Lions and Tigers and Bears, oh my!!!

Well, actually JUST bears! Before heading up the trail yesterday at Pueblo Mountain Park, Ranger Dave and Ranger John warned us there could be some wildlife in the woods...namely bears. Many of the youth thought the rangers were only kidding around. We carried our lunch and drink coolers part way up the trail and then decided to leave them in a shady spot where we all would meet for lunch in a couple of hours (the groups split in two and headed in different directions at this point). The rangers didn't feel we'd have any issues with the bears since we'd be close by and probably making enough noise to keep the bears away. They were wrong! As you can see from the picture of our lunch cooler, the bear simply clawed the cooler open and helped himself to parts of three different lunches. We were lucky we came back when we did, because he was just getting started on his all-you-can-eat mission tripper lunch buffet when we came back down the trails and spooked him.

Jake decided to mark his lunch differently today to let the bears know to stay away. Now parents, don't you worry - we never actually were in danger nor did we see the bear.

Along with pictures, t-shirts, notes from prayer buddies, and devotional books, I believe the cooler above will provide ample memories and stories to be told on future mission trips for years to come!

Wes

Butt Surgery on Tricia!

Day 5 of the mission trip i think was the hardest work so far! We went to the mountains, to a nature trail park, to help the park maintenance clear out the hiking trails which was very fun, just very intense. When my group got to the top of our trail, and we started clearing, Jenna had grabbed a cactus to throw off the path, and she turned too me and asked me too get all of the hair like needles out of her fingers. We turned around too start walking again and we could hear Trish making rucus about the fine hair like needles in her butt, so we had too ask our leader for tweezers, and he asked what for and we told him Trish had SAT! on a cactus, so his response was "OH!!!!, you need 'BUTT' Tweezers?" that has so far been the funniest part, and highlight of my AMAZING trip!

Paige Brummett

What I saw today

Hey, What's up readers?  Today I worked with a hedge trimmer (look to the left) at Miss Lucille's house. This is where I saw a little red fox that sadly I could not get a picture of it but it looked directly at me (Awesome!). Later, at Miss Mary's house, I saw a cute dog named Lady. She was a Pomeranian mixed with Cocker Spaniel. She was black and white. Anyway, the work was hard cleaning the guters (Gross!) and yardwork pulling dead plants, weeds (we were lucky that I found a weed wacker beacause the back yard had lots of weeds).  Man I got sun-burned pretty bad, but what was funny was that my dad slipped and fell 2 times. One we did not see and 1 when we were in the park. The good thing is that he was okay. Everyone we helped were nice people and 2 of them gave us drinks.  Well that is all I have to say.

-Wes Stiefer, II (or Young Wes)

First Time On A Mission!

This is my first time on a Grace Presbyterian mission trip, well, just the first time on a mission trip at all. Let me say, my first experience has been absolutely amazing and it's only the fourth day! When I first got here, I didn't really think that I was going to fit in very well but boy, do I! Every single person here, whether I've known them from a past meeting or not, I have grown a personal relationship with. It's awesome to see so many kids my age, plus those very BRAVE adults to come to this place looking to help others..I love to see people put others before themselves and this is definately the place to see it. God has absolutely moved through others and myself this week, and I know it's only the beginning. We have things called 'families' and every family has about 4 or so people in it, my family is AMAZING (by the way) :) Although I have my own, I get the priviledge of being a part of every family by leading worship by song for them. It is an awesome experience to see how others like to lead worship in their own special ways and to see God move through them. I pray the rest of my trip is as great at this!
God Bless


Jenna Toland

Pueblo Work Day

HELLO ALL! We are finally somewhat settled after three days and woke up ready to work this morning! Our first house we went to was simply pulling weeds, and as easy as that seems the man was highly greatful for the help. Next we went to an elderly lady's house, and again did a very simple job, trimming the hedges. And again as simple as this job was she was so greatful for the help. Today was a very fulfilling day for me, it made me feel so good to help people. I felt like God was working through me the whole day and knowing that there was a smile on my face the whole day. This day worked out perfectly for us too; no rain for the first time since we have been here, the weather was not too terribly hot, and everyone was in a great mood despite our lack of sleep! I'm seeing everyday that I'm here that the more I try to help people here the more I actually get back out of it. I came here to help people and to change peoples lives but it is the people who are changing my life and helping me.

Today was a great day, and the rest of the week will just keep getting better!

Taylor Kirkpatrick

Thank God for the little things!

Well, after showering once at the city pool (we missed showering yesterday due to bad weather....peeeeeeew!), we have been blessed with the ability to shower at the YMCA for the rest of the week. Now we have use of a new, first-class facility. It's amazing how a nice, hot shower at the YMCA will put everyone in a MUCH better mood! The lesson learned here...if you are told "no", then wait a day or two and call and ask to speak to someone different! ;-) 

We have arrived!

We arrived in Pueblo, CO on Saturday afternoon safe and sound. Along the freeway and as we entered Pueblo, we received many "honks" as folks showed they loved Jesus by honking. God is good! We were lucky enough to get showers last night (and let me tell you, we needed them!). Folks that were here in 2008 may remember the city pool. Well, the showers haven't changed much. For the men, we had one big wall with shower heads that only provided water if you pulled a string down and held it there. For the women (so I hear) there was a large wall and some individual stalls (but with no curtains)....not the most ideal condiitions, but we are always thankful for what we have on these trips. To say the least it was quite interesting trying to get clean quickly. Last night we quickly learned 8 songs so we could help sing with the VBS kids this morning in church. 30 minutes before church was the first time we got to see the motions to the songs, but our group always responds well in these situations. By church-time we looked like pros standing behind the VBS kids up front singing and doing motions to the songs. Photos of this coming soon! As I write this, a huge reception filling the whole fellowship hall here at Westminster, is winding down. The church had 40 kids participate in VBS this last week....many from other congregations, and others with no church home at all. The excitment during church and during this reception is wonderful to see.

