Urban Mpls. Day 2

Urban Mpls. Day 1

Golfing Minneapolis

(click to enlarge)

Fore!..err...21!

With STEM's golfing fundraiser taking place on Saturday and that same day, Erin and I will be leading a week-long urban Minneapolis mission trip, I thought it would be fun to combine the two. So if you are bored, see if you can find the 21 golf balls in the picture. I will reveal where they are when we return on Friday, August 4th.

Also, be sure to stop back during the upcoming week. Even though I won't be able to update the blog traditionally, I will attempt to phone-in and audio blog to let you know what we did on our mission trip each day.

—b


Friday, July 28th 2006/Job chapters 15-18

GOD'S MESSAGE FOR ME TODAY
"They conceive mischief and bring forth iniquity,
And their mind prepares deception."
—Job 15:35

HOW DOES THIS APPLY TO MY LIFE?
I will just copy what it says in my study Bible since I couldn't add to their statement. "Once initiated, sinful thoughts develop quickly into evil acts." Tht says it all.

Copyright 2006, City Vision / John A. Mayer
You can purchase a copy of the CityView Report here.

BE IN PRAYER FOR:
WITCHCRAFT IN THE TWIN CITIES
There are an estimated 20,000 witches of all types who live in our metro area who meet in 179 different witch covens/groups. Many witches are drawn to the Twin Cities area because of the many lakes and rivers, which have spiritual significance to them.
• Avalonline, Minneapolis

Courting Erin, Episode II

July 12, 2003, Erin and I became one.

An Adventure 3 Years in the Making: Episode II

Wednesday, July 26th, 2006 at 6:00pm, Chili's restaurant, 2 couples (Chris and Aletha Wachter and Bernt and Erin Eidsmoe) reunite after a 3 years absence. Will this reunion result in the excitement as the first meeting? Only time tell.

What am I talking about? A new movie? The reconciliation of Abba? Nope, something bigger. The first time these two couples connected, Erin and I met and eventually got married. And after our meeting with them at Chili’s last night, we are excited to see what the future holds as the four of reunite.

5 years ago, this September, the courtship of an unbreakable unity began. Erin Michelle Johnson and Bernt Bruce Eidsmoe met.

(...Continued from yesterday.)

Episode II Fall, 2001
I knew I liked Chris Wachter from day one. A great guy who loves the Lord. He is one of those Christians that reflects Christ like the "Bat Signal." There's no way anyone could miss it. So it didn't take long (probably the first day) that we found out about each other's relationship with Christ.

I was a noob (rookie) in my walk with the Lord and I'm sure it showed. I found out about the church he attended. Hope Community Church on the U of M campus. Whoa! What did you say! (That Bat Signal just nailed me like I was wearing infrared goggles.) (Like I said in the previous post, I was going to church but 100% of my heart was obviously not on finding the Lord.) All I heard was Christian college girls!

That week, I was the latest attendee of Hope Community Church. Much to my surprise, I really liked the church! And I didn't meet my future wife that Sunday either. This was a winner! I was honestly excited about going to church. (A first in my life.)

The best way to get involved in church (and meet more girls I might add) is to join a small Bible study group. That September, I met my future wife!

I had given a girl a ride to Bible study (see, I told ya chicks dig Jeeps.) ;) and we walked up the apartment building stairs. As I opened the door, there she was. The cutest girl in the room was sitting on the couch. I knew I just HAD to sit next to her. I quickly found her name. Erin.

After Chris introduced me to everyone, including what would turn out to be his future wife Aletha, we started out the night with a game of "spoons". A fun game but to be good at it, you have to be aggressive. And with just meeting everyone for the first time, I didn't want to show off my stuff. ;)

Round 1 of Spoons, Erin got eliminated from the game.
(Hmmm...)
Round 2 of Spoons, I got eliminated from the game.
(Coincidence? I'll let you decide.)

With both of us out of the game and everyone else deeply engrossed in strategy, she had no choice but to talk to me. (Pretty sneeky huh?) Anyway, at the end of the night, Erin and I already had our first nicknames given to us...Bert and Ernie.

