People Tipping at Midnight

For the first time this trip, we awoke to sun rather than rain. With bolstered spirits,we undertook our early morning shower trip. Freshly rejuvenated, we returned to the church where we were surprised to encounter Brandon, one of the youth we'd met Tuesday. Although he'd been quiet the night before, he stuck around through VBS, our afternoon activities, and late into the evening, not leaving until he'd participated in Family Time at 11:00.

Vacation Bible School was again a fabulous experience. We had 18 kids in attendance, the same as Tuesday, and we were able to start a third class, this one for students kindergarten and younger. Today was the big day, the day where we shared the Gospel Story with the kids. Although there were no tears shed, every single child was rapt with attention throughout the story and they were able to answer every review question, even the preschoolers. We also gave out our second Bible, this one to a 1st grader named Maddox. Although not as effusively grateful as Kaylen, he was still very excited to receive a Bible of his own.

Today we made youth outreach a main focus, not doing service projects in favor of a trip to Porcupine Bay with the local youth. We played Ultimate Frisbee, swam in the lake, played Ninja on the dock, played volleyball, threw a football, and eventually met up with the Davenport team and their youth. After catching up and playing games, we sat down for a delicious barbecue and feasted on burgers, hot dogs, and watermelon. A graduate of the Davenport youth group gave his testimony and spoke about his vision of God.

We arrived back home in Harrington at 7:40 and swung into full bore preparation mode. The skit people went to work on the Thursday program, the rest of the students hashed out a slide show for Thursday night, and Kim baked deliriously wonderful snickerdoodle cookies. After the slide show and skit were finished, the Crew prepped water balloons for VBS in the morning. Luckily, there happened to be an excess and water balloons were launched with reckless abandon. When the last balloon had flown, we gathered for family time. After finishing our traditional schedule, we took a few minutes to recognize Brandon before he went home for the night.

Before the evening concluded, Charlie and Dave took the students to a field in the absolute center of Nowhere. One of the students introduced the Crew to Starlight Tag, wherein the volunteer spins around for several seconds and is then flashed with a bright light. The participant falls over and hilarity ensues. When we finally finished with the game, we lay down in the field and watched the stars, absolutely awed by the sheer scope and vastness of God's creation.

On the whole, Wednesday has been an extremely successful day, and we were blessed with Brandon's presence and absolutely beautiful weather. Thank you for your prayers and we ask that you keep them coming, and we ask for prayer for Brandon, Kaylen, Maddox, and Scott. Pastor Jim's wife has been having back problems as well, so please pray for healing for her. Also, the grandmother of one of our youth has been having problems with the chimney of her house, and prayers would be appreciated.

Outstanding in our field

People Tipping at Midnight