HOMELESS SHELTER SLIDE SHOW

JESSIE: Wow! Today was a great day. We started off by heading to the homeless shelter in Beckley. After a rousing van ride of wonderfully loud singing and fellowship, we arrived pumped up and ready to work. Everyone immediately set off scraping paint from window sills and painting picnic tables. As we worked and talked people got to know each other and just talk with one another. It was great to see everyone working hard and enjoying themselves at the same time. Some of the kids that had been on the outskirts of the group for most of the week really dug in and involved themselves, it was awesome to see!! After a delicious lunch we all gathered together to paint the gigantic hand railing that seemed to go on forever zigzagging up to the front door of the shelter. 8 buckets of paint and 3 hours later we all stood back to examen our work, however, much of the work that had been done could not be seen. Not only were we changed, but as we had worked, people around the building had noticed us. Our laughter, joy and singing had gone considerably farther than we realized. We cleaned up our mess, took some goofy pictures, said goodbye to everyone we had met and loaded back into our vans with a big smile on our faces and our singing voices ready. Yes, we did many very amazing things this week and learned a great deal about ourselves, but today we were reminded that we must have the heart of a servant. We took time to celebrate others and their accomplishments and each and every person there was filled to the brim with a desire to help. It was fantastic.

BRIAN’S SAFE HOUSE SLIDE SHOW
MATT: Today, we had an exceptional day and a great time working at the men’s recovery center, “Brian’s Safe House.” We first met the head figure of the organization, his name was Leon. Leon is a remarkable man with an amazing story; and has a lot of wisdom. He gave us his testimony about the desire to address drug addictions and how it became relevant to his life. Leon told us about how he was raised by his father, a minister, and how he raised four very wholesome kids. He was apart of the school board, avid Church goer, and his kids were good students in a Christian school. But things changed for Leon very quickly. Right after graduation, his son, Brian, broke up with a long time girl friend, which led him into a severe drug addiction. At one point there was a teary father to son conversation that included the words, ‘Dad, I’m dying.’ Things got worse from there as time progressed, as for the most part, Brian had to really fight his addictions, until one morning he neglected to answer the door to his calling father, and later that day, going in for an operation, Leon would awaken to the news of his sons death. This is how Brian’s Safe House began. As far as me personally, today I had a very fulfilling time. I started out doing minor yard work and such and eventually I was lifting and moving heavy objects from a building with Justin. Eventually, Kris and I were given the assignment to demolish the building essentially. So with our axes and shovels, Kris and I removed everything. I was able to kick a door down, Kris was able to shatter windows, we took parts of the roof down; a great way to exert strength. I thought it was neat, not just to see how Kris and I worked together, but how everyone else did their own tasks with serving hearts. For me, it was just wonderful to see everyone so compelled in every way possible and to have such compassionate and willing hearts. But the words that stuck with me came at the end of the day, talking to one of the rehabilitating members, and he said to me, “You know, being 30 and going back to college is probably unusual, but for me, your never too old to change.” That was the best way to recap the feeling of today, just seeing how when people really find the need to be fully reliable on God, they can really make huge changes for the better. Great day, and a very memorable week, let alone day. I had a very fulfilling time in West Virginia and will have a lot of memories when back in Michigan.

