village want to connect with us on many different levels, but speaking English as best as they can has been something I've been noticing the most recently. Today, while finally given the opportunity to play soccer (or football) with the children, I was approached by at least three kids who begun speaking to me in perfect English just to learn my name, share with me theirs and simply talk with me. My favorite was after I celebrated scoring a wonderful goal with an assist from our van driver Lerato, I felt a small tapping on my lower back and the kid who had been playing keeper and who I had just scored on simply told me with a smile, "You won't score on me again." (I did twice, but that's besides the point.) I absolutely love the connections I am able to gain with these children, who are doing as much of a ministry towards me as I am to them.

SC: The kids at VBS definitely seem to be opening up a lot more! They all seem to know more English then we once thought and they are talking to us more frequently which is awesome! I look at each one of their faces and my heart is full. I feel complete and I look like them and I love them. I am in love with all of these children and I haven't known them for longer than a few days. They all are so unique and loving and they are satisfied with so little. They take joy in the small things and I feel honored to be in their presence.

This whole experience so far has been challenging and easy, painful and enjoyable, heartbreaking, but every time I see a smile on any one of their faces I am full. God is incredible and is continuing to prove to me how much He is truly capable each and every day.

Tuesday July 27th-Posts by Griffin Hatlestad & Taylor Cody

2010-07-27T09:48:00.000-07:00

This morning we walked through Top Village and had the privilege of visiting all of the breathtakingly strong patients that Helping Hands cares for. We visited patients with conditions like diabetes, blindness, tuberculosis, and HIV. The experience was extremely heavy, and at times it was hard to see any hope in the conditions of these beautiful children of God. However, as our walk continued we saw how much power God had over even the most debilitating of diseases. We saw people with sightless eyes, failing lungs, and diabetes-ravaged limbs look at us and smile as we prayed over them. We made sure that they knew that we would be praying for them for months and years to come, and that brought them an undeniable joy even in the face of the most agonizing struggles.

Our God is so powerful. Here, where people live in tiny shacks with up to eight family members without adequate food or water and their bodies are failing them, the people only have one thing to cling to, and that is the God who promised never to leave them, regardless of where they are. The pure ecstasy of having such a pure and distraction-free relationship is enviable even in the face of their daunting situation.

After having left the home of the last patient that we got to meet and seeing that joy in spite of the tribulation that so many people on this continent face, we got to see some of the progress that was being made. Last year's mission team did some work on a mobile home in Molelwane village that is now being used as a computer lab in which Pastor Victor is teaching the native people how to become computer literate. Although it is very short on supplies (they have only four laptops) and in spite of the fact that Pastor Victor had never touched a computer until two years ago, the people are learning the skills that are necessary to further themselves in a job market that requires more and more technological skills, and that is remarkable.

Today we saw darkest part of life in the villages of South Africa, but that darkness was evidently and overwhelmingly defeated by the joy that the people of the village had from a faultless relationship with our disease-conquering God. God picked up these villages and in their situation and is undeniably working in them, no matter how much is standing up against Him. It was another life changing thing to see on another impactful day in South Africa, and we are looking forward to even more remarkable experiences.

Today was our second day of VBS with the kids of Molelwane Village. There is not a doubt in my mind that these children are a true gift from God. They are such good examples of how we should all be living our lives - with the faith of a child and an appreciation for the small things. Despite the language barriers that we are facing, it is amazing to me how easy it is for us to express and feel love with them. We are greeted each day with 20+ hugs and constantly find ourselves in tickle wars with the kids.

Shaye and Dane taught about the talents that God gives us, keeping with our theme of "I Am Special." Each of the kids drew a picture of themselves and their talents, and then presented it to the rest of the group. We certainly have a talented group! We have singers, traditional dancers, and netball players, to name a few. We concluded our time together by tossing around balloons with paddles made of paper plates and paint sticks and then sang some songs together. The kids have so much energy and love to sing and dance. It is hard for us to end our time with them, as the kids don't want to leave and we don't want to see them go.

After VBS ended, we got another chance to spend some time with the youth of the village. We started off our time together by playing a game that involved dancing (Tim's moves are especially impressive!) and made us all feel more comfortable with each other. We got a chance to learn a song in Setswana and then proceeded to a time of Q&A. This time has been fascinating for our group as we are getting a chance to hear about what it is like to live in South Africa. We have been learning about the type of food that they eat, what they like to do in their spare time, and even how they celebrate birthdays. It is interesting to hear about the differences between Mafikeng and Phoenix, but it is even more interesting to hear about the similarities. Despite having traveled for 48 hours to get here, with an unexpected detour in Paris, the world has never seemed so small to me.

We are all experiencing God in unique ways here, but collectively feel like we are seeing the image of God in the people we meet. Getting a chance to play with the young kids and break bread with the older youth of the village has left us all humbled by this experience and grateful for God's love.

