New York to Georgia...well, almost...

Last time I blogged I was in New York and now we are in Pooler, Georgia, which is near Savannah. So somehow in this blog I am going to try to go from New York to Georgia and so much has happened in the past ten days! So here we go...

We really enjoyed our time on long island. We stayed with some wonderful families while we were there. In Bellmore, NY we all stayed with the Fyfe family, Janice, Vanessa, and Cody. They have been housing Youth Encounter teams almost every year since 2000! We didn't do a program while staying with them but we had some wonderful fellowship with their family in the time that we were there. We had an amazing Italian meal and some good conversation. We talked a lot about having faith through struggles. It was neat to see what a big influence the past teams have had on this family. Also crazy, for those of you that know Josh (past youth director at Roseville Lutheran Church) and his wife Gail Brecht..... Gail stayed with the Fyfe's while she was on a Youth Encounter team! Vanessa had an autograph wall in her room with the signatures of all the team members that have stayed with them in the past! I saw Gail's name and it was cool to add our signatures to the many that are already there! Janice also came to our worship service on Sunday.

On Saturday after spending the night at the Fyfe's we got up early and rode the train into New York City. We only had about 6 hours to spend around the city and I am amazed at how much we were able to see. We arrived at Penn Station and then rode the subway to Central Park. We walked for a little bit in Central Park and then walked 2 miles down 5th Avenue, where we saw lots of expensive stores and some really neat looking old churches. From there we walked to Times Square and then took the subway to Ground Zero.

It's crazy to think that 9/11 was already 6 years ago. They are rebuilding but the site is still a big hole in the ground. I'm not sure how I feel about them rebuilding where the twin towers used to stand. So many people want to make it seem like "the terrorists" didn't hurt our country, that we are going to just build back up and get business going again, back to normal. But the thing is, it's not normal, so many lives were forever changed by what happened on September 11th. It doesn't matter who you think is responsible for the towers collapsing, people died and families were changed. Being on Long Island we met so many people that were directly affected by what happened on September 11th.


After Ground Zero we walked to Battery Park and saw the Statue of Liberty, but our time constraints did not allow us to take the ferry out to Ellis Island. It was cool to see though and to know that this is where my great-grandparents came through to the United States from Sweden. I got dragged into a street show in battery park and a guy did a flip over me and three other girls. Dave got a video of it, it was pretty ridiculous. New York City was fun to visit but I can not see myself ever living anywhere like that.

After our day in the City we went to Christ Lutheran in East Northport, NY. I stayed with a woman named Angela. She is married and has 3 kids that are all grown-up and have moved out. Her husband was out of town doing some carpentry work for a family member. She said it was one of the first times they had ever been apart for so long, so it was a perfect time for me to stay with her. Angela is a kindergarten teacher and was a psychology major in college. Being a psychology major as well, I loved talking about that with her. We really connected and seemed to have a lot in common. We are both very passionate about kids and had some great conversations about everything from kids with disabilities and education to our families to church traditions and our own church backgrounds. Angela made me feel so at home with her and I really enjoyed the time we spent together. I am not very involved in or knowledgeable about politics but we even talked a little about politics... and I enjoyed it! Most of you reading this probably won't believe that. :) It is actually one of my goals this year to involve politics more in my life, realizing that faith and politics can not really be separated.

Staying with Angela was the first time that I had been in a host home by myself! Every other time Jenny and I have been together, so it was really weird to not be with her. We are used to talking every night and processing through everything that happened during the day. We both missed that and didn't really know what to do with ourselves once in our rooms. :) We have gotten really close during these past 10 weeks and talk about everything. We both have one sister, and both of them are three years younger than each of us. We both miss talking with our sisters, and it has been a real blessing that we have each other.

Sunday morning after staying with Angela our team lead some Sunday School music and a puppet show and then helped lead their contemporary worship at Christ the King Lutheran Church. The church seems to have a good ministry going on and it was neat to see that they were willing to try something new and start a contemporary service. People on Long Island said that there are not many churches around that area that have that. Corlyn (our host in Fort Salonga, NY) and Janice (our host in Bellmore, NY) also came to the service. It was cool to see them all their together to worship with us and support us.

Well, I had planned on writing about all of the last 10 days tonight but I only got through our time in New York and I am tired and it is late. Tomorrow is our day off, so hopefully I should be able to write some more tomorrow. Thanks for keeping up to date on where I am at and what I am doing. You are all in my prayers and I hope that you continue to keep my team and our ministry in your prayers as well.

