The more text that has been promised…courtesy of Beka(H)

I am currently writing from Pittsburgh, PA where we have arrived safely. It was a six hour trip, but we all slept almost the whole way. We are exhausted!!

Thursday night we went to Love Park and witnessed to the homeless. We handed out meals consisting of PB&J, a bag of chips, and a water, and also a pair of socks (we ate the same thing, minus the socks ). It was a very cool time to connect with people that we are normally sheltered from in Warsaw. They are people who are more grateful and sacrificial than in most cases of what we are. Surprisingly, all of them are open and LOVE to simply be listened to. Another cool thing to realize was that most of them are believers….definitely something that none of us were really expecting.It was a very neat way to jump out of some of our comfort zones and share the love of Jesus to some hurting people in Philly.

Friday evening, then, we participated in Friday Night Rock, their church’s youth group. We played a game that no one really understood the rules of, but involved water balloons and water guns….and us getting soaked. When we were done, we headed back to UHTC and had a great time of fellowship with the kids in the group and each other–the teens there are awesome people with great hearts to see people come to Jesus. When it came time to go to bed, everyone was disappointed because we didn’t want to stop hanging out with anyone; however, we were all exhausted and by the time we finally crawled into bed we were out in no time The next morning was filled with packing and prepping for a long drive…we are all sad to leave, but we know that God has changed our hearts and are excited to continue our ministries at Momentum and once we get home.

Tomorrow morning we are getting up and heading over to Grace Community Church where we will join them in Worship.  After Worship the plan is to come back to John Sloat’s house, eat, re-pack, head to Wal-Mart and then to Robert Morris University.  Once at RMU we will help the CE staff set up and get ready for what we are praying is a great week.

Once again we are all gassed and ready to go to bed.  Tell Community Grace we say “hi” tomorrow!!!

Hard to Believe It’s Done

Today was a great end to a great week.  Day Camp went well, dinner was exceptional (authentic Dominican Food), and Friday Night Rock (Urban Hope Youth Group) was a lot of fun.

Right now it is very late and we have an early rise ahead of us tomorrow.  Here some pictures for now.  More will come tomorrow.

Just a Photo Post for Now

Here are some photo’s from today.  We are going to the homeless part of town to hand our dinner tonight.  After we get back I’d like to have the students share what they experienced.  At that point we’ll get some text about out day posted.

The Adventures of Tim, Bekah, and Kensington

Yesterday Bekah and I had quite the adventure as they waited at a near by hospital for a Dr. to diagnos and perscribe some medication for Bekah.  She does indeed have an ear infection.  Overall she is doing well and the medicine that we got last night is beginning to make a difference which is encouraging.

Below are the pictures from our journey.  We happned by a fresh fruit stand and bought a pineapple for $1, which is outstanding because they are $4 at home.  Nevertheless Kensington (Kenny) took on a life of his own and became a small child for Bekah.  The following is Kenny’s Journey.

Kenny at the Window where payment was expected before services were rendered

The Payment

Kenny in Tim in waiting room #1

A very nice older lady who thought Bekah’s license was economical because the print was so small

The Rebel Pineapple

Preparing for vitals to be checked

The Vitals

In waiting room #2

At lunch and a 2.5 hr. wait

Kenny reading the paper

Waiting with us

Watching Spanish Soap’s for 3 hours

Bekah, Carmen (nurse) and Kenny

Bekah in waiting room #3 simply thrilled to be there

Now in the exam room where we waited for another half hour (but we’re getting closer)

We arrived at the hospital at 8:45 in the morning

Bekah and Kenny

Checking Kenny’s Vitals

Kenny on the exam table

Tim and Kenny napping

The cool guy

The Dr. who saw Bekah…we never did find out her name either

Kenny at the Pharmacy counter

Frosty Time!

Raising the Bar

Kenny relaxing in the aisle of RiteAid

We are now back with the group!!!

Eating’s Pat’s Steaks together

Administering Medicine

With Rocky

Encouraging Kenny to Run Faster

With a statue behind the Museum

Some Random Guy

Some random dog

We did eat Kenny at the end of the night.  He was delicious.

Anniversaries, Adventure…Action

Jan and Jasmine at Breakfast

Today we had an awesome day! God is doing a lot of stuff in each of our lives and teaching us a lot of things. The kids are absolutely amazing. Most of us, including myself, have just started understanding the kids’ struggle to be nice and respect each other. In Philly, the norm is to earn respect by being the better or stronger person. If someone hits you, you hit them back harder, so they have difficulty understanding grace. It’s been a challenging to think up new ways to explain grace. But it is definitely a great victory to see the kids start to be more open to the idea of grace.

