Cyprus 2023: Day 6

Have you wondered what the gospel would look like spelled out in vegetables? I know…we have, too, but we no longer have to wonder! This week, we have been leading up to the gospel and good news of Jesus Christ, and we were praying for the Josh and other leaders as they shared the most important story these kids would hear in their entire lives. But it was delightful to see the snack team carry the theme of the gospel in their presentation. It has not gone unnoticed by the kids. One little girl thanked the snack team for the time they took making the snacks not only taste good, but look good, and she let us know she looks forward to seeing how the day’s theme will be incorporated into the food! It is precious to know that they feel loved even through this simple gesture.  The volunteers have…

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7&8 Cleveland: Day 4

This is getting later and later each night and for that I am sorry. We are having a blast and the kids are doing awesome. I am so proud of our group for the way they are leaders among their peers (I’ll speak into this a bit more late in this post) the way they love and support each other and the ways that they are serving the Lord here in Cleveland.   Ceiling Project Today was full of ups and downs. One up was when we arrived at the house the owners lovingly greeted us and offered their garage for our services. One down was when Connor was trying to help someone else on the team and he accidentally dinged his hand (Don’t worry, he is totally fine!). However we bounced back from this minor inconvenience and finished the drywall ceiling and spackled it. Another up was when Evan…

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Cyprus 2023: Day 5

“You look sad. Did you lose something? And this little boy looked up at me with as though he were carrying the weight of the world and answered, “I know how to shine Jesus’ light, but there are so many people that don’t know Jesus. And they’re going to hell. And I want them to be with Jesus in heaven. How do I shine the light of Jesus big enough for all of them? This conversation occurred during the first 30 minutes of VBS if it gives you an idea of how God was going to reveal himself today. Wednesday is is usually the most challenging day in terms of exhaustion, and Josh had asked that we all engage as though it were the first day. There were so many moments when our team demonstrated the love of Christ to these kids and other volunteers that were tangibly felt: -Drew…

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7&8 Cleveland: Day 3

We are having a wonderful time in Cleveland. The staff here at Next Step has been great. There are five college students who all have their own job here and they have been awesome! Corrine leads worship and has an amazing voice and is also leading one of the work crews (porch project). Djiraj is studying engineering and is leading a work crew (ceiling and flooring job) while also helping to run games. Kassioni has been preparing our food (which has been pretty good!) and also running a work crew (community garden). Dylon helps to lead worship and run games as well as lead a work crew (roofing). While Elizabeth is the site lead and the construction lead overseeing all projects and supplying them their needs throughout the day. Community Garden: Today the group at the community orchard weeded flower beds, spread gravel and painted pickets. We also learned about…

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Cyprus 2023: Day 4

“Where’s Dan?” Haha…like any other family trips, there are a series of quotable quotes and inside jokes, and “Where’s Dan?” has been a rallying cry for our youth this week. As we do buddy checks to ensure no one has been left behind, group leader Dan has often been the last to join. But as many of us have learned this week, it is often because Dan is praying or engaging in discussion with someone. It seems fitting that he shared the story of Mary and Martha with the group this week in team devotion. Dan has modeled what it means to sit at the feet of Christ and keep our focus on our relationship with Him. Today started with a celebration of Ethan’s 17th birthday. Cake supplies are not easy to secure in Cyprus, but how many of us get to celebrate with a leaning tower of French toast??…

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7&8 Cleveland 2023: Day 2 – First Day On The Job

We got a good night sleep and boy did we need it. We were up before 7 with breakfast being at 7:15am followed by AM chores, breakfast devotions, group stretching and then off to the worksite by 8:45am. Jodi’s Team had a great day at the Community Garden, here is what she had to say… “Today we had the blessing to work with a wonderful lady named Ms. Mitty. She is working to rejuvenate her neighborhood by developing a community orchard where the hopes are to use the fruits of the orchard to produce jam and sell while she teaches the trades to the neighborhood. Today we helped by cleaning out the beds around the fruit trees and weeding some other areas.” Frank’s group hit the ground running on their ceiling and flooring project, here is what he had to say about that… “We got to the house and met…

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Cyprus 2023: Day 3

Sometimes, plans don’t work out as expected. And sometimes…they work out better than you imagine them in your head. That’s what happened with Holiday Club/VBS today. This was the first year Larnaca Community Church has been able to host Holiday Club for the community since Covid. They no longer have their own church building, and had to sell many of their children’s ministry supplies. How would it go? The director shared that we should be tremendously proud of our youth and that they were a wonderful testament to Calvary and Christ. We may be biased, but as group leaders, we had the opportunity to stand back and watch each of out youth use the gifts the Lord has given them, and we were so pleased by their enthusiasm for Christ and their joy in serving with their Cypriot counterparts and these kids. After a busy morning, we turned around and…

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7&8 Cleveland 2023: Arrival

Night 1 – Arrived safe and sound Thanks to everyone who came and helped to pray us off to Cleveland! We had a super safe and easy ride of just over 4 hours with the only hiccup being that with Chick-Fil-A closed on Sundays we had to settle for Culver’s. Upon arrival we had a little time to settle in and even meet some of the other students and leaders from the two other churches that are here (one from Philadelphia, PA and one from Charlotte, NC). We had Pizza for dinner and then met in the sanctuary for worship and some rules for the week and were then split into our working teams. Jodi will be taking Allie, Ellie, Eva and Julie to the community Garden where they will help to care for it and do a bunch of gardening. Frank will be taking the boys (Connor, James, Isaiah…

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Cyprus 2023: Day 2

“Shine your light for the world to see…shine, shine Jesus’ light…” Our youth are singing and practicing their VBS dance moves for tomorrow as I write this, and it’s humbling to see them prioritize time at the end of a very long day to go through it one more time when they could be relaxing. It’s been a full day from the rooster crowing nearby at 3:30 am to worshipping in community with Larnaca Community Church to visiting the VBS venue and praying for the children who will arrive tomorrow. We’ve been told that most of the children are unknown to the church, which provides us all with an incredible opportunity to show them what it means to shine the light of Christ. During our devotion time tonight, we prayed for a little boy in one of our groups that has special needs and we’re praying that he is able…

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Cyprus 2023: Day 1

“Are you Mormons?” This was the question asked by someone on the plane when we shared that our team was on missions to Cyprus. Isn’t that interesting? Travel days can be often be seen as the “throw-away” days where the goal is just reaching the destination. But our goal and destination is to embody Christ and glorify Him through our actions and words.  Our prayer is that we  demonstrated this today-from our group prayer during check-in at the Grand Rapids airport to our conversations with a missionary couple from MS heading back to Macedonia in Germany to this individual asking if we were Mormons. Not such a bad travel day. The Lord certainly cleared the path for smooth travels from airport to airport. You would never guess from the photos that we were bleary-eyed, sleep-deprived, and a little nauseated at times.  But we made it to Cyprus and were welcomed…

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