Jesus said, "The food that keeps me going is to do the will of the One who sent me, finishing the work He started."

- John 4:34 (The Message)

Sixteen students and leaders headed for Ellington, MO to rebuild homes and refocus our lives.  We were each assigned to a workgroup of 5-6 people and completed a variety of projects such as interior and exterior painting, building steps, drywalling, installing bath tile board, fixing doors, and roofing.  Each day we would generally work from 8-3 in the tremendous heat.  We learned how we can share the physical love of God to help meet the deeper spiritual needs of residents.  Throughout the week, we worshipped with Fourth in the Fire and were engaged by Mike Guzzardo with a challenging message.  Some of the messages included talks on perspective and how we need to have a long-term view of our eternal future despite circumstances and pressures that would cause us to crumble.  Also, Mike spoke on the need to completely surrender to Christ and how so often we hold out on God and miss out on the great plans He has for us.  Wednesday, he spoke on how to allow the changes and things that happened on this trip to last - ending the sin cycle.  Thursday was a crucial message for many of us that reminded us of our identity in Christ - that each of us are an important piece in the puzzle of God's kingdom and that we should not take our identities from the culture, peers, or even a faulty view of ourselves but should construct our identity in Christ through the Word.  Finally, we invited our residents and others from the community to come out Friday and Mike gave a basic gospel message inviting all to consider their relationship to Christ.

We certainly had fun at Six Flags, at The Hideaway (ask someone that went about this), and being able to represent Christ and our Church through this week.

There are different stories of God's impact and we look forward to sharing more with you in the days to come.

Students and leaders that went include Sarah G, Alyssa, Amber, Nicholas, Kayla, Jenny, Ryan, Rachel, Sarah L, Menomonie, Joe, Lyuba, Dan, Clarence, Ruth, and Jim.

Thanks again to our supporters who provided with finances, in prayer, and with tools.

Jim