Final Day--Costa Rica

Today was AWESOME!!! Today Ryan, Gretchen, and some police friends we made blessed us so much for all the hard work that we did for them. First off this morning we went to a market place. It was nothing like in the states. Almost everything you can think of is sold there. Plus you get to bargain for items which is really fun. After that we went to the national soccer stadium which is HUGE! We got a private tour of the whole place. Our costa rican friend got us into the stadium. We worked at his house and his gift to us was the stadium and a private tour of the San Jose police station. He is such a godly man its unbelievable. The police station was really cool. God gave us such a great day to end on and just relax after working.
-Ryan McDonald

Oh my gosh this week was super cool! Ive found out what God had in mind for me for this trip. I cant wait to get home and use my new skills. Im gunna come back with a new attitude and understanding. I hope i can spread my experiences and just share how much of a blessing this trip was. I really would like to do this again. Ive made so many friends that im going to miss so much. But its never good bye, its see you later ;)

-Jonathan Woolf

Friday Morning in Costa Rica

The last two days have been busy! We have had the opportunity to bless the family of Deitl and Noylie (sp?) by painting the entire inside of their house. Many families can't afford paint, especially colors, so it was a blessing to put color on at least one wall in each room. Their home is small, so having too much color would actually make it feel smaller. We primed, and painted their entire home, and did major landscaping including bricks and crushed stone. That was the main part of the day for the last two days, but the evenings included another big project. We spent the evenings helping the missionaries (Ryan and Gretchen) move to another house. It is a much different experience moving in Costa Rica, but many hands still make light work. It was a fun couple of hard working days and it has been a blessing to serve with old friends and new! Just one more day until we head to the airport for a full day of traveling home.
-Jason

The promised pictures of Costa Rica Missions

Costa Rica Pictures

Wednesday Night in Costa Rica

Today was painting day and landscape day. Our team is painting the interior of a home belonging to one of the centurions and his family. We are also doing some landscaping, driveway repair and adding some landscaping rocks. I got to weed Costa Rican weeds. My cup is full.
-Kim

Today was our first full day in San Jose. (Yesterday we made the 3 to 4 hour drive here from the little coastal city of Quepos.) We spent the day working at the Beta’s house, a wonderful Christ following family. We started painting, landscaping, and driveway projects that we will continue to work on over the next couple of days. We also have the wonderful opportunity of working with a tremendous Costa Rican couple and their seven year old son. It’s amazing how they have close to nothing and are still filled with so much joy. The believers here in Costa Rica are all like that, and through them God is teaching me what it is to truly give Him absolutely everything. It has been so cool to watch God move through this trip. He is doing so many great things here, and I am so thankful to be a small part of that.
-Becca McDonald

Costa Rica (Tuesday 8/9/11)

This trip is certainly an eye opener on many fronts. There have been several subtle cultural nuances that have spiritual implications. The believers here place heavy value on family and faith and live this out quite clearly. Many of us would say we place value on similar things. However, many of the people we’ve met are extraordinarily committed to making Christ the hero in everything they do, even though they struggle with meeting daily needs like transportation, varieties of food to eat (vs. rice and beans every day), and living in homes suitable for their families. In almost every discussion with the Tecos (Costa Ricans), it’s always about Christ as the hero, and not about them – humbling and impressive.
-Tom

Monday night update

Wow!!! Today we had a great time at the beach got thrown by a lot of waves and enjoyed the sun. We got to climb the rocks which was amazing and go out into the deeper part on the rocks. It was all a cool creation the God has made for us to enjoy!!we went on a hike into the woods thinking we were going to the other beach...Well really that turned out to be a hard barefoot experience around a big peninsula. After that we went to the island where lots of troubled people live (I guess you could say). We went door to door and invited a bunch of people on the island to church in the Kapos central. During this time we got to evangelize to a couple of people who were interested in God. Saved a man who thought that he wasn' good enough for God because of his sins. It is truly amazing what God has done for most of the people here the way they treat one another and the feeling of helping another brother/sister in Christ. I am truly happy to be here and to see what God has planned next for us in San Jose.