Fast forward a couple of years, and the same Bert and Ernie who got eliminated from spoons, got married and Chris and Aletha were in the wedding party.

So what does all of that have to do with meeting Chris and Aletha at Chili's a few nights ago?

Well, not much really, but I just thought it would be fun to tell of how Erin and I met. But, having said that, Chris has now graduated from seminary and with that same church (Hope Community) serving as a "sister" church, he will be pastoring a brand new church plant. Week #1 for the new "Hiawatha" church (it's off of Hiawatha Ave.) will be the first Sunday in September. Erin and I will be there.

Will this also be our new church family? We don't know. But God used Chris and Aletha in the past to introduce Erin and I so who knows. Maybe God has brought Chris and Aletha back into our lives for increasing our courtship. Not the courtship between Erin and me, but between us and God!

MY UPDATED CHECKLIST
Step #1: Commit my life to Christ. Check
Step #2: Get a Jeep. Check (After all, chicks dig guys with Jeeps right?)
Step #3: Get the girl. Check
Step #4: Get a house. Check
Step #5: Get a dog. Check
Step #6: Ummm...Well God, you have given me more than I will ever deserve. I think my attitude should have been, "Lord, teach me to give to you."

—b

Courting Erin, Episode I

Chris and Aletha Wachter at our wedding on July 12, 2003

An Adventure 3 Years in the Making: Episode I

Wednesday, July 26th, 2006 at 6:00pm, Chili's restaurant, 2 couples (Chris and Aletha Wachter and Bernt and Erin Eidsmoe) reunite after a 3 years absence. Will this reunion result in the excitement as the first meeting? Only time tell.

What am I talking about? A new movie? The reconciliation of Abba? Nope, something bigger. The first time these two couples connected, Erin and I met and eventually got married. And after our meeting with them at Chili’s last night, we are excited to see what the future holds as the four of reunite.

5 years ago, this September, the courtship of an unbreakable unity began. Erin Michelle Johnson and Bernt Bruce Eidsmoe met.

Episode I Summer, 2000
I had recently recommitted my life to the Lord. Sure, I had accepted the Lord as my Savior in a prayer with my mom at the age of 5. I knew it was something special, but it wasn’t until I had turned 22 that I started to take it seriously. So after repenting and committing the rest of my life to the Lord, I knew that it was time to start going to church. Voluntarily I might add.

Yea! I’m a good Christian now! I said I’m sorry and now I’m going to church. I can’t achieve anything higher in my walk with the Lord. (I hope my sarcasm came through as thick as I was intending.)

The only thing about me going to church was that I had ulterior motives. GIRLS! (Mom and dad would be so proud.) Don’t get me wrong, I really did want to grow with Christ, I was just hoping for a little icing on the cake. (OK, so the cake I wanted was a frozen Dairy Queen cake that was topped with Recess Pieces and Cadbury Eggs.) I wanted it all. The easy Christian life, the brand new beautiful bride, and a Jeep, and a dog, and a house, and...and...and. You get the picture.

Step #1: Commit my life to Christ. Check
Step #2: Get a Jeep. Check (After all, chicks dig guys with Jeeps right?)
Step #3: Get the girl.

Hmmm...now I just needed to find a church that had lots of college aged girls. So how can I find that out? LEIF! My brother Leif was in college at the time and according to his reliable scouting report, the Northwestern College chicks went to the church home of Pastor John Piper, aka Bethlehem Baptist.

Well, a disappointing search revealed one thing to me about Bethlehem Baptist. Most of the “girls” were in there ‘40s. I was more likely to find a divorced soccer mom than a future Mrs. Eidsmoe. As the wise saying of Homer J. Simpson goes, D’oh!

Now what?

I didn’t know what to do. I really liked John Piper’s teaching but I knew that it wasn’t going to be a long-term church family for me. Because I didn’t know where else to go, I stayed there. At that time I wasn’t looking for God’s direction and I didn’t receive any flashing lights or neon signs telling me which church to go to. So I stayed put.

