Michaela on a Mission

Michaela left this afternoon with some fearless youth leaders, parent chaperones, and brave high school student helpers to go on a mission trip to a rural part of Mississippi, where they will help with some farmwork and other things in the community. Our church has an ongoing relationship with the church there; I know that the investment is mutual. Even though our folks go there, it is often those that go to serve who end up blessed beyond what they could have imagined. 

She has been pretty excited about this trip, even after seeing the itinerary. The schedule goes like this: 

6am--Wake-up. 

  Shower or freshen up for the morning.

6:15am--Breakfast. 

  Eating is a must on this trip. Leaders and students 

will be sitting together. There will be meal duties 

assigned throughout the day; leaders will be 

responsible for helping direct students in 

accomplishing their tasks before and after meals.

 

6:45am--Morning Devotions and Prayer

 

7am--Work (Farm or Community Center

  Students will need to have a full water bottle, 

sunscreen on, work gloves in hand, etc.

Upon arriving back at the community center for 
lunch, all students will be directed to take showers 
before lunch.

1pm--Lunch
 Lunches will be nutritional and packed with all the 
essentials for students to recover from all the hard 
work they’ve been doing.

2pm--Free Time 
 Activities will vary throughout the week. Water slides, 
trip into town, hanging out playing cards or games 
sometimes with kids from the community, etc.

6pm--Dinner 
 Dinners, like lunches, are for students and workers 
to recover so the next day they are not groggy or 
lacking any energy. 

7pm--Evening Devotions and Prayer

8pm--Evening Activities 
 Activities will vary from a talent show, to a movie 
night, and going to Mendenhall Bible Church’s Youth Group.

10pm--Lights out.
 This means no talking, joking, laughing. Rest is very 
important on this trip. Please be respectful of 
everyone’s need to sleep. Also, 6am comes quickly.

So. 6am? Yes. It does come quickly. I meant to get her used to getting up a little earlier than she normally does, but...do you know me? Yeah. That didn't really work out. Tomorrow morning should be very interesting. I truly think she is going to have an amazing time, and I hope that she is able to develop some meaningful relationships with some of the kids on the trip. Mike and I have been extremely impressed with the leadership of this age group (they are called JAM [Junior and Middle, I'm guessing...no one has ever said that to me, but I'm smart like Sherlock Holmes] and are the 5th and 6th grade here), especially regarding this trip. They are a fun bunch of young adults, but they are also not tolerating any inappropriate behavior (as in, kids will be sent home for disparaging remarks about the community they are visiting, parents are responsible for getting them from there back home, ). Here are the trip expectations:

1. To come with a willingness to serve.
2. To abide by all rules laid out before the trip and any rules that have to be implemented during the trip.
 3. To be respectful. We are going to another community that is someone’s home. It’s where they live. We respect the people there (no derogatory language, whatsoever); their homes, their places of worship, their  towns, and all of creation.
4. To be earnest in seeing God work in and through us for and with each other.
5. To be sensitive to times where we should be quiet, respectful, sincere.
6. To be loud and pumped full of energy when those times are appropriate.
7. To dress according to what the task is at hand.
8. To never jeopardize your safety or the safety of others.
9. To honor God’s creation and our time there by working hard and willing to work hard.
10. To be encouraged that as we come back to Dallas that your experience--what you have seen, heard, and  touched with your hands, where and what you saw God do in your life and the lives of others--would not stay  with you, but you are willing to share what has happened with others.

I can't wait to hear about her experience! I'll be praying for her every day...if you feel led to, I know I would appreciate it, and I'm sure she would too. 

In the meantime, I'll have these two at home...

I would appreciate prayers regarding that as well. It's already very hot here, and no one wants to play outside (unless there is a pool around), so I'm going to have to be creative with them. I hope your summer is off to a good start...what are your plans?