Monday July 26th-posts by Paige Cravens and Jake Goll

2010-07-26T09:57:00.000-07:00

Hey guys it's Paige! Ok well to start, these first few days have literally been indescribable. Even though our time here has just begun, this experience has already been life changing... its amazing how God can do things like this in our lives! we were all woken up by the shrieks of Abby after she discovered a huge spider in her coloring book at approximately 7:10 this morning. After that problem was solved, we all enjoyed a delicious breakfast consisting of mickey mouse pancakes and fruit- made by Shaye Cody:) Then we were fortunate enough to meet the incredible staff of the Helping Hands organization. We all introduced ourselves, and then went inside for tea, coffee, and cookies. It was so cool to talk to all of the diverse members of the crew and learn about the lives they lead here in South Africa. They are truly amazing people. They also sang happy birthday to Jake in Setswane which was really cool! Then Michelle talked to us about HIV and AIDS and the effect it is having on the people of South Africa. I think we all were blown away by the knowledge she shared with us, as well as the astounding facts that we were not aware of. After that we headed over to a pre-school in Top Village and got to play with all the kids and see what they are being taught in school. They might have been the cutest kids I have EVER seen. After about an hour or so of fun with them, we went back to the house for lunch that Michelle made for us: spicy tomato soup, salad, and sandwiches. Then it was time for VBS. Everyone was so excited to finally be meeting all the kids that we had been praying for for the past few months. When were arrived, they were a little bit hesitant but it didn't take long for them to warm up. It was my day along with Griffin to lead VBS and it went really well! We did a few crafts and played a game with them outside. Then it was time for my favorite part of the day.... the singing! I have never seen so much joy in kids that have so little. It amazes me how much faith and hope they have. I had so much fun jumping, singing and dancing around with them; I could have done it for hours. At the end of VBS, we all stood in a circle, holding hands, and all of the kids prayed in Setswane. It brought tears to my eyes and chills spread throughout my whole body. It was definitely a God moment. We had such a great morning/afternoon and I cant wait for the days to come:) Love you mom and dad! Now here's the birthday boy...... JAKE!

Hello everyone! So having a birthday in Africa was absolutely awesome because I got to have "happy birthday" sung to me in two different languages! It was truly a once in a lifetime opportunity. Thus far the trip has been quite a success and life-changing. All of our time with the people of Molelwane village and Helping Hands has been a unique experience as they are all extremely dedicated to what they do and have hearts that burn brightly with the love of God. It amazed me how the children were all so willing to share their belongings and get us involved in their games, and you could just tell how happy they were to have us there. Today after we finished the VBS lesson, we sang some of our favorite songs from back home, one of them being "Every Move I Make." Even though the children didn't have any idea of the lyrics, they got more into it than anyone I have ever seen before as they dramatically did the hand motions and went absolutely wild jumping around on the "Na-na-nanana" part. It is extraordinary to see how these kids get excited about the most simple things. In one of our discussions, we all came to a conclusion that if you have a less materialistic lifestyle, the more you enjoy the little things that happen, which is clearly true of the kids here. Later this evening, we had dinner with some of the teens/young adults of the village and got to exchange questions about each others' cultures. Drew and I spent a lot of the time getting to know this one guy, France, who told us all about how he came to God and his life experiences. When we mentioned music, he began a lengthy explanation of his love of it and how he feels that music can make anyone happy. He told us he that he wasn't much of a singer, but he loved to do it anyway because he was passionate about it and was inspired by God to do so. It is mind-blowing to know the background of these people, how they live in this extreme poverty, yet they are some of the happiest, most God-loving people I have ever met. I have had an incredible time so far and can't see what God has in store for the rest of our adventure! I love you and miss you Dad, Mom, Krista, and David! See you soon!

Sunday July 25th-Post by Dane Redifer

2010-07-25T12:44:00.000-07:00

Wow. Today was truly one of the most amazing, impactful, and wildest days of my life. This experience will be difficult to put into words, but hopefully God can express my emotions through me. This morning after breakfast (which was amazing by the way, thank you Tim) we went to Rhema New Life Church, Pastor Mike's old church, here in Mafikeng. We pulled up in the middle of their courtyard, and we were just stared at. As we got out of the combi, though, they all greeted us warmly and kindly. One woman was especially compassionate. She shook all of our hands and greeted us. She said, "Jesus lives here. He just visits everywhere else." It was a funny thing to say, but in retrospect I believe she was quite possibly correct. The first worship song got the entire congregation swaying, singing, and stomping simultaneously. The way the Holy Spirit revealed His presence there was overwhelming. The only word that seems to fit everything about this morning is "beautiful." The sermon was combined with the Scripture, making for 45 minutes of blissful interaction with the Lord. His glory shined through every word spoken. Pastor Archie talked of the four T's necessary to move to the next level in our faith walk. Without Testing, Tribulations, Trials, and Temptations, we learned, we can't grow. Also, all of our struggles will only be our size, so we can always conquer them. Thank God for this message. The last part of the service was truly special. Pastor Archie had us get into groups of five and had us pray out loud for two minutes. Praying with complete strangers and good friends was insanely touching. That was the best use of 90 minutes you could ever spend.

