Asbury Church - Tulsa

If hours were years, then it would've taken this Oklahoma crew a quarter of a century to get to Tucson. We've made it safely and are headed to In N Out for some burgers and animal style fries! Worship and floor sleeping tonight!

The group!

Our first full day in Tucson together allowed us to get situated in our humble abode. We had morning devotions in the park followed by a warm breakfast cooked and served by Loretta the local legend. We endured some showers on a shower bus, an altogether eventful experience. The crux of our day was spent at San Xavier Mission, an old Catholic mission - it is the oldest in tact European structure in Arizona filled with marvelous original paintings and artchitecture. We ate local fried bread, perused the museums, hiked to the cross on the hill, and observed an authentic Native American Pow Wow. We ended our evening at Urban City Tabernacle, a local church led by a charismatic basketball player named Earl. The worship, sermon, and prayers were in both English and Spanish. The congregation was passionate, welcoming, and spirit-filled. They joined us at our "lodge" for a chili dinner and then we ended our night with some beautiful student-led worship and a convicting talk from Youth Pastor Mark.

Today we went to two different Muslim refuge apartments. We had a lot of fun playing soccer and basketball with the children and having conversations with them. It was really cool getting to see the different kids open up to us and really become attached. It was amazing to see how well they have adapted to living in the United States in such a short amount of time. The kids were so enthusiastic about anything we asked them to do. It was heartbreaking to hear one girl say, "I will never see my brother again because he is poor". It really made me realize just how hard the living conditions were in their home countries. Even though those things were hard to hear, it was still amazing to hear them talk about how much they loved Mrs. Amy and all of us. Each of the kids impacted me and I won't be forgetting them any time soon. 

Fruit of the Spirit More Like Vegetable of the Desert Today my group headed out to the border of Mexico and Arizona and served at the Amondo Food Bank. We worked all day long in the garden that is used to help provide fresh fruits and vegetables to the surrounding community. Our group of 14 made compost piles, weeded plants, planted veggies, dug up rocks and got very sunburned with our volunteer coordinator, Willie. By the time we left, the garden was transformed into something beautiful that the whole community can benefit from. 

Today, group 1 took part in 2 missions. In the morning, we went with group 3 to Serve Tucson. There, we cleaned up an abandoned business site by digging up buffalo grass and weed whacking and raking grass. That project, believe it or not took all morning. At noon, we all went to a park and ate pre-prepared sandwiches. After lunch, group 1 went to spend the afternoon with Church on the Street. There, we heard some testimonies and walked to a park. Walking to the park, a few of us carried crosses and handed out flyers to homeless people. At the park, we talked and prayed with homeless people. We really touched a few starving hearts today. To wrap up the day of serving, we stopped at Eegee's for shaved ice. Today was a very productive and inspiring first day of service.

Today in our mission, we worked with Serve Tucson and cleaned up the city. We started with taking away the Buffalo Bushes, Next we pulled the weeds and shrubs around the fence. We also removed the dead vines off the fence. At lunch, we meet a man named Jerry who sang and played the guitar for us. We saw God work through this man's heart, and that really changed our day. Lastly, we went to another work site and shoveled up dead weeds and bushes. All in all, it was a great and glorious day in Gods name.

Today we (Group 2) took a tour of Gap Ministries! After the tour, we went to one of their foster homes to construct a go cart track. We got to play and eat Eegees with a couple of the foster kids, and they helped us construct some of the track! We had an amazing day working and playing with the awesome children at Gap Ministries! Written by: Audrey Keeling

Today, group four went to Papago Baptist Church. Construction. Jay (the pastor) told us that, even if we didn't finish our job, we were being a part of history in changing the culture of an entire village. I personally felt we had made a difference, we helped put together the first wall of this church. We then traveled up to Kitt Peak Observatory where our hearts broke over how many people don't know God; even as it was almost painful to see, i felt so much hope. Written by: Katie Smith

Today we prayed for the city, but it was unlike anything we've ever done before. God provided an opportunity for us to pray for Tucson from "A" Mountain (Sentinel Peak). Three PPM teams met first thing this morning and over 200 "Pelicans" stood on that mountain and prayed over the entire city. From the east to the west and the north to the south the city was bathed in the prayers of God's people.

(Note: this was posted on Monday 3/16, but didn't post to the webpage) Don't worry it's not what you think. Today we went to the Oracle Cemetery, we used our time there to clean up the graves that needed to be taken care of. We met a family that only comes once a year to take care of their five relatives. We knew that wasn't a coincidence that we were there at the same time. During the time spent at the cemetery our group grew closer and began to open up. Even though we didn't see a lot of people, we know that we touched some lives knowing that someone is taking care of their loved ones graves.  -Emma Kate Henley and Brooke Posey

Today our group traveled to a local food bank in Nogales. For about 5 hours we bagged food for about half of the community. At the end we prayed over all of the food that would go out. Despite the sore feet we all had a blast.