At the time I was working for Alan Furst, Inc. as a graphic designer. We needed help. It was just Alan and I and we had more work than we could handle. The answer for us came in the form of a young man named Chris Wachter.

As it turns out, God used Chris to answer more than just the "Help Wanted" ads.

...Episode 2 tomorrow.

—b



Thursday, July 27th 2006/Job chapters 10-14

GOD'S MESSAGE FOR ME TODAY
"O that you would be completely silent,
And that it would become your wisdom!"
—Job 13:5

HOW DOES THIS APPLY TO MY LIFE?
Immediately following the tragic events in Job's life, three of his friends sat with him, completely silent for an entire week. And after his friends incorrect advise, Job wishes they would remain silent.

How many times have I done this? I try and help and "fix things" with words, and I only seem to make things worse. My lesson here is that when someone is hurting, I need to just shut up and show them I care.

Copyright 2006, City Vision / John A. Mayer
You can purchase a copy of the CityView Report here.

BE IN PRAYER FOR:
WITCHCRAFT IN THE TWIN CITIES
There are an estimated 20,000 witches of all types who live in our metro area who meet in 179 different witch covens/groups. Many witches are drawn to the Twin Cities area because of the many lakes and rivers, which have spiritual significance to them.
• Avalon on Camelot, Woodbury

Job chapters 1-3

Tuesday, July 25th 2006/Job chapters 1-3

GOD'S MESSAGE FOR ME TODAY
Then his wife said to him, "Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die!" But he said to her, "You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity?" In all this Job did not sin with his lips.
—Job 2:9 and 10

HOW DOES THIS APPLY TO MY LIFE?
It is so easy to accept the blessings in life. But when adversity hits, we all to often quickly blame God and ask why? When times are good, do we thank God? When something goes your way, even something that seems insignificant, do you give credit to your heavenly Father?

When times are tough do we thank God? When life becomes difficult we need to remember that God blesses those who persevere under trial. (James 1:12) We need to look to the Lord in every situation asking for wisdom knowing God is always in control and knows how each situation will pan out.

Copyright 2006, City Vision / John A. Mayer
You can purchase a copy of the CityView Report here.

BE IN PRAYER FOR:
WITCHCRAFT IN THE TWIN CITIES
There are an estimated 20,000 witches of all types who live in our metro area who meet in 179 different witch covens/groups. Many witches are drawn to the Twin Cities area because of the many lakes and rivers, which have spiritual significance to them.
• Aurum Solis, the Order of the Sacred Word, St. Paul

Double Feature Sunday

Relaxing with "B" Movies

While still shell-shocked after the loss of the iPod, Erin and I needed to hide away. We took refuge in what both of us love to do, watch movies. Sunday happened to be a double feature.

Movie #1 was Camp Cucamonga (sounds like Coo-ca-mong-ga)
It was a made for TV movie that debued in 1990. Staring a then unknown Jennifer Anniston, Cliff Claven...err... John Ratzenberger as well as teens from "Full House", "Family Matters", and "The Wonder Years" just to name a few.

Basically a "B" movie but both Erin and I loved watching it when it came out 16 years ago. Obviously we didn't know each other then and we both thought it was funny each one of us remembered it. It is one of those movies where you can pretty much only find it online.

Movie #2 was Head Over Heels
This one stars Freddie Prinze Jr. and Monica Potter. A higher quality production than Cucamonga but, strangely, not nessasarily as well known. A fun mystery/drama would be the best way to describe it. Erin attaches memories of watching it with little sister Danae.

Supper consisted of grilled steaks and baked potatoes. Yum! A perfectly lazy dinner to go with our perfectly lazy day. We both needed it. And with another mission trip less than a week away, we took full advantage and did not feel guilty about being sluggards. ;)

—b



Monday, July 24th 2006/Proverbs chapters 29-31

GOD'S MESSAGE FOR ME TODAY
A man's pride will bring him low,
But a humble spirit will obtain honor.
—Proverbs 29:23

HOW DOES THIS APPLY TO MY LIFE?
Time and time again, Biblical wisdom goes against wordly "wisdom". In society, we are taught that we need to "fight our way to the top", or brag about our accomplishments and then we will get honor. Sorry, but God says otherwise. Those who have a "humble spirit will obtain honor." I would much rather have everlasting honor from God than temporary honor from people.

