Grace Student Ministries Blog

One Last Adventure

2011-07-09T05:38:00.000-07:00

Well, we made it home. But not without a travel adventure.

We started out at 7:30 a.m. in Dublin yesteday (2:30 a.m. on the East Coast) and headed to the airport. Check-in was pretty quick, as was security and the U.S. Customs pre-clearance (you actually go through the customs process in Dublin, so you don't have to go through it when you arrive in the U.S.).

We arrived in Philadelphia on time around 2 p.m.

I should back up and explain that our flights were scheduled from Dublin to Philadelphia to Newark. Philadelphia is much closer to home, but it saved us approximately $150 per ticket to go to Newark. Airlines are manipulative.

We had considered just walking off in Philadelphia, thinking that we would have to pick up our checked bags for the customs process. Thankfully we did not decide that, as our bags were headed straight for Newark. And so was our ride! The Landis's graciously agreed to pick all 13 of us up at Newark. Which is where they were at 4:00. We were supposed to arrive there just after 5. But thanks to weather on the East Coast, our flight in Philadelphia was delayed multiple times, then finally cancelled.

We went to the airline and told them we would not be interested in re-booking, but would really just like our luggage. In the meantime, the Landis's began another long leg of their journey from Newark to Philadelphia! Oddly, we could see our luggage the entire time we were waiting in the terminal...the airline had it all out next to the plane we were supposed to fly in. I might add, that they left it lay out there IN THE RAIN...for several hours.

By 8 or 8:30, we had our wet luggage, and the Landis's arrive at Philadelphia International for us to head home.

What a day!

Special thanks to the Landis's who drove two vehicles for hundreds of miles and many hours on our behalf! Everyone is happy to be home safe!

The End

2011-07-07T23:14:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was a great ending to a great time in Ireland. God has been so faithful to us and the list of highlights is very long.

We began our last full day at a groovy cafe in an old shopping arcade. They had a great little basement room that served as our debriefing room. We spent an hour or so tailing through the concept of transitioning these lessons home. It's important to discuss these things in order to make the most out of these types of experiences. Our students will have a lot to process as the go home - they have had so many rich experiences this week.

We closed out the week of kids camp with one more day of loving on the kids. We were able to do a few activities that allowed us to affirm the children and encourage them with words that they don't hear very often. These "simple" expressions of love will mean the world to them for years to come.

Many of the parents made comments to Scott and Rebekah expressing that they hope their kids are one day like our teenagers. They were so impressed by what they saw. Please pray that the impact will be spiritual in nature - that they will comprehend that the difference in these teens is Jesus!

We then headed into Temple Bar area to an Indonesian restaurant for our 'last supper'. We had the upper room of the restaurant where we lounged around tables and shared some incredible food. We had a great time of sharing with the Beckers and Kian, an Irish teen who has become a good friend of all our students. It was the perfect ending to our time, hearing how God has been moving in the lives of each teammate in the past ten days of so. We also had a time of encouraging one another, and a significant and moving prayer time over the Beckers, their ministry, and their family.

We are heading to the airport this morning for the hop over the ocean. This has been a great trip because, and we have recognized that we hve a huge team of supporters! Thank you all for investing in us through time, energy, dollars and most importantly, prayer. You are all an equally important part of the team.

Please pray for our students to transition well to home, and to continue to learn the lessons God has for them.

Cheers

2011-07-07T07:36:00.000-07:00

Team Time

Gods Power Hour

Chef Samuel

Lotsa Love

More Love

Love, Love, Love

The Feast

Fruit of the Spirit

On the Homestretch

2011-07-06T13:33:00.000-07:00

Today was another great day...we even got to experience the first big rain of our time here. Too bad most of us forgot to carry our rain gear with us today! We've been so spoiled we forgot!

We started the day with a mandatory hour with God. The weather was great this morning so students spread out all over St. Stephens Green and at a nearby cafe, enjoying lots of quiet time in Gods Word, in prayer and journaling. We finished that up with a bit of team time processing our experiences over the last few days.

We were then off to the ministry center for our day of kids camp. Plans needed to change a bit as the skies were getting gray and outdoor activities seemed to be out of the question. Once again, our students did a great job flexing and loving our our kids. Jeremiah got to teach the lesson today, about the God-shaped hole in our hearts that can only be filled by Jesus. Please pray that the planted seeds will grow. One child opened up to Jeremiah later in the afternoon based on some of their life stories being similar. God is at work!

After the camp, we headed out into the rain. The students were in charge of dinner tonight, so they were given money to head to the grocery store and we all ended up at the Beckers. The boys did the cooking and the girls cleaned up! The adults all relaxed and enjoyed one anothers company for a bit. The dinner was awesome and there are about three gallons worth of leftover pasta! :)

After dinner students had the opportunity to watch Irish movie. Some of them didn't last too long as the busy days are catching up to us all!

Tomorrow we will begin debriefing and packing for the journey home on Friday. We will also be concluding the kids camp.

2011-07-06T07:29:00.000-07:00

Best fish and chips ever!

JUMBO Jenga

Boys craft-time

Team time at St. Stephens Green

URBAN SOUL

Zach with the Crossroads Kids

2011-07-06T07:25:00.000-07:00

Renee the budgetmaster

Coffee a must at the hostel

Skit at kids camp

Mingling with teens at Urban Soul

Leighs new friend

More Pictures

2011-07-06T07:20:00.001-07:00

Lovely Ladies

Kids we've been loving on all week

Handsome Men

Girls craft-time

FREE burgers!!

We've Got Soul

2011-07-05T15:51:00.000-07:00

I hope you're enjoying photos (thanks to Donnamarie)!...more to come the next few days as we wrap up our time in Ireland. This morning students were given a bit more time to stock up on goodies for home. Moms and Dads have much to look forward to...in addition to the safe return of their children!

As we began to head to the ministry center, we were stopped by a lovely lady who informed us of a promotion that was going on at the grocery store we were about to pass...they were giving out free hamburgers and chicken! It was a total God thing, as it saved us a bundle on budget money, as well as giving us opportunity to interact with several Irish folks, including one of Rebekah's friends who we had me at the picnic on Sunday!

We arrived at the ministry center to prepare for kids camp and were so blessed with more great weather, which gives us great opportunities to take the children outside to burn some energy. Our teens led skits, music, crafts, games...they did it all. Most importantly, they loved on these children, incredibly. We continue to see God using these avenues as expressions of His love. Please pray in particular for tomorrow, when the gospel message will be clearly given.

