April 10, 2010 by MarkH.

The day started out with waking up to a massive saran wrapping of all the vans, due to Crew B’s revenge for a water balloon prank yesterday, except Crew B didn’t know whose car was whose so… they wrapped em all.

IN fact throughout the course of the week there were a few pranks pulled.  First, there was a classic water balloon ambush.   The best was a set up where Crew C attacked Crew B with super-soakers under the guise of getting together for a group photo. It was a complete and total success. Crew B was soaked.  Booyah! Granted Crew B did get their revenge by throwing stink bombs in Crew C’s car.  But even with all the pranks, a lot of work was accomplished.

Today was the last day of work.  Some crews had more work to finish up the jobs than others and it was obvious that by the end of each crew had worked strenuously.  Everyone was very tired but satisfied with what they had accomplished for the week. One crew even dropped people off back at the church, then went back to the worksite just so they could get a little bit of extra time to work and help the homeowner that much more.  They ended up not getting back until after dinner had already started.  Now that’s dedication.

As a final ceremony to kind of wrap up the trip in a sense, we held the final thanksgiving circle, where everyone gathers together in one group after having been in two separate thanksgiving circles all week. All shared what they are thankful for and what was best about the week.  Some people shared things that were short and to the point, but others were moved to share long and often and sentimental feelings about the week, relationships and how amazing God has been in our midst.  It is a moving and sentimental time and there were even a few tears of joy shed.  The Holy Spirit was definitely present.  Most people spoke about their crew and stories from the week, EVERYONE loved their own crew;  naturally everyone is biased, and many shared how much work they accomplished throughout the week.  The thanksgiving circle is a chance for everyone to share, and reflect upon their own experiences.

To top off the night, during late night free time there was a milk chugging competition between Colin Eddy and Adam Weidemann to see who could drink a gallon of milk in an hour.  Adam won, but didn’t finish the gallon. We wonder if it can be done?

The YOAM trip has been a super experience for all, for many this may be the last YOAM trip they are able to come on.  For others this was their first mission experience, and for some it is an ongoing labor of love.  Thanks for reading - pray for the people of NOLA who are still in need of relief, and for our safe return home.

in His service…CREW C

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April 8, 2010 by MarkH.

 ”For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power.” 2 Timothy 1:7

The YOAMers were treated to a late night thunderstorm that brought on cooler weather and a soothing breeze to our Thursday morning. We arrived on the work site today and the roof over our house (which was completed the day before the thunderstorm) was sparkling with some new roof sheen. A Mennonite group had been feverishly working on the roof for the last 2 days and completed the roof with incredible speed. Their work was needed in order to protect all the water sensitive drywall going up inside.

The “gorilla” crew featuring Zathy, Adam, Will, and the Austins hopped out of the car and started hanging drywall before the car had a chance to stop. The combination of laughter, tune-skies (good music), and hard work a huge transformation came over the house. In the matter of a week Crew D and Crew F have transformed the studs and skeleton of a house in distinguishable rooms with insulation and drywall hung. We have built relationships between our two crews and with our homeowner who visited us today. Check out the group picture!

The evening brought a night out at Ryan’s Buffet where we all ate too much of everything, followed by a Thursday night service led by the newly formed (tonight actually) YOAM Praise band, with a message from Zack and Will.  It was a moving awesome message about being  servants.   We were all then privileged to hear from Pat Lee and Eric Labram about their recent trip to Israel, Jerusalem and Bethlehem among other places. Pat surprised us with a gift hand carried from the Holy lands.  It was an awesome moving experience, in which we anointed each other with oil that had been blessed at the Holy Sepulcher  in the Holy Lands , we were annoited with the oil as as servants for God.  One scripture that thought related to our mission is:

“Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.” I Cor. 15:58

Tomorrow holds a lot of work, fun, and growth among this group of Youths on a Mission. God Bless and hello from Slidell from Crew D!

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April 8, 2010 by MarkH.