Afterwards we had some downtime at the house. It was a calm afternoon involving journaling, sleep, and soccer, the latter of which ended in a broken window. We did clean it up and nobody was hurt. Then Mike and Michelle gave us an orientation on South African history. Much was taught about apartheid and South African government.

The evening was spent at Spur Steakhouse and a supermarket. At dinner, the most amazing birthday song was sung to Jake, who will be celebrating his 17th birthday tomorrow. When we returned home we did devotions and prayed. I feel that we have grown collectively as a group the past few days. I am excited not only for connecting more but also all of the other crazy experiences God has in store for us. Tomorrow is the first day of VBS. The few moments we spent in the village yesterday have us all completely energized for tomorrow. It will surely be an experience we shall never forgot.

It's 11 at night here, and I've been at this for about an hour because I accidentally erased the first draft of this. Thank you all for your love and prayers. God bless you all.

Love, Dane

We made it!

2010-07-24T10:23:00.001-07:00

We are finally here and we are getting settled in at the mission house! There is an aroma so good floating in from the kitchen that we are going to have to cut this one short so we can grab dinner! We had a great flight and then arrived in Mafeking about 5:00. Immediately, we went to Molelwane Village and made a whole bunch of new friends! What an amazing feeling to be with those incredible kids! Lots of showers waiting after dinner. It's 7:30 p.m. here. We will clean up and get ready for tomorrow. Church in the morning and then some time with Mike and Michelle and the board of Helping Hands in Africa. Catch you tomorrow!

Paris!

2010-07-24T10:18:00.000-07:00

Hello from Paris! By way of mechanical issues with one plane yesterday, we wound up getting to have a day in Paris acting like tourists and having a great time together! We flew to Salt Lake City then flew all night long here. We arrived around 10:30 this morning and are in the airport now, 9:55 p.m., waiting to get on an enormous plane called an Airbus A380. It’s a double decker! We can’t wait to get to South Africa. It feels like we have been traveling forever, but everyone has had a great perspective, thanking God for the cool little things that have happened throughout all of this adventure, from business class upgrades for a few, to the lady who rescued us from a flight plan that would have delayed us two days, to time with each other in one of the greatest cities in the World. Tomorrow we get to be in the reality of being with our friends at Helping Hands in Africa in Mafeking. We cannot wait to see what God will do, how he will move, and most of all, we cannot wait to see him in the lives of the beautiful and amazing kids in Molelwane Village. Thanks for the prayers and love, we will have one of the team members post something tomorrow!

Worship Songs

2010-06-26T23:02:00.000-07:00

We have had several requests regarding the artists that sing the songs we use for worship on the summer trip...so without further adieu...here are the songs and the artist linked to iTunes. Keep in mind that in some cases we do the songs a bit differently than the artist on the linked recording, but the recording that is linked is the closest version to what we do.

Also... check back soon as we will be linking a photo site with photos from the trip.

If there are any songs that have been left off the list, feel free to comment and we will work on updating it. Hope this is helpful!

Graduates

2010-06-25T16:46:00.000-07:00

Thursday night we all had the privilege of praying a blessing over the graduates during worship. It is awesome to think of the amazing things these kids will do as they move on to the next chapter of their lives. What more appropriate than to let them blog this morning!? They each will try their best to use words to explain what the summer trip means to them and how it has changed their lives.

Chris Heine
Summer trip, in my mind, is the greatest thing that has ever happened to me. Over the past four years and the past five trips I've gained so many memories and so many lifetime friendships that i will never forget. So many people have changed my life from this church including God Himself. I'm sooo thankful and privileged to call La Casa my church, and I will be grateful for the rest of my life!!!

Cody Szymanski
These past 5 summers trips have been a life changing experience for me. I have learned so much from all of the people at this amazing church and cannot describe how awesome it has been. The memories that have been made will stay with me for the rest of my life. I just want to thank all of the people that make this trip possible because it truly is the best thing that any high school kid can take part in. The thought that I will never go on a summer trip again is very somber but I will remember the things that I have learned forever.

Emily Potter
I can't believe that it has finally come to an end. It truly is a bitter-sweet experience. I remember being a little freshman looking up at the graduates and being so excited to be as old as them one day. Now that I am a graduate I want to be a freshman again! La Casa will always be my church home. I can't explain the bonds that you create on summer trip. We see each other at our best and our worst. La Casa is a lot of the reason why I believe what i believe and has helped me live my life for Jesus. Thursday night was so hard but so refreshing. When we got up and kneeled to be prayed over, i got this overwhelming feeling of love. It was amazing hearing all the students singing behind us. Although i am leaving i know that these Christ centered friendships will last forever. Summer trip can never be described in words. It's something you have to experience. I'm going to miss this community but I'm trusting that God has great things in store for all us graduates. Thank you for everything La Casa.

