In Their Own Words. . .Dana Jaehnert

When we first got to New Orleans, I had no idea what to expect. Little did I know that I was going to grow close to people and build relationships with kids'. I didn't know how and what God wanted to use me for this week. All I knew was that He was calling me to New Orleans and that I was to go and listen. At Challenge 2008 in SLC, there was a speaker who talked about poverty. He said that once you go out and do Gods work by loving people who are less fortunate than you, they are no longer just "poor people;" they are your friends. They're Demmi, Shanada, Kalil, Regan, and Imanii. They are people that just want to be loved and cared for like everyone else."Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" and I said "Here I am. Send me!" Isaiah 6:8

In Their Own Words. . .Alex Gustafson

I absolutely loved New Orleans. I wasn't quite sure what to expect. I thought the kids would be inner-city rough and wouldn't like us. I also thought we'd stick to our own youth group and, other than us; it would be all adults my parents’ age. My ideas and expectations were all wrong. I grew close to the group from Dubuque, Iowa, and especially close to a girl named Jessie. Jessie, Logan and I coached the Red Team for our outreach called the Challenge Circle. Our group split up each meal so we always sat with new people. My last expectation turned out to be false also. The main "adults" were interns in college. The youngest intern was 18. They were inspirational as the kids loved them. They always knew how to talk with the kids yet still hung out and joked around with us. Their love for God was obvious. Seeing it always boosted my spirits! The kids were sweet and ready to be loved. They always wanted to hang out with us and had huge smiles when you remembered their names. They seemed a little broken but opened up to us when we talked to them. The girls loved to do our hair and the guys liked to throw balls around. I became really close with a little boy named Reagan. He loved to talk and hug. His whole family was sweet and I was able to talk to all of them. I learned a lot on this trip. I learned to trust God, especially when I'm tired. I learned God makes a huge difference and there is good Christian rap. I saw God at work everyday and just truly learned to praise him through everything. My prayer life strengthened as did my relationships with my team. I really want to thank everyone who supported me as I really enjoyed this trip. Also, I want to thank my prayer partners and my parents because I really felt your prayers. I love you all.

In Their Own Words. . .Esther Baumgartner

I'm kind of shy so at the beginning I wasn't exactly sure how the week was going to go. As I spent more time with the team, I felt more comfortable. After lots of driving we arrived and had training. We also had bible studies and lessons. Most of the interns gave their testimonies. After hearing all the different testimonies, it helped me to realize God is still actively working in peoples lives. When I arrived in New Orleans, I was expecting to play with the kids and have God work in their lives, but God worked in my life also. I had an amazing time and hope I can come again next year.

In Their Own Words. . .Madeline Gustafson

New Orleans was AMAZING! I worked with the 6-7 year olds during Bible Camp and they were all precious. At the first Challenge Circle, I thought the kids would be excited but instead the kids wanted to give up. I was very discouraged after the first Challenge Circle. As I was feeling discouraged, I realized that my prayer life was dead and that I should be praying for these kids. I prayed that night for the kids at the Challenge Circle and Bible Camp. The next night the kids were excited to be there, thank the Lord! Everyday I would be in prayer for New Orleans and I saw God work in amazing ways! I want to keep my prayer life alive. “Then you will call upon me and go and pray to me and I will listen to you" Jeremiah 29:12

In Their Own Words. . .Conner Knutsen

As many may know, this is not my first trip down to “Nawlins” so the experience was slightly different. The first night everyone got together to learn the cheers and get a feel for things. I looked around and saw the look of confusion on the faces of those who were new. I wondered if I looked like that my first time. Not only was it different from the aspect that I was in tune with how things should go but this year, instead of spending our days gutting houses, we spent the day helping with a day camp. I was given the chance to lead a young soul to Christ. If the Lord wills, I plan to return again next year. Another year and another step towards Gods plan for my life.

