HS Serve At Camp Lutherhaven

Here are two updates of what happened when the HS youth group went to help out at CampLutherhaven in Northern Indiana

By Jackie Booher

My week at Camp Lutherhaven was incredible!! It was slightly different than most of everyone’s, but it was still amazing.  Most of the youth group kept the same group of kids all week long and most of their children spoke English and came from Christian families. I, however, did not have the same child twice. and all of my children were either Muslim or could not speak English or both. The week went well, but the most memorable moment was on the last day with the kids.
On that day, I happened to have 3 little girls. (I would tell you their names, but I couldn’t pronounce their names let alone spell them). Three hours before they all left I noticed that during the prayer before lunch the youngest girl tried to pray, but the other two quickly slapped her hands away. Then once I noticed they would not eat meat, I realized that they were Muslim. So I asked them if they were Christians and if they loved Jesus. One girl tried to tell me yes, but the other two immediately scolded her. I explained that I loved Jesus and the He loves me. He loves me so much that he died on the cross so that I could go to heaven! I told them that he loved each one of them too. However, the eldest looked straight at me and said “No, not Jesus. Jesus doesn’t love the Burmese.”
No matter how much I tried to convince them, that Jesus loves them and Jesus loves the Burmese and He loves the whole world, she would shake he head and ask why he let them suffer. This little girl, only 9 years old, could not understand a God who loved them and at the same time allowed them to become refugees and be forced to flee their home. All I could do, was love them. I played with them, hugged them and drew pictures with them. I’ll never forget chasing their bus, hoping and praying that they will remember the love I tired to show them that day. I cried a lot that night, because I felt like I wasn’t enough.
It took me a while to understand why God didn’t let me have more time with them. I still don’t completely understand. One day just doesn’t seem long enough. I can not imagine being unlovable because of where I was from. But I have to believe that my short time spent with those little girls was enough to plant a seed in their hearts. I have to believe that they saw Jesus’ love through me. Maybe I will never ever see them again, but they will always be in my prayers.
But I’ll never forget my Burmese sisters.
No matter what little deed we conquer, it will always be something, always be a seed, always be enough. So I encourage anyone reading this, that you will always be enough! You just gotta try and keep up the good work!!

By Kayla Annarino

OK, well at the beginning of the week, before we left I was nervous. I didn’t know what to expect. These 3 little girls were soon to be under my guidance, they would look up to me as a big sister. I knew it, and I wanted to be the strongest person I could be for them. Though in my heart that week and also a couple weeks before then and even now I have been struggling with things that have happened awhile back. I knew I had to be strong for these girls, to be an example of true love and happiness…though I was broken I still managed to show them the love!
After seeing their faces for the first time, not knowing anything about them besides the fact that these girls are precious to God. They mean so very much to him, my Daddy. And all I wanted for them was for them to see his love and to be happy, strong young women!
I have never grown so attached to any little kid, (besides family) in just 4 days! it happened so fast, and I knew it was a God thing. God had made me strong for them throughout the days while they were there to just focus on them, their safety, their happiness, their well being, their future!
We would go out every morning to greet them at about 10AM when their bus arrived. The first day, they nor I knew what to expect. The second day they ran to me with smiling faces arms open ready to jump to me and give me a hug once more. They latched on to me every morning in the same way. One holding my right hand, one holding my left, and one under my left arm with their hand around my back. One time, two of my girls started fighting on who would get to hold my hand. I grew such a bond with them. They called me Mom…they called me Teacher…and they called me Kayla I really fell in love with these girls, who wouldn’t?
Every morning I would wake up wondering what God had in store for us. One day as we sat and colored I had the opportunity to tell them that God was my best friend, that he was always there for me no matter what and that he loved all of us, they looked at me, each one and smiled and said…”He is mine too” one right after the other it made me smile. I have a feeling this will not be the last time i see them
There is one girl i did not mention because she was only with me for a little on the first day. Her name was Ester. She loved me…i could see it in her eyes but she got switched to another girl in our group. but every morning…it never failed, she would come up and hug me say hello and she would go on with her leader. She would come up to me throughout the day and sit on my lap.
These girls no doubt looked up to me, just like i thought they would. on the last day, it was so hard walking up that hill like we did every morning, empty handed…with no little girls tugging at me asking me when we would do this and that (THEY LOVED SWIMMING IN THE LAKE!!) but walking up with no girls…knowing i wouldn’t be doing that again…possibly ever was heart breaking :/ Chasing after that bus when they left…i almost started full out crying! Every day we would stand there as the bus left…waving till we could not see the bus anymore. The very first day they had no idea what we were doing. they probably thought in their little heads that we were crazy haha. but it was so cool to see them wave until they could not see us as well on the second day. How they caught on they knew we were not gonna stop.
This camp was a great experience. I would do it all over again. I met some great friends. I showed these girls i loved, how much God loved them and cared for them. that was my mission there…and it was accomplished MISSION ACCOMPLISHED! I only hope the best for them…and pray for them, that in the future they shine so bright, in the darkest places!

