“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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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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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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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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“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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“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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As we prepare to set out for Cyprus tomorrow… (Even writing that is awe-inspiring when we think about others God sent out to Cyprus before us to proclaim the gospel!) As the feelings and emotions are pouring out from the team today: “I’m feeling excited!!” “I’m so nervous…” “…equally freaking out.” God Almighty has prepared the way for each and every youth and leader He has chosen for this trip. He knows our innermost thoughts. He has placed it in the hearts and minds of many to pray for us and support us from around the world. From a ministry leader in Seoul, South Korea…to a missionary family in Kampala, Uganda…to a body of Christ in Diamondhead, MS. One sister in Christ, Val Shepherd, feels so honored to be praying for this Cyprus group, and says, “I know the Lord will bless them as they serve. God is greater and stronger…
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Hi Friends, Today we all got to sleep in, which was the perfect start to our free day. Thursday was a late night, so we figured we let the students sleep. On Thursday our cookout was moved inside, due to the air quality. We were joined by other mission organizations and members of the community so around 150 people ended up coming. Since the cookout was moved in doors the decided to gather students to lead worship. Kate, Cece, Ethan and Samuel all volunteered and helped to lead. It was so cool to see them stepping out of their comfort zone. We headed back to the church for an extended time of worship where we concluded this time by praying over each student and leader. We ended up praying over each other for over an hour. For lack of better words, this time was SUCH a blessing and so special…
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Happy Thursday Everyone! Today was our final work day and both teams closed out their worksites on a high notes! The crew at God Touch was able to finish their final project before we left. We power washed, sanded and painted a couple shelves for the ministry to use at the food pantry. We treated ourselves to Dairy Queen in celebration of making it through our work week. The crew that was at Bridge Builders finally completed the fence we had been working on! It was our smoothest day yet and we had no major hiccups. To cap off our time working on the fence the leaders of Bridge Builders made cupcakes as a thank you for the team. Tonight we are going to a cookout at a community center to eat dinner and hang out with other mission trip teams as well as some of the locals Milwaukeeans that…
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Hi Friends, Day 4 was another good day of serving! The teams split up again today. Abby and her team went back to God Touch while Quinn and Mike went back to the Bridge Builders. Bridge Builders – Many hands make quick work was not a true statement today, our team spent 4 hours trying to remove one fence post, and after many different techniques and approaches we failed to remove it. We even managed to bend a crowbar attempting to remove the posts. So, after lunch we shifted our plan and cut down the metal polls and began digging new holes for the new wooden fence. Although our team was exhausted, we rallied together to install 3 of 4 posts. That will hopefully set us up well to finish the fence tomorrow! Overall it was a great day digging holes, listening to country music, and capping the work day…
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