That's right folks we have powered through the first half of the week and gearing up to power all the way through to the end. Yesterday we had the first full day experience at the gathering. The kids were hitting up all the booths in expo halls and getting as much free stuff as they could, like 10 pairs of cheap sunglasses. l didn't know you could use 10 pairs at one time. But more importantly the kids split up and were on their own while inside the convention center to explore and attend the breakout sessions and hear the speakers or go listen to some bands. l would love to cover all the topics that the speakers did but this way you will get to ask your kids some questions as to which ones they went to and what they were about. Also it will save me time so l can talk about more important things like another good dinner we had last night!! We ate more American style food with cheeseburgers, chicken strips, veggie burgers and steak strips and then brownies and ice cream for dessert.
After our dinner the kids were anxious to start heading to the dome so we could get in line and get to our seats as soon as they opened the doors. Again it was like a stampede as 20,000+ people are trying to get through about 20 doors(probably more but that's just what it seems like). lt was another high energy night and l hope we had some watching live because l got word from a former youth member that they saw us dancing around on the live stream!!! lf you missed it l guess you better watch tonight and hope that it happens again.
As mass event ended people shifted around in the dome and some left for nightlife activities, but several thousand stayed to be able to watch the Jesus painter and the guy that does sand art. lf you think those things sound pretty neat then look them up on youtube and you will be amazed at their talents.
Today will be pretty much the same as yesterday schedule wise(super jam packed).
Thank you for all the prayers you have been giving up this week and we ask that you continue to do so as we are hitting the downhill. We want to make sure that it's not a race to the end of the week and that we should be here enjoying every minute we have. Don't get me wrong, l know several people that can't wait to sleep in their own beds and l'm sure all of the kids miss their parents and siblings too. We as adult leaders and really enjoying getting to know the kids more as the week goes on and also enjoying the funny stuff they say/do as they get tired throughout the day.
Well everyone will be waking probably be waking up in the next 30min or so to get ready for our quick breakfast and then off to the convention center.
QOTD
"why didn't we get goodnight gifts?"......."because you get good morning gifts, what what"
POTD
For we are here to praise
Remember the Alamo
Everywhere we go
Enough fun can not be had
So much to see
What a great time it is
Awake awake
Good golly let's go!!
Wednesday, July 3, 2013
Tuesday, July 2, 2013
It's tye-dye tuesday
Good morning San Antonio!!!!!
And good morning to every other city that people are watching us from.
Well, it was a late night. lt was a quite the learning experience for some. lt may have been overwhelming for others. From what l heard though....it was awesome, incredible, so exciting. . .and tiring. Yes, people are already a little tired and the gathering just started last night!!!! But don't worry cause we slept last night and l'm sure everyone is waking up nice and refreshed and a few have gotten our morning workouts in.
Just a few more notes about last night(just enough to make you want to ask your kids what some of this is all about). We had another delicious dinner of fajita's, chips and salsa and cinnamon churros for dessert! Since the mass event doors don't open until 730pm and we finished eating at 6pm we had to head over so we could get good seats. By the time we got to the Alamo Dome doors there were already a couple thousand people there waiting! For some this was no surprise, but for others it was an eye opener. Groups play games and talk and take pictures to pass the time outside as well as say prayers of thankfulness that it didn't start raining. When the doors open for mass event the YAVs (Young Adult Volunteers) stay in front of the herd of youth to make sure they don't run down the halls, aisles or rows of chairs so as to keep some sense of control. We made our way around to the side and everyone made it without having to look for a single person!!! We even had a surprise visit to our area by the one and only Leah Abel!!! Mass event was filled with dancing, clapping, singing, shouting and cheering. And we found out that since our group is so big that if we all start doing the same actions we can get the whole crowd to start doing our actions in a matter of a minute or two.
Today we are having a more "to-go" style breakfast and headed to the convention center at 9am and break-out sessions, speakers and bands start at 10am. Today will be spent in the convention center until we head out for our group dinner and then to tonights mass event. lt is great to hear all the things that the kids are looking forward to and with so many that have not been to a gathering us adults are excited to see how they react and what they get out of this whole experience.
l would like to make a quick side note about the YAVs. Some may not realize this but St. Lukes has about 9 college kids who paid to be here to volunteer for up to 15hrs on some days so that the high school kids could have all of this. Some may remember the car washes that were hosted by college students at St. Lukes and those funds that were raised helped those students get to San Antonio this week. We are so thankful for the thousands of YAVs that are here doing so much work so we can have a good time. Please keep them in your prayers as they were here a day before us and working harder than we are.