-Eric Rohlwing-

Today was super fun. I love the fellowship and Im really good at this spanish stuff. Im not sure im getting the whole missionary thing, i feel like im not getting something but im sure ill get it cuz were only on day two. During soccer one of the ladys got a cheap shot with the ball right where you dont wanna get hit. I hope i feel like myself as the trip goes on in San Jose tomorrow .

-Jonathan Woolf-

Today was an incredible day of seeing God's creation around us on this beautiful coastline and seeing the opposite as well. We visited a beach never that has never seen a vehicle...untouched. We also crossed a very dirty, smelly river to visit one of the most difficult places in Quepos to share the gospel door to door. We had the amazing opportunity to hear a man pray the prayer of salvation asking God to take over his heart and life. What an amazing privilege! We are headed to drop off some bullet-proof vests in the morning at the local police headquarters and then head to San Jose for the remainder of our trip. God is alive and well in Quepos, but there are some very hurting people here. Please pray for the local church to continue to invest in the lives of these people. There is great passion, but the work is very difficult. People are very stuck in tradition and cultural lies.
-Jason
P.S.--we were humbled by the Costa Ricans in FUTBOL (soccer) tonight.

Sunday Evening Costa Rica Update--Day 3

Wow! Where to start?!?! Church this morning was OUTSTANDING! Pouring and investing into about 80 kids was such a blessing to all of us! It was humbling to see how happy and/or excited they were about the shields, helmets and swords that they made as they completed their Armor of God wardrobe. Some of the kids had never seen or used crayons and it was such a blessing to be able to send each child home with their own box of "many colors". Becca "knocked it out of the park" as she stood before all these kids and taught the Truth directly out of the Bible!! We spent the afternoon with 2 TACTICA police families, grilling and listening to such moving and God centered testimonies. Every team member was moved and humbled to be able to hear these miraculous life transformation stories. GOD IS GREAT!! Looking forward with great anticipation for the rest of the week!!! Thank you for your prayers . . . we are seeing them played out here in Costa Rica. PRAISE AND GLORY TO GOD!!! (Nicki)

Well today was beautiful. The weather was great, the little kids were fun, and it was cool to listen to Rafael and Carlos share their testimony's. We got to go to the beach and swim in the ocean today, wow was it warm. The waves today were huge like I don't know, maybe 7 to 8 footers. The kids loved the passage shared by Becca and, they liked the balloon swords. We got to meet with a bunch of kids, i feel so sorry for them because they are struggling with family life and what not. But we made good connections with them and, even though we can't understand a word they are saying we still got through to them. Can't wait for the rest of the week only day 2 and, I can already see the work GOD! is doing in the people and us.
-Eric Rohlwing-

Wow!! I don't even know where to begin. Today was absolutely amazing! It is only day three of this incredible mission trip and you can already tell that God is completely at the center of it. This morning we had the awesome opportunity to love on a bunch of kids that really really needed it. It broke my heart to see the pain and sorrow on these kid's faces when they arrived at the church, but the joy that they had when they left was something so great I can't even put it into words. I had the great honor of teaching these kids this morning. It was a truly amazing experience that I am so thankful for. After church we headed to Rafael's house. He is an amazing guy and we had the opportunity to hear his and his wife's testimony. It was so cool. We also got to hear the testimony of a couple of Rafael's friends. Another amazing story. God is doing so much on this trip, and I can't wait to come back and tell you guys all about it. Please continue to pray. Although God is doing amazing things here, there are still many struggles going on among the people that we are working with. Love you all!!
-Becca McDonald

Great day today...what a reward to see the team working together and watching the kids leave with huge smiles on their faces! We are left with a boost of encouragement as we see the local teachers and TACTICA leaders deeply committed to their people. A beautiful country, with many wonderful people. Unfortunately, the majority of daily life consists of a dark life...drugs, abuse, prostitution, etc. - it's the norm. For the few believers who are here, they have to battle this and much more every day. The good news is that these people have faith - and a boatload of perseverance to continue living out their faith...kudos to them! Pray for them - for continued strength as they face the challenges of a society that opposes everything they live for and for their ministry to continue to grow.

