SERVE 2012 - Day 3, Sunday - Motorcycles... : )

Hey! Niesje and Fayth here tonight... Ron's decided that he has better things to do than talk to you guys... (and hopefully he doesn't edit this part out.... :P ) 

Today was the first full, actual 12 hours awake with our participants. Some of us knew what to expect, others were just waiting to see what new ball curve would be thrown their way. 

And here is how it started....

Hey Leah! Good mornin' to you too!

That is soooo cute! Best buds ^

BREAKFAAAAASSSSTTTT! Very good... again....

Rearranging the plate to fit all the necessities

Woah Joah! Morning Zach

Beauty... good ole' food shots... (Ron, these are getting little repetitive...you should work on that....)

Fayth slept GrEaT.... NOT! And she was eating alone at that point too... which is the reason for the funky face.

Ron in his captain hat... we personally think pink would have more appropriately complimented his skin tone. 

Church prep

Someone's smiley in the morning!

Thanks for the fuzzy's, Amy :) Always appreciated.

Shawn excited for the day... motorbikes and cars! This was the closest he could get because....

Kristen had the car for the time being :)

Joy writing fuzzy's; deep in thought

Bonding time between Niesje and Zach

Hey John!

Lucy greeting people walking in before worship

Sara was an awesome greeter this morning

Cool shot, Chris! 

Annette praying for Shellie before the service. So cool! 

<3 Love between friends <3

Awesomeness right there 

Good morning handshake from Jovita

Carolyn didn't want to just shake hands. She warmly greeted people with hugs. 

Doorman Steven! What a gentleman 

  

Well, hello Lucy

Eeeeuuuuwwwwww

The one behind the camera is now in front

David, video-ing (yes, no, maybe so?) the service. 

Tyler rockin out with the praise band :) Keep up the great work buddy!!

Shawn wanted to be a part of the team but not by himself... great job Carissa!

John playing the bongo during worship

Hannah, the praise team leader :) Great job so far Hannah.

Sarah, nicely done :) 

Fontana during worship

Jovita dancing to How Great is Our God during the service this morning

It's soooo cool to watch her as she dances and worships 

Carissa doing sign language along with Jovita's dancing

Shawn playing his guitar for the church

Zach is part of the band!! Oh Yeah!!

Charlotte doing sign language 

Shellie Power delivering the morning message on how God is the God of Wonders (does anyone else think of the song God of Wonders by Chris Tomlin?)

Commissioning of the SERVE team

Fellowship - Fell-outta-worship

Truly best buds!! :) 

Our talented Alex jamming with the band after the service

  

Socializing after the service

Kristen and Shawn practicing guitar

Very nice smile Megan

Joy being joyful!! :)

Ron being... well ORN (haha that's for spelling my name wrong!!)

Leah and Kyle deep in conversation.....about pineapple?

Jovita making posters for Kyle's performance on Wednesday, stay tuned!!

Hey Steven!! :)

uhh... you okay there Rosy?

Small group ti...ooops! Group Mission time ;) Wake up, Alex!

Carolyn working in her booklet during Group Mission time

Shawn helping with the collage during Group Mission time

  

Group Mission  - Team Mercury!!! (I'd label the others, but I don't remember their names... oops!)

Whadaya doing Ailene? Not paying attention? *shocked* Love you anyways 

Fayth and Willi going over their tasks for the Group Mission

Megan helping Zach with his workbook. 

Fontana and Carolyn, working as a team. 

Ooooo... is this good or bad? :$

Classy!

Yeah, Sarah and Rebecca! 

(Im)Patiently waiting for the car or bike(s) to return for the next riders. 

Willi is ready to go! 

Taurie's turn. 

John and Kyle are in the mood....

Very nice picture Taurie! It looks like it was a good ride. 

Shawn returning from his ride. You should have heard him laughing as he returned :D

Shawn was so excited, he just had to share it with Justin

Willi! You're rockin it!

Heeeyy Joy

Any closer and you wouldn't need to use a kleenex...  

Now THAT'S a little more picture perfect...

Lookin good Ladies! Likin them shades ;)

AIRPLANE!!!!

Carolyn loved her ride

John getting in the mood

Lucy, you're such a cutie :)

:D

Niesje's first ride on a bike... She says it was awesome! 

Just chillin'

What are you girls doing?

Ray's Reptiles handler. She did great! 

We all got the chance to hold or touch the various reptiles that were brought and talked about. Holding the tarantula was actually pretty cool, despite all the horror stories you hear about them ("She's the Man" and "Home Alone")

Leah LOVES it!

Megan was not quite sure what she thought of it 

Alex got right into it

We were told that these frogs in fact do not have a tongue to help them swallow their food but that their eyes somehow help push down the food... go figure that one out...