Farm to the City

(written 11:20pm Wednesday, October 17, 2007)

Monday was our day off and we were in Lordstown, Ohio. Jenny and I were staying on a farm with a couple named Ken and Jan. When we got there on Sunday night we got to help feed their horse named McGee and the “furry herd.” They have 17 outdoor cats on their farm! There were cats everywhere! We saw two little kittens and Jan said that nobody had held them yet because they would just run away. I followed the little gray one into the barn and it let me pick it up. I am not a cat person but I think I may have just become one when I held that little kitten. Oh so cute! I held it for quite a while, sitting out on their porch. It was fun for us suburban girls to get to stay on a farm.

Ken does a lot of work on saddles and on our day off we went with him into Amish country to get some leather and to visit with Eli. Eli is Amish and has owned his own leather and saddle shop for over 40 years! He is one of the most well known side-saddle repairman in the United States and was also a volunteer fireman. He got his picture in TIME magazine because the fire department wanted to make him and a couple other Amish men shave their beards, saying that the air masks would not seal right with a long beard. Once Amish men marry they don’t shave their beard as it is a sign of their marital status. We visited with Eli and his apprentice Tom, for about an hour. He taught us a lot about the Amish way of life and was very willing to answer any questions that we might have. He and Tom were very interested in hearing about our trip. They got a kick out of my MinnesOta accent. Before we left Ken, Jenny and I went over to the general store and got some ice cream to bring back for Eli and Tom. I also bought some Amish maple candy. If we would have been left in that store any longer Jenny and I would have come out with a ridiculous amount of tasty stuff. I am so glad that we got to meet Eli. He was such a sweet man and a real joy to talk with. He even gave us a little leather souvenir keychain to remember him.

We also went to Middlefield where we visited the cheese factory and bought some pepperoni cheese. The Amish make the best cheese! In the car Ken taught us a lot about the Amish buggies and horses. Jenny and I now know how to tell the difference between a horse that is trotting and a horse that is pacing.


For supper Ken and Jan took us to a place called Little Wings where they have 43 different sauces for the wings. When we got home, Jan, Jenny, and I played dress up. Ya, that’s right we played dress up. Ken and Jan are really into reenactments and they travel all around doing reenactments of different battles. They have a whole room filled with guns and swords from different time periods. Jan has lots of dresses from the 1700’s and 1800’s and decided that we should try them on. We spent 2 hours doing this! She did our hair and everything. Then we went downstairs and she and Ken taught us the different time period dances. Jenny and I both tried two different dresses. You wouldn’t think this would take that long but man those dresses have so many layers and parts to them. We learned a lot of history and were pretty wiped out by the end. This was not the most relaxing day off but we had a lot of fun. Jan and Ken seemed to really enjoy having us and they made us feel so at home.


Tonight we did a program in Fort Salonga, New York, which is on Long Island. We drove from Chambersburg, Pennsylvania today and made a wrong turn ending up in the middle of Manhattan! Ua was driving and Dave was navigating and somehow they got us back on track to where we were supposed to be going. In the traffic it only took us about an hour.  We drove by Pennsylvania Station, Madison Square Garden, the Empire State Building and we almost saw a fight right in front of us. You have to realize also that we drive a 15 passenger van, which was quite an adventure in downtown Manhattan. I wish we would have had more time to explore New York but it was cool to just to get to drive through.


I have a new friend. Jenny and I are staying with a couple on Long Island and they have a chocolate lab that I became friends with. It likes cuddling with Jenny and I on the couch and when I came out of the bathroom before bed she was curled up on my bed waiting for me. Too bad we don’t have room for a dog in the van. Tomorrow morning Jenny and I are getting up early with our host mom Corlyn and she is going to take us to the boardwalk where we are going to walk around and then have some breakfast.

Lots and Lots of Pictures!

I have been putting all my pictures from my trip up on facebook, so click on the links to see the albums. :) I will update it on here anytime I add an album.

Family&Friends

Our Sixth Team Member

Training

On the Road

Chicago

Ua

Host Families

Toledo

Team Outing

Castles and Turkish Coffee

(written 1:30pm Sunday October 14, 2007)

We are in the car right now on our way from Toledo, Ohio to Warren, Ohio. This morning we did a worship service at Salem Lutheran, an inner city Toledo church. Last night we stayed with Mary Bull’s parents, Steve and Lisa. Mary works in the office at Youth Encounter and we got to know her pretty well through training. It was fun to see lots of pictures of her growing up and get to meet her parents. They spoiled us and took us out to Buffalo Wild Wings and Coldstone Creamery for dinner last night. So good! The bed I slept on last night was phenomenal! It had a foam mattress and a heated blanket and was so comfy!

