Trip #1: Southside Christian

Hey everyone!!

So trip #1 is finished and was a sucess! Definately had it's challenges... Learning the ropes, and trying to be confident in everything you do... And pour into kids lives, and try to promote the word "bank" (the interns at LeaderTreks are trying to start a trend one student at a time), and being a great leader for the students to model after... Oh my goodness - this is going to be such a bank summer!

We had 7 students and 2 adults from Southside Christian in Orlando, FL (not too far from me!). It is one of our smaller trips. They arrived Sunday and left this morning. They are a good group of kids. They worked hard (most of the time). We are working on finishing a house that was started last summer. This house was falling apart, and some teams before us stabalized it... We hung so much drywall this week, and mudded, and built half of a wheel chair ramp. It was amazing how much different the house looks! It is for an 80+ year old lady who is living in an over crowded house right next door. We are hoping to finish this house in the next 2 weeks so we can start working on building a house from the ground up for a family of 6.

In the afternoons, this group had planned a VBS so we did that Monday-Thursday at a park. It was so awesome. There were usually about 15 kids - just enough for each one of us to give enough attention to the bigger and little ones. Almost all of us are sore from giving so many piggy back rides and carrying them on our necks. But how awesome it is to be able to love the unloveable. It is so sad to think that the attention they received this week is probably more than they have seen all year.

There were some challenges along the way, no doubt. I thought it would be tough working with the students and getting them to work, but this trip was hard at first because the adult leaders weren't on the same page as LeaderTreks. It got a lot better towards the end of the week though. I definately think there were some major "Yay Gods" this week.

I am really excited about our next trip because it is my middle schoolers - I am so very excited to see them! Pray that I challenge myself continually and that I am intentional in my relationships. This is a larger group 16 students and 4 adults. But it is going to be so amazingly BANK!

I have included some pictures below... Enjoy! Feel free to message me, send encouraging notes - they do mean a lot! I wish I could respond to all of them, but my internet and cell reception isn't very good here...

My love to you all!!

Joy

Trip #1 Pictures

Southside Christian Team



Yay for pink tool belts while working on drywall! And challenging students!



This is Nazzia who literally rode on my shoulders for a whole 2 hours almost every day - and styled my hair every day... Hmm, thank you Mom for giving me a tough scalp! Oh, and yes, that's playdough she is putting in my eye...