~Tom Rohlwing

Hey! So far AMAZING trip. Its really cool seeing gods hand in everything we do. Today we were able to serve kids breakfast and put on a Sunday service for them. After the service our group went to a centurion, Rafael's, house for a cookout. Then our team came back to the hotel which sits right on the pacific shore. We went out into the water and got trampled by some major waves. Tomorrow we are planning on getting on a boat and going to a not so comfortable or good island which is filled with sin. Hopefully we will be able to go door to door and hand out tracks and share the word of god. I personally love talking to these people about Christ. They are so open almost the opposite of the U.S. Even though there are some language barriers we always seem to figure each other out. Charades is a very popular way to communicate. Haha.

-Ryan McDonald

Great day in Costa Rica!

Thanks for your prayers. Today was an effective day of serving in a local church in Quepos. Becca McDonald did an amazing job teaching a very cute group of kids. Many of the kids are brought in via bus for a simple meal of rice and beans along with a slice of fried bologna. We were blessed by the opportunity to serve them. I'll post pictures later.
Thanks for your continued prayers for us and TACTICA Ministries!
-Jason

Sunday morning in Costa Rica

We woke up this morning to an incredible sight...multiple monkeys outside our rooms. We are headed to serve a church this morning and run children's programs for about two hours. Becca McDonald will be teaching about the Armor of God and the team will be running crafts, games, and leading small groups. Children are bused in for a good meal and teaching. Please pray for the team to represent Christ well.

Saturday Morning

So far the trip is going great. The planes were on schedule which was something that is always an amazing gift. We arrived in San Jose, Costa Rica and from the airport got on our team bus and drove to Quepos. This morning we woke up around 6:30 and had breakfast at the hotel. We had a devotional time and shared our testimonies. We are now getting ready for tonight. We are going to be serving at an outreach directed towards couples. We will be showing a movie for them and waiting on them.

-Ryan McDonald....(Jonny Woolf says hi)

also Jon says that it(this is Jon talking) was not to easy putting together a testimony and sharing it with people Ive just met. Were going to do that many more times on the trip. Also ive made sure to make a point that I am Mr. Woolf's son because of my amazing singing range. Ahh were going to have a lot of fun singing and stuff. OH and the weather is great with no rain yet. Kay this is Jon Woolf signing off!

-Jonathan Woolf

Well we are in Costa Rica the view is great and the driving is nuts. Ryan and Gretchen are really cool people to meet and I am looking forward to the rest of the week. Tonight we are setting up an event for couples for a marriage seminar. Then back to the Hotel. The weather is nice here, no rain yet. Can't wait to see the rest of the country, and meet the people, share our testimonies.

-Eric Rohlwing

On board to Costa Rica

We are seated about ready to leave Miami for San Jose, Costa Rica. Then a nice bus ride to the coast. On about 4 hours of highly interrupted sleep! I love missions!!!!
-Jason

Peru Update (Tuesday)

Just spoke with Rob and he asked me to let everyone know they are in Cuzco.  The plane ride in over the mountains was amazing!  Everyone is doing well with the altitude - no problems PTL.  They have some sightseeing tours this afternoon and then tomorrow very early they make their way to Machu Picchu.  They leave their hotel tomorrow at 4:10am and have a 2 hour bus ride to get to the Ollantaytambo Train Station.  Their train leaves at 6:10am arriving in Machu Picchu town at 7:40am.  Their day is packed with touring the archaeological site of Machu Picchu and Machu Picchu town.  A tour guide will show them the temples, sanctuaries, towers, the Solar Clock and all the construction and architecture of this New World Wonder.  They should be back at their hotel around 7:00pm.

Sounds exciting doesn't it?  Please pray that everyone continues to do well with the altitude and for safe travel.

Thanks,
Sandy

Peru Pictures #8

Peru Pictures #7

Peru Pictures #6

Peru Pictures #5

Peru Pictures #4

Peru Monday Update

Now that the playscape has been completed, the team has had several opportunities to experience the community. Saturday they took a trip up the river and went to a jungle zoo. Saturday night several of the team attended a local youth service. The team had a great day yesterday attending services at local churches and enjoying a refreshing swim in the lake.

Today they leave for Lima and will be traveling to Cuzco tomorrow. Please keep them in your prayers for safety, no altitude sickness and for them to stay warm. Yes, I said to pray for them to stay warm . As we are experiencing our warmest week in years, they will be experiencing morning temperatures in the 30's.