JUSTIN: This morning we started out with devotions. The topic was celebration and commission. We discussed different personal moments of celebration and then in the spirit of the service we would be doing in the day we talked about how Jesus sent out his disciples, including us, to tell our stories. Later on we split off into two groups with my group going to Brian’s Safe House, an organization committed to the recovery of drug addicts. The head of the organization, Leon, told us his story, and we also heard from Steve, a recovered addict who would go on to graduate from the program in the next week. Both stories were very inspirational and set the tone of the day as we went to work on the jobs Leon needed done. We split of into different groups. A lot of the group moved things out of a building that would later be demolished, sorting the objects into different piles of stuff to keep or stuff to trash. Another big group went out front and began weeding the plants. It was tough work. A lot of the stuff was falling apart and some of the weeds had thorns. Several people also did other random jobs. Eleazar trimmed hedges with a chainsaw, while Erik and Kris took the risk of possibly getting poison ivy to chop down some overgrown weeds around a fence. The organization provided us with lunch and then it was back to work. Matt and Kris proceeded to demolish the building with others removing the rubble. Other people continued to pull out weeds. We ended the day by moving different equipment stored in the building, and clearing up the mess we had made, while hearing more stories from some of the recovered addicts. They thanked us for all our hard work and I could tell that they truly appreciated the effort that all of us put forth. I was really inspired by some of the stories that we heard which is what kept me moving even after an exhausting yet amazing week filled with fun and fellowship with each other.

LEXI: Life is placid. Life is rough. Life is so much fun, and life presents so many challenges all in the same breath. Life is a river; a river that pulls you under, lets you ride the waves, and should be fully embraced in every type of seas. Rivers, just as life are a beautifully magnificent creation from God. We have no control of rivers, and in all reality we have no control of our life, which for some, is the bad news. The good news though is that God does have control which is what we were taught today as three rafts, three paths set out. we handed all control to God, for the river left us with no other choice. Some, including myself found this extremely difficult and at times, but was so awesome when we could counter act that with “Thank you God, I can’t do THIS without you God, you’re my rock God, I NEED you now God, I need you always.” Some found it scary, and nearly impossible, but not for long as they found out soon that God never fails, which know as truth but sometimes have a hard time believing. This fear became visible growth to some, and invisible growth to others; but God, and only God turned fear into growth for sure. For some this was all out fun and for others it was simply getting through it, and still trying to enjoy the ride that mattered. Some, kissed the ground once they were off the rapids and some would have loved to have more, but in the grand scheme of things everyone grew, everyone smiled, everyone were willing to be pushed out of their comfort zone, everyone was a team, everyone listened to their guides, everyone allowed God to be in control with the help of each other, and God. Everyone was blessed with an incredible opportunity, and we thank God, Daniel & Ross, our parents back home, and each individual here with us for this. We love it here, and we wish both Kylie and my mommy a very happy and blessed birthday. Again, we give all thanks to God.

RAFTING SLIDE SHOW

EMILY: Control is something that we rarely like to give up. However, it is essential to grow closer in our relationship with God. Today we experienced this in rafting on the New River. The river chose how it wanted to push and pull us. We could not change what the river was doing. Our guide also had control. She was the one who steered us in any direction that she felt she wanted us to go. The little control we had could only be achieved through teamwork. With six of us in the raft, we had to stay alert so we could hear the guide’s instructions on which way she wanted us to paddle. If we each went our own way, the boat did not go in the direction that we desired. Lastly, trust was necessary in every aspect. We had to trust that our guide knew what she was doing and would not lead us into a dangerous position. Before every rapid, she told us which direction we should swim if we happened to fall out. We could only trust that this was the safe direction that we should go. A third way that we had to trust was on the two swimmer’s rapids that we were fortunate to swim down. We could only trust that our guide knew that this was a safe place to go without our boat. The three elements of control, teamwork, and trust that are previously mentioned all need to be present to grow in our relationship with our Father in heaven. We need to release control and hand it over to Him so that His plan can be carried out in our lives. We also need to use teamwork. If we do not surround ourselves with a godly group of people, we will struggle to stay on God’s path. God designed humans to be relational beings. Working together, we can grow and stretch ourselves and others. Lastly, we need to trust that God’s plan for our life is the best way to go. It will lead to a blessed life and a stronger relationship with Him. Whitewater rafting was a great way to grow closer with our group, but more importantly with God. It is an activity that I would highly suggest everyone do at least once in life. Even better, find a wonderful Christian organization like Alpine Adventures.

