Philly Experience (Wednesday Update)

Written by Wyatt

This trip has been a amazing experience God has opened up my eyes through P2 missions the fellowship of Living Waters Church feels like your a part of the family. Since the day we arrived it was a instant friendship the service was inspiring and we also had the opportunity to rap for the church. its was so fun! I'm not quite sure what God will do with my story but I know its starting here in Philly Tuesday we walked around just hanging out fliers getting a sense of the community.  Yesterday we had a car wash which turned out a huge success. We washed over 50 cars and just seeing everyone's face. When they found out it was really free was reward enough. It really feels good knowing your helping other and as Pastor Heath says "loving on purpose" I'm so glad I got the opportunity to come to Philly and do Gods work. I cant believe the trip almost over but I know God sent me here for a reason.

Carl and Bryant talking with someone from community as we wash their car.

Amanda asking to pray with someone waiting for a car wash.

Pastor Mike praying with some people from community.

Blake talking with Xavier (member of Living Waters).

Amanda sharing and talking with someone while her car was being washed.

Wednesday Team Update

Written by Hannah

Monday night when we got back from downtown, we had a worship service at the school. We sang some songs and just had an awesome time worshiping the Lord. After worship service, we had a church group devotion that was led by Amanda. We had about thirty minutes of free time after that. We knew that Tuesday we were going to start the work for the  church so everybody was pretty excited about that.
When we got to Living Waters on Tuesday we talked with Pastor Mike about his experience planting the church and then we went and handed out flyers for the church. We got a chance to talk to a few people and we invited them to Living Waters. Some of the people that were walking didn't want to talk to us, but some listened to what we had to say. I'm glad that we got to talk to a few people about the church and I hope they come out to Living Waters church. Today we are going back to the church to help with a car wash. While people are waiting to get their cars washed we are going to get a chance to talk to them and share about God. Please pray that we are able to lead people to Christ while doing something as simple as a car wash.

Written by Christian

Things are going very well here! Our team is doing great. Yesterday it was pouring, which limited the work we could do in the community, but that didn't stop the teens. Despite the rain, all they wanted to do was get out and meet the community and deliver fliers. They never hesitated to talk with anyone and even looked for opportunities. I was so proud of them. Days are long, but they are doing very well and working very well together. It is a joy serving with them!  I apologize for the delay in posts, but as Laura mentioned in her post, getting internet is a struggle here so we are at the mercy of the P2 staff allowing us to graciously use their only internet connection.
Also: feel free to post comments to the team at the end of any of our blog entries!! We will be sure to share those comments with the teens. I know they would LOVE to get some encouraging words from home (whether it be family, church family, friends, etc.).

Listening to Pastor Mike

Praying with Pastor Alonso in and for North Philly

(Pictured: Blake, Hannah, Amanda, Mckenna)

Praying with Pastor Alonso in and for North Philly (Pictured L-R): Laura, Bryant, Christian R, Mark, Hannah)

Passing Out Church Fliers in Neighborhood

Passing Out Fliers in Neighborhood

Passing out fliers in neighborhood

Sharing and talking with a man in neighborhood.

Welcome to Philly!

We are here! We have been very busy already. We left Saturday, stopped halfway in Prince George, VA, then traveled the rest of the way on Sunday.
We are staying at a private Christian school that reminds us a lot of Hogwarts. It is humongous. We are sleeping in the classrooms on the floor (thank goodness for air mattresses and ceiling fans because there is no AC!) At this school, we will be meeting with other youth from different areas. The youth will meet all together to worship and learn more about how to minister to others in the Philly area. Powerplant is jointly run by NAMB and Lifeway. Each youth group is working with a different church in the area, anywhere from the Mennonite areas to more urban parts of Philly.
We were blessed to be working with a church in Collingdale, which is an urban neighborhood on the outskirts of Philly. The church we are partnering with is Living Waters church. They are a new church plant, only about 13 months old. Pastor Mike and the rest of the congregation were very welcoming on Sunday. The church service was at 3 because the plant is located in another church building. We were asked to sing a worship song for the church service, and Wyatt made up a rap that fit with the song. The church loved it.
They had a cook out for us after the church service. The families are very friendly and we enjoyed getting to know them.
Today, we went into downtown Philly and saw the City Hall, where we went into the  observation floor 40 stories up and saw all of Philly. We learned about the history of the area, cultural influence, and information about people and demographics so we know how we can pray for the city.
The youth are doing a fantastic job representing our church. They jumped right in to fellowship with members of Living Waters. They are willing to help and excited about seeing what God will do this week.
**Note - we have no internet access in this building. The Powerplant staff has been generous to let us use their computer today, but we don't know how much we will be able to access the computer this week.**
Please keep praying for us! We love and miss our church family.
Laura

Meeting people at the church

 Pastor Michael Heath

Hanging out after church at the cook out

The guys talking about the rap ministry at Living Waters (and sharing some raps)

The First Lady (Pastor Mike's wife) and Hannah playing the Slide game

All the ladies playing a hand game

The School where we are staying

The Mayor's Press Room (City Hall)

The Observatory Tower (Philly baby!)

The Team is Off

Hope for Kenya 2010 is officially underway. The Kenya mission team is now enroute. Follow their journey here: www.h4k2010.blogspot.com

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Kenya Mission Trip

This summer we will be sending our first ever delegation of teens overseas to Kenya, Africa to plant a new church. Follow their journey on their website: www.h4k2010.blogspot.com.

Be part of the journey! Support this team in prayer and by seeing what other needs they may have!

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