Second update from the Magical Mystery Tour 2013...
It was such an amazing day - we're still in St. Jo, I kind of feel like maybe this is where we're supposed to stay through the remainder of the trip - but I guess time & God will tell.
We've kind of claimed this little area near the pool as our gathering point and it's where I started my day and oddly enough where I'm ending my day. I came down this morning around 7am to get a jump on things and see what might be out there in St. Jo for our team to go and serve. As I walked into the pool area I met Sharon, a woman who works here at the hotel. As she was leaving to continue her work I told her what we are up to on our trip and asked if she knew of anyone, or anyplace we might be of service today. She went to talk to a co-worker and said she'd be back.
I went about my search online to find some service agencies we could call. I came up with quite a list and was really hopeful and then Sharon came back in. She gave me two numbers to call - one an organization and the other of a lady who used to work here that she thought might need some help. The team had breakfast and we split up the lists to start making calls - the goal, gather in 15 minutes and see what we'd found. The first list (the one I found online) came back a big zero...at least for the morning. The organization Sharon gave us - closed on Monday's. Last shot - calling the woman Sharon thought would need help.
One of the guys picked up the phone and within minutes the lady had invited us to her home...confirmation we needed to stay put another day. We found the place and immediately our guys were all over it...half stayed there to begin work while the other half headed to buy supplies. Several hours and multiple trips to Menards later we'd done all that we could do today. ALthough they had hoped to completely finish the work the woman needed done the rain prevented us for doing so (who knows - maybe tomorrow).
So we packed up and headed back to the hotel. After spending the afternoon back and forth in the cold rain the guys warmed up at the pool, sauna and hot tub. We had a fantastic dinner (thanks Pizza Hut) and spent about two hours just sitting around talking about God, and more.
Such an amazing day of ministry and witnessing the hand of God on this trip and this team. Can't wait to see what tomorrow brings. Your continued prayers are greatly appreciated.
Monday, July 29, 2013
Sunday, July 28, 2013
Magical Mystery Tour
Last January I sat in a cabin at a Winter Retreat with several of the Young Adults in my ministry. We talked about a mission trip - which eventually led to the idea of a 'mystery trip.' They all said YES, let's do it. Fast forward about six months and we're on the road on this mystery trip of sorts. The idea was No Schedule, No Destination, & No Plan B!
Here is what we've done so far:
Saturday Morning we gathered as a team loaded the trailer and had some breakfast together. We then had a time of prayer, so discussion on what was ahead and then we spun a Twister spinner (each section representing a direction N, S, E, W.) Three out of four spins it landed on South - so we headed South. We pulled into Beatrice and stopped in a parking lot to look around for some idea of what we could do. We ended up driving past a church and two of our team went in to see if there was anything we could do. There was...amazingly enough they were setting up for VBS and really needed some extra hands. It was so cool to just happen upon this situation. The team had a great time serving this church and meeting some great people.
Next the spinner said South & East so we headed out of town and landed in St. Joseph, MO. We stopped several places looking for ways to help and had several leads on things to do tomorrow (Sun). We stopped for some dinner and to regroup a bit. We planned on camping overnight but ended up staying at a motel right off I-29.
Sunday we all met for breakfast and talked about a game plan - based on the leads we had from yesterday. We headed to the Salvation Army to help with breakfast and found they didn't really need much help - but the coordinator there had something for us. He sent us across downtown to a small church that he knew could use some help. We arrived just before worship and joined their congregation for worship and fellowship. After worship we did a few projects before lunch. Half our group then went to a shelter to help prepare for dinner while the rest returned to the church.
Both projects kind of wrapped up and we started talking about what was next. We loaded the van and drove around a bit before pulling over to chat as a group. The consensus was it wasn't time to leave St. Jo. Someone in the group said that on past trips there was built in time to reflect and grow spiritually as a team - something that on a trip like this wasn't "written in to the schedule." The team all felt this was something we needed to stop and do. So, we found another motel to call home for at least a day. After getting unloaded we circled up and had some GREAT discussions about the trip so far, what's to come and even better some more in depth discussions about us as individuals and as a group. It became clear that even if we stopped right now - the trip has been a success. We realized a few 'tweaks' we needed to make to how we go about things and that we didn't need to 'force' the work or mission aspect - sometimes God just wants you to wait on him.
