Wrapping up our week with a little water fun!

I think the pictures here speak for themselves... we had an awesome time Whitewater rafting on Friday..the 2 hour drive was BEAUTIFUL and the kids had a blast on our trip on the Ohiopyle... Level 3-4 rapids and the high water made for an exciting fun filled day.... we had a picnic at Whitewater Express and returned to our TEAM EFFORT site at Blue Knob for the evening..

A group of us couldn't resist heading back up to the mountain top for more devotion and prayer... 

 A truly special and touching moment... We lifted Carly's great-uncle up in prayer last night and later learned that during the same evening he entered our Lord's Heavenly Kingdom...We mourn with Carly's family but are all truly touched to have been able to have been praying for his spirit in such a beautiful place...


And now we return to you all-  Thank you for sharing your kids with us all!!

God's Peace... All of your IMPACT youth leaders

Christ our Cornerstone and Savior~

Thursday afternoon we enjoyed some free time with volleyball and prepared a great spaghetti dinner in our kitchenettes to share with our TEAM EFFORT staff....  
   Our evening devotions really brought all our discussions this week together in a beautiful and impactfull message~ the skit representing all the how our lives' distractions can pull us off of the rock of Jesus Christ and our faith really touched us all.  We finished with our group and individual devotions at the top of the mountain at sunset...and each of us were given the opportunity to let go of the sand in our live and take home a rock at the foot of the cross.  Many of the kids mentioned how special their time in reflection and meditation at the top of the mountain had a profound effect on them.  We could feel God's spirit move through the mountains.   Truly a special moment as some accepted Christ and others reaffirmed their faith...

Wrapping up our week....

We have had an emotional and fun packed end of our week. After finishing up at our work site on Thursday morning, we said our goodbyes to Jackie and Eddie, Bob and Peggy and all our cute little friends..Addy and Zach, Payton and Ryder....  We were all so excited to give Bob and Jackie the IMPACT flower boxes for their new porches.  Before we had arrived, Jackie and Bob both had crumbling decks... Jackie's filled with sad memories of her sister who recently passed away.  Her look  joy when she saw her new deck will be in our hearts for many years to come....

 We finished up our work projects and said our goodbyes to all the people who we helped and in turn who touched our hearts.... especially all of the children.. Our kids built flower boxes and helped with a new playground for the children so they would not have to play in the mud- all were signed by the kids so they all will always remember.... As Jackie told Emma  "always be nice to a stranger,,, because you never know  which one will be an angel and I have met nothing but angels this week."

 

...And I will Praise You in the Storm....

Wednesday and Thursday we have been talking about keeping Christ as our foundation in the storm... Appropriate as we have battled the mud and rain the last 2 days at our work site.

Wednesday morning all of our groups had a choice to make in the pouring rain... our group chose unanimously to head to the work site.  After a run to Walmart for some rain ponchos and a tent to cover our power tools (Safety First :-)  we were able to move ahead with our various decking projects, especially Jackie's.  We were really proud of our kids for their resolve to keep working in the rain.  
    As always happens... Wednesday of our week had a few challenges and struggles but as we were reminded in our evening worship and devotion time... with Christ as our rock we cannot be swayed...

Where did YOU see Christ today?

Tonight in our church 'small' group devotions we
talked about the difference between knowing ABOUT  Christ and KNOWING Christ.  Each evening in worship they ask us to share our stories of when we saw Christ at our work sites.  As we talked in our small group, we realized how many times we really did see Christ... In our homeowners faces as they see the love of Christ in our kids faces~ as they begin to see the changes in their homes and in their families.   Christ was in the faces of children as our kids stop each time they pass little Zach and Addie in their trailer window...playing with them through the window. Christ was with our girls working as Bob watched and supervised them from his scooter. Christ was with our group on Jackie's deck as she described the peaceful moments she looks forward to ....being able to enjoy a cup of coffee in peace with a  friend.

The day was a little muddy and wet with some rain yet our group continued to move ahead in our projects. The kids continue to grow closer to each other and in their faith-  

~IMPACT and your youth leaders.

Building Character....

Our theme in our devotions today went deeper in our overall focus on Christ as our foundation~ into our character... True character is in what we DO vs what we say.  We talked a lot about how we focus too much on appearances vs what is in our heart. When our foundation is truly built on Christ our eyes are opened.

All of our teams at the work site did great job focusing on doing the right thing...supporting each other and working together to help others.  We have our group working on 3 different sites in the trailer park.  We are witnessing our youth opening up to each other and working so well together to serve Christ.  We had girls doing a great job of demolition on an worn out deck, while our other 2 trailer home projects got set up building and rebuilding the owners/ decks.  Some of our group really reached out in love to our home owners, especially with the little children.

We finished our day washing some Tshirts and enjoying a cute downtown area followed by a great dinner hosted by a local church congregation...Finally, our evening worship kicked off with a fun game  and we enjoyed the beauty of God's creation on the mountain top following worship!

The adults are adjusting to many miles driving on winding mountain roads but it is worth  the bonus of the amazing beauty surrounding us!!!

FIRM FOUNDATION in CHRIST

We arrived!!!
Less rain today... mostly fog but not too hot which will make things easier for all of us this week!
We woke up this morning to a great pancake breakfast at our very hospitable campground... the staff picked up our garbage, offered to hose off the mud on our vans and even offered blessings and  prayers for our trip!  Sorry if you did not hear from your children after we arrived  tonight... the phone reception is very spotty in the mountains.  We are very BLESSED to have the beauty of God's creation all around us... Our home base sits at the top of the mountain and our Worship site is a ski lodge at the highest point!  We will post pictures when we can get some good ones... it was pretty foggy by the time we all got settled into our sleeping rooms.  We are in groups of 6 or 7 all sharing one studio apartment... a little rustic and tight quarters but Jane is thankful for a real bed and NO more camping... JP and Brady are glad they can avoid spider guard duty as well!!!!   We drove into the small town nearby (Altoona is 40 minutes away) to get dinner... It takes us a full 30 minutes just to get down from the mountain and into the closest small town....We are already thankful for all of our conveniences at home that we all take for granted!

Our TEAM EFFORT crew did a great job of welcoming us at our Opening Worship...inspirational music and introduction of our worship theme-
FIRM FOUNDATION....47 As for everyone who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice, I will show you what they are like. 48 They are like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. Luke 6:47-48

We will be waking up early to spend some time in individual devotion and prayer... 7:20 am EST so 6:20 central time for our prayer pals who would like to be in prayer at the same time as our youth!  The kids will focus on our theme as well as the verse they chose with their prayer pal.

More pics to come tomorrow ... we will head to the work sites after morning devo and breakfast. We will be serving at a trailer park in a group of 70 (including us) representing 3-4 churches.

Prayers to all of you and thanks to Jodi Schulteis for the inspirational message and lyrics left with our yesterday's entry!

God's peace...Kristin Tetzke and IMPACT

Day One... OFF WE GO!

We have arrived! We are settling in for the night at our Campground in Sandusky, Ohio after a busy day ~  We were blessed with safe travels and are excited to see what God has in store for us at our mission sites!
 

We had a great sendoff with our parents  and friends... Thanks so much for all of your prayers and support!

We stopped over lunch at the Indiana Dunes.... We took some walks and climbed the Dunes and waded at the beach...

 ...back into the vans and through the rain for about 3.5 hours until we arrived at our campground. It is pretty wet here after a few days of rain but we were glad to have our pizzas waiting for us when we arrived.  The go-cart park is also pretty wet so we found a haunted house and arcade to keep us busy!
All the kids are settled in for the night... More adventures to come!  Good night!