We are very sorry for slacking on the blog. This blog might be a little to long but I know all of you will enjoy reading it.
Well we were in La Esperanza Corp for two weeks. We certainly had amazing experiences there and were able to see God’s work in many ways. One of the things we did was go out to the neighborhood and invite people to the campaign and to church. We gave out War Cry magazines and were able to pray with some people too. One Saturday morning, the last day we went out to the neighborhood, we went to an outdoor super market. There were a lot of people buying their groceries and many who were in a hurry to listen to us. There was a man who was selling fruit and was using a microphone to announce the price to people. So David goes up to San Juanita and tells her that she should offer the man three soles for using the microphone. We wanted to use the microphone to invite people to our campaign. San Juanita was very nervous about this but she felt the Lord leading her to do it. So Capt. Samaniego went to the man and offered him the money. He agreed and so we began our speech. The Holy Spirit was present because not only did we invite them but we also sang choruses, read the Bible and told them about the Lord. Capt. Samaniego almost preached right there. It was amazing because people started to come up and asked questions about the campaign, church meetings and about what we had read from the Bible. The Lord used us and a lot of people were blessed.
We also had the opportunity to attend a youth camp similar to Youth Councils. We were in Shiran for a weekend and God worked amazingly there too. The team was in charge of teaching four different workshops: mime, praise and worship, chorus and dance. The mission was to let the young people know there are a lot of different forms of praise. The corps were divided to where each workshop had at least two or three people from each corps. Each of the young people had the challenge of learning about each workshop and then going back to their corps and teaching the rest of the young people about it. Not only being able to learn but also to go back and begin their own mime, praise and worship, chorus and dance groups. Each of the workshop teachers, us, also had to teach the group a special number so they could perform on the Sunday morning meeting. A lot of people were blessed and were able to learn many new things.
Now we are in Lima, staying at the Vitarte Corp. Vitarte has a Salvation Army school of about 305 students. They have a lot of classes going on and we have been able to help teach some of them. We have been helping with the English classes and the Christian Education classes too. It has been a great experience too. Last Friday we were able to visit a very poor region of Vitarte called Monterey. We had an open air meeting with the children from there and had a great time singing choruses and playing with them. The Lord showed us so much. He wants us to embrace and love his children and let them know how much He loves them and cares for them.
Please continue to pray for us as our mission trip comes to an end. Our prayer is that we may continue to fight the battle for our Lord Jesus Christ right where we live and not just when we go to another country.
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Monday, July 16, 2007
the beginning of the end :-(
Sorry it has been so long since the last update but we have been a busy team!
Over the past week or so we visited the FEMA trailer park to try to get kids for our last VBS. On the first day of VBS we had 30 kids!! The last week of VBS was very trying but also a blast. Our kids seemed to really get the point and they loved the dances. Some of our kids that came to VBS in Gulfport came to the VBS in Biloxi even though we told them it would be the same thing. These are the corps kids that we met the very first week. I think that we have made some good relationships with these kids.
Some of us are planning a return trip in December for Christmas break! YAY!
Fishing has been pretty uneventful lately. I did, however, catch a clam which was not very exiting. Andrew thinks we might have hooked 2 stingrays but we had to cut the line or we could have been there for hours. On one of our fishing escapades Andrew found a possum which he proceeded to poke with the fishing pole and then chase after and pick up.
Saturday Ronnette treated us to a "mystery drive" that we already knew about. We drove to Foley, AL and went to Lambert's Cafe, home of the throwed rolls. They would throw these steaming hot rolls at you when you had your hand up. It was quite an experience.
Another fun experience was almost getting kicked out of Denny's on Friday. We were all pretty wired after our last night of VBS so when we went out to eat afterwards we let it all out. There is a song that Ronnette found that is a rap song that a rapper did about getting a FEMA check from the government after the hurricane that we find absolutely hilarious and a great song. We used the FEMA check song to put on a little show outside of Denny's and didn't really calm down much when we got inside. One of the employees told us we could go sit at the picnic table outside the restaurant to eat. What fun!