Here are some fun pictures of our group. While the pictures of the snake are at the jungle zoo, the tarantula on Charlie's arm is right from the compound they've been staying at.

The team appreciates the prayers!
Sandy

Lions, Tigers, and Motown?!

Today was an incredible day of loving on the YFC kids who came to VBS. We were able to take 35 of them to the Detroit Zoo. Our students did an incredible job of showing Christ love to these students one last time.

After the zoo, we boarded the Detroit Princess for a dinner cruise. The boat ride was amazing, the food was amazing, and that wasn't even the best part. After dinner, a Motown style band took the stage and our whole team went out to the dance floor and celebrated a week of serving 100% by dancing as a team and simply having a lot of fun with each other. It was an exciting way to end an exciting week.

Our debrief time was also rich. We talked about the week as a whole and then the guys and girls split up to debrief what was learned in an environment that allowed for more honesty and openness in certain areas of life. It was very encouraging for the guys to have this time of talking about the important and vital role of being a man of God.

I apologize if there are any grammatical errors in this, it's past 2am and I am exhausted but SO grateful for what God has done in and through these students.

To God be the glory,

- Peter

Saturday Peru Update

Hi All,

The team is doing well.  They finished the playscape yesterday and it looks great.  Today they went into Pucallpa to explore.  While there, Rob had a guy come up behind him on a motorcycle and stole his camera off him.  Fortunately, he had downloaded the pictures already taken so they only lost today's pictures.  Please pray for the guides who took them to this area as they feel very bad for what happened.

Tomorrow they will be attending one of the local churches in Pucallpa.

Please keep them in your prayers!
Sandy

Detroit Video Recap...so far!

Check out this recap video!

Detroit Pictures

Wearing dessert!

Pastor Jason came to visit. Alex Jung's face makes for a great cushion!

Hugs. Tears. Joy. God's Greatness.

Being a middle school youth leader is hard! (Don't worry, it's just frosting.)

Bloggggggggg! Persecution. Tears. Chuckie.

Sorry the blog hasn't been updated since Tuesday. We have had two late and emotional nights; which you'll soon read about. It has been awesome to see God working in the hearts and lives of these students. It has been an amazing week and I am looking forward to finishing strong. Thank you all for your prayers and support!

- Peter



7/13/2011- BY ALLIE KISS
Okay well where to start…I can start with today I taught people how God made us.  The nerves were stressful but I had soooooo much support that I got through it successfully. But we all had the opportunity to spend quality time with new friends from VBS. Then other parts of the day we did landscaping while some people played and gave food to the homeless. But the group I was in was working on a hillside and a lady came up to Emily and was telling us how blessed she was because her statue was next to it and cleaning it out made it look so much better then it did before. Everyone on this trip is being reminded of Philippians 2:14 but everyone is learning quickly ;)
~

Thursday, July 14, 2011


Today was a very good day; the summer day camp kids were great. We did see another building catch on fire. That was the second building we have seen catch on fire, the one before was really bad. There were two fire trucks respond to it. The one we saw today was tiny and a fire mini-van. Tonight after we are done working we get to go on a tour of Detroit, it’s going to be loads of fun. Last night Peter took us to Coldstone and it was very good.

Austin Zambroni


July 14th, 2011 Thursday

Many exciting things went on today, as well as last night. Last night, Peter and the leaders took us to Coldstone Creamery to reward us for our hard work over the past few days. I had tons of fun goofing off with the group. As far as today, we all took on our 2nd day being apart of the Youth for Christ VBS(or day camp as they call it here). Alex Jung taught the kids a lesson on how much God loves us. The kids got along really well while we participated in the activities planned for today. After day camp, I spent my time cleaning inside and setting the tables up for dinner with a few other people while everybody else went outside to clean up different lots. Before dinner, we set up an assembly line and made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to go deliver to the homeless along with other food like fruits, veggies, water/juice, etc. Later tonight, we’re going on a downtown tour of Detroit to visit different artistic buildings such as the artist who painted many abandoned houses to make them have meaning. While I’ve been in Detroit, I feel that God has opened my eyes to what some people’s lives are like and that’s taught me to appreciate people more than I do. Also, I’ve learned to do everything without arguing or complaining as stated in Philippians 2:14. I think God has spoken to all of the kids(and even leaders) on this missions trip and has showed us that a little hard work, dedication, and support can do to help a community like this in need.
-Gabi Fadden








