It's hard to beleive but today we finished our final day at the ministry sites. It was difficult to say goodbye. For us going home is easy, we look forward to it. But for the kids we cared for home may not be a place of comfort, love, acceptance. I think this idea hit the students hard today - they understand the reality that these kids face each day - and that makes saying goodbye that much harder. Either way, we know our presence brought with it joy, love, and peace - hopefully the kids were impacted by it. God is using that facility in amazing ways, no doubt about it!

Tonights evening activity was a grill-out followed by Norwegian dance lessons. Bizarre I know! Apparently the church we are staying at hosts a weekly Norwegian dance club. They were kind enough to come in and teach us some moves. It was a blast! I do feel like we had a bit of an advantage given our Dutch dancing skills, but was different enough to make it challenging!

We will be leaving tommorow between 8:30-9:00 am which should put us in pella around 12-12:30 pm. I'll have students call with a more exact time once we get closer.

Pray for a safe trip! See you all tommorow!

Blessings,
Matt

The pictures are from operation breakthrough and the Norwegian dancing!

Hi parents,

1st off, happy birthday to Taelor who turned 15 today. To celebrate, Youthworks served cake at dinner tonight! It definately had to be a memorable experience spending a birthday on a mission trip in Kansas City!

We had another great day at operation breakthrough! The students really seem to cling to the 2 year olds that are at the facility. I think the favorite part of the day for most of them was feeding the kids their bottle and rocking them to sleep. It's hard to beleive tommorow is our last day of serving! It will definately be hard to say goodbye!

Ali shared a story with me about a walk she took with the girls to the gas station. Along the way, one of them spotted a homeless person. Given that this isn't a regular sighting back home, it's hard to imagine how one might react. Should we give him money? Offer a kind word? Pass by and act like you didn't see him? The girls eventually decided to go to the gas station and buy him a meal - which the person was very grateful for. Even more, this was an idea from the minds of our students, supported by leaders, and acted on for God's glory. Ali did comment that the girls were very mature and caring in the way they served this person. PRAISE GOD!!!

Tonight we went to the Jazz and Negro league baseball museums. It was interesting to get an idea of the history behind the city we are serving. It's amazing how big a role Kansas City played in the development of jazz music as well as the advancement of the civil rights movement.

Continue to pray for us! It's been a blessed trip to this point and we are excited to see what God has planned for tommorow!

The pictures are from our dinner at the park and working on the chalkboards at operation breakthrough. Enjoy!

Blessings,
Matt

Hi parents!

Today was another great day at operation breakthrough! It was fun seeing all the children we had met the day before and I can already tell that it will be hard to say goodbye on thursday.

All of the students are doing awesome! I continue to be impressed with their willingness to serve with joy and enthusiasm. Tonight during church group time we did some processing and talked about some of the experiences we've had in the last 2 days. Our conclusion: life for us is pretty comfortable and easy compared to the reality we are observing. And it's a hard thing to ignore when you are stareing the differences right in the eye! Simply put, life here is different, it's hard for the people who live it, and in most cases it simply not fair. Our motivation then In serving them, in any way possible, comes from knowing that because we are blessed, we should bless others!

The pictures are of some chalkboards that we re-decorated this afternoon! Enjoy!

Blessings,
Matt

Hi parents!

Day 1 is in the books and we were definately blessed! Our group went to an organization called 'operation breakthrough,' a daycare for underprivelaged children. our morning started by watching a DVD that described the ministry - what they do and who they do it for. It was shocking to hear some of the stories of the children that attend this daycare facility - 20% of the children we spend time with this week are homeless or live in abandoned housing. The other 80% survive in standards far below the poverty level.

God is already using us in amazing ways and we anticipate much more! It was awesome to see the students jump in right away and build relationships with the children at operation breakthrough. The smiles on their faces alone is evidence that God is at work.

Keep praying for us. Pray that students would experience great relationships, the joy of serving others, and a new found sense of awe an wonder for God!

Enjoy the picture above. It's our crew (all third church students/leaders along with our new friends from Colorado springs, CO).

Blessings,
Matt

Hey parents, we arrived in Kansas city at 5pm. After dinner, students had an orientation to go over ground rules and give them an idea of what we will be doing this week. Pretty soon we will be going into large group for worship and teaching.

The staff and church are really great. It's been fun to see the girls make friends with students from the other churches already. And, I've even met some guys who have allowed me to be their honorary youth pastor for the week!!! Very exciting!!!

Continue to pray for us - for our sites, the people we will meet, our health and energy. We are eager to jump into our service projects tommorow and see what God has prepared for us!

Blessings,
Matt