United Student Ministries

Team Jamaica Day #7

2009-06-24T00:53:00.001-05:00

Our day off has finally arrived. The students have worked very hard and endured humid temperatures; they were ready for Dunn’s River Falls. Although it was a day off everyone had to get up earlier then they had all week. Mr. McIntyre was schedule to arrive at 7:30am and so breakfast was served at 7:00am. The eggs and the bread looked fairly normal; however, the round fried meat looked suspiciously like bologna. At least, that was our best guess.

On our way to the falls we picked up Rajive and Heather. Also on the bus were Mrs. Gallimore, her sister and nephew -- Ricardo. We headed out for our two hour drive. The first twenty minutes was on a fairly smooth highway. The last hour and a half was like the App-Gap…through the jungle. The road was narrow and had tons of switch backs along steep embankments; this scared me more than 100 Lane yesterday. By the time we arrived nearly half a dozen students and leaders felt like vomiting. The nauseous feelings soon passed when we reached the falls.

Instead of trying to describe this experience, check out http://www.dunnsriverfallsja.com/
Now that you have seen the pictures you can probably imagine how much fun we had! I can also report that there were no injuries. Ally Wetmore, if you are reading this I made sure to show the team where I saved your life. We were able to ascend the falls twice in two hours and had plenty of time to explore different routes. A small group of us were able to climb one of the more challenging sections. Props go to Shannon, Carolyn, Nancy, Adam, Meyer, Isaac and Matt. Although I have been to falls twice before this trip, I don’t remember ever seeing such large spiders. For one group photo, I had everyone stand on the river bank; Emily bumped a web and revealed a two inch black and yellow spider. That group photo ended quickly.

By 1pm we were all ready to head to lunch. I was told Island Grill was a good Jamaican restaurant to bring the students to. We drove to downtown Ocho Rios and enjoyed some jerk chicken-- and probably the best tasting French fries we’ve ever had. The plan was to bring the students snorkeling at Turtle Beach. When I inquired about the rental costs, “Jamaica Joe” met me and offered to take the students out to the reef on his glass bottom boat. It would cost $20/person for the boat, $10/person for snorkeling gear and $3/person for beach access. I said that was too much and asked him if he would take $20/person for everything. “Because you are a mission group, I can do that”. That works out to about $27,000 (Jamaican). I went back to the bus to ask the students whether they wanted to take the deal. “Yes” was the answer. Our Jamaican passengers said that was too much money. They suggested that I offer him $18,000 and to bring the group with me. I went back to Joe with $14,000. He did not like that number. Just then, thunder clapped overhead. As if rehearsed, two students said “I’m not sure if I want to get in the water”. I responded loud enough for the group and Joe to hear me, “Oh, would you rather not go?” Jamaica Joe felt the sale slipping…”Ok, I’ll take $14,000.” (That’s about $11 US)
For most of the group this was their first time snorkeling, let alone in the Caribbean. Although there were occasional sprinkles the conditions were very nice. The students had a full hour to explore the coral reef, colorful fish and sea urchins. Personally, I love to see students experiencing things like this for the first time. Their excitement is fun to watch. I mention sea urchins because Kerry found one with the inside of her right arm. The two puncture wounds are not dangerous but did need to be cleaned out. Beyond that incident, the whole afternoon was a success.

We arrived back at the hotel at around 7:30pm. A dinner of spaghetti and meatballs was waiting for us. We had a quick team meeting and then split guys and girls for devotions. Matt prepared a message for the boys and Carolyn spoke to the girls. I think the students appreciated a break from me tonight. The only other mention for the night would be “Ho down, throw down”. You will have to ask Nancy for more details on that.

Team Jamaica Day #6

2009-06-23T00:11:00.002-05:00

I hope you’ve enjoyed hearing from the students the last few days. I’m sure it was nice to get things from their perspective. Well, today, I decided to write. It is probably best you hear it from me.

(Warning: mature content to follow)

Recently there has been some political unrest in Kingston. It largely stems from two groups; one which had been in power for 17 years and the second which just came to power. I do not remember the names of the two, but I know one is represented by the color green; the other by the color orange. At times, tempers have flared and people have resorted to violence. Communities have been ripped apart. One community in particular has earned a reputation for unrest.

The basic (elementary) school in the 100 Lane community was shut down 18 months ago due to these problems. The one room school house laid empty; its bathroom and kitchen area becoming targets of vandalism. Weeds filled the playground and trash was everywhere. The property, which only measures 100 x 200 ft, is flanked by two streets. Each street marks the line for each political party. The school lies in what you might call the neutral zone.

Can you guess where today’s post is going? The Jamaica Baptist Union wants to open the school again and saw the arrival of our group as a good time to launch the initiative. Mr. McIntyre pulled onto the property and dropped us off. We were met by Mrs. Galimore, Mr. Wood and several community members. Also greeting us were 6 or 7 men who were also from the community, but seemed to keep to themselves outside the school. I introduced myself to the group of men and learned that they are all fathers....and that they all feel quite comfortable smoking pot in broad daylight. The students unloaded and walked into the small building. I covered several ground rules for the project. Namely: Don’t draw attention to yourself, just work diligently.

Task #1 consisted of scraping, sanding and washing the inside of the school. It was hard to imagine that these filthy walls would ever host children. The paint had not arrived yet, so all the students started in on this task. Other than Mrs. Galimore, most of the people stayed outside while we worked. The group of fathers started painting a new basketball backboard.

Task #2: paint the walls. Once the paint and supplies all arrived, we were able to start. The delay was unfortunate, but we kept good attitudes. Matt and I used the two rollers...now we had to figure out how to keep 12 students busy with four brushes. Luckily, we had...

Task #3: Clean up outside. This was a four hour job. From trash, to branches and weeds...the task was a big one. Ben, Aliza, Carolyn and Jacob joined 2 or 3 of the men and started to get to work. Shovels, brooms, machete and a wheel barrow: everything you need to clean a playground. (the machete was used to trim trees)
Oh, I almost forgot to tell you. Shortly after we arrived, so did the police. Two officers were assigned to the school while we worked. It was like having Chief Gibbs at your job site...well, I guess it would be, if Chief Gibbs was wearing a bullet proof vest and had an M-16 slung over his shoulder.

Task #4: Paint the concrete wall that surrounds the property. We started this after the first coat was applied inside. Carolyn, Aliza and I started the job about 11am. In fear that we would run out of paint, I decided to cut it with water. That planned worked just fine; we had just enough and finished the job by 1:30pm.

I’m sure that some of you are wondering about the decision to work at 100 Lane. I assured parents that the safety of the group was my first concern. Trust me; it WAS my first concern today. I remembered the prayer the pastor offered yesterday in church. “Lord, put a hedge of protection around this team.” I knew the team was not a target in anyway, because the issues were between the political parties. The police were there to remind the locals: today is not a day to disagree; it is a day to work together to open the school again for their children.

Before we left this morning I shared the story of Nehemiah. I told the students how Nehemiah had to deal with people who wanted his project to fail. He was able to build and finish the wall by delegating the work to families all around the city. I told them that today’s work was about one brick. We do this one project and perhaps it will motivate others to do more. Nehemiah was building a wall; we were helping to take one down.

The students worked very hard. They worked side by side with Jamaicans. All day people walked by and inquired whether the school was opening again. They all thanked us. What a great experience; one we will never forget.

The day ended with a dip in the pool. No, not at 100 Lane. We drove to Beverly Hills. That is a very wealthy area and happens to be the community that a member of Bethel Baptist church lives in. The Harrison’s graciously offered us their pool for the afternoon. As Wayne said, “that was so nice!”

The evening ended with dinner and Aliza, Kerry, Emily, Shannon, and Sam getting their hair corn rowed. Isacc passed on the opportunity.

Team Jamaica Day #5

2009-06-21T22:54:00.004-05:00

(By Kerry Cyr)

When we went to breakfast we were all relived to have cereal. However, there is no dairy industry here so we had boxed milk, which thankfully tasted pretty much just like normal milk. We also had cinnamon dumplings and collared greens (the greens were gross).

After breakfast, those who were not ready for church got ready and the bus came to pick us up around 9:45 and took us to Mamby Park Baptist Church. Over the last day or so a few of us had prepared some things to share with the congregation there. When it came to our part of the service Todd introduced us and then Ben gave his testimony explaining how growing up in the church has affected his life. Then I gave my testimony (very similar to the one I gave at baccalaureate). Todd, Isaac, Meyer, Emily, Jacob, and Aliza had prepared a skit about prayer that followed the testimonies. The length of the service was about 2 .5 sweaty hours of sitting; much longer than most of us had ever experienced. When it was over we were served refreshments (fruit juice, chicken, rolls, and chocolate cake).

We returned to the hotel around 1:30 and ate lunch (a special father's day buffet). After lunch we had some down time. Some people took naps, some played games - dominoes and cards - and some just hung out. There was a thunder and lightning storm and it poured. When the rain stopped it was very humid.

At 5:30 we got back on the bus and headed to Bethel Baptist Church for a special children's drama night. The power there had gone out from the storm so none of the fans or lights were on. But when we all started singing the electricity thankfully came back on. The performances were so much fun to watch; there was singing, dancing, a dub poem (a mix between rapping, singing, and reciting), and a play called "Camp Can Do." There were two little girls (probably 4 years old) who sung a song together (SO CUTE!).

When it was over we once again returned to the hotel. Dinner was ready when we got there (chicken sandwiches). We had our group meeting during dinner and picked names from a hat for our journal write. We each wrote an encouraging letter to the person's whose name we picked.

Rook was a big hit tonight so most of us hung out in the conference room to play or watch before going to bed around midnight.

Team Jamaica Day #4

2009-06-20T22:24:00.011-05:00

(By Meyer Bilson and Isaac Prescott)

We awoke to Todd knocking on our doors telling us that breakfast was ready. We came to the dining room to a pleasant surprise, a more American breakfast of pancakes and bacon with the signature Jamaican touch of lots of vegetables. Before we left we had our usual meeting this time brainstorming ideas for games to play with the children. We gathered our things for the day, namely sunscreen and water, the only layer of defense our poor white bodies have against the unforgiving Jamaican climate.

we where met by Maurice Mackintyre the son of Archie Mackintyre who both have been doing an amazing job driving our bus, in the seemingly unorganized traffic of Kingston. Before we started our work at the Kingston gardens center, we again donned our tacky floral shirts and strapped on our cameras for yet another sightseeing trip. This time our tour took us to the University of the West Indies, and to U-tech. at UWI we enjoyed seeing a beautiful chapel on campus, basking in the glory of a breathtaking mural, taking goofy pictures, and seeing where Usain bolt, world record Olympic runner, trained. At U-tech, we saw where our bus driver Maurice worked and saw yet another example of a less impoverished side of Kingston.

Our next stop was a money exchange or a "Cambio" as it is called in Jamaica. We walked in and all exchanged our money without incident. Meyer gave them $92 and was given $8050 Jamaican dollars in return. That may sound like a very large sum but in Jamaica one dollar here is worth a little over a penny in America so although the prices may seem outrageous, they are actually great deals.

The next stop on our seemingly endless itinerary was the mall. We stopped there for lunch, which consisted for the most of us, of KFC, another disgustingly accurate taste of home. Some people also stopped for Ice Cream.

We pulled into Kingston gardens eager to see the backbreaking work we had done the previous day, in action. We walked into the building just before the children started to arrive. Once they had arrived we had a short session of singing which was partly hindered by the fact that we did not know many similar songs. The songs ranged from praising God, to just being goofy, which was a great icebreaker for the inner city children. Then Todd taught a lesson on David's selection for king. He made the point that "People look at the outside, God looks on the inside (the heart)"

We then split them into two groups according to age. The children with Carolyn’s group where from age 1 to 13, while the kids with Todd’s group where teenagers ages 15 to 16, all of which were girls. This proved initially awkward for Todd and his all male group leaders, but eventually they warmed up to each other.

Carolyn’s group met each other by finding each others shoes, which where thrown in a pile in the middle. The group really started interacting when I (Isaac) taught them how to make paper hats out of news paper. At the same time they were making a paper chain out of pieces of paper which they wrote things they are thankful for on. After they started to become restless we brought them outside to play games such as the multiple games that involved singing and moving, but also where educational at the same time. While doing this many of us where able to build relationships with the children that we hope will stay with them forever.

Meanwhile, Todd’s group was busy performing the skit "Jesus and Me" for the teenagers which was followed by a discussion. They also played some games to break the rather thick layer of ice between the Jamaican girls and the all male mission team members by playing “Honey, if you love me.” The time at Kingston Gardens ended with time to talk with the kids and learn some games that they taught us.

After leaving Kingston Gardens we went to the super market to buy various Jamaican goodies. People bought things ranging from mangos to boxes of chocolate. This is the place were lots of people got the chance to get their first taste of Jamaican products.