Several Irish teens joined us for dinner and our evening activities. We grabbed fish and chips at one of the best places in Dublin...it's been visited by an enormous list of celebrities...and we now know why! Delicious! We then headed back to city center to go to the opening session of Urban Soul. While we won't be participating in the entire week, we were happy to get our team there for a session and an opportunity to interact with Irish teens. They had a blast!

I began a list in my journal today of 'God things'! As I reflected on the week and kept writing, I filled a page easily. All that to say, your prayers are so vital and so felt! We are so grateful for the many people in the states who have partnered with us. We are all stretching and growing and thankful for the opportunity to serve here in Ireland!

2011-07-05T10:00:00.000-07:00

Some awesome students....with rolling green hills!

Wednesday...trying anything to stay awake!

What to do with all this craft stuff?

Does anyone else find this scary?

2011-07-05T09:53:00.000-07:00

Renee amongst the roses

Quiz team gearing up for victory!

GSM/LeAD Team Leaders

Madelyn chatting with some other travelers

Leigh leading kids camp planning

Photos

2011-07-05T09:31:00.001-07:00

Here are some photos.....

Eating at Fridays (on Wednesday...is that allowed?)

Debriefing

Chelsea and Zach

Fourth of July!

Monday PM

2011-07-04T15:44:00.000-07:00

Have I mentioned how INCREDIBLE the weather has been here? We are so blessed and have been able to enjoy so many 'extras' because of the sunshine!

Yesterday was a full day. We headed to Christ Church cathedral for their morning worship service. It was inspiring to say the least...the acoustics of a cathedral, choir singing, pipe organ...just amazing. The students have a greater apprection for their home church in light of the service's formality, but it was a great experience. The sun was shining so we wer able to walk to a popular tourist area for lunch and some souvenir shopping. Then we walked south through Dublin castle and to St. Patricks cathedral. We ended up at the Luas to head out to Dundrum, where the Beckers live. The team was thrilled to finally meet Scott who had just returned from two weeks in the states caring for his father. We helped to transport tables and other supplies to the location of our 'american' picnic with crossroads church. The evening was so fun. Our students, without prompting, engaged with the many families who were there, especially the children. We heard testimony today that Scott and rebekah were able to have several necessary conversations because of the children being entertained by our team. I am so proud of how these students continue to be such an encouragement to all those they come in contact with.

Today began the kids club we have been preparing for! We headed out to the ministry center after a bit of shopping and team time on st. Stevens Green this morning. We ate lunch and put the finishing touches on the camp. The children arrived at 3 p.m. and we were ready. Samuel and I started with teaching them some Childrens songs (and the girls giggled at how high I can sing)! After a short lesson about the theme, several boys entertained the kids with a skit...which they wrote. Then we split the boys and girls for activities. The boys headed to a creek to learn how to skip rocks and the girls worked on crafts and painting nails!

We are amazed at the background of some of these children. It is evident that after only a few hours with our students, walls are dropping very quickly. Please continue to pray that these relationships will be effective at moving these children and their families closer to Jesus. Our theme for the week centers around Gods love, and many of these children are hearing about it, and seeing it lived out for the first time.

Tonight we headed to a dinner of authentic Irish cuisine and were entertained by some traditional Irish music and dancing.

We are seeing God work in great ways both in our group, and through our group. I have no doubt that each of these students will be positively marked by this experience form the rest of their lives. .

God continues to bless and answer prayer after prayer on our behalf. Please continue to pray for us as we serve.

Weekend Update

2011-07-02T14:24:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was our tourist day and we headed to the beautiful gardens of Powerscort and to the ancient monasitic site of Glendalough. Both sites were incredible. The team was able to hike and enjoy the majestic creation in picture perfect weather. We returned to Dublin for pizza at the Beckers and then had a greet team time of worship, sharing and prayer. We ended our night with a rousing table quiz. Thankfully there were three Grace College interns here to help us as the Lititz representatives were struggling!

Today was a full day of final planning for next weeks kids camp. The students divided and conquered. Some worked on music, some worked on crafts, some on timeing and skits...there was lots to do. We also found lots of opportunities to clean up the property around the church as an encouragement to the church, and as a testimony to the neighbors.

Today ended with a walk around some other parts of the city, and an ice cream treat! Magnum bars just taste so much better in Europe!

Thanks for your continued prayers. God continues to work in and through our team. Students have been proactively engaging in conversations with people as we go along. God also continues to break some of our hearts for this dark city. We are very anxious to love on the kids next week. We are also excited to spend time with the folks from Crossroads Church tomorrow evening!

Side note: sorry no pictures. We are trying to make arrangements to post some next week!

What day is it?

2011-06-30T15:32:00.000-07:00

Everyone awoke (slowly) after a much needed long night of sleep...our bodies still felt like it was the middle of the night, though. Breakfast in a hostel brings lots of fun opportunities to chat with travelers from all over the globe.

We then took the short ten-minute walk down the famous Grafton Street to hop on the Luas, a modern trolley system in Dublin. We headed out to the ministry center where Crossroads meets for another morsel of orientation, particularly focusing on the spiritual state of Dublin and Ireland in general. We are beginning to wrap our heads around the darkness that fills this city and this nation. We have also been challenged to think critically about how we can and should engage in the mission God has called us to in this world. Students are already thinking about how these lessons translate to life at home.

Renee and Nicky brought us lunch fixings and then we spent significant time planning our kids' club events for next week. Several ladies helped organize the church craft supply stash while the rest of us headed to the Beckers to help with some manual labor projects. These students are servants at heart and jumped at opportunities to encorage the Beckers in this way. A few boys also had the opportunity to do sone yard work for a friend of Rebekahs who is seeing the gospel lived out! She couldn't believe that these young people would be willing to serve "for nothing" which opens doors of opportunity to share about the compelling love of Jesus.

We had a delicious south African version of portugese food for dinner (yep, Dublin is quite the melting pot) and headed back to the Beckers for a bit more down time. We finished the day with the treck back into city center and a short time of debriefing.

Thanks for your continued prayers on our behalf. It is clear that God is working already and these students are desiring to learn and grow. They have also quickly fallen in love with the Becker children (which isn't hard to do)!

Ireland 2011

2011-06-29T13:30:00.000-07:00

Here are the bullet points...cause I haven't slept for 30 hours or so...