In Their Own Words. . .Cara Meidlinger

This was my first time going to New Orleans and my first mission’s trip. I was very excited to spend time getting to know and playing with the kids. I never expected the injury to my knee but I guess sometimes God just has to throw a curve ball. I learned that I needed to be flexible and go with the flow. The main thing I learned was Jesus first, others second and me third, even with my knee injury. I tried to maintain that status. It was a great learning experience and I would recommend it to anyone.

In Their Own Words. . .Anthony Hill

I thought this trip was different from most trips because of the people. There was a unique blend of outgoing and other types of people that made everything interesting. The activities we did were fun. Overall, the experience was good.

In Their Own Words. . .Kevin Zugschwert

This was my second trip to New Orleans so I had in my mind what to expect for this trip. However, God really surprised me by providing me with an entirely different experience than I had last year. He challenged me in ways I wasn't quite prepared for, but he taught me to trust him though it all. Also, because this year was aimed less at physical work and more at working with kids, I was able to develop relationships with kids much more than last year. All in all, it was a good experience. I thought that our team really started to grow and good things will come from this group in years to come.

In Their Own Words. . .Karen Baumgartner

New Orleans was AMAZING!!! The van was crowded but was still fun to get to know everyone better. Once we arrived in New Orleans, it was fun to be in a different environment and to talk to other teams. It was neat to see how they say words differently. One word they used in New Orleans differently than us was "krunk." There it meant to be hyped. It was great to play with the kids even when they kept asking to sit on your shoulders. It was fun to see them get excited and scream cheers about God. The one big thing I came away with from this trip was how powerful prayer can be so now I’ll be working really hard at praying daily. Thanks to everyone who prayed for me and for the youth group on this trip.

In Their Own Words. . .Logan Knutsen

Before I left for New Orleans, I kind of thought, “Why are we down here?” I thought that they had pretty much recovered from Katrina. However, I didn't realize or even ever think that there is so much evil and spiritual darkness in New Orleans. On Wednesday I went on a prayer tour where we drove around and stopped for a time of prayer at different places. Towards the end of this prayer tour, we stopped at the levy in the lower 9th Ward. When we got there, I looked around and saw all the damage that was done. Along with all the damage, I also saw all the good that resulted from it. It was at this point that I realized that no matter how bad Katrina was, God used it for His glory. Now there are organizations like Urban Impact who bring workers to New Orleans to care for the people and share the Good News with them. That is how I saw God’s handiwork this week.

In Their Own Words. . .Heidi Florin

I went on this trip not really thinking that it was going to challenge me. But, let’s just say your comfort zone is not a place God lets you spend a lot of time in. God really stretched and used me this week. During the afternoon we did a Day Camp where I helped out with the 8-9 years olds. It really challenged me to step up and be a leader which is not really my thing. In the evening we had Challenge Circle. I was at the housing project called Melph. It was so much fun to interact with the kids. The girls loved to do our hair. I actually got mine colored with sidewalk chalk! Ha, ha! We played four square. The Challenge Circle was a really different experience for me. A lot of the New Orleans kids wanted to quit when their team didn't win, but it was our job to get them excited to play. It was hard to really be happy all the time, but God really helped me love the kids. This trip taught me a lot and I really saw God at work in New Orleans. I am so glad I got to have this amazing experience and I will treasure it forever.

