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 (parents, please read this email as well=),

Just a quick reminder that TODAY (Thursday, July 31st) is the due date for your rough draft Thank You/Follow Up letters. If I don’t have them today, I expect to see them in my inbox by tomorrow, unless I hear otherwise from you.

To review what goes in those letters… The letter is to 1) thank your supporters (whether in prayer, money or both), 2) let them know about the Thank You Reception NEXT Friday, August 8th from 6-8pm, and 3) share a brief testimony in writing with your reader. As I mentioned in the meeting, please send the letter and reception-invitation-postcard together to all the people you sent support letters to initially–and to anyone else who supported you, whether you sent them a support letter or not. You are responsible for the postage on these babies.

Once I edit and send them back to you, YOUR LETTERS ARE TO BE MAILED TO YOUR SUPPORTERS NO LATER THAN THIS FRIDAY.

Also, feel free to hand your leftover post cards to whoever you want to invite to the reception.

…And a quick reminder about the reception. Again, it’s next Friday, August 8th. We will arrive at the Foyer at 4:30pm on Friday afternoon to set up for the reception, which begins at 6pm. Food, photos and other fun first, then testimonies! Clean up will take about an hour, which means we’ll be wrapping things up around 9pm. Please be prepared to stay for the duration. This is the last part of our mission!

If you were NOT at Saturday’s debrief, you missed some important info about the reception and instructions/guidelines about giving your testimony, and you did not receive the Thank You Reception invitation postcards. Please call me ASAP to get the 411 and to arrange a time to get your postcards before Friday.

Thanks team! I’m VERY excited for our family and friends to hear our testimonies next week. I believe they will be VERY encouraged and inspired by you–and way proud of you, too! (I know I am=)

-Josh

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!

]]> http://nationunderground.wordpress.com/2008/07/12/juarez-mission-preparing-ourselves/feed/ 0 nationunderground http://nationunderground.wordpress.com/2008/06/27/team-dinner/ http://nationunderground.wordpress.com/2008/06/27/team-dinner/#comments Fri, 27 Jun 2008 04:25:09 +0000 nationunderground http://nationunderground.wordpress.com/?p=82 ]]>

Hey everybody…
 
The mission trip is coming soon, only 3 weeks away!!!!  To get to know each other better, next week, Thursday July 3rd, we’ll be having a Mexico mission team dinner @ Rudy and Carissa Medina’s house from 6-9 pm.  Yummy Mexican food will be served… It would be great if some of you can bring chips/salsa, drinks, and/or dessert.  I’ll let you know what you can bring when you RSVP.  Oh, and yes–we’ll play some fun games, too!

 The address is 106 Amador Watsonville, Ca- off Green Valley.  Call or email Carissa for directions.  Please RSVP to Emilia @ sillygoose505@yahoo.com by Monday, June 30th…. Thanks and hope to see you there! J

When you RSVP, it would be helpful for planning to know how many are coming (for example, will it just be you or you and your parents)?

P.S., Parents are invited and encouraged to attend! 

Hey Gang, Rach here,

I just wanted to let you in on another fundraising opportunity.  My boss is in need of some major work around her house.  She needs help in some grounds work (trimming tree branches, filling gopher holes, etc.) (the complete list to come) and she asked me if we might be willing to help her out.  She will pay us a good amount of money towards our trip for our work.  I will have more details to come but we’ve scheduled it for: Sunday, July 6 (after church).  She will provide food, drinks and other yummies.  I know that this is short notice but this is something to not miss out on!!!!!

Word.

Hi Everyone and happy post-VBS!!!

This is a friendly reminder that our personal contributions of $300 were due last Friday, June 20th.  With the business of VBS week, I know we have all been quite preoccupied!  Nevertheless, V-B-S is officially D-U-N and our mission trip is less than 3 weeks away!  (YEAH!)

I am asking that each team member pays his/her balance by this Friday, June 27th.  I believe everyone has paid at least a $50 deposit, so your balance will be $300 minus whatever you have already paid.  Joyce, Carissa and I will work on emailing your support AND personal contribution balances to you before the end of this week.  In the meantime, you may call/email us on Wednesday to find out.

Also, all support was due last Friday. A good chunk o’ dough came in during VBS week.  Once we determine your support balances, some of you may need to contact supporters from whom you have NOT received any response–if you’re still short of your support goal.  By “contact” I mean you can either email/call them to ask them to please return their support cards, regardless of whether or not they can give financially.

Talk to you soon!  Juarez, here we come!!!

Hi everyone,
 
Just a brief reminder about our BIG team day this Saturday.  Here’s the overview:
 
9am: Meet in Assembly room for BREAKFAST(!) with campus family (thanks, Michael Martinez… Come on, PEOPLE!).  We’ll eat, play and clean with our friends, and end this portion of our day with LUNCH(!!)  (and another thanks to Senor Martinez!)
 
12:30ish: We’ll head to the Fireside Room for our team meeting.  In addition to hearing from a guest speakers, we’ll also get some basic Spanish Lessons from Yolanda Miller and Vici Herkomer!  Muchisimas Gracias, senoras!
 
3pm:  We’ll be done!
 
As always, please bring your team binder, journal, pen/pencil, and a note pad (or note paper for your binder).  Get ready to get your Espanol on!

TEAM PHOTO  WILL BE TAKEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hi all!  Carissa sent me this thought following our meeting with Peter Henderson a few weeks ago.  It’s brief and to the point.  I hope you enjoy it; it will encourage us as we take it to heart and put it into action!

I was thinking about that story that Peter shared—the one about the church that had all the necessary supplies needed for the wall (bricks, etc) except for the concrete to hold it together. I keep thinking about how that relates to life and how we can sometimes think we have all the necessary tools we need, but without the Lord to hold it all together, it isn’t worth anything. He is the one ingredient we need to build a foundation that is lasting and eternal. His word is like the mortar that we can build our life upon. Without it (the word), we can be like those people who couldn’t accomplish what they needed/wanted to without that essential component.

Hi Everyone,

VBS is D-U-N and the dust is thick upon MANY cars! Just a reminder that tomorrow (Sunday) is our FINAL fundraiser. Please be near the back gate (where we were last time) no later than 11:25 tomorrow. It’s VBS testimony weekend and like you, I want to see/hear as many as possible but we also need to be ready for the plethora of vehicles who will begin arriving just before 11:30.

We will finish washing around 1:45 and will need a good 45 minutes to clean up. Please be available to stay until 2:30.

That’s it for now! Well done on selling those tickets.

See you tomorrow,

-Josh

Hello fellow Juarez fundraisers!

We have one final fundraiser and it is approaching rather quickly … this coming Sunday! Heres the deal, sell as many tickets as possible and show up to the church at 11:00 AM on Sunday, June 22. The weather is supposed to be warm, so come prepared to get wet and come with lots of sunscreen!