Quote of The Day
"Every high five is one step closer to pink eye"
(don't worry, no one has pink eye)
POTD
We came to this city
Here we LiveLoved
Everywhere there is Christ
Really long days
Eating good food
San Antonio is great
Tasting local eats
Headed to the dome in hoards
Everyone has
Blue backpacks everywhere
Under the sky
San Antonio is alive with Christ
And good morning to every other city that people are watching us from.
Well, it was a late night. lt was a quite the learning experience for some. lt may have been overwhelming for others. From what l heard though....it was awesome, incredible, so exciting. . .and tiring. Yes, people are already a little tired and the gathering just started last night!!!! But don't worry cause we slept last night and l'm sure everyone is waking up nice and refreshed and a few have gotten our morning workouts in.
Just a few more notes about last night(just enough to make you want to ask your kids what some of this is all about). We had another delicious dinner of fajita's, chips and salsa and cinnamon churros for dessert! Since the mass event doors don't open until 730pm and we finished eating at 6pm we had to head over so we could get good seats. By the time we got to the Alamo Dome doors there were already a couple thousand people there waiting! For some this was no surprise, but for others it was an eye opener. Groups play games and talk and take pictures to pass the time outside as well as say prayers of thankfulness that it didn't start raining. When the doors open for mass event the YAVs (Young Adult Volunteers) stay in front of the herd of youth to make sure they don't run down the halls, aisles or rows of chairs so as to keep some sense of control. We made our way around to the side and everyone made it without having to look for a single person!!! We even had a surprise visit to our area by the one and only Leah Abel!!! Mass event was filled with dancing, clapping, singing, shouting and cheering. And we found out that since our group is so big that if we all start doing the same actions we can get the whole crowd to start doing our actions in a matter of a minute or two.
Today we are having a more "to-go" style breakfast and headed to the convention center at 9am and break-out sessions, speakers and bands start at 10am. Today will be spent in the convention center until we head out for our group dinner and then to tonights mass event. lt is great to hear all the things that the kids are looking forward to and with so many that have not been to a gathering us adults are excited to see how they react and what they get out of this whole experience.
l would like to make a quick side note about the YAVs. Some may not realize this but St. Lukes has about 9 college kids who paid to be here to volunteer for up to 15hrs on some days so that the high school kids could have all of this. Some may remember the car washes that were hosted by college students at St. Lukes and those funds that were raised helped those students get to San Antonio this week. We are so thankful for the thousands of YAVs that are here doing so much work so we can have a good time. Please keep them in your prayers as they were here a day before us and working harder than we are.
Quote of The Day
"Every high five is one step closer to pink eye"
(don't worry, no one has pink eye)
POTD
We came to this city
Here we LiveLoved
Everywhere there is Christ
Really long days
Eating good food
San Antonio is great
Tasting local eats
Headed to the dome in hoards
Everyone has
Blue backpacks everywhere
Under the sky
San Antonio is alive with Christ
Real quick opening night update
So it is a little late and l will apologize for no photos yet but hoping to have them up in the morning. We had some good exploring today around the riverwalk area, hemifair park and then had some fun in the alamo dome for our opening mass event. The kids were filled with energy and ready for the dancing and singing for mass event. It is always such an incredible sight to see the thousands of people singing and dancing and clapping together. We did try out a little bit of the 'night life' scene at another hotel which included what they called "texas style dancing"......well there was some of that going on. Then it was back to the hotel with tired kids looking to get some much needed shut eye.
Well this is goodnight from San Antonio and thank you for keeping us in your prayers for the day and hopefully everyone gets some good sleep tonight and is ready for more fun tomorrow!!!!
Monday, July 1, 2013
Good morning San Antonio
Well we are officially starting our first full day in San Antonio. There were a few that started the day at 5:30 a.m. in the fitness center and others will be starting their day at about 8 am (30min before we leave for breakfast). Just to clarify; the gatherings first event is tonight at 8:30 pm (central time) and will be live streamed!!! Just go to the gathering website and look for the link. You can also check out the guide book that we received in our backpacks and those have all the information we need for the week from speakers to see to maps of the convention center and city area.
We finished last night with a little devo time and then passing out the official NYG backpacks. For those that don't know about the backpacks they are something that is looked forward to every time. The color is kept in secret until just weeks before the gathering starts and can almost be called a type of NYG social media. The kids started decorating/signing backpacks last night and usually continue to do so all week as they meet new people. It is also an incredible sight to see the thousands of backpacks walking up and down the streets and knowing that every person wearing one is there for the same reason....to learn more about God and to share more about God.
