This Wednesday: April 1st

We will be showing a slide show and giving any participants a chance to talk about the trip. We welcome all who would like to come. We start @ 6:30 with a game and worship, the presentation will follow. Thanks, Jeremy

Message from leader of the day Saturday (Joelyn)

Well my day as being a leader went well but I think I could have done better. I could have been more prepared with road maps but other than that I think I did well. Other than being yelled at by some people I liked it but being a leader is hard and good leader experience. I loved going on this trip and learning so much that I can take home with me and share with my family. If you want to grow stronger in faith, I recommend going on a mission trip because you have the best times ever there=) Ask anyone who went this is something we will never forget .

Saturday update

Hello all, it's 10:30 Saturday and we are home! I just got my kids in bed (we were very excited to see them, missed them a lot) and thought I would put a few thoughts down from today. We all had our last night of less than 6 hours sleep and headed out for the morning at JBC. The kids attended workshops and were warmed up with some games. After lunch we headed North. This was our best travel day, we made very good time and didn't really stop until Lafayette to eat pizza at CiCi's. After dinner we had our last devotional time. When we arrived at the church it was raining pretty hard and everyone pretty much rushed to get their stuff and get home. The end of a truly incredible week. I want everyone to keep following the blog for another week or so. I have more pictures to post and a couple of the leaders of the day still need to write their entry. Also if anyone that went on the trip has any other thoughts they want posted, let me know.
Jeremy

Friday update

Wow, what a day! 6 kids went with Jamie and I up into the mountains for a hike, while the others enjoyed time at the condo with Eric and Jodi. We hiked up to Laurel Falls. I had been before, but the water was up more than any other time I have visited the park in the past. When we came back, we spent some time at the pool and hot tub while our leaders of the day prepared some homemade pizza. It was then off to JBC for the retreat which began with the preacher grand prix. The worship band was solid and our speaker hit spot on with his message. We retreated back to the condo for our devotions and I know I have said it before, but it was the best time of the week. I commend the kids for their willingness to share real things going on in each others lives along with the support and love everyone has shown to each other. I told some folks before the trip that I had hoped that I didn't set my expectations too high for the trip because in my mind I had set the bar pretty high. The experience has exponentially exceeded those high expectations. We serve and worship a good God and I am grateful that he has blessed this trip. Hard to believe we are coming home tomorrow, but I think we are all missing our loved ones at home. Pray for our safe travel home after our time at JBC tomorrow.
Jeremy

Message from Cheyenne, Friday leader of the day

Today we went to Johnson Bible College for the first time. The speaker was very good. A lot of people were touched at some of the things that he mentioned today. This morning half of us went on a hike in the mountains when the rest of the people stayed at the condo and slept. The hike was very fun and the waterfall was pretty. Me, Emily, Cortney, and Kayla made pizzas. The ones me and Cortney made didn’t turn out very well. Emily’s turned out great! Breakfast went very well. We cooked biscuits and gravy, fruit salad, and milk or orange juice. The way to the college was easy, but we missed a turn to get back to the condos. The devotion we had planned and did went very well. I think a lot of people learned some things from it and are going to use in the future. We did our leadership as a team, which went very well for the both of us. At the college they had a wagon race. That was very interesting to watch.
Cheyenne

Picture post

Friday, homemade pizza

Calhoun's for supper Thursday

Out side Calhoun's

Ripley's ball

Deep discussion over some java

picture post

Chey and Jo

Mountains

Jamie

JoJo

Corvette show going on in town

Picture post

The hikers @ Laurel falls

Danger keep control of kids

girls on the trail

Andrea the racer

Paging doctor Putt (he's going to dental school now)

Message from Wednesday leader of the day (Kayla)

My day as the leader of the day was very…interesting. We had a few problems with the van. First, the right rear tire exploded in the middle of our trip back to Tennessee. Then, something crazy happened to the van, we weren’t sure exactly what it was. Jeremy and Eric tried to fix it and now it sounds like a racecar. WE NEED A NEW VAN! Other then the horrifying experience with the van, my day was great! Everyone was working amazingly to try to get everything done at the church that we needed to get done. (And the church looks awesome now!) I only got missed one turn on the way to the church! WHOO HOO! =] We made it to Tennessee in one piece. I’m not sure how though. =] After the blowout with the tire, Eric said that I was allowed to sit in the back with all of my friends. I was able to get some sleep that night, but not much.
Kayla

Thursday night

We wrapped up the fun day of our trip and luckily we had fun! After eating our breakfast/lunch we headed to an outlet mall and some shopped while others rode go-carts. Then we drove into Gatlinburg and walked through downtown. We ate supper at Calhoun's. Then returned to the condo for swimming after a quick pitstop at Walmart. We are currently getting ready for bed and will wake up to breakfast prepared by tomorrows leaders of the day.
Jeremy

