Leech Lake - Day 5/6

I apologize that we are just getting to our stories from the last two days tonight. Thursday was a full day, it was our last day of serving (all of FIRE & WATER got to be together with kids that afternoon!), we visited the headwaters of the Mississippi, we shared our stories, we washed each others' feet and prayed for each other, and we stayed up late into the night just talking.

So after a late night Friday was a really, really early morning with us getting on the road super early, a little bit of a rest in Eau Claire, WI (thank you Lake Street United Methodist Church for hosting us), and hours of conversation about our trip and Jesus.

We hope to be home safe and sound tomorrow, but before we go here are a few more stories from our students. Thank you to everyone who have been praying for and supporting this mission trip, thank you for helping students share the love of Jesus and discover a little more about who He is. But now if you will excuse me, the girl's are screaming outside because they saw a bat...

Today we drove back from Minnesota, we stopped at a church to spend the night. As we drove back I thought about this week and what impacted me the most and it had to be being at Iris’s and seeing people get food. I loved seeing the different reactions of people receiving there food. Some were happy and some were almost embarrassed which I can get because no one want to admit they need help. Overall I enjoyed the whole trip. -Abraham

Today we left the Youthworks site this morning, and I was just thinking about what I really did this week. It was my first Mission Trip, and I really had a lot of fun. I got to meet a lot of new people, and it was just really fun. -Robert

Usually I write 15 paragraphs when I do blogs but I think I will spare you all tonight. Today is the last day on my last ever mission trip. Yesterday night was filled with a lot of emotions, crying, and feelings of impending change for me. It was really great to be surrounded by my friends but change is scary and leaving this youth group is proving to be very hard. I have grown up in this church and I cannot remember a time when I was not in youth ministry at Fishers UMC. I will save all of the sappy feelings for later but I will be forever grateful for all Fire & Water has done for me spiritually and personally. On the verge of tears I will say, thank you to all my friends and all of the adult leaders for giving me such an important part of my life. Greetings and goodbye from Eau Claire, Wisconsin. -Lauren

Leech Lake - Day 4

No long introduction today, here's some great stories from some great students!

Today was our third service day. I was working at kids club which is a Christian summer camp. Kids club is my favorite work site because I always learn a lot from them. They are so honest and over share. Today I heard a girl say that her family doesn’t talk about church because that’s where they torture people. And it was surprising to hear other people’s view on Christians because I feel like sometimes we come into mission trips feeling like we are heroes but people in this area have traumatic incidents with Christians. But on a positive note today we walked down to the lake near the church we are staying at and I saw a lily pad for the first time. Then I saw a bunch of snail shells. I picked up a weird looking snail shell and I realized it was actually still living. I kept a couple empty snail shells and named them after the Backyardigans. It was really exciting to look at God’s creation and I really enjoyed looking at the beautiful landscape. It was definitely something you can’t see in Indiana. Then after that we walked to this coffee shop that was also an emergency shelter. The owner showed us around the shop and the upper floor that she renovated into a bunch of bedrooms. It was really nice and they had one of the best vanilla iced coffees I have ever had. Then at the end of the day we went swimming and thankfully no one almost drowned this time. Overall this day was really fun. (Also as I was writing this Liz murdered a spider that was on Callie’s pillow) -Kaycee

Today’s activities for my group was a new experience for the week. We started off by going to a community member’s house (Joy) and picked up trash for the first part of the day. The interesting thing about her house was that she had wild rice processing equipment that they used at one point in the past. Her son was there for a little bit and he stopped our group and explained how everything worked and shared some funny experiences he had when he used to do it. After, we all took a lunch break and when we got back Joy was there and gave us new instructions for what she wanted us to do. The girls in my group took the task of starting to paint her house while me and the other guys had an interesting task. At first we started to clean out junk Joy didn’t want around the processing equipment and then we moved onto destruction… So she had an old dead chicken coop made of wood and a few walls of sheet metal that she wanted gone. The thing about the walls of sheet metal was that they were nailed to wooden stakes with nails and we didn’t have any hammer or other tools to help us take them off. So us boys decided to pick up some metal pipes that were laying around and absolutely go to town on these walls. And let’s just say thank goodness Mr. Henke was watching over us and not Liz or Anna because they would not have approved. We all took turns swinging on the walls and we were just destroying everything. Once we got done with those metals walls at that point we were just doing the destruction for fun and the chicken coop did not stand a chance. We all ended that work day with smile on our faces and an interesting story to be told. Other than the usual stuff we do after leaving work sites like showers and free time, for our evening activity we went to a lake right near us and we all swam and played volleyball. Because we were having so much fun, we decided to do our church group time at some picnic tables right near the water and other than the mosquitoes it was an eventful unplanned night! –Matthew

