Today was our last day of ministry. We started the day off by having a nice sleep in before we were rudely awakened by Scott (who had also kept us up all night via snoring), we then had our breakfast and solo time where we read the story of Jesus' crucifixion out of Matthew. After this we put a healthy squirt of ether into the bus and she fired up just fine. When we got to ICYA we got everything prepared for our last day, and had a really good day ministering to the kids that came. After our normal VBS programming was over we all separated throughout the local community and invited the parents to a BBQ at ICYA. We got 300 hot dogs ready (Thanks to Andy Krahn's mean BBQing skills), and people started to pour in. It was also good to see a couple of people come and join us from our local church to see the ministry. The BBQ went very well. It was good to meet all the families of the kids that we had been working with for the week. After this was kind of bitter sweet. We had to say good bye to all of the kids. Tears were shed, Hugs were given, and encouragement was spread far and wide. Those kids will be dearly missed. After this we said our goodbyes to the staff at ICYA and thanked them for hosting us. We then had one last celebration session of worship, and team time and chatted together about all the good things God had done in and through our team. It has been an incredible trip. We thank you all for your prayers!
This has been a truly awesome week. There is simply no other way to describe it. I have really seen God move in cool ways this week, through both the VBS ministry and sessions at the Westwood church. I have also seen God unite us as a team, and I feel really bonded to each member of our team. thank you for all of your thoughts and prayers! -Matt
The Bible Break at the VBS today was super. Peter read the easter story and we had prepared questions for afterward. I honestly wasn't expecting much but the kids really engaged and the answers that came, came from the least likely of the kids. I was amazed that the kids who, previously, had not appeared to be listening, were now asking questions of us! That was definitely my highlight of the day. It's cool to see what God will do when we give Him our best and leave the rest to Him. -Matt H
