Home Sweet Home!

Friday was crazy! We went to the Denver Zoo and it was awesome then went to get groceries at Target and then take back the rental cars by 6pm- we got caught in traffic and so time was tight- I told the kids in my minivan that when we dropped them off to worry about getting all the stuff out of the middle of the van and Elke would do the back of the van- well these kids worked together crazy and unloaded the vans in a matter of seconds :-) One of the Amtrak workers was laughing saying that was the quickest he'd ever seen vans get unloaded!! We made it to Hertz at 5:58pm! Then came back to the station to find out that our train would be arriving closer to 11:30pm. Well it ended up that we didn't roll out of the station until 3:09am! The kids were so patient and great! We pulled into the Union Station in Chicago around 2am and Jeff, Donny, and Carlena were there with smiling faces to greet us and take us back to the church! We finally pulled in to Calvary around 4am and seeing parents was a wonderful sight! Thank you Thank you Thank you for your prayers- we could feel them everyday in many ways! I hope to add more pics and debrief a bit more later- thanks again! God Bless
In His Army,
Tess

Time Flies.... by Tess

Hey Peoples! It is the last night- a few more minutes and we'll be turning in- right now the kids are playing a LOUD game with some other youth groups- a few of the girls have asked permission to stay up and sabotage the boys bathroom :-) and the care card envelopes are coming down. The envelopes have been up all week and when you want to write a note of encouragement to someone you can put it in their envelope. Elke is frantically writing to get her latest novel in on time! Ha ha. We might not connect with the internet after tonight- we'll be at the zoo tomorrow then on the train until Saturday night. The kids are quite torn- sad to leave but looking forward to coming home. Last night was a very special night. I had the awesome opportunity to hug and love on your kids as they were experiencing the joy of forgiveness and realization of the greatest gift of all. We cried together- a lot for some and not so much for others. I just have to say that I have grown to love your kids even more this week! You have all done such a great job raising these guys and girls to be awesome children of God! Potential is seeping out of them! So again prayers are needed as we pack suitcases (without your help) and load them ALL back up in our wonderful mini-vans and travel back down to Denver! I'm not sure if the train will even be in the station on time- It's very unpredictable- We will call you when we are 2-3 hours out from Chicago! Right now I think Jeff and Chris are willing to pick us up in Chicago- we'd love one more person. If you really want to call Elke. Thanks again for your prayers- We're getting up for cold showers around 6:30am-brrr!

colorado missions trip by Liz Carter

Hey everyone,
This week I have been serving God at sterling house,and at hope springs community church. at the nursing home aka sterling house and I talked to the elderly. and yesterday and today i worked at hope springs community church and we played with children . there was a girl named Hannah and i was her best buddy there , she wanted to give me her necklace today when I said I was leaving . i have had fun serving God and the community. last night i was in the drama, the program was on forgiving.
so this week overall was AMAZING!!!!!!!!! thank you for all the prayers!!!!!!!!!!



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Hope Springs Community Church-by Hayden Ingersoll

Wednesday & Thursday, our crew worked(played) at a daycare center. There were quite a lot of rowdy kids there. They were definitely glued to me. We did paper mache over some balloons to make them into globes using paint. Looking at my clothes, you might think I got in a fight with the mixture. We watched some movies, ate lots of snacks, read books, played outside, and the cow jumped over the moon. We did a project where we traced a kid on paper and cut fabric into clothes to make a paper person. Overall we had a really.......great time.


-Hayden Maximillion Ingersoll
AKA(toy#2)

Bingo Time by Seth Maclay

This week I've been working with the elderly at a nursing home. Today, when we were working we had to go to a picnic. After the picnic, we cleaned up after the elderly and then played BINGO! I won 75 cents. Okie, dokie! I'm out.

Fun night- by CJ England

Dear Mom and Dad! I am having a great time and last night we stopped at McD's before that we were at Boondocks and played go-karts and laser tag. That day at the elderly home someone brought the Wii and I taught the elders how to play Wii sports. Me and Seth Maclay did trash again and then we had lunch with the elders and lunch was grilled honey glazed chicken. Miss ya and see ya soon!