Then we took another short sightseeing trip up the hills that we look at from our hotel. As we twisted around the switchback turns, Isaac thought out loud that we may be a little close to the curb; seconds later we bounced off said curb. Maurice pointed out various houses of entertainers and cricket players. The houses were in the price range of about 250 million JD or 1.5 million US. Once we got to the top of the hill we were able to get out and had a photo taken of the group looking out over the beautiful city of Kingston. When we arrived at the hotel everyone went to their rooms to quickly store their spoils from the super market. Our dinner was chicken and potatoes. Hmmm, chicken again.

After dinner we started having fun by putting a bottle in Emily’s puffy hair and making it stick up like a cone. Afterwards we had our group meeting in which we discussed many things about the day. We talked about how well behaved the children were and ways we could improve how we work with the children. We ended our day with games of Dominos and Rook. Some of us went to sleep at 12:00 while others went to bed at 2:00.

Team Jamaica Day #3

2009-06-19T22:21:00.002-05:00

(By Aliza Kamman and Emily Wood)

We started this morning with another eight o'clock breakfast, this time of cod fish and beans with dumplings. Our normal breakfast of cheerioes were distant memories. We then had another brief team meeting to plan and prepare for our upcoming day. After slopping on layers and layers of sunscreen we headed to the bus which arrived at nine.

Before landing at our final work destination, we took on the role of tourists and were shown around Emancipation Park by our bus driver Mr. McIntyre. The park was beautiful, filled with flowering trees and plants as well as a fountain, a statue (of which you can ask your team member later), and a 500 meter running track. After taking a bazillion pictures and visiting the park office for brochures, we were entertained by a running race put on for us by Ben, Carolyn, Issac, and Shannon. These four crazy souls braved the heat and humidity and raced along the track. Isaac was was the clear winnner, with Ben nipping at his heels. Carolyn was close behind and Shannon brought up the rear. After departing from the park we drove to see the statue in Kingston that honors Bob Marley. Our stop there was quick, as we were all restless from riding on the bus and eager to get working.

Upon our arrival at Kingston Gardens, we were greeted again by Mrs. Gallimore, and our new friend Heather. We were shown around the house of which the majority of the rooms had been turned into makeshift classrooms and health clinics. We were quickly put to work in two groups. Nancy and Matt led the outside group under the direction of Heather, which cleaned up the yard and planted new flowers and trees. They claimed that digging holes for the trees was like working with cement. As fast as you could pour water in it, it dried up and was once again rock solid. On the inside of the building Kerry, Ben, Carolyn, Aliza, Emily, Adam, Wyane and Conor scrubbed walls, windows, floors, and bathrooms under the direction of Todd and Mrs. Gallimore.

Finally lunch arrived and we all were able to take a much needed break. Juici Patties were brought in. The breaded tacoish lunch, which resembled a hot pocket in some ways, was quite popular among the team. While the chicken ones were preferred by some, others preferred the beef, which were said to be 'less spicy'. After lunch, we resumed our work until 2:30, when all the work that could be done was done. We then quickly gathered our belongings in hopes to get back to the Y to play games with some of the boys from yesterday. While Todd was whisked off by some JBU members to take care of some business, we all boarded the bus and were off.

Making our way to the pool we were provided with entertainment of sorts from Rajive and Heather, as well as a cricket game that was playing on the bus radio. When we reached the Y we were all disspointed to find that since it was Friday the boys had been dismissed early and were no longer there. They graciously let us use their pool anyway, and we all jumped in to "Cool our core temperatures down" as Matt told Adam while strongly suggesting to him that swimming was a good idea.

After a little cool down, we were all feeling much better. We headed back to the locker rooms to change hearing that Todd was "On his way back." After and hour of Ninja, Jehovah Can-Can, and the Froggy Clapping Game, we were reunited with Todd, and we were on our way to the supermarket. With american currency (that confused the cashiers quite throughly) in hand, we picked up snacks for the downtime after dinner, and some more of the much loved Kola Champange. Then it was back to the hotel for dinner. After a quick change of clothes and a very filling meal of chicken, beans and rice, and cucumbers we were back on the bus.

After arriving at the Bethel Baptist Church we gathered with Heather, Rajive, and many of their other friends for Youth Fellowhsip (youth group). Todd, Jake, Ben and Conor preformed the "Jesus and Me" skit. We were never aware that Jesus smiled so much! The Fellowship leaders asked for volunteers to help out, Wayne and a few others joined in the company of some 'regulars' to perform a few other skits on the topics of tithing, sexual purity, and challenges faced at work. They were very pleased to have us, and we loved the oppertunity to worship and praise with them them! After goodbye and many goodnights (a term they use as a greeting in Jamaica), we boarded the bus to head back for the hotel for the night.

Mr. McIntyre's son, Maurice, drove us home and taught us all we ever needed and wanted to know about computer software, as he is an expert in that field. After swapping stories of the day on the bus, we climbed out and gathered at the hotel for our evening meeting. We were assigned our journal writing prompt for the day, gave our props to one another, discussed what we could do better, and went over the plan (subject to change as always) for tomorrow morning. When we were dismissed we were reminded to stay quiet, as we now have neighbors in the rooms next door. Snacks from the supermarket were eaten and keys got locked in rooms. *cough Conor cough Meyer cough* After a tiring day we are all ready for bed (especially Todd).

Team Jamaica Day #2

2009-06-18T23:49:00.003-05:00

Good morning...it's 4:30am...5:30am...6:30am. Needless to say, I didn't sleep all that well. But I have to say how thankful I am for air conditioning. Most everyone was up at 7am. Breakfast (eggs, sausage and fried bananas) was served at 8am and we enjoyed morning devotions at 8:30am. (Philippians 2 and 4) We were on our way shortly after 9am.

Before I tell you about our day, let me describe the Springburn House. It is in a very quiet community. All the houses/buildings have gates and fencing around their properties. The Springburn is a large guest house. There is a welcome desk in the foyer; office space, dining rooms, kitchen and three guest rooms are on the first floor. The second floor has all the rest of the rooms and a fairly large open space with couches. The building, inside and outside walls are made of concrete (like every building here) and the floors are all tile. And the humidity has got to be close to 100%. The clothes and towels are having difficulties drying.

Our other driver, McKensi, picked us up and we were off to YMCA of Kingston. But before we got there he was kind enough to bring me to a DigiCel store so I could purchase a cell phone for the week and some water at the supermarket. Matt Brown could not pass up 4 liters of Cola Champagne. (A fruity cream-like soda) The phone will be helpful so I can contact our drivers and coordinators. And also, the students will be able to call home in limited fashion. If you have not heard from your son or daughter...don't worry. Either they didn't want to talk to you or they sold their 3 minute phone call to someone else, but they are fine. (just kidding about selling minutes)

The YMCA school serves boys ages 11 - 16. They are generally students who have dropped out of regular school, have had behavioral issues or learning disabilities. We arrived and were met by the General Secretary, Mrs. Martin. She gave the team a brief history of the association and what they currently try to do for the boys. She then introduced Marcie; she was our contact today. Marcie gave us a property tour, introduced us to 5 classes and their teachers and then told us to break into 5 groups. I said "Great, can we come alongside the boys as they do their classwork?" Marcie replied, "The teachers will turn their classes over to you...you have lessons, right?"

Ok...maybe the that bit of information was lost somewhere between Marci, Mrs. Martin, Ms. Gallimore, Ms. Redwood and myself. Hmmm, I DID tell the team they would need to be flexible...but how about incredibly resourceful and improv professionals. Action plan #1: Make sure the girls on the team are "escorted" by capable boys on the team. Needless to say Sam, Shannon, Kerry, Aliza, Carolyn, Emily and, yes, Nancy...were very popular today. Action plan #2 Do something "schoolish". Wow! Great action plans.

Can you imagine? First of all, one class was meeting outside under trees. They each had chairs and the teacher was writing on chaulkboard on wheels. Several classrooms were shipping containers. Complete with windows and side doors. Very resourceful school...but highy usual circumstances for our Mt. Abe students.

You'll have to ask your child, or favorite team member about their individual experiences. Personally, Kerry-Sam-Wayne and I had the class under the trees. We covered long multiplication, careers and me singing the "Star Spangled Banner". The others joined me for the Pledge of Allegiance, but I was on my own for the national anthem. It was no problem. What was very cool...the 20 or so boys then stood up and, in unison, sang the Jamaican national anthem.

At lunch, the team was buzzing about everyone's experiences. Tutoring, reading, answering questions...the students were very interested in learning about us. The whole time they referred to us as "Sir" and "Miss or Ma'am". Our team was struck by how even the "drop-outs" were respectful.

After lunch we returned to the class rooms...or class "tree grove". Wayne, Sam and I came back during "Life Styles" class. The topic: relationships, dating, sex. I gave Wayne the first 15 min of class to lecture on the above topics. haha. No, but I certainly did. The teacher gave me full reigns...and I took them. What a great opportunity. I think it was helpful for the boys (13-16) to hear these things from a man. I covered HIV, Abstinence, STD's...it helped that I subbed for Ann Pollender's class a few weeks ago. I moved to the topic of Sexual Purity...it was great to be able to have the boys turn to God's word and read about purity, integrity and God's plan for marriage/family. I got to talk with them about God's cleansing and healing; about forgiveness. OH MAN! I was thrilled to have this time. The boys tossed a lot of questions at me...they were participating. I trust that they will consider what it means to be a young man who honors God.

The classes all broke about 3pm. Then we all headed to the gym. The big draw was soccer. One boy told me (speaking of Emily) "She's a baller". Jake and I started a basketball game. It doesn't take much physical activity to sweat down here. So, the YMCA let us use their pool before we left. So nice!!!

Back to Springburn. It was chill out time. Some played cards, some read and some sat outside in the courtyard. Dinner was Curry chicken, beef/beans and rice. Good stuff. At 8pm we met for evening devotions and a team meeting. We affirmed team members, discussed the areas of success and challenged each other to improve in other areas. We read I Cor. 12 and spent time in our journals. By the time we ended, we had a bit more time to wind down, play games. build sick "card towers" and get ready for bed.

Team Jamaica Day #1

2009-06-18T23:30:00.004-05:00

The day started very well. The team was on time, parents we're present and Pastor Randy offered a prayer of blessing. Judy Brown and Matt Wood were our volunteer drivers and we headed to Boston. The day was sunny and the traffic was light. Departure: 8:45am

We arrived at Logan International about 1pm. With a quick unload, we were in line at American Airlines. After 45 minutes and no movement in the line, Nancy Luke made contact with a person of importance and we were whisked away to different counters. Praise God for Nancy! Even with the special service, we made it to the gate with no time to spare. The students probably learned the important lessons of arriving early and knowing who to talk to.

The flights were fine, even though the students were spread out over the plane's seating. That may have been a blessing in disguise, because given the color of our team shirts...and the message "Eyes for Eternity, Hope for Humanity"...the students were already able to share about our ministry.

We went through customs and immigration with only one problem. Meyer sneezed. Apparently when you sneeze in front of a Health Official, who happens to be on high alert for the swine flu, you get asked some very personal questions. He was able to convince them that he was merely dealing with hay fever.

We were met out side my our driver, Mr. McIntyre; our travel guide, Rajive; and a Jamaica Baptist Union representative. It was 9pm...I was very glad to see so many people who were ready to receive us. With the bus loaded, we departed for the Springburn House. The drive from the airport was about 45 min and it took us through some very depressed...poor; hmmm, some very scary places. The students were getting a good look at the area. I was glad it was from behind glass traveling at 30 mph.

At the Springburn House we were met by Ms. Redwood, my contact; and Ms. Gallimore, our itinerary coordinator. They briefly introduce themselves, met the team and went over our itinerary. After that meeting, dinner was served. Beef stew, mashed potatoes and vegtables. Yes, we're eating very balanced meals. After dinner, we went over room assignments and went to bed.

Fall Retreat

2008-10-26T21:52:00.003-05:00

Fact or fiction!

2008-10-20T00:24:00.003-05:00

While we got together on Sunday night, the Red Sox were losing the ALCS. Now you might think that, as a Yankee fan, I may be gloating about their loss. Well...maybe just a little, but I bring it up because...as big as baseball seems, there are many things in life that are more important. Stop and think about the things we've been talking about the last three weeks. What was God planning? What was His purpose for everything? What is His purpose for you?

See what I mean? Compared to the Red Sox or the Yankees...this stuff is pretty important. God created you in His image. He wants everything for you that He wanted for His first creation. He wants you to be a reflection of Himself. Yes you! At the center of you being that reflection is Jesus Christ.

Well, this Sunday wasn't a'' seriousness. We also played Fact or Fiction, did our best at naming the MLB teams trivia, spelled words with letters drawn on our feet and watched Ben spell with his backside. (long story)

Remember, the Senior High retreat is this coming weekend and USM will not be meeting on Sunday the 26th.

Phone a friend

2008-10-14T22:26:00.000-05:00

Pretty much the whole night we devoted to "Phone a Friend". The questions were unique and we had a nice cross section of life in our call list. Gilbert, Doris, and Sam. Jen was nice enough to bring a big plate of her most awesome chocolate chip cookies.

