8/10/08

It, the day, started off rough. The line between people and their differences became known. However, with the words of Rev. Michael, we understood that this mission trip, this service project was not about our personal emotions or the struggles we carry with us, it was about much more than that.
We started off early in Missouri, but didn’t quite get out until a few hours after we had originally planned, however that did not slow us down from momentum we started off with going to Kentucky. We surged through until we stopped for lunch in St. Louis. While there, passing through the aesthetic and beautiful region of the old downtown, we saw her (St. Louis’s) most known monument, the Gateway Arch. It was a beautiful and radiant bridge, standing silver atop of the city, looking on down on the mighty Mississippi. But more importantly she stands exactly for what she is, a gate, symbolizing progress into the future, and stabilizing life when moving from east, to west. The Mississippi laid quietly as we passed, just a few visitors in her muddy waters, but her might can never be forgotten.
The day moved on, many people catching up on lost sleep, reading novels or watchin’ movies, nonetheless still alive as we moved on. Illinois passed like a dream, and before we even knew it we were in Indiana, which it, itself passed with haste. During the day, we passed two other major rivers, the Missouri and the Ohio. Coming into Louisville was astonishing. The bridgework had many people in awe, and the old factory chimneys reaching up towards the sky, long passed Its days of work. We moved on, towards the church, passing by massive baseball stadiums and through the cozy and friendly old shopping-style downtown, curving and winding until we finally saw it, the old bell tower like those of ancient catholic cathedrals, and astonishing brick work build that sent this gothic style church dancing into the heavens, while trees stood in front welcoming the path into her heart. We finally pulled in the back, taken aback and caught in the middle of the old meeting the new and we could finally unpack and settle in for the night.
But the day we trekked on, moving beyond the struggles amidst the early morning that found us caught up in ourselves. We moved on, just like the great Arch told us to do. We passed through and made our way, realizing we were here for more than our own struggles, we had to leave those behind. We are here as a team, strong in each other so we may be the H.O.G, building up lives and not letting conflicts set us down. So here we stand, or sit, today, comfortably on the couch waiting a new day’s promise, as a team, as leaders, and as friends.


Alex Gorman-Chamness

Day One - Denver to Independance, MO

Here is a great good morning from Independence Missouri. It was a very long drive with a lot of “I have to pee” to get here but we all made it in one piece. We stopped on the border of Colorado and Kansas to take a picture that we made it through the lovely Colorado. It was too dark, and people sleeping to take a picture on the border of Kansas and Missouri. We arrived at First United Methodist Church at 11:50pm.
This morning the younger boys seemed to not sleep at all and were all packed up and ready to at 6:40am! I don’t know about you but that is craziness. They will soon learn about how sleep is important for mission trips.
The youth pastor and youth group bought us breakfast for the morning which was very nice of them. I am looking forward to a banana, donut, and some orange juice.
Today we are on our way to Louisville Kentucky which is about 600 miles from where we are right now. I can already hear the, “Are we there yet?” and “I have to pee.”

Aysha

More pictures!
http://picasaweb.google.com/patc303/RedbirdMissionTrip02

... and the winner is.... GREEN

8/3/08
The day has arrived - the jars of money are totaled up and the winner is.... PURPLE. But wait.... in a last minute development, the youth scurried around and managed to collect the $2.38 needed to push green over the top.... and the winner is..... GREEN.

Rev. Michael is prepped, the green dye is mixed and voila, we have a green smurf.... er ...pastor.

Today is our last Sunday before heading off to Beverly. We were commissioned at all three services and received the blessing from our congregation to go off and be the hands and feet of God.

There is so much preparation involved - not only in the physical aspect: packing, raising funds, planning where we'll sleep etc., but there is emotional preparation as well. Russ spoke so eloquently in his sermon on Jacob's wrestle with the angels and it was timely for me. I could relate to this wrestle as I prepare for the journey. There are so many last minute doubts - can my body handle this? Will I be able to handle the heat, the bugs, the work? Have I selected the right clothes to bring in my small allotted suitcase? What about that car trip - being cooped up with so many people - and NO chocolate?!?!? Yes, I have control issues and yes, the message du jour for me is .... surrender....

Pray for us -
Pat

View the slideshow at:
http://picasaweb.google.com/patc303/RedbirdMissionTrip02

Anticipation....

This Blog site is a dream of ours to allow those less fortunate than us to experience our trip to Redbird Missions in Beverly, Kentucky. We are 18 people 8 adults and 10 young adults from Good Shepherd United Methodist Church in Thornton, CO. Some of us have never been on a mission trip before and others are seasoned experts. The hope and the goal is that we will each take turns blogging our adventure daily, including pictures and videos. Check back every day for our update. You can even post comments if you would like - though you will need to get a google email account to do that. Alternatively, you can email us and we will be checking that email. The email address is: patc303@gmail.com

Anticipation is the theme 'du jour' as we anticipate the beginning of our journey on August 8. The excitement is starting to build. We still need gas money - and our last few fund-raising events are getting underway to help pay for that. The climax will be when Reverend Michael dyes his hair... or not... who will win this competition? The purple team? The orange team? or the team that doesn't want him to dye it at all? Stay tuned.