Message from Thursday leader of the day (Cortney)

Today is Thursday and I was leader of the day. Today was actually an easy day because it was our fun day. The only decisions I had to make were directions to the places we were going, and the places we wanted to eat. The rest of the decisions I tried to leave up to the rest of the kids. Being leader was only difficult in the sense that I didn’t want to do anything to make the others mad. Other than that today was definitely really fun, especially when Cheyenne came looking for me in the bathroom at wal-mart and walked into the men’s restroom calling my name. That was the highlight if my day.
Cortney

Picture post

Waiting for drywall

At the beach

Sunset at the beach

Picture post

Brick and motar

Vickey the church secretary

Henry Lopez the head deacon

Picture Post

Kait and Kayla at the work site

Male bonding

Drywall has arrived!

Thursday morning

It is 10:00 am Thursday morning. Most are sleeping, but a few are starting to stir. Just to detail the events of yesterday. We got up to our normal routine and went to the job site. We had our devotional from the day before when we got there. It was the most open and honest session so far. When we started work the kids did an awesome job of clicking together and finishing the projects we had started. We feel good about the work that was done and appreciated some of the congegration that had dropped by saying thank you to us. That is when another of our travel adventures began. We made it to Lake City Florida when our right rear tire suddenly vibrated and blew out. Eric did a masterful job of keeping control of the vehicle and bringing it to the shoulder. We evacuated the kids to far off the road while Eric and I had to put the previous left rear tire on that we had taken off because of a vibration Sunday. We limped the 10 miles into town to find a tire place and the van now had 4 brand new tires. We are trying to figure out why two identical tires with less than 10,000 miles on them went defective. There are always concerns of weight, but as Eric pointed to me his service truck has much more weight on it with the same size tires. We went back on our way after about a three hour delay. We made it to 30 miles South of Macon, GA when the van lost all power and we coasted into a truck stop. Eric and I determined that the shredded tire had damaged the exhaust. The catalytic converter had been plugged and when we relieved the pressure, the van ran great although it now sounds like a stock car. So after another delay we made it the rest of the way and arrived shortly after 3:00 am about 4 hours behind schedule. Through it all we are praising God for our safe arrival and realizing we have been blessed with favorable circumstances, even through the adversity. I am appreciating the kids taking these events in stride and thankful for the adults and their leadership. Keep us in your prayers today as we try to unwind and have some fun before starting the JBC retreat tomorrow.
Jeremy

What a day

I am writing at 4:00 am on Thursday. We have made it finally to the condo in Tennessee and have the kids showered and in bed. More details to follow later in the morning, I'm gonna get some sleep.
Jeremy

Water!

We had quite a few in our group that had never seen the ocean in person.

Message from the leader of the day Tuesday (Karina)

Being leader (At least one of the leaders of the day) was a kind of unforgettable deal . I learned its harder than it looks and sometimes can really tick someone off , I seriously give Jodi, Jamie, Eric, and Jeremy lots of credit for dealing with us. Me and the other part time leader were not even full blown leaders I can’t imagine how much stress they must go through when they go on these types of trips, it is not all fun and it is a lot of work. Yesterday when we became leaders of the day I thought ok I can do this but then I saw how hard it was because a lot of people are older than me and the other leader. Then I messed something up got a lot of people mad at me but after words I noticed my mistakes, and told everyone I was sorry. The highlight(s) of the day was when we got to the beach and no one got attacked by sharks! Then later on we went shopping to a beach shop, Logan bought a coconut bra then wore it outside of the van it was hilarious, he got honked at two times. So being leader of the day wasn’t my thing, two thumbs up for the real youth leaders! Over and out, happly retired jr. leader of the day
Karina

Message from Tuesday leader of the day (Andrea)

Well I had a wonderful experience being leader it was difficult but fun at the same time. We really had fun, but also got really annoyed with each other. Today we continued to work on the bathroom and dry walling another. Also we picked up several leaves, mortared bricks, and on our down time even cleaned the van inside and out. After a hard day of work we got a chance to finally go to the beach. We had a good time there. One of the things did at the beach was burry Logan in the sand, pour chips on him just to catch a seagull. The funny part is that it actually worked. After that we went shopping at and got a good night’s sleep to be prepared to work one last day, and take about a ten hour drive to Tennessee.
Andrea

Joelyn putting her stuff up at the dorm

Emily at a rest stop

Tuesday

We have just finished lunch. Work is is going fine. I believe the students are learning the value of working hard. They have extra motivation today because we intend to head to the beach after dinner as long as we have completed enough work to be on schedule. Keep checking back for more updates.
Jeremy