Camp Lutherhaven is in Northern Indiana and is a camp for immigrant children.  The CCF high schoolers went up there during the week of July 25th-31st 2010.

friday night LIGHTS

High School Friday Night Hang-out

Its Friday night…what is there to do?

Come hang out together and we will have fun!

Come after the football game or whenever you want.  Bring a friend or two and join the party!

This week we will be meeting at the Shorts house. Come anytime from 7:00 - 11:30.

Any questions contact Blake at blake46161@yahoo.com or 460-0501

SR High/JR High Video Scavanger Hunt!

Video Scavanger Hunt September 13th 1 - 6:00 pm at FFF.

It is fall and time to hit the road with a running clock, a video camera, a list of insane tasks to perform!

This is an adventure that you will require the use of all of your wits, creativity, endurance and a whole lot of stupidity.  This is definately an event that anyone in junior high or senior high will not want to miss.  In fact, you will want to bring a friend, or two, or three to experience it with you.

We will be  starting from Family Fun and Fitness at 1:00 and will finish up at the Short’s house where we will eat pizza and view the videos.  There will be a cost of $5 to cover the pizza and gas.

Please contact Blake with below form or at 317-460-0501 with any questions or if you have a video camera we can use.  Seeya there!

Brentwood Team’s Sunday Service

Hey everyone! Just thought you guys might be interested in checkin out the Brentwood’s teams service in which they gave testimonies and such as we did in ours! Its just a chance to hear about what God did in Mexico from more perspectives!

To listen to the service go to the link,

http://www.calvarybrentwood.org/Inspired_Word/

It is the August 2nd service. It says Youth Mexico Missions Trip on it. You can either download the service or you can just listen to it on the website!

Thanks guys! Hope you guys are havin a good week!

God Bless,
Drew

“He has delievered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of His beloved son, in Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins!”
-Colossians 1:13 and 14 [ESV]

Have a blessed day!

Mexico Day 10 - Thursday the 30th (Drew)

Hey everyone! I am sad to say this is my last time writing to you from Javier’s wonderful house!

Just a last entry thing for you guys to cover the past couple days! Yesterday morning we split the teams up into two groups! One group went to the prison and went to the church service there and also bought sodas for the guys there! I wasn’t in that group so I don’t know like personally what it was like this time, just from my memory of the trip there on the 2006 mission trip! Hopefully I can get someone to write about it before we leave!   The other team headed to a special needs orphanage. There we played with the kids for a while and then we did a meladrama (spelling?) and a couple of us gave their testimony for the kids! We played a little music and danced with the kids too! It was an awesome experience! One little boy stood out to me there. His name is Victor. He is 5 but looks like he is 1. I don’t know what he has but he is just tiny, can’t talk, needs people to feed him but yet he was still happy! He was just so excited when we came in and he just layed on the ground until we went in because he can’t walk either! It was an awesome time at both the orphanage and from my understanding, the prison also!

Last night we went to the Wednesday night bible study at Javi’s church and hung out there! Jessica gave her testimony and we had a reunion Redeemer performance consisting of the Dream Team! Jimmy, Blake, Lindsay, Callie, and Angela all did the skit for the church! It was funny to see all the different past groups combined to create the Dream Team haha!

After church we all went to a team dinner at this nice restaurant called Panchos! We ate there and hung out with each other. Some of the church came to dinner with us like Pony and Carlitos and Carlitos’ girlfriend! It was a really fun time!

After dinner we went to the beach (Panchos sits on the edge of the beach overlooking the ocean) and Javi talked to us about “destiny.”   The talk was about seeking where God wants us to be!  He shared from Genesis  the story about the group of people (I can’t remember the name of them) who were to go to Canan but along the way passed through Herron and they liked it there so they stopped.  It was an awesome time and one of my favorite parts of our trips down here!

Well, now that I have it all caught up it is time to say that we are about to leave! We just ate breakfast and are about to go back to the hotel to pack. We leave for the airport around 11 and should be back around 1 in the morning! Prayer for safe travel and smooth transitions would be greatly appreciated! Also prayer for a few individuals who are not feeling is much needed!

Thanks everyone! See you soon!

God Bless,
Drew

“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand!” - Isaiah 41:10
Playlist Day 10 -
Live For You - Connersvine
Oh Praise Him - David Crowder Band
Made to Love - TobyMac
Hold My Heart - Tenth Avenue North
God of This City - Kris Allen

Mexico Day 9 - Wednesday the 29th

Hey everyone! Sorry I didn’t get a chance to write more yesterday!

