Home Sweet Home

We are all home - safe and sound! Please know how much I appreciate the fact that you shared your students with us for a whole week. 

Sunday night we will share a song in the service and show our highlight DVD. I hope you will all be there to hear from Mel and Gina Blackaby. These are exciting days. 

THANKS to all my adult leaders who gave, unselfishly, to be with Frontline this week. Your investment and dedication is amazing. I am overwhelmed with gratitude. 

Julie 

Wow - again and 43 in 11,000.

Last night we sang at Mission of Hope drug and alcohol rehab center. The men there were very responsive - they even sang a song for us when we were done with the service. After that is when we all got hit right between the eyes. I had asked a couple of the residents ( actually the pastor there chose the certain ones) to share their testimonies with our kids. All I can say is that it really made an impact on our students!! God moved in a big way. Please pray for us, as I really want this week to be a marker for these kids spiritually. We talk a lot about choices and staying under God's umbrella of protection -- called obedience.

The resident shared that the greatest testimony in the world is one where a young life would be totally yielded to the Lord and not go down that wayward road that he has experienced.

Many of our kids are at a crossroads. If the Lord lays a student on your heart to pray for or minister to - please do it!! The Lord impressed our Senior Adult Minister ( 2 years ago) to go see my grandparents about their walk with him -- they both prayed to receive Christ at 88 years of age. ALL that to say - be obedient when God whispers to your heart to intercede on another's behalf.

Following our last day of ministry in the bayou - a full time volunteer there said the following about our kids. "We have had over 11,000 volunteers that were teenagers - yours is by far the hardest working and most respectful group!"

WOW - WOW - WOW!! I am so proud. They even gave us a big 'ole bag of crawfish to try. ( No, Michelle Griffin - I did not eat any!)

Late last night we had a LARGE time at the Thrift Store Formal! I think we started a tradition!

More later!

Julie

Thursday am~~Some of us went to the beach....a few of us went with Joy & Al to visit the USS Alabama! Two opportunities to witness in singing this afternoon & evening! Check back later!

Wednesday am CRAWFISH!

Tuesday

After a long day of working at the Bayou area, food bank and the retreat center - we sang at the International Seaman Center service for the men who are ministered to there by our NAMB ( North American Mission Board) missionaries and their staff. It is nice for the kids to see their cooperative program dollars at work! Most of these kids are former GA's and RA's - so this was very interesting to them.

Come to think of it.....where we are staying reminds me of Camp Pinnacle. Several of my female leaders are former GA's who also went to Camp. ( A certain adult leader here tells us that her Mom made her go to GA camp as a consequence for poor grades.....ha ha!) I loved GA camp. I remember how excited I got to meet a 'real live missionary!'

You would be so proud of how hard our FBC/J kids are working. They are putting in long hours without complaint. This week we have asked them to give more than they take - and they have done just that! We have asked them to serve each other. Again, they have exceeded expectation!

Today we will do the same projects during the day and then sing at another alcohol and drug rehab center tonight. Please pray for us as we minister - but please pray also that our kids will be open and receptive to what God wants to tell them this week.

Last night we had " Senior Night" -- it was a blast! I love these great kids and am so thrilled and honored to have had this time with them. Sweet memories are made and treasured.

Please enjoy all the pictures. Your students will have much to share with you when we return.
They will most likely sleep for 24 hours straight before you get much out of them, though.

Thanks again for your prayer support!

Wow!!

I will have to say that I have never experienced anything like what we experienced last night at Wings of Life Drug and Alcohol Rehab center. According to Brent Yeargin, "We had Church!!" It was a very celebrative and eye-opening service. This Christian organization assists those who have wound up - through a lifestyle of poor choices - addicted to drugs and alcohol. Our students were very moved by their passion for God. Why? They saw - firsthand - how desperate these people were for God. They truly hunger and thirst for HIM! Do we?? It sparked much discussion last night among all the students. Two of the residents shared their stories with us - basically telling the kids how to avoid these pitfalls that the enemy carefully crafts.

We are in warfare. I am not overstating this in the least....I wish it were so - but it is not. I told the students last night "The same God who delivered these two can KEEP you from this same fate!" His umbrella of protection ( this umbrella has a name -- it is obedience!) is there for our own good - not to rob us of fun and adventure. This is what the world wants ut to believe. All lies.

The drama team has been so awesome. The Wings of Life residents stood and cheered when Jesus freed the young girl ( played by Chelsea Lyle) from the bondage of the various sins. It is a beautiful picture of the One who stands on our behalf!!

Your students are working hard. At the moment - there are many students sanding, painting, clearing off a lot -- all for those who suffered from Katrina. Several more are working at a local food bank -- unboxing food and organizing things there. Still others are painting at the retreat center and re-sanding the volleyball court.
( Yes, we are forcing water in this heat!!)

You will be happy to know that the boys are going to have a seminar called " How to wash your own clothes 101" Randy Drummond will be leading this seminar!
We will also offer another one called " How to take a shower in under 3o minutes!"
Ha ha!

Al Collier,a member of the pastoral search team, shared with the whole group about our prospective pastor. We are THRILLED! May God be praised!

Stay tuned for more pictures. Joy Drummond and Mark Turner are posting pics of the various events.We hope you enjoy them!

PLEASE pray - GOD is moving in the lives of the students.

It is a great joy to serve your students as their director. I love them and I thank you for sharing them with us.

Hudson Greer is singing " The twelve days of Christmas" while working. He's on 12 now - it will be over soon. I need to correct him on one line - it is NOT "8 milks a mateing....." Mmmm - we will work on those lyrics later. ( :

Roger Allen - you would be proud. We are working hard....as John says " this is Roger's kind of trip!"
Thank you for always modeling for the kids what servant leadership is. They see in you what the Bible says about leadership - to be a servant first. No Bible lesson can compare with what is seen and observed in another life. ( Roger may kill me for saying all this - I'll take my chances though.....)

More later!!

Julie