This past week has been very low key and we have not been doing very many programs. This has kind of thrown off our team’s momentum and I think it’s hard for most of us during the times when we are not doing much. It has been really fun getting to spend more time with our host families though. We have spent much of the past week in Toledo, Ohio and for two nights we stayed with a couple named Marty and Angela and their two kids: Seth (8) and Chelsea (4). We spent a lot of time in their home and got to play with the kids. Seth enjoyed playing video games and loved that he had some guys around to play with him. Chelsea had so much energy and enjoyed jumping from couch to couch, yelling things about monkeys. During the day that we spent with Chelsea we put together a princess castle from lots of pieces scattered throughout her toy box. We definitely did not find them all but I think it turned out pretty well. Chelsea also loved taking pictures with my camera and it was fun to see things from the perspective of a four year old. The castle picture below is compliments of Chelsea. J Both nights that we were there we had Turkish coffee with Marty. It’s very strong and you don’t filter out the grounds so you have a nice layer of coffee mud at the bottom of your tiny mug when you are finished. The first night, the Turkish coffee really wired us and we were wide awake, up late playing games. Marty and Angela are both pastors and we did programs at both of their churches. They were so generous to us and we really connected with their family.

We had our first team outing on Friday night. We went to a Mexican restaurant in Toledo called El Camino Real. Very good food and quick service. After dinner we played mini golf, which is always a good idea when it is 45 degrees outside. It was dark and cold and we were the only ones at the mini golf place but we had a blast! We played two rounds and we all got at least one hole-in-one! Afterward we warmed up by a fireplace at a pastor’s house where we were staying and visited with the pastor, Chris and his wife, Chris. They made us an amazing French toast breakfast on Saturday morning and it was our first Saturday morning that felt like a normal Saturday morning at home. J

Look at these cute kids!

We have only been on the road for three weeks but I have already grown a lot. I am amazed at what I have learned about myself. Dave and I have had some good talks trying to figure out why I do what I do and why I react the way I do to certain things. They have not been particularly fun conversations but definitely very good to talk about and work through. This whole thing has been very emotionally draining but in the long run I know that it's really good. God is continually showing me that I need to rely on Him and He has been pushing me to really step out of my comfort zone.

I am also learning a lot about generosity and giving. The host homes that we have stayed in have been so generous to us and have given us so much. They provide us with food and a place to stay but also so much more. They support us in ways that I never imagined and have given of themselves to connect with us. They encourage us in our ministry and open up to us, sharing their stories with us. I have been amazed by the relationships that have been formed between us and these "strangers" even in the short amount of time we get to spend together. I know that this will be a continual blessing on the road as people make us feel at home when we are so far away from home.

This morning we got to do a program with preschool-2nd graders at Peace Lutheran School, here in Saginaw, MI. We did lots of sing-a-long action songs and a puppet show. They seemed to really enjoy it. I love watching them do the actions along with us and seeing how excited they get. Dave is lucky because he is the narrator for our puppet show so he gets to see the kids' reactions to everything. I wish I could see their faces but I do really enjoy hearing their cute little giggles and laughs. The picture at the top is from our program.

Glow Stick Capture the Flag!

It's already our day off again and we are in Saginaw, MI staying with a couple named Keith and Kathy. They have been away at work all day and let us just hang out at their house. The day has been pretty uneventful but good and relaxing. We played some games and have caught up on writing our team journals. We are just coming off a tiring weekend where we did a retreat at Loon Lake Retreat Center in Hale, MI. There were about 15 confirmation kids from Redeemer Lutheran Church in Interlochen, MI. We had a good weekend. All of us lead small groups for 4 different sessions for the weekend, talking about the cores of the Lutheran confirmation. We played a fun game of volleyball and threw a Frisbee and football around for a while on Saturday afternoon.

On Saturday night we played capture the flag in the dark. It was soooo much fun! We were divided into two teams. One team wore green glow stick bracelets and the other wore red. There were yellow glow glow sticks lined up as the middle line. Each team had to hide two big glow sticks of their color for the other team to find. The field we were playing on was pitch black and it was crazy that all we could see were the glow stick bracelets running around. We played for at least a good two and a half hours!

Our team lead worship for the retreat on Friday and Saturday nights and then again on Sunday morning. Loon Lake Camp is no longer used as a summer camp, which is really too bad because it's a beautiful camp that would be awesome for the summer. This week we did our first round of one on ones now that Ua joined our team. Jenny and I walked around the camp for our one on one and ended up sitting on the dock by the lake. It was beautiful! (see picture above) It has been very nice to get to talk to our team mates one on one. Even though we spend everyday together there are things that you don't learn about someone until you sit down and just talk.
Last night we did a program for a youth group at Peace Lutheran Church in Saginaw, MI. There were a lot of kids involved and we got to split up into small groups for a discussion afterward. Most of us had very good experiences with those groups. They had an awesome youth center that really draws kids in.

