Why I Love Youth Quake

To be honest I'm really not a big event guy. Yes I love to have fun and celebrate. But normally my idea of enjoyment does not involve a couple of thousand people in Saskatchewan of all places! But Youth Quake at Briercrest College is an exception. Why? Let me count thy ways.

1. The Journey
I've always loved travelling with the young people of ACC. The memories we create are second to none. Whether its a trip down the street, Denver, a ski hill, Mexico or Briercrest; there is never a dull moment! The conversations, times of worship, laughter, shenanigans, prayer, and meals together make the journey really special.

2. The Spirit
When you arrive at YQ the excitement in the air is intense and the staff and students truly are wonderful. There is a spirit at Briercrest that shouts out that this is about more than just a great time. I always anticipate God doing some big things in the lives of the youth and us as leaders. And I can honestly say that God does move and work in many areas of our lives.

3. Youth Worker Training & Support
I absolutely love how the planners of YQ strive to take care of the needs of youth leaders through their workshops, sessions, and meals. We all could use a little more encouragement and we never leave without being touched or challenged in the ministry God has called us to. The resources available are also a treat as well as the opportunity to interact with experts in the field.

4. Friends
Having spent many years in camping and youth ministry you get to know a lot of people. The neat thing about YQ is that you bump into and connect with many of these friends over the weekend. You just never know who you will see and have a chance to catch up with. The really cool thing is seeing people who used to be in my youth group now as youth leaders! Yeah it makes me feel old but it also reminds me of how God calls people, even the ones you might least expect to.

5. The Memories
Although leaving YQ is sad and the journey home after a weekend with little sleep is long, the memories continue to build! And for me memories is what makes life so enjoyable and what youth ministry should be about. These are times to recall areas of significant growth and change in our lives. These are opportunities to remember the faithfulness of God in our lives. These are gifts as we have a sense of being and belonging within the wider body of Christ.

So there you have it, my top 5 for YQ! My only question is are you willing to join us for our next great Youth Quake adventure? This event is for youth in grades 9-12 only. Stay tuned as I will post information on how you can register with our group by the end of this week. You can also discover more about Youth Quake by visiting www.briercrest.ca/yq/2009 In the mean time clear your calendar for the weekend of February 19-22 and get ready to "Play Your Part."

Feels Like Home To Me!

Its late and I have to be up in just under five hours so I'll keep this brief. This morning we drove up to the LA area where about half of our team went to Six Flags amusement park. The other half checked out the Hollywood walk of fame, went shopping, and cruised along the freeways looking for the hotel late at night. We are tired but looking forward to heading home to our loved ones!

Last night we had a great time sharing our highlights and lowlights of the past week and praying together. Most if not all of us expressed sadness about leaving Mexico and the wonderful friendships we developed while there. We are amazed at how fast this week went and thank God for our time together as a team!

We are up at 6:00 a.m. today (8:00 Winnipeg time) and off to the airport for 7:00. We look forward to landing in Minneapolis around 3:00 p.m. and arriving at ACC around midnight! Sorry we haven't posted more pics but the Internet was slow in Mexico and we just haven't had time while here in So Cal.

On behalf of our team I once again say muchas gracias! Your prayers and support were and are appreciated. We arrive home tomorrow richer from our experiences and thanking God for his faithfulness! Please pray for travelling mercies later today and that we'll get through customs without a hitch.

God bless and see you soon!

Kent

Built Ford Tough!

Hi there!

Well I'm sitting in a Ford dealership here in San Diego. The past few days have been a blur but I wanted to let you all know that we are well in San Diego. We made it through the border without a problem. In fact, the border officer joked around with us for the whole minute he was with us!

Unfortunately, I just found out that we need to replace the whole mirror of the van, not just the glass. But at $300 it still is better than paying the $500 deductible.

Right now a group is off surfing while another group is shopping at Freeport Village. And I have the joy of sitting in a car dealership, but now have to come back bright and early tomorrow morning to get the mirror replaced. But we are safe and happy so what more could I want?

Thursday was a busy day with finishing our DVBS ministry in the morning and finishing our construction/soccer work. We then had a chance to shop at a local market that is famous for having one of the few blowholes in the world known as La Bufadora - "The Blowhole." After having tamales for supper we headed out to the Paraiso colony for an evening church service. It was such a joy to worship with our Mexican friends in a small outdoor church. I had the privilege to preach a short message and Kelly, Alyssa, and Taylor shared their testimonies. We all left humbled by the passion and faith of these wonderful people!

This morning we packed up and said our heartfelt goodbye' s to our wonderful hosts: Jeff, Ineke, Jacqui, and Elizabeth. They encouraged us ("Animo") by saying we did tremendous work and then prayed for our group before we departed. We all loved our time at Agua Viva and left knowing that they truly are fulfilling their mandate of: "Reaching Mexico For Christ."

Tonight we head up to Solana Beach to sleep at a local church. Once the van mirror is fixed we'll up to the LA area and an amusement park as well as shopping.

Well, I'm off to pick up one of the groups. We'll try to post more later tomorrow including photos. Thanks for all of your prayers and support. We miss you and look forward to our return on Sunday night!