RAPPELLING SLIDE SHOW
JESSIE: Fear, excitement, anxiety, nerves, joy, anticipation. This list of emotions only begins to describe the feelings that I and my group members felt as we approached the edge of a 100 ft cliff with only a flimsy harness and some ropes. As our leaders explained to me the task before me I was petrified to discover that I had to lower myself down the precipice. Yes, they had back up ropes and could stop me at any time, but when they explained to me how to go down I was terrified. Convinced that I was going to mess up somehow and go crashing to the rocky ground beneath me I approached the cliff.  I took one step, I peered over the edge and fear gripped me as I lurched backwards toward the rocky terrain below. However, as I slowly lowered I realized that I was not in control.  There were ropes holding me, the guide had me so securely in her grip and if anything, anything at all as going to happen to me it was undoubtedly God’s plan.  With this in mind I continued down the cliff with increasing confidence. I saw this in my group members as well, as they came over the top they were shaking and clinging to the rope with all they had, but slowly they gained confidence. They found faith in the ropes, faith in God, faith in the guides, and slowly but surely they learned to rely on God’s strength instead of their own. This activity gave us an opportunity to actively put our trust in God. Sometimes i think we need experiences like this to remind us how small we are. Looking over the majestic landscape and realizing how minuscule I was in comparison to God’s mighty power it was very very comforting to think that I wasn’t in control.  No matter what happens it is a blessing to know that God has complete control and today was an excellent reminder of that.

RAFTING SLIDE SHOW
DAN: Devotions this morning by Justin and Jessie talked about courage in our lives and in God’s plan for them and how we need to have courage and faith that God knows what is best for us and we can take on challenges we wouldn’t normally face with His help. In my group today we went white water rafting and it was a really great experience because i had never done that before and i love to try new things in life. Plus it was a really fun challenge and it took a lot of effort to push through the rapids with the team. Putting our devotions into effect i thought about the courage it took some of the people in my raft to face the really big rapids because they were slightly scared of the rushing water when its all in your face and you cant even see the rapids ahead of you. I was pretty intimidated by a couple of the rapids too when they were over our heads on the raft, but our guide was really good and she just helped us bust through the rapids and she just told us that if we all stayed together while we rowed we would make it through no problem. That is a really good metaphor for how our lives work because in the river there is lots of turbulence and in our lives there is also lots of turbulence but just like our guide helped us through the hardships so can God help us through the hardships in our lives. I was really benefited by this experience because it was really fun and also a challenge too and I’m looking forward to rappelling tomorrow.

REPELLING SLIDE SHOW
KELSEY: As Dan already said our theme for today was courage. We started off the morning with a great devotional time together as a group. One thing that was brought up was David and Goliath. This was really neat because later on in the day my groups rock rappelling instructor also brought up David and Goliath and the courage that it took for us to take the first step off the cliff. Our instructor, Liz, said that David ran toward Goliath and was ready to face his fears. My whole group were all ready to face our fears even though some of us were apprehensive. The first step off the cliff was the hardest one to take. When we were rappelling we had to trust the rope and we had to follow the instructions that our guide gave us. Tonight we got all together as a whole group and talked about our adventures rock rappelling and rafting. As we were talking we brought up the subject of how our experience fits into our lives at home and with our relationship with God. When you rappel you have to trust in the rope otherwise you won’t enjoy your experience and constantly be worried about whether or not you are going to suddenly fall. You are given instructions at the top of the cliff of how to do it but really it is your choice on whether or not you follow them. This is kind of how it works with God and whether or not we choose to follow his instructions. We  are given the pathway and the Bible as our instructions but its our choice on what to do with the information. We have to trust God wholeheartedly in everything we do.  I am really excited for rafting tomorrow and to just be able to not be in control of everything because when you are not in control of everything you are able to learn.