Copyright 2006, City Vision / John A. Mayer
You can purchase a copy of the CityView Report here.

BE IN PRAYER FOR:
WITCHCRAFT IN THE TWIN CITIES
There are an estimated 20,000 witches of all types who live in our metro area who meet in 179 different witch covens/groups. Many witches are drawn to the Twin Cities area because of the many lakes and rivers, which have spiritual significance to them.
• Aquarius Dawning (Wiccan-Aquarian), Minneapolis

Shrewd as Serpents and Innocent as Doves

"Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves." —Matthew 10:16

Well, today I failed the first part of Jesus' command.

Erin and I were invited to Aaron Alswager's graduation party which was today. Overall we had a good time. Catching up with relatives on my dad's side. It was really fun to see them all again; Anna espescially. It has been a while since Erin and I have had the time to see her.

Anyway, as we get out to the Jeep, I notice that our newly purchaced iPod was missing. Yep, you guessed it, it was stolen. The trusting fool that I am left the windows down so anyone could just reach in and take it. Sure I'd like to rationalize it by saying it's the middle of the afternoon, we were only there for about an hour, and in a very nice neighborhood, but that doesn't change the fact that I was irresponsible. I just feel sick about it. But thankfully we have our Lord.


So what does our heavenly Father say about a stolen iPod?

• Well, taken in context, getting an iPod stolen won't affect the grand scheme of things in life. There are much more important issues in the world that I should be feeling sick over instead of a stolen mp3 player.

• Whoever has taken it, God will deal with. That is much more than Erin or I could ever do to a person. I would rather face the wrath of a person than God. Plus that person needs prayer. He/she probably isn't saved and will suffer the greatest judgement of all. We shouldn't wish that guilty verdict on anybody.

• We experience trials in life to bring us closer to God. Right now I'm finding myself more thankful for what Erin and I do have. The Lord has blessed us with a great family, house, Jeep, job, even a miniature dachshund. All of which can't compare to a $400 iPod. I still haven't mentioned the greatest gift of all, that Jesus Christ has chosen Erin and I to love and follow Him!

So have I learned my lesson?

Of course. But with living comes hardships. I'd much rather suffer this loss than a Katrina/Sunami sized one. My point in writing this is that hopefully you would learn from my mistake and remember that we are just passing through our live on earth. Heaven is our end goal, not accumulating nice possessions.

With that, I'll leave you with this VERY fitting verse:
"But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. The eye is the lamp of the body; so then if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light." —Matthew 6:20-22

Thank you Lord for EVERY situation!

—b



Saturday, July 22nd 2006/Proverbs chapters 22-24

GOD'S MESSAGE FOR ME TODAY
Deliver those who are being taken away to death,
And those who are staggering to slaughter, Oh hold them back.
If you say, "See, we did not know this,"
Does He not consider it who weighs the hearts?
And does He not know it who keeps your soul?
And will He not render to man according to his work?
—Proverbs 24:11 and 12

HOW DOES THIS APPLY TO MY LIFE?
I'm not sure if this is a "missions" specific reference or not, but fits with God's command concerning the Great Commission. We are to proclaim Christ's name and hopefully the Holy Spirit will rescue those who's final destination is eternal death. As Christs, we are all called to missions. Wheter it's becoming a missionary in the Middle East or in our own backyard.

Copyright 2006, City Vision / John A. Mayer
You can purchase a copy of the CityView Report here.

BE IN PRAYER FOR:
WITCHCRAFT IN THE TWIN CITIES
There are an estimated 20,000 witches of all types who live in our metro area who meet in 179 different witch covens/groups. Many witches are drawn to the Twin Cities area because of the many lakes and rivers, which have spiritual significance to them.
• American Traditional Wiccan Training Group, Minneapolis

Scooby-Doo, Where Are You?