On Wednesday July 13 about half the mission team including myself visited some homeless people to hand out lunches and pray for them. There was one man in particular that really impacted me in a good and a bad way. Micah Froman, Gabi Fadden, Matt Koenig, Ashley Reijonen, and I went to talk to a man sitting alone in the grass, eating the lunch we had given him. When we got over there, he had immediately made it clear to us he didn’t want us there. He started cussing and mocking us. However, we decided to continue to pray for him. As I started to pray he cut me off and shut us out. It really hit me. I was scared because we had no idea whether he was drunk or mentally gone, hurt, and I felt so rejected.
That night when we had our debriefing session in the church, Peter brought up that man. He talked to us that what we had experience was like a very small scale of what had happened to the prophets because they had followed Jesus. It even relates to how Jesus was mocked and made fun of. In Matthew 5:10-13 it says, “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” When he told us this, I realized that even though at the time I thought it was a bad thing, it actually could have been a good thing. I will definitely remember those few moments to tell others about and share what it was like to be in a similar experience to Jesus. –Lily Fell 



July 14, 2011
Today we hung out with the kids at the Youth for Christ building. We had a lot of fun had a really good lunch (taco’s….yummm). We had competitions outside today we did a three legged race and played “Steal the Bacon”. Yesterday (July 13, 2011) we went to a park were homeless people stay and we gave them a lunch and a choice of either water or a juice-box. Well Gabi Fadden, Lily Fell, Micah Froman, Matt Koenig, and Ashley Reijonen, and I went to this guy that was eating a lunch we gave him and asked him if he wanted to pray for him and at first we think that he said “Go away” or something like that and then we asked him again and he said “Sure yeah, lets get in a circle and hold hands.” Like he was mocking us. Then while Lily was praying he cut her off, just started saying stuff and was cussing. I was kinda scared. But last night Lily told Peter about it and he said that you are blessed when you get persecuted, and that was a mini version of what happened to God when people did that to him. In Matthew 5:10-12 it says Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. Then I thought in my head that we actually thought that was he did was a bad thing, but it actually kinda was a good thing.
And for my brother, HAPPY BIRTHDAY JJ hope you had a great day!!!  -Charlette-

Friday, July 15, 2011
Yesterday was amazing! teaching was so much fun… we also had a giant cry fest. even I was crying and I think God was working through me and peter cause the missions meeting where the parents came to I had asked peter if I could teach and I think God was telling me to ask him that cause when I taught we used the verse Hebrews 13:5b which says “God has said that he will never leave us or forsake us.” I think God told peter to put the cooking crew in mike’s van so I had to go to Mrs. Kelly’s van. when I got there they were all crying cause Micah told us some stuff and he had a dream THAT HE WAS alone and I think that God saw satan giving Micah this dream and told peter to switch the cooking crew into the other van so I could go in to Mrs. Kelly’s van and talk with them, cry with them, and sing with them. we also think god sent me there so we could finally figure out how mighty God is and what he can do cause the memory verse went perfect with it so we helped him through this. he brought me, Micah, and Courtney, closer together and we got closer together it helped us get closer to God. ~Alex Jung


July 15, 2011
This week has been the most amazing week I have ever had in my life! I cried yesterday because Micah told us a story about his father. That just made me think of how when I was born I had to have surgery because I had 3 holes in my heart. The doctors had asked my parents if they wanted me to have the surgery or not. So I sorta knew how Micah felt and why he was crying. I cried too, but most of us did anyways. I also learned to never let Alex have juice and spill water on him because he will get your shirt very bad. But tonight us girls are planning a prank on him! We took a doll and chopped it’s head off and Amanda took a pen and (it was a red pen) made like the eye bleed and the ear. It totally freaked me out so I hope it freaks Alex out to. The only reason we are doing this to Alex because while the other day we were working the guys found a baby doll and named it chuckie ( it had 1 leg 2 arms and no head) so I bought a baby doll and we chopped the head off so we could prank Alex.  :D I also Love everyone that’s here!!!!! ~ Ceirra Shipman

Peru Pictures #1

Here are some pictures of the work being done in Peru. Please continue to pray for the team and these individuals specifically. God is obviously at work! -Jason