- We met at Grace Church and had a time of prayer with Grace staff, a few elders and parents of our LEaD students.
- We headed to Newark to begin our long journey...
- We arrived in Dublin right on time this morning around 8:45.
- We headed into the city to drop off our luggage, then to the Crossroads Church ministry center for a time of orientation with Rebekah B.
- We grabbed lunch (or whatever meal it was...) and headed back to the hostel for showers and power naps.
- We met up with the Beckers (minus Scott who will return on Sunday) for dinner.
- After a longgggggg day (or two), we ended up at the hostel for an early night...and hopefully a long night of sleep.

These students are doing a geat job keeping good attitudes in spite of their fatigue. Please pray as we begin some serving and planning for our kids camp next week during the day tomorrow. We will also continue some more orientation.

Momentum Mind Dump

2009-07-21T06:33:00.001-07:00

My good friend, Mark Artrip (www.markartrip.com) often "Mind Dumps" on his blog. I thought it would be a great way to give you some of my personal wrap-up thoughts from the week of Momentum. I'm going to do it with no notes in front of me...just a few "off the top of my head" things as reflect on the amazing week God gave us.

- The weather was amazing all week. It only rained one time, and it was during a time that didn't impact any serving or programming. God is in the details!!!
- Our 5 OB students are having great summers. I was able to talk to most of them at length about their tours thus far, and each is doing really well. God is definitely at work in their hearts, and I am SO excited that we get to have each of them back for another year so they can pour into other students in GSM and into Grace Church.
- I purchased a piece of the bus that I spent my first two OB tours on at an auction this week! I will keep it in my office as a reminder of all that God did in my heart those summers!
- Catching up with many, many people from across the country is always a highlight of the week for me. I get to bounce ideas off of people and discuss all the things that we crazy "youth guys" like to discuss. I also get to network with other ministries, colleges and equipping opportunities to help guide our students as they pray about their futures.
- The speaking line-up was very interesting this year. Rather than addressing the individual speakers, I'd just like to say that the overall theme of the week, and the direction that all the speakers were heading, collectively, was affirmation from God that we are heading the right direction this Fall with GSM. Jeremiah and I have been praying about some ideas for the next year, and the concepts that we would like to focus on in our teaching/training, etc. and this week was a great kick-off to that. Stay tuned!!!
- I LOVE STUDENTS. God continues to affirm in my heart that I am called to work with students at this point in my life. There is nothing in the world more satisfying and exciting to me than watching students worship freely and genuinely, share their faith and lead people to Christ, serve others who they have no previous connection to, and respond to God's movement in their lives with obedience and determination.
- The students of Grace Student Ministries are amazing. (See previous paragraph). Every single one of our 85ish students gave up at least one afternoon this week to serve on the work projects we were assigned (This Wednesday night, Jer and I will be holding up our end of the deal...can anyone say 'Mohawk')? In addition, we had no major disciplinary problems, they were respectful and responsible all week and dealt joyfully with some of the headaches of being such a large group at a conference. And more than just the serious stuff, they are just a LOT of fun! What a tremendous group of students - parents should be very proud.
- GSM has amazing staff! Not all of our staff were able to attend Momentum with us, and some of our Momentum staff weren't regular GSM staff. But the adults that served our students this week are just incredible. These adults were jumping at opportunities to serve the students, and to lighten my load all week. On top of that, they LOVE our students and spent so much time loving on them, praying with them, and having a great time. I am more confident than ever before, that these adults will also continue to follow up with students who made commitments this week. These adults are committed to the spiritual growth and discipleship of our students.
- Momentum is more than just a conference. It is an opportunity for us to make leaps and bounds in the discipleship process of students. Students are exposed to biblical teaching, practical break-out sessions that are geared towards different levels of students, opportunities to serve and share their faith, community, time to fellowship and bond as a student ministry, opportunities to interact with and be guided by loving adults who will continue to be part of their lives...what a week!

Thanks for YOUR investment in our students through prayer and giving! It was well worth it, and will continue to be as we move forward into the next school year.

Video

2009-07-18T21:44:00.000-07:00

Photos

2009-07-18T21:37:00.001-07:00

WE CARE; Closing Ceremonies

2009-07-18T21:30:00.000-07:00

What a week it has been...

Today was the big "We Care Pittsburgh" event where 2000 people blitzed the city and surrounding communities serving and sharing in the name of Jesus. 1/3 of our group worked really hard to finish up projects at the school we've been working at all week, while the other 60ish headed to Coraopolis to serve in any way possible throughout the neighborhoods. It was evident by the end of our time there that we had definitely been used by God to impact this community. Most groups of students had positive interactions with people, and took advantage of opportunities to pray with and for people. Many served people with projects around their houses, played with children - all "shared their lives"! One group was even able to lead a boy to Christ today! May Heaven rejoice!

Tonight was the closing session of the conference which included a challenge/reminder that we are "Christ's ambassadors" if we are believers. The question is not "are we?"; the question is "what kind of ambassador" are we.

We also celebrated the ministry of Jesus in our lives - past, present and future - through a communion ceremony - Momentum style! The evening session concluded with the first-ever "love feast PARTY" with 2,000 people, 2,000 balloons and 2,000 pieces of wedding cake! What a night!

We ended the entire week in youth group time, where every student shared with an adult their one "so what?" application point of what they learned this week. It is evident that God showed up this week! We will continue to process this with students and encourage them to remember their commitments to Christ this week!

Thanks for your continued prayer. Please pray for safety for our travels tomorrow! We expect to be back to Lititz between 12:30-1:00 p.m.

Good night and thanks for keeping up with us!!!
DK

Photos

2009-07-17T21:32:00.000-07:00

Thursday/Friday - ish...

2009-07-17T10:18:00.000-07:00

You can tell it's getting towards the end of the week...the nights are getting shorter and shorter. Well, maybe they're not getting shorter, but they're sure FEELING shorter!

Highlights from yesterday:
- Chuck Bomar challenged us to recognize our identity in Christ and find satisfaction in our circumstances, comparing our culture to God's culture.
- Our soccer team represented us well coming in 3rd place.
- MaryAnne and our district quiz team WON the tournament, with a HUGE number of students there supporting them.
- Jim Brown talked about the rapture and challenged kids to make sure their eternity is secure and many students responded.
- Our students had a great time of debriefing at youth-group-time. The adults left them alone for 30 minutes or so and they enjoyed the time of being together as teens, building one another up and worshiping together.

Highlights from this morning:
- I spoke for 10 minutes from inside a box.
- Cheryl Fawcett challenged students to consider giving their lives to full-time Christian service in the least-reached parts of the world.
- The countdown for meals on this campus has begun.