Today we got to do kid’s club! This is my favorite thing to do on Youthworks trips, since I love kids and creating relationships with them. I played with kids on the playground, read them a story about Jesus, and played basketball and 4 square. During dinner, the Youthworks staff set up a luau with decorations and music, which was really fun. Then we had the gathering and evening activity. The evening activity tonight was swimming at Walker Beach. We all went in the super cold lake and some of us played volleyball as well. We loved it so much that we stayed at the lake for church group time as well. On the way back to the church, the people in the bus sang (actually screamed) Disney channel movie songs at the top of our lungs. It was a great day! -Morgan

 

Leech Lake - Day 3

 Our trip is half done! It was a hard day of work, especially with the smog outside from wildfires (we woke up and everything smelled like a campfire), but our students did a great job today! But, let's hear it from them. Thank you everyone for your prayers and support!

Today was our second service day. My group worked in the garden at the church we are staying at. The end goal for them is to turn the backyard into a big, beautiful prairie. So, our job was mainly to pull everything out of the ground and flatten it all in order to help them prepare for this. Kaycee, Pastor Renee, Troy, and I cleared out the whole flag pole area. At the end, we actually got a lot done, and it was really cool to see an “after” product. Our evening activity was a scavenger hunt around Bemidji. It was really cool to see all of the statues and art around the downtown area. It was fun running around and racing the other groups we saw running across the streets. Then, we had the gathering and church group time. During the gathering, we talked about compassion and how we can take it into action. Finally, during small groups, Miss Lisa, Noah, Robert and I did a little self-reflection activity that really opened my eyes up. This second day of the trip was very enjoyable and I can’t wait until tomorrow. -Morgan

Today I worked in the garden pulling weeds and putting down tarp, plus we also had ice cream because it is Tuesday and Liz always has Ice cream on Tuesday. -Brandon

Today marked the halfway mark in this year’s mission trip. We served at a local food shelf where we did similar tasks to that of our own food pantry at Fishers UMC. We talked to some of the staff, but specifically a woman named Iris. Iris was an elder of the tribe and told us copious stories of the egregious events that happened to her grandmother. At the time the government was pushing Natives into boarding schools and Iris’s grandmother was picked out of a hat and was sent to one. In these boarding schools they tried to eradicate all forms of Native culture and heritage within an Indigenous person. When they were brought back into their reservations, they felt out-casted and banished. Learning about the not so idyllic US history has been my favorite part of this mission trip. It seems like whenever the US is talked about in school they are always talked about with a positive connotation yet in actuality it is very far from it. Hopefully our group can continue to make meaningful connections within the community.  I hope to broaden my perspectives and continually become more educated about the history of Cass Lake, MN. -Ryan          

Leech Lake - Day 2

Well, today was a different day. All of us were ready to head out to our work projects when a thunderstorm come up out of nowhere (two hours before it wasn't even on the radar). All of our plans for the day were changed, and the students did great with patience and adapting to change. Our groups went to a food shelf (much like our food pantry) and a school to do maintenance and upkeep.

We also spend a lot of time today learning about the Indigenous People of the area. From an exercise where we got to move around and experience this history of the local people to having a speaker who is a Christian Indigenous presenter in Canada and the U.S., our students were able to learn a lot about the people and culture of Leech Lake. 

And here are some of their stories from today:

I had a good time today I had a really great experience. Today we were supposed to be weeding and in the beginning we did we were digging up the flowers and weeds that needed to be dug up. Then suddenly it decided to rain at first you would feel like that would be bad and horrible, when in reality it helped them out. They had been having a drought and hadn’t had much rain I don’t think any at all for a little while. So in the end it helped them a lot. We got to go to a school instead and help clean all of the desks and chairs and take off all the gum. I saw Jesus in the Youthworks leaders today because even though we had complications they were still able to get us serving and helping others. -Mayanna

Today was really fun, in terms of seeing the faces of the people. All the families were very thankful when we walked up to their cars to give them food. I was a wonderful experience that I hope to happen again to others in the group. I hope to be a blessing to not only the people but to my neighbors as well. I am looking forward to tomorrow, so that I may serve this wonderful town once more. -Vaughn

The time I had today was really great. We didn’t get to do the garden because of the rain, but the people around here were really blessed by the rain. Instead, we went to the superintendent’s office and we cleaned 4 classrooms. I can’t wait for tomorrow. -Robert

Thanks for praying for us (keep it up!).

Leech Lake - Day 1

We are here! To be honest, there is not a lot to share today because we spent 14 hours of our day on the road. However, a few highlights:

We are staying in the town of LaPorte, population 111. Youthworks being here increases the population of the town 30%.

