New Orleans Youth Mission Trip June 15, 2008 Note from Pastor Pat Hello Stockholders, We made it!!!! 14 hours of driving are behind us. We've been through Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi and Louisiana. We made it, and it was an amazing view as we approached New Orleans (a pic from the van is attached). We go to our work sites tomorrow and there's a lot of excitement and tired eyes tonight. We had a worship service tonight with the other youth groups from Wyoming, California and Indiana. Here's some pics from the church we stayed at in Memphis (beautiful church by the way) and the rest are from New Orleans and the night "before it all happens!" Expect more pics tomorrow. Thank you for all your support and prayers! Blessings, Pat ******************************* June 16, 2008 Note from Pastor Pat Hello Stockholders! We got really sweaty today! Ben, Kaitlin, Shea, Elliott and I volunteered with a neighborhood cleanup program. We worked on two houses. One was a salvagable house that needed painting. The other was a condemned house that needed demolishing. The attached pics are all from our sites. It was very hot working in the sun while painting or working inside a super hot unventilated house (while wearing breathing masks). We got a lot done! I'm very proud of my group! Sam, Mitch, Karley, Staci and Jolene volunteered at a place called the Ark, a ministry for mentally challenged adults and children. I will send the church camera with them tomorrow so you can see them performing ministry. We will be signing all the postcards tonight and mailing them off in the morning. Be on the lookout for them! Please keep the group in your prayers that they will have amazing encounters with God all this week that will have a lifelong impact on their lives and their faith. Blessings, Pastor Pat ******************************** June 17, 2008 Notes from Pastor Pat Hi Stockholders! I'm having a real difficult time with the internet connection today. So, I can't comment too much about our day. Here are the pics. The first pic is of Ben and Mitch with Crawfish (they ate them right after the pic was taken. I had one too. They were delicious! The rest of the pics are of Karley, Sam, Staci, Mitch and Jolene at the ARK. They developed really strong relationships today and yesterday. God is good! All the time! Blessings, Pastor Pat ******************************** June 18, 2008 Notes from Pastor Pat Hello Stockholders, I wanted to start today's e-mail with a better description of yesterday's pictures. The pictures are from The Arc, a ministry program focused on mentally challenged adults. The pictures may have seemed that our youth weren't "working," but believe me, they were performing very difficult and challenging ministry. Our youth had to overcome their fears and anxieties and this can be very challenging for them. Many from that group commented that it was more challenging work than cleaning up houses. They really touched the lives of those individuals and our youth were very touched as well. Ministry takes on so many different forms. And, Wednesday was not different. We are expereiencing such a diversity of ministries and we are really making an impact down here in so many different ways. Today, Shea, Ben, Kaitlin, Elliott and I partnered with other youth to run a Christian day program for children. I think we actually were more pooped today after our work with the kids than we were gutting the house earlier in the week. It's also wonderful to hear the children's perspective on Hurricane Katrina. Most of them were old enough to remember being evacuated, loosing their homes,etc. It felt very rewarding to know that we were helping children heal emotional wounds from that tragedy. The pics today are from the kids day program. Karley, Mitch, Sam, Staci and Jolene spent the day stripping lead paint off of a house. They had to wear full suits to protect them from the lead. They were absolutely sweating when they returned. Tomorrow they will be painting the same house. The church camera will go with them and you will get pictures of their group tomorrow. Blessings on your day and thank you for your prayers, Pastor Pat ******************************** June 19, 2008 Notes from Pastor Pat Hello Stockholders! Less than 24 hours left....Wow...It's gonna be hard to leave. We're all anxious to get back to family and friends, but saying goodbye tomorrow morning is going to be difficult. We've made some great new friendships with youth and adult leaders from California, Wyoming and Indiana. The YouthWorks staff has also been outstanding and personable. The kids, Jolene and I will miss them as well. Today, Jolene, Mitch, Sam, Staci and Karley, painted the house that they stripped yesterday. There is a great "before" picture and an "after" picture. Also, there is a picture of Mitch modeling one of the suits that they had to wear in the sun yesterday as they stripped paint. It was very hot today, the hottest day of the week, but the group worked really hard with smiles on their faces. They have shown a lot of maturity and joy in serving the people of New Orleans and being a "servant" for God. Ben, Kaitlin, Elliott, Shea and I had a great day working for Second Harvest. Second Harvest is a organization that stocks food shelves and soup kitchens for the homeless. There is a very high number of homeless people in New Orleans (we have all seen our share) due to lost homes, no insurance compensation and loss of employment. We sorted food donations on big conveyor belts. It was actually a lot of fun and our kids commented that they would like to find some similar organizations around our area to volunteer for. What a joy to hear that! Praise God! I'll send out the last of our pics either tomorrow or Saturday PM. Tomorrow morning we are back on the road and looking forward to seeing everyone again! Blessings, Pastor Pat ********************************