Griffin Hatlestad
Last night my time at La Casa essentially ended last night. As I was singing with all the friends and family that I have in this beautiful group that we have, I realized how much God has given me through the ministry of Neil, Amy, Pastor Garman, and the rest of the leaders. It has been an enormous blessing to grow and develop over the years as they've taken me under their wings and molded me into the person I am today. Without their love and care, I don't know where I would be, and experiences like the ones we all encounter on these summer trips would be impossible. I will miss the leaders as much as I will miss all my friends and family as I'm in California for college. It's been a great 4 years in this high school youth group and it's sad to see my time come to a close, but at the same time I'm entering the stage in my life where God begins to work in me and send me out and do his work, and I look forward to that more than anything.

Chris Cole
I still can't believe it all ended last night. It's crazy to think about being on Summer Trip in San Francisco as a freshman, looking up to all the graduates, and now having the chance to see it through their eyes. Every year I imagined myself receiving the blessing from Neil, Amy and Pastor Garman, and it ended up coming far too quickly. My prayer is just that I did enough to make an impact on as many people as I can in this amazing youth group. I will always be thankful for this home and, even as I venture off to college next year, I'm confident I have been prepared to take God with me and lead others without any shame.

Dan Cocca
Well, what do you know. Here I am on the way home from my last summer trip. Really, it's scary how time works; my freshman and sophomore years I kept waiting to be a senior and be done with it, and now that I actually am it's going way too fast! Honestly though, I really think I've come a long way in the past 4 years, and a lot of it came from this group and just experiencing god in the unique way that they do on this trip. I can still remember being an immature little punk before I came into this, and now I have people telling me how strong and funny and awesome I am. Three years ago I never would have expected to hear those kinds of things and I really have god to thank for giving me the chance to change like that, and the great people here like Neil, Amy, pastor Garman, and everyone else for just being there for me and helping to fuel that change. I've got s lot of awesome memories from all my summer trips and I know they will all help me grow even more in my faith in life. Peace out guys, it's been a great ride!

Connor Jennings
I can't believe I have already been on five summer trips. It blows me away to think that I am already graduating and on my final trip. I remember going into freshman year I didn't know what to expect on my first summer trip so I honestly wasn't excited to go at all. After all these trips and awesome experiences I have realized how truly amazing summer trip is. I became close to some of my best friends, the leaders, and even my girlfriend through it all. Besides Six Flags my favorite part was worshiping the Lord every night and growing closer to him through the songs we sang, my prayers, and through Neil, Amy, and Pastor Garman and their talks with us. But for real I had the deepest man talks with my brother and friends on those worship nights because we were all so full of the Holy Spirit. I had some of the most amazing life experiences on those nights. I'm definitely going to miss it all but I'm so grateful that I have been able to experience a trip like this with such genuine people and friends throughout these past five years.

There are grads that have yet to contribute to this blog. As soon as I receive their portion of the post. I will update the post.

Chris Cole - Graduate from Horizon

2010-06-24T07:22:00.001-07:00

Dear parental units,

I guess a nice way to start off would be by saying that you are all missed, along with our own beds. So I hope that's comforting!

Wednesday began for me with the knowledge of what to expect throughout the day. Most days have been like this and Thursday will, unfortunately, be the same way, but for different reasons. This day was to be a celebration and it started off just as that.

Friendsday Wednesday was announced at breakfast and we all had to grab someone we didn't know to eat with. It was actually a pleasant surprise when I had trouble finding someone I hadn't talked to on this trip, but I found Matt!

After that we moved on to our work groups and my group (Cole's group) went to Muir Beach with a couple other groups. We met a National Park Service guy named Flash who looked just like Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll, and Griffin Hatlestad and I danced around joyfully when we heard of USA's victory over Algeria and Group C. My need to always talk about sports is kicking in, I apologize. We picked up trash on the beach for about an hour and one of the rangers had us sit down along the beach and just listen to the waves for ten minutes, which was really cool.

There wasn't much left to do, so we headed back to the church for a delicious and, surprisingly, new lunch of bread bowls and soup. We showered at the nicest showers we've ever had and somehow without even trying I got first showers for the fourth time in a row. We walked down the famous Lombard St. and Cole had me take the video camera used for the Summer Trip video as I walked, which was sick. After that we were set free in Chinatown for an hour and a half and all I purchased was ice cream, which has become a daily ritual.

The amazing night started with hearing that we would be having steak and cheesy potatoes for dinner. I had thirds. Enough said. Aisea, one of the coolest guys ever, was spotted at dinner and I couldn't help but greet him in anticipation of the beautiful music and worship that was to come. He began with the favorite "Webare Yesu," which means "thank you Jesus" in some foreign language and everybody got into it by dancing, unashamed. It was incredible and really got me into the mood to worship completely. The night continued in that mood and Neil spoke about the wonders and miracles of changing in Jesus.