Scooby-Doo and the Mystery of the Disappearing Post

A few of you have commented on the fact that my Tuesday post is missing. Good observation. Yesterday my web browser was acting up and instead of quitting and restarting, I thought I'd press on. Well, instead of deleting a duplicate post, I must have selected the previous days one. Oh well.

And now for the answer to yesterday's "Who Am I?"


Enjoy your Friday and Weekend!

—b



Friday, July 21st 2006/Proverbs chapters 17-21

GOD'S MESSAGE FOR ME TODAY
A man's discretion makes him slow to anger,
And it is his glory to overlook a transgression.
—Proverbs 19:11

HOW DOES THIS APPLY TO MY LIFE?
Road rage is just one of the infinite examples that this verse can be applied to. If someone cuts you off, or isn't paying attention, or is tailgaiting you; instead of cursing under your breath or retaliating, give the offender grace. After all, you receive glory because of someone else's offence against you.

Copyright 2006, City Vision / John A. Mayer
You can purchase a copy of the CityView Report here.

BE IN PRAYER FOR:
WITCHCRAFT IN THE TWIN CITIES
There are an estimated 20,000 witches of all types who live in our metro area who meet in 179 different witch covens/groups. Many witches are drawn to the Twin Cities area because of the many lakes and rivers, which have spiritual significance to them.
• American Order of the Brotherhood of Wicca, Minneapolis

Just For Fun

Who Am I?

(Answer Tomorrow)

—b

Thursday, July 20th 2006/Proverbs chapters 13-16

GOD'S MESSAGE FOR ME TODAY
The LORD has made everything for its own purpose,
Even the wicked for the day of evil.
—Proverbs 16:4

HOW DOES THIS APPLY TO MY LIFE?
God is in control. PERIOD. It's so easy to look at the world around us and become discouraged. But God is in control, not man. Even the wicked God will use for His glory. How? God desn't reveal everything to us. Maybe one day we'll know. Point is, don't get discouraged about the day's happenings. We aren't in control because God is. (See Ecclesiastes 3:11.)

Copyright 2006, City Vision / John A. Mayer
You can purchase a copy of the CityView Report here.

BE IN PRAYER FOR:
WITCHCRAFT IN THE TWIN CITIES
There are an estimated 20,000 witches of all types who live in our metro area who meet in 179 different witch covens/groups. Many witches are drawn to the Twin Cities area because of the many lakes and rivers, which have spiritual significance to them.
• Acorn Group SDNA, Minneapolis

Holding On For Dear Life

Our 3rd Anniversary sure did have it's ups and downs.
(Pun intended.) ;)

To go along with the "3" theme in my previous post, I can describe our vacation as Rain. Hot. Drenched!

First off, as a gift to each other, we picked up an iPod Video. Would you believe it was Erin's idea? Our original iPod is now a $400 paper weight and both of us missed the luxury of 4,000+ songs and 275, 30 minute Pastor Greg Laurie sermon Podcasts at our disposal. What was a bonus was the ability to watch T.V. shows while standing in line. Very cool.

Rain.
Anyway after a near 13 hour, rain-filled drive the day before, Erin gave me some grace and let me sleep-in the next day at the campsite. It turned out to be a good day to take it easy since the rain came down in buckets for about 3 hours straight.

Hot.
Day 2 was hot! Trinidad was cooler than Ohio last Thursday. Luckily for Bella, she had it easy in an air conditioned "PetCheck." We were dripping sweat by the days end. YUM! We must be getting old when we both enjoyed sitting down and watching a diving show and and ice-skating program.

Drenched!
Friday was rain, rain, and more rain. To add to the rain, we had wind that uprooted our tarp covering the tent and re-shaped people's RV satellite dishes. We had enough of it and decided to pack up early. Of course because it was raining, it made packing everything up much more interesting. Erin helped out with the driving as we arrived in Shakopee near 5:00am. I can't remember when the last time air conditioning felt so good...Oh wait...It was a couple of weeks ago when we got home from Trinidad. ;)

Despite the weather, we both had a great time. The rollercoasters, especially the Dragstrip (120 mph straight up 400 ft and straight down) losing at Uno, and just spending time with Erin were highlights.