We started off our day working at the job site, until around twelve. Then we got the opportunity to go to the French Quarter in New Orleans. We learned about the culture and way of life of the people of NOLA (New Orleans LousianA). The trip was a chance to nap and get lost..okay so we missed a few turns at first…But once we arrived, we split into separate groups and explored the French Quarter. For dinner, each group went to a local restaurant and embraced the good New Orleans cuisine…Crawdads, shrimp, Gumbo…and more.

This is the Saint Louis Cathedral on Decatur Street

in the French Quarter

There were many local artists around Jackson square and great galleries in the French Quarter. The cross above was found at a local gallery - it represents the type of expressive art that the New Orleans people tend to create. This cross is made out of scrap tools.  Everyone had a great afternoon in NOLA and made a few purchases, enjoyed the local culture, and ate of the diversity of foods available.

One member of our work “crew” that is hard to get a glimpse of is Kyle…above Mr. Mark happened to catch a glimpse of Kyle taking a picture of Meagan and Colin by the Mississippi River.  Good night…signed some wandering yutes

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April 7, 2010 by MarkH.

Tuesday- Our morning started off bright and early, contrary to Mosey Monday. The breakfast bell rang at 8 o’clock, and a pack of hungry workers came running. We vigorously ate, hoping to get to our worksites for our first full day of work.

Crews conquered the various tasks of dry walling, insulating, painting, tiling, cleaning and dumpster diving, and arrived back at home base tired and sore.

Showers were viscously fought over between youth and adults because all were smelly and drenched in sweat. But it was all worth it for a night of fun!

After showers, crews gathered in the John Wesley Recreation building, which served as YOAM’s dining hall.The excitement filled the room as we all lined up for George Dohner’s delectable Jambalaya.

We also celebrated John Stapleton’s (aka Papa John’s) birthday with a rounding chorus of Happy Birthday and a gigantic birthday cake, covered from corner to corner with 51 candles.

            As free time rolled around, the different groups piled into cars to visit the hot spots around town, which consist of Wal-Mart and Sonic. We wrapped up the night with our daily Thanksgiving circle and shared the things we were thankful for throughout the day. Until tomorrow…From Slidell!

-a group of very tired youth.

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April 6, 2010 by MarkH.

Oh, Mosey Mondays. What seemed to be a sluggish transition from logistics in the morning into the mid-afternoon of the work day actually turned out to be quite inspiring through faith and various construction projects on each of our respective homes. Many of us were visited today by the enthusiastic homeowners who were overjoyed with the sight of us beginning our day, even if we were just laying the plans down before the actual work was initiated.

With a handful of mistakes and re-do’s, we waited patiently for God’s will to guide us in our efforts with these projects, hoping that the Bible verse we personally choose would hold true. “Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us. Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other” (Romans 12:12:3-5)

And just as we had so earnestly hoped for – God provided. By the time Susan and Dave had fleshed out the details at our worksites, we were humming along at full speed. Our work crew had really come together as one. We had figured out what exactly we needed to complete throughout this week and what tools to use for those jobs.

Falling right back into line, we progressed throughout our day swimmingly and worked right past the time in which we needed to close up shop and head back to Aldersgate UMC. Ready to work bright and early tomorrow at that too! We all savored the showers and AC as soon as we got back and proceeded to ready ourselves for a Tex-Mex fiesta!

As we assume our usual nightly activities, we caravanned to Wal-Mart and Sonic respectively and purchased various assorted items at Wal-Mart as well as deliciously-nourishing slushie’s along the way. We ended our evening with a P.M. devotion, tired and ready for another day’s work early tomorrow morning.

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May 6, 2007 by Larry Resch.

Welcome to the Glen Mar United Methodist Church mission blog.  God depends on all of us to be servants in the world. Our families and our community depend on the gifts that we willingly share outside the walls of the church. We understand that while some ministry necessarily takes place within the church building, most ministry is shared outside the walls of the church.

This blog will hopefully provide you with some information about the various mission opportunities at Glen Mar and also with updates on some of our mission trips outside of our local area.

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