This has been the most emotional trip I have been on, in terms of how many people have been crying every night, and the streak remained unblemished on this night as many students gave themselves to Jesus and broke down in tears. I stayed in the sanctuary until the end as everyone prayed with Neil, Amy, Pastor Garman, leaders and other students. I had a hard time keeping it all in, but I did it and I know I won't be able to say the same thing about tomorrow night. All the work that I've put into loving the younger students will be reflected upon myself and I can't wait. I just don't want it to be over. I'm not ready yet...

Sincerely,
Christopher Jon Cole

Mckenna Thomas - Sophomore @ Chaparal

2010-06-23T16:08:00.001-07:00

My group helped clean up the beaches today, it has been the most rewarding service project so far. Our park ranger was very active with helping us and teaching us what an impact the humans make in the ocean and with the marine life. We ended up cleaning the beach faster then the ranger expected so he had and spread out in the sand and just listen. With no other distractions I was able to hear sounds that I normally don't pay enough attention to hear. This trip really puts life in perspective and I am having so much fun. We are one giant family and I am excited for the rest of the trip!

~McKenna

Corey Harper - Freshman @ Cactus Shadows

2010-06-22T23:13:00.001-07:00

Today was a great day here in San Francisco. It was exceptionally cold, or maybe thats just because I don't like to wear anything more than shorts and a t-shirt, crazy I know but its just how I roll. after an amazing wake-up song by Pastor we got right into our day. For me today I was privileged enough to do something different today instead of the usual weed pulling that the rest of my small group members did. I got to go next door and fix up a house, my specialty was painting and vacuuming other jobs we did were scraping, polishing floors, and more painting.

Later on I got to ride my first cable car which was very exciting, I almost got blown off from the intense San Fran wind but I survived. We made our way to the shops and I treated myself with a Vanilla Bean Starbucks frappachino. I also enjoyed looking around at the different shops, trying not to spend my money on random little trinkets and souvenirs. I left the shops freezing my butt off in the wind. We arrived back to the church just as the fog rolled. I enjoyed my third day here in San Francisco.

Well I'm off to bed got another day of painting and scraping and vacuuming!

Corey Hunter Harper

Emily Potter - Graduate from Horizon High School

2010-06-22T14:52:00.001-07:00

Dear Diary,

It has been crazy but an extremely fun trip so far. We have beat the guys three days in a row at finishing showers first. After we finished showers yesterday, we headed to the Golden Gate Bridge. When we got there, we hopped out of the vans and walked in a giant mass across the bridge. It was cold and windy as we walked across but totally worth the view.

After we finished walking across the bridge, we attempted to take a picture with all of the kids on the trip and that was quite a task. Then we headed to Sausalito and walked around the shops and hung out for an hour or so. We were all tired from the work project so we were ready to go back "home" aka the church. There was an amazing dinner waiting there for us, pork chops and yummy rice. After we all stuffed our faces we had small groups. I love my small group. We are really opening up to each other and the freshmen are starting to say more than two words!

Worship is always indescribable when you sing with 160 high schoolers. I believe that when we worship we are not only drawing closer to god but to each other. This has been an emotional trip and i love how everyone is vulnerable to the holy spirit. Every night god has taught me something and i am so excited to share it with everyone back home. Keep praying for us because it's working! Stay tuned for more! i love you mommy!

We are up and running again

2010-06-21T23:37:00.001-07:00

So we are running again here with the blog. Two updates have been posted below. Keegan was kind enough to rewrite his blog and Emily will just blog tomorrow instead of rewriting. Keep checking back here, we should have a new blog post updated midday tomorrow!

-brian

Jessica Haenel (Freshman - Desert Mountain) & Kevyn Gessner (Freshman a Horizon)

2010-06-21T23:31:00.001-07:00

After dessert Sunday night, we got ready for bed and went to sleep. The next morning we woke up at 6 and did devotions. For breakfast we had yummy eggs and fruit. We then hopped into the vans and went off to do our service projects. We had fun at Alcatraz and pulling weeds. After we did service projects, we came back to the church and ate grilled cheese for lunch. We then went to take showers at Sacred Heart Prep...5 minute showers are pretty tough with 2 to a shower. Hoping to have a great time walking across the Golden Gate Bridge this afternoon. Bye for now :)

Keegan Jennings - Junior @ Horizon (Sunday 6/20)

2010-06-21T23:30:00.001-07:00

"Oh what a beautiful morning, oh what a wonderful day," starts of the day, sung by the main man himself, Pastor Garman. As usual, I am the last person out of my bed. It take me about twenty minutes to get at least half-way awake.

After we woke up, we ate delicious breakfast burritos. They were basically an 8 out 10. When we all finished breakfast, we had to gather all of our shower stuff. We headed to a little college to shower. Now I know the Lakers just won the NBA Championship (even though i wanted the Celtics), but for the La Casa youth ministry, basketball wasn't over. It so happens that where we waited to take showers, there was a high school basketball summer league game just starting. So we all got to watch a pretty good basketball game. But in the showers, there were little temperature gauges. According to Cole Derosier "my shower was going 107 m.p.h.!". Then we headed back to the church.

