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!

Rehoboth 2018 Video

Click below to enjoy a summary of the trip with a video.

REHOBOTH 2018 VIDEO

Good-Bye Rehoboth

What a blessed time we had on this trip! We thank God for smooth travels, the people we met & served, and the beautiful creation we explored. We bonded as a group and grew in faith. It was an unforgettable time. Thank you to everyone who supported us in prayer and encouragement.

Our Last Day

SERVICE PROJECTS

Catherine Miller Elementary School: Simon attended Navajo class with the students. He and Mrs. Slovey helped in an academic support class. It was both challenging and rewarding. In kindergarten, Kate, Christina, Danica and Matilda helped students during the whole school day. Alex and Sophie assisted with gym classes all day. Mrs. Mirra helped in the office.

Rehoboth Christian School: Campbell, Annie and Mary helped in preschool. The little kids absolutely loved them. Sarah & Hope organized a massive amount of text books and took care of many to-do list items for the middle school science teacher. Ben worked in the 7th & 8th grade math class. Then he and Mr. Wiener worked the cafeteria line and helped serve the school lunch. In the afternoon we did some more organization and dusted the lights (more complicated than it seems.)

Rehoboth maintenance group: Together they moved bleachers from the stage to the floor. It took 14 people to move a bleacher. Mr. Bode, Jack Chris, Kendrick and Beau worked in cold temperatures building a fence. They worked in the mud and used a two-person auger that kept stalling. Joshua P. & Andrew worked in the choir room doing lots of organizing of items and sheet music. Ben, Josh L. and Josh B. did a variety of projects that included mopping large areas and cleaning windows. 

After dinner we had a large group share time about our service. Then we had devotions based on Psalm 25:1-11. Students also reflected on the trip by answering four questions. At 7:30 we went to the Navajo Code Talker Center on Rehoboth’s campus. We learned about the role the Navajo language played in the Pacific theater in WWII. We came back to our “living room” for group devotions, part 2. After singing we stood in a circle. With a ball of yarn being passed around the circle, each person shared about what this week meant to him or her. It was such a blessed time! We have had such a good trip in so many ways. But we are also looking forward to coming home.

Zuni Indian Reservation

We hit the road today at 8:45am. We drove south for just under an hour to the Zuni Pueblo. It is in a remote area of New Mexico. The school and church there are over 100 years old, however, they are blessed with new facilities. Our students played at recess with the Zuni kids, assisted with art class, read to 1st & 2nd graders, and helped 6th-8th graders with their literature assignment. After lunch we took a walking tour of the village which included some roof top walking. We were not supposed to take photos. Only one photo was taken in the school.

On our way back to Rehoboth we stopped at the Perry Noll Trading Center. Dinner tonight was roast and potatoes. At 7:00 we played a guessing name game. Each student made up a Indian clan name that related to them. Then we had to guess who went with what name. There were lots of laughs! Soon we’re going to the gym for some games. Then we’ll come back for devotions.

Serving and Hiking

Mr. Bode and five students left at 6:30 to run (and two hiked) to a rocky outcrop to view the sunrise.

We had a day of service. Three students were in the Rehoboth preschool and three were in the middle school. Four painted the stage and stage pieces for the high school. Finally on the campus, a few students help contstruct a fence by clearing the land and installing fence posts. Nine students went into Gallup to make sandwiches for lunches and distributed them to the homeless. They were able to have good conversations and prayer times. At one point there was a prayer circle that involved four homeless and four or five TC students.

Before dinner we hiked up Pyramid Mountain through a picturesque southwest landscape. The hike was about 2 hours long and covered 3.5 miles. We ascended over 1000 feet!

After dinner, Miss Begay came to speak with us. She is an English teacher at Rehoboth Christian High School. She is also a Navajo and explained to us parts of Navajo culture. Our group devotions focused on Colossians 2:6-8.

Overall, everyone is serving with joy, getting along well and having a great time.

A Sunny Sunday

We went to Rehoboth Christian Reformed Church at 10:30. We were an obvious presence by taking up three rows. The worship leader introduced us and asked us to stand. Quite appropriately for us and our trip, the sermon was on following Jesus by being humble servants. We serve Jesus by serving others.

After lunch we relaxed for a little bit. Then a bunch of us went out to the artificial turf soccer/track field. It was a beautiful, warm day with blue skies. Students played soccer, threw the frisbee, ran on the track (Hope, Simon, Alex ran 5 miles!), and we had a volleyball circle (I joined this!).

At 3:30 we hiked to “First Canyon”. It was ravine close to campus. We went to a massive rock feature. I can’t explain it. You just need to look at the video and photos below.

Dinner was compliments of Mr. Bode, or shall I say Chef Bode. He made made dough for pizza crusts from scratch. Then for dinner he made pizzas. And this was not just cheese & pepperoni pizzas. He also made veggie, meat lovers, chicken barbecue and Hawaiian pizzas. For dessert we sang Happy Birthday to Sophie and had cup cakes & ice cream.

Bob Ippel, Rehoboth’s executive director, came to share with us stories of Rehoboth and the heart of Rehoboth. For group devotions we read Colossians 3:12-17. I have not mentioned yet that our guitar player, Ben, leads us in singing each night. Tonight we sang 10,000 Reasons and Holy Spirit, You are Welcome Here. 

Saturday Adventures

We started our Saturday adventure at 9:30. Our first stop was a Native American flea market with over 100 booths selling a wide variety of items including food (do you like lamb? Or popcorn that tastes like cereal?), blankets, art, tools, knives, bunnies and much more.

The next stop was Window Rock in Navajo Nation in Arizona. This is also the headquarters for the Navajo government. We had lunch here, and many ate on a big rock nearby (hard to explain).

We then drove an hour to Canyon De Shelley, a spectacular canyon. Many photos were taken but cannot due justice to the beauty. We hiked the White House trail. This 2.5-3 mile trail winds down the side of canyon wall. After a short walk on the floor of the canyon we came to ancient Indian dwellings (1000 years old) built into the side of the cliff. The hike back out of the canyon really tested our lungs.

We drove the 1 1/2 hour drive back to Gallup to eat dinner at Earl’s, a local favorite. Due to our big day we didn’t eat until 7:00pm. Afterwards we had some “chill” time back at our dorm. Our group devotions are at 9:00pm.