Our rewind took us back to looking at Adam. He named the animals but couldn't find any to meet the "woman" shape hole in his heart. God concluded that He needed to make the perfect match for Adam. I heard that when Adam woke up from his nap, he saw Eve and said "Whoa! Man!" The rest is history. The point is: God had a perfect plan for his creation. Man and woman were to live in harmony with each other, with nature and with God. So I ask, again, what happened?

Tom and Jerry

2008-10-07T21:23:00.000-05:00

I think it was the most painful attempt at giving directions I have ever made. Maybe I should think twice before I try to tell thirty students how to play Tom and Jerry. Okay, once it got going it was pretty funny. I'm not sure who came up with the game, but I have to hand it to them: good times.
We were treated to Lillian, Hazel, Victoria and Sawyer finding out "what are you doing?" It was probably a mistake to let them go three rounds. I can live with Victoria "flirting" with Austin, but not so much with the "dance".
We started to rewind life to the beginning. As in...Genesis. The question: What was God doing? So we looked at the record of creation and found that God created man in His own image. Meaning, mankind has a soul, a will, and free will. It also means that we desire relationships and can love selflessly. But mankind was not designed to be afraid of God either. God desired a whole and healthy relationship with His creation. So what happened?

"Road Trip"

2008-09-29T08:40:00.000-05:00

A big group of students got together at 3pm on Sunday to take a "Road Trip" to St. Andrews in Burlington. St. Andrews is a church that was started about a year ago. It was started by a group of people who wanted something "new". It is a Christian church but they don't have a church building---so they have been meeting in the fellowship hall of the First Baptist church in Burlington.
You know it's unusual as soon as you walk in. You're encouraged to get something to drink and eat. Once you have that, then you walk to your table. They have about 12 card tables set up with table clothes and candle center pieces. Scattered around the room are floor lamps. It feels like you're walking into a restaurant. Pastor Kevin was at the front of the room sitting on a stool holding a guitar.
The funny thing is, we walked in with 30 people and almost doubled the number of people they had attending. Oh, and of course, we were kind of late. But that seemed okay with them. We sang a few songs and then the service was open to anyone to wanted to share or make song request. We were encouraged to answer a few questions: "How has God brought good news to your life this week?" and "How have you been set free?" or "How has your sight been restored?"
It was a unique service even for them. It was nice and it was... interesting at one point...
Bonus: They fed us all dinner. Spaghetti, Mac and Cheese, Soup, Dessert. It was a great spread of food. Of course, a trip to B-town wouldn't be complete without a trip to Dunkin Donuts!

Sardines and Cramps

2008-09-21T21:14:00.002-05:00

First, let's give a big shout out to Adam, Andrew, Isaac and Conor. They stacked wood on Sunday for Darlene Simmons. Good work boys. Isaac, put some ice on that finger.

With the weather holding a bit, students stayed outside for a bit. Since Lucas is still on crutches, we had a crutch race. Some how a wheelchar showed up as well, but it was Travis on crutches that made it look easy. He made the three spins, rounded the corner and withstood a barrage of things being thrown at him. Then there was the odd circle game. It was interesting to see how many girls were avoiding the boys. But it was Anna and Sawyer that needed to be pulled out. Sawyer went all out to clear his name. He dropped to one knee in front of Anna and sang one of the most touching renditions of "You are my sunshine" I've ever heard. Sawyer...you're the man!

From there, it was all "baby preacher" I can't say anything else about that. Although that did set up my talk on the Bible. I truly believe the bible is our handbook for life. No, maybe not cramps, but certainly about hope, love, loss, family, loneliness, choices, eternal life, etc... I do hope you'll see the benefit of learning about God in His word. Be ready for 1-minute Say So.

What would the evening be without Sardines? And on top of that...Jen made cupcakes for everyone to celebrate September birthdays. Thanks Jen!

Crazy Mad Wood stacking

2008-09-15T12:28:00.000-05:00

The second night of USM wasn't a tradional one for sure. Between Conor dressed in drag on a date with Ben, and Sawyer doing his best to sell us toilet paper; the evening was interesting to say the least. We welcomed a few more newbies (what a night to start coming). I talked with everyone about the things in life that we don't have much say in. Between parents, teachers, employers and others...much of our life is decided for us. However, in the area of faith, it's personal. You can't force someone to have faith...it's their choice. It's your choice. Okay, after all that...we loaded 31 people in 6 cars and drove to the Hindmarsh's and stacked 3 cords of wood in 35 minutes. Not to shabby!

Move up

2008-09-08T12:14:00.000-05:00

We welcomed the newest group of students to USM on Sunday. The 7th graders were welcomed with couple of funny skits by performed by Dave and Paul Wood and the Drama Team. And nothing says "your part of USM" like drinking Ginger Ale, lighting a candle and making a game out of it. We all sat on the floor to illustrate that, regardless of age or class, we are all on the same level when it comes to God. That's our starting point! We ended the evening with a classic game of Jacoby Can-Can.

September News

2008-09-01T12:53:00.000-05:00

Did you know that the average rainfall for June and July for our area is 7 inches of rain? Did you know that we saw over 12 inches of rain those two months this summer?
It's no wonder why everyone is saying "I can't believe summer is over!"
Well, whether you believe it or not...you are back to school. It's out of your control. As much as we might have wanted to reach up and stop the rain drops from falling...it was out of our control.

USM is every Sunday night. We talk about things that are hard to believe.
We talk about things that are out of our control. Every Sunday night we talk about stuff that you or someone you know, need to talk about.
Of course, it's always a fun night, lots of laughing and it's the perfect way to get ready for MONDAY MORNING.

I also want to make sure each of you are at Sunday School. Middle school, Mr. Estey and Mr. Luke are back! We welcome all the 7th graders.
High School will be at the Brown's every Sunday morning at 11:15am for LIFE TOGETHER. Jen and I are very excited about this class, we hope you are too!

SEPT 28. "ROAD TRIP" 2:30pm - 6:30pm
St. Andrews Church in Burlington

Waterslide?

2008-08-24T22:06:00.000-05:00

After finishing up our book study, Sunday night brought us to a very troubling place. I believe the instructions everyone received was "be prepared to get wet, dirty and maybe sticky". What started out as a simple waterslide, turned into a ketchup mess. And after the ketchup...Herhsey's syrup didn't seem to help the situation. But that didn't stop the mess. Out came the tub of Mayo. Some said it was the nastiest thing we've ever done. At this point, we're not aware of any photos.

USM Summer Olympics

2008-08-18T10:13:00.001-05:00

Although hidden along the Green Mountain National Forest, United Student Ministries commandeered the world stage Sunday, celebrating its first-time role as Olympic host with a stunning display of pyrotechnics and pageantry -- topped by the unworldly sight of a flying gymnast, traversing the heights of the stadium to light the flame and begin the Summer Games.

President Bush and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin were among the glittering roster of notables who watched USM make this bold declaration that it had arrived. Bush is the first U.S. president to attend an Olympics in Lincoln.

Jake M. accompanied by his younger brother, who survived May's devastating beat down, carried the flag as the USA Olympic team paraded into the stadium. Second-guessed for awarding the games to USM, the International Olympic Committee stood firmly by its decision. "It was time," the committee said, "to bring the games to the hills."

"For a long time, USM has dreamed of opening its doors and inviting the world's athletes to Lincoln for the Summer Olympic Games," IOC President Jacques Rogge said in his speech. "Tonight, that dream comes true." Later, he would laud the pageant: "It was an unforgettable and moving ceremony that celebrated the imagination, originality and energy of Todd and Matt"

Fireworks greeted athletes and fans for the start of the 2008 Summer Games."It was a breathtaking experience walking into the stadium," said Andrew, a spit shooter from VT. "I am thankful to be part of this moment."

"This is the biggest stage," said Ben, who hopes to lead the U.S. combined long jump team to a gold medal.

For USM dissidents who have dared to challenge the youth leaders monopoly on power, the start of the Olympics meant tighter surveillance and restrictions.
"It's not my Olympic Games," said Kate, a known whiner. "It's not the games for the unmotivated."

By all indications, however, most citizens have embraced the Games. To their eyes, the omens were good. The ceremony began at 7 p.m. on the seventeenth day of the eighth month of 2008 -- auspicious in a youth group where numbers mean nothing at all.

Sunday Nights in August

2008-08-07T00:16:00.001-05:00

We will begin our 3-week look at the book "Do Hard Things"...this Sunday night. We'll be splitting guys/girls with Jen leading the girls.

Since the topic is "Doing hard things"...here's your first challenge. The books are available at church for pick-up. Siblings should share a copy of the book. You may purchase the book for $12 or just give it back when you're done.

Homework: Read Section 1 (Chapters 1-4) by Sunday night.

Todd
The good news is, you'll not have to write any papers, drink any Tabasico Sauce or clean any roads after a horse parade.

Baptism

2008-07-13T15:47:00.005-05:00

In just a couple of weeks we'll be having our baptism service at the Wetmore's pond. It's at 9:45am on Sunday, July 27th. I hope all of you will be there. Personally I love having a worship time outside. Although my choice would have it at night...with a bonfire. I don't think we would ever move to a night time baptism service. Not that I think it's unbiblical to baptise people at night, I just think it's a safety thing.

Were you at Prudence's baptism on the 6th? It was at the Gale's...in the river. Prudence now lives in Georgia, but really wanted to be baptised here and now. About 100 people walked across the road to celebrate with Prudence. Very cool.

The canoe trip had a spriritual message: Following Jesus. It was great to hear people struggling with this idea. As a youth pastor, I'm not interested in seeing young people go through meaningless motions. If it doesn't mean anything to you, why would you do it? That sounds like Chemistry class. (Sorry Tilberg) But it's true, some things (like school attendence) are mandatory...that's the law. Following Jesus (although mandatory in God's eyes) is not forced on you against your will. You'll never hear me pushing faith/religion down someones throat. Or in someone's ear, for that matter. By the way, it's been really cool to see Kerry and Kate attending our morning worship service. It's clear that this is a personal decision for each one of them.

Following Jesus is a personal, one on one decision. It's between you and Him. If you're ready to make that commitment...than Jesus says, Be baptised! You'll be surrounded by a lot of people who are ready to help you follow through on that commitment. It's like Olive Garden: When you're here, You're family (without the breadsticks)

USM comes up short

2008-07-06T21:09:00.002-05:00

The Summer College Night team showed up with their A Team and their B Team. They dominated the whole night and never allowed USM to get close on the Volleyball Court. Newlyweds Ben and Sonjia we're unstoppable. It just shows, a Godly marriage is a good thing. The worse beating tonight came at the hands of the SCN women's team. The USM Women's squad was skunked 7-0 at the hands of Sonjis's serves. Despite the loss on their home court, USM standout Jacob says "It's no big deal. You wanna see big? Look at my guns", and then began to flex.

Later Meghan amazed the crowd with her "Melody in S". The story of the Good Samaritan, like we've never heard. It set up our reading of Joshua 1:6-9 quite nicely.

One Minute Bibles

2008-07-01T22:52:00.000-05:00

The One-Minute Bible is a devotional book that was designed for you. It's a great way to learn more about the bible...in a short period of time.

We have them in stock. Get yours now for only $5.00 Everyone's doin' it!

Independence Day

2008-06-30T21:01:00.000-05:00

We celebrated the 4th on the 29th. You can see the picture of Mr. and Mrs. America. The US Open was played under threat of rain. "Gispy" is our own frisbee golf game. Matt Brown pt together a great 9-hole course, complete with scorecard and map. With older players under our handicap system, the match came down to the wire. Congratulations to Wayne and Conor, who both came in with the low scores. The evening ending with a game of "Liberty"- design to spark coversations about how our faith intersects with patriotism.

