Going Home!

Well, this is the last post from Florida! It has been a great school year. I will miss all the friends that I have made here. The people, classes, ministry and traveling was great. This has been an experience that I will never forget! Thank you to everyone who prayed for me, even once, while I was gone.
I am not sure about what the future holds for this site. I may change the name and talk about other stuff back home, or I may trash it. Hmmm, what do you think I should do?
As for my future plans... this summer I am working at Community Bible Church in Palmyra. I will be a youth intern in charge of starting and leading their youth ministry. I am extremely excited about that! I will also be keeping my job as a vendor in Hershey Park part-time. In the fall I have been accepted to Lancaster Bible College where I plan on majoring in student ministry.

If you are wondering what you may pray for me about, here are some of the top issues I am facing. We need a reliable car for cheap because Cheri and I will both be having places to go, and the car we have now isn't reliable for making the daily trip to LBC. I need money, probably in the form of loans, to pay for college. And most importantly, that I will be a godly influence and example to the youth at CBC and PGBC and that I would continue to grow in my walk with Christ.

Well, I am as packed as I can be for the night before! I have 5 checked bags! That is just crazy! It is late, so I will be getting to bed.

Ooops

I must confess, I actually forgot about this site. So I am sorry for not updating. All my updating has been on Facebook, which many of you may not have. But I am down to the wire now. 5 days till graduation as some count. I have a lot to do, so please pray that I get it done and done well without letting the enemy distract me, as he already has today. :/ For those of you in PA, I am looking forward to seeing all of you again soon!

Going to Atlanta

After class today we are heading out to Atlanta, Georgia for 3 days. We will be observing different ministries including a 30,000 member church. That is about all I know. I will obviously be taking pictures and such and will post them on Facebook or here or Picasa. You can check out my picasa albums at www.picasaweb.google.com/martinj24.

I'm Back!!

Yesterday I arrived back in the US from Nicaragua. I had a great time down there, working and learning. Our group was made up of the 5 young guys from Sebring, 2 older couples and 1 old couple, one other guy and Mike Bagby, who was the leader. I dug trenches, lots of trenches in dirt and concrete, and did various other tasks. After working for about 8 hours (with a long lunch break) we would go to the nearby creek and swim for a little while to cool off. Our evenings consisted of playing cards and talking. The electricity would usually go off for much of the evening, so we made good use of our headlamps. We had great meals that were prepared by the lady of the house. Lots of rice and beans but we also got chicken and beef and eggs. Even though this was a work trip, I also learned a lot. The testimonies of the people that I was working with, challenges that we were given, and the things that God showed me as I worked made this trip spiritually challenging as well as physical. I will post pictures soon. :) Thank you all for praying for me these past 2 weeks.

Headed South!

It just hit me tonight that I am going to Nicaragua this Tuesday. Yeah, I haven't really even thought much about what I need to be bringing. I guess I will have to get on that. I will be there from the 10th to the 22nd. Please keep the guys in your prayers.
In other news, Thursday and Friday we helped Soulnamai in St. Augustine. We hung out with a youth group and led a communion service with them. Today (Saturday) the church had their Easter EGGstravaganza! It went great. I got to share the cross illustration with a whole bunch of kids twice. I happen to be really tired and sore right now, but I can't go to bed yet because I have stuff to do. :( I will be spending Easter with a whole of people including the Browns (lots), Ogden's (quite a few), and some GCBIers. I probably won't post until after I get back, so till then!

P.S. Please be praying for us guys as we build a training center in Nicaragua. Also, please pray for Alison Haldeman as she will be having major surgery next Monday.

Pictures

A little sleepy, but the sunrise over the east coast

It was beautiful

Yeah, we're pretty cool

I was glad we went here, it was cool. The Navy Seals are pretty cool.

On the Gulf

It was very red

Acquire The Fire

Ben and Christina working a merch stand at ATF

Morgan and Katy showing off the mech

We read and involved the audience in the story of Esther

The world famous 12 Hours of Sebring happened a few weeks ago

The girls at the window

We put on a pancake breakfast for the church. We played old cartoons and played Superhero and Bible Hero Jeopardy.

Pastor Randy's illustrations for Daniel 9 are as complicated as the text!

Busy Busy Busy

Well, once again I have waited too long to update. We have been up to a lot the past 2 weeks. Our Wednesday evening service has been going well. This month we studied James. Ben shared on chapter 4 last week and I wrapped it up with chapter 5 tonight.
In class we went through Daniel and today we started the Torah. Very interesting and exciting stuff.
I got to give blood again on the 22nd. That went very well for me this time, but not for Ben. lol
I have started doing interviews with older men in the church in order to put together a video of them. I am working with another guy who is interested in making movies.
I got to learn how to lay some large tile at the Brewer's house. The Brewer's are the family of 2 of the students and our most gracious hosts.
Last weekend we volunteered at Acquire The Fire in Miami. I was an usher so my job was to make sure people sat in the right seats and stayed there during concerts. I got to be in the front to watch Leeland, which I really enjoyed, and Pillar, which was okay (too hard for my tastes). It was a lot of fun to attend. Plus I got another free t-shirt!
On Monday, Travis and I got up at 4am to drive to the Atlantic to watch the sun rise. It was pretty cool. While there we swam in the ocean, sat on the beach and visited the UDT/Seal museum in Fort Pierce. We then drove across the state to the Gulf of Mexico and watched the sun set there. We got to walk around downtown Sarasota, which was pretty cool. Overall it was fun, a neat experience and a safe trip.
I have a prayer request. My friend Alison has been very sick for the past few months and finally the doctors know what is wrong with her and they are going to be operating on her on April 16 at 1:30. Please pray for her that she won't be scared and that the surgery will go well and fix her problems. But also thank God that the end is probably in sight for this hard trial!
That is about all that has been going on here. This Saturday I will be renewing my CPR certification and receiving my First Aid certification! I am excited about that!
Also, please pray for our upcoming trip to Nicaragua. We are trying to raise the needed money and we are still waiting on Ben and Morgan's passports. We also need to find some cheap plane tickets. We are leaving in 2 weeks from yesterday.
That is about all. I will post a few pictures of what has been going on, but you should check out my Picasa album. I will update that soon with lots of pictures and video!

