Monday, January 29, 2007

Snow, snow, snow...

Well everyone...our very own Ruthie got her wish and we have been dealing with lots and lots of snow since we started our Winter tour. We have spent most of the last week in the Denver area and have seen first-hand all of the winter weather that has been hitting this part of the country.

After leaving Lincoln, NE we made our way to Lakewood, CO. There we spent Wednesday and Thursday with the youth group at Bear Creek Church. The people there are awesome and we had so much fun playing for them.

Friday we led praise and worship at Denver Christian High School. We met some great people and had a great time praising the Lord.

Saturday we headed to Aurora, CO (also in the Denver area) and met up with the people at Open Heavens International Chapel. We spent Saturday night playing as part of a musical extravaganza, and then participated in the worship service on Sunday morning. After the worship service we packed our gear and quickly made our way to Evergreen, CO, which is nestled up in the Rocky Mountains. We played at the Lutheran Church of the Cross, and then headed off to our amazing host homes.

It's hard to believe that our first week of tour is already over! Thanks for all your prayers and support.

God Bless,
Paul

Colorado

Well we've been on tour now for a little more than a week. It has been awesome so far, and very interesting. Last Tuesday we drove from Lincoln, Nebraska to Denver, Colorado. Wednesday we played a youth concert for a really fun group of Senior Highers at the Bear Creek Presbyterian youth group. It was an extremely fun concert. Thursday night we played for the Junior Highers at the same church and that too was a lot of fun. The kids were very energetic and helped us to just have a great time. Friday morning we played at a High School, and this past weekend we played at Destiny International Church and it was quite the experience. That church loves to worship. They blessed us so much and I enjoyed getting to be a part of their church for two days. Last night we played at Lutheran Church of the Cross and again just had a really fun concert. But more than just the music this past week has been full of meeting some really awesome people. I have been blessed so much by some amazing host homes. I'd just like to say thank you to the people who have hosted us over the past week, we appreciate it so much.

Personally I feel like God is really moving in my life right now. He is teaching me so much about trusting Him in difficult situations. This past week has been amazing but also difficult at the same time but God has been so faithful to give me the strength I need for each day. I am so thankful that God doesn't give up on me during my many times of weakness. What an awesome God we have :)

I hope you all are doing amazing. God Bless!!!

~ Julie

Monday, January 22, 2007

Here we go....

...one more time (yeah, you know the rest!)

Well here we are in Lincoln, Nebraska, 3 days into our winter tour. I can't begin to tell you how wonderful it is to be back on the road again and travelling those many hours in good ol' Bessie :) Playing music, sharing testimonies and stories, doing dramas, staying with host families...this is what I love! It's been great being back with my wonderful team again-they are such a blessing. We love hanging out with each other and doing this ministry together!

Tomorrow we have a long drive to Denver, Colorado and than have a concert the next day. Please pray for safety on the roads and for Paulie as he drives! Thank you! You'll hear again from one of us soon... God bless!

-Ruth

Thursday, January 18, 2007

Thinking of Bolivia...

I just finished reading some disturbing headlines from Bolivia. There are riots going on there and they are not looking good. Some people have already died and it doesn't look like the situation is getting much better. What's crazy for me is that I saw places in the pictures that I stood not more than a month ago. I can't believe that things have gotten so bad. Please pray for the YFC in Bolivia and also for the people of Bolivia.

In other news, we are leaving for Winter Tour in 2 days! Crazy huh?

Wednesday, January 03, 2007

We're Back!

Our time at home (or wherever we chose to spend our break) has come to a close and we are all reassembling in Willmar to kick off our new year together. We are excited about what God has in store for us this new year, and we are anxious to get back to the work that He has for us.

We have all been blessed with great friends and family, and as we say good-bye again, we know that the Lord will keep them in the palm of His Hand until we are reunited.

I would personally like to echo the sentiments of Pedro (National director of YFC Bolivia), by saying thank you to families and friends for letting your loved one go. We often underestimate the sacrifice made by those we love so that we can do the Lord's work, but you are all definitely our partners in the Gospel! So thanks for supporting us and letting us do the things that we know that the Lord has called us to!

God Bless and have a safe New Year!

Paul

Tuesday, January 02, 2007

I'm dreaming...

...of a white christmas...(where's the snow?!)

Hello everyone and happy new year! Well, here I am back in Willmar after a wonderful christmas break. Today the rest of the team members arrive and tomorrow will be spent at the ministry where we'll be doing partnership drive for the next 2 weeks. Christmas break was a great time of relaxation and catching up with friends here and back in Australia...not that I got to go home, but I was able to keep in touch with them more often (g'day friends)!!

This past week 7 of us from CTI (David, Melody, Beth, Carolyn, Josiah, and I) were at the Urbana conference which was held in St. Louis, Missouri. Oh, and of course there was Jimmy helping us out from Canada (eh?!)...and Eliot, Kim and heaps of other CTI alumni. They were such an awesome help and blessing to us! Thanks friends! We were at Urbana to recruit people for the coming summer/fulltime teams. I found this an amazing 5 days. 22,000 people attended Urbana and it was just awesome attending the sessions. The speakers were great and had challenging messages to share and the music...wow, very inspiring. Being able to worship with 22,000 other Christians was such an amazing experience for me. We welcomed in the new year singing and praising God together! It was a beautiful time!

Well, thank you all for your continued support and prayers. Without them we would not be half as effective in our ministry. What can I say except that God is good...His goodness and faithfulness and love is unchanging and steadfast, and for that I am thankful. We serve an amazing God! Friends, may you have a blessed 2007!

-Ruth