The Jumper

2008-06-29T23:45:00.000-05:00

Senior High Canoe Trip Log

2008-06-28T20:12:00.004-05:00

(by Meghan and Crew)

Tuesday June 24
It takes us 2 hours to pack the vans and we leave an hour behind schedule
Almost kill bicyclist and sheriff on West River Road
Feed flaggers brownies near Lord’s Prayer Rock
Todd’s right blinker doesn’t work
-Random guy complements Meg’s sailor hat
-Aliza sat on Travis (gasp) (and Travis didn’t mind)
Serenaded by car horns at New Haven Junction
Pit stop at Addison Fire Department for phone calls
-Chinese fire drill: Travis gets locked out of car
-Travis gave Meghan flowers (he kneeled when he presented them)
-Hijacked Todd’s seat belt and put a bouquet on his seat
-Built a tower out of rocks and put a grape and flower on top
-Wait for Sam
-Leave Addison @ 11:03
Van is barely able to power up the hills and the Suburbans breaks smoke when going down hills
3rd pit stop at gas station in Elizabethtown
-Have to wait for Sam (again)
Starts raining @ 12:24
4th pit stop at Stewarts (more gas)
Detour due to Todd’s stellar navigating skills
Pass Olympic facility over yonder in a rural area
Skittish horse almost runs into post/throw rider
5th pit stop in Saranac
Meghan has different colored hairs
Took 2nd detour up steep hill because Todd took a wrong turn (again)
Followed crazy motorcycle driver
-Couldn’t decide if it was male or female
Passed freaky Budget truck compound
3rd detour
-Turned around near correctional facility with barbed wire et al.
Long stop @ check-in center due to certain complications with logistics of registration
-Meghan received more flowers from Sam, Jacob and Meyer
Arrive at drop-off point, weather is overcast, mildly windy and there is a tight time constraint
Unpack vans and load up canoes
-Meg + Aliza have the best packed canoe
Pit stop at mini island (Sam had to answer the call of the wild)
Cookie missiles from Todd’s canoe wounds Aliza
Arrive at camp
-Set up base camp on the island
-Ladies set up tents on top of hill on island
-Guys set up tents on “Manland”
Todd and Jacob valiantly face the waves again and go to pick up Becky and Ben
Discover that the pond has great acoustics and that noise travel/echoes well
Ladies conquer fire and water
Dinner: sloppy joes
Aliza + Meg find the comfort of sleeping in canoes
The wanderers return J
Camp fire discussion: people who inspire
Jacob receives shining star of the day for making the journey across the lake twice and is serenaded by Todd
Curfew is midnight

Wednesday June 25
Breakfast @ 7:30
-Cereal, hot cocoa, coffee
-Frozen milk and OJ
Quiet time + discussion
-Too much honey makes you vomit
Set off on day long canoe voyage
-Water war between Ben/Jacob/Katie and Aliza/Meghan (ladies dominated)
-Picked water lilies
-Went through locks
-Watched loons
-Become dehydrated and starving
Upon arrival at destination Ahmin politely dumped Kathryn into the lake
Lunch: Dry tuna fish sandwiches without seasoning, peanut butter sandwiches with tuna hunks, fruit punch, plums and trail mix
Ben jumps (courageously) off of 25 foot cliff
Sam leaps off 40 foot cliff (Becky prayed him to safety)
Meanwhile Meyer paddles about with 1/5 of the canoe in the air
-Attempting to correct imbalance he neatly capsizes
-Katie + Aliza kindly rescues him and right canoe
Ben finally drums up enough courage and he too joins the brave though foolish few who have jumped off the 40 foot cliff (Becky prayed him to safety)
Sam jumps off 40 foot cliff again (Becky prayed him to safety) (A flipper sinks L)
Students played musical canoes which resulted in bad combos of paddlers
Wind began to pick up
-Isaac and Sean unable to make progress
-Todd, Becky and Meghan were the fastest ship in the Spanish Armanda (they created a wake!)
Played musical canoes again
-Found massive slug which, after several trips through the air and landings in different canoes, drowned
-Found giant spider which likewise drowned
Had gondola rides up the river
-Todd/crew rack up 340 points (20 pts per buoy)
Go through locks again
-Kerry and Sam’s canoe got stuck in the lock door and Todd risked his life and set them free
-5 canoes try to leave lock at the same time (major failure)
The fun ended when the mouth of the river was reached and saw that white caps on the open lake
-Played musical canoes again
-A determined but grim group faded their canoes into the wind and set off
2 brave sailors were thrown into the freezing and choppy water
-Motor boaters stop fishing excursion to pull capsized boat to shore
-Dehydration and exhaustion set in as musical canoes is played once more as the last leg of the journey began
-Arrive at base camp 3-4 hours later sunburned and “lake sick”
An incredible beef stew revived all and sunburn lotion soothed blisters/red skin
Learned how to play “Mau”
Ben spends a long time cleaning stew pot (lots of food stuck to the sides/bottom)
Played flashlight tag after dark
Camp fire discussion: spiritual inspiration/important intersections in life
There is unanimous vote to remain on island next day and not go on any adventures
Kerry receives shining star of the day for not complaining at all during the long trip (She was the only female student who paddled the entire time)
Boys light torches and return to “Manland” to the accompaniment of war whoops and canoe banging

Thursday June 26
Todd arrives at base camp @ 5:50 and wakes up the ladies by tearing apart a door with a tomahawk
Ladies have shaving party
Breakfast: 36 scrambled eggs, 5 lbs. of sausage and lots of English muffins (quite a production)
Rain results in a new addition to the shelter on base camp
Quiet time is held under the tarps
-Ben and Jacob sleep under the canoes
-Have long discussion on fools and the motive of the heart
Rain stops to allow a group building game
-Emily was hoisted over the rock like a sack of potatoes
-Meyer got his sunburned front scraped on the rock as teammates drop him
Emily, Kerry and Aliza make a daring trip to “Manland” only to discover piles of clothing strewn haphazardly on the shore and Ben and Jacob ¾ of the way undressed trying to show off their almost non-existent abs
Dugout canoe begins to take shape
Play card games: B.S. and spoons
Lunch: PBJs, chips/popcorn and cookies
Long rook game begins
-Meghan can sit inside a milk crate
Canoe chipmunks are found “chillin by the lake”
SPUD and canoe sleeping
-Jacob throws rocks at ladies in the canoe
Camp receives a visit from the P.O.
Dave and Karl arrive bearing gifts J (Donna’s chocolate chip cookies)
Went rock jumping/swimming at site 87
-Kerry swam back to base camp with Sam whining behind her
Dinner: hot dogs and baked beans
-Had dangerous after affects resulting in the evacuation of “Man Cave”
Camp fire discussion: Dave’s testimony and baptism
Dave and Karl left and was serenaded with “God will lead you through the wilderness”
Rook game continued and the knife group chatted
-Sam provided a running commentary on the game
-There was a lot of “discreet” table talk
Sent “Blown Away” on its maiden (and only) voyage
-Uplifting supplications before launch for great fire
-Many war chants and banging crates
-2 out of 3 chipmunks perish in the blaze
-The 3rd is traumatized for life
S’mores and the camp fire discussion continued
Meghan received shining star of the day for being fire lady when it wasn’t her day
Went to “bed” at 12am
-Scheming, frogs, spiders and giggling/laughing at top of hill of island

Friday June 27
Ladies made 4:30 am visit to “Manland”
-Rearranged paddles
-Left after Ben appeared and Todd belched
Ladies return victorious and happy and made fire and breakfast
-Ladies waited loyally until 7 before eating breakfast alone
Boys arrive late looking tired and grumpy
Quiet time: group reading on beach, met Jesus and Peter
Sent Ben, Becky and Meyer on their way with “God will lead you through the wilderness”
Ladies efficiently broke down base camp
-“Manland” took longer
Loons accompanied group as they left the island
40 minutes later (after monologue “The Wedding Day” by Meghan) group arrives at dock
-Canoes are unpacked and vans loaded
-Man with long blond hair and foreign accent takes group picture
Group said goodbye to Saranac Lake @ 11:10 am
Crazy lady and crazy man pass us almost causing 2 accidents
Dunkin Donuts and Subway for lunch
-Grungy group gets interesting looks from passerbies
-People @ Dunkins definitely new
-No sugar in the iced coffee L, no bagels, no breakfast sandwiches
Another crazy driver almost kills the Suburban when it pulls out in front of it
Saw shirtless Olympic trainee
-The trainee was male
Travis attempted to take pictures of the Olympic ski jumps
Nearly got killed while avoiding bikers by entering left lane with oncoming traffic, going downhill on a corner with cars parked on the right
-Due to amazing mad driving skills Kathryn kept us safe
Lost Emily, Travis and Isaac to sleep deprivation by 12:30
Sleeping beauties awaken (rudely) to cross the bridge back into VT (home!)
Discovered that the rock pile was still standing at the Addison fire department
Make Bristol by 1:36
Wave off other van as they go to drop off their canoes
Van taxes the 3 ton weight limit on York Hill bridge but manage to cross safely
Van valiantly struggled up to the top of its last hill
Found that we brought the wrong canoe to the Benzs
-Girl napping chain forms while Kathryn reties canoe
-Meghan has upset stomach that gives Emily a strange head massage J
-Isaac ventures into the hot underbelly of the van to carefully retie ropes
Returned to Bristol @ 2:03
Visited the Luke’s
-Dropped off the correct canoe…Ta-da-da!
Returned to Lincoln
Arrived at the church krispy, glassy eyed, jacked and joyfully happy
Embraces, unpacking and scrubbing the charcoal covered pots
Departure L

Random memorable “phrases” from the trip
Ta-da-da!
Rookery
Can’t read
P.O.O (both ways)
Be bold…fold
Crumple free VT!
“They’re chillin by the lake”
Feed Me!
Every little thing’s gonna be alright
Burping at the start of every round of Rook
Burping to express any variety of emotion/thought

"Jesus and Me"

2008-06-09T15:49:00.003-05:00

If you missed the Baccalaureate Service for the seniors, you missed some amazing acting. Ahmin was a stoned faced Jesus. He managed to make it through the whole skit without laughing. Ally and Meghan showed off their talent by playing obnoxious, loud partiers. The skit is always a funny way to illustrate the presence of Jesus. Pray that the message of the skit did not fall on deaf ears. Perhaps God used this to challenge not only the senior class, but also the family and friends that were there too. Thanks guys! You did great.

Senior High Script

2008-06-08T15:46:00.001-05:00

Ally: The Senior High Sunday School class meets in Jim and Judy Brown’s loft.

Aliza: We have pretty much made ourselves at home there.

Ellen: We have couches, a coffee maker, and a pool table.

(Enter couch and chairs. Everyone sits down, with cup and snack in hand.)

Ahmin: Todd and Jen, we’re ready.

Isaac: (to Todd) Sit here.

Ben: That’s pretty much how the year has gone.

Adam: We all get pick on pretty equally….right guys?

Ally: The fun we have comes from how close we are.

Ahmin: Some are closer than others (tilt head toward Isaac and Aliza who are sitting next to each other on couch. They promptly separate.

Ben: We have been working our way through a series of books. Each book has a DVD. Each class we watch goofy middle age guys, like Todd, discuss a part of the Bible.

Aliza: Then we use the books. We have to answer several questions about the subject and that usually leads to a good discussion.

Ally: Our discussions almost never get side tracked.

Adam: Did you know most meetings take 13 minutes longer because people get side tracked?

Ahmin: Isaac weren’t you going to run Track this spring?

Isaac: I ended up playing lacrosse.

Everyone: (all start talking about spring sports or school)

Ally: Seriously. Todd, what is today’s lesson?

Todd: I thought maybe you guys could share some the things you’ve learned.

(Everyone touch your nose and say “not it”. Aliza is the last one.)

Aliza: When we pray, it should not be to impress people. We should pray from our heart.

Ben: Prayer is lining ourselves up with God.

Ahmin: Our group is strengthened when we are honest, with God and each other.

Adam: God has design us to be connected to Him and with other people.

Ally: Jesus knew that at the core of who you are; you would crave significance and purpose.

Isaac: Jesus reveals that one of the secrets of spiritual growth is being connected to God through prayer and the Word.

Aliza: We were challenged to share our faith with our friends.

Ben: Guys should never cross there legs like women while sitting.

Isaac: Friendship is like wetting your pants, everyone can see it but only you get the warm feeling it brings.

Ellen: Trials can be good because they produce perseverance and patience.

Ally: If you plan to take your faith seriously for the rest of your life, establishing the habit of daily devotions will be a struggle.

Ahmin: Well, what’d you think?

Todd: I thought….

Ahmin: I was actually asking Jen.

Todd: Oh.

Jen: You all make us proud. We’re thankful to be able to work with you. Right honey?

Todd: Yeah, sure. We should probably move on.

Children's Day

2008-06-08T14:58:00.000-05:00

Thank you to the students who help run the games today. Thankfully there were no necks broken at Ben and Aliza'a booth. From the sponge toss, the fishing pool, the frisbees or the home run derby...the day was good. And HOT! Wanda gives props to Ellen for hanging out with her for two hours. By the way...the "One minute Bibles" are in.

BINGO

2008-06-02T15:54:00.001-05:00

It's official. USM has a complete Bingo kit. We had our first ever BINGO night on Sunday night. It didn't cost anything to play, but there were prizes. It's not clear whether I had more fun than everyone else...but I think it was a good time. The best moment was Kerry passing up the Grand Prize to take the funny orange pen. Sorry Sam, we know you really wanted that!

This month

2008-06-01T16:00:00.001-05:00

June means we say congratulations to our seniors: Ally Wetmore, Meghan Thompson, Ahmin Meunier and Sam Thompson-Snow. I appreciate the leadership they have provided for USM. Other than Sam heading to Hawaii, I'm sure we'll continue to see the others over the next few years. Please plan to attend the Baccalaureate Service which will feature our seniors in a skit called "Jesus & Me"

As a thank you for their ministry, the Canoe Trip is offered to Senior High students who helped during VBS. This 4 day/3 night trip comes at no cost to the students. Church members who would like to underwrite some of our expenses can do so through the church office.

"Glory Day" at Six Flags is a great time for churches to visit the park. In addition to all the rides being open, there are also Christian artist featured in their shows. Not to mention, the "Faster Pastor" race at the Go-Cart Track. If you can be a chaperon/driver...you're ticket cost is only $15.00. See me.