:)

DK

Wednesday Video

2009-07-15T21:16:00.000-07:00

Photos

2009-07-15T21:10:00.001-07:00

Momentum - Wednesday

2009-07-15T20:56:00.000-07:00

Another great day at Momentum.

This morning, Gabe Lyons challenged us to consider the world's perceptions of Christianity as we get ready for Saturday's "We Care Pittsburgh" projects. He is the co-author of the book "unChristian" and he provided us with some great ways to make sure we are effectively telling the "whole story" of the gospel, and not just part of it.

This afternoon a large group of our students headed to an area school district to work on manual labor projects. We will be sending a group daily to serve in this very small school and to help fix things up for the next school year. Our group today did a great job and left the school employees very impressed.

Another large group of our students went to the Island Campus of RMU to ice skate, mini-golf and hit balls at the driving range. They had a great time hanging out!

This evening, Kondo Simfukwe powerfully presented the Bible's description of the Church. Students were challenged in their identity and asked to consider their investment and involvement in the Body of Christ.

We had a great evening of worship and learning and were able to debrief in youth group time tonight. Time for bed...finally!

DK

Tuesday - Other Video

2009-07-14T22:00:00.000-07:00

Tuesday - Videos

2009-07-14T21:55:00.000-07:00

Tuesday - Photos

2009-07-14T21:48:00.000-07:00

Momentum - Tuesday

2009-07-14T21:37:00.000-07:00

A day is like 1,000 years at Momentum. There is so much packed into every single day that it feels like so much more than one day!

This morning started with a great challenge from Shawn McBride about "throwing off" anything that slows us down, spiritually (Hebrews 12:1-2). Some students immediately thought of sin issues in their lives that entangle them; while others were challenged by issues that aren't necessarily sin, yet they are weights that entangle. How can we share our very lives (I Thess. 2:8) with people if we are all tangled up and deprived of the joy of the Lord?

Students then went to their choice of powertrax and enjoyed a delicious lunch of hot-dogs and chicken nuggets! Ahhhh...campus food!

This afternoon was filled with MANY fun activities and memories! Some played pick-up football; some worked on their tans; some slipped and slided; some watched an OB program; and some (perhaps a particular director of student ministries and a jr. high director) "tried" to ride scooters down a very steap grassy hill. For the record, BOTH fell hard! Also for the record, the director of student ministries was smart enough to fall on grass...the Jr. High director...not so much! We will be comparing our black and blue marks tomorrow!

This evening's session was awesome as Jeff Bogue gave a challenge to all of us to reconsider WHO Jesus is. Many would say that they "know" Jesus, yet would be unable to describe His character and many of His attributes. We took a detailed look at who Jesus is and were challenged to consider what we are sharing people when we try to share "the gospel" with them.

Do you know Jesus? You can't know Him and NOT tell people about Him!

The session was closed with a great time of response through worship, and we headed back to our dorm for youth-group time. Students discussed the events of the day in small groups and each shared one specific action point based on the challenges presented.

It's been a great day! Time for some rest before another busy, yet amazing day!

DK

Monday Photos

2009-07-13T20:58:00.001-07:00

Doug's "I'm responsible for 95 people" face.

Some of our phenomenal leaders during mandatory staff meeting!

The others!

"God of this City" by the OB choir

FEE - the Rockstar!

Momentum - Monday

2009-07-13T20:50:00.000-07:00

Ah, lights out has finally arrived and we adults can breathe a sigh of relief!

We are thankful that God provided smooth sailing for our trip to Pittsburgh, registration, and the kick-off to the conference! Aside from a short stop regarding a headlight that went out on our rental van, we had an uneventful trip to Robert Morris University. Our group is quite impressive, as they are respectful passengers and showed the love of Jesus through their actions at our lunch stop along the way. Adults noticed student politely staying out of others' ways and interacting in a Christ-like manner with people they didn't even know! LOVE THEM!!!

The registration process went without a hitch, and we unloaded into our dorm as soon as the large group arrived on campus. We are the largest group here this year and have an entire dorm to ourselves which is really nice for youth group times each evening and for some extra bonding time. The girls have a floor and the guys have a floor, and we are excited to make our "own rules!"

Tonights opening session was awesome. Steve Fee and his band challenged us to start the week off whole-heartedly. Instead of taking a day or so to "warm up", he encouraged us to focus wholey on Jesus from the very begining. There was definitely a spirit of excitement and anticipation in the room as we worshiped together.

The OB choir sang and Shawn McBride spoke about the importance of God's Word in our lives - and here this week. We processed this a bit more tonight in youth group time and encouraged students to discuss the application of this in their rooms tonight before closing the night out in prayer!

What a great start! We are excited to see what God will continue to do in and through our students all week! Please continue to pray along with us!

DK

MOMENTUM 2009

2009-07-12T08:09:00.000-07:00

Stay tuned! Momentum 2009 updates are on their way.

Momentum

July 13-19

Robert Morris University

Pittsburgh, PA

(Go Steelers!)

Ireland Wrap-up

2009-07-12T08:07:00.001-07:00

Most of you that are reading this have probably already figured out that we made it home safely on Friday night!

THANKS for tuning in and reading about our trip, and for praying! We certainly have seen God work in many ways and are refreshed by what He is doing in each of ours and the students' hearts. Please continue to pray for each of us as we process our experiences outside of the team and respond in obedience to God's moving in our lives.

Be sure to ask the team members to share stories of how God worked in and through them! We will each have great testimonies of God's faithfulness!

Photos - July 9

2009-07-09T16:35:00.001-07:00

Thursday, July 9

2009-07-09T16:23:00.000-07:00

Wrapping up! That's what the last few hours have consisted of.

We had another wonderful day at Urban Soul. Teams went out on their projects again this afternoon and continued building relationships with their diverse team-mates and interacting with many Irish folks on their particular assigments. Scott was the group leader for several of our girls and reported that they were absolutely tremendous workers; building relationships and sharing their testimonies with the teens they were working with and keeping great attitudes dispite being very tired. This evening, several of their team-mates accepted Christ at the evening session! I have no doubt that God was using their relationships with them afternoon to prepare the soil of their hearts for God's moving tonight.

Also, the girls took a possibly difficult housing situation and used it as an opportunity to stretch themselves and share the gospel with the teens God put in their path.

Tonight, as most are going to bed, there is a pizza party in one of the rooms on the hall for one of our students who made such an impact on his Irish roommates, that they wanted to throw him a goodbye party before he leaves in the morning.

