Last Full Day

Each morning we have personal devotional time. Today we read 1 Corinthians 13. After breakfast, our service project was on the base. We helped clear an area along the front driveway. We raked, picked up sticks and dug up roots. Ultimately, the base wants to plant grass and decorative plants to provide a more welcoming look.

After lunch we explored Lake Louisa State Park. It was a beautiful day to spend time by the lake and hiking in Florida forest. Enjoy the photos & bonus video!

After dinner we had a bonfire to enjoy our last evening together and share what the week meant to each person. It was a beautiful time, circling around the fire and hearing such wonderful testimonies of how God worked in students’ lives!

Sabbath in Orlando

After a big day (and big week so far), we were able to sleep in a little. We woke between 8:00 & 9:00. We went to the 11:17 (not a typo) service at the Mosaic Church in Winter Garden. Interesting fact, this church is one of the top 100 fastest growing churches in the United States. Before the service there were free doughnuts & quality coffee for all. The service was very contemporary. This Sunday introduced the church’s vision for 2019. So the sermon was over an hour. Fortunately, the pastor was a really good speaker.

After church we went to the historic Winter Garden downtown area for lunch and walking around. Before heading back to the base we stopped at the Oakland Nature Preserve. We went on a 1.4 mile boardwalk hike through Florida forest and swamp to Lake Apopka. We saw beautiful scenery, some interesting birds and two small alligators.

This evening we are going to have some fun with a group game. The devotions will mostly involve prayer.

The Big Day

THE BIG DAY ON FRIDAY

New Beginnings Thrift Store

We went to two different stores and helped clean up and organize merchandise. The thrift stores support a Christian ministry that helps provide women with employment, housing and discipleship mentors.

At lunch outside on the large deck, enjoying Florida sunshine & then relaxing after lunch.

Nursing Home

We spent time this afternoon at a large, regional nursing home. We had a great time hearing stories and encouraging residents!

Downtown Orlando

At night, we joined two of the training schools on the base to share God’s love in downtown Orlando. We split up into groups and spread out into the downtown area. A number of us offered free hot chocolate & coffee to people walking by in a park. There were lots of conversations and prayers with people. We debriefed together in the parking lot before returning to the base.

SATURDAY: We had a great day of almost 10 hours at Universal Studios. We heard there was some snow in Chicago. Our temperature was in the middle 70s!

Being a Blessing in Two Very Different Ways

This morning our two vans separated and went to different neighborhoods in Claremont (near the base and a suburb of Orlando). We participated in the city wide ministry, Saturate Orlando. Churches and Christian ministries are assigned various neighborhoods. Today, students, in teams of two, distributed a copy of the Jesus film and a few pieces of literature to each house in a particular neighborhood. They just hung the bag with resources on door knobs. But along the way they met some nice people and some not nice people. Yes, there are stories. The photo shows the map used by one van.

After lunch we traveled to the retirement community of African Inland Mission. We blessed the residents with yard work and a few other projects. Enjoy the photos! Look closely at the Orange tree (I am there!).

We heard about YWAM missionary stories after dinner from Gabe, his wife, Katie, and Jarnea. They made missions personal by sharing stories of how God has worked in and through them. This time of encouragement and challenge was 1 hour 20 minutes, filled with touching stories and questions by students.

For one part of devotions before bed, students took a colored bead and gave it to someone. They explained why they gave that color. Each color represents a positive character quality witnessed that day. We actually started this yesterday. Thank you Mrs. Zielke for organizing this!

Settling In & 1st Day of Service

The “wake-up harmonica” was heard at 6:45. Continental breakfast at 7:30 in the Depot (the community gathering spot on the base). We had personal devotions next. At 9:00 there was base-wide worship.

Gabe and Bailey gave us YWAM & service project orientation, and Jarnae lead a base tour at 10:00. Gabe is the person who prepared for our group coming and is our group host while we are here. Gabe is very personable and shows care for our group. When we arrived yesterday, our beds were made, and there was a little welcome package on each of our beds.

After lunch we served for the afternoon for a ministry called Sleep in Heavenly Peace. The ministry provides free bunk beds to struggling families that cannot afford beds for their children. We measured the lumber, cut the wood and then the major project: sanding. It sounded like bumble bees. Turn the volume up on the video! Our students worked so hard for hours with a great attitude!

After dinner we had free time. Our meeting involved group sharing in small groups and the large group. We are having a great time together.

We’re Here in Orlando!

Interesting fact about our departure: we ended up at three different gates before we finally took off. After all of this run around, we ended up landing in Orlando only 30 minutes late. We had lunch in the airport, picked up our rental vans and drove to YWAM Orlando (really in Monteverde). We moved in to our lodging–nice bathrooms & a really nice common area for us to meet. Dinner was a tasty seasoned chicken on rice & salad bar. We attended their community night worship service. We ended the night with a quick Target run and devotions/meeting. A great day!