First Baptist of Anoka

We made it safely to MIami for our first day of our missions experience! Luckily the hot MN weather has prepared us well for the temperature down here, but we're sure that God has other surprises for us during this week of ministry. After unpacking our bags at the hotel we had a quick dinner together and then headed off to church for evening Service. Pastor Don was and his congregation were very welcoming and treated us like family! It was fun and exciting to be there worshiping with our brother's and sister's from Jamaica/Miami. During the service a few of us got to give our testimonies and when it was all done we got to take over the sanctuary to prepare for VBS! We're excited to start our first day of ministry at Parkway Baptist Church! Please keep us in your prayers as this is going to be a week that stretches all of us in ways we can't even imagine yet. Miss you all back home! God bless.

Our day started as we woke up at 7AM to do our morning devotionals on the beach overlooking the Atlantic ocean. We had a breakfast of eggs, bacon and toast and then quickly filed into our vans to head to the church to start VBS. It wasn't long after we arrived that kids started to show up! We had a FULL day with kids singing songs, playing games, hearing Bible stories, making crafts and so much more. By the end of the day we were all ready for a little nap. In the evening we got to spend some free time as a group so we decided to go to the beach and swim in the ocean for awhile. It was a lot of fun and the water felt refreshing after a long hot day. Tomorrow we are waking up to do it all again! Please continue to pray for us, that God would supply us with energy and excitement to continue to minister to the kids at VBS and anyone we meet here in Miami. Thanks!

Today was our second full day of ministry and it was a marathon of a day! We started ministry at the church at 8:30AM and had a very successful morning doing our VBS! We ate another delicious lunch prepared by two men from the church, Noel and Reggie who make the most delicious authentic Jamaican dishes (such as Jerk Chicken). After lunch we started our day camp playing outdoor games, singing loud songs, doing bible lessons, watching Veggie Tales, and doing fun crafts. It was a great time getting to really start to know the kids that returned from Monday's Camp and VBS. We took a much needed break before dinner to rest and recover our strength for our evening service at Parkway Baptist Church. During the evening service we got to hear a few testimonies, share our own life stories with each other and worship together with the congregation. It was a long day, but also a good one! We look forward to our half day of recreation tomorrow afternoon. Thank you for your prayers thus far, and we'll ask you to continue to hold us up in prayer as we continue to pour ourselves out for the Kingdom of God!

On Wednesday we only had a half day of ministry. In the morning we had our third day of VBS where we got to talk to kids about God's POWER! Even though it was raining it was another fun day with the kids. We sang songs, did another skit, talked about God's amazing power to overcome temptation and made fun picture frames with popsicle sticks. In the afternoon we got to head back to the hotel and go to the beach. It stopped raining just in time for us to enjoy an entire afternoon of swimming, building sand castles, walking on the boardwalk, and just sitting out relaxing. We stopped by the local Taco Shack for dinner before our evening beach service. We ended the night on the beach worshiping in song, sharing scripture and some God moments. It was a great day! Keep praying for us as we try to finish strong in these last two days of ministry!

Our last full day of ministry was incredible. We got to do our full day of VBS and Summer Camp with the kids. The rain even held off long enough for us to do some painting on the churches front gate and fence! At the end of the ministry day we had our celebration service. We got to thank Pastor Lawrence and Parkway Baptist Church for welcoming us into their church. They also thanked us for coming and presented Pastor Jim with a great picture frame of everyone in the group with the kids. The best part of the service was listening to the kids from both churches talk about what God has been teaching them this week and what they will remember from the week. It's safe to say that everyone had a great week and that God was working in our time here! In the evening we got to back up to go home, walk down to see the ocean one last time, and then had our last team meeting. It was a noisy evening on the roof where we met, but it was an awesome time of of reflection and affirmations. Tomorrow morning we'll be getting an early start to get to Nashville at a decent hour! Pray that we have safe travel as we come home! Thank you so much for your prayers throughout the week. We're looking forward to seeing you all soon!