Sanford: Day 4

I'm gonna be honest with you right now...

I was really nervous about this trip.

I was nervous because nothing like this has been done before. Evergreen Covenant had never hosted a bunch of teens coming to help them in ministry, and we had never done our own missions trip before.

I was nervous because we had a strange mix of students attending the trip. We had a lot of kids who normally wouldn't interact with each other going. This made me worry about group unity and all that.

I was nervous because we didn't have any chaperones until it was almost too late.

I was nervous I didn't budget enough money for the trip.

I was nervous all our plans would fall apart and no kids would show up.

I was nervous because I have never led a missions trip solo before.

How funny it is then, to see God take my worries and just obliterate them.

So far, our partnership with Evergreen has been fantastic. They have welcomed us here with open arms and have helped us get settled into our work projects. It seems it was the perfect marriage of us needing an affordable missions trip and them needing a boost in their work in the community.

Our students have been WONDERFUL. I have seen leadership skills come to the forefront of kids who had never been given the opportunity to use them. They are getting along beautifully, loving each other and encouraging each other and serving each other. They have responded to the various challenges we have faced with flexibility, willing hearts, and a desire to show God's love to everyone around them. I couldn't be prouder.

Our chaperones have been AWESOME. They have been such a blessing to me and to our students. They have brought wonderful ideas, much-needed organization, joy, and servant's hearts to our group. Our students are blessed to have such wonderful adults demonstrating what it means to follow Christ.

So far, God has provided all we have needed and then some. Our afternoon camp has been excellent, and we have been able to love kids sorely in need of it. God has been good to us. He always has, and always will.

Today we made tremendous progress at all of our work sites. The dry wall is going up very quickly in the community center and we should be able to finish the room by the end of the week. Pray for this center; it was tagged with graffiti last night by vandals, as is a common occurrence. Pray that those who wish to work against this project would find something better to do.

Our mulching and gardening crew are almost done with their assigned work and will be able to move on to additional projects for the organization they are serving. Our painters at the homeless shelter finished the railings on the deck and will be able to stain the deck tomorrow.

God in his goodness held the rain off until after our ministry work today. And boy did it rain! We had thunder and lightning, and the lights at the Chinese restaurant we were eating at flickered on and off. Fortunately, the rain passed through by the time we were done and God blessed us with a very bright rainbow.

Again, thank you for your prayers and support. Continue to pray for good health, good weather, team unity, and energy. We are getting to the middle of the week when people can start getting sick of other people and start getting crabby and irritable. Please pray this doesn't happen.

Blessings,

Steve