Zion Youth

Little housekeeping from the other day, here is a link to view the pictures from white water rafting on Friday.

Wow, when time moves, it flies by! Sunday we had the chance to go through the Listen portion of the event. We encountered presentations on battling the "storm" through faith, martial arts demonstrations relating to sin, searching for twilight, and a talk about dating and sex. Some moved us to tears, while others were filled with laughter. Be sure if you see or talk to one the of the kids to ask which was their favorite.

At last night's Superdome event, we saw the Skit Guys, the Jesus Painter, and Brock Gill who is an illusionist. There was also a lady from Minnesota that told about her story of her daughter who was killed in a car accident. Her message was about how even through a hard time, God always has a plan for everything.

Today, we are waking up to 86 degrees at 7am. The rest of the week, they are "forcasting" rain. Unlike a Minnesota rain, rain down here does not cool down the temperature. This morning, Monday, we will be doing another service event within New Orleans. We will be painting and yardwork. We are perfect for the job as we have previous experience with it, especially in the heat.

This post is coming a little early as the Gathering at the Superdome begins tonight at 8pm. We are currently heading down to New Orleans starting at 10a.m. from Hattiesburg, MS. This morning was a good time to sleep in as check-in for our Holiday Inn (French Quarter) hotel is at 4p.m. From all the hard work yesterday, most all the youth were happy to get to sleep. We are making a stop at a Wal-Mart to pick up any needed supplies before entering New Orleans. May post more tonight if time allows.

We plan to update the hotline number tonight as well, but time has become sparce so we will do our best to get it updated.

Hattiesburg is a beautiful town, especially when you are touring... We were pleasantly surprised to tour the countryside when an address sent us to the wrong location. Luckily our contact from the Habitat for Humanity could help direct us in the right way. We started working at 9a.m. at a Pace Head Start school and did painting, yard work, and misc. things with the playground. There is another group of 22 from Wisconsin that is helping and staying with us.

About 1:30pm we were hit with a good thunderstorm, which was not great considering most of the painting was outside. The storm also knocked out the power for about an hour after that. The temperature for the afternoon was approaching 103 degrees. The youth proudly represented Zion with their perseverance as they worked hard all day and finished around 4p.m. We stopped at the University of Southern Mississippi to shower and clean up before heading back to the church for supper.

This evening we had a lasagna feast with the group from Wisconsin. They are staying at the same church that we are and will be going to youth gathering as well. Heidi, Jodi and 3 girls from the Wisconsin group were kind enough to make the food, which was awesome!

God has blessed us with one more day of great traveling. Upon leaving Illinois this morning, we left behind a heat index warning of 105. Happily for all, the AC on the bus was running at full efficiency. The only downfall of today is that Heidi realized that she left her cell phone in the hotel, so if you would like to get a hold of us, us the hotline, (320) 298-1301. Doesn't matter much tonight either as the camp does not have the greatest reception.

Our treck brought us all the way through Illinois, into Kentucky, and finally Tennessee. There was a 2 mile stretch we entered into Georgia, but quickly came back into Ocoee, TN. Our home for the night is Outdoor Adventure Rafting which can be seen on the Google Map. The camp has two rivers, the small river is used for tubing, and larger for rafting. For those that have been to Lutheran Island Camp, it has a similar feel, with more hills and AC.

Plans for tomorrow are 7:45a.m. wake-up and begin Safety Training for white water rafting at 8:45a.m. (There is an hour time difference, Eastern Time Zone).

We are about to start our family group time so until tomorrow! :)

We have begun our journey! The day began with family and a message by Pastor Finnern. By 7a.m. we had loaded the bus and hit the road. Movies have been the popular item to pass the time. Our first stop for lunch was at Black River Falls, WI. A quick 45 minute stop for Burger King and McDonald's statisfied the crowd.

By afternoon, the bus began to warm up. Upon looking at the bus this evening, the filter for the AC unit had gotten dusty. Not many quarters were lost from the heat. :) Good news is the fix is simple for the bus driver. With one quick bathroom break at 3p.m., our final stop for the evening is in Bloomington, IL. After eating at the Cracker Barrel across the street, the kids enjoyed a quick swim in the pool before our Family Group time this evening. Our hope is to be on the road tomorrow morning at 6a.m. and heading to Ocoee, TN.

We will be using our "Flamingo Hotline" to also update on what is happening with the group. Reminder, the number is (320) 298-1301. The Hotline can also be used to relay messages to the youth.

Once we leave for the trip, we will have a family group sum up the days activites and will post that here for you to read. Check back here once we leave for new updates.