Time for church. It was convenient for us, especially with the horrid San Francisco traffic, that we are staying at the church, Zion Lutheran Church, that we went to for service. I thought it was a good service, and what made it even better was trying to harmonize with Kelsen Edwins. And for lunch, we walked down to the basement level and there it was, just waiting for us.
Now it was time to head to the fairly infamous Telegraph Ave. (kind of like our own Mill Ave.) except Telegraph is a lot more crazy, full of psychedelic free-spirits. Very interesting place, but it ended up being fun. For dinner, we had some good lasagna and garlic bread. and right after that, we met with our small groups, and went over our devotions we did in the morning. But the best part of the day was yet to come. It was time to go to the sanctuary and worship, and hear Amy Anderson tell us about her life changing moment.

We started off by singing some songs of worship. Now it was time for Amy to do her sermon. It was a very good sermon, and really grabbed lots of kids hearts. But for me, it was when we sang "Now That You're Near", after Neil's prayer. For one of the few times in my life, probably the third, i actually felt God overwhelm my heart. I mainly just got chills, but i could truly feel that he was there. We ended the day with apple crisp, and then it was off to bed. -Keegan Richard Jennings I-

P.S. Happy Father's day everyone!! I love you Dad!

Blog difficulties

2010-06-20T23:21:00.001-07:00

Well, we had two blogs written today. They were going to both be posted by now, but we ran into some difficulties. They were lost somewhere between the blogging app and being posted and it seems that they are not going to return. I will have the two kids that wrote blogs today, attempt to rewrite them, as well as have two more kids write tomorrow. Sorry for the lag in blogs to read. Hopefully we can avoid this problem for the rest of the week.

Nighty Night!

brian

Conner Treude - Senior @ Horizon High School

2010-06-19T12:59:00.001-07:00

After settling in or rooms we all came down for a super special awesome session of worship, where we learned the theme of entire trip, that focuses on how everything changes, and our ultimate goal is come back home as changed and touched people in the eyes of God, which is cool. As well as learning the theme, we also earned the theme song which is titled "Everything Is Different". What jolly fun!

We tasted the college life for one night last night. Sleeping in CLU's newest dorms was, and will probably remain as, the nicest sleeping quarters that anyone will ever have on any summer trip ever. And ever. Complete with showers, toilets, and sinks where hot water comes out of hot and cold water comes out of cold, we were literally almost tricked into believing that we had passed on into Heaven. It was a total blast having a room to yourself and small group of your besets pal, especially if a leader wasn't assigned to your room, like mine. Our room held a most epic game of Marco Polo with all the lights out, leaving us with a plethora of good feelings.

We got up this morning and snacked on some donuts and chugged down milk and chatted with our good friends in the lovely 70 degree weather. It is safe to say that Arizona's weather is not missed in the slightest.

As a personal commentary from the awesomeness that is myself, Conner Treude, I have to say that it is pretty cool to see my little brother Brett experience his first summer trip with all of his little freshman kiddy friends. I feel especially super special awesome about my current state of being, because I am typing all of this on a wireless keyboard on an iPad. Yeah!

Well, it's time to get back to the rest of the gang, so I will leave you all with saying that fun are sure to come, considering we're all already having a blast. Mama Treude, if you're reading this, please don't try too hard in looking for typos and grammatical errors.

Stay classy you sexy people,
Conner Treude

Location:S Campus Dr,Thousand Oaks,United States

Friday Night!

2010-06-18T22:07:00.001-07:00

We arrived safe and sound at California Lutheran University. A couple of times a day, students will be blogging about what we are up to. Check back to see what we have to say! Without wasting any more time...here is our blog for this evening!

Maria Petersen - Senior @ Pinnacle High School

From waking up before my alarm this morning, this day has been so incredibly exciting. When we all arrived at the church bright and early this morning I could feel the nervous vibe lingering around everyone. My first van ride i was fortunate enough to receive shot gun, and the driver was Pastor Jeff. First of all, from all the talk on the different types of potatoes, Pastor singing along to "Get Low", and all the Disney classics, the van ride was definitely interesting.

The first stop was in Arizona and thats when the true feeling of Summer trip hit me- long lines in the ladies restrooms, Pastor decided how we will be grouped in our next van ride, and the way he decided was completely unfair, it was tallest to shortest which sucks completely when you're a six foot tall Senior girl and your ENTIRE van consisted of the male species. After that van ride was over we stopped for lunch at a different rest stop, and had awesome sandwiches.After lunch, we got into our vans and I was actually surprised to see how everyone is coming out of their shell and really bonding with everyone here. During our last van ride we experienced typical L.A traffic, and I was disgusted to see how many Lakers fans were on the road.

