Catching Up!

Greetings!

The kids are swimming in Mobile Bay back at Baytreat, some of the Advisors are shopping, and I am sitting on the deck at Two Sisters Bakery in Fairhope, Alabama prepping this edition of the APC Youth Mission blog. We have some catching up to do, in that we had no wi-fi in Memphis.

We hit Mobile about 6:15 last night and got out here around 7:00 p.m. Last night was getting oriented and settling in. This morning was a busy morning at Government Street Pres and now for some down time before things begin in earnest on Monday.

So ... here is a bunch of stuff from the kids! A second posting will have pictures!!

Fuller: Had trouble sleeping next to Alestair (Friday night in Memphis), he was sleep talking all night. It wasn’t so much talking as mumbling.

Martha: Yesterday (Friday) in the white van, I enjoyed really getting to know the youth…hearing all the plot twists of book one in Dakota’s book trilogy, watching the delicate care that Fuller and Hannah showed their adopted “Sour Patch” kids, Connor McAdoo’s figuring out of “Who’s in the Pan,” Adelaide’s video and photo productions of her cats, and Conner Stifel’s proper pronunciation of “humuhumunukunukuapua’a.” I can’t wait for another day! J

Cory (Saturday morning): A lot of driving yesterday but ready for another day. Had our fair share of laughs in the van and church in Memphis.

Conner S.(Saturday): Well it was a long ride yesterday, I thought I wasn’t going to survive the 12 hour ride but it was quite fun riding with other kids and the ride went faster instead of driving by yourself with your parents -- that’s longer. But I am ready for a 6 or 7 hour ride to Alabama, can’t wait to help out this week it’s going to be a lot of fun.

Holly: Today (Saturday) has been a lot of driving but also a lot of fun. We all have on our matching bright green bandanas and are already really tired. We stay awake by eating lots of candy and singing loudly. We already met some cool people at Chick-fil-A(in Jackson, MS) or as my mom calls it “Chick-a-flick.” We attempted to sing a song with a lady named Pinkie and had some interesting conversations with Katie and Kristina. We also were asked repeatedly if our bandanas signified we were in a gang. Altogether it was a lot of fun. I can’t wait to see what happens next.

Connor H.: We had lots of fun today being on my second mission trip and meet some new people can’t wait to get to Baytreat. 9 more days left of fun so I won’t waste one minute. J

Katie: Today(Saturday) has been so much fun!! We went to a lake (Saturday - Granada, MS) for morning devotionals. Alestair had a baby balloon that he was obsessed with. When we got out of the van, Brianna popped/deflated Alestair’s baby!! Everyone was so happy, except Alestair. Tom bought her gummy worms because she got rid of that thing. :-) We waded in the water. The only bad thing there was that I got stung by a bee. Twice! Also we finally saw a pink car!

Sarah: This is my second mission trip. So far it has been extremely fun seeing all the sights in Memphis. But I cannot wait till we get to Baytreat and see the ocean!! This week will be such a blast!!!!

Nathan: Today has been awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We will soon be in Mobile and ready to settle in. Lately we’ve all been talking in British accents and making our “families”. Alestair and Sarah have been becoming cannibals by eating their Sour Patch Children. This week is gonna be awesome!

Al: well now I lost my baby Jimmy! He was "bumped off". Tom paid Breanna to make it look like an accident. The memorial service will be held at the the beach……He will be missed. I’m British and a cannibal. Thriller rules!

Chris: We aren’t to Mobile yet, but God things are already happening! Everywhere we stop (which with this group is a lot of places), people are so friendly and ask us where we are going. The group at Chick-A-Fila created quite a stir with their matching green bandanas that they were given at devotionals last night. They were able to tell several very lovely people about their mission trip. Another God thing is that this has been a great van trip even if it is a long ride. I think these kids will experience and accomplish great things this week!

Tom: I had an interesting night with my sixth (soon to be seventh grade) boys talking AND walking in the middle of the night! We are on day 2: 7 hours my foot! We have been going 9 and still have 50 miles of county roads to go. 6K dial up seems to be the norm with WI-FI almost non-existent.

This is Rick again -- the journey has been great! Marian has pulled most of the "wheel time" in our white van, so when I haven't been backing her efforts, I have been navigator (except when we defer to Martha's GPS -- which has a decent success ratio -- except for the park in Granada). Of course, she says the directions are good ... it's that I am not good at following that weird annoying voice -- the GPS, not Martha!

This morning we had some more orientation. We have been joined by three more kids and two adults here in Mobile. Their youth pastor got in from Montreat, NC last night and is with us this morning! Worship was very traditional and very Southern. Conner S and Connor H spoke on our behalf. Today was Trinity Sunday and on the way out we introduced our third Connor to the Associate Pastor. He commented something about us being "trinitarianingly correct".

Well as mis amigos Laura, Jaime, Robelio, and Jose would say -- "basta por hoy". "Enough for today!" Pictures to follow!

RICK