Bathroom break

Lately we have had a record of only finding gas stations with only one bathroom. We are now 70 miles from Albuquerque


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Albuquerque 118 miles away

Very windy, slowing down the drive. We will be there soon.


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Lunch in Trinidad

We just had lunch in Trinidad & one more planed gas stop and we should be in Abq by 4ish


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Leaveing Denver

We will be leaving Denver about 9ish and we should be at Calvary around 4ish. We will be updating along the way to let you know where we are. See you all this afternoon.


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Last full day...

Today we left Rapid City for Denver. I think the common feeling among everyone is that we are so sad to leave and end this trip but also ready to be home knowing we have finished the work the Lord gave us. Tonight when we got to Denver we went to 6 flags and the team road a bunch of rides and had a great time. After we have some room parties with some amazing NY pizza from Anthony's. Love this team and I pray that we will all never forget the lessons we have learned and the fun times we had. Tomorrow we head for home and looks like we might be home before 5. We will be in touch. Signing off from the mile high city and we will see you tomorrow!

Our Farewell Storm

We had a farewell storm last night. Everyone was safe thanks to God's protection!

Hello Rapid City!

Well, we made it out of Zeibach County, and we're now in Rapid City, SD! We had great weather while driving. Along the way we drove up to Mt. Rushmore again and went down the Alpine Slide. It was Am@ZiNG! Now most of the team is enjoying some pool time while the rest relax near the pool.

It was hard to say goodbye to Chug and Karen today. We all fell in love with them!

The Last Full Day in SD

Today was a serious full day for everyone. Everyone was closing up the loose ends to the work that we were doing. I personally was not able to be with the team the entire day, but I was able to hear some sweet stories. Ethan and Andrew were able to drive the big fixed bus back into the church ground, the team was able to help fix gutters, they were able to put away and take care of the equipment that we all had used throughout the day, the guys were able to cut more wood, all the cheetahs organized hundreds of pairs of shoes, and to top off the glorious day by cruising down main street in the giant yellow bus. Dominic and I (Sara) took an awesome road trip and unfortunately had to witness the worst bathrooms in the universe at some crazy memorial place next to a cemetery. SCARY!! All in all the day was super great and now some leaders are hanging out listening to the light rain that is going on outside. I love the rain, its beautiful! :]

Cowfolk

Skate Comp Winners!

Old Shoes

Lester needed new shoes. His current shoes were worn, different sizes, and just didn't work for him. Karen hooked him up with some nice new red Converse, which he absolutely loved.

Moon + Lightning

Last night's light show!

Taking out some trash!

The Lifehouse skit on Fathers' Day

Yesterday we had a great turnout for the Fathers' Day and Thanksgiving service. We held it outside under a large tent, and it was packed. Many kids rode in on their bikes while others came with their parents. Our team was able to perform the Lifehouse skit for everyone who came, and it was well received. God really blessed us with great weather, plenty of food, amazing worship and a rock-solid teaching by our buddy AJ!

This Glorious Day?

Today was so beastly that I couldn't stand it. We started off by eating a yummy breakfast made by Andrew and his boys. Then we went to head off to the church to finish setting up for the service. Jenee and I made amazing veggie trays, Ethan made mac and cheese, and then Katie showed two bean cans who was boss. After the amazing service with awesome worship we had a big BBQ. I loved being able to serve the food to everyone =] Karen was then able to give some kids a few new pairs of shoes, this one little boy looked super fly in his new red converse ha ha. It was beautiful. After, we tore everything down, watched Deborah, Sierra, Isaiah, Justin, Rebekah and Jonah dancing, and then we headed off to the skate park. That is where Briana, Reuben, and I took miss Mary Boers to the hospital to get her very first shot. Unfortunately, it was a tetanus shot. She was strong, in more than one way! Her feet were smelly, she didn't cry, and she survived an accidental slapping of the booboo. Strong, many ways. Then we went back to the lodge and are now eating dinner. I am so tired but I am blessed. I love the SD people and team. I just cant wait to begin to serve them again tomorrow. Also, DQ has been eaten way to often on this trip! hahah

On the third day...

Super Sabado Gigante!