In Their Own Words. . .Natalie Schad

New Orleans was a life changing experience. The ride down was crazy and the hotel pools were amazing because of our aerobic instructor, Alex. The best part of the drive down would have to be the 24 mile bridge and the assigned seating. After arriving in New Orleans we went though training and had dinner. The first full day we went through Challenge Circle and Day Camp training. I was on the Red team for CC training; we lost but it was still fun. By the end of the first day, I had already had a ton of fun and was looking forward to all the other days. Monday through Thursday was amazing. We started off everyday with breakfast, devotions and chapel. At 12:45 the vans left to bring kids to Day Camp. I helped with crafts and ended with either paint or glue on my face everyday. When Day Camp was over, we had a couple hours to recover and meet other teams. After dinner we climbed into our vans and went to the housing projects. The housing projects I went to was known as the Melph. At the Melph, we played four square or had our hair done. When we started the Challenge Circle I was put on the green team. All the kids were adorable. My neck was very sore from carrying kids on my shoulders but it was worth it. Friday was extra special because it was the last day. The day was full of fun as everyone was taking pictures and all the kids and teens had huge smiles. At the Melph I said goodbye. I was very sad because the kids were amazing and they loved us being there. On Saturday morning, seven of the girls got up at 4:30 to say goodbye to other groups that were there with us. After our goodbyes, half of us went back to bed while the others stayed up to clean. The ride home was fun; we played “My Cows” the whole way. We had birthday cake for Eric’s birthday. New Orleans taught me patience and showed me a whole new culture. I loved it and really want to go back.

In Their Own Words. . .Eric Baumgartner

First of all, I'd like to thank you all for your prayers and support. It was really obvious that we were being supported with prayer while we were in New Orleans. This was my fourth time going to New Orleans, and every time I've been down there, I've seen God working in new ways, and so I couldn't wait to see what He would do on this trip.There are always new changes when I go down, so I tried not to go in with to many expectations of what i would be doing. Because of the number of youth who came to help, I ended up being on a team of seven guys who went out during day camp to play basketball at a local park with any guys from the community that showed up. This was a good experience for me because I've comfortable with sharing my faith with kids, but sharing God with adults has always been tough for me, so God kind of challenged me to step out of my comfort zone. I never got the chance to share, but I did get the chance to talk with one guy about why we were there.As always, God answers many of our prayers while we are down there, and it's obvious that there are many people supporting us through prayer. One thing that always amazes me is how the weather almost never affects any of our activities too much. It rained pretty heavily on two days while we were there, both times it was around noon so day camp hadn't started yet. The rain had mostly stopped by the time day camp began and only slightly affected the number of kids. Then by the time for Challenge Circle, the grass was dry enough that we could still run around on it.One thing I learned in New Orleans, is that God ALWAYS has a purpose for you wherever you are. On one of the rainy days, we had all run over to the Yellow House after chapel and then the cook had just gotten back from shopping for food for the week so a few of us helped her bring some food over to CastleRock in the rain. On the way over, we saw a teen trying to fix his bike and when he was still there on the way back, a few of us stopped to help. A screw had come off from his gear changer, and knocked his chain off. Right when we stopped to help, he found the screw and then we struggled for a good 10 minutes trying to get it back on. Then I realized I should pray for God's help, and then right away we finally got it on. But the gear changer was hitting the spokes, so we were trying to twist it to make it work, but nothing worked. So then I prayed again, and then, it just popped into place! We invited the guy to come to church on Sunday, he said he'd try to make it, and then he rode off. Afterwards I realized that if the cook hadn't gotten back at that time, and if we hadn't all been willing to bring the food over to CastleRock at that time, we never would have been in the place to help him.Since I first went down to New Orleans, I've been considering serving down there as an intern, and so I've been praying about what I should do, Last year when I was down there, I definitely felt God calling me to serve there as a sumer. I was considering doing it this summer, but I had so many other things that were going to be happening this summer. So I prayed about it and felt God said I could wait until next summer. Then when I was there this summer, I had three of the Urban Impact staff members (including Pastor John) tell me I should serve as an intern. So now I feel certain that God is calling me to serve there, and I plan on answering His call.Thank you all again for your support and please continue to pray for the staff at Urban Impact and that the ministry down there would continue to prosper.

Livin On Your Prayer, , ,Were Half Way There

We arrived in Festus, MO at about 8:15 PM, grabbed some pizza and many went for a swim. We also ran into the Dubuque group at the hotel, we had no idea we had reserved the same hotel. We will be leaving for home at about 7:30 AM. We plan to drive by the Gateway Arch in St. Louis for a quick picture and then it will be about another 10 hours of driving until we reach home. We have about 600 miles left to drive.