I am SO proud of this team and of these students. They have had an incredibly stretching 10 days and have been EXCELLENT representatives of CHRIST, America, Grace Church, Grace Student Ministries, and their families back home.

THANK YOU for your prayers on our behalf. Please be in prayer for our travels tomorrow - as it will be a long day of travel. Also, please pray for health - several of our students are starting to feel the physical wear and tear of the pace we have been keeping and will need a few days of rest.

There are many stories to share of how we have seen God work - and I am confident that this has been a piece of a much grander process for each of us. Please continue to pray for us as we process all of this as well!

Tired, but SO refreshed,

DK

Photos - Urban Soul

2009-07-08T15:11:00.001-07:00

July 7-8

2009-07-08T15:05:00.000-07:00

Urban Soul has begun and we are busy doing "indiscriminate acts of kindness" around the city of Dublin with other young people from all over Ireland.

There are sessions each morning and evening with worship and speakers, then the afternoons are spent split into teams to do service projects throughout the city.

Our team has been spread around with other groups and has really enjoyed getting to know some new people as well as working with all kinds of different projects. We've also enjoyed worship led by Paul Baloche.

We are getting tired as we've been on the move for our entire time here, but we are hoping to finish strong with our last full day tomorrow. We will be packing our bags tomorrow and preparing to leave Dublin first thing on Friday morning.

Please continue to pray for us - specifically, for health and strength for each team member; for good attitudes as we have come across some new "cultural" experiences that are very stretching; and for our hearts to continue to be open to what God still wants to teach us.

Photos - July 6

2009-07-06T16:37:00.001-07:00

July 6

2009-07-06T16:28:00.000-07:00

Today started a bit earlier than others, but it was a day of touring the country, so we were a little bit more relaxed.

We headed to Newgrange, Trim Castle and Hill of Slane - all three worth googling. Try to figure out which one is older than the pyramids in Giza, which one hosted some filming of a Hollywood blockbuster, which one hosted a significant event for the cause of Christ in Ireland, and which one Doug and Renee entered a "lottery" to return to! All were VERY interesting sites.

We also enjoyed "fish and chips" for lunch - well, most of us. Some chickened out and ordered burgers! We ended our tour back in Dublin at an Indian restaurant for dinner, followed by a debriefing time with the Beckers. Though our time here in Dublin is not finished, our projects and work with the Beckers has essentially ended.

It is clear from some of the discussions we had tonight that our students have really been catching the idea of ministry in a different culture. Some have even recognized how to better reach people for Christ in their own culture because of their experiences here. We are praising the Lord for how He continues to move in these students.

But as I said, we aren't finished yet!

Tomorrow morning we will be packing up to leave this Hostel and preparing to head to the last leg of our trip. Those of us who are 18+ will be going to a training session while the others do some last minute souvenir shopping and touring. We will all meet up to register for Urban Soul and get moved in to another hostel; our new home for the next few nights.

Urban Soul will commence tomorrow evening and our team will be doing service projects in the community in the name of Jesus alongside other students from all over Ireland. We are thrilled about the opportunities that are ahead of us and covet your prayers as we close out our ministry here in Dublin!

Cheers!
DK

Photos - July 5

2009-07-05T16:06:00.000-07:00

Sunday, July 5

2009-07-05T15:58:00.000-07:00

Another great day for the books! It's hard to believe how quickly our time here is passing, but with the pace we have been keeping, it is not hard to understand why.

This morning Xander, Jimmy, Rachel P. and Heather were picked up to go help with a special project, cleaning up from a festival that took place yesterday. The rest of the team was able to enjoy a little later wake-up time, though some of these crazy students got up to go exercise!

We all met up and walked to Grafton Street for an hour or so where students were given money to find lunch on their own. We headed out to Dundrum by Tram after that (towards the Becker's house) where students had a few hours to do some shopping in Europe's soon-to-be largest shopping center. (Souvenirs are on their way Mums and Dads)!

We ended up at the Becker's house late this afternoon and everyone immediately jumped in to help prepare food and the house for this evenings service with Crossroads Church. Those without tasks met in the living room to pray for the evening.

By 5:30 or 6, folks were begining to show up. We enjoyed worship together, a time of thanksgiving and prayer, as well as some teaching, reflection and application from the book of Daniel. One thing we have in common with the Irish, is that we understand that most good fellowship happens over food! So after the service, the BBQ was fired up and the kitchen was in motion. We had a wonderful evening interacting with folks from the church and getting to know them a bit better. We arrived back at the hostel "early" tonight (11:40 p.m.) for a good night's sleep.

Tomorrow we will start earlier than other mornings, but we should be relaxed as we will be touring a bit in the countryside. We will also be closing up our time with the Beckers tomorrow night before we head to Urban Soul on Tuesday.

Please continue to pray for health and safety as well as great attitudes and open eyes for the opportunities God wants us to take advantage of!

Cheers,

DK

Photos - July 4

2009-07-05T15:51:00.001-07:00

Independence Day - July 4

2009-07-05T02:18:00.001-07:00

This morning we got a slightly earlier start because of the rain forecasted. The students were great -as they had a short night and showed great attitudes. We made our way to the school where we have been working to finish up the projects that had been started. God was gracious and held off the rain for a bit longer than what was predicted. Then, it only rained for an hour or so, so we were able to do all we needed to.

The principal of the school stopped by and was extremely impressed by the amount of work that we had done. He even had pizza sent over for us for lunch! We were also able to work alongside another Irish woman who is part of the Becker's church.

I should also point out, that a couple of our students, each day, have been spending time "minding" the Becker children and doing work around their house while the children rest. These girls have been jumping right in to serve Scott and Rebekah in all sorts of practical ways. One of the ways the girls served today, was by working on some food for our 4th of July picnic tonight.

Scott was the griller and everyone else pitched in to pull together a delightful dinner. After dinner and clean-up, we broke into small teams and played a (sort-of) traditional pub quiz. These quizzes are trivia from all types of categories. It was quite fun, and the "Irish Cream Dream Team" took home the prize.

Another thing I should mention is that Joanne, a GBIM intern has been spending a lot of time with our team. You may see her in some of our photos. Our students have enjoyed getting to know her and hearing her story as someone who is a few years ahead of them in life.

I left my camera a the Becker's house - so no photos just yet for today! Sorry!