One night last week we got to do a youth night at Holy Trinity Church in Harlan, IN. Our contact's daughter had a Rat-a-tat-tat ball so we taught them all how to play! It was good fun! So much so that we went out and bought our own Rat-a-tat-tat ball to keep in our van. :) It takes up a lot of space but it's so worth it! For those of you that don't know what Rat-a-tat-tat is, it is a game we play at Camp Wapo similar to dodgeball.

Earlier this week we did a bonfire event at En Gedi Campground River Resort in Leonidas, MI. I was really surprised at how many people showed up. We roasted marshmallows after the bonfire and got to visit with some of the people. There was a couple named Ken and Donna that were talking a lot with Jenny, Ua, and I. When they were ready to leave they asked to pray for us. So we all held hands and Ken prayed for us.

In the morning Shawna (one of our hosts) came into our cabin to tell us something. The night before at 3:45 am her husband David had received a phone call. Usually when pastors are called at that time of night it is because someone is in the hospital. This was not the case. It was Ken calling saying that God had really put on his heart to support our ministry and he wanted to write us a $200 check! We were pretty blown away by this. I am still amazed by how people support us and our ministry. We really couldn't do this without it.

This next week we will be in Toledo, Ohio for quite a few days. We will be moving from place to place within Toledo but it will be the longest time we have been in any one city.

New Dawn goes to Chicago

We are in Harlan, Indiana tonight. This afternoon we sang at Whispering Pine Nursing Home in Valparaiso, IN. The nursing homes have all been very enjoyable. The residents all seem so appreciative of us coming to sing with them. We sing some good old hymns that many of them know. It's the best when we look out and see so many of them singing along with us from memory. We usually make sure we have enough time to visit with the people as well, which has been great! They all have so many fun stories and so much life experience to share with us. It's been so cool to see my teammates interacting with the nursing home residents and seeing how big of an impact we have even in the little time we have with them. I love watching how each person on our team connects with people in a different way, making them laugh, smile and brightening their day.

Yesterday we spent our day off in Chicago. We were at a church in Mundelein, IL and we took the train to Chicago. It was about an hour and a half ride and we played Truco the whole time. Truco is a Brazilian card game that Dave learned when he was in Brazil. He taught us how to play but we are still nowhere near as good as he is. After pulling into Union Station in Chicago we went to Millenium Park and saw "the Bean." It is this huge reflective bean that distorts the shape of things and is lots of fun to take pictures of. At this point we met up with Ua (our newly added 5th team member). So he is officially with us now. After Millenium Park we walked to Navy Pier and then on to a yummy Italian restaurant, where we had a fun meal with Jamie and Matt, two of Jenny's friends that work at Deloitte in Chicago. There were lots of laughs and really good food. After stuffing ourselves, Jenny, Luke and I had to run to catch our train! Knowing us that somehow doesn't surpise me but we made it on the train and had a nice relaxing ride home while Dave and Ua drove back in Ua's Jeep. Ua's parents met us at the nursing home in Valpo to take Ua's jeep and to say goodbye. It was fun to get to meet them. We were excited when leaving the nursing home, realizing this was the first time that all 5 of us were in the van together as a team!

Our first retreat!

(written 9-29-07)

Tonight we are at Camp Timber Lee in East Troy, Wisconsin leading a confirmation retreat for Bethlehem Lutheran Church in St. Charles, IL. It has been a lot of fun hanging out with the kids and doing music with them. Luke and I lead games most of the day today and taught the kids link tag, blob tag, Medic, and “Look Up”. I think my arm is going to fall off tomorrow and I might not be able to move. It felt so good to get out and run around though! I really miss that from camp this past summer. Tonight we had a campfire and roasted marshmallows. I had the best roasted marshmallows I have ever roasted in my life! They were perfectly golden brown and completely gooey on the inside. Yum! The kids did skits during campfire, and in the transition time between them Dave started to tell the pink elephant story. For those of you that have heard it before I am sorry and for those of you that haven’t, it can take up to two and a half hours. Just ask Julie Knight! :) He never did finish it tonight though. Tomorrow our team will be doing a closing worship service for the kids and then they head back home. We will have some down time tomorrow morning and afternoon after they leave, before we have to head to Mundelein, IL. This week has gone by really fast and I can’t believe it’s already our day off again the day after tomorrow. Well, it’s late and breakfast is at 7:45 tomorrow morning.