Hi Missionary Ladies and Gents!

OK, so THIS Friday (the day after tomorrow) is our glorious and much-anticipated THANK YOU RECEPTION!!! (Can I get a “HALLELUJAH” and a “GLORIA A DIOS!”?!).

First things first: this event is going to be FABULOSO! Not to mention, we’re gonna have some yummy food together.

Second: Thanks to Chelsea Samples for leading us in our reception preparations. AND, thanks to all the rest of you for being eager to respond/help out however needed. (On that note, there will be things we’ll all be working on this Friday afternoon in order to prepare/set up for our evening. PLEASE be sure to arrive by 4:30pm in The Foyer… and be prepared to stay until 9pm so we can take care of clean up).

Third: If you took photos on the trip, please print out your favorite 4-6 and bring them to our reception. We will try to add them to the photo collage for our trip.

Fourth: SUPER IMPORTANT! Please email me the HEART of your testimony in brief, concise, poignant bullet points (3-ish). Remember, the focus should be personal: What did God do in/through you? What did He say/reveal to you?

The purpose of this is to make sure that YOU know exactly what your testimony is, so you can leave the audience with a vivid, powerful snapshot of your mission trip experience. (By the way, you’ll do GREAT with this. I’m VERY excited for our church friends and family to hear you. They WILL be blessed… And, so… Please be prepared. This is a way to do that!)

Please send these to me by the end of the day tomorrow (THURSDAY).

An example from Sally Sue’s testimony:

• God showed me that I have a lot to offer—and that He can/will use my life to help others when I say yes to Him
• God showed me that I’m gifted in praying for others
• God stirred my heart to be involved in missions again in the future

Let me know if you have any questions about this.

See you Friday!

Hi Everyone!

We are hours away from departure! Please take a look at the three emails that Josh has sent out.

Spiritual Prep:

I’m encouraging all of us as a team to spend the next 3 days (including today):

• Fasting something(s)—tv, video games, music, coffee(!), a meal/meals… Fasting coupled with prayer is powerful—especially when we do it together as a team. Don’t like to fast? No worries! You’re in good company. I don’t like it either…but let’s do it anyway! (Parents, I also invite you to participate with us…and to continue praying while we’re on our mission. =) Wondering what to pray about? Please reference your mission trip manual for prayer points and scripture to read.
• Praying
• Journaling (S.O.A.P.) style.

A great time to do the above is when you’re NOT doing the thing you’re fasting!

Practical Stuff:

• Saturday, July 12^th—arrival time: Please arrive here at the church no later than 2pm this Saturday. We’ll get our stuff loaded into the cars taking us to the airport, THEN gather on the tire swing lawn where Priska Martinez will pray for our team. Parents, I want you to be a part of this, too—if you’re able!
• Packing list updates & additions to the list:
  • Girls, you may bring NON-spaghetti strap tanks (2 finger width) to wear around Centro Vida only (the place where we’re sleeping—our home base). HOWEVER, you will need sleeved-shirts for our ministry time during the days.
  • Everyone, please bring chapstick with sunscreen
  • Optional (but encouraged): small spray bottle or “mist-er” fan/spray bottle. To help you stay refreshed during hot days.
  • Your Life Journal
  • Pens/pencils
  • Your team binder
  • Your BIBLE! =)
• Contact Info/Team Itinerary: Parents, I will email this to you by the end of this Friday!
• Photocopies of passports: Please make two (2) photo copies of your passport and turn into my box as soon as you are able to do so. If the earliest available time for you is this Saturday, please arrive by 1:45pm to take care of that.

Team Photo:

• If you were not at the team dinner at the Medinas’ home last Thursday, you are not in the team photo. If you are able to, please send a recent digital photo of yourself to me by the end of the day today. I hope to be able to include everyone’s mugshot in our team flyer—to be inserted in our church bulletin this weekend.

Thank You Cards: Please do whatever you can to send thank you cards to your supporters BEFORE we leave town on Saturday. (Postage is the responsibility of each team member.) Please don’t wait until the last minute! Take the time to write a brief personal note in each card… AND be sure to invite people to our Thank You Reception on Friday, August 8^th, from 6-8pm in the Foyer and Sanctuary here at church. Something like:

“Please join our team for dinner and stories! Juarez Mission Trip Thank You Reception: Friday, August 8^th, from 6-8pm at The Coastlands. 280 State Park Drive. Aptos, CA 95003”

Team Debrief Meeting: Saturday, July 26^th, 3-4:30pm in The Fireside Room. This is an important meeting! We’ll share stories and talk about our Thank You Reception.

Post Trip Letters (“Follow Up Letters”): Oh the stories we’ll have! Each team member is to write a follow up letter after our trip to let our supporters know what their support enabled us to experience. Let’s not wait until we return home to start thinking about this… Rather, let’s take notes/journal about things that we experience and things that God does in/through us during our mission. Timeline for follow up letters:

Rough Draft: Due Tuesday, July 29^th

Final Draft: Due Saturday, August 2^nd

Final Draft Mailing Deadline: Tuesday, August 5^th

Thank You Reception: Friday, August 8^th, from 6-8pm. We’ll arrive at 5 to set up, and stay until 9ish to complete clean up. Everyone will have a part to play in the planning of this reception… and everyone will get to share a brief testimony!

In addition to your personal handwritten invitation (in your Thank You Cards), we’ll also be sending out a Thank You Reception post card upon our return. NOTE: this reception is for everyone who wants to come—not just people who supported you…

Oh, by the way, it’s currently 69 degrees with thundershowers in Juarez(!). The 10-day forecast calls for highs in the low-to-upper nineties. Not bad! Let’s pray that it stays in the double digits.

Attached you will find the itinerary and contact info for our trip.  In addition to the phone numbers for Mexico (you have a lot of options!), I had Verizon enable my phone to receive calls in Juarez.  HOWEVER, according to the service rep, there is no guarantee that I will have coverage in every area. Please be assured that I will let you know once we arrive safely in Colorado and Mexico; I’ll do that as soon as I am able to.

Parents, I will post this document on the downloads page for our team (you can link there from the Nation blog: nationunderground.wordpress.com) sometime later this afternoon.  ALSO, Joyce will print a hard copy for every family AND for every team member. You can pick that up later today or I can give it to you tomorrow.

As a reminder, please bring your PASSPORTS with you tomorrow!  I need to get two copies of those. I currently have the Teagues’, Millers’ and Carissa (you’ll notice I don’t yet have mine).  If you haven’t made a copy/can’t make a copy before the office closes today, please arrive at 1:45 tomorrow to do so; you can put the copies in my box.

Team, you may bring your ipods (or similar) BUT please remember that it could be damaged or stolen on this trip. AND, I will be giving you guidelines as to when you can listen to them (basically, on the plane and on the bus but NOT when we’re at our ministry locations).  Unless you have international coverage on your cell phones, I would suggest that you consider leaving them at home.  Having said that, they will be handy while we’re in the states.  Please discuss with your parents.

Please email me if you have any questions. Hasta Manana!

I’ll keep this one short and to the point: It was stinkin’ cold today! Most of it anyway. I was thinking about this as I zipped up my hoodie to insulate myself against the cold, drizzly weather earlier this morning and afternoon.

Here’s all I want to say: Thank You, God, for AMAZING weather last Sunday for our car wash! A week ago today we were splishin’-and-a-splashin’, washing cars and raising somewhere in the neighborhood of $900. How cold and not-so-fun it would have been to wash cars today instead.

Again, thank You, Lord!

-Josh E