KATELYN: Our theme of the day today was, “Course”. Throughout the day, we really focused on the journey, and the course that God is leading us all on. We were encouraged to trust God in our daily journeys, and to focus not only on the outcome/endpoint, but on the path we take to get there. Some of us took this thought with us into a dark, dusty cave, and others out into the beauty of nature. I was one of the cavers, and as we ventured into the cave, we really needed to trust. There was really no easy way to maneuver some of the passageways of this cave, and we fit through some very tight spaces. At one point in our journey, our guide, Rodney, told us all to turn off our headlights. He then told us that we were going to do a “trust crawl” and crawl blindly through a small passageway, one that couldn’t have been more than 10 inches in height. We were all silent as one by one, we felt our way through this unknown place. Before we went in, Rodney told us to trust him, because he had been there before, and he knew that the path would take us to the other side. Some people in our group were really nervous about this, but we all made it without lights. We connected this experience to something we talked about for devotions. We read Proverbs 3:1-6, and it talks about trusting in God, and if we acknowledge Him in all our ways, He “will make our paths straight.” We talked about how life isn’t always a straight “lit” path, but sometimes we stumble “blindly” through it. It is in times like this that we especially need to trust that God knows our path, and that He will keep us safe. CAVING SLIDE SHOW

KYLIE: I was in the group that participated in hiking today. We went on a long hike up to a rock that was above all the trees and the river that both groups will participate in whitewater rafting in the upcoming days. When we were on the rock, we had to be careful as to where we stepped because with one wrong move you could have gone off the cliff. It was really neat to see the clouds in the trees and the bridge in the background. One of our guides, Frank, asked us if we could even believe that God could do that and most of us were just in shock because of how amazing the view was from up there. Going along with our theme for the day, Course, Frank made a good point. He said that he as well as the other guides that went with us were only there to lead us on the right path and make sure that we got to the destination okay. He then made the reference that the guides were like God, God leads us on the paths that we need to take in order to reach our destinations. If we didn’t follow the guides or went off the paths they led us down, we would have struggled and would not have known where to go. The beauty of God’s earth is amazing and being able to see it from a different view than we see it most everyday in Michigan was really neat. I am really excited to see what God has planned for us for the rest of the week. Thanks for all of your prayers! HIKING SLIDE SHOW

we started at 7 am and arrived at ABC (appalachian bible college – http://www.abc.edu) around 6ish – I can’t remember right now, I think the long day is fogging my mind. the closer we got to our location the more beautiful the scenery became. However, we did take an unexpected detour (something about a driver busy talking about hunting and missing an exit) which allowed us to drive past a nuclear plant – lots of “ohs” and “ahs” and “lets get out of here” going on while we drove by. It all added to the travel experience.

We are now nestled nicely in the middle of the Appalachian mountians. It’s lovely here.

tomorrow the students will take over this blog. each day two students will post a story with pictures. you can count on them late at night – if all goes to plan.

note: posted this on my phone late tonight I’m sorry for the sloppiness of this post.

oh, btw- what a great group of students you have let’s us borrow for the week!

Daniel Maat

This coming Sunday we will be starting our Faith Exploration. 36 students and adults will be spending 5 days exploring God in West Virginia.

Our church focus and that of the student ministries has been being ’infused’ with God, living a life that is connected to ’the true vine’. Our summer trip supports this focus. Instead of doing a week long mission trip, we are going to be doing a faith exploration week. You may ask what this is? Well, it will be a week geared toward growth. We will be stretched both physically and spiritually through various activities. During the week, we will do three adventure activities. We will also spend a day serving the community. The two activities everyone will do are whitewater rafting and rock repelling. Everyone will also have to choose one additional activity (hiking or caving) for the third activity.

There will be times each day when we will spend quiet time with God studying the Bible and reflecting on our adventures. We will also spend time in the evenings together learning, singing, and reflecting on activities of the day. Each of us will be faced with fear and doubt. We will have to learn how to overcome this by leaning on God and others. Be prepared to add a new chapter to your faith journey as we learn to fully trust and experience God in our lives. One evening will be spent examining yourself and your relationship with God. God will be stretching and growing every- one on this exploration!! We will be partnering with and staying in the dorms at Alpine Adventures in West Virginia.