Prayer:
Continued driving safety, it appears we will be running into hot weather and some rain along the way.
For a good night sleep.

The Poem Ends.. . .

We kept up the pace
and finished the race

We started off on the wrong foot
going the wrong way
But then we got turned around
and it was okay

The drive was long and we were all tired
So when we got to Festus and we all retired

We wished Eric Happy Birthday
And that is all we have to say.

Sightseeing and our Last Harrah. . .

Wow! What a week. As we write this we are all amazed at how fast everything has gone by. The days highlights included the guys missing breakfast (overslept), trip to the French Quarter for a walking tour and back to CastleRock church to begin a modified day camp at a nearby park. We played soccer, had bible time as well as crafts. It was very hot, even in the shade. We had over 40 children show up. Pastor Dave even got a chance to go to Tre Pennington's (CastleRock Worship Leader and National Project Director) house to check out the finished work that one of our adult work teams did back in August of 2006.

We came back to the church for about a half hour break and some water and headed back out to play with the children at the two project sites. It was nice to have one last time to just hang out, get our hair braided, spin kids and play four square. It was so hard to leave, but we know that beginning next Monday another group will be coming in to pick up where we left off. We praise God for the wonderful relationships that were developed, along with some great conversations about God we had.

Prayer Request. . .
Pray for the Urban Impact/ CastleRock Church staff as they continue to build on what the teams start.
Pray for our team as we look back at the week and reflect on what God has taught us.
Pray for Pastor Dave as he drives nearly 20 hours over the next two days after a long week.

Answered Prayer. . .
Great last day with the children, good attendance and weather.
Safety for all the groups as they all worked very hard.

Our Last Poem Installment will be Saturday Night. Check back again.

Cracking Voices. . .Loving Kids!

Hard to believe we have already been in New Orleans for 5 days, it seems like it just started. Today we thought it was going to be a rain out because of the rain that came just after lunch, just before day camp pick was to begin. The rain slowed down and we changed up a few of the activities. I continues to be great to see our team work so well with the other teams as well as the children of New Orleans. Gary Weldon and Pastor Dave continued to dig holes and get fencing ready at Pastor John's house.

We were concerned about the condition of the play areas at both sites for the evening recreation and Challenge Circle. We were amazed that the areas we were in great condition with a limited amount of standing water. We had nice size groups as both sites and we are not sure who had more fun, our students or the children. Many of the team members voices are cracking because of the cheering and yelling they have been doing. Each time we get together with the kids, our relationships with them deepen and our love for them grows.

Last Minute Update. . . We all headed over to the Creole Creamery Ice Cream Shoppe for a late night snack. It was a nice cool break for the end of a long hot and muggy day. By the way, Eric Baumgartner took the Creole Creamery Challenge of eating 8 scoops of ice cream, 4 different toppings, 8 cherries, wafer crackers and whipped cream. He did it last year and made it into their Hall of Fame (see picture), however this year he went for the record, he missed it by 1 second, his time was 11:01:25. It was pretty entertaining, especially when we hit the bumps in the road on the way back to CastleRock Church.

Prayer Request. . .

Our bodies are getting very worn out, pray for an abundance of energy and love.

Opportunties to share Jesus with the children we have been working with this week

Continued safety as we finish strong and leave everything we have left for the children

Answered Prayer. . .

Every one is feeling pretty good, just tired. We are not sure about Eric after the huge Sundae

For good field conditions for our recreation and Challenge Circle times

With Much Anticipation. . . The Poem!

Hard to believe it was the last day

Where we go to Challenge Circle and play

It rained for a little while

But we were still got to see kids smile

The ice cream was really cold

but Eric was bold

So he dove right in

And finished with a grin

This trip is going so fast

it seems like it's already in the past

*Explanation of the Challenge Circle!

