Whenever the last update was, it feels like it’s been a while: so much has happened.  We traveled up the windy one-way jungle mountain road in our separate vans and, truthfully, it is terrifying at times, but Derek drives like a grandma so we lived, at least the ones in his van.  When we got here the people were incredibly open and inviting.  We soon found out in our orientation that this used to be a prison, always a wonderful thought as we fall asleep. Early this morning, we woke up, ate a wonderful breakfast by our kitchen people, and we eventually set off to our work sites.  My group included Tommy, Reed, Erin, Sarah, Jeanette, Addy, Mackenzie, and Carly.  We headed off with our construction site leader person to a respectable neighborhood, apparently built in the 17^th century.  We are beginning work on re-shingling a kind woman’s roof.  Joan, the owner of the home, told us all about how her grandfather helped in building many of the houses in the neighborhood and about the coal mines and the economical situation.  The coal mines are the main job source in the area, and one of the highest paying: however high the level of danger is in that line of work.  You can even see the mines and bulldozers and lights from the front porch. 

            Our work begun as we all climbed atop the roof and the stripping of the shingles started.  Sooner than we would have guessed, sweat was dripping from each one of us as we worked especially hard in the Kentucky heat and humidity; all of you should not complain about Colorado being humid, we’re swimming every time we step outside.  After an hour or so the shingles were gone and we started pulling out the zillions of nails that were holding the roof down, and we soon discovered the roof was just 1 x 4’s and 1 x 6’s laid across the rafters.  The heat just got worse as the fog of the Smokey Mountains lifted and the sun showed it searing face, burning our back and necks as we toiled away.  After having to replace numerous chunks of wood in the roof after Tommy fell through them and struggling to get them to fit, we finally began laying the tar paper.  This, of course, began when we were supposed to be heading back to camp, but, it was necessary that we finish before we left.  Finally, after having to fix our staple thingies multiple times because Brandon (our construction guy) kept breaking them, even though he wouldn’t admit it.  We left far too late, but decided to stop by the Dairy Queen on our way “home.”  Finally, we got back to the camp and had dinner then we took one of the most wonderful showers of my life.  We were covered in dirt and sweat and sunscreen.  It was disgusting, to say the least.  Anyway, it is time for lights-out so I must bid you all adeau.  I hope to hear from you guys really soon! We love all your emails! They remind us that we are still loved back home, even though I’m sure my parents are partying it up while I’m gone! (Note sarcasm)

Unknown

So this update is for yesterday, Saturday.  People were exhausted from the day and crashed promptly after setting up the stage for this morning’s worship we are about to put on at Derek Hoven’s home church.  Yesterday, we all woke up and got all packed up and loaded up to get a wonderful breakfast of breakfast burritos made by Chef Steph. After our “jumpstart” (basically a litany, prayer, and reading) we headed off on a five hours drive to the Kansas City area and put on worship at an old-school church.  It was hot, and very humid; there was far too much oxygen in the air for us to handle.  Set-up went awesome and so did the worship, to an extent. Katie Hoy fell, twice, and we were all just a bit rusty on our lyrics from not having practiced them in a week.  Other than that, the Spirit came and, hopefully, opened the eyes and hearts of the people in the congregation and their dry bones were breathed upon and sinews formed and so on whatever that Ezekiel text was.   We then drove about 20 minutes to the church we’re at now and the lucky bunch were carted off to various host homes while those of us lingering behind were left to set up everything. And party, of course.  Well, sort of, our set has turned into a sweat box, so Mike is excited about that.  He gets the pleasure of sitting IN it.  Anyway, most of us left here were excited about the shower we might get to take this morning, considering there is only one shower available, but, unfortunately, the door was locked.  The girls are quite disappointed.  So, some went off to McDonalds getting breakfast.  We were left again to fend for ourselves in the great Missouri wilderness.  Okay, not quite but we’re tired. At least I am. I was just not informed that we woke up a wonderful THREE HOURS before worship.  So that is simply fabulous news.  We are thinking of all you back home; keep us in your prayers! (Chad and Glenn may need the help)

Continuing on, it is now about three or four hours later, and we had a WONDERFUL worship.  The congregation was incredibly involved and the Spirit definitely filled us all as we proclaimed God’s glory and hope.  I must admit, the four of us that speak for the sermon did a simply fantabulous job, there were definitely more than a few tears.  We are on the bus again, headed to Louisville, Kentucky.  We just passed the St. Louis Arch, went over the Mississippi River, and entered into Illinois.  For now it is just more farmland; how wonderful.  We love hearing all your emails! Keep them coming! We’ll have another update about how tonight’s worship goes later tonight! God’s peace!

