CMI Week 0: Part 2

I have now been here at CMI a total of 98 hours (three full days and two half days). Thursday was orientation day and we got to figure out our schedule, learn how to survive, connect to the internet, and we got a tour of the world headquarters of CEF.

 We had our first day of classes on Friday. The classes were very good and we already have a practicum (getting up in front of the class and demonstrating what we have learned) on Monday.  

First Day of Classes

Saturday was a free day and a whole bunch of younger people and I went to Cabella’s , which turned out to be in a mall, and then went to Fizoli’s (for all my North West friends, Fizoli’s is a fast food Italian place). When we got home we hung out in the student lounge and played video games and chatted.

Drying the Laundry

Today is Sunday. The day started out with the cook setting off the fire alarm while I was still sleeping. We all had to evacuate the building and everything, the oven had broken and had set it off, but there was no fire. That does mean though that we don’t have an oven. We also went to church. Going to church here made me miss my home church. We happened to come on a big potluck day so we got well fed, which was really good because the cooks here had to be really creative with out on oven.

Another thing I did today was laundry. Maybe I should have done that earlier or brought more clothes, because I realized I was all out of clean casual clothes. Right now I’m just waiting for all my clothes to dry out so I can get out of my I-should-have-washed-my-clothes-before-they-were-all-dirty outfit. 

             

Socks Drying 

CMI Week 0 :)

I have been very surprised at a lot of the things here, and that is a good thing. For one thing, I was worried about meeting people, but everyone has been very friendly and I've met almost all the girls that are here. Another big thing was that I was kind of worried about not being able to play music, but they said I could play almost any of the many pianos and I could play for Wednesday night worship. Another bonus is that we have a big soda machine so we can have soda for dinner. Overall, the people are really nice, I get to play music, and we have soda. What more do you need…well…maybe I might be a little homesick and missing my people back home. 

Another person here with me in Missouri

Adventures in the life of a young missionary: This morning we had our first chapel.  The chapel ...: This morning we had our first chapel.  The chapel was about Good News Across America.  Everyone that went to Denver gave a small testimony ...

Missouri

I am finally in Missouri, only a few hours from where I will be spending the next three months.
The airport and plane trip went really well with no major mishaps and I am actually really enjoying the weather here so far. Now, with the sound of cicadas in my ears and excitement high for what tomorrow holds, I go to bed and get some much needed sleep. Thank you for your prayers.

CMI

In exactly one week I will be leaving for Warrenton, Missouri. I am excited but also very nervous. I'll be in Missouri at the Children's Ministry Institute for three months; I'm not sure of everything that I will be doing, but I do know that I will be learning a lot and keeping really busy. If you want to send me a letter you can send it to:
    % Children's Ministry Institute (CMI)
    P.O. Box 348 Warrenton, Mo 63383

Please be praying for me to not be to nervous and to have safe travels.

County Fair Week

This week has been our county fair; we have been busy running our puppets/story telling/face painting/ballooning booth. We have the kids come and see a puppet show that presents (or at least alludes) to the gospel, then we have the kid listen to a story (like the wordless book or some other gospel presentation); when they have finished that they get to come over and spin our wheel and get a prize.
Please pray for our director; it is tiring work and not very many people are helping this year so she is doing a lot of work. Please also pray for the workers that are helping, that we will have strength and endurance as well.
Also, there was a little girl that I got to share the gospel with that when I got to the part where I ask if they have ever believed on Jesus before she said she didn't know. I ask her if she wanted to but she wasn't sure so I told her I would talk to her afterwards since she was in a large group of kids, but as soon as I said that the lady that had brought her said that she couldn't let me do that because the girl was a daycare kid and the she did not want to get in trouble; she did say that she was a Christian and that she had been talking to the girl about Jesus before. I finished the story and tried to make sure the girl knew how to believe on Jesus by herself. Please pray that she will understand and that she will choose to believe on Jesus.

Prayer

Over the last few weeks there have been many prayer requests that I would like to share with you:
~While we were at GNAA there was a volunteer who broke both the bones in her lower leg. She had to have surgery, but even while she was being wheeled in to have surgery she was encouraging us through text messages to keep up our work. Please pray for her as she recovers that she will keep up her spirits and that she will recover quickly.
~Also during GNAA there was a girl in our club who believed on Jesus to save her, but the reason she had originally gone to talk to the teacher was because she was having a hard time at home. It turns out that her dad was married to someone other than her mom and they were fighting over custody of her. Please pray for her, that she will grow in Christ and will be a light to her family.
~Also this last week (July 29-August 2) I was helping teach a club back at home, and there was a kid who was having a hard time. He was mad at God, didn't know if he really believed in God, and God didn't answer his prayers. He had recently lost his grandma and he was really mad about it. One of the teachers was really able to connect with him and talk to him. Please pray for this boy, pray that he will trust God.

Thank you for your prayer.

Good News Across America

For two weeks (July 13th-28th) I have had the opportunity to be in Denver, Colorado for an event called Good News Across America (GNAA). I traveled with a group of about 20 people from Oregon, and when we got there Monday the 15th we were broken into teams of 4 or 5 mixed with other people from all over America.

Our Oregon Team

My 4 team mates were from: Nevada, Missouri, Kansas, and another Oregonian. We were all different ages and all had different skill levels.
The first week we spent the time preparing. We did team building time; we prayed together; and we talked about how the week was going to work. We had some free time; we took a train to the top of Pikes Peak; we visited our cousins that live in Denver; and we hung out. We also attended classes; we learned more about how to share the gospel; how to run our clubs; and we learned more about being safe in Denver. On Thursday we hit the streets and each team headed to their partnering church. Our church was conducting three 5-Day clubs, essentially back-yard Vacation Bible Schools. We went out to the three locations and prayed for the children to come and also went out and invited people to come. 

My GNAA Team 

The second week was crazy. We left at 8:30 and headed to our first club. Our first and second club were in parks. We would get there, set up, play games with the kids that were there, and then we would start club. Our first club had about 30 kids the first day (which was a real shock), our second club had about 15, and the last club was at the church itself and it had about 30 as well. At the end of the day we had reached 84 kids. It was pretty awesome.
On Friday we had our rally; a rally is a big party at the church for all the kids from all the clubs to bring their families and show them what they have been learning. The rally was also a way for the church to reach out to the families and invite them to come to church. Throughout the whole week we had volunteers from the church helping us teach, the idea was a sort of handing off the baton; we came in and showed them how to run a club and then we ask them to keep going after we left. During the week we had the volunteers

GNAA Team 

help lead games, give out prizes, lead smaller parts of club (like rules, Word Up, teaching on prayer and such), and build a relationship with the kids. The rally was the big finish where we really handed everything over to them. 
After the rally all the teams gathered back at headquarters and we had a time of sharing the work that God had done that week. Our church reached about 130 kids and had about 6 salvation decisions. When it was all said and done, 2,710 people  were reached and 272 of them made salvation decisions. 
The next morning we packed up and headed home.