When we finally arrived at California Lutheran University, we took a tour around the gorgeous campus, had dinner, worshiped,and got our small groups. Oh and let me tell you, the dorms or as Pastor Garman calls it the "residence halls" because we literally are staying in the NICEST dorms ever. It looks like it could be in the apartment of Carrie from "Sex and the City." Now, as I finish my blog and go to bed I am super excited for what is in store for tomorrow! God Bless!

Hei Mamma og Far- de er veldig goy og jeg har de support fint.Jeg elskar deg beg to og ha de goy paa dears tur. (that is in Norwegian incase you guys were wondering) :)

Location:California Lutheran University

aaaaand we're off!

2010-06-18T08:41:00.001-07:00

We are stopped for our first rest stop and van switch!

We were having some technical difficulties with twitter and had to start a new account. Follow us on twitter at this location for the rest of the trip:

www.twitter.com/lacasa490

We will get a blog from a student up soon!

Location:Tonopah,United States

San Francisco Baby!

2010-06-16T17:42:00.000-07:00

We are excited for this trip! We hope that you are just excited to here how it goes! Pray for the leaders and the students that we would remain safe and all would go according to plan. Pray for the kids, that their hearts would be open to what God will do in them this week, and that we all will return home next week changed.

Check the blog frequently! We will be updating it as we go through the week...

We will also be updating the twitter page:

http://twitter.com/lcdc490

save the blog in your RSS reader as:

http://lcdcyouthministry.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss

newsworthy!

2009-07-07T09:21:00.000-07:00

Hey guys! Check out these links for some news stories on our work building houses in Reedley.

Fresno Bee news article

Fresno ABC affiliate's news video

summer trip pictures

2009-06-30T09:19:00.000-07:00

to see all of the AMAZING pictures taken during the week, go here:

http://hatter.smugmug.com/

and when you see Tim Hatlestad next, make sure to thank him for running around with a camera all week and capturing those beautiful moments so we can relive them now that we're home!

friday morning... where has the time gone?!

2009-06-26T15:41:00.000-07:00

Blog readers,
It's me, Amy! First of all, we are so sorry for not keeping you more up to date! We have definitely been missing the Leutwylers, who kept tabs of the blog for us last year! However-- we literally have had no time to grab kids and sit down and let them write! We have been so busy with so many GREAT things.

On Wednesday, the kids headed out to work as usual, came back for lunch, showered, and then we all headed over to a place called Adventure Park-- which is similar to Crackerjax. They had SO much fun running around and playing mini golf, bumper boats, laser tag, and go carts. And I think they probably almost ran out of tickets in the video games! It is really fun for Neil and I to watch the kids just run around and play together. They have so much joy and it is definitely contagious. Wednesday evening, we headed over to a different church to worship together. Our friend Aisea came to lead us in some awesome songs, and Neil talked to the kids about letting go of the past and asking for God's forgiveness in their lives. At the end of the evening, the kids had the opportunity for Neil, Pastor Garman, and I -- or any of the other leaders -- to pray for them. Let me tell you-- I wish you had been in that Sanctuary with us! Talk about a powerful experience!! Ask your kids about it when they get home!

Thursday morning, Neil and I, as well as Pastor Garman and the kitchen crew, were able to head out to the worksites to see the finished work the kids had done. Wait until you see the pictures! It was INCREDIBLE to see what had been built on the cement slabs that started the week. Our kids are hard workers! We were also blessed by Self Help, the organization we were working with, as they provided lunch for us and some of of the families who will be living in the houses when they're finished. After a great morning, we let them run around and shop at the outlet mall for a couple of hours. We ended up back at the church for the blessing of our graduates. It was inspiring to see just how affected all of the younger students have been by our amazing class of graduates this year. I'd write more about how much we love them and we'll miss them-- but I don't want to start crying again!

This morning we woke up, showered, cleaned up the campus we have been staying at, and gathered the kids in the youth worship center for our big surprise announcement. We always have a surprise on the trip, and this year was no different... except that I don't think that this kind of a surprise has ever been announced on summer trip before.

Well? Do you want to know what it is??

The big surprise was that-- Brian and I are going to be parents for the first time in January! We are SO excited and we absolutely could not wait to share it with the kids! Their reaction was priceless, and they immediately surrounded us with their love and prayers. What a great morning!!

Now we're at Magic Mountain, and the kids are all over the place, riding rides together and building their friendships even stronger than before. I can hardly believe that tomorrow is Saturday and we'll be home. We have missed all of you, but we have had a GREAT time!

If you have a child on the trip, please make sure to ask them about their devotions, their worship time, and how they grew in their relationship with God. We would love it if awesome conversations came out of this trip in your families! We love you-- thank you for all your prayers and support! See you tomorrow afternoon!

grace,
amy anderson

tuesday evening

2009-06-23T17:49:00.000-07:00

Dear people of La Casa,

The summer trip so far has been an amazing experience! As a freshman, everything is all new to me but still it is so awesome. Like our work projects, when we got there the first day all they had was cement and a couple of 2 x 4s, but as I was walking back to the van today, I looked at all the lots and they all had about six or seven walls up! In two days you could already see the form of a house! It's amazing to watch all the houses grow. Today I walked up to the owner of the house I was working and introduced myself and they all are SO grateful that we are there to help! I'm so excited for the rest of the week!

