YOUTH MISSION TEAM 2007
Pasadena ... First Inverness
MISSION TRIP DAILY UPDATES
JULY 7-14, 2007
"Having the Hearts of Servants & Spreading God's Love"
Jesus said: “For even I, the Son of Man, came here not to be served but to serve others"
GOD ONLY HAD ONE SON AND HE SENT HIM ON A MISSION TRIP
IF WE ATTEMPT GREAT THINGS FOR GOD … WE CAN EXPECT GREAT THINGS FROM GOD
THE MARK OF A GREAT CHURCH IS NOT ITS SEATING CAPACITY… BUT RATHER ITS SENDING CAPACITY
"SENDERS" ARE AS VITAL AS "GOERS"
Welcome...and thank your for your interest in and your support of our Youth Mission Team 2007 and our mission trip to North Carolina. We seek and welcome your prayers for each member of our team...for our mission service...and for those to whom we will be ministering.
Each day I will will post updates below on our mission service and all that we are doing. Please check back!
We will arrive at our mission site on Sunday, July 8, and will begin posting our updates then.
I will be posting updates late every evening after our youth have gone to bed...so my postings will be made after midnight each night. We are dependent on Internet access and web site reliability...so if you don't see a posting each day please know that we have been technically challenged. I will also post photos each day as well.
God Bless You All ... Thanks for your Prayers & Support. Knowing that you are all praying for us is awesome. We are blessed.
God will change our youth's lives this week ... just as He has on all of our trips. We will not be bringing home the same youth that we leave with.They will never be the same again. We look forward to sharing with all of you what God has done with us ... to us ... and for us this week.
Miss Joy and I are blessed, honored, and privileged to serve our PPC Youth Ministry. Our thanks to Pastor Carl, our Session, our congregation ... and a special thanks to our Youth Ministry parents for allowing Miss Joy and I to share in the lives of your awesome kids.
God Bless
Steve Edwards - Director of Youth Ministries
Youth Mission Team Director
Pasadena Team Members: Sara, Lena, Joy, David, Tyler, Steve
First Inverness Team Members: Hannah, Ashley, Jaymee, Whitney, Freddie, Denise,
!!! CLICK ON "YOUTH MISSION TEAM 2007 PHOTOS" TO SEE OUR YOUTH IN ACTION !!!
PLEASE NOTE
Messages to us can be emailed to steve.youthministry@gmail.com .... Please put ... "Youth MissionTeam 2007" in the subject line. I will relay all messages to our mission team ... or to the individual you designate.
SUNDAY, JULY 8, 6:30PM / MONDAY, JULY 9, 1AM
PRAISE GOD FOR SAFE TRAVEL!
Pasadena and First Inverness have arrived safely in Hendersonville.
We picked up our brothers and sisters from First Inverness at the Wildwood exit Saturday morning. We told them we would be there at 7:30am. We pulled in at 7:29. God is in all the details! We had breakfast together to renew old friendships and make new ones. In the same restaurant was a group of youth from Louisiana on their way home from a youth trip. Our first day on the road was a good one. As always, we shared the highway with many church buses and vans full of youth on summer trips. Lots of honking and waving. We arrived spirit filled, happy, healthy, and safe at Presbyterian College Saturday evening. After checking into the dorm we went to dinner. Following dinner we had group time and shared our praises, thanks, and prayers for what God has already done and is doing in us and through us. I did a message and shared scripture on God having a purpose for us and showing Himself to us. We are each asking God to show Himself to us this week in all that we do. Our two church groups have blended into one and have bonded. We are a family.
Our overnight at Presbyterian College in Clinton, South Carolina was great ... staying in dorm rooms. Dorm rooms have changed a lot since my college days. I got up early and went for a run through the beautiful campus. They have something here we runners in Florida don't see much of ... HILLS! We worshipped at First Presbyterian Church in Clinton this morning. The Pastor greeted us warmily and introduced us to the congregation during the service. His sermon was entitled ... "Called To Serve". He used our youth as an example of being called to serve in his sermon. Many from the congregation greeted and talked with us following the service. All of us are spirit filled ... happy ... and healthy and ready and excited about starting our mission experience. This afternoon after arriving in Hendersonville we had lunch and visited a general store. Being veterans of this trip, we knew what rooms we wanted in the motel in order to secure our bus and have good access. We prayed about it and then sent Miss Joy in to see if she could make these arrangements. The combination of God, prayer, and Miss Joy is awesome ... we are exactly where we want to be. It took over an hour to get Internet access to do this update. Wireless is not working well here. The evil one does not want me to get these reports to you each day ... so please pray about that. We had orientation and worship tonight. Tomorrow we head to our mission site. I will report on our mission work site tomorrow night.