So with that we went to dinner (somewhere a little nicer than the Taco Bell the guys had lunch at) and relaxed a bit. They was a family celebrating two birthdays at the restaurant and the guys decided they wanted to pick up the tab for them. It was truly cool to watch the guys make this decision to do something nice and then carry it out within minutes. After dinner we came back to downtown and went to a concert in the park we were told about. The rest of the night they team has been fellowshiping and playing. Both things God wants us to do.
For a guy that usually likes the details and to know what's next this has been an amazing experience - to truly trust God will point us when/where we need to go/be and to watch this group of Young Adults, well to watch them Be (secretly) Awesome. Galatians 5:13 (our theme for the trip). So, there you have it a bit more details about the Magical Mystery Tour. We would appreciate your continued prayers for direction as the trip continues through Wed.
Here is what we've done so far:
Saturday Morning we gathered as a team loaded the trailer and had some breakfast together. We then had a time of prayer, so discussion on what was ahead and then we spun a Twister spinner (each section representing a direction N, S, E, W.) Three out of four spins it landed on South - so we headed South. We pulled into Beatrice and stopped in a parking lot to look around for some idea of what we could do. We ended up driving past a church and two of our team went in to see if there was anything we could do. There was...amazingly enough they were setting up for VBS and really needed some extra hands. It was so cool to just happen upon this situation. The team had a great time serving this church and meeting some great people.
Next the spinner said South & East so we headed out of town and landed in St. Joseph, MO. We stopped several places looking for ways to help and had several leads on things to do tomorrow (Sun). We stopped for some dinner and to regroup a bit. We planned on camping overnight but ended up staying at a motel right off I-29.
Sunday we all met for breakfast and talked about a game plan - based on the leads we had from yesterday. We headed to the Salvation Army to help with breakfast and found they didn't really need much help - but the coordinator there had something for us. He sent us across downtown to a small church that he knew could use some help. We arrived just before worship and joined their congregation for worship and fellowship. After worship we did a few projects before lunch. Half our group then went to a shelter to help prepare for dinner while the rest returned to the church.
Both projects kind of wrapped up and we started talking about what was next. We loaded the van and drove around a bit before pulling over to chat as a group. The consensus was it wasn't time to leave St. Jo. Someone in the group said that on past trips there was built in time to reflect and grow spiritually as a team - something that on a trip like this wasn't "written in to the schedule." The team all felt this was something we needed to stop and do. So, we found another motel to call home for at least a day. After getting unloaded we circled up and had some GREAT discussions about the trip so far, what's to come and even better some more in depth discussions about us as individuals and as a group. It became clear that even if we stopped right now - the trip has been a success. We realized a few 'tweaks' we needed to make to how we go about things and that we didn't need to 'force' the work or mission aspect - sometimes God just wants you to wait on him.
So with that we went to dinner (somewhere a little nicer than the Taco Bell the guys had lunch at) and relaxed a bit. They was a family celebrating two birthdays at the restaurant and the guys decided they wanted to pick up the tab for them. It was truly cool to watch the guys make this decision to do something nice and then carry it out within minutes. After dinner we came back to downtown and went to a concert in the park we were told about. The rest of the night they team has been fellowshiping and playing. Both things God wants us to do.
For a guy that usually likes the details and to know what's next this has been an amazing experience - to truly trust God will point us when/where we need to go/be and to watch this group of Young Adults, well to watch them Be (secretly) Awesome. Galatians 5:13 (our theme for the trip). So, there you have it a bit more details about the Magical Mystery Tour. We would appreciate your continued prayers for direction as the trip continues through Wed.
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