Some of you have asked for a description of the Challenge Circle. We apologize for not giving you a brief description of it. We have dubbed it the AWANA Circle on steroids. The Challenge Circle was created by Glen Schrieber (founder of Urban Impact Ministries) back in the early 90's. It was designed with the urban/ inner city in mind. All the activities take place around a large painted circle, that is broken into four pie-shaped sections. Each section has a color that has a meaning. Green- God Loves Me, Blue- All People Are Sinful, Red- Jesus Died For Me and Yellow- I Want Jesus To Be My Best Friend. Points are loosely given to teams that win various games, show good sportsmanship and are "hyped" (loud and excited). They also learn various cheers that they need to know when the head coach asks them. Examples include: HC- I am a KIDS- Champion, Stay in SCHOOL, Who's In the House? JESUS. With some of the cheers their are sometimes actions that go with them. We play that for about 45-50 minutes. Each team has team members that serve as line coaches, circle coaches and hype coaches. As you can imagine, it takes a lot of coaches and helpers to keep the energy level up as well as keep the kids engaged.

We hope this helps.

Half Way There!

Today started out really hot and then it rained. . .and it got hotter. It was another good day at day camp even though the numbers were down a little bit; all the kids had a lot of fun. We taught them about David and Goliath and made snowflakes in crafts. Day camp ended today with the kids not wanting to leave.

This evening we headed out to go to challenge circle*. When we got out of the vans not many children were there. It didn’t take long for them to show up. We played four square, tossed balls around and we colored the sidewalk with chalk. We started challenge circle with the football toss and all the kids really loved it and finished with a all team relay. After challenge circle we got out water balloons and launched them with a sling shot all the kids went crazy. Many of the team members put the kids on their shoulders to try and get hit by more balloons. So at the end of day everyone was happy and sad we had to leave.


Prayer Requests
Kids at day camp and challenge circle would continue to cooperate.
As the days are winding down that we would have energy to finish and the kids would want to talk about Jesus.
We could keep this mindset when we go home and apply it at home.

Answered Prayers:
The rain didn’t hinder any of our activities at Day Camp or Challenge Circle
Karolyn (Our Female Youth Leader) is feeling much better.

Our Poem. . .

Today we woke with our energy drained
And right before lunch it rained and rained
And even though our voices are hoarse We keep on yelling to finish the course

Gettin In the Groove!

Today we had another great day at sports camp and challenge circle, almost everyone has gotten the hang of it now. Every time we eat we have fun breaking up and talking to other teams and sometimes the staff or interns, they’re awesome!!! Today our team also got to wash their clothes.

It was a great evening tonight, the temperature was comfortable by New Orleans standards, and we were much more comfortable with one night under our belt. We had kids on our backs and shoulders, others did our hair and some we just threw the ball around with them. The teams then proceeded to the Challenge Circle and got “hyped” with the children. The team is working very well.

Prayer Requests:

Pray that all of us would keep having energy throughout the week.
Pray that all the kids would have a good time and learn more about God.
Pray that Cara’s knee would keep healing.
Pray for Karolyn as she is a bit under the weather.


Answered Prayer:

We had nearly 40 children show up at the Calliope Project site this evening.

All the kids had a blast
Even those who came in last
Before we knew it the day had ended
And all our energy expended

First Day In The Books

What a day! Everyone was a bit nervous, since most of our team had not been to New Orleans beofere. In the morning we had a chapel time with Mike Robinson which challenged us to consider "Kingdomnomics." I will give you a hint, it is about People, Relationship and Resources. After lunch we did some prep and were off to our duties for the first day of Day Camp. We had Unity Time, Bible Time, Crafts, and Soccer. Our group did great. Pastor Dave helped out at Pastor John's (CastleRock Church Senior Pastor) house with siding.