If you do not see a report here any day please know that we are having Internet access problems.
Thanks to all for your prayers and support. Please keep them coming.
CHECK OUT OUR PHOTOS ... CLICK ON "YOUTH MISSION TEAM 2007 - PHOTOS"
Messages to us can be emailed to steve.youthministry@gmail.com Please put "YOUTH MISSION TEAM" in the subject line. I will pass on messages to the team or to the individual you designate.
God Bless,
Steve
1AM MONDAY ... WE ARE HAVING HARDWARE PROBLEMS WITH THE YOUTH MINISTRY LAP TOP COMPUTER. I MAY NOT BE ABLE TO CONTINUE THESE UPDATES. I SEEK YOUR PRAYERS.
MONDAY, JULY 9,
MISSION DAY ONE
Following morning devotions we headed for our mission site with anticipation and excitement. Our site manager is Hugh, a wonderful Christian with an extensive background in the type of mission work that we are doing. As always, confidentiality precludes our sharing all of the detials regarding the family we are serving. I will share what I can. This family, a mother and daughter, have gone through some very tragic times. They have also both suffered with long term debilitating illnesses. To their credit they have worked hard to help themselves, but have struggled. Their home is in a significant state of disrepair. After spending some personal time with the family, we went to work. We broke into teams and simultaneously worked on several tasks. The porch and the stairs are collapsing. One of our teams is working on bracing the porch ... a major job. We tore down the stairs and will build a new set from scratch. The exterior cellar door was hanging and rotted. Another team took on this project. Much of the facia has rotted and needs to be torn off and replaced, while in other areas there is no facia at all. We have a team working on those problems. The house has no gutters. This has caused tremendous water damage. We have a team devoted to assembling and hanging gutters. A painting team is working on the house as well as working together with the facia team. Joy, Denise, and I are very proud of our youth. Their work ethic is outstanding. Their teamwork is extraordinary. While they are working hard, they are taking care of each other, supporting and encouraging each other, and ministering to the family. This site is a massive job, and we are all devoted and dedicated to seeing it to completion. Tuesday morning we are going to do our own group devotions rather than joining the larger group (there are 7 churches here working on separate sites) ... so that we can leave early for our mission site and get started. We stayed late working on our site tonight, and by the time we got back to the motel all the hot water was gone (hey ... those of us who just returned from Ecuador felt right at home). No one complained. This group is dedicated to serving.
Parents and churches and all who are reading these updates ... please pray for and be proud of your youth. They are awesome. It is a blessing for me to lead them and to share the leadership with two very special people in my life .... my wife, Joy, and Denise from First Inverness. Denise is a dear friend of Joy and mine, and like a sister to us both.
I took over 100 pictures today as well as video. I will post some of the photos ... so please take a look.
We all seek and welcome your prayers. God hears them and we feel them.
Until tomorrow night ... God Bless, Steve
TUESDAY, JULY 10
MISSION DAY TWO
I would like to open tonight's update with a special message for a very special person. I write these updates after Joy and our youth have gone to sleep. Joy sometimes reads them in the morning if we have time ... but usually reads them after we get home. Today is Joy and my wedding anniversary. For many years we have celebrated our anniversary on our youth mission trips. God has richly blessed me with this incredible woman ... my wife, my partner in ministry, and my best friend. Joy ... when you read this message please know how much I love and appreciate you. Youth ministry is a blessing to me as are our trips with our youth. Our ministry and our trips are even more special because I am blessed to share them with you. HAPPY ANNIVERSARY MISS JOY.
We left early for our mission site and had devotions on our bus. We wanted to get an early start as we are challenged to get everything completed and there is much to do. Work continued simultaneously on all of our tasks and projects ... fascia, bracing the porch, building steps, gutter installation, and painting. Much progress was made and much remains to do. We are all spirit filled, happy, healthy, and tired ... a good tired. Tonight was a cookout in the park and worship. Steve and Joy had a very emotional reunion when Bobby, our mission site manager 5 years ago, came to visit (we have a picture on our photos page). We also stopped by to see the house we built with Bobby five years ago. It still looks great. After worship Denise and our youth took Joy and I for ice cream to celebrate our wedding anniversary which is today. For the last several years we have celebrated our anniversary on our youth mission trips. Our youth gave us a card which they had all signed, balloons, and cupcakes. Joy and I are blessed. Ben Cope has called us as has Patrick Parks. It is great to hear from them. Tomorrow will be a long and challenging day. Please keep us in your prayers.