Marika

            So today is our third day on the bus and wow   I don’t know how to describe it.  Will the bus its self is WONDERFUL its big and comfortable and there is TV’s and a bathroom on it wow.  But I don’t know what to say about the people …….I love them all but the things we do when we are with each other 24/7  umm lets see we have played numerous games of uno, have given and have gotten many back rubs, and have slept a ton!    But that’s just the bus we have been in three wonderful churches and each one was so different.   But they we’re all very nice.  I know we are all very excited for the next seven days of fun  and  hope our families aren’t to sad that we are gone;)

Alexa

Last night, some of us stayed at a host home in order to get showers and a bed. I stayed with Chelsea, Sarah, and Erin at the furthest host home from the church. Their car couldn’t fit all of our suitcases in the truck, so they used telephone cables and string (literally!!!) to secure the bulging trunk. The rest of the night went smoothly, but when we woke up the next morning we were all in for a BIG surprise….their truck was stolen!!!!!!!!! Unfortunately, the family leaves the keys in the ignition, too! At first they thought it was their son, but they couldn’t get a hold of him and called the cops. Once the cop did his thing and filled out the report, we posed for some pictures before heading off to the church. Later on, their son finally called them back and told them that he had their car! What a relief though, huh?

The third day on the bus hasn’t been completely boring thankfully. This morning we saw the historic St. Louis arch and crossed the mighty Mississippi River. The first worship was awesome, everyone at Derek’s home church was filled with energy and passion…they started dancing and clapping along with the songs!!! J We just crossed yet another river and entered Indiana like two seconds ago. The scenery is still just thick green trees, which is better than farmland I guess. As of now, the bus is filled with laughter, blasting iPods, the constant hum of the air conditioner, and relief. We just arrived at yet another rest stop along the way for bathroom breaks and time to stretch. There was an awesome playground with a fire pole and a slide. People were competing to climb up the pole as fast as possible and I was surfing down the metal slide in my slippers, and I never fell on my butt!!! J Now, we are back on the rode on our way to Louisville, Kentucky. There is still the rolling farmland and the thick forests and an occasional semi passing by. Excitement is building up for our worship tonight, so talk to you all later!!!

Monica Mong

Hello from the lovely bus of torture! I mean…Joy.  J  Anyways. This morning we lead our most successful tour so far, with extra clapping and smiles!  (We only received extra clapping when Glenn wasn’t in the room…).  We just left the great state of Indiana and are now in Illinois (Ill-uh-noise) on our way to Louisville, Kentucky to lead worship one last time for the day!!  Derek’s church was lovely last night and this morning, but there was an alligator from VBS, so it freaked some of us out (MONSTER CROC!!).  Luckily the church was in walking distance from a Dairy Queen, and we walked there last night after Cameron and Bryan carried me around in a duffel bag and left me in a dumpster.  LUCKILY! Chad was there to rescue me (oh, the places we would be without Chad).  We were a wee bit sleepy this morning as a group of us stayed up too late last night messing with all the fun Apps on Brad’s i-Phone, and I was pretty disappointed to wake up at 5:40 only to find the bathroom with the shower in it was locked.  But we survived through worship none-the-less and made our way onto the bus only to fall asleep while Brad was babbling up at the front of the bus (many thanks to Susan for letting me use her as a bed).  And, the rest stop we’ve just stopped at included an extremely wonderfully exhilarating playground that included a bar the same size as the parallel bars I use in Gymnastics, leaving me perfectly content for the day. 

Mine and Susan’s movie is coming along superbly, as we now have one hour of bus, restaurant, church, and super silly footage.  Unfortunately, this astonishing film will not be available for retail until the year 2043…

Anyways. Have a nice time in Colorado… HA! HAHA!....

Elise Davis (and Susan… as we’re connected at the hip). J J J J J J J L J J J J J J J

June 14, 2009 

Hello everyone and Greetings from Harlan Kentucky!