Quick look at our day here:
We are lucky enough to be eating breakfast at 8:30 am (very late in the morning for most mission trips) at Denny's today!!! Then we have a pretty relaxing day where we will get to know the area by doing a little exploring. Tonight we'll have another dinner on the riverwalk.
We'll do our best to share what is going on throughout the week but our schedules are quite full.
Some prayer requests for the day are for positive attitudes, controlled excitement and for the kids to have FUN. Thank you.
Poem of the day to come later...........
Let us begin things right
Every had a good night
The Alamo was quite a sight
San Antonio is quite
God filled
Outta this world fun
We finished last night with a little devo time and then passing out the official NYG backpacks. For those that don't know about the backpacks they are something that is looked forward to every time. The color is kept in secret until just weeks before the gathering starts and can almost be called a type of NYG social media. The kids started decorating/signing backpacks last night and usually continue to do so all week as they meet new people. It is also an incredible sight to see the thousands of backpacks walking up and down the streets and knowing that every person wearing one is there for the same reason....to learn more about God and to share more about God.
Quick look at our day here:
We are lucky enough to be eating breakfast at 8:30 am (very late in the morning for most mission trips) at Denny's today!!! Then we have a pretty relaxing day where we will get to know the area by doing a little exploring. Tonight we'll have another dinner on the riverwalk.
We'll do our best to share what is going on throughout the week but our schedules are quite full.
Some prayer requests for the day are for positive attitudes, controlled excitement and for the kids to have FUN. Thank you.
Poem of the day to come later...........
Let us begin things right
Every had a good night
The Alamo was quite a sight
San Antonio is quite
God filled
Outta this world fun
Sunday, June 30, 2013
Everyone is still here
For those of you that are going to be following us for the week l would like to start things off with a big thank you for all the support that the youth have received and thank you for any and all prayers.
We all made it to the airport and they closed off special lines for our group to go through security and only a couple of the adult leaders needed to get a pat down. The kids are gathered at the gate area and eating lunches, snacks and of course lots of Starbucks is being consumed. I think we have already made a big impression on people here at the airport as they watched 55 people walk through with matching safety green shirts.
Now for those of you that followed us last year you may remember that we had a poem of the day and YES it is back again!!!! For the newbies this poem does not always make sense to anyone except the person who wrote it. Here we gooooo!!!!
NYG
On the way
Kicking off
NYG
In St. Luke's style
Very excited kids
Eager for the mass events
San Antonio will never be the same
We all made it to the airport and they closed off special lines for our group to go through security and only a couple of the adult leaders needed to get a pat down. The kids are gathered at the gate area and eating lunches, snacks and of course lots of Starbucks is being consumed. I think we have already made a big impression on people here at the airport as they watched 55 people walk through with matching safety green shirts.
Now for those of you that followed us last year you may remember that we had a poem of the day and YES it is back again!!!! For the newbies this poem does not always make sense to anyone except the person who wrote it. Here we gooooo!!!!
NYG
On the way
Kicking off
NYG
In St. Luke's style
Very excited kids
Eager for the mass events
San Antonio will never be the same
Quote of the day
"l would have climbed that tree if l had lept....like a panther leap(insert panther paw action with hands)"
At the airport
We are through security and getting checked in to our flight. Everyone is smiling and ready to go! :)
Wednesday, June 26, 2013
Only a few days....
until the start of the 2013 National Youth Gathering. Watch here for updates from our group or check out feeds from the gathering at:
www.lcmsgathering.com
twitter.com/lcmsnyg
www.facebook.com/LCMSYG
http://instagram.com/lcmsnyg/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lcmsyg
http://vimeo.com/lcmsyouthministry
Q: Will Dome Events (Mass Events & Thursday Worship) be livestreamed?
A: Yes! You will find a prominent link on the Gathering homepage. The livestream will begin about 30 minutes before the event begins (around 8pm on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday night; 7pm on Thursday; and 8:30 am on Friday).
www.facebook.com/LCMSYG
http://instagram.com/lcmsnyg/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lcmsyg
http://vimeo.com/lcmsyouthministry
Q: Will Dome Events (Mass Events & Thursday Worship) be livestreamed?
A: Yes! You will find a prominent link on the Gathering homepage. The livestream will begin about 30 minutes before the event begins (around 8pm on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday night; 7pm on Thursday; and 8:30 am on Friday).
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