Good night and God Bless ... Steve
MANY NEW PHOTOS ON THE PHOTOS PAGE
WEDNESDAY, JULY 11
MISSION DAY 3
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED !!! PRAISE GOD !!!
Today was our last day on our mission site. We were able to successfully complete all that we set out to do .... and more. GOD IS GOOD ... ALL THE TIME !!!
Our day started as always with devotions. ServiceWorks asked me to do devotions this morning for the entire group before all church groups dispersed for their respective work sites. I used passages from Matthew and also shared about our Ecuador mission trip.
We were blessed to have Gary, our site manager from last year come by to see us just as Bobby had last night. We have made great friends over the years.
We arrived at our site knowing that we were challenged ... with much remaining to be done ... this being our last day on our site ... and the strong threat of rain looming in the mountains. It rained a little this afternoon ... but we kept going. We worked very hard ... and stayed late on our site. God answered our prayers and we got it all done ... and more !!! The family for whom we worked was overwhelmed and so grateful. Their home looks wonderful and will be much more liveable now. I will post photos. SEE OUR PHOTOS PAGE 2.
Tonight we had a barbeque and then shared testimonies.
Tomorrow we do interpersonal ministry. Earlier this week I talked with ServiceWorks about a lady we visited 5 years ago and what a blessing she was. They arranged for us to visit her. Only Joy and I from our group were on that trip ... and we are excited that our group gets to meet her. Some of you may remember her story ... she is the lady that crochets American flags for the Presidents. We have had her picture on the wall of our Youth House for years.
Tomorrow night is our worship and closing. It is always very emotional ... especially when they show the DVD of our week.
Everyone is happy, healthy, safe, spirit filled, and tired.
Until tomorrow night ... Good night and God Bless ... Steve
THURSDAY, JULY 12
Today has been a great day for us. It started out especially blessed for me when I walked into the breakfast room and heard a very familiar sound ... the music of the "Victory Singers". What a great way to start the day. The ServiceWorks folks have a "Victory Singers" CD and they were playing it. For those from First Inverness ... the "Victory Singers" are a gospel group that I sing and play in.
Everyone surprised Jaymee by decorating her room while she was at breakfast in honor and celebration of the first anniversary of her adoption. Jaymee has been a blessing to us all and we loved being with her to rejoice on her special day.
Today we visited our friend from 5 years ago. Jennie is 95 years young and was so glad to see us. She shared many stories and pictures of her incredible life ... too many to relate here ... I encourage you to ask us about Jennie when we get home. We did some chores for her as well. Jennie blessed us all and we and she are anxious to hopefully see each other next year.
We were treated to lunch by the local Chick Fil A who graciously fed all 150 of us. We purchased a new hammock for the folks at whose home we worked this week. Their hammock was in bad condition and we wanted to surprise them.
This afternoon we walked the streets of historic downtown Hendersonville. The highlight as always was a stop in the world reknown MAST STORE.
Tonight we will have worship and the closing ceremony. When we get back we will pack and begin loading the bus for an early departure tomorrow morning. We head to Charlotte tomorrow. Our first stop is the new Billy Graham Library and Museum. Then we are on to Carowinds. We will overnight tomorrow night in Columbia, SC ... and then Saturday we are on the road all day inbound for home.
This will be my last trip update. It will be late when we get back from worship and closing tonight and we have to start loading our bus. Friday night we will drive to Columbia and may not have Internet capabilities where we are staying. I hope that you have all enjoyed and been lifted up and inspired by our reports and photos and what God has done in the lives of our youth on this incredible trip. Our youths' lives have been changed this week. They will never be the same again. We look forward to sharing with you what God has done with us ... to us ... through us and for us this week and how He has shown Himself to us. We look forward to opportunities to share our testimonies, our video, and our photos with you. Thanks again for your support and your prayers. Please pray for safe travels. I am blessed, honored, and privileged to serve as Director of Youth Ministries at PPC ... and as Youth Mission Trip Director. Thanks to parents for allowing Miss Joy and I to share in the lives of your awesome kids. And thanks to Denise and our dear friends at First Inverness. We love you all.
Goodnight and God Bless ... Steve
THERE ARE NOW 2 PAGES OF PHOTOS