Bob and Aaron (from a GBC near Hersey PA)

We played basketball today in the sports groups and learned some defense. We also learned more Hispanic dances and played dodge ball. The Bible lesson today was about having a clean heart. I was in a skit about religious leaders questioning Jesus. I (Samantha) played the part of a religious leader.

Indepdence Hall (and Ben not paying attention)

Later in the evening we did the “tourist” thing. We saw the Liberty Bell, Ran the Rocky Steps (Philly Museum of Art) and drove around some historic parts of the city. It was fun to see the history of the city.

Bob and Jan at the Independent Hotel

One of the highlights of the evening was dropping Bob and Jan off at the Independent Hotel for their anniversary. Today they celebrate 31 years of marriage and we dropped them off in Center City to have a date night.

We are all ready for bed. Good night.

Us + Random Girls that jumped in the picture announced

Behind the Art Museum

Day 2

Barnabas and John hanging out together

Today was a great day!  We had a good time at camp and all the students recognize that their campers are feeling more comfortable with them.  This is positive in many ways and makes Kidz Camp much more enjoyable for everyone.  There are also some challenges that go along with that too.  Most of our students, in debriefing today, reflected on how their kids are not listening as well today as they did yesterday.  Some kids are also being VERY competitive with other kids.  Please be praying for our students tomorrow that they will love well and be patient!

Kensey, Carissa, & their two new friends

Our trip to Little Cambodia went well tonight.  It was very stretching for some of us to be in a different cultrual and ethnic section of the city.  Some students very nervous, but we prayed and they went and talked to people with boldness and found out some really cool things and heard some good stories.  It was fun to hear those nervous students have excitement in their voice as they returned to the big group and shared with us.

Sam lining up for dodgeball

After Little Cambodia we went to Target where we bought socks to hand out to the homeless people on Thursday.  According to Partor Josh (OH Church that is here) last year some of the homeless told him they really wanted clean socks.  So their youth group brought some with them and we stopped and bought some.  All in all I think our group bought around 50 pairs of socks.  Thursday will be a fun night when we get to hand those out.

Bob and Johnathon playing pool together

Thanks for all the prayers.  Things are well and we are enjoying ourselves and seeing God do some cool things.  Here are some pictures from the day!  Also, be sure to check out the videos too!

Debriefing Time

Morning Devotions on the Porch

Kensey spending time with Jesus

We’re Dancin’

Touch the Ceiling

Bob and Johnathon playing pool together

Sam lining up for dodgeball

Kensey, Carissa, & their two new friends

Barnabas and John hanging out together

Pictures from Day 1

I knew we shouldn’t have driven south.

Bonding in the vehicle (not pictured…Bob and Allegra)

Morning Worship

The Epistle we are reading this week

Registration

Ben leading prayer time

Bekah at lunch

Taylor

Freddie

Electric Slide, Chicken Dance, Cha Cha Slide

We Have Arrived

We got in last night around 11:45. The trip went well. All the pick up and drop off connections went well.

We begin today with breakfast at 8:00 and then some orientation stuff with the Urban Hope staff. Then after lunch the kids come.

Please be in prayer for the day camp today! I’ll post with more content and pictures later.

The Worst Ever

So I was talking with a good friend today, Tyler Shick, today and we determined together that I am the worst blogger in the history of the world.  It has been since last September that I last blogged anything.   Which is why the fact that  people still check out my site is nothing short of amazing.

So here’s a shout out to my 3 fans…I’ll try and be better.  At least for the next 3 weeks.  I will be doing my best to blog about the Urban Hope Trip happening next week and Momentum Youth Conference, which begins July 13th.  Plesae stayed tuned for pictures, and updates about the day-to-day events and happenings as the Holy Spirit leads us where He wants us to go.

Who are they…?

Oh…That’s the Clothier’s

Carrie is currently working in the N.Manchester school system as a Special Education Aid, and Phys Ed. Teacher. Not only does Carrie have the opportunity to mold young minds, she also coaches the Girl’s Varsity Soccer team for N. Manchester.

Tim spends most of his time and energy focusing on the incredible opportunity that God has given him to do ministry at their home church. Recently hired as Director of Student/Worship Ministries, he gets to do what he loves everyday!

1623 E. Clark St. Warsaw IN, 46580

(260) 582-1262

tclothier@communitygrace.org