Two Words: Blessed and exhausted. This could describe our day. Let me give you a little play by play. Today started off with what Chug called the "gut buster" breakfast. He knew we would be burning many calories today. Next Chug and Karen took us to where they have their Easter sunrise service. A couple of years ago the Velocity missions put up three crossed at the sight. Chug was getting some calls that the recent tornado and high winds knocked over the large cross in the middle. He told us that this is how our lives are when we don't put Christ in the center. The we have a huge hole in our life. We together raised that cross back up to its rightful position at the center on the other crosses and the center of our lives. We worshipped at the foot of the cross and it was a beautiful start to our day. Next we moved on to work projects we put up a tent,made flyer, picked up TONS of stuff from silos to trees to trash, we built a fence and a stage, fixed the playground, poured a concrete slab, and then some! We passed out flyers for our special community father day community celebration tomorrow! We invited many people. It was cool to hear that people we asking about us and wanting us to come by and just say hi and be part of their community. We along with many other kind folks from Dupree made a huge dent in the clean up process. Everybody worked very hard and are enjoyed a well deserved rest. Please pray that many would show up tomorrow and God would once again bless our efforts. We will post some pics and videos soon! We miss you all a ton. Peace.

Epic Day Ahead

So we are on the road jamming out to some amazing tunes right now. Sara doesn't seem to enjoy Family Force 5 though. What a shame. Some parents kids. Any who we are going to Wall Drug. They are suppose to be the biggest drug store in America and have really AWSOME belts. Then later tonight we have reservations at Pizza Hut by Mt. Rushmore!

Location:SD

Some of the damage

This is one of the larger tornados that came our way yesterday.

Yesterday

It's difficult to put yesterday's course of events into a short update, so this may run a little long.

Our day started as usual for the most part. We woke up, ate breakfast and had our individual quiet time. Chug gave us a short teaching followed by a devo from Ethan. Then, we did something we hadn't yet done. Chug and Karen asked us to spend some time in collective prayer followed by a nap. I honestly felt like "Wow! These kids are getting off easy when there's a bunch of work to do." I had no idea how much they would need that rest later.

We drove to Dupree (our lodge is about 15 minutes outside of town) and began working as we had done the day before. We split into teams and each team tackled specific tasks. One did an oil change on a bus, another cleaned windows, another sorted shoes, and another finished building a fence. We decided to take on an unplanned project of removing an old patio slab and pouring a new one and building a small deck.

At one point we were concerned that while breaking-up a slab of concrete we may have broken a gas line because we could smell gas. We checked everywhere and couldn't find a leak in the ground, but we still kept smelling gas. At the same time, we began to notice two large storms coming straight towards us, but we didn't think much of it... until the Sheriff hand-delivered a tornado warning with shelter instructions. At that same time we discovered the gas was coming from a leak next door.

We filled up the gas tanks and loaded up the kids. We didn't have far to travel to our shelter in the county courthouse, but we wanted to be ready to go. We drove around the block to get a better view of the storm, and rather quickly we needed to get to the courthouse.

We spent several hours in the courthouse. It was a great opportunity to serve the people who live here and have lots to lose. There are so many incredible things that happened while in the shelter, but one of the most amazing was watching the tornado(s) jump over our building. Even though the roof was ripped off the 3rd floor, we were in awe of the divine protection. Since the roof was gone we had to deal with flooding in the building. That forced us to seek overnight shelter in the high school. The students were given cots and blankets for bed and MRE's for dinner.

It was a long day, and my update doesn't do it justice. Please continue to pray for the people in and around Dupree. There are many communities that were hit by the tornados. The last report I've heard is 13-19 of them hit the county last night.

One last thing... Praise the Lord!

3:00am

Reuben here. I just what to let you know that everyone is safe. Right now everyone is asleep in one of the class rooms. I will have all the kids call you first thing in the morning.

Tornado!

Clean-up!

Here's an action shot of Caleb smashing the nest of spiders in the bus so there wouldn't be any surprises when working on the engine.

Archery 101

Some of the local kids gave us there best shots, literally! We learned a lot about the history of bow-making.

A Busy Tuesday...

Please pray for our team today as we have much planned. The rain has finally stopped, and we'll be working at the church today. We had to hold-off on some of the items until now so we could be safe while doing them. We'll be fixing an old bus, mowing grass, moving a fence, removing a large tree-stump, and doing other things along the way. Hopefully we'll be posting pictures along the way today...