We are planning on having small group studies throughout the summer. I hope you can make it every Sunday night. Also, if any of you are interested in going to the "Rock" this year...I'll be at camp speaking this year July 19-27th. A week of camp is about $300. See me with questions.

This Sunday

2008-05-01T20:41:00.002-05:00

I just heard that the group that went to Romania over spring break is doing a presentation on there trip. Remember they came up and shared their drama with us. The presentation will be in Middlebury, this Sunday, at 2pm. I'm thinking that I'll bring a van if there is at least 5 people interested. We'd leave at 1:30pm and be back around 4pm.

Let me know if you'd like to go.

May Welcome Note

2008-04-29T10:21:00.001-05:00

Hello Spring! I know that our JOY should not be dependent on the weather,but now that my flip flops are out of the closet and waiting for me eachtime I need to go outside...I am a happy man! It also seems that with thewarm weather, I am having all these exciting thoughts about USM thissummer. I am in the midst of planning a great summer of learning and fun.

I wanted to share a part of anarticle I read recently. It was entitled "God isn't a Magic 8 Ball" andwas written by Ricky Alcantar. It kind of reminded me of our talk aboutprayer. If you asked Ben C. "what is prayer?" he will probably answer"It's us lining ourselves up with God". Here's what Ricky wrote:

"I found a spot in the park under a tree and began reading Psalm 37.Verse 23
said, "The steps of a man are established by the Lord, when hedelights in his
way; though he fall he shall not be cast headlong, for theLord upholds his
hands." But the words on the page felt hollow. It washard to believe that
--amidst all the chaos of my decision.Then I saw it. The condition. "When."
"When he delights in his way."A quick internal inventory revealed a distinct
absence of "delight" in myheart. But what did that have to do with my decision?
Then I saw verse 4:"Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the
desires of yourheart." There it was again—the command to delight in God. Then,
throughall my hardheaded selfishness the thought came to my mind:Do my desires
in this decision line up with God's desires? Do I love whatGod loves? " (end)

(you can read his whole article at http://www.boundless.org/2005/articles/a0001729.cfm)

This pretty much sums up our overnight.

2008-04-27T10:26:00.000-05:00

Passport to the Promised Land

2008-04-25T20:08:00.000-05:00

Reverse Road Trip

2008-03-30T21:19:00.001-05:00

It's finally happened. We are having a youth group come to us. The Memorial Baptist youth group will be with is Sunday, April 6th. They have a team going to Romania on a mission trip over Spring Break. They are interested in seeing some of our skits. Namely "The Backpack" and "The Sign". Drama team will meet at 5:3pm.

Quiet Time

2008-03-09T21:32:00.003-05:00

So today we talked a bit about quiet times. Those are times (hopefully each day) that we set aside for prayer and scripture reading. Prayer is "lining ourselves up with God's will". Scripture reading is "allowing God to speak to us". I found an interesting website that just started: www.alilbit.com The idea behind these podcasts is to give students a lil' bit of scripture. The guys have a good time filling each 10 minute clip. It kind of sounds like me on the announcements.

Whatever you choose for your quiet time...I'd like to hear about it. Let me know this week what you tried, what worked or what didn't work.

Winterfest

2008-02-29T17:07:00.000-05:00

The beautiful, clear and crisp day began in Ripton. Nola Kevra offered to lead us on a snowshoe hike through a huge beaver community. We saw their handy work, their homes and the ponds they created. I went though one of those ponds...but thankfully I didn't get too wet. We even tried some "Liken" from a tree. It's a green leafy plant that comes from Algae and Fungas. Mm..Mm..Good!

We came back to the church for some pizza and then spent the afternoon sledding on the logging trail. I good size jump was built and Conor won the "Big Air" contest. Seriously, it was the biggest hit I've ever seen on a sled. Nice work! After sledding, we enjoyed "Rocky Balboa" on the big screen.

Habitat for Humanity

2008-02-24T17:02:00.001-05:00

Can you believe someoen trusted us to paint? The interior of a house? With minimal supervision? Wow! Well, we did just that at the Habitat fo Humanity house in Bristol. Student volunteers woke up early on their first day of vacation and put in nearly 5 hours of painting. And some of the paint actually made it on the walls. No, really, I was very proud of the work they did. What a great day it was. Make sure you say "Good work, my friend", next time you see Ben, Aliza, Jacob, Patience, Conor, Meghan, Isaac, Emily, and Travis.

Super Bowl

2008-02-04T16:52:00.000-05:00

If you're a Pats fan...you're very sad. If you're a Giants fan...you're very happy. If you're a football fan...you're very satisfied. What a great game! The party at the Old Hotel was made great because a lot of great people showed up. Plus, we had "Snow Ball", Carpet Ball and lots of food. Congrats to Ben Capasso for winning the Superbowl Quiz. He won a gift certificate to the General Store.

Variety Show

2008-02-03T16:56:00.000-05:00

The crowd loved "My Son is Sick". Thankfully we didn't have a repeat of Conor's performance at the Congo Church in Vergennes. Big props to Adam for filling in as the plumber at the last minute. He's a star! "American Dream" went extremely well, too. I think the message was understood by all. We pray that hearts were moved and families will be strenghtened. Individual performances were shared by Dillon and Nate L'Heureux. Good job boys.

American Dream

2008-01-27T23:28:00.000-05:00

We are getting ready for the Variety Show. We looked at Casting Crown's "American Dream" tonight. We then looked at Matthew ch.7 They call this the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus says that if we follow his directions for life, we'll be like the man who built his house on the rock. But if we don't follow his directions, we'll be like the man who built his house on the sand. It is interesting...in both situations, Jesus points out that the rain came down, the flood waters came up and the wind blew in. Regardless of whether we follow God...tough times in life will come. Christians are not exempt. I think the message is...no matter what gets thrown at you in life, if you make Jesus the foundation of your life, you'll weather the storm. Come to the Variety Show to see what we mean.

Leadership

2008-01-22T23:17:00.000-05:00

USM has new leadership. No, Todd is still around. We have student leadership. The church has deacons, trustees and the CE Board. These are folks who help run the ministry. We thought it would make sense to have students do the same. Ahmin and Ally will be our CE Board, Ben and Aliza our Deacons, and Isaac our Trustee. These students will serve for 1 year. Their responsibilities will include working with the church boards plus fulfilling duties within the youth ministry. If you think of it..thank them for serving.

"Road Trip"

2008-01-21T23:07:00.000-05:00

We had another succesful trip to the Vergennes Congregational Church. That is Karl's home church. It was a chance for us to say "hi" and try out some of our skits. #1 "Flour Girl" - Carolyn was asked to play the part of "flour girl". Karl did his best to impress Victoria andf Patience. It ended with Caroloyn blowing flour in his face. #2 "My Son is Sick" It was a typical performance, until Conor had a "gas" slip. Top 5 funniest USM moments. #3 "The Race" It's hard to describe this skit. Picture me doing an impression of Richard Simmons. All in all...a good road trip.

Nor' easter

2007-12-15T17:10:00.000-05:00

I was a naysayer. I did not think we would get hit by anything significant. (I may still be right) But I did have to cancel the shopping trip and Christmas Party. The party is resceduled for Christmas Eve Eve (a.k.a. Sunday, December 23rd) The shopping trip may come later. For radar action: http://www.wcax.com/Global/link.asp?L=280856

Be safe!

Drive-by Caroling

2007-12-11T22:55:00.000-05:00

Several unsuspecting residents of Bristol, VT were victims of random kindness on Sunday night. It was reported that three vehicles full of loud teenagers were randomly selecting people to "sing" at. It was unclear what the students were singing but one man, whose identity will be concealed, thought he might have heard something that sounded like "Joy to the World"

Snow Day = Job Match

2007-12-04T11:04:00.000-05:00

In theory this would have worked. The forecast called for 8-10 inches of snow and we knew that school would probably be cancelled. The idea was to get a bunch of us together to drive down to Bristol village and shovel snow for money. Picture this: 8 people in the back of a pick-up with shovels, using road cones to amplify their voices as they screamed "We shovel for money!"
We woke up on Monday morning to very little snow. So we waited a few hours. Finally the storm hit. I figured by 3:30pm there would be enough to hit the streets. At around 3pm I spoke to Sheri Rowinski and she said Bristol had about 1/2 inch. Grrr.
Instead of cancelling, the six of us shoveled Burnham Hall, Weathervane and the church. After that we played football behind the Brown's. MVP: Emily Wood.

December News

2007-12-01T11:31:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago I was in Niagara Falls, NY on business. Growing up I had heard about and seen pictures/video of the water fall in that town. It’s quite famous; I’m sure everyone is familiar with Niagara Falls. My time out there was short and I was very busy. As I was driving over the bridge that spans the Niagara River, I looked to my left and saw, about half a mile away, a large cloud of mist. “Wow” I said, “there it is.” And I kept driving. To this day, I still have never seen the Niagara Falls.
Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Christ. Everyone knows that, right? Probably. But I imagine most people are so busy with “life” that they merely notice, from a distance, a faint picture of Christmas. Perhaps they’ve never been up-close, in person, with the story of Christmas. If you get a moment, check out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZxYjQtVQcA .
Sometimes you have to apprehend the “end” before you can comprehend the “start”. I pray you all have a faith filled month.

* Christmas Tea Saturday, December 8
* Caroling Sunday, December 9
* Shopping Trip and Party Sunday, December 16
* USM Reunion Sunday, December 30

Gracing the Stage

2007-11-14T10:50:00.000-05:00

Grace Blewer was on stage again. This time at the Flynn Theater Nov. 8-11 in West Side Story. She played a "shark" girlfriend. Good job, Grace.

Paintball Movie Stars

2007-10-29T11:17:00.000-05:00

Ok, the title is a tad bit deceiving. But we did play paintball and we will be on television. Here's the story.
Back in 2003 I took the youth paintballing and asked Chris Bohjalian to come along as a chaperon. He did come and had a great time. He even wrote about his experience in his weekly Burlington Free Press column. He called in "Facing My Inner Green Beret".
About a year ago Day Morning television started to put his column, "Idyll Bantor", to video and airing them on the Hallmark channel. Thev've filmed about 25 already. The lastest was his paintball story.
Chris asked a few weeks ago what they wanted to do and wondered if any of the teens would be interested. Ah...yeah!! So on Sunday October 28th, I took a van load of students to Colchester Paintball and we participated in 3 hours of filming. What a great time! I'll put a link on the blog when it's completed. (about 3 months)

Operation: Kidnap Karl...Again

2007-10-28T10:33:00.000-05:00

I just have to tell you about this one. A couple of days ago I got an email from Karl Krahn. "Todd, the Vergennes cross country team and I will be in Lincoln on Saturday night staying at a camp. Feel free to scare them."
How can I refuse? On Saturday evening I got Ben, Ally, Ahmin, Sam and their friend Isiah and we decided to take Karl up on his offer. We had no real plan and decided to wing it.
The camp is quite large. Maybe 2500 sq. ft. We noticed the lights were all on as we pulled near with our own lights off. We got out of the van and headed into the woods to the right of the camp. Some people were outside at a campfire but went in about 5 minutes after we got there. Now, with everyone inside, we could move around without fear of being seen.
We spotted Karl sitting on a couch by the back door. The plan came to me. We'll burse through the door, grab Karl and run into the woods. I was wearing a full camo suit and hockey mask (Jason style) so it was decided that I would be the first in the door. We gathered by the door and got ready. This was going to be great! With a rush we were through the door...and found ourselves in a utility room. It turns out, the door that Karl was sitting by, was still 10 feet away from us. Very funny!! Luckily, no one heard us.
As we got ready to go through the second door I grabbed a grill brush off the wall. I thought it might make for a good "rush the creepy guy in the mask deterrent". Boom! We were in. We found about 6 or 7 of them playing games not far from Karl. They were frozen, eyes wide open. The crew grabbed Karl and we were gone. Into the woods we ran.
Surprisingly, one of the kids ran after us and even, without a flashlight, stepped into the woods. He must not of been able to see well because he stopped about a foot from where I was laying. He was looking deep into the woods, trying to make out anything that moved. It didn't take me long to decide to wrap my arms around his legs and snort like an angry tiger. HA! Very funny. I started to run away. Guess what? He chased after me...and he was carrying the grill brush I had dropped. Before I knew it, I was being hit with a grill brush!
My overall rules for the night were: Do no harm and Don't get shot. I decided to amend the rules to include: Don't get beat. I stopped running and took off my mask and revealed my true idenity and mission details. He introduced himself and it turns out...this was his parents camp. Too funny! He thought so too and decided to add to the fun.
By now the whole team had gathered on the lawn, still unaware of what to do. The host, still with a grill brush in his hand, ran toward them screaming. "They're crazy! Mountain rednecks with knives. They took Karl!!! One guy has mask covered in blood!!!"
I was too busy laughing to come up with anything else. I walked out from behind a tree and stared toward the group for one last scream! I took off my Jason mask and said "Welcome to Lincoln"

Retreat: Day 3

2007-10-22T10:01:00.000-05:00

We woke up with a lot to do. My goal was to leave for VT at 9:30am. Before we could leave I wanted to have breakfast, load the vans, clean the lodge and have one last meeting time by the fireplace. It didn't seem possible.
We broke everyone into work groups and tried to leave the lodge looking better than we found it. I am always pleased with the work we can get done when everyone does their part. I had to manage the crews a bit, but for the most part, it all got done right the first time.
While the vans were being loaded and the lodge cleaned, Nancy and Nancy reported to me on the beach. I had not been down there to see it all weekend. They suggested having the students walk down and having one last quiet moment together. They suggested we walk to the "sign" and have them walk from the sign to the beach in silence. I had never seen the "sign" but thought it sounded like a good idea. They had no idea what I had already selected to share with the students.
We did one last walk through and the lodge looked great. With everyone waiting by the vans I said, "Let's take a walk". I followed the Nancy's to the "sign" and we stopped. We were standing in a white pine forest. Most of the trees were 6-8 feet around. The ground was a bed of soft needles. The "sign" was posted at the intersection of roads. The roads were part of the camping area. One led to the beach, one to the lodge, and two others into the woods.
As I had everyone gather in a circle in the middle of this intersection, I took out the short piece I wanted to read.
"Two paths diverged in the wood. And I...I took the one less traveled. That has made all the difference". Robert Frost
I then read two sections of scripture that dealt with choosing to either follow God or not. To not follow after God, is to be a like a tree that is planted in dry ground. The tree has difficult time surviving let alone producing fruit. It has no future. In contrast, the tree planted by the river. Its roots grow deep and strong. Even during a drought, it is still able to produce fruit. That tree, like the person who chooses to follow after God, has a secure future.
In silence we walked to the beach. The sky was blue, the air was crisp and the autumn colors created the most amazing sight. We just stood there by the waters edge. In that quiet moment, we each had a chance to choose our path.
An amazing end to an amazing weekend.