Youthworks has been in this area for 18 years. Last week they painted a home that was one of their first service projects 18 years ago.

We are focusing on who are neighbors are this week. That being said... who's your neighbor? (Luke 10:25-37 is the Scripture we are using to learn about this)

But, let's hear from some of our students on how their day went.

We left at 4:30 in the morning today, and drove 14 hours to make it to our site. Some people slept for a while, while others drove or just talked about past memories. Tomorrow we will go to our service projects and I just pray that we are able to help make a difference in someone’s life. -Callie

Hello everyone, if you’re reading this I want to say thank you for taking the time out of your day to read what we have to say. We left really early today and that wasn’t the coolest but its really cool that we are here now. Well anyway thank you so much for reading and have a great day. – Noah

This last week I was at summer camp and got little sleep as I was an “adult” and had to be up and ready to run showers for the scouts. At night I stayed up late so I got at most 15 hours of sleep in the week. When I got home on Saturday I slept for over 10 hours probably. I got up at 3 in the morning and left for church. We prayed and then off we went. I was up for an hour or so then I was out until we stopped for gas. Then I slept more before lunch. In the Van I got to talk to Mr. Henke and Mrs. Ellcessor and learned a lot about them and their families which was awesome. I look forward to learning more about LaPorte and the Cass Lake communities and the history of the Native Americans that live here. My Group is lucky enough to get Kids Club at the end of the week which should be a nice rest after being at work projects the first two days. As for tomorrow my group is at Joy’s House and I look forward to seeing what that entails for the group. -Luke

Stay at Home Mission Experience - Day 4

Today's blog is brought to you by all jr. highers! But that means they're short and to the point, so enjoy.

Everybody was amazingly helpful when introducing me to mission experience. I loved the fact that everyone is really welcoming and kind. –Braden

Emlyn went to vacuum the creepy room with creepy babies in there because I was too sacred. We painted the coat room in the church and the kitchen next to it. –Meredith

Anna, Daniel, Meredith, and I had to paint the coat room today. Anna was a great sport and helped us with anything that we couldn’t reach or paint with the roller. In the middle of it Anna stepped in the paint can lid 4 times. After we painted the coat room Daniel was unscrewing the light and turned off the lights somehow and Troy saved the day. -Emlyn

Stay at Home Mission Experience - Day 3

We're already half done the week (it goes by so fast). Today FIRE (junior high) students helped at the pantry while WATER (senior high) students went on a new adventure, but I'll let them tell their stories below. Thanks to everyone for your prayers and support!

Today we went to a non-profit organization called Westminster Neighborhood Services. We mostly helped with the food bank they have there, but they also offer different services. Such as medical care, mental health care, church services, child care, and many more. Today I sorted through school supplies for their upcoming back to school bash. Where they give kids everything that they would need for school, from backpacks to pencils. It was really cool to see what they offer to their community. The organization views the people that come there as neighbors instead of people in need, and it makes them feel that they can recover from whatever loss. – Callie

 

Today we travelled to a place near downtown Indy. There, we worked at a place called Westminster Neighborhood Services. If there is a service project you can think of, we did it. I or someone else with me did packing, sorting, boxing, unloading, moving and sorting food, weeding, childcare, cleaning, rearranging, packing, recycling, crafting, cooking, picking up trash, and probably others I can’t think of. We took a break to eat lunch and found that most of our bags were soaked from the ice melting and leaking in the cooler. A personal favorite of mine was seeing the monstrosities that were created when a few of us were told to make t-shirt bags. Yikes.

Then we packed up the bus and headed home until tomorrow when we will be returning. Some people took this opportunity to nap, while others fell asleep back at the church. *cough Luke and Alyssa cough* Tonight was Taco Tuesday, and it was absolutely delicious. We played a game involving memorization of names and people which I bluffed my way through and helped the girls team in a whopping 0/3 games.

After getting all out competitive fire out, I loved listening to tonight’s lesson about loving mercy and paying the mercy we’ve been shown by God forward to others. Overall, our achievement today was a great addition to the trip, and we are officially half way thought the trip. It has gone by so fast, and I’ve loved every second of it. - Lauren

 

Throughout this week things have been different from other mission trips I have been to. Being so close to home and seeing how rough some parts of town are in just a 10 minute drive was eye opening. Today I served at Westminster Neighborhood Services I worked in the kitchen and in the store unpacking boxes. I learned a lot about the local community and the copious amounts of struggles they prevail through. One worker Chris always had a positive attitude even throughout the mundane work we were partaking in. I hope to learn more about my local communities and to further my knowledge about God. Overall, I had a good day and am excited to finish this week strong. - Ryan