Apparently these guys' tails grow back if they happen to get... chewed off?... by predators... not the happiest thought, but they do grow back!

We tried to "boo" the tortoise into hiding... it didn't work... so she hid it  

That is one intricate knot... not sure how I'd feel about having something wrapped around me like that. 

A part of the crocodile family. The mouth was taped shut because (1) he likes to snap at people and (2) likes to talk - one of the few reptiles that has a voice box. 

Willi feeling the tail. He said it felt 'rocky'

Dinner time! Lasagna, salad, buns, and fruit cups. Yummy! One of the few times I actually like mandarins in my salad... (Fayth) 

Aawww Leah :( What happened to everyone!?!

Enjoying the food

During our Group Mission, all the planets (small groups) were given puzzle pieces that we were to put together during our group time. Sadly, we didn't have enough time to completely finish the activity but here Jovita is trying her best to make sense of all the pieces. 

Our drummer boys!

We started the week with only 7 praise team members... it has grown to about 15. 

Carissa doing sign language during one of the songs. 

Tyler playing with Ailene

Action leaders to Dancing in a Field. 

Kyle got the privilege of being dressed up for today's mission.

The Captain (Ron) giving the okay to Space Cadet Shellie for today's tasks. 

Shellie and Jovita got containers of "garbage"....

that later got turned into a kaleidoscope. 

There were beads and little pieces of rolled up paper, representing good memories as well as bad memories. By putting them together, a cool picture was formed that constantly changed, representing how our life experiences form into beautiful pictures. It was also about how our picture of God changes as we experience different things. 

The second point was "Know - Experience". Shawn got to learn all about a 'fissante' (accent aigu) that had some type of gum in it (how exotic!) and how there's no nutritional value, but how it's flavored orange and all that kind of good stuff. This was to show that we KNOW what it's about and that we should EXPERIENCE it in order to make sure it is actually good. 

Shawn getting his glass of "fissante"

Taste testing... and it got a thumbs up!

Lastly, Zach got to help Shellie find different pictures of the moon.

Time to see if we passed!

Taurie explaining the "Know - Experience" point to the Captain 

Steven, you're spoiled! You've got TWO mentors helping you out! Sorta....

Sarah and Rebecca working on their craft. 

Amy with her (almost) finished product. 

And this is how we ended our night. We made crafts, played sports and watching the movie Win Dixie. 

Turns out Ron went to bed, needing sleep, and left us to finish/publish/write/have fun/an excuse to stay up late and tell you guys about our thoughts on the week so far, the people we've met, and all that kind of stuff.

Hey Everyone!! It's Niesje here :) Like Fayth said, Ron left us to the blog so we thought we'd have some fun :) Just thought I'd share some events/thoughts/memories of what's gone on so far :) I've gotta say that when the participants started to arrive I began to feel all jittery and UBER excited just because they were arriving. After meeting a bunch of the participants, I knew that I was gonna LOVE the week. I've already been on my first motorcycle ride and I also rode in a SWEET red mustang with Amy. Some of the participants are quite witty and have a great sense of humor reminding me of some family and friends I have :P (you all know who you are...) Late nights are a normal thing either talking and not making sense or blogging for Ron and yet... it's really, really fun :) I've made many, many new friends both mentors and participants and I've really enjoyed the worship services and sermons beautifully delivered by Shellie. I especially like being given the chance to write "warm fuzzy's", a.k.a. notes of encouragement to both participants and mentors because they seem to add that special extra measure of community to the week. Tomorrow we start at the work sites and I'm excited :) Hope all is well with everyone from each place we traveled from and may God bless you all!! :)  Over and Out!! ;)

Now its my turn (Fayth). Today was the first full day and it can usually be either really good, or really bad. As we discussed in our mentor meeting, we experienced both. Some are having difficulties connecting with their participants, where others who are excited to get this week started! I am paired up with Willi this year and it is a new experience being a mentor for a guy as opposed to a girl, as I have been my other two years as a mentor. Thankfully, we have 3 male mentors (Justin, Chris, and Jonathon) who are awesome! They are so helpful with all the guys, especially when it comes to bed time (getting ready for bed and then actually getting everyone in bed)! Very cool to see the interactions between these guys and Willi and the other male participants when it comes to this time of the day. Tonight has been a lot smoother than last night (its around 12:45 and there's been no activity yet *thumbs up*) and that is something to be thankful for! Sleep is making its way in and staying for the night.

Now it's time for us to go to bed. We've got our first 'official' work day tomorrow and it's amazing how fast the morning comes when you just want that extra hour of sleep :)