You haven’t been updated in a couple of days since we have no internet service and this probably won’t be online until tomorrow either. If memory serves the last you heard from us we were driving to Missouri o stay in our host homes. Our host home was very interesting. We stayed with Chelsea and Monica in a couple’s home about twenty minutes away from the church. The night started with the Battle of the Suitcases. Each of us had a large suitcase, a sleeping bag, a pillow, and a backpack/duffel bag. Our host parents brought their tiny hybrid. We ended up tying our suitcases into their trunk with phone cords and carrying our backpacks in our laps while four of us squeezed into their tiny backseat. Once we finally arrived at their home we learned that we had hit the jackpot as far as host homes go. Kathy and Carl: Thank you so much! You guys were amazing and we were so blessed to be able to stay in your totally awesome house! We got to take real showers and took some awesome pictures with these cool jazz dudes (they were cardboard or wood or something). The next morning we woke up to an interesting situation: their truck was gone. They called their sons and then called the cops. So a policeman came by and after talking to Carl he saw us looking at his car and asked if we wanted our picture taken with it. So we also got some cool pictures with the cop car. After all that excitement we went to the church and lead or TOTALLY AMAZING worship service. The best one we had all tour (Or all of my tours anyways considering I missed the ones at home). And don’t worry about their truck, one of their sons called on the way to church and said that he had taken it in the middle of the night. After the service we had lunch and had to do our stupid thing of the day…  Pepsi shots! Neither of us participated but we got some really funny pictures. After all that fun we loaded back on the bus all in good shape except for Chaz. If you remember the previous day Chaz bought and ate a can of spray cheese. Consequently he was sick for most of Sunday. But all the same we got on the bus and headed for Louisville, Kentucky. We did our thing and set up all our stuff for worship… Except only seven people showed up and all our equipment died or something because Danny did something weird with some cord to some lights that screwed with the soundboard or some such nonsense. (This is Erin, because Sara won’t say the story… Danny plugged in the lights to the same circuit that the Sound board was using, then did something stupid, and it killed the circuit… Or something around that little plot line there.) Yeah… Then we pretty much just had dinner, ran around trying to find our stuff, watched the guys do something odd with a giant ball and went to bed.

 Unknown

            Hola!!! In between all the pushing and shoving coming from the kids standing up, we decided we could write a quick update. J So we are currently North of Evansville, Indiana. Among the lovely miles of cornfields there is the occasional cow. What a wonderful site… J At least we can be thankful that the AC is working well (everyone from tour last year knows what I’m talking about!) About half the people from tour stayed in host homes last night and that means one thing…. SHOWERS!!! J Along with the showers there were the very generous families who welcomed us into their homes. My group was Alissa, Sarah and Alexa. We stayed with Denise, a single lady with no kids or pets. She made us cupcakes! What a nice lady. Back to the bus… many of us are very competitive we have come to find out. Alissa, Carly, Addy, Tommy, Lauren, Reid, Taylor and I have been playing the game Catch Phrase. I have to say it gets pretty intense… Carly has a fit if she loses… just kidding I love you Carly!!! J Along with the rowdy kids, there are the kids sleeping on the floor. Watch where you step! While the girls with curly hair have fun with the humidity we will be thinking about the nice dry air in Colorado!

Alexandria Davis-Spurrier and Alissa Cornhoff!

This trip is already one of a kind and we still have a full week to serve. It will end to quick, but we will always have memories. Going into this trip, I thought the bus was going to be a cramped place no one would want to be. I am so glad I am wrong. The bus is so far one of the best parts of the trip. A little more leg room would be nice, but you have the same amount of leg room as on a plane. You can stand up it the isle when you feel like it. You can mess around and enjoy yourself without having to be at a rest stop. The rest stops are convenient, but I am still getting used to the humidity. A lot of the time, we watch movies while on the road. The best one so far is the new Star Trek movie. I really have nothing to complain about on the bus. The worships have been a different experience for me. Usually in Colorado, I just go, sit, and worship. But on tour, I am a part of it. Running lighting have been both easy and a pain. Set up for the worships is relatively easy. Tearing it down is a little more of a challenge. For sleeping, it is really not that bad. The first night, everyone slept in a church. It was nice. On the second night, I was lucky enough to be able to sleep in a bed at a home of a few people who took us in. Food is good. I am so glad I decided to go on tour. I know I will get a lot out of tour!

