I Corinthians 15:10

"But by the grace of God I am what I am , and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I , but the grace of God with me."

I want to be able to say that as Paul did.

I Corinthians, Acts, Nehemiah, I Samuel

Well, we are in full swing with our Bible classes and such things. On Sunday mornings, Pastor Randy is going through Acts and I Samuel. He is in I Timothy in the evening but I have only gone to that once. On Tuesday we talked about Judaism with Pastor Dave, Ben's dad. Today and tomorrow we are finishing up I Corinthians with Pastor Randy. Finally, Friday we started Nehemiah with Aaron.
GCBI is taking charge of the adult Wed. night service and starting a new program we are calling "Cross Connections". This ministry is designed to drawn in young families in a casual environment to connect and learn the Biblical model and principles for the family. This will begin this Wed. Nov. 1. This afternoon we spent a few hours at The Palms nursing home visiting with residents and some of us took some walks with them. Tuesday and tomorrow and maybe longer we are putting up a new fence at the church to expand their playground.
That is about all that I can think of to update on right now. Your prayers are very much appreciated! I am learning a whole lot of things that I hadn't known before and God is using different circumstances in my life to teach me lessons and draw me closer to Himself. I would also ask you to pray for God's provision and guidance concerning the upcoming trip to Israel that Dr. Randy will be leading. It cost $2800, which I don't have but I feel that it would be a wonderful, life changing experience that would give me a deeper, more personal walk with God and faith. I know that the only way I could go is if God quickly brought the money to by some miracle, so it is completely up to Him whether or not I can go, and I am okay with whatever He desires, but this opportunity is something I would really love to experience.

P.S. It has been "cold" here recently, getting down into the 60's!! Time to break out the winter coats!

More Random Pics

Most of these pictures are from the trip, but a couple are not. I will point those out. These are also not in any sort of order.

Morgan and I sweeping Kip Street in Philly getting ready for the block party.

A group trust fall at River Valley Ranch (RVR). The person in the middle closes their eyes and lets everyone else push them around.

This is the view from the trust fall off the platform. I did it. :)

This is not from the trip. This man near Sebring turned a run down piece of lakefront property into a free retreat center for whatever groups would like to use it. We will be working out here a little when it gets cooler. (which means 60's-70's)

This is a group shot with our first host.

It got pretty boring in the van.

Travis getting beat at foosball by a pro.

I finally got to mow some grass!!! I missed that.

This is in front of the Helping-Up Mission in downtown Baltimore. They are doing a really good thing there.

Eating dinner at Chuck E. Cheese

This is not from the trip but from our first Habitat project when we painted.

Morgan and I wiping down chairs at the Helping-Up Mission. They didn't have any real projects for us to do.

All of us on Federal Hill at Inner Harbour

We stopped at the "Crackel Barrel" on the way home!

Travis and I on a Gator at RVR. They only let us drive the golf carts though :/

We ate at Chuck E. Cheese! Travis used to work there so he was acting like he hated it.

Walking around Inner Harbour. It was weird to be there again when I was just there 1 year ago with my class. It made me sad.

Travis and I racing at Chuck E. Cheese.

I now have a facebook page, but I don't want to use it very much. I just wanted it to keep in touch with friends. Please comment here.

Ministry Tour Pictures

Urban Hope

Morgan playing with a silly little girl on Kip St.

Debriefing after successfully completing the "spider web"

A cool painting in Jonathan Martin's apartment

The tepee I slept in when it was very cold in Maryland

Ben, Morgan, and Shea

The only pool table that I am good on. This is my dream room where the guys slept in Charlotte, North Carolina. Besides the pool table it had a home theater system with killer surround sound, a projector and screen.

The living room of the sweet house in NC

The outside of the sweet house in NC. Yeah, we were livin' large.

The team on the balcony inside the sweet house.
(me, Morgan, Katy, Shea, Bryan, and Travis)

10 Days on the Road

Well, this is our last night on the road and what a trip it has been. Our visit to Hickory Grove Baptist Church was a very long 7 hours. I checked out the childrens program, hung out with the youth group and the college group. On Tuesday we toured and helped out at the Helping-Up Mission in downtown Baltimore then walked around Inner Harbor then visited some link groups from Horizon Church. On Wednesday we talked to some of the leaders of Horizon. Thursday we went to River Valley Ranch and did some team building activities, learned about the ranch and did some lawn work around the property. We spent the very cold night in tepees. Friday was very similar to Thursday. In the morning we did the high ropes course, which was very fun. That afternoon we did some more lawn work. In the evening we beat the girls through a corn maze and talked and sang around a camp fire. After another very cold night we left in the morning to help out at my favorite place in Philly, Urban Hope. We hung out with kids at 3 different locations. That night we were again outside of Baltimore. Sunday was we to Horizon church at Towson AMC theaters. Then we spent the rest of the day chillaxing in the mall and went to see "The Guardian". Today we were in the van all day and I am in Ben's sister's parents-in-law house about tot go to sleep now. Sooo, goodnight. I will put some pictures up when I get back.

On The Road

23 hours on the road

Right now I am in Maryland, north of Baltimore on our 10 day ministry tour. On Saturday we drove north for 12 hours to North Carolina to visit the Hickory Grove Baptist Church. This church of 15,000 excels in its children's ministry and we went to observe how they do that and their other programs. For the next few days we are staying with people from the Horizon church that meets here near Baltimore in various theaters. They thrive on small groups so we are here to check them out. Later this week we will be visiting River Valley Ranch and on Saturday we will be in Philadelphia helping Urban Hope with their block party.
If you haven't already figured it out, the purpose for this trip is to observe various kinds and ways of ministry. I am happy to report that we have not killed or begun hating each other during our very extended van rides. We will be returning to Sebring next Tuesday to resume our normal routine. I will probably update again on this trip but nothing is certain. Good Night now everyone.

Randomness

Say Hello to Roxy

There are some cool people with cool toys down here.

Yes, they are balanced on the point of a toothpick.

Habitat For Humanity

We, along with others, painted the interior of a Habitat house last Saturday. We also laid tile in a different house on Tuesday, but I forgot to bring my camera.

Yeah, we're tough

Morgan, Ben, and Travis hard at work... sorta

Outside taking a water break.

Group Shots

These are some group shots. Captions are below the pictures.

Here we are having our team time in the circle.

Eating pizza at the Hut

Walking down the street. It was hot.
(l-r) Travis, Bryan, Katy, Morgan, Ben, Shea

This nice couple took most of us out for a great meal at the Golden Corral. Yum
(l-r) me, Shea, Marge Spencer, Rob Spencer, Katy, Travis, Bryan, Christina

In to the Swing

Last week we had our first full week of class with all of our classes. Pastor Ogden (Ben's dad) taught Tuesday about other world religions, specifically Islam. Wednesday and Thursday are taught by Pastor Randy and we finished 1 and 2 Thessalonians. Aaron (Randy's disciple) taught on Friday and we finished Ruth. My afternoons are filled with various ministries, as you know. On Saturday we helped paint the inside of a Habitat for Humanity house. Sundays are busy with 2 church services in the morning, lunch with a family, softball practice and then church again. Today, Tuesday, we helped out with another Habitat house by laying tile through the whole house, putting some finishing touches on the roof, and helping to prepare the driveway to be paved. Four nights out of the week we are fed by different people in the church. This Saturday we leave for our ministry tour up the east coast. We will be spending time in North Carolina, Maryland, and Philadelphia for 10 days.

I will put some more pictures on here shortly. :) Also, be sure to check out the brand new GCBI website!

www.gcbi.net