Retreat: Day 2

2007-10-21T08:23:00.000-05:00

So much for the 6:30am optional hike. No one was up for that. But we were up to getting the fire going again. Meyer was on fire duty and found a good bed of coals leftover from last night. It wasn't very long before we all were enjoying a Saturday morning roaring fire.

After breakfast, some of the group went outside to explore the property. Some went to just kick the soccerball around. The rest of us waited by the fire for Nancy and Ahmin to arrive. We got a call around 9:30am that they were given wrong directions and would not arrive until 10:30am. We decided to hold off on our morning meeting. I didn't mind personally...I was just find on the couch and next to the fire.

Once Nancy and Ahmin arrived and we got them settled, we started our group time. Nate did another great job on guitar. He even expressed an interest in being in the praise band we are trying to start.

Our theme is 'Be still and know that I am God' from Psalm 46:10. We ended our time together with 30 minutes of silence. I invited everyone to go off by themselves, in doors or out, and just be still. I instructed them to think of a question, based on our theme (or anything else we've discussed) and let that question be there prayer. It can be very difficult to focus the mind for that long. It's very easy to wander in your thoughts, so this was a good excercise

We came back together for lunch and then decided to finally get going on our hike. It was about 1pm and the first time I had been outside since I arrived nearly 20 hours ago. Can you tell I like the fireplace?

The hike turned out to be a mixed experience. First, we never did see any of the sights that the directions said we would see. We basically went on a random walk/hike through the woods. The one highlight of the trip, the one that will be talked about for years, involved Travis. Let me paint the picture.

One of the trip destinations was called the "Water fall". We think we found the location, but there was no water going over the fall. It was as if the pond that feeds the falls went dry. There was a small trace of water left but it appeared that the water was maybe 8 feet down from it's normal level. So here we are, standing on top of the falls; behind us a 20-30 foot drop (waterfalls) and in front of us an 8 foot drop to the bottom of the pond.

Travis and some others went up the hill a bit further to look over the small stream that was feeding the pond. Again, there was not much water coming in, so they came back soon after. Travis decided to walk in the now dry pond bed. Well, he hadn't taken 2 or 3 steps before one of his feet started to break through the bog like bed. And instead of turning around, he choose to head for the pond bank. He didn't make it.

After his foot went in, his knee followed. After that...he was down up to his chest. We were pretty confident that he was fine, so we laughed at him. Good times. The rest of the hike was kind of difficult for him. Squish-Squish-Squish

We got back to the lodge in time for a game of Capture the Flag. There was no clear winner but we did find out Ahmin can climb a tree quite well.

After a dinner of Taco Soup we adjourned to the living room. Since it was dark, I decided to set-up a lodge wide game of Sardines. I believe this was the first time for Russ, Nancy and Nancy. The best hider and winner was Emily Wood. She manged to stay hidden in a kitchen cabinet.

I found out earlier that Nate unfortunatly broke a string which left us without a guitar. Fortunatly I found a CD with the music from 5 or 6 of our songs. Nice. The worship time led us to more discussion about Psalm 46 and the idea of 'stillness and peace". The promise from God is, no matter what life throws at you, even if it feels like the world is shaking apart, God is still God. He offers us peace and inner security.

There was no real curfew tonight. Most just hung out in the living room playing games and enjoying themselves. I found out that I enjoy the game of chess. Jacob and I played until 2:30am.

Retreat: Day 1

2007-10-20T07:59:00.000-05:00

The first ever USM retreat. None of us have ever been to Camp Sentinel. All we have is what people tell us about it and what we see on their website. It is with anticipation that we leave.
The sun is shining bright as we pulled out. Russ is driving the minivan and I'm in the 15 passenger....Nancy Luke rides shotgun. Nate keeps our minds sharp as he plays the greatest hits from the 60's, 70's, 80's, 90's and today.
Camp Sentinel proved to be a very cool place. Kevin, the executive director, met us and gave us the buiding tour. My favorite was the living room. Couches and a huge open fireplace. Perfection. Shortly after our arrival it started to rain. No one seemed dissappointed because we had the fire roaring.
Jen had put together all our meals; all we had to do was follow the cooking and prep directions. Nancy Luke was heading up that effort. I gave her 2-3 students per meal. Our first meal brought us to the dining room. Located between the living room and kitchen, there are 7 tables with bench seating. The autumn themed center pieces were a nice touch.
After dinner we moved to the living room for a game of gestures. Jacob scored more points than anyone and his brother taught us the international sign for "hole".
We finished the night with some worship by the fireplace. Nate learned 3 songs this first evening and we did our best to sing the songs in a God pleasing way. Our theme chapter is Psalm 46. The first thought for our weekend is: Who is the God who calls us to be still?
He is our refuge (a strong rock that can't be moved), our fortress (a place we can go, that our enemies can not), our shield (taking the attacks that were met for us), the horn of our salvation (a sign of strength and victory).

Thinking about baptism

2007-07-03T10:07:00.000-05:00

Every summer we hold an outdoor service at the Wetmore's pond. We generally use that service to recognize people who wish to be baptised.

Are you wondering what baptism is? Why people do it? Are you thinking you may want to start following Christ?

We are starting a class entitled: Christian Basics.
Who is it for??
*Anyone who would like to consider the essence of the Christian Faith.
*Anyone who may be considering a commitment to following Jesus’ call through Baptism and Belonging to the local church in its mission.
*Anyone who, having already made such a commitment would like to center themselves once more
*Anyone who is just plain curious….

We will meet every Thursday at 6:30pm at the "Old Hotel"

Relief Team Day #8

2007-06-30T21:26:00.000-05:00

The week is over. We have celebrated a job well done. Our flight doesn't depart until 2:30pm, so we had a bit of down time this morning. I was the only one who took advantage of the pool. Nothing beats a quiet time, 85 degrees, sunny sky, water fountain in the background. It was nice...but I was getting really excited to see my family. I think everyone was eager to get home.

Sam was the only one not flying home with us. His family made arrangements to have him fly to Texas to spend some time with his cousins. He made it there fine. The rest of us had a relatively easy go of it.

Pastor Dave and Judy Brown met us in Burlington. Gerd, Laura and Greta also were there. They were picking up Karl. We decided to end the trip at Al's French Fries. It was the only place I could think of that served ice cream at 10pm.

We had our ice cream and then joined hands for a final prayer.

God: May this all be for our growth, others good and your glory!!!

Relief Team Day #7

2007-06-29T22:30:00.000-05:00

Our day off! The only person out of bed before 8am was John Vautier. It turns out he went to the Waffle House for breakfast. I'm not sure what that is like, because I have only been to the Waffle House between 12am - 2am.

We had decided to make the kitchen, living room and dining room of the girls condo the main gathering place since the living room of the guys condo was a bedroom. So that met all the food was in their kitchen.

I decided to be a good guy and start breakfast for everyone (except John). I started whipping up some scrabbled eggs and frying a pound of bacon. I turned the radio on and started to sing along to Chicago's "Hard to say I'm sorry"

Everybody needs a little time away...I've heard her say...From each other. Even lovers need a holiday...Far away from each other...Hold me now...It's hard for me to say I'm sorry...I just want you to stay...And after all that you've been through...I will make it up to you...I promise you. And after all thats been said and done...You're
just the part of me I can't let go

I'm still laughing just thinking about this. I kind of woke everyone up singing really loud. Hey, that's better than banging garbage cans together like John "Master Chief" Vautier. Anyway, (I'm still laughing) breakfast was good and then we hit the pool. Marco Polo anyone?

We had heard about Ship Island Excursions and decided that it was a good way to spend a few hours. We made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for everyone and headed out. The dock was only abour 8 miles away and we were going to catch the 12 noon boat.

Ship Island is owned by the National Park Service and family owned business has the rights to ferry people out to the park. It's about a 45 minute ride out there. The folks found out we were a volunteer group and gave us $60 worth of umbrella and chair rentals. That turned out so nice.

The island is maybe 2 miles all the way around and there are no trees. It was all sand with some long grassy parts in the middle. IT WAS HOT! I'm so glad we had beach umbrellas to get relief. Sam, Ahmin, and Ben never left the water. I'm pretty sure they were swimming from 1pm to 4pm. I'm glad they were having so much fun. They were catching hermit crabs and letting them crawl around their hands.

The highlight was when the dolphins came. Probably about 6-8 dolphins kept swimming back and forth, parallel to the beach. Ben and I swam out and got with 40 feet of them. Amazing!!!

We all left a bit more red then when we got there. But it was still a very good time. We got back around 6pm...time for a Barbeque. John was on the grill and Ally made the hamburger patties. It was more food then we could eat. Even for "Hoover"!

That night some went to the beach, others went to the pool/hottub and some watched TV???? I couldn't believe it...but it was their day off. Around 12:30am Ben, Josiah, Sarah, Ally, Sean and I drove to the Waffle House. It was may too busy so we stopped by McDonalds. I think we finally called it a morning at 2am.

Relief Team Day #6

2007-06-28T21:19:00.000-05:00

Since we knew the shale and mulch arrived at the school, we wanted an early start to the day. The only unknown was whether the Tuff's rental would let us have the skidsteer again.

Everyone was up and going for a 6am. After a 6:30am - 7am quiet time, we called the rental shop and they said we could have one. Awesome! Slidell is about a 30 minute drive, so we were on the job site about 7:45am. John had dropped Josiah off to pick up the machine while the rest of us grabbed our shovels and rakes.

Before the mulch could be put down we still had a bunch of digging to do. The grass down here is very tough. It took a lot of effort to drive a spade shovel down in to dig it out. I estimated 10-12 wheel barrel loads removed.

Regulations require 8 inches of mulch around the play structures and because of that we knew we still didn't have enough mulch. We had enough to cover the ground and make it look good, but Cheryl will need more brought in to bring up the height.

Once we got the mulch moved over, Josiah started hauling the shale. While everyone was spreading that, Karl and I finished nailing down the timbers. Unfortunately, we didn't have enough shale either. Bummer! They leveled what e had and then Karl and I closed in those timbers too.

The skidsteer had tore up the lawn pretty good, so we put a small crew on grass repare. I purchased some grass seed as well. That should do it. Nancy put another coat of paint on the stairs of the corner structure, but beyond that...we were done. We took some photos, said bye to Miss Cheryl and then loaded up. (Playground at Abney Elementary...CHECK)

John Thornhill called me last night and asked if we would like some jambalaya for lunch today. I accepted that offer. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jambalaya" When we got to Miss Patricia's house, John had a bench laid out with a big tub of jambalaya, salad and soda. Yum Yum.

Once everyone had their fill and were lathered with sunblock...it was off to painting. I had made a quick run to the hardware store up the road to buy as many plastic paint buckets as I could get. We learned yesterday that the students were taking too much paint in the buckets they had. When they dipped there brushes in the 6 inches of paint in their buckets, the entire brush was cover...right up to the handles. A couple of things happened:paint got everywhere, the paint at the top of the brushes dried out, the brushes became very heavy and that all made painting difficult. So, my theory, was to give them each a plastic bucket with about 2 inches (max) of paint. I became the "paint nazi" NO PAINT FER YU!!!