Today group two went to two refugee communities ,one was largely populated by people from Sudan and the other was from Ethiopia, to play with the kids there. We did activities such as arts and crafts, soccer, football, and learning cool hand shakes. The group was fueled by Mexican food and candy from the local dollar general , the Mexican food was not from the dollar general. Also besides having fun we became closer as a group. 

Today team 5 worked alongside Serve Tucson to help clean up a middle school yard. Serve Tucson is a group full of volunteers who go around Tucson and make their city something that they can be proud of. Out of all of the kids at the middle school we worked at , 65% of them qualify for free lunch. It was  a great experience and it was a really humbling and joyful moment.

Today we went to the town of Oracle to help landscape the graveyard.WE spent time learning about the history of the church and the town, then we made our way to the cemetery where we proceeded to clean up several grave sites. We got to meet and talk to some locals to the area and learn about their testimonies and the lives of the people that are buried there. It rained today so we switched projects to go indoors and clean the local church. After cleaning, we stopped at the Circle K and we took time as a team to pray over the city. Group one had a great day of bonding that was full of excitement.

Up early and after a quick breakfast we went to Amado, AZ to work in the garden at the food bank. It was fun working with Willie, who talked about the garden and how it helped the food bank provide a healthier diet. After lunch we finished our projects and then took a trip into the mountains, north of Tucson.

Today our group went to GAP ministries and saw a lot of the things they are doing to help people. They do everything from collecting food for the community, to housing 130 foster kids. We got to go to one of the 14 "SPLASH" houses today and met the family that lived there. We dug trenches and buried tires to make them a go-track. We were also able to throw a surprise party for Savannah, a girl who will be turning 16 this month and has never had a birthday party. Written By: Sloane Kennedy

Today we went to Papago Baptist Church in the Indian reservation just North of the American Mexico border. We were willing and able to serve the Lord. Once we entered into our work site we assisted in digging a new sewer system, building inner walls, and cleaning the church floors. After roughly 7 hours of service our leaders took us on a scenic route as we went to one of Arizona's most beautiful mountains, Kit Peak. At the top, every member of our group stood to admire the beauty and incredible power of Jesus and his craftsmanship. It was at that peak where our faith was reawakened and we all asked one question. If God can craft this, why wouldn't he help us in our own lives? Drew Hoke

Today we went to a food bank and packaged food in bags, we packed a total of 1,300! Their population is 20,000 and the food bank serves 11,000 people. We were there for 5 hours and it was so awesome to see all of the team work. I loved how we made a a job that could be boring into something really fun! After, we went to the border between Arizona and Mexico and prayed over Mexico, it was beautiful. Morgan Howlett

Today we started off at the Oracle cemetery. There wasn't much work to do there, so we helped clean a lady's yard as a surprise. When we finished that, we went to Walmart to offer to help the shoppers with their bags and carts.

Today we went to serve at church on the street. As soon as we walked in, I could feel the presence of the lord. After talking to pastorá Diana, as well as the participants of the shelter program, we began singing and praising God. It amazed me to see that despite the obstacles in their life, and everything they've been through, that they still praised and thanked God for everything that they had. After leading the bible study with Drew and serving lunch, we got the opportunity to go to the park and share food, water, and the love of God with the homeless. While some resisted and some turned us down, others we're open to hearing our prayers and receiving Gods love. After hearing the stories of the participants at the shelter, and hearing about of the things they've been through, it really put in perspective how much I take for granted, and proved once again, that God is the one constant thing in the world, and if you have him and his love in your life, you have all you'll ever need. -Cambri Guest

Today, my group (group 1) went to the Indian reservation and helped at a church. 4 of my group members were chosen to dig a ditch for the plumbing for the church. We dug a trench 2 and a half hours. We then proceeded to eat at a Christian school with a class of 8 kids. The kids were very shy and did not talk much. The food there was very good all homemade by the parents of the kids. After lunch we played basketball with a kid named Elijah. He was a lot better than any of us he scored 18 of our 20 points me having the other two. After lunch Mr Spicer and I stayed at the school to "attempt" to fix a door . We ended up leaving the door in but with no door knob. If you asked me we caused more harm than good... But hey it was all in Gods glory! I had a lot of fun today and would love to do that again. -Brett Nelson

Today we were able to partner with GAP ministries and deliver 126 new mattresses to their Splash homes. A Splash home is a home that houses 8-15 foster children. The kids were so excited to get their new mattresses! It was a long hard day but the joyful giggles and huge smiles of the kids we saw kept us going.

Today our team went to two apartment complexes in Muslim refugee communities; we either played with the kids or constructed arts and crafts with them all day. The kids were very loving and wanted to be with us all the time. Among the activities we did included soccer, frisbee, piggy back rides, swinging, jump rope, passing balls, and the arts and crafts. All in all, both our team and the kids we met had a fantastic day.

We started off our morning at a community farm in South Tucson. We helped harvest carrots and then prepped them for the farmers market. They sell the produce at the farmers market to help fund Caridad Community Kitchen. After al the carrots where cleaned up we headed to serve Tucson. We jumped right in to a beautification project in the heart of the city. We ended our day working at Caridad Community Kitchen doing some cleaning around their building. We were so blessed to end our week serving all around Tucson.