After a short break and supper, we headed out to the Calliope & Melph Housing Projects to do our recreation and Challenge Circle. It was a beautiful evening, things cooled down a bit, only a little bit about, to 90 degrees. Cara hurt her knee a bit as she ran with one of the kids around the Challenge Circle. We will know more on Tuesday. We ended the night with a the water balloon launches which are always a blast.

Prayer Requests:
Cara's knee injury
More children to show up at the Calliope Challenge Circle
For continued strength and endurance
For opportunites to tell the children the Good News of Jesus Christ

The Poem Continues. . . .

Today was the start of day camp
by the end we were a bit damp
During Challenge Circle we all got stoked
Then we launched balloons which got us soaked
(substitute poem writer for Cara, Eric Baumgartner)

Trained and Braving The Heat!

Today we were trained in all the activities we will be doing throughout the week (challenge circle and day camp). We learned what we would be doing with the kids all week. The heat index was 102! We also had a Concert of Prayer, which included a time of worship and prayer for our nation and our group this week. Everyone is feeling pretty good, getting excited about our week ahead. Our group was divided into 2 teams that will do ministry at separate sites each evening.

Prayer Requests:
Endurance throughout the week
That God would continue to build unity
That God would work in the hearts of the kids



Before we ate we shouted a cheer
Which made us all get in to gear
We also had fun
In the very hot sun,
Later we prayed
And thought it was a good day

We Have Arrived In New Orleans!

Today we arrived in New Orleans at around 3:30 where we were orientated at the Yellow House and then at Castle Rock Community Church. At the church we did introductions of all the leaders causing Dave to break dance (for real), we learned chants and cheers, after which we played an eventful game of “Eat that THANG”. Eric Baumgartner rocked it, eating a sandwich made up of turkey, jalapeños (lots), cottage cheese, yogurt, mayo, and barbeque sauce, in one bite!! That’s all for today here’s more of our poem.

We arrived in New Orleans today
When we arrived everyone said yea!
When we stepped out of the van
We realized we’d get a good tan.
Eric didn’t even flinch When he was given a gross sandwich.

This is the drive that never ends it goes on and on my friends

Day 2 started at eight when we headed out from our hotel and hit the road. We drove through Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas and a little bit of Mississippi. We reached our second hotel of the trip in Memphis, Tennessee at about 6:45. Went and ate at CiCi's pizza, pasta and more for dinner. And then took a dip in the pool and so far that has been our day. To end our day Logan Knutson shared a devotional with the group. Thanks for reading but now for more on the poem!

This is the drive that never ends
it just goes on and on my friends
as we did drive a lot of bends
we played Pictionary with our pens
and every one is best of friends

P.S. Our card reader broke. Sorry! We'll get you the pictures as soon as possible.

Dave drove, we rode!!!

We arrived at church and loaded the trailer and had a time of prayer. We departed First Free precisely at 3:17, once we crossed the Iowa border, we stopped at a rest stop to stretch our legs ;) . The rain was atrocious, a few of our team members got soaked, trying to find the van which Dave had moved. We drove for 390 miles to Cedar Rapids, Iowa. We made a quick pit stop at Subway for supper. Now we are here informing you about our day of fun!!!

We packed up the load
Dave drove, we rode
we played catch phrase
and had a good day
we made a nice poem
aren't ya glad we aren't home?

Catch ya tomorrow with some pictures and pay attention to our never ending poem!!!

FROM:
Cara Meidlinger
Heidi Florin
Karen Baumgartner

1 Week and Counting

We will be taking our 9th team of youth to the Central City of New Orleans to partner with CastleRock Community Church and Urban Impact Ministries. We have already had 3 team meetings. Our Team consists of 13 student and 2 adult leaders. Each team member needs to raise a minimum of $550 as well as a prayer support team. Please be in prayer for the team as they make their final plans for the trip. Be sure to check back regularly to view pictures, team member journals, video uploads and specific prayer requests.