Peru Pictures #2

Peru Pictures #3

Peru--Day 4

Peru - Day 4
Our days have been long and hot.  The build is going well and the team is doing good.  We celebrated Kerri's birthday today and they baked a couple of cakes to help us celebrate with her.  They are taking good care of us.  I have had the best guacamole ever here and I tried some food that looked like fish eyes.  It was slimy but tasty.  We encountered a tarantula in the guys dorm today.  Hopefully none of them venture into the girls dorm.  Thanks for the prayers!  - Rob
(sorry...pics wouldn't attach. I will try again later)

Wednesday update from Peru

A brief lesson that we learned first hand on the job site yesterday:  On Tuesday the girls were taken from us to work with the Girls Club that meets on site on Tuesdays.  The older girls in the morning and the younger girls in the afternoon come on site and have a devotional, play games, eat, etc.  There is a group of students from Azusa Pacific University who have been working with the Girls Club and the Boys Club on Wednesdays and doing a lot of the programming, and our girls were able to work along side them for the day.  That left us short handed even while we did have some of the guys from Azusa helping us.  Needless to say, we didn't get nearly as much done as we had hoped, nor did the work go as smoothly; we were missing an important part of our team.  The Bible talks about the Body of Christ not being all ears or all noses.  Some of us have to be those parts, but there are other needs in our body.  Our team consists of people who are brains, muscles, organizers, hole diggers, perseverers, fine tuners, etc.  When we are all present, we are complete and we function as God intends for us to function.  We were missing key people during the build that day. We had the muscles to get the pieces in place, but most of the guys have large hands and can't get their fingers into all the places that need nuts and bolts.  There are several of the girls who have smaller hands and are able to do those jobs, but they had gone missing for the day, and as a result, we lacked the production we had experienced on Monday and that we experienced on Wednesday when the "body" was complete.  Just as the Body of Christ doesn't function optimally when we all try to be the nose or the hands or the feet, we can't do the build efficiently if we are missing body parts.  If the body of Christ were all feet how would the mouths be able to go out and spread the Good News (plus we'd look like Dufflepods).  If the Body of Christ were all thumbs, nothing could be accomplished.  We have two more days before our scheduled inauguration party for the swing set and as long as our Body isn't dismembered again, we will be able to have something special for the kids to play on (and we'd like to have it finished so the Azusa team, who've put in a lot of sweat equity, can see the finished product as well).

Ciao,

Charlie Walker 

All is well with the team. We are working hard and should be done tomorrow with the build (we hope). Rob

Detroit Day 3 Recap - Mark Schaap and a stump.

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Today we did a lot of digging out stumps and poles and other yard work. I worked especially hard on the biggest stump/tree and almost skipped lunch to get it out. Then once we were done us boys started cleaning up the lot while the girls cleaned the building.
Then on the way back one van almost got arrested(Pastor Peter’s Side Note: This is completely not true. A cop merged onto the highway next to their van and they all started to freak out because they were afraid the cop was going to stop them for not getting over fast enough to let him on. Our drivers have done an incredible job driving safely with 5+ middle schoolers in their vans. We are also praising God for His protection.) and we saw a guy peeing on a wall(This one is true. It was from behind though. Welcome to the city, Mark!)
From: Mark Schaap




Hello this is Ryan Brady and today we did a lot of cleaning up inside and outside. When we cleaned up inside we cleaned up a lot of toys and costumes. When we were outside we did a lot of raking shoveling and wheel barreling. Today was very fun when we got to hand out flyers house to house or apartment to apartment. On are way back from a hard day of work we saw a guy peeing right on a perfectly good building. Ok well I am going to go now so bye.

From: Ryan Brady


Hello,
As we continue on our missions trip, God blesses us in many ways. We have fixed up the YFC building by taking out a fence, pulling weeds, replacing a bathroom sink, reorganizing their basement, and figuring out where their roof was leaking. Tomorrow we start our VBS camps so we can spread the love of Jesus with the kids. Please continue to pray that we will finish the projects we started.

Amanda Reijonen

Hi!
Today God blessed us with the amazing opportunity to walk around the streets of Detroit handing out flyers for our VBS with starts tomorrow. I was definitely pushed out of my comfort zone while talking to complete strangers. I ended up having a lot of fun. Please be praying for our health and safety.