Westminster is an older, not very large congregation, but they sure can pull together volunteers anytime needed. The fruits of their labor have shown today! Well, I'm off to take a short break before we work around the outside of the church today for a couple of hours.

Wes

Thank God for clear roads!

I'm writing from about 20 miles northwest of Wichita Falls as we drive down Hwy 287. Now don't worry - Jesse IS driving while I'm blogging ;-)

Except for being hot, today is an absolutely beautiful day. We just finished a wonderful lunch break hosted by First Presbyterian Church of Wichita Falls. We were able to eat inside, out of the heat, then play some basketball and volleyball to spend all that pent up energy from being in the vans all morning. Thanks to Taz and First Pres!!

Once back in the vans, Calvin Poku suddenly becomes worried about the fact we won't be able to shower tonight in Canyon, Texas. He feels I should have warned the group about that little fact before letting them get hot and sweaty back in Witchita Falls! Well, sorry Calvin, it's either a "bird bath" tonight or no bath at all. Whichever you choose is fine with me as long as you're in the other van :-)

Six months ago tomorrow, I was heading down this same stretch of road towards Canyon, TX on my way to Pueblo, CO with the college mission team. That was quite the experience to say the least. Just after turning on Hwy 287 north of Ft. Worth, TX, we suddenly began to experience icy roads....and when I say icy roads I mean EXTREMELY icy road conditions. Traffic was at a stand-still much of the time and moving 15-20 mph other times. Ice had thawed and re-frozen creating huge road humps around 6-7 inches high. The result was traffic following the one and only path of tire tracks back and forth down the road....painted lines on the highway meant nothing anymore. Along the sides of the road were vehicles of all types that had left the road and become stuck – cars, trucks, 18-wheelers, news trucks. It was an amazing sight! We started counting these vehicles to pass the time, and once we hit the Amarillo area that night, we had counted over 170 vehicles stuck on the side of the road. After lunch that day in Wichita Falls, I relinquished driving duties to Carol Amlin. As we headed out on the highway once again, it appeared to be clearing and we gained some speed. Suddenly, as we go over a hill and out on a bridge, the ice once again reared its ugly head. All the drivers in front of us got nervous and started braking heavily (like any good Texan that can’t drive on icy road does!!). Carol, bless her heart, almost didn’t get the van slowed down – we were driving the van with the trailer and had quite the surge of momentum going at this point. After a few choice words screamed and some quick praying, we stopped in time and all was well.

Today I thank God for keeping us safe thus far and for the simple things in life we take for granted such as clear, dry roads!

Well apparently I type slow, because now we are entering Vernon city limits. Vernon is wonderful little town. The people here are so welcoming. Three years ago they went the extra mile to make me feel welcome as I was passing through and sent one of Texas’ finest, wearing his full uniform, just to pull me over and say welcome to Vernon!! Oh, and yes, he did want to talk about how fast I had passed through his fine town! Jesse, you better slow down, unless you want to experience the official Vernon welcome as I did 3 years ago!

On the Road Again!

In about 3 hours, 13 youth and 4 adults from the Dallas area will hit the road for the 20th time on a Grace Presbytery sponsored mission trip. Nearly 250 different people have participated in these trips and been part of our "Cloud of Witnesses" since the summer of 1999. We carry the list of our "Cloud of Witnesses" everywhere we go because we understand they are a part of us and us a part of them. This year we are traveling back to Westminster Presbyterian Church in Pueblo, Colorado - a site that has hosted 3 previous Grace Presbytery mission trips (1 high-school and 2 college) - a special relationship between the Westminster folks and Grace Presbytery that started because of a simple e-mail in search of a church that would have us. God works in mysterious ways - He led us to Pastor Butch and the folks in Pueblo; He knew the special relationship that would form; He knew the work that needed to be done and just the folks to do it!

This is my 14th Grace Presbytery mission trip since the summer of 2000. One day in the halls of our church a youth, Cameron Allen, stops me and says "hey Wes, you should go on mission trip with us this summer...it's really cool...you'd love it...we'd love to have you!" Well, the rest is history! Next thing I know, it's the end of June, I'm in a rented white van with folks I've never met, headed out on the road towards Center, Colorado on a rainy morning. Of the folks on that first trip, many I now consider to be my nearest and dearest friends. Young Cameron is all grown up and a Presbyterian Minister, husband and father in Austin, Texas. Katie Beth now works at UT, Neil works in youth ministries in Athens, Texas, and Rrrrrick!, whose passion for youth ministry laid the foundation for these mission trips in 1999, has accepted his new call back into the church in Ankeny, Iowa. Our "Cloud of Witnesses" has become spread out over the years, but each and every one of them has a special place in my heart and always will. My hope and prayer is they are all out planting new seeds in their churches - seeds that can be planted because of the nurturing and love they received back in Grace Presbytery.

Bear with us - we are new to this "blog thing". Our intent is to post often - pictures too once we learn how!

I must sign off now and finish getting ready to get back on the road again! I shouldn't be late although no one is leaving without me since I do have the vans and the trailer ;-)

God is good!!