Message from leader of the day Kaitlyn (Monday)

I got to be leader on Monday; it was our first work day. When you are leader you are asked many questions. So you kind of are needed to be in a few places at once. Being leader is like a job when you are working at the job site. For some of the decisions you make people may get mad at you. The most difficult thing of being leader is trying to read the maps! I really liked being leader because it made me feel important.
Kaitlyn

Leader of the Day message from Austin (Sunday)

Oh what a day! Sunday was very eventful for me to lead. Driving down the interstate was great until the van started shaking. Luckily, we changed the tire in time before it blew. Life lesson learned. =] Being in charge of this group of people is quite interesting, but at the same time, it was demanding. Being responsible for all the decisions and choices is a tough task. Making everyone happy at the same time is neigh impossible; I might have got very close to accomplishing that. During the day, we met my parents for a dinner. That was “great” I suppose, but I am their kid so I might have a different take on it. After directing the caravan successfully to the camp, it was apparent that we would get to know each other very well in giant dorms.
This trip has taken its toll on everyone. No one really slept in the van at all. Sleeping Sunday night was not the best either. Everyone was extremely tired. Being a leader was challenging on this day. I am glad I got the chance to be one. It truly was a changing experience that made lifelong memories. I am really getting to know everyone on this trip. This trip may come to an end, but memories last a lifetime. As the week goes by, we are going to enjoy the time spent here. Hopefully we will not be tired of each other. Peace my friends.

--Sir Austin Putt--

Picture post 2

Trying to get comfy in van

Monday leader of the day

Changing a tire

The church

Demolition

Monday morning

Just an update so far, we are currently working at the church. We have been assigned to a church building in Tampa that currently is being occupied by three congregations. They have the orgininal mostly caucasion congregation that has about 80 weekly members that is primarily folks of retirement age, they have a hispanic congregation of about 150 and they have an Ethiopian congregation of about 35. The building is older and in need of many repairs beyond what we will be able to get done, but I think we are going to be able to help with the most pressing needs. Our travel down was smoothe except for a small ignition problem that has been corrected and a tire that developed an issue and had to be changed. Our devotional time so far has been really good and I feel we have all been blessed by it. More to come!

Picture Post #1

We got a sleeper

Hanging at the dorm

@ Bob Evans

Hanging at the dorm

Heading out

Message from Logan (Saturday leader of the day)

Whoo! As leader of the day for the first day it has been a real experience so far. I learned how to get from Francesville to Tampa while being in a van full of stinky, complaining teenagers. I had to make every decision for the team, telling us where to drive, what roads to take, and where to stop and use the facilities. I also learned how to pump gas, which I never learned before, so that was an experience. On one occasion, we were stopped at a gas station, and unfortunately the van wouldn’t start. After a little bit of prayers and Eric and Jeremy going looking under the hood, we got it started. Towards the night I did start to fall asleep, but Eric kept me in line and woke me up. But, Jeremy was gracious let me sleep for a little while we traveled. We finally made it to Florida, and the clock struck 7:00, making my leadership over and Austin starting. As I write this, we are eating at Bob Evans, and I still have to give my devotional after we eat. This trip has really opened my eyes to what the adults have to put up with, and the responsibility was overwhelming. At first, I didn’t think I would be able to do it, but God pulled me through it. I hope He will do the same thing for the rest of the the group. Please keep us in your prayers, we may need it.
Logan

Loaded up

The van has been loaded and we are meeting back up at 4:00 to pray for our trip and head on out. I think everyone is just a bit excited to get going

One more day

We shove off tomorrow. I want to thank the leaders and students that are going on this adventure. I want to also thank the parents and everyone else who has made this trip possible through prayer and financial means. We have high expectations for this mission trip and I know God will bless our efforts. Please continue to pray for our safety as we travel tomorrow. I hope to start uploading some pictures by Sunday morning.
Jeremy

5 days to go!

It is Monday morning and we have 5 days until we head out for Florida. Most all of the preperations have been made and we had an excellent pre-trip meeting yesterday. We will be talking about our expectations of the trip briefly on Wednesday night and will load up our gear from 11am to 12pm on Saturday here at the church. We will meet back up at the church at 4 pm for a quick prayer time before hitting the road. I want to say thank you to all who are making this trip possible.
Jeremy

Welcome

Welcome to the FCC Blog site. The function for this site will be for the church and parents to follow our 2009 spring break mission trip as it happens. The leader of the day will be responsible for reporting the activities of the day and anything else of interest. I may also include some random thoughts from the trip as well as pictures. I want to thank everyone for their support of this trip as we attempt to help others with the servant heart of Christ.
Jeremy