Kent

It's All Good!

Greetings friends and family. This will be a short entry as our days and nights are so busy that many of us need a long siesta by now.

We've had another amazing day here in hot and humid Ensenada. Oh how I wish you could you see your dear children and friends at work in their various ministries! You would be proud of their determination and love of the people they are privileged to work with. Today's children's program focused on "God is like a King" and we had a blast singing our many favourite Spanish songs with the kids. Later the children were thrilled to make crowns, gluing all sorts of jewels and miscellaneous items on them. Many of them proudly walked home wearing them!

The afternoon consisted of our group finally having the chance to hone our soccer skills with the children and youth at the neighbourhood known as "The Skunk." While the other group continued to prep for the foundation that will be poured next week at Pastor Garcia's house.

Tonight we had a special dinner near the Seminary building here at Rancho Agua Viva. Between courses we were humbled to hear the stories of three students and their work in sharing Christ throughout the many areas of Mexico. Their stories of persecution and faithfulness to God's call greatly impacted each of us.

Now we are off to prep for tomorrow's DVBS and then hopefully a cold shower before bed. Tomorrow is our last day of ministry time which everyone is sad to see end. Please pray for rest, unity as a group, safe travels on Friday and that we can get one of the mirror's for our van replaced without having to pay the $500 deductible.

I'm sure there is more but I'm too tired to even type this report. Sorry no pics today and probably not Thursday either as we will be getting back late from our evening church service.

We are all well but miss home and you too!

Love,

Kent

Our children's ministry (DVBS) site!

God the Builder!

Today went by pretty fast, but it was a very rewarding and fun day, even though it was the hottest. The day started with our devotions and then to breakfast where we had the very good beans for the 3rd meal in a row. Next we all hopped in the big vans and were off to our second DVBS.


Today's DVBS theme was "God is like a Builder". The kids loved the skit where Justin got to walk around on stage flexing his muscles. The kids then built small houses with toothpicks and marshmallows as joints. Although many got eaten lots of the houses turned out great.


Now the groups got split up and half headed to construction and the other half headed off to play soccer with the kids again. Our group ate in a park in Ensenada and the other group ate real Mexican tacos at a local shop which they say were fabulous! One of the workers found out they were Christians and asked them to pray for her son who has epilepsy and they did this without question.


My afternoon was playing soccer with the kids in El Zorillo, AKA "The Skunk". We had a great turnout. Even though we were trying as hard as we were, we only beat the other team by a couple goals. This was an accomplishment because yesterday we lost to them. And did I mention these kids are an average of 10 years old? They sure know how to play soccer. After a while Taylor shared a great testimony for the kids and then prayed for them. We played more soccer after this and then headed back to Agua Viva for supper.


Tonight we had a great supper of spaghetti and salad, and after supper the Agua Viva shop was opened up where they sell hats, clothes, other jewelry and things made by Mexicans being sold here to support their families.


Well its time to head off to debrief at the outdoor chapel. We'll post some more pictures after our meeting. Please continue to pray for us. We are having a great time and are really unified as a group!


Garrett

Hola, Senors and Senoritas!

From leaving ACC at nine on Saturday morning to sitting on top of a mountain staring at the beautiful landscape around us, we have quite an interesting tale in between.

After we were all packed and ready to go, 18 willing participants in this travel across three countries piled into three vans and got ready to face whatever was in store for us. The first hour and a half on our prairie roads was pretty much a blur. Between the excitement, the fatigue and the fast food pumped into our bodies, everything just kind of ran together. By the time we got to the border, this trip seemed to be getting a little more plausible and real. We had really taken this plunge into the unknown and left everything up to God. According to some of the girls, we had a "cute" customs officer... so maybe that's why most of the excitement was coming from them.

Pulling through the U.S. was a very slow drive. Though we were able to drive faster than we can in Manitoba, the scenery was uncannily similar. Lots of rocks and trees and dirt and water. Finally seeing the "Welcome to Minneapolis" sign was quite the blessing and reason for praise. We made it to the church and the pastor was waiting for us. We all ran in exhausted and "called" our beds... and were taught our first lesson about patience. Instead of the boys who "called" their beds (myself included), the ones that didn't got the comfy couches. We all got to sleep around ten thirty.

Morning came early in the boys room due to my alarm going off an hour early. Three o'clock. As soon as we woke up, we knew with all of our hearts that "today is going to be a long day". We packed up our beds, brushed our teeth and piled back into the vans at four thirty for our seven o'clock flight out of Minnesota.

We got on our flight and the second our heads touched the velour, we were out cold for at least a couple of hours. The three hour flight was smooth and we arrived at LAX at about 9:00 AM local time. Kent and Jen ran off and grabbed our rental vans... and took much longer than they had told us. About an hour and a half later, we finally got into our new homes for the next few hours. So we drove, and drove, and drove and then that glorious sign graced our presence. "Welcome To Mexico"!!!

The border crossing didn't go as smoothly as we would have liked but, none the less, we got through. There were no security issues or anything, just with the numbers that we had made the tourist Visas go slower than they usual would.