*The picture was from a neck-jarring, headache-causing, poor-excuse for a rollercoaster. During the majority of the ride, I was fake-smiling just wanting it to be over with. Poor Erin on the other hand was getting thrown around more than I was in the seat that wasn't made for the vertically challenged. Erin loves rollercoasters more than I do so that adds to the humor of it. We had to buy the picture just for her reaction. I think it's one of my all-time favorite pics. :)


Monday, July 17th 2006/Proverbs chapters 4-6

GOD'S MESSAGE FOR ME TODAY
Do not desire her beauty in your heart,
Nor let her capture you with her eyelids.
—Proverbs 6:25

HOW DOES THIS APPLY TO MY LIFE?
Matthew 5:28 stresses this passage even further. Desiring a woman lustfully, besides your wife, is the same as committing adultery with her. It's that serious. Having said that, there are different consequenses between physical and mental adultery. But in God's eyes, they are the same sin. Proverbs continues to describe what those consequences will be. Know this, it will not go unpunished.

Copyright 2006, City Vision / John A. Mayer
You can purchase a copy of the CityView Report here.

BE IN PRAYER FOR:
THE WORLD RELIGION AND CULT/SECT/OCCULT GROUPS THAT ADVERTISE IN HOMOSEXUAL PUBLICATIONS
There are an estimated 275,000 homosexuals living in the Twin Cities. (The homosexual community themselves would claim higher estimates.)
• Woman of Another Choice, Minneapolis

Start. Stop. GO!

Whew! Life isn't slowing down anytime soon. From Trinidad, being thrown back into work, and now vacation.

Since the world didn't stop while we were in Trinidad, here are a few things worthy of highlighting.

• Shannon and Cooper moved. They headed south while Shannon's husband Mike is still in Iraq. Mike's parents are living in Tennesse and they will be with Shannon and rottweiler Cooper while "dad" is away.

• The United States early departure from Germany. The World Cup is over and Italy is crowned champion of the world for a 4th time. But the big news here in the states is...what happend? Needless to say it's back to the drawing board for U.S. Soccer.

• Sports happenings. Shaq and the Miami Heat took the NBA's top prize while the Detroit Tiger's are baseball's #1 team. The Twins have put together an impressive win streak but unfortunately the Tigers and White Sox have also kept winning.

• Entertainment News. Nicole Kidman got over Tom Cruise by tying the knot and producer Aaron Spelling passed away. But life moves on as Cars, Superman, and Pirates have taken the movie headlines.
  

Back in Minnesota, Erin came back to book orders, team budgets, hundreds of emails, as well as a non-stop phone. I was thrust back into Mission Maker season. Meetings concerning main articles and how to present them, creating Trinidad themed PowerPoints for Faith Baptist Church, and compiling and burning Trini pictures.

After feeling somewhat caught up, now we get to leave...again.

Erin and I will be celebrating our 3rd wedding anniversary this week in Sandusky, Ohio a top a 300 foot rollercoaster which broke 10 world records (including height and speed). We will be driving the 12 hours to Cedar Point Amusement park. There we will be camping nearby with Bella. It will be our first camping trip alone together.

Monday, July 17th will be our first day back to work and we have a golf marathon as well as another mission trip on the heels of our return. Yikes! As we wrote in a previous post, "I Need This Summer to be Over."

—b

Wednesday, July 5th 2006/Revelation chapters 13 and 14

GOD'S MESSAGE FOR ME TODAY
So the angel swung his sickle to the earth and gathered the clusters from the vine of the earth, and threw them into the great wine press of the wrath of God. And the wine press was trodden outside the city, and blood came out from the wine press, up to the horses' bridles, for a distance of two hundred miles. —Revelation 14:19 and 20

HOW DOES THIS APPLY TO MY LIFE?
The wrath of God is real. We must not take His patience with us for acceptance of our sins.