I also forgot to tell you about something yesterday. You know we had a shortage of ladders...well, I was on the look out for another. We needed an extension ladder really bad. I asked the folks at the hardware store but they didn't know of one I could borrow. On my way back to the job site I noticed a house with and extension ladder leaning up against the garage. I pulled in and it happened that the guy was in his garage working.

I said " Hi, my name's Todd, I'm with a church group down here doing some painting. Just down the road here. We're trying to finish up today and could really use an extension ladder for about an hour. Do you think I could borrow yours?' He said "sure, that'll be alright". Thank you, God, for getting us a ladder. On our way home we stopped by to return the ladder. I gave him a tin of maple syrup. He was quite surprised and we all were appreciatative.

We needed an extension ladder today too. On my way back from getting the buckets I pulled into the guys yard again. It was a bit awkward, because he was pulling in right before me. As he was getting our of his car, I was pulling in. It must have looked like I was waiting for him to get home. He gave us premission to use it again. Alright! Here we go!

John Vautier was on peak, Josiah and Sam were on 10-13 foot range, Sarah and Ben were at 8-10, Karl was on the porch, Ahmin was standing on a shed roof painting above that and Ally and Sean were on ground level. After about 10 minutes work we knew that the whole house was doable this afternoon. No problem.

John Thornhill was so thankful for our work. His project partner was having bi-pass surgery this morning. That met if we had not come down to do this, John was going to be doing the whole thing by himself. It was a daunting task in his eyes. Knowing this made the work so rewarding for us.

We stayed at, stayed hydrated and got it done! We said good bye to John and Miss Patricia, returned the ladder and headed back to the church. Everyone was pretty much packed up, so all we had to do was shower and go. Wait! Before we could go anywhere, we needed another trip to Baskin Robbins. Mainly, because Josiah made friends with a young lady there. I think he was looking for her phone number...all she gave him was a free ice cream. (still, not bad)Gulfort, Misssissippi here we come.

The students had worked so hard, and I knew they would, so I had made arrangements to rent two condos in a gated community one block from the Gulf of Mexico. Not too shabby. The girls had a two bedroom condo (nancy in the king and Ally and Sarah each got a twin bed). The guys were in a three bedroom. With the pullout couch, we had 4 "bedrooms". Well, I'm not sure if I made that completely clear.

As were headed (running) in to our condo I said "pick your bed". Josiah ran past the room with two twin beds and picked the room with a double bed. He came out of the room on top of the world, huge smile...until I reminded them all that there will be wo guys per bedroom. HA! That was funny.

After we got settled, we ran out for a quick bite to eat. On the way I passed a black Lamborghini...with a minivan!!!! (I don't think he knew we were in a race) After dinner, we dropped everyone off at the condo to go swimming. Then John and I went to the grocery store. The night ended with a walk on the beach.

Relief Team Day #5

2007-06-27T23:29:00.000-05:00

Hopefully you've enjoyed the blogs so far. I can tell you that it's been way more fun being here then reading about it.

The boys were pleasently awoken by Ahmin this morning at 6am. I say pleasently because that is compared to John Vautier's "First day at boot camp " style of wake - up. "GET OUT OF BED LITTLE GIRLS!!!!"

We drove to Lacombe, LA. Patricia is the lady who our November group work with. They worked on taking a gutted house and making it liveable. Electrical, sheetrock and flooring.

John Thornhill from Baton Rouge Baptist Church met us there. He has worked on her house since Katrina hit. It has become his project and his church committed nearly $80,000 to her and another person's house. He was pretty glad to see us.

Our job today was to powerwash, scrape, sand and prime her house. It was pretty hot, even at 8am, so we made sure we brought plenty of water and used sunblock. John V. drove to a guys house named Melvin to do some electrical work. I took over the powerwashing job and got wet real fast. I had paint chips all over my head and body. But given the temperture, it wasn't too bad.

Everyone else grabbed a scraper and went to work. Ally took over the porch and owned it. She is a very diligent worker. However, after three hours or so, we knew we had a problem. The pace was slowed a bit because we had more workers than we had equipment. The lack of ladders was the biggest slow down. The team did not have a real foreman on this job, so there was many temptations to be distracted. (Not that killing wasps is not a good and fun distraction)

Note: The wasps were everywhere. Josiah was stung twice and everyone else were taking evasive actions while painting. We did go to the hardware store and bought spray.

John Vautier came back just before we broke for lunch and we all drove to Subway. We had a pow-wow after lunch and we all recommitted ourselves to finishing the job today. Actually, the pledge was: No dinner until it's done.

Josiah, Sam and Ahmin went high on the ladders. Sarah, Karl, and Ben took the mid-sections and Ally and Sean stayed low. I acted as the foreman and water boy. That meant I directed the teams to where they needed to be, got them paint, and kept them hydrated.

Guess what? By 4pm we had the whole house done!!! It was a moment to celebrate. After cleaning up and eating some of of Patricia's cake, we headed home. On the way home we had an amazing experience.

As we were headed up Highway 190, a truck was turning out into our lane. It was towing a trailer full of watermelons. It seemed like he was turning too quickly and that there was a chance that a melon might roll off. I whispered a small prayer. Then, before our very eyes, one melon rolled off. We all let out a collective cheer and I swerved off the road. The melon was ours.
It was such a moment of great excitement. That was until we ran into the watermelon man again. You'll have to ask one of the students what happened next.

It was another Papa Johns night and a bit of free time. Ahmin offered the devotions tonight and did a great job. He talked about trust and how many times today we needed to trust each other during our work. Especially when up on ladders.

After a trip to Baskin Robbins, a bit of ping pong, a movie on Katrina and a dance marathon DJ'd by Karl and participents Todd, Sarah and Sean...we all went to bed. Early morning tomorrow. Our plan is to finish at the school and get back to put on the first coat at Patricia's.

Relief Team Day #4

2007-06-26T23:00:00.000-05:00

This will be shorter then yesterdays. :)

Karl (hoover) woke up last night with a belly ache. Hmmm, I wonder why? I forgot to tell you, we started a ping pong tournament. I am presently champion and have everyone joining forces to beat me. Their efforts are in vain.

OK, after breakfast and quiet time, it was off to work. We jumped right in. We knew what needed to be done and we wanted to finish today. Well, all of our supples were locked in the shed and Cheryl was not there yet. Bummer. Day 2 starting out slow.

I went to the harware store again. 26 more timbers needed and another 100 rerods. We were ready to mulch!!! Unfortunatly, the shale and mulch we were expecting did not get delivered. Hmmm. But we did have more pickets for our fence.

Sarah and Ally were on fence duty. They had a great system for lining them up, spacing them and screwing them in place. I am very proud of there work (and they are too) Oh, funny story. After lunch, Josiah and John started to do the pickets where the girls got done. Oh man, they were talking and off in their own world. Every single picket was lower than the one before it. I called in the girls to get back on the job. John was good enough to remove the 12 or so that had been put on poorly. It was a good moment for girls around the world.

Ahmin took over on the skidsteer and delivered the mulch we did have. He got pretty good on it too. So good that he decided to teach Nancy Stevens drive it. Wait til you see this footage. Awesome.

When Ally wasn't working on the fence, she finished her shed. After Ben and Sean drilled and delivered the 26 timbers, Karl and I laid them out and nailed them. The playground is looking sooo nice!!!

We finished the painting, the fence, the timbers, the track, the fence, the weeding, and everything else. We will have to come back on Thursday to spread the shale and mulch (pray that they deliver it, please)

Cheryl treated us for lunch today..PAPA JOHNS pizza. The world's most awesome pizza (in my opinion) She is very thankful to us for the work we've done and for the supplies we've purchased. ($500.00 to date)

Some cool news is: Reid Doster from Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Disaster Response, has reimbursed us for all those supplies. What an awesome supplies!! ( I mean surprise!) Reid also put us in contact with a guy who is getting us work tomorrow. I think we are painting a women's house. Oh man, here we come... loaded with paint. It could get messy.

After work, (we showered of course) but then we went to mexican place and had some good food. I hid Ally's leftovers from Hoover. That boy can eat!!! (But I didn't want him eating any more refined beans)

We then treated the group to a movie. Evan Almighty...we thought it was appropriate. Ping Pong, Rummy, Devotions, and bed.

Please continue to pray for us. We celebrated some close calls tonight. I almost hit Nancy's finger with a spade shovel (it would have been real bad), Josiah almost lowered the skidsteer bucket on my arm and head, Nancy almost got hit in the head with a 3lbs. sledge hammer, John almost rear ended our van with his and I almost backed into a white mustang. Come to think about it...I was involved in each one of those. Hmmm. Not good-maybe I should get some sleep. Keep praying for us (me) :)

For our growth, others good and God's glory!

Relief Team Day #3 (it's a long one)

2007-06-25T23:26:00.000-05:00

WORK!!! We are ready. For the next four days we will be on a consistant schedule. 6:15am Breakfast. 7am Quiet Time (students work in their journals, read the bible, pray...by themselves. It's a good way to start the day) 7:30am head to work.

The church we are staying at has a full kitchen and we have full access. We had made a trip to the grocery store to purchase cereal, fruit, bagels, juice and other breakfast items. Each day two students have the responsibility of getting everything out (buffet style) and cleaning up.

It was a little hard to get up this morning, at least for the guys. We stayed up quite late talking about our experience on Sunday. There is nothing like Bourbon Street to get a good talk going about how women are treated in our culture. We concluded that we need to use the same system that God uses to value girls (people in general). That conclusion is a shot in the face of our culture. I pray that these young men continue to grow in integrity and character.

We drove to the Abney Elementary School this morning. The school is in a mixed race community...always has been. After the storm, three feet of water, it needed a major cleaning. Groups came in and threw away everything. Even books and supplies that could have been salvaged. Teachers lost everything in their rooms. But appartently this school was not as bad as some because it's enrollment jumped high. Suddenly teachers, who had little resources, were dealing with much bigger classes.

Note: This county has had a jump of 75,000 - 100,000 in population since Katrina. Many left New Orleans and came north of Lake Ponchartrain. The stress of life in this county can be seen in a recent newspaper. They listed the divources that were filed in the past 5 weeks. 148 couples have ended their marriages in the last 35 days.

So that's the area we are working in. The pre-school program that operates in this school has been left to cope on their own. They have 80 pre-schoolers and only recently have they been given an area large enough for them to have a playground.

Enter: Gulf Coast Relief Team. Our contact is one of the pre-school teachers, Cheryl. She has spent much of her own money to get stuff ready for us.

The pictures we bring back will tell the story so much better, but here we go. The grass had been mowed for, must be a month. So that looked bad. The tires that kids play on looked like they were last painted in the 1990's. There are play structures scattered around but none have mulch under them. The toys that are around are...well, just around. There are no areas that look like a playground.

The to-do list included: Mowing, weed whacking, painting the tires, racking the entire area, building an 8x8 sand box, building a 150' foot bike path out of shale rock, oulining all the play structures with landscaping timbers, building a picket 50' fence to inclose a kiddy kitchen play area, paint a shed, spread mulch around trees, and weed some stuff.

Everyone jumped right in. Ahmin, Sam and Josiah took care of the mowing and trimming. Ally started on the shed. Ben, Sean and Sarah started painting the tires. Karl and Nancy raked. John and I set to work to figure out materials. I drove to the hardware store 3 times by the end of the day.

We were told that a skid steer was available to us to move sand, mulch and shale. Josiah answered the call and spent, I'm guessing, 4 hours on it. The sand was to cover exposed tree roots, level the ground in places but mostly to put a base down for the 10' wide 150' long bike path. We used landscaping timbers to outine the track and hold in the shale. Each timber had to be pre-drilled three times and 12" re-rod (rebar) driven in to hold them in place.

John and Sam started on the play fence. They had a posthole digger and made fast work of the first side of the fence. Each 6' picket had to be cut in two and have decorative cuts made before they could be put on.

Ally decided to paint the shed with an animal background. Two horses are now looking out of the shed doors and little flowers are growing on either side. Very cute!!!

Karl, Ben and Sean worked out a system to carry the timbers to the power supply (200 feet away) drill the three holes and carry them back to Ahmin and I as we laid them out and hammered them place.

Sarah kept painting the tires. (She is so done painting the tires) By the end of the day we put a power drill in her hand and she smiled very big.

The track was ready for shale so Josiah started hauling it. He is getting really good at operating it. We ended up running out of shale half way through. There will be more delivered tomorrow.

We ended the day at 4pm and desparetly needed showers...man are we dirty. The church has a shower trailor in the parking lot. It is very nice and clean...and most importantly the water is wet.

I was trying to find a mexican restaurant for dinner but had no luck. I was sick of driving around so I decided to change our plans. (I was planning to surprise the students on Wednesday night...but they worked so hard today) I pulled into OSAKA, Japanese Hibachi Steak House. These are the kinds where the chef stands at your table and entertains you while he cooks your meal. I love to be with students when they experience first. Ally, Sarah, Ben, Josiah and John V. had never been to this type of restaurant. Holy Cow! Did we ever have a good time. Our chef was the most entertaining I've ever had and the food was amazing. Good times.