DK

After our work was finished

Photos - July 3

2009-07-03T17:23:00.000-07:00

July 3

2009-07-03T17:17:00.000-07:00

Were you praying? We had a BEAUTIFUL day for painting today and got much more accomplished than previously anticipated. We are expecting some rain tomorrow, so we decided to push extra hard to get the outdoor projects done at the school. Lots of paint! Everywhere!

We had several folks helping us out on projects today, so it was nice to rub shoulders with some Irish as we worked. We continue to pray that our lives will be a significant testimony to them.

We changed our dinner plans because of wanting to push forward on projects and enjoyed a pizza party and great social time with the Beckers in their home. That was followed by a film about the Irish quest for independence, and we closed our evening with a long trek back to our hostel. Being that it is a Friday night and we are in Dublin, the tram and walk back were again an eye-opening cultural experience. Please continue to pray that God would break our hearts for the oh so many lost people here in Dublin and at home.

We arrived very late tonight and are tired from our hard work in the sun. We are also getting started a bit earlier tomorrow than the last two days in order to finish things up before the rain, so please pray for dilegence and good attitudes. Also, please pray that the weather will hold off so that we can get everything done.

Cheers,

DK

Visuals for today

2009-07-02T16:04:00.000-07:00

July 2

2009-07-02T15:50:00.001-07:00

This is the 3rd time I have tried to type this...twice it has been deleted. It's getting shorter every time due to the hour, so here are the bullet points for today!

Breakfast in the hostel is a great cultural experience! Students have truly been 'on mission' and initiated conversations with many other foreigners staying here. It is obvious that they are being watched and people are seeing the difference in their kind hearts. We will continue to interact with many of these people over the next few days, so please pray that we will continue to "meet" and "move".
We spent much of the day working at the school that the Becker children go to. These projects are an opportunity to demonstrate to many families a life of "loving God" and "loving others". Their curiosity in the fact that American teenagers would be willing to come here and serve them provides many opportunities to share.
This evening we had a wonderful cultural experience with a traditional Irish dinner and entertainment of music and dance! If our group didn't feel like we were in Ireland before, we sure do now!!!

Sorry so short...my eyes are falling shut.

Cheers!

Learning Irish Dance

2009-07-02T10:18:00.000-07:00

Sorry it's sideways...couldn't figure out how to fix it. This is video of Meghan teaching our students the art of Irish dance yesterday afternoon!

Photos - June 30-July 1

2009-07-01T14:44:00.001-07:00

Ahhhh...Showers and Sleep

2009-07-01T14:27:00.000-07:00

What a day it has been...or two-ish days. We're not really sure - our bodies are so confused. It stays light out here until MUCH later than at home, so even late in the evening, it still feels like afternoon.

So, as previously mentioned, we had a slight adventure at the Philadelphia airport (I know, you're shocked, right?!) We boarded our plane for an on-time departure, only to be told that we were going to be sitting on the taxiway for at least an hour becuase of bad weather at JFK - our destination. After an hour or so, the pilot said that things were still up in the air (except not literally), so we went back to the gate, unloaded the plane, and PRAYED. Many flights out of Philadelphia were being cancelled because the storms were now arriving there. However, God saw fit to answer our prayers. We re-boarded our plane and made it to JFK just fine, with thirty minutes to spare before our on-time departure to Dublin. And to think we were (not) complaining about a 4.5 hour layover in New York. God knew what He was doing.

I should back-up and say that before leaving Grace Church, we were so encouraged to have so many staff, elders and parents join us for a time of prayer to send us on our way! Prayer is always such an enourmous part of these types of experiences, so don't stop!

We arrived on time in Dublin this morning, greeted by Scott Becker. Scott, Rebekah and their four children are doing church work here in Ireland and are coordinating much of our time here.
We took a bus to center-city and unloaded our bags in lockers at Isaac's Hostel where we will be staying for this week. We then headed out on a walk through the city towards the Becker's home, stopping for some much-needed breakfast on the way. We ended up at their beautiful home for a time of orientation. They introduced us to Dublin, to Ireland and to their work here.
We split into two groups to head out for lunch, then finished our discussion time by early afternoon. The next few hours were free time, which several spent napping, while others were entertained by the amazing Irish dancing talents, and game-leading skills of the eldest two Becker children! What fun it was to watch the excitement! (Enjoy the photos/video)!

We ended our really long day with dinner at TGIFridays, the last of our "American" food experiences for out time here, and were sure to sing "Happy Birthday" to Tara who celebrated today! I promise she will never forget this birthday!

We made the trip back across the city and checked into our rooms at the hostel. Everyone is working on showering as quickly as possible so that we can get a much-needed night of rest!

The people of Ireland are so friendly and open thus far, that we are anticipating many opportunities to "meet" and "move" them. Please pray along those lines.

For tonight,
DK

MADE IT!

2009-07-01T09:38:00.000-07:00

I am hoping to spend some more time updating later this evening. For now, just wanted everyone to know that we made it to Dublin with only minor adventures in transit! (I have never sat on a plane for a few hours, gotten off the plane, then re-boarded...)! Details later!

Thanks for praying!

HOPING TO UPDATE

2009-06-29T08:44:00.000-07:00

To all who are reading this:

I am hoping to update this blog at least a few times over the next 11 days as our team spends time serving in Ireland.

Also, the following week, I am hoping to update a few times from Momentum.

In both cases, it will depend on time as well as internet access!!!

Please pray for both of these events!

Ireland - June 30-July 10
Momentum - July 13-19

July 20 - Doug crashes in a bed for a week!!!

Saturday Pictures

2008-07-26T21:11:00.001-07:00

A Great Ending to a Great Week

2008-07-26T20:54:00.000-07:00

Today, 1500 Momentum students descended on the city of Dayton to serve people and share the love of Jesus in practical ways. But before that, a large group of our students joined for an early morning worship session (6:30 am to be exact)!

Our group, along with 200 others, stayed on campus. For two hours, we helped to put together over 106,000 meals that will go to hungry children in 3rd world countries! That would feed 293 children for an entire year!

This evening's session was a great conclusion to our week with a look back on what we've experiences, a look forward to how to take it home, stories of how God worked through us in Dayton, and a great time of worship. We concluded the conference with time together as a youth group and are now packing up so we can be up and ready to go in the morning.

Our students will be pulling out at 8 am - with an estimated arrival time of 4:30 in Lititz. I will not be with them, as I will be flying out to adult conference in Tampa before they leave...actually, before they wake up!

