WWJD Week of Hope 2010 Day #5

Our last working day. It has been a day filled with excitment and anticipation. Excited to finish our projects and the anticipation of the final night. Yet again, a day full of unexpected blessings. Two of the crews received small gifts as a token of appreciation. The resident we assisted is a life long christian, but, said she never had a true testimony until she met the WWJD kids. The last crew planted flowers as a gift of appreciation to the organization they were serving. We didn't get much time to play as we were busy with the evening program, some pre-packing for trip home and the evening devotional. WOW! these kids get it. Please be sure to ask them, when they return, about their faith and why undeserved blessings are a gift from God. We have a better understanding of God's love and why He allows us to freely choose to love Him. Just like the father in the Prodigal Son, God's love in unchanging. God's plan for us includes hope and a future (Jer. 29:11). We will get an early start on Friday, so please pray for us on the journey home. We can't wait to share how we have grown. All thanks and glory be to GOD!

WWJD Week of Hope 2010 Day #4

The week continues. We had kitchen duty today, which included fixing breakfast, manning the lunch supplies table and clean-up. We are really beginning to enjoy what we are doing each day. Christ's crew was able to finish all the tasks for their resident and are now joining Lambs of God crew for the last day. We will finish moving the rocks and then lay down soil in preparation for sod. The Jesus' jewels crew continued mucking and weed pulling in anticipation of "mowing" the grass tomorrow. We have encountered too many unexpected and undeserved blessings to count. We learned that I am the most loved by God and yet He loves you more than me. We also talked about whether we deserve to receive a ring from God. Finally we talked about how to open our fist and let go of what we are holding on to so we can receive His gifts. Our prayers were offered for the youth at Peak Performance camp. Tomorow is our last work day and already some of us are saddened by this thought. Some of us are even asking if we can stay another week. Praise God.

WWJD Week of Hope 2010 Day #3

Look out fun here we come. It was an early day for the work crews, as we had the afternoon off to enjoy the beauty of God's creation. First, we had our afternoon devotion, which was all about how God has blessed us with the perfect family. Then we headed to Estes Park for a day of shopping and ice cream. After dinner in the park we returned to our facility for the evening devotion with a very special guest. binh Rybecki joined us for our bible study and communion. We presented her with the bead bracelet kits we assembled for the children of COPI. Binh accepted these with many thanks. She was sent off with a blessing for her next visit to the "people under the bridge." It will be difficult for her to receive government approval to serve them. Please keep her in prayer as she works to minister to these most needy of people. We heard all about her family and how her faith in Christ changed her father's belief in Christ as his savior. What a great story to hear as we studied all about or own families and how God wants us to honor and cherish them. Our God sighting for the day was when we received letters from home the same night we learned how God works in and through our families. We even decided to write our own letters to a member of our family and POW! God presents a letter from home for us, just when we many of us needed it most. The evening ended with binh presenting us with a gift from the people of Viet Nam. What an unexpected and undeserved gift from God.

WWJD Week of Hope 2010 day #2

Wow! day two complete. We are three teams working different sites. One crew is helping a family move rocks (Can you say Duchesne), cut down a tree and remove weeds. Another crew is helping a single woman with lots of yard maintenance. Our third crew is working at a horse therapy facility. Once again mucking stalls. Its amazing how much joy the children get from working hard and serving others. Tonight we had our hospitality duties which include sweeping and moppiong the cafeteria floor and cleaning the restroom (take note moms). We are beginning to realize how underserving we are, BUT, how much God loves us. Tonight's devotion was fantastic. The children had a great discussion on what a good friend looks like and how we could be that type of friend. We also talked about how we regret wasted opportunities. God is sad not because we wasted his gift to us, BUT because we fail to forgive ourself. We came to realize that it is Satan who is using our shame and guilt to keep us away from God's most precious gift....unconditional love. We have decided that if God can completely forget about our mistakes then we should allow ourselves to do the same. That way Christ's sacrifice is not in vain. We are looking forward to tomorrow and seeing how much we can accomplish for the glory of God!

WWJD Week of Hope 2010 day #1

We made it to Loveland in 8 hours including fuel stop, rest breaks, and lunch. McDonald's in Laramie, WY was the perfect stop. We played many games along the way and enjoyed our journey in spite of not many sights. Isn't it funny how one can cross the Continental Divide without a mountain in sight. The wind ALWAYS blows in Wyoming. There are groups from all over the country: Utah; North Dakota; Oregon; Kansas; Wyoming; and Colorado. So far pictures have been taken, donation food has been purchased, and we have begun making new friends while playing games. Oh yeah, the requisite pillow fight for the boys while the girls are just busy making friends with others in their room. After dinner, served by the youth of the host church, we had our first meeting and worship time. We have been divided into crews and each of us has had a duty assigned. God is going to do some amazing things this week. The theme for this week will be the story of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32). Prodigal: 1) exceedingly or recklessly wasteful; 2) Extremely generous or lavish; 3) extremely abundant or profuse. Which of these describes our actions and which describes God's love? Please read this and pray that God uses it to show all of us How much He loves us. We are so undeserving, yet He always welcomes us with celebration. May God use us to be a blessing to others.

Team Departs on Sunday!!!

This year's WWJD mission team departs this Sunday morning. Daily updates will be posted here and photos will be available in the photo album section of the Member Connect section on goodshepherdutah.com. We are looking forward to this wonderful mission and ministry opportunity for our 5th & 6th grade students.