Alex Montressor

June 12, 2009

            Its Friday night, 9:39 pm Central Time and the bus just pulled into Atonement Lutheran Church in Overland Park.  It has been a long day of travel watching movies eating far too much for our own good, photographing people sleeping, and listening to iPods.  Rest stops are glorious things; we aren’t allowed to use the bathroom at the back of the bus, especially for number two, for obvious reasons.  Everyone is tired and stiff from uncomfortable naps and just sitting for too long.  As for the scenery, it is Kansas, which should explain it all.  There was the occasional tree, which was a pleasant surprise until suddenly we came upon rolling hills and the 100 Acre Woods.  After dinner we saw a burning orange sunset behind us.  It was almost nine o’clock, though, and we all had trouble adjusting to the change.  Some of the lucky few are staying in host-homes tomorrow night, and all who aren’t are jealous: they get guaranteed showers.

 Marika

Well here I am again, on the road for a third tour (Glenn and Brad haven’t scared me away yet), and for some reason this first day seems calmer than I’ve ever remembered it being. We’ve actually decently done all of our countdowns for the first time ever. Friday hasn’t been that very exciting, but a few notable things are worth taking some note of. First off, we’ve (collectively talking about the men on the bus) have put up with two very chick flicks movies She’s the Man, and Prince of Egypt (both of which I let out an utter cry for TRANSFORMERS!) And we’ve also somehow managed to watch the new Star Trek, and yes before you mentally ask yourself if it’s on DVD yet, it’s not. Nothing says God’s disciples like a couple pirated flicks from the internet. Besides the movies we’ve been watching we’ve also joined up in our prayer groups for lunch and most of which picked a name (I keep pushing for the KFCs but my group is very opposed to the tasty idea). During that time I also found out we are going to stop at the actual first KFC (Me and Andrew have vowed to try to have Kentucky fried chicken as our first meal in the Appalachian state). Also on this very very long road bisecting Kansas I’ve realized how much I hate going through states with long roads, and long fields of nothing but the occasional cattle. It drives me insane to have to be in a state where it seems the bovine population is bigger than the human population. Anyway we ate dinner about a good half an hour ago, in which after loading up with authentic Mexican food at Taco Bell, decided to watch Wall-E on an HDTV in Best Buy. Nothing says irony like sitting for six hours watching flicks, and then going into a store to watch one standing. So now we’re still heading to our final destination, and yes still in Kansas (Dorothy would probably understand my pain). The plan from then to now is to go to the church, set up (wish Chaz luck, no really), and then roam around aimlessly in our free time and go to bed at 11. Hopefully everything stays the same the rest of the tour as it is going now.

Connor Mong

Ace Reporter 

Hello everyone!

This is my second tour and Erin’s first. Together we have gone through Kansas on a bus with an actual bathroom and air conditioning (yeah!). We have learned a few things about the very very very flat state of Kansas and our fellow bus mates. First up, Kansas. Kansas pretty much has three main themes that pretty much are all that is in Kansas. They are the scary musical The Wizard of Oz (I don’t know what Sara is scared of… I love The Wizard of Oz , I mean, who wouldn’t want to travel by bubble?!) (I poled our little group and Erin is the only one that wouldn’t run as fast as they could away from any television played that disturbed musical. Ha!), cows, and the fact that their “mountains” are smaller than the hills you might drive over on Coal Mine. Next, our many bus mates. We have learned that no one from the manliest man to the smallest girl can resist the movie She’s the Man. When it came on no one on the bus was standing, talking, or taking their eyes off the 6 x 8 inch screens. We all also seem to never stay seated for more than thirty minutes (She’s the Man being the only exception in this case).

To all the overly worried parents (you know who you are) we are all fine. The only even remotely dangerous thing that has occurred would be a toe being stepped on.  Kansas’ only danger could be the cows peacefully grazing on the “hills”.

It has generally been a very slow day. We have watched the Prince of Egypt, She’s the Man, and the new Star Trek (don’t ask). Five or six of us have also succeeded in playing the world’s longest Uno games. And for our all time low as we watched movies on the bus and then while stopped for dinner we stood in Best Buy and watched a good portion of Wall-E. After all these exciting (…or not so much) events a few people have fallen asleep and we’re only going to arrive at our stop for the night a few hours later than 7:30. 

For some of us lucky people, we get to stay in host homes tomorrow night! Yea! A real shower! Woo who!

We love and miss you all, keep checking for more updates from yours truly.

Sara Brown & Erin Horne