Just to get you guys caught up on everything. Two nights ago we had this really cool time doing this thing called eye to eye prayer.  The concept is that you pray for each person on the team for approximately a minute while you and the person look in each others eyes. After that two of the guys from the team let free some things they have been holding onto for the past couple of years and it was just such an awesome time!   That night there was a really cool storm too! It was the first time on any of my three trips the power has gone out from a storm! It was really cool to watch, especially seeing it in the distance as we walked down the light house!

Yesterday was fairly easy. It was our beach/shopping day.  We got up in the morning and grabbed some food for breakfast and headed out to one Javier’s favorite surffing spots called Stone Island.  The waves were so sweet! They were like one after another! You could get hit by a wave and come up for a breather and get smoked by another! It was crazy! We got some surf lessons too while we were there! And before we left offered a chance for anyone who wanted to be re baptized or even if it was their first one! That was a really cool experience also!  After that we had a shopping night so we went to Javi’s surf shop and went to the coffee shop owned by a family in the church which totally beats out Starbucks!

Today is our last full day. One team is headed to the prison and the other team is headed to a special needs orphanage to hang out with the kids.  And tonight we are headed to Centro De Vida for Wednesday night church!

Hope everyone is doing great! Talk to you soon!

God Bless,
Drew

Quick Update - Day 8

Hey whats up everyone! Once again I am running short on time but just a quick update! Last night we did this thing called eye to eye prayer which is so powerful! It is by far one of my favorite experiences of these trips! This morning we are all about to head out to Stone Island and catch some surf with Javi and some his guys from the church! They are going to teach those who want to learn, a basic surf lesson! It is going to be sweet!

Well everyone, its time to jet! We have a free day today to shop and stuff when we get back from the island so I’ll write more details then!  Can’t wait to tell you more! Surfs up!

God Bless,
Drew

Mexico Day 7 - Kayla Annarino on the Experience

First off i want to thank everyone that gave me many anywhere in the past few months. It was a lot to save. this has been one of the most touching weeks of my entire life!!! all the little kids are so cute and they love to be played with and love balloons! ha ha they are all so beautiful when you look at them with a loving heart even if they were dirty or didn’t smell as nice as the little kids back in the US smell, and even if they did live in a dirty house and had no shoes or no shirt, they live and live happily with all that they do have. I wish i could live that way. because as an American we seem to take advantage of all the things we have.

These people here well most of them, they are the sweetest people and they really love God. I think it is safe to say that we have done a good work and God has allowed us to do great and wonderful things to glorify him!!! none of this would have happened if it werent for him. so i am eternally grateful i got to come and experience this with these people in our group and the Nashville group! they are all so kinda and loving and understanding. so much fun to be around. we have had a lot of laughs and some cries but they are worth it.

I know we planted some seeds for sure and touched some hearts and now that is done i would be ok with going home. i do love it here, it is BEAUTIFUL a little hot but i manage. but we have accomplished some things i know God wanted us to, and i also know he has more in store for us. and i’m really excited to see what it is.

The last thing before i go because we leave for the light house in 10 mins to watch the sunset, but the last thing i am going to say is that God is wonderful and you can do anything through him. we are all a body and we should all act as one even if one has nothing and the other has so much more.  we are all one and we should all work together as one to make this a better place. and i believe we did that in these few days we were here.

Thanks so much again and God Bless.

i miss you guys!

-Kayla Annarino

Mexico Day 7 - Lindsay Behr on Night Evangelism

¡Hola! ¡Buenos tardes! Or in english, “hello, good afternoon.” :)  I just want to share with all of you a beautiful story of a wonderful little girl named Ana Patricia. We met her last night during our street evangelism. This little 5 year old girl was a joy right from the start. From the get go she was just completely enthusiastic and ready to go and play and have fun and love on us.

I have been on six mission trips in my life. Four of which in Mexico. I´ve always had a heart for these people and I´ve always been so blessed when I´ve visited. But I can honestly say that I´ve never been quite so impacted as I was last night with this precious little lamb.

When we first met Ana we were all talking amongst ourselves about how cute she was and she goes, “I can´t understand you because I don´t speak English!” (At least that´s the rough translation.) It was love at first sight. We asked if she wanted to come play with us and she just jumped up and shouted, “Yo, yo!” (Me! Me!). It wasn’t long before she started giving us all kisses and squeezes. I’ve fallen in love with so any girls here, but none of them have been quite like this one. She was truly captivating;joy overflowing.

After playing and getting to know the kids we sat them all down for the clown skits, testimonies, and dramas. She was so ready to sit on our laps and hold our hands during the program. I have never seen anyone quite so involved. Every time Javier asked for help during the clown skits she jumped up and ran to him. We just couldn’t stop laughing at how absolutely adorable she was!