Before bed each night we have devotions. It's a good time for us to come together and discuss our day and have some time to pray. Time for bed!

Relief Team Day 2

2007-06-24T23:00:00.000-05:00

We woke up this morning and had to pack up everything and move it into storage. Our bedroom doubles as a sunday school room and they don't appreciate sleeping bags and dirty clothes left in their room. Go figure.

John Vautier decided we needed to start the day out right...and took us to IHOP. Unfortunatly, Ilene was not our server. That would have been real funny. It was a great breakfast and was also a learning experience for our Lincoln youth. "You mean people actually use this garbage" speaking about the "maple syrup" on our table. There was only one thing to do...I ran out to our van and grab a can of the pure Vermont Maple Syrup we brought to give as gifts. (Chuck, I owe you money for one log cabin because we used it for our own consumption)

We drove over to Jim and Nancy's to pick up Ally and Sarah. They too had an amazing breakfast. (And a good sleep...in real beds) The boys caught a wild duck and Josiah hit a turtle with a rock. We spent a little more time chatting with the Thompson's before we left for church.

We hit the road and headed for downtown New Orleans. And it was downtown. The church was in a poor area that had been hit hard by Katrina. New St. Marks Missionary Baptist Church, welcomed us very warmly. We were escorted toward the front of the church by the ushers. We were their guest of honor. The church had three feet of water in it after Katrina and needed to be completly gutted. Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Disaster Relief group was key to getting the church back. New St. Marks has two other church congregations using the building for worship.

It was a small congregation today, about 30. BUT they were loud and lively-vocal in their praise to God! There was a lot of music (provided by the band) and alot of "AMEN's" and "preach it pastor"

Pastor Ike Mayfield invited me to sit with him on the platform. I was honored, but a bit uncomfortable. (Forgetting my razor and showing up with stubble didn't help...but it was great because the provide water and orange juice on the platform....Dave, take note!)

Ike was gracious. He had the group stand up and the folks applauded. He wanted to make sure we knew how thankful they were. "Sometimes people around here don't show thankfulness...but we are very thankful" he said.

Pastor Ike is now my hero...he has a monogrammed preaching rag. "Pastor Ike Mayfield, Jr" Very cool!

After worship, we drove to pick up Nancy Stevens. She took a shuttle to the French Quarter and we met her there. We took Mary Lou Hardings advice and went to "Mother's" for lunch. It was certainly a local favorite and had many local options on the menu. Ally, Ahmin, and Ben opted for salad. Josiah and I were brave and went with seafood. Karl Krahn "Hoover" cleaned everyones plates.

After lunch we took a self-guided walking tour of downtown. It was fun, but kind of sad too. We saw a lot of drug, sex and alcohol abuse. I came away feeling that Katrina was only one of there problems. There was, however, a street jazz band playing that was fun to watch.

Then we drove through the lower 9th ward. The houses looked very much like they did when we all watched the TV coverage. The spray painted symbols left by groups clearing the houses days after the storm, were still very visable. FEMA trailors seemed to be on every other driveway. Locals say it will take 10 years to get back to "normal".

The day was really an emotional roller coaster. But one we felt was preparation for the work we are getting ready to do. "For our growth, others good and God's glory!"

Relief Team Update #1 part B

2007-06-23T23:00:00.000-05:00

Thank you all for praying for our trip and safety. The flight down was problem free. The planes were on time and all the luggage arrived. We picked up our rental vans and headed to lunch. For a little taste of New Orleans we ate at a unique restaurant...McDonalds. We did stop at Sam's Cafe first, but the young lady behind the counter was also the cook and told us we were welcome to stay, but it would probably be a long experience. We appreciated her honesty and went up the road.

We got to our host church and unpacked. We're really spoiled here. Ping Pong, XBOX, Pool Table, and a Baskin Robbins ice cream shop across the street. We crashed for four hours and then drove 2 miles over to Jim and Nancy Thompson's house. Jim is Linda Norton, Bruce Goodyear, Lorraine Patterson, Lisa Prescott's and David Thompson's cousin. (that makes him the first cousin "once removed" of Josiah and I) He spent many summers in Lincoln growing up.

Jim and Nancy were very gracious host. They made us a big spaghetti dinner and provided a great place to spend our first evening in Louisiana. With a big pond off their back yard and a air conditioned house...we were once again feeling spoiled. They also allowed Sarah and Ally to sleep there our first night because Nancy Stevens does not arrive until Sunday.

In devotions we talked about the many things we can be thankful.

11pm to bed

Relief Team Day #1

2007-06-23T02:49:00.000-05:00

It's almost 4am...(yawn!!!)

We're headed up to BTV. We should be in New Orleans by lunch time. I think we have everything. So we kissed our family goodbye and are getting ready to jump into whatever God has for us.

God, I don't understand why you continue to use us; we are so flawed. We give you all our uselessness and pray that you change it. Please, help us to remember that we are serving YOU. Amen.

Glory Day

2007-06-15T10:51:00.000-05:00

It's not too late to sign up!!!!! Please email me or call me to reserve a spot ASAP!

Glory Day June 30th

8am Leave the church in Lincoln
10am Arrive at the park
7pm Leave the park
***Dinner at a drive-thru type restaurant
9:30pm Arrive at the church in Lincoln

$25.00 includes transportation and admission to Six Flags (Great Escape)

NOTE: MEAL OPTION (you can bring your own lunch or....)
For $10.00 you can go with us to the NORTH WOODS PICNIC GROVE. It's right on the grounds of the park and Glory Day has reserved the space for an "ALL YOU CAN EAT" picnic buffet lunch. Burgers, hotdogs, fruit salad, macaroni salad, baked beans, potatoe chips, assorted beverages and ice cream desserts. I would recommend this option. You can make your check of $35.00 payable to USM.

Also, remember that Great Escape has Splashwater Kingdom...so bring a towel and a bathing suit. Lockers can be rented for $5.00 (the money is refundable if you return the key)

Father's Day Softball Game

2007-06-14T10:04:00.000-05:00

Sunday, June 17th on the Lincoln Sports Field at 3pm. Ages 12 and up

Wearing my new Yankees hat

2007-06-13T21:54:00.000-05:00

Todd turned 32!

Check out the USM Relief Team T-Shirt

2007-06-11T16:24:00.000-05:00

Whiffle Ball

2007-06-10T16:14:00.000-05:00

Matt and Todd constructed a whiffle ball field behind the church that is open to all. You can read about the field here: http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070610/COLUMNISTS03/706100301/1053

We've also been using it on Sunday nights. "Take me out to the ball game..."

CongraTulations!

2007-06-09T20:00:00.000-05:00

Sarah Luke, Ryan L'Heureux, Trent Roleau, Lynn Sipsey, Josiah Thompson, Kayla Jimmo. Mt. Abe Class of 2007

Katrina Relief Cafe

2007-05-26T16:33:00.000-05:00

The first commercial test of the milkshake machine is a success! During the Town Wide Lawn Sale, the Relief Team set up a cafe to sell American Flatbread pizzas and milkshakes. The results were amazing. We sold all our food and people kept saying how good everything tasted. We also had US Senator Bernie Sanders stop by for about 30 minutes. Jim Brown schooled him in Carpet Ball.

2007-05-26T16:00:00.000-05:00

First Baptist of Barre

2007-05-22T16:16:00.000-05:00

We made another successful "Road Trip". The students and leaders in Barre made us a Spaghetti Dinner and home-made ice cream sandwiches. We taught them how to play "ONU" and conducted the kissing experiment. We also performed the sign skit. They may have been a little scared the more we told stories. In fact, I was shaking my head a little while I listened to all our crazy memories.

Job Matches

2007-05-10T07:50:00.000-05:00

There are a lot of opportunities for students to earn money toward future USM events. I've scheduled some yard work Job Matches on May 11 and 12 starting at 8am. All students welcome...meet at church.

Church Council Rocks! OH YEAH!

2007-04-30T17:46:00.001-05:00

Pray for Ellen

2007-04-29T17:42:00.000-05:00

Ellen is going to Boston for back surgery on Wednesday. Please pray for her and maybe drop her a card.

Military Whist Marathon

2007-04-24T21:36:00.000-05:00

Do you have any idea what this game is like? No? Well, here's your change to learn. Saturday, 4/28 the Relief Team is hosting a 7pm - 9pm Military Whist Party. If you'd like to stay for the entire Marathon (until 7am) you can. Just let me know.

Milkshakes for everyone

2007-04-22T21:25:00.000-05:00

Tonight we did some work to pay for our new milkshake machine. As promised, next sunday night we'll be making milkshakes for all!

The coolest group ever

2007-04-21T11:09:00.000-05:00

Avalanche Ranch started out cold, got warm on Thursday, hot on Friday and ended "cool". The coolest group ever got together for the "Amazing Dinner Race". Ally, Megan, Emily, Patience, Sean, Ben, Sam, Ahmin, Jacob, Wayne, Steve, Conor, Dillon, and Isaac were grouped into three teams that raced for two hours trying to get their dinner the fastest. After a pizza dinner at the Old Hotel, we made use of Nancy's hottub and fire ring. Congrats to Emily, Ben, Conor, Dillon and Ahmin. They won the race.
Note: Josiah, Aliza, Ellen, Nate, Samantha also helped make VBS great!

Avalanche Ranch

2007-04-11T18:21:00.000-05:00

Spring Break VBS starts on Monday. If you want to help...you can!
Friday, 3pm: Building projects/painting
Saturday, 9am: Set-assembly
Monday - Friday: 8:30am - 12noon "VBS"

Easter Week Schedule

2007-04-01T12:27:00.000-05:00

April 1,
Palm Sunday 6:30pm- Surprise Trip to Karl Krahn's church
April 5,
Communion 7:00pm- The church is recreating the last supper
April 6,
Good Friday 12 noon- Ally, Aliza and Todd will be acting at St. Ambrose. All students are invited. You must have a note from home excusing you from school. Our van will be at Mt. Abe at 11:45am and will have you back by 1:15pm.
April 8,
Sunrise Service 6:00am- Gove Hill (followed by breakfast at Burnham)
Easter Service 9:45am

(There will be no Oasis, Oxygen or Sunday night on Easter)

Spring Food Drive

2007-03-14T21:02:00.000-05:00

Help fill the Bristol Food Shelf! First, we'll meet on Thursday at 1pm and drive around Lincoln delivering "Food Drive" Flyers. And then on Sunday at 5:30pm, we'll go back around and pick up the food. Both times we'll meet at the church.

Van to the Championship

2007-03-09T18:15:00.001-05:00

You can get a ride to Barre for free! The Mt. Abe boys are in the Finals at 7:30pm on Saturday night. Cost is $3.00 per student, but you need to buy a ticket ahead of time. The van is leaving the church at 5:45pm. First come, first serve.

Switchfoot Concert

2007-02-25T18:53:00.000-05:00

Switchfoot is coming to Vermont!! Tickets are $20 (reasonable for a concert) and it will be held at Higher Ground in Burlington on March 6th. The van will leave the church at 6:30pm....the concert starts at 8pm. Copeland is opening for them, so we probably won't be home 'til 11pm. If you are interested, let Todd know as soon as possible.
http://www.switchfoot.com http://www.thecopelandsite.com/

Coming Up...

2007-02-25T12:34:00.000-05:00

We’ll be lining up more “Road Trips”, hopefully one at the end of the month. Also, mark your calendar for a Food Drive on March 18^th. This is when the Food Pantries get low on food.

Mike Viera started out our “Faith and my Job” series last month. Thanks for coming, Mike! We’ll be having one guest a month - come and see our next guest speaker.

DVD

2007-02-22T09:43:00.001-05:00

The first ever, year-in-review DVD is ready. Matt Brown put an amazing amount of time into this project...it's pretty awesome. You can pick yours up for $5.00.

Link to Church Website

2007-02-22T09:37:00.000-05:00

www.unitedchurchoflincoln.org

Sledding and Whatnot

2007-02-22T09:29:00.000-05:00

If you're on some nice vacation with your family...good for you!

If you've got a job and trying to pay for car insurance...how nice!

BUT, if you're b-o-r-e-d silly......

Come outside...and what not. Yes, I said "what not". You say "what not" when, either you don't know what to say or you're too lazy to finish the sentence.

Friday 1pm - 4pm Meet at the church

The following "What Not" day may or may not include:

sledding on Gove Hill
meeting Martha Stewart
creating snow sculptures
getting a pedicure from Sarah Luke
playing in the a"mazing" maze
learning how to refurbish an antique chair
eating popcorn and watching a movie
playing carpet ball
sledding down the Gap Road
listening to Todd practice his sermon for next week

The list is endless. And if you're truly bored...then all of those sounded like potential winners.

At least come prepared to get in the snow!

Welcome

2007-02-22T09:12:00.000-05:00

Welcome to the new United Student Ministries "whats going on?" page. If all goes well, our events and "goings on" will be posted here regularly.