Thank you for investing in your students - and in this week. I have heard several experienced Momentum attenders say that this has been, by far, the best Momentum ever. I would definitely agree that it is up there:

- 60 students from Lititz CHOSE to go share their faith in Dayton
- Over $94,000 was raised to feed the hungry and build two orphanages in 3rd world countries
- Over 106,000 meals were prepared for starving children
- 1500 people blitzed the city of Dayton today to spread the love of Jesus to all they came in contact with
- God helped our students develop a heart for the poor, the lost and the lonely
- Our students made many commitments to Christ - many very practical steps that can be implemented immediately upon arrival home
- The list goes on...

THANK YOU also, to the amazing adults who joined me this week. Their impact was incredible, and their sacrifice was SO appreciated! These are amazing adults who have the biggest hearts in the world - and who give sacrificially to serve your families and your teens! Thank you Mark & Lori, Korina, Nick and Sherrie! You are awesome!!!

Please be sure to plan on joining us on Sunday, August 3rd for our youth-led communion where many stories of God's work will be shared from individual students!

Article

2008-07-25T22:18:00.000-07:00

I hope you've also been checking out www.buildmomentum.org for more photos and stories of the week. Click on the link for "Momentum East" to find them.

We even have a small article written about us: http://www.buildmomentum.org/atmomentum/conference2008/moeast/reports.asp?IDNum=23

Friday Photos and Video

2008-07-25T21:52:00.000-07:00

Friday Update

2008-07-25T21:33:00.000-07:00

Today was a very diverse day in terms of our schedule. This morning's session was a mix of several different things including the championship for Bible quizzing including our district's team (of which MaryAnne K. is a member). Unfortunately, the finished behind, but 2nd place isn't too shabby! Way to go North Atlantic District!

Also this morning, the three OB teams did a short program to give people a taste of what OB is all about. Several of our students had some featured parts in the program!

Another highlight of the morning session was that our very own PATTI LEHMAN was named as the recipient of the "Youth Sponsor of the Year Award" from CE National. Patti was unable to attend Momentum this year, but was listening to the presentation via phone! She is well-deserving of this once-a-year, fellowship-wide recognition! WE LOVE YOU PATTI!!!

Instead of sponge sessions, students went to gender-specific sessions in the late morning. The guys session was led by Shawn McBride and the gals session was led by Carol Yauger.

This afternoon, we took our 3rd and final round of students to Dayton, where many had great opportunities to talk to people and love on people in the city. Our students continue to make me so proud. They have touched well over 100 lives this week by "meeting people where they are at", and with each touch, they have moved people closer and closer to "where God wants them to be".

This evenings session was in preparation for tomorrow's "We Care Dayton" event. Students were given time alone to do some soul-searching in order to be prepared spiritually for serving tomorrow. We also had opportunities to pray over the 5,000 bags of groceries that were prepared today for distribution in Dayton tomorrow and to pray for the 100,000 boxed meals that will be prepared tomorrow and sent to a 3rd world country to feed starving people for an entire year.

We concluded our day with another great youth-group time with lots of story-sharing of God's work in our lives. We had a special time of prayer over our OBers as they will be heading out tomorrow evening to finish their tours. We prayed that God will guide them through their transition home and allow them to continue to pursue Him passionately and to serve Him back in "reality". We also prayed for the many people we met in the last three days in Dayton. Tomorrow (Saturday), 1,500 Momentum attenders will go to Dayton to serve and share Jesus with this city. We are praying that the many people we have met this week will perhaps receive another "touch" tomorrow from one of these folks.

Students are getting tired (and the adults, too)! and have been strongly urged to get adequate rest the next two nights! Please pray that God will provide great refreshment and rest so that we are as effective as possible for His kingdom tomorrow (or probably "today" by the time you read this)!

Thursday Photos

2008-07-24T16:20:00.001-07:00

Another Great Day

2008-07-24T16:10:00.000-07:00

You MUST be praying! Please don't stop!

Today has been another great day. Though many are starting to feel the effects of fatigue from an emotional and very active week, God continues to work MIGHTILY IN and THROUGH GSM students.

This morning, Pastor Jeff Bogue challenged us from the Word as a follow-up to last night's incredible experience, to consider what God is asking of us individually. He explained the importance of simple obedience to God's commands and leading in our lives. Many students are evaluating how seriously they show their claimed love for Christ through obedience to Him.

After another round of sponge sessions, another group of 20 headed for Dayton to work with the organization we've made contact with and to spend some time sharing their faith in a park in downtown Dayton. I am SO ENCOURAGED by the fearlessness of our students to approach complete strangers and love them and share Christ with them. YOUR STUDENTS are buying pretzels for homeless people, playing with children, talking to very real and dirty people...and it is evident that they are doing it out of love - remember, they have voluntarily chosen to go on these excursions.

In other news, our GSM dodgeball team won the dodgeball tourney this afternoon, and our district quiz team, including one of our own as it's top quizzer has made it all the way to the FINALS which will be tomorrow during a main session in front of the entire conference!

It has been a great day! We continue to covet your prayers for great opportunities to "live out" our faith, for open, teachable and obedient hearts, and for a good night's rest tonight!

2008-07-23T22:11:00.000-07:00

Teens give over $92,000

2008-07-23T21:58:00.000-07:00

I'm too thrilled to NOT post again! Tonight, Pastor Jim Brown from Goshen, IN shared some staggering statistics of what is going on in the world: children being abused; people dying of curable diseases and hunger; families selling their children to provide for the rest of their family...and the list goes on. It was a message that was impossible to walk away from without responding. And the opportunity was given to respond.

Teenagers, yes TEENAGERS, gave over $92,000 tonight to go towards dying people in other parts of the world. The goal was $15,000. As students came forward to give, a "live" number continued to be flashed up on the screen to show people how much was coming in. After 30 minutes or so, the number had climbed just short of $100,000. (Although, if you add in the $21,000 that was given LAST NIGHT as part of the national youth project offering, this conference has given well into 6-digits)!

The first $15,000 will go to provide clean water and food for a year for 100,000 people in Africa! The next chunk will go to build an orphanage in Asia and will pay for the building, food, supplies and education for these orphans for 2 years! Think about the math - if there are 2,000 people here, the average giving was approximately $45 per person tonight alone. Teens sacrificed buying t-shirts, cd's - some even lunch on the trip home -because they were given a challenge, and they responded!

What did you spend your last $45 on?