Thanks,

Cheyenne

Yesterday with very little warning it started to pour. I believe the Kalamazoo area was hit harder than we were in Detroit. But, the rain in Detroit was a blessing. Michael Wiltshire had spent most of the morning working with Max Wicklund and Bryce Anderson to tear our a ceiling that had a lot of water damage from a roof leak. We were trying to determine where exactly the leaks were coming from so that we could possibly fix it. Well, God sent the rains. A ton of water came down in no time at all. Even though our team was forced to put our work outside on hold, Michael was able to determine exactly where the leaks were and help Dale (Detroit YFC’s Executive Director) make the decision about what need to be done with the roof. This wouldn’t have been possible without the rain. A seemingly negative part to our day, turned out to be a blessing in disguise for YFC. What I learned: In the midst of the downpour, it’s hard to see the purpose. But, God sees a big and clear picture. That’s the reason we trust Him.

Thank you all for your continued prayers. It is obvious that God is working through us to bless this community and in the lives of these students.

- Peter

Peru Tuesday Evening

Today was mi favrito! The girls in the community came in for their weekly bible study, older girls en la manana and younger girls en la tarde. Despues de meetings, we went out and played volleyball and soccer in the courts, and let me tell ya, these chicas are A-MAZING at deportes! Pequena girls, probably around kindergarten, are out there showing me up in volleyball! Later I was tossing frisbees with dos pequena girls, and every time I dropped it they would say "Ay, mal! Tu eres mal!" I discovered  that it is custom in Peru to say hola y adios too EVERYONE. About 50 girls walked around giving us besos and saying "Hasta semanas!". It was the sweetest thing!
  Gracias to everyone at home who are praying for our equipo. You all are such a blessing, and I thank Dios for you every day.
Holla to all mi familia! And dad, every time the trabajo gets dificil, I think to myself: When the going gets tough, shut up and do you your job. Haha.
  Thats all por ahora, folks!!
-Dani

(I missed this one yesterday...my bad)
As Chelsea said we've hit  the ground running!  All is well including everyones stomachs so far ~ praise God.  Traveling yesterday was long but God clearly "had our backs".  When we arrived in Lima, we had less than one hour to claim our bags, clear immigration, clear customs, re-check in with a new airline, go through security and find our gait.  And we made it!  It's late her and everyone is exhausted.  More later!  Just wanted all to know that we are doing great!   In His Name!  ~Kerri

Peru Team...Tuesday mid-afternoon (our time) update

Hi All,

I talked with Rob last night and he said the team is doing good. Everyone worked hard yesterday and they got a good start on the playscape. Today's plan is for the girls to work with the kids and they guys are going to continue the work on the playscape. They have pictures but haven't had time to download them yet. Hopefully they will get a chance to do that today so we can see what is happening there in Pucallpa.


Sandy

What students are saying about the trip...


Today—July 11th. We worked at Youth for Christ in Detroit. It started off with pulling weeds. I thought to myself “why do we have to pull weeds? We are on a mission trip, not a garden party.” However, as we started to get into it I realized that it was the little things that completed the bigger picture. Towards to the end of cleaning up and working Peter gave us a challenge: not to complain for the rest of the night. I had been complaining a lot for most of the time. When he gave us the challenge I started to enjoy doing the work.. (If enjoying work is even possible. ) Once I started to not complain and work as if I was working for God and not a man (Yeah! Memory verse right there! ) We had some really fun memories/events that happened including singing really loud while cleaning shrubs and me almost cutting off someone’s finger... (Sorry Matt Koenig!!!!) Now, as I’m reflecting on the day it really wasn’t as bad as it thought it was at the time. The first full day of the trip is off to a great start!!!  ~Lily Fell





July-11-2011
Today we went to Youth for Christ to help clean up their yards and a little bit inside the building. At first it was really hot. Everyone. Well mostly everyone (including me) was complaining about how we didn’t want to pull weeds and work. Then later in the day everyone eventually stopped complaining and was working. It started getting really fun after everyone helped and pitched in and actually knew why we were working. We weren’t working for man we were working for God!!!  All of us had a few good memories of our first day at the building and outside. Like when “someone” (Lily Fell) almost cut off Matt Koenig’s finger with clippers, clipping weeds(Pastor Pete's Sidenote: This story may be slightly exaggerated. Matt had a small cut on his finger that was taken care of with bandaids and duct tape(Matt's request)). Hahaha I love you Lily , we have become pretty good friends in like what a day or two? Anyways we had a lot of fun today and we get to do it again tomorrow.
~Charlette~