When we were done with the skits we began with the dramas. People Get Ready was first. Ana and her friend Felicia, who is eight, were so interested in what was going on. They were asking questions about what was going on and only by the grace of God, in my broken Spanish, I was able to explain to them everything that was going on-AND THEY UNDERSTOOD! I told them that Brittany couldn’t be with God because she didn’t receive him, and their response was, “So she’s dead?” The most honest answer was, “Yes, she is dead.” They understood that concept and it made them sad.

Ok, now here comes the most powerful part. Go and grab some tissues because I can almost promise you that you will need them. We began Redeemer. They asked what was happening and once again, God gave me the grace to explain it all so that they understood. So the drama went on and they knew what was happening, comlete understanding. If you ‘ve seen this drama you know that man is first beat, and then God stops it, puts the sin upon Himself and takes the beating for man. As soon as He stepped in Ana jumped up and shouted, “¡No! ¡Dios!” No! God! as He was beat and He was hit and He was whipped this precious, beutiful little girl was truly there. She was sitting on Megan Risners lap and she just kept crying out. I’m going to try and give you this picture, but I just don’t know if words wil suffice. As she cried out she desperately tried to do whatever she could to stop what was happening. She tried to get us to stop them and when we didn’t, she tried to jump out of Megan’s lap to do it herself. And then she noticed Shane, who plays man, on the ground crying. She tried to jump up to comfort him. At first Megan tried to stop her from touching him, but I just told her to let her be a part of it. “She’s there, she’s feeling it, let her experience it” I said. And so she let her. Her little five year old heart went out to Shane, she tried to do all she could to help him. She started by patting him on the head, telling him it was ok. The she patted his hand, doing all she could think to do. Tears rolling down her face, she then clung to Megan with all her might. You could just see the battle within. It was as if she couldn’t stand to look, and yet, at the same time, she could’t stand to look away. I’ve never seen such a desperate, aching look on such a little face. We tried to tell her that now it’s sad, but in the end it’s good, that God did this for her, but she was so caught up in the tragedy of what was happening that our words fell straight to the ground. And just as Ana could do nothing but cry, Megan and I found ourselves in the same situation-we could do nothing but cry.

When it got to the point where she could bare it no more, when she finally just buried herself in Megan’s shoulder, when Jesus died she told us through foggy eyes that He had died. Then the music changed and she looked. Jesus had risen. She couldn’t contain herself she practically leaped out of megan’s lap and loudly exclaimed that God was alive! That he wasn’t dead anymore. Her sorrow was truly turned to joy. Her tears of ultimate grief became tears of ultimate joy. (Even now, as I recall this moment, I can’t help but cry). As she jumped up and down with pure excitement Megan and I just looked at each other, speechless and in awe, hearts and eyes full.

Javier followed up with an alter call. It couldn’t have come sooner for this little lamb. She jumped up and ran as fast as she could towards Javier and accepted Christ as her Saviour.

I have seen this drama since I was five years old, since I was Ana’s age. I could probably perform it in my sleep I’ve seen it and taught it so many times. You can ask any of the other leaders on this team, I have become almost numb to it, I’ve grown almost weary of it, it had started to lose it’s effect on me. All of that changed last night. I have never seen anyone so completely captivated and caught up in it.

Looking back I don’t know if I’ve ever been that caught up or captivated by the Gospel. Has it touched me? Has it changed my life? Has it seriously affected me? Yes, yes, yes. But not like that. I watched as this five year old, little girl wept for her Saviour, reached out for her Saviour, and as she tried to comfort man. Wow. Wow. Wow. Her testimony is strong and powerful. This baby girl has changed my life and my perspective. Even as I watched Redemeer for about the millionth time today, I cried. I wanted to weep, just remembering how this girl cried in desperation and wanted to dance when she saw that He had risen. I wanted to weep in realization of how powerful the Gospel is and what He has done for me.

Praise be to the Lord God Almighty! I love the thought of  how Jesus watched Ana cry, and rejoice. I love thinking that He was right there with her, crying with her, rejoicing with her.  The Spirit worked in her heart, He used her, He spoke to her. What a beautiful picture! How He loves His sheep! Amen! Hallelujah!

If you want to see a video of Redeemer, here is a video of the team practicing it in Evansville teaching it to some people. ! 

(Added by admin: Or just click here to view it here on the CCF website!  This is a video of the Pre-Mexico Orientation weekend and the Redeemer skit is in there about half way through)

Mexico Day 7 - Monday the 27th (Drew)

Hey everyone! Just a quick update! I have to make it quick  because the taxis are on their way to pick us up! But just a quick update. Last night was the street evangelism and this morning some of the team is going to Javi’s church to paint the childrens room while the rest of us go to the rehab center to do skits and things! Ill give a more detailed entry when we get back! Talk to you soon!!!

God bless,
Drew

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