MOVE08-Saturday-Middle School

Today, the last day, the final moments, what can I say? Oasis and Lifeline students are the most AMAZING people ever! Today we were at Manowe, all working together. Oasis students split into two teams, one was in charge of raking and removing leaves from one of the pastures, the other team was in charge of painting the cabins at The Summit. We pulled the team together in the Dream Center for a gourmet lunch of grilled hot dogs, chips and snacks. We had the chance to hear from Randy about the impact our teams have had at Manowe in the last year with all the work we have done. It is really good for the kids to hear the positive effects of their hard work. The remainder of our time was spent cleaning up, and putting the finishing touches on the projects we began, and having some INCREDIBLE team fellowship time. As tired as I know everyone is you would never know it by watching them work and play together today. I have so many wonderful memories from this trip that are going to make me laugh, cry and just sit back and reflect on how amazing middle school students really are. I watched each one of the kids grow and change in so many amazing ways. They are each wonderful and incredible individuals who put a major dent this week in Bringing Up There Down Here and letting Others Know They Matter.

-Tammy Lausman (MOVE08 Middle School Team Leader)

MOVE08-Friday Evening

Friday evening the MOVE08 team had a chance to go and play for a little bit! The team loaded up the busses, after some serious showers (see last posts) and headed down to Chippewa Bowling Lanes for an evening of pizza, pop and bowling!

It was amazing to walk in on the team and see them having fun, encouraging and loving on each other! Usually when you take 50 people and stick them together for a few days to work hard all day long they are ready to get away! Not this team though! It is evident that they truly care about each other! You can see it in the way that EVERYONE celebrates when someone gets a strike or a spare even if it's someone that they were "competing" with for a high score. There were special handshakes and high fives going on and even a little day early celebrating of Steph Rorie's birthday!

I am so proud of this team! They get it! They have served and loved others for the last two days! They have served and loved each other for the last two days! I think they truly are showing how much Other People Matter through their lives! It seems to me that they may have truly earned the right to wear these. You might just see the team tomorrow night at the 5:30 service at GCC. The MOVE team leaders decided again to end the trip by returning to GCC for church because we are a part of GCC, all the student ministry programs, all the mission trips and camps are proudly a part of GCC, not some seperate silo ministry. So the leaders saw it fitting to "end" the trip where it all began!

Continue praying for the team! On Saturday both the middle school and high school teams head out to Manowe to work some more in the morning and then spend some time in the early afternoon processing and debriefing on the whole trip! It will be a great day!

MOVE08-Friday-High School

Today, once again, was an incredibly exhausting but successful day as we headed to Benton Harbor to work with Habitat for Humanity. These guys worked so unbelievably hard though and I am very proud of them. As we arrived this morning at the work site, we discovered that we would be spending the day creating an 8’ clearing in a heavily wooded area along a fence which divides this new neighborhood that Habitat is building with a government subsidized neighborhood. They wanted us to do this in hopes of creating unity between the two communities. For five hours they cut down trees and shrubbery, hauled it away, fought with thick vine patches, and found many treasures to take to the trash pile (such as a bicycle, car window, etc.). Several of us also spent the day painting one of the recently built homes. We were also able to meet and spend some time with a few of the kids who live in the subsidized homes. As we loaded the bus to come home we looked as though we were sporting thick tans when in reality though it was simply layers of dirt and sweat! It was a great day! Everyone worked like crazy and we were able to really accomplish a lot, along with making some amazing memories.

-Stephanie Rorie (MOVE08 High School Team Leader)

MOVE08-Friday-Middle School

Today for the Oasis team was a perfect mix of seriously intense labor and a crazy amount of fun. We began our day at the Center for the Homeless. We picked up where Lifeline left off yesterday with all their hard work in the new garden. While part of the team laid the landscaping fabric and then topped it with two tons of pea gravel, the other part of the team was weeding around the building and planting more flowers. From the Center we headed to Hope Ministries where we picked up some of the guests of Hope and we all went to a nearby park and splash pad. A splash pad for anyone who is wondering…is a really fun playground with water shooting out from all types of neat objects. First we had a picnic lunch in one of the pavilions with our new friends. While some were soaking up a mass amount of water, others remained under the pavilion to get to know the adult women who joined us from Hope. Our students were OUTSTANDING as they interacted with the young children from Hope as well as some kids from the nearby neighborhood. While the others were getting wet, I sat and talked with the mothers from Hope who had joined us. I was blessed to hear only a small portion of their lives, but they are all working through their present circumstances with grace and positive attitudes. They are doing this with the help of the wonderful programs available at Hope and The Center. There were a couple of women who told me they attend GCC and they were so excited to be spending time with us. Today was full of God’s powerful love. Everyone walked away with some really special memories that will be with us for the rest of our lives.

-Tammy Lausman (MOVE08 Middle School Team Leader)

MOVE08 Bloggers

Hey everybody just wanted you to know that in addition to following along with the MOVE08 team here you can also hear from DC Curry and Jeff Myers.

DC's got some pictures posted from earlier today. I can't wait to see what happens tomorrow!

-Johnny

MOVE08-Thursday-High School

I cannot begin to tell you how incredibly proud of these kids I am! They worked harder than I ever thought possible today. We began our day at the Center for the Homeless where we worked from 10 am until 1:30pm building a garden and serving lunch to the residents. These few hours were full of roto-tilling, pulling weeds, planting, cleaning, serving food, planting some more, and did I mention roto-tilling?!?! Through the sweat, dirt, blisters, and sore muscles these kids never let down, working as hard as they could the entire time with smiles on their faces. From that point we headed to Hope Ministries (formerly known as Hope Rescue Mission) where we picked up their residents and headed out to Bendix Woods where we spent several more hours pulling fallen trees and branches out of the wooded areas… not an easy job to say the least! Even still, these kids were full of smiles and having a great time. They served as hard as they could today and as leaders, we are so proud of them. Needless to say though, I think everyone will sleep well tonight! Thank you for your prayers today! They have made such a difference! Continue to pray for sunshine as we head to Benton Harbor tomorrow to work with Habitat for Humanity.

-Stephanie Rorie (MOVE08 High School Team Leader)

MOVE08-Thursday-Middle School

Today was the MOST AMAZING DAY! The Oasis team started off the day at Faith Mission in Elkhart. We were put to work at the Thrift Store. If you have never been there it is a place for residents of Faith Mission and the public to purchase gently used items such as clothes and household items. The funds raised at the Thrift Store go back into the programs at Faith Mission. The students worked today assisting the staff and residents of Faith Mission sorting through donations that people have left and in organizing the warehouse. The work that our students did today saved the staff of Faith Mission about 2 weeks of work. We then headed to the main center of Faith Mission and we were given a tour of the facility where we learned about all the programs that Faith Mission provides to residents of the Mission and those in need from the Elkhart area. We enjoyed a picnic type lunch on the lawn at Faith before heading to our next destination, Hannah’s House, in Mishawaka. Hannah’s House is a place that provides guidance and assistance for pregnant girls and women in need. The team worked inside cleaning from top to bottom. Windows, doors, baseboards, cupboards, nothing was left unturned. Outside we worked on washing the siding of the house, cleaning out the shed, pulling weeds, and cleaning the fences. The staff at Hannah’s House was so grateful for all that the team accomplished. They provided us with yummy cookies and plenty of cold bottles of water. I am so proud of each and every student and leader on this team. Everyone is having a GREAT time, keep praying for our team and the work we have ahead over the next few days.
-Tammy Lausman (MOVE08 Middle School Team Leader)