Jordan Powell (freshmen)

tuesday afternoon

2009-06-23T17:10:00.000-07:00

Today has been an amazing day to say the least. It started out with one of my favorite things, devotions. We were given a booklet that we write in each morning that have questions dealing with what Neil has been speaking about each night, which is the book of Nehemiah. It's one of my favorite parts of the day because we get the opportunity to spend time by ourselves with God praying, answering questions, and writing about whatever we feel. Not only is it amazing because we are with God alone, but also because we get to go wherever we want on campus and take in the beauty of Visalia. After devotions, we headed off to our work projects where I had an awesome experience working with my small group to put up 3 more walls of our home. It was incredible. Once we left and took showers, we went bowling! It was possibly one of the most hilarious times I've had here -- especially witnessing Pastor Ruby dancing to "Fergalicious" by Fergie. Hopefully a video will be posted of it because I was lucky enough to catch it on my camera. All in all the day has been a blast and I can't wait for tonight when we get to worship. We had such an amazing worship time last night where Neil spoke to us about never giving up on our dreams, just like Nehemiah stayed true to building his wall in Nehemiah 4. I can't wait to see what God has in store for us for the rest of the week and hopefully my video will make it up here because we love Pastor Ruby dancing!!

Love, Jessey Cooper (graduate)

our trip so far... in pictures!

2009-06-22T18:50:00.000-07:00

monday afternoon

2009-06-22T17:03:00.000-07:00

Last night and today have been a blast! After the river we had our small groups and dessert. In the morning we woke up at an obnoxiously ridiculous and early time, by Pastor Garman yelling and banging pots and pans! We tried to fall back asleep but the fire alarm decided to go off. It was nothing like the fire alarms in Arizona, it talked to us! No worries -- it only was our food burning (everyone is okay!), not Pastor trying to annoy us. :) Work projects are a lot of work, definitely worth the time and effort though. May we say, my (Kaitlyn's) group was the first to put up a wall!! This is by far the best work project we have had because we can watch people benefit from our hard work and we get to meet some amazing people. After work projects we finally got to shower from being in the river! It was wonderful even though the shower heads are very short, I (Alaina) hated it, and I (Kaitlyn) loved it! Straight from showers we went roller skating and a LOT of people fell, it's much more difficult than actual roller blading. Now we are having free time and can't wait for what is to come later tonight!!!!!! :D
Love,
Kaitlyn Propp! (junior) (I love you Becca :))
Alaina Belzner! (senior) (I love you Lorren!)

sunday evening

2009-06-21T19:49:00.000-07:00

Dear Parents, friends, and other stalkers reading this,

First off we would like to say, HAPPY FATHERS DAY TO ALL YOU DADS READING THIS!

Specifically, Matthew Cody and Nicholas Zagami! Today, we ventured into a world unknown aka the tiniest showers known to man kind. I kid you not, elves would not have fit under them..

Anyways, after our showers, we headed to Christ Lutheran Church and had a new experience watching a church service on a video screen... finally catching up to today's technology. We know, it's very high tech.

Soon after, we took somewhere around an hour long road trip to Sequoia National River Park or something like that. Many of us enjoyed hot dogs for lunch (Lizzy: 4.5 hot dogs), while many enjoyed PB and J (Shaye). After indulging ourselves in a lovely meal, we took a leisurely walk down the road to Antarctica, otherwise known as Kaweah Wivah (river). To say the least, the river water was close to freezing point. We spent the afternoon tanning and swimming and getting to know some new kids! After eating dinner at the river, we drove home to find out more about our work project.

Now Lizzy and Shaye are sitting here writing this blog post for your enjoyment.

Hope you enjoyed and we'll see you in a week. Happy Father's Day! We love and miss you all :)

Love,

Lizzy Zagami (senior) and Shaye Cody (junior)

sunday afternoon

2009-06-21T19:28:00.000-07:00

Dear blog,

Yesterday we embarked on a 12 hour journey to Visalia! On that journey, we met new people and slept. When we arrived at Visalia, we unloaded our stuff, ate Pastor Garman's delicious burritos, and played an awesome game of ultimate frisbee. We then sang songs to Jesus and worshipped, had ice cream then went to bed. None of us got too good of a nights sleep thanks to the snoring of a certain pastor whose name shall remain confidential. We woke up to the glorious sound of Pastor Garman's singing, ate breakfast and got on the vans for a trip to Sequoia National Park for a fun filled day of eating hot dogs, swimming in a ice cold river, eating cheese burgers and chillin. We are all psyched for building houses tomorrow. HAPPY FATHERS DAY!!!

sincerely,

Ryan Usher (sophomore)