North Carolina

Start with the last of all three posts and work your way up!

We went up to North Carolina to Camp Lurecrest from Wednesday to Saturday. We had a great time learning about the camp and the YWAM type school they have there. We got to do some rope elements, take a hike, visit Ashville, even go Contra dancing.

Standing around

Bryan and Ben

Bryan, Moran, Travis

Me, Shea

Climbing up the Leap of Faith, pretty much just telephone poles

My mother would not have liked to see me. We jumped off the pole.

On the way down

Bryan and I climbing the "Dangling Duo"


Almost to the top!


We made it!

Christina and Ben

She is so strong

Me on a bench, in front of a Wachovia

Morgan on the mountaintop


What a view


Phew! I almost fell over the edge!

Tampa Bay Festival, Super Bowl, etc.

I was attacked by fire ants. They bite and that stings and itches. They are feeling fine now, but I have little scabs all over my wrist now. It looked pretty gross.

Watching Heroes at Hunter's. Yeah, we have big parties and swap theories like a bunch of geeks.

More people at Hunter's

The guys from the Christian rock band Ashes Remain stayed at the Institute for a night. They were pretty cool. Ben was in the band back when he lived in Maryland.

We helped out at the Tampa Bay Festival featuring Louis Palau by directing parking. Well, Shea and I redirected parking, Travis and Morgan directed a few cars and buses (including Toby Mac) and the rest of them just stood with no cars coming to them. But was all stood in the cold and rain. It was so cold that we left after we fulfilled our commitment instead of staying and checking out the festival.

Before we got wet

Brother and sister

Raymond James Stadium. It is pretty big.

gee, what could this be?

yes, it is a huge stadium

Finally, pictures!

These are some pictures from last month.

In class with Dr. Pastor Randy

Shea with his chicken, Houdini

The Brewer's unfinished kitchen

Super Bowl Party at the younger Michaud's

Katy is special

In the studio at the JoyFM radio station. We were on the radio!!
We talked about us, how we came to the institute, about the institute, and our plans. It was pretty cool.

Bryan and Katy

The desk was a little crowded

There was even a studio window!

Melissa was the dj. She was nice.

I am sorry

I am sorry sorry sorry, I know that I need to update. But I am very tired now and I think that I will go to bed. But I will give you the address to look at lots of pictures from Lady Lake and Miami.
http://picasaweb.google.com/martinj24

"Return To Lady Lake"

Tomorrow and Wednesday GCBI will be in Lady Lake doing more relief work. We are staying overnight somewhere up there. That is all I know. So please pray that we would be able to be a blessing to the people there, good testimonies for Jesus Christ, and have a safe time. I am sure that I will take some more pictures, but hopefully it will be of less destruction and more smiles and hope.
Also, Pastor Randy leaves for Israel tomorrow and Katie leaves on Thursday. Katie is very sick right now with strep throat and that other virus that really does a number on your throat. Please keep her in your prayers as well, that she would quickly heal and have a wonderful time in Israel.

On The Air

This week has flown by, it seems. In class we went through Hebrews and James with Pastor Randy. This evening we are running the date night. What that is is we watch couple's kids at the church while they go out for a date, or stay in... whatever. We entertain them for a few hours. Tomorrow evening from 8:30 to 10:00 GCBI will be the in studio guests on Lightforce on the JoyFM radio stations. You can listen in live at the website, www.thejoyfm.com.
We will be heard a few times during the hour and 1/2 between new Christian rock so if you can stand the music, be sure to listen in!!
I need to get playing with kids now.

Report on FGBC website

http://fgbc-world.blogspot.com/2007/02/students-report-disaster-relief-stories.html

GCBI is making small headlines on the FGBC website with our disaster relief work! This is significant because the Fellowship leadership is against promoting this program because it is seen as a competitor to the 412 Commission. I would encourage anyone to tell any young people about this life-changing and affordable program, whether you or they are Grace Brethren or not, it is open to all believers.

Miami for the weekend

We are in Miami/ Ft. Lauderdale this weekend! We are staying in some condos owned by a friend of Pastor Randy's, right on the beach. Friday evening, we visited a Messianic Temple, which our host was a rabbi of, and had a great time. I really enjoyed the experience, the worship with dancing and clapping was excellent. I felt privileged to be worshiping with God's people. Tomorrow we are in charge of the service for a small Grace Brethren church. I get to tag team the message with Bryan and Travis, which I need to get working on, so that is all for now. I will have pictures and such when I get back to Sebring. I hope all is well with everyone. Feel free to update me on anything that is going on back home or wherever you are. martinj24@gmail.com

More Lady Lake pictures

Lady Lake Disaster