Copyright 2006, City Vision / John A. Mayer
You can purchase a copy of the CityView Report here.

BE IN PRAYER FOR:
THE WORLD RELIGION AND CULT/SECT/OCCULT GROUPS THAT ADVERTISE IN HOMOSEXUAL PUBLICATIONS
There are an estimated 275,000 homosexuals living in the Twin Cities. (The homosexual community themselves would claim higher estimates.)
• The Liberal Catholic Church of St. Francis, Minneapolis

Thanks From Trinidad!

How to...

For friends and family who were on the STEM team in Trinidad, scroll down to the bottom of the page and you'll be able to start from where I left off. I'll hold off from posting for a few days so that you don't have to use the "Previous Posts" section in the right hand column.

Thanks again for all of your prayers! The Lord used us all!

—b

Trinidad: Day 10

Last day in Trinidad. Brian seems to be trying to soak up as much as he possibly can.

Thanks Javed and Jen for all of your help and everything you do!

The bus is about full and TJ is saying goodbye.

End of trip but not of our Christian journey.
From STEM team #483, thanks everyone for your prayers and support!

—b

Trinidad: Day 9

Our final full day in the West Indies would be spent in Tobago. Here Chris is giving us a devotion in the airport while waiting for our plane. Chris also gave us gift from Texas..."Maggie!" (Maggie = a Trinidad version of "Made You Look")

"Here fishy, fishy, fishy! Here fishy, fishy, fishy!"


While everyone else was watching for "pretty fishes," Reggie and I placed my U.S. Soccer cap on an anchor cause I thought it might make a cool pic. It turns out it fits the way they performed at this year's World Cup. (They sank to the bottom of their group and never recovered.)

Can you spot the white people?

Tim filming his latest FBC Youth Video. It's a play on Baywatch. I'm looking forward to the end product.

Amidst filming, Tim took time to show me "Maggie."

Back on land we all got our choice of burgers, pizza, or a panini (kind of like a toasted sandwich). Chris even went above and beyond and purchased a smoothie for each one of us! Thanks again Chris.

Bri and Nicole taking advantage of some shade by getting their hair braided.

Time to fly back to Trinidad. Becca (in blue) shows me what she thinks of getting her picture taken.

Back at the church in Trinidad, FBC's youth put on a skit for "Youth Night." Later Tim would share with the group a fun message.

Despite spending the day in Tobago, some people's favorite part of the day was the worship at night. It was intense. Nothing like we've seen in America. Basically mosh-pitting for Jesus!

End of day 9.

—b

Trinidad: Day 8

Going on day 8 for Erin, Rachel and I. Day 7 for the rest of the team. It didn't matter how many days because right now, we were ALL running on fumes.

Even though were were exhausted, we always set aside some time for the Lord. Brian is taking advantage of it amidst some great sunlight and a green landscape.

After our "quiet-time", we headed back to our construction project. Absolutely no one complained! Everyone truly had a servants heart. They even stayed after quitting time in order to finish the job. (The promise of ice cream was a big motivation.) :)

The body of Christ working together. A great theme through out the trip.

Glenn and Brian taking a well deserved break. They probably would have liked to beat me for taking their picture only they were too tired to move. ;)

The same ditch diggers as day 1 of construction, Kevin (not pictured), Tim, and Reggie got to play in raw sewage; hense the masks. As I was taking the picture and not trying to breath, all I could hear was Tim cheerfully singing "Thinking of a happy smell, thinking of a happy smell."

Despite the tough work, Bri always seemed to have a smile on her face. (Especially when she is carrying 2 heavy buckets filled with wet sand and waiting for me to hurry up and take her picture.)

After finishing our construction work, eating, and showering, Brian, Tim, and Chris were reminiscing of childhood Bible songs.

Our last day of Bible Club saw a few sad faces, but for the most part the youth all had a great time singing, learning, and playing all in Jesus' name!

End of day 8.

—b