Go Mission Trip 2008 – Palm Valley Student Ministries

It saddens me writing this blog. Something so great and so purposeful is coming to a slow end.

Today at VBS our numbers were a little lower than our usual 20 kids. But it was amazing being able to vibe with those kids. Todd and Kyle are catching on so quickly. We made wordless bracelets that describe their walk with Christ. A lot of the girls were stoked to make them just because they were able to have a bracelet just like us! Heres the break down of what they are:
Black bead: Sin
Red bead: Blood shed by Jesus on the cross
White bead: Being forgiven and having our slate wiped clean
Green bead: Growing closer to Christ
Blue bead: Being baptized
Yellow bead: Going to Heaven
Can you imagine asking a kindergarten through first grader what each bead stands for and having them reply with confidence what each bead stands for? Its a feeling that is indescribable and yet so fulfilling knowing that Christ used you as a vessel to spread His word. When the kids go home we always have them recite what they had learned today to their parents. Todd was so energetic when he told his mother. Which made me realize, not only are we sharing the gospel with these kids, but God’s word is being heard by their families as well. How awesome is that?!

Tomorrow is our Water Day and we have also been blessed with some extra hot dogs and such so we’re going to surprise the children at the VBS as well as their parents with a BBQ! Every kid is so ecstatic that they ask us everyday when Water Day is. That makes tying and filling each and every one of those 900 water balloons seem puny compared to the bright smiles we’re gonna see tomorrow.

Jon Turner is also in my group and he has been such a great leader. His messages for the past few days have really hit home with the teenagers that I got the chance to talk to. Its such a blessing being able to witness the Holy Spirit working in his life.

Ashley Haddad helps me with the kindergarten through second graders and lemme tell you, without her help I’m not sure if i would have been able to survive a little rascal named Dillon. Or rather any of the 10-13 kids we have in our group. She always knows how to encourage us and make us all laugh uncontrollably. From the place we are staying now to Dyer it is usually up to a two hour drive and she always makes those trips seem shorter.

Lucas Cardoza for some reason always is smiling and giggling! I dont think that any of us can surpass a day with him in our group without smiling. He took Dillon off of our hands today and totally bonded with him, something that us girls got insanely tired doing. Dillon is a two year old little boy who hasnt had that blessing of being disciplined. His sixteen year old sister raises him while their mother is elsewhere. She told me that Dillon doesnt even know their mom and Dillon usually calls her mom. So watching Lucas really bond with a child that we could hardly keep under control made me so happy and proud to watch Lucas showing true love to Dillon, praise God.

Steven Antonoff has the grueling job of the crafts leader. Bless his heart for having so much patience with the teenagers who enjoy hunting rabbits. After day one we realized that it was an awful lot to have him also do crafts with the younger kids so Ashley Haddad and I decided to take the younger kids off his hands. Steven was talking to this girl named Stephanie and he was totally listening intently and just hanging on her every word. It was so great seeing him just adore Stephanie by the grace of God.

We are the smallest team and yet we have one of the largest amount of kids. It was overwhelming at first but once we really prayed and depended on Christ, I could see that this was simple. Showing children the love of Christ and pouring into their hearts was simple. As Darius told us last night, “A child doesn’t care how much you know unless they know how much you care.” With tomorrow being our last day, I pray that God puts Dyer back in my future sometime in my near future. I would love to reconnect with those kids again and be able to watch them grow.

A girl named Ayla came by last night and stayed the night with us. She shared with us how she was effected last year in her VBS and really just comlpimented us on how we really are making a difference. But essentially, its all God. Let the glory be Gods.

Well, I’m pretty wiped out and I’m totally out of words to say. So, have a blessed night and I cannot wait to see God work in us tomorrow.

Love wins,

Ashlee