Day One Video Update

The Last Two Days

Yesterday, we left Denver at about 8 in the morning. The weather was rainy and cold; a nice break from New Mexico weather haha. The drive time was about twelve hours.. a lot longer than we expected. It seemed like every time we stopped it took at least an hour. Upon arriving at the Sanctuary, everyone was more than tired of being in the van. We all met Chug and Karen, then ate a super tasty feast of spaghetti and meatballs. We went over the rules, had some awesome small group time, then hit the hay. Today, we ate breakfast and learned a little about the customs of the Lakota sioux people. After we went to a Bow making class, we learned a lot about the people and how their traditions effect who they are. It was really fun to talk to the people and just kinda hear about their lives. It got pretty rainy so we couldn't work outside, but we were blessed to hear a message from Andrew. God really spoke through him. Now we are at the lodge where everyone is either napping or running around. We have had some trials already such as a student who had an ear infection, the weather, and a plumbing leak. Its funny how God already worked everything out. The student has medicine and is now feeling a lot better, and our good friend Dom has a mysterious background in plumbing so he was able to get it cleared up pretty easily.... well the weather is still being mischievous but I know that God will work it all out. He is GOOD.

Dinner!

We made it to Dupree safely

We will be posting more info in a few


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Loaf and Jug gas stop

Youth group at Mile High Calvary as soon as we arrived in Denver. Kids will call home after service. We all made it here safely!!!

Driving!

Mary is AWSOME! We are having a good time in the van. So many new music we have all never heard of. Aj just made a new best friend! Woooooo! It's funny how you learn about people you know on road trips. Also, Ethan is a tender little guy. (inside joke. Haha cough cough) Not! Hahahahahahahahahagahahahah

Lunchtime!

Here's a brief video shot at a rest stop today...

We found the perfect spot to do all of our team building activities today!

Here's a few quick shots from our team building activities...

Day trip

We went the Jemez mountains today! The team training was long, difficult, but so much fun. All the kids were able to work together, communicate, and become more of a family. I am so proud of the students :) I have a feeling that the trip is going to be better than anything we could have dreamed of. My van is partying it up, I can only imagine what the other van is up to...

Team Commissioning Service

We're almost on our way to South Dakota! Thanks to all who are praying for our team. We ask that you continue to pray for us throughout the trip. We'll keep you posted!

Trip Information & Packing List

Trip Information & Packing List

We will be having a commissioning service this Wednesday in the PLEX.

On Friday June 11 meet in the PLEX @ 9am.

We will be back on June 25th, please call the Student Ministry office to find out what time we will be in.

In case of an emergency you can call the Student Ministry office @ 338-3699 & they will get a hold of me.

You will need to bring a sleeping bag and a pillow for Friday night. (We won’t need them at the places we are staying at.)

The key to this trip is modesty and being appropriate. Make sure that you dress appropriately at all times. Here are a couple things to keep in mind:

• Everything needs to be packed in ONE carry-on and ONE duffle/bag. e don’t have room for any more than that.

• NO BANDANAS whatsoever (gangs in SD use bandanas to flash their colors, so don’t even bring them!)

• Girls, no spaghetti straps, low-cut shirts, short shorts or skirts, etc. – t-shirts are the best way to go.

• GUYS & GIRLS, make sure whatever you wear to bed is very modest and not revealing. We want to make sure that everyone is covered up and appropriate at all times.

• You’ll want a swimsuit for the hotels; just make sure they’re modest as well.

• You CAN bring cell phones, but you cannot use them for games, texting, taking over the world, etc – they’re only to call your parents occasionally and when we get to our hotel and when we get to Dupree.

• Make sure to put your name on everything you take; You’ll regret it if you don’t

• Make sure to follow us on the team blog at: http://vsmmissions.blogspot.com/ starting June 11 we will be updating daily. Also feel free to email us @ vsmmissions@gmail.com

Here’s what to pack:

• Your ID (if you have one)

• Your South Dakota shirt

• Pillow (if you want to bring one)

• Jeans and shorts (modest)

• T-shirts

• PJs

• Sweatshirt or jacket

• Hat

• Sunglasses

• Bug spray (with Deet)

• Sunscreen

• Personal water bottle (This will be given to you)

• Towel

• Washcloth

• Toiletries

• Close-toed work shoes

• Sandals/flip-flops

• Bible

• Deodorant

• Notebook/journal

• Pen

• Work gloves

• MODEST swimsuit (no 2-pieces)

• Any medication you’ll need (make sure to communicate with your small group leader)

What NOT to pack.

Hairdryers

Knives

2-piece swimsuit

ANY thing electronic besides your cell phone and camera

Remember to dress modestly, avoiding clothing such as low-cut jeans, short shorts, short skirts. Also any kind of secular rock & movie T-Shirts.

You will only need to pack one week’s worth of cloths. The place we are staying has a washer and dryer.

OPTIONAL items:

Motion sickness medication (if you’re prone to car sickness)

Camera

Spending money for debriefing day(s) and day off – don’t bring a lot of money!

This list will also be available on the blog online at http://vsmmissions.blogspot.com/ .

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