On the way home today!

Here's a few more pictures to look at. See you this evening.

Friday Afternoon

Let's catch up a little first:
On Thursday, we finished our work projects. Then the United Methodist church who works closely with Youthworks, put on a community dinner for us (spaghetti). Then some of the youth played ultimate frisbee on the sopping wet field and got very muddy.
It was club night which means time for foot washing. It is always very emotional as we are reminded of what Jesus did but it was especially rough for the older ones who are heading off to college.

Since lights out was extended until 12:30 we had a few tired ones this morning when we got up at 7 . We packed up though and were on the road by 9. Skies today have been overcast and we should arrive about 6:30 in Atlanta at our next church Rivercliff Lutheran Church & School. We hope to have wireless internet access so that we can upload some of the photos we took. Tomorrow is our day at 6 Flags Waterpark and then
we head home on Sunday! (We did add three pictures to our Picasaweb site).

Weather Report - We are safe!

We just wanted to post a notice that we are all safe in Marvell. There was a severe weather band that passed through the area and some tornado watches in the area but none in Marvell itself. All the bad weather is now gone and we are all fine.

Thursday Report

Despite the radar yesterday, we did not have any rain in Marvell yesterday. The work group was able to move back outside and work on the houses they are scraping. Today they finished scraping the houses and were able to return to the community center to put a second coat of paint on the areas they had worked on.

The VBS group was able to go to a retirement center this morning and visit with some of the seniors. Some of the students were treated to some tales from a resident who is 103 years old and gospel singing by his daughter.

Last night, after showers and dinner, they traveled to a local Methodist church for a worship service that was designed especially for the Youth Works group. The church works closely with Youth Works and loves the students who come to serve. The students were treated to ice cream, compliments of the church, after the service. Tonight, after they finish working and showers, the students will host a barbecue for the community and say their farewells to their new friends. So far everyone is doing well and our students are being amazing ambassadors for Christ in Marvell.

Tomorrow the our youth will pack, clean the facility and head out in the morning for Atlanta where they will spend the night at Rivercliff Lutheran Church before going to Six Flags Water Park on Saturday. The students will be given their cell phones in the morning, so you may be hearing from them during the drive. Also, look for more pictures tomorrow night as we will be able to upload the pictures easier once we are in Atlanta.

A couple more pictures are available on Picasaweb - Thursday.

Wednesday Morning

Tuesday it rained most of the day. The work group moved from scraping and painting out doors to a community center where they were able to work on painting projects inside. At the completion of the work day, everyone enjoyed showers, dinner and then off to the wildlife refuge center where they were able to take a short hike and learn about some of the local wildlife. They also learned some creative new songs like the Scat song. Today the youth in the work group and the youth in the VBS group will switch jobs. Hopefully the weather will hold out so they can return to their house painting and the group running the sports camp can return to their outdoor activities.

The other church that is at Youth Works is a Lutheran church from a small town in Minnesota. This is the first time they have taken their high school students on a mission trip so it has been exciting for them to work alongside our youth and it has been a great opportunity for our students to help them understand what servant events are all about. Everyone is getting along very well and besides some bug bites, there have been no major injuries J.

Tuesday Pictures

Some pictures from Tuesday. Check them out!

Tuesday Report

We are sorry for not having as many updates as we would like. We just don’t have any internet access so this report is coming via telephone:

Last night was a fun evening after a hard day of work. After supper we all went to the Yellow store – a thrift store. Many youth and adults purchased clothes for a fashion show. It was quite a site to see.

In the end, two people had to do a strut off but Roger Allen won!

We also went to visit a cotton field where Mr. Hall explained all about how cotton is grown and harvested. We finished the evening with Root beer floats. Yummmmmmmm.

Day 2 - Tuesday

We woke up to rain again today and it rained almost all day. We went to visit local nursing homes and retirement centers and spent much of the day chatting with residents. The Kids club events were held inside and the painting crew painted the inside of a VFW hall.

Tonight is a pizza party. Pray for the rain to disappear for the next couple days!