The drive to Agua Viva was kind of sketchy and a little scary. Apparently Winnipeg drivers don't have the craziest drivers in the world! Agua Viva is on a hill in quite a rural area and the drive to it is kind windy and rather high up! And the semis aren't a big fan of staying on their side of the road!

We arrived at Agua Viva and we were all happy to be on solid, non-life threatening ground. Some were so happy they even kissed the ground (Kent). Tired and hungry, we somehow stumbled into the dining hall to sit down to a feast of Quesadillas, beans and Guacamole. Finally satisfied, we left and began setting up our beds in our cabins. This was promptly interrupted by the direction that we were to go to the fire pit to enjoy a good ol' fashion camp fire! Yay! Here we sang some songs, got to know the staff and the others that were staying here and even heard a few rules about the campsite.

When this was over, we quickly prepared and reviewed our dvbs schedule and then bedtime had finally fallen upon us! After having been up for 22 hours, we were all ready to pass out in our bunks... and we did just that. Except, some of us guys were rudely kept up by the dynamic duo, also known as the Schaefer boys and their snoring!

This morning was bitter sweet as many of us were still extremely tired from our travels. However after another lovely meal which included beans, of course, we packed the vans and headed out to try our luck on the curvy highway and our first ministry site.

Our time with the beautiful children at the daily vacation Bible school was amazing and inspiring! Today we talked about how God is like a Shepherd and the kids stuck to us like glue. We are thrilled to connect with the children over the next three days. Then our group divided into two and we said Adios for the afternoon.

One group had lunch by the ocean and took a quick dip before heading out to play soccer with kids, sharing testimonies, and presenting a Gospel message. The other group had lunch at a park in Ensenada and also had delightful ice cream at a local store. This group then spent the rest of the afternoon preparing the foundation of Pastor Garcia's house, which included a visit with the Pastor and his daughter. Many of us were moved to see this man of God faithfully continuing to serve despite his struggle with Parkinson's disease.

Tonight we debriefed on the top of the mountain that houses a giant cross that overlooks Agua Viva and the beautiful mountain ranges. We all shared our highlights of the day and spent time in thankful prayer.

We hope you enjoyed this lengthy report. We will try to post some photos in the next few hours! Thanks for your love and prayers. Please continue to pray!

Justin

The Day Has Finally Arrived!

Its hard to believe that in nine short hours our trek to Mexico will begin! On behalf of our entire team I would like to thank the many parents, family, friends, and ACC supporters for believing in our mission, We truly could not have done this without you behind us each step of the way. Gracias!

Please pray for us today as we set out for Minneapolis. Pray that things will go smoothly at United States customs and that the rest of our journey will be safe and go relatively as planned, including our flight to Los Angeles and the entire Mexico border crossing experience.

We look forward to updating you from Mexico on Sunday or Monday evening. Vaya con Dios - Go with God!

 

Now glory be to God! By his mighty power at work within us, he is able to accomplish infinitely more that we would ever dare to ask or hope. May he be given glory in the church and in Christ Jesus forever and ever through endless ages. Amen. Ephesians 3:20-21

Here's our itinerary

SATURDAY, July 12
8:00 a.m. arrive and load vans
8:45 prayer
9:00 depart church
6:00 p.m. (approximate) arrive in Minneapolis

SUNDAY, July 13
4:00 a.m. good morning
7:05 flight to Los Angeles

Please note: The following times are listed in Pacific Daylight Time.
Please add two hours for local time.

9:00 arrive at Los Angeles Airport
3-4 p.m. (approximate) arrive at Rancho Agua Viva

MONDAY, July 14 - THURSDAY, July 17
Ministry in the Ensenada, Mexico area.

FRIDAY, July 18
10:00 depart Rancho Agua Viva
1:00 p.m. (approximate) arrive in San Diego

SATURDAY, July 19
9:30 a.m. depart San Diego
11:30 (approximate) arrive in Los Angeles

SUNDAY, July 20
6:30 a.m. good morning
9:35 flight to Minneapolis

Please note: The following times are listed in Central Daylight Time, which is our local time

3:00 p.m. arrive at Minneapolis-St. Paul airport
12:00 a.m. (approximate) arrive at church

8 Days & Counting!

Greetings family and friends of ACC Sr. High!

The months of planning, fundraising, ministry experiences, meetings, training sessions, and fun, is almost done. I can hardly believe how far our team has come since the first parent meeting on August 27 of last year! Please know that the young people have done a tremendous job preparing for this mission trip, and I am so proud of each one of them!

I'll try to keep you updated as much as possible throughout our adventures, July 12-20. For now, I would ask that you pray for us as we have one final meeting on Sunday, July 6, and for all the last minute details over the next week. Please also pray for unity, wisdom, safety, and a real passion for the people and ministry we'll be partaking in Ensenada.

I invite you to join us on Saturday, July 12 at 8:45 a.m., to help send us off and pray for us before our departure. I will post an itinerary of our trip in the next day or two.

Adios!

Kent