Following tonight's session we had an incredible hour of sharing together as a youth group all that God is doing. You know things are going well when the entire hour is taken by students, one right after another, sharing what God is teaching them with their peers. We continue to ask the question "so what"? challenging students to think about how these lessons will transfer home.

Thank you for praying! IT IS EVIDENT THAT YOU ARE!

2008-07-23T16:09:00.000-07:00

Wednesday Update

2008-07-23T15:48:00.000-07:00

Thanks for your continued prayers! We had another great day and are excited about this evening's activities as well.

Steve Fee arrived this morning to lead us in some incredible worship. He has a way of getting teens jumping and VERY involved in "active" worship! David Nasser challenged us from the Word again this morning saying that there isn't room for anything other than Jesus on our "top shelf". It isn't enough to just put Jesus on the top shelf - He needs to be the only "thing" on any of the shelves as ruler of our lives. Many of our students responded and have committed to stop allowing other things in their lives hold any value over the value of their relationship with Christ.

After the morning session, students choose from many "sponge session" options - allowing them to pick topics that are relevant to their lives.

This afternoon, 20 of us went out to "DO" what we've been hearing about. Last night at youth group time, it became evident that the Spirit was moving and that we needed to put some feet to the gospel this week. We prayed for the perfect opportunity to serve and to share our faith, and God answered. We drove 2 vans to Dayton where we met up with the director of a Christian mission that is committed to changing neighborhoods for Jesus Christ and providing life change opportunities for the thousands of homeless people in Dayton. Half of the group stayed and did manual labor for this organization, while the other group went to a nearby park in search of opportunities to share their faith. After an hour or so, the groups switched so that everyone could experience both opportunities. Philemon 6 is true - there is spiritual growth that occurs when we share our faith, and our students have testified to that today! We are excited that we will have this same opportunity tomorrow for 20 more people, and on Friday as well! Please pray that the seeds that are sown would be watered and harvested and that our impact will far outlast our time in Ohio!

The other students remained on campus and enjoyed lots of activities, including watching Bible quizzing, playing in sports tournaments and hanging out with friends. It has been a great day - and a great evening is sure to follow!

Please Pray:
- For the contacts that were made today in Dayton
- For this evenings session - that God would continue to challenge our hearts in specific areas
- For "transfer" of the things we're learning to our every-day lives at home
- For God to use GSM to inspire Grace Church as a whole to be a body of people who care for those in need and get pumped about evangelism!

Photos and video from Monday & Tuesday

2008-07-22T21:17:00.000-07:00

Momentum Update

2008-07-22T21:08:00.001-07:00

Our students are enjoying the week, greatly! Many of our "first-timers" have commented that the conference has been better than they had expected and those who have been here before are loving it as well!

We arrived safely yesterday afternoon. The registration process for a large group is always a bit time-consuming, but our students handled it well. After getting into rooms and getting some much needed dinner, the week was off to a quick, no non-sense start with a great challenge from Francis Chan. Worship has been led the first few days by Aaron Shust who has been great! Many students responded to the Spirit's leading and went forward to commit to changes in there lives. You know it's going to be a great week if the Spirit is moving so powerfully on the very first night.

Chan continued to challenge us this morning on the theme verse of Micah 6:8, particularly focusing on the need for believers to act justly. Students continue to wrestle with this concept and some will have opportunities tomorrow to put their faith in action!

This evening's challenge came from David Nasser who reminded us that Jesus often met physical needs of those around him before bridging to their spiritual needs.

The evening ended with some sharing during youth group time. This time is always a highlight as we chew on the information that's been presented during the day and ask the question of "so what" - determining measurable steps we can take to transfer these truths to every-day living!

PLEASE PRAY:
- That students who are struggling to process all this information will be able to walk away from the week with a few specific action steps to take
- That students would develop a passion to take action in the areas of "acting justly", "loving mercy" and "walking humbly with God" in their worlds at home.
- For continued safety and spiritual sensitivity throughout the week.

Wrap Up

2008-02-25T12:44:00.000-08:00

What a great weekend! God is SO good!

After they've rested for a few days, be sure to ask your student(s) for some highlights!

Thanks to our adult staff, TDTMOTGSM, our band, our student leaders, our bus drivers and everyone else who worked hard to make this weekend a HUGE success!

We had fun, we stayed safe, and God certainly moved in our hearts! Thanks for your prayers!

We have arrived!

2008-02-22T17:00:00.000-08:00

Thank you for your prayers, we have arrived safely. Now, as for 150 teens unloading their luggage, I'm not sure how safe that will be. What a riot.

We are looking forward to a great time.

Again, thank you for your continued prayers over the weekend.

Doug

All Things As Scheduled

2008-02-22T10:50:00.000-08:00

Based on the following, we will move ahead with all planned activities for the retreat this weekend:

- I spoke with the bus company that will be transporting and they are confident with the condition and maintenance of the roads both here, there and in between!
- The weather forecast has improved and seems to be cooperating
- The Camp Joy El administration has confirmed that roads and weather conditions are safe there as well

So, please have your students here as planned at 5:00pm so that we can pull out on time!

CELL PHONES: Because of the weather, students WILL be permitted to travel with cell phones. We will ask them to turn them in to us when we arrive and will return them to students before departing on Sunday.

Also, I will update the blog upon arrival this evening!

Please pray for us throughout the weekend!

Weather Update

2008-02-21T10:17:00.000-08:00

Winter retreats are MUCH more fun with snow! But obviously, the safety of our students is the top priority!

I have been in touch with our bus company as well as the director of Camp Joy El and will continue to be in touch with them throughout the day tomorrow. I will make a final decision by 2 p.m. tomorrow (Friday) about our plans.

NO MATTER WHAT, WE WILL STILL MEET AT THE CHURCH AT 5:00 PM TOMORROW. Please come prepared for the entire weekend! If the roads are too bad for traveling to Joy El tomorrow night, we will be staying at the church overnight and begin our retreat here, heading for Camp on Saturday morning.

I will send an email update tomorrow at 2 p.m. with our decision and I will continue to update our blog, gsmlititz.blogspot.com throughout the weekend!

INFORMATION BLOG

2008-02-12T11:56:00.000-08:00

This blog has been started as a tool for communicating to parents of students in Grace Student Ministries during special events, including our winter retreat and summer conferences.

It will be primarily used to communicate any schedule changes due to inclement weather!

We will also try to update it throughout these events so that parents can hear what is going on and also pray more specifically as their students are gone. However, this will be limited (and may not happen at all) based on computer availability, internet access and of course, time!

Thanks for visiting!