July-11-2011
Today we went to the Youth for Christ center to help out, but on the way there our car ran in to trouble. I was in Mrs. Kelly’s car along with Alex, Noah, Cheyenne, and Ryan. When we stopped at a red light, we all looked over and there was a guy looking right at me so I waved to be polite and I told everybody to wave too and next thing you know, he backed up 12 feet. An hour later when I was working in the field, a guy came up to Peter and handed him something, later I ask Peter what the guy handed him and Peter said the guy handed him a carrot and said “Give this to the rabbits. God bless.” So Peter set the carrot on the ground later to be cut in two by Bryce. Later Peter told us all what happened, I said it could have been an angel or God and we had a nice peaceful conversation until it was disturbed when Micah when he said it was a demon that had poisoned it. So that’s all for today.

MAX WICKLUND


I am very grateful to God for an amazing second day. Every missions trip I take with middle schoolers I am amazed at how hard they work and how much they are able to accomplish.

Thank you for all your prayers! I am seeing evidence of them in students attitudes and through circumstances that God has divinely ordained. This was clearly seen in the rain we got today, but I'll blog about that tomorrow.

To God be the glory,

- Peter

Monday Night Peru Trip Update

What a great first day!  We started out bright and early and had a devotional right by the river.  The sunrise was so pretty and we could see the locals passing by in their small boats. We had a simple breakfast, your typical toast, cereal, yogurt, oh and some Peruvian fruit that had a hard exterior and once pealed revealed small seeds that looked like fish eyes covered in clear goop.  Most of our team braved the strange fruit and ate it, but others couldn't handle the texture.  We'll post pictures later :)  After breakfast we began to work on the playscape.  There was a lot of sorting and organizing in the beginning but once we got things going things started to come together.  In Peru, lunch is the main meal of the day.  We had rice, catfish (which to many of our team mates, tasted like chicken), veggies, and fried plantanes.  We got pretty far on the playscape.  The platform posts are up and so is the swing set.  We ended the work day with a refreshing swim in the river.  There where these fish that jumped out of the water all around us as we swam, it was cool and scary at the same time.  We ended the night with a small, but yummy dinner, worship session (in English and Spanish), and a talk with Pastor and Mrs. Garcia, a missionary couple that have been at TEC for 11 years.  We are all excited to see what God has in store for us and the people in Pulcallpa!     ~Chelsea

We Made It! Praising God.

Hey parents, grandparents, and friends,

The Detroit Team has arrived safely. Praise God! We are very blessed to be able to stay at Woodside Bible Church in Warren, MI. The facility is perfect for what we need and it even has a gym for us to play in(dodgeball has been the game of choice).

My prayer leading up to this trip has been that God would work through us and in us. Well, I am immediately seeing the, ‘in us’ part of that. Tonight we spent a lot of our time preparing for the VBS we will be putting on at the end of the week. We were practicing our worship songs for that and students kept asking to sing more worship songs. So the band kept playing. We worshipped as a team. This wasn’t a scheduled time of worship. It was spontaneous, authentic, and rich. Students didn’t have to sing, but they did. They didn’t have to worship, but they did. God didn’t have to answer my prayer, but He is. If this is how He answers it after day one, I am excited to experience the ways in which He answers during the rest of our trip.

Thank you all for your prayers, love, and support.

To God be the Glory

Peter – Or as my handmade Detroit shirt says, “Pastor Pete.”

Peru Team Arrived Safely

"The Peru team has arrived! They are at the compound in Pucallpa and having dinner. I will be sure to keep you posted with any news I receive."

Keep Praying!

Sandy (received via email at 9:22pm)

Welcome to the new blog

Parents, Grandparents, and other prayer partners:

Thank you for supporting our students and leaders as they serve others in the love of Jesus Christ. I hope this blog is a blessing to you and others.

-Pastor Jason