All work and some play by Joe Ingersoll

Yesterday was hard work and stuff i had to paint- spread wood chips - and dig up horse pee. At the end of the day we were able to go to Horse Tooth Mountain and on our way we were screaming Level 5 up the hill which we were told is steeper than level 4 according to the biker dude. I had fun throwing rocks off and seeing them explode when they hit! Then we went to the Boondocks and went go-karting and laser tagging- and the green team won! After we went to McD's for icecream we came back and slept- Keep on praying for us. See you soon Mom and Dad!

Hard day of work (by karli mielke)

Hello parents and family members! Colorado is so beautiful! Yesterday we got our jobs. Everybody has had a few troubles yesterday, whether are not it was physically or emotionally For me it was both. My job is digging up 275 acres of dry desert plants. That was the physical part for me yesterday,and the emotional part for me was that I was trying to tell myself that I can do this and to not give up. I would really appreciate your prayer to just give me the energy to keep going. Thanks so much!
Karli without your prayers then her with your prayers :-)

Freakishly wierd stuff! By Kaleigh and Ally

Today we found out that Ally and I both have the exact same middle name named both after our grandmas(Catheryne and Katherine)! On the trip we both brought the same bug repelent, shirts, and brush! And we ended up wearing the shirts on the same day and the same bug gunk on too. We both have the lucky-favorite number 3! That I think was the most freaky and awesome day of our lives!HEHE!

First day on the job- by Kelsey

This is our second day. Today was our first day doing our jobs. I was in the Hearts and Horses in my group my leader's name was Nancy and then the people in the group are me(Kelsey) ,Kathryin, Kaleigh, Allyssa, and Joe. Our group painted horse jumps today on our job and pulled nails from these fences. That was our first day.

A picture's worth a thousand words!

Hey Parents- Pastors- Supporters- Curious peoples!!
Just checking in again- all your kids are accounted for and have survived their first day of "work" meaning service! We have finally showered (outside in the freezing hose water!) and are feeling more comfortable in our surroundings. Thanks for all of your comments- thoughts- and prayers. We are going to take you back through our journey using pictures! And some random pictures that the kids would like to post!

































We'll post many more later- we're off to our evening program where we get to worship God with music and here from Doug Fields via video-

In Colorado by The 3 Musketeers (Ally Kaleigh, Kelsey)

Today most of us woke up pretty early since sleeping on a train can prove its difficulty. When we woke up we were in Nebraska. We couldn't believe it! All this time on a train and we were only in Nebraska. So we had to wait even longer. Anxious we all wait watching cows eat their breckfest while we are waiting to enter Colorado. Some of us were Playing Sleeping queens others Risk and the rest of us were sleeping lounging or playing I doubt it!!!! So much fun. As signs pass by welcoming us to the next state after the next, we were busy writing a testimony and or devotions. When we finally arrived in Colorado we were all relived! Just two more hours until Denver. We were all relieved to be off the train that we didn't even mind that we had to carry our extremely heavy carry ons. So far Colorado has been a thrill. I , Kaleigh, nor Kelsy can wait to go to our destinations tomorrow and witness to others. we cant wait to discover what God has in store for us Tomorrow. Were all excited, and exhausted!! So thanks parents for letting us go on this trips please keep us in our prayers! I know your all in ours.!

our first day by claire kenny :}

Today we finally got to Colorado! It was a pretty long trip but we got here safe. So what was supposed to be an 18 hour trip turned into a 20 hour trip; but that was fine it just gave us more time to bond before arriving.
When we pulled into the station we were all so happy, finally off that train; and amazingly what took six cars to get to Harvard we squeezed into two mini vans. Praise the lord!
So we got to the school got all our beds set up and we met all the people we would room with, we found out our crews (working groups) and missions for tomorrow, God clearly helped us get here safely and let everything go smoothly.

The night before

Hey Everyone! Thanks so much for visiting this site and keeping up with what we are doing this week! We're getting ready tonight to leave bright and early tomorrow morning! We will be on the Amtrak from 2pm tomorrow until 7am Sunday! Please pray against motion-sickness and that we can use the time on the train to get to know each other before we head off into ministry! Hopefully we will be able to give you updates daily and see comments from you too! Thanks for your prayers- partnership- and support!