The girls started painting Ronnette's bathroom on Saturday while the boys cleaned up the area outside of Yankie Stadium. We have also helped move in some stuff for a couple from the corps that they haven't seen since right after the hurricane.
This week consists of work projects for corps members and enjoying our last week here on the Gulf Coast.
We hung out a lot with Major Cundiff yesterday which was great. He preached an amazing sermon yesterday in church and told us lots of great stories over lunch. Hopefully we will get the chance to hang out with him more over this next week.
It is crazy that we only have one week left here. It seems as if time has flown by and it shouldn't be time to go home. Some of us are excited about going home and others of us (like me) wish we could stay a little bit longer. The relationships we have formed here are great and we will be sad to leave them behind.
I promise to put pictures up when I either get back to Atlanta or get home where I have a faster internet connection. We also have some videos that will be put up.
We're all pretty excited about TYI (except for Kirbi who isn't going.) It'll be a good chance to tell other young people about our experiences and get them excited for next summer.
Time to get back to work!
In Christ,Shannon Rogers and the SSC Gulf Coast Team
Over the past week or so we visited the FEMA trailer park to try to get kids for our last VBS. On the first day of VBS we had 30 kids!! The last week of VBS was very trying but also a blast. Our kids seemed to really get the point and they loved the dances. Some of our kids that came to VBS in Gulfport came to the VBS in Biloxi even though we told them it would be the same thing. These are the corps kids that we met the very first week. I think that we have made some good relationships with these kids.
Some of us are planning a return trip in December for Christmas break! YAY!
Fishing has been pretty uneventful lately. I did, however, catch a clam which was not very exiting. Andrew thinks we might have hooked 2 stingrays but we had to cut the line or we could have been there for hours. On one of our fishing escapades Andrew found a possum which he proceeded to poke with the fishing pole and then chase after and pick up.
Saturday Ronnette treated us to a "mystery drive" that we already knew about. We drove to Foley, AL and went to Lambert's Cafe, home of the throwed rolls. They would throw these steaming hot rolls at you when you had your hand up. It was quite an experience.
Another fun experience was almost getting kicked out of Denny's on Friday. We were all pretty wired after our last night of VBS so when we went out to eat afterwards we let it all out. There is a song that Ronnette found that is a rap song that a rapper did about getting a FEMA check from the government after the hurricane that we find absolutely hilarious and a great song. We used the FEMA check song to put on a little show outside of Denny's and didn't really calm down much when we got inside. One of the employees told us we could go sit at the picnic table outside the restaurant to eat. What fun!
The girls started painting Ronnette's bathroom on Saturday while the boys cleaned up the area outside of Yankie Stadium. We have also helped move in some stuff for a couple from the corps that they haven't seen since right after the hurricane.
This week consists of work projects for corps members and enjoying our last week here on the Gulf Coast.
We hung out a lot with Major Cundiff yesterday which was great. He preached an amazing sermon yesterday in church and told us lots of great stories over lunch. Hopefully we will get the chance to hang out with him more over this next week.
It is crazy that we only have one week left here. It seems as if time has flown by and it shouldn't be time to go home. Some of us are excited about going home and others of us (like me) wish we could stay a little bit longer. The relationships we have formed here are great and we will be sad to leave them behind.
I promise to put pictures up when I either get back to Atlanta or get home where I have a faster internet connection. We also have some videos that will be put up.
We're all pretty excited about TYI (except for Kirbi who isn't going.) It'll be a good chance to tell other young people about our experiences and get them excited for next summer.
Time to get back to work!
In Christ,Shannon Rogers and the SSC Gulf Coast Team
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Kenya Video
Check out a couple of videos of the team in Kenya. The first is in the Korogocho slums at the outpost where the team is helping to prepare the walls for painting; the second one is at a Nursery school in Dandora, Kenya.
Last Blog From Kenya
Hello all,
this is most likely the last chance we will have to write on the blog, so I hope you all enjoy it!
This past week has been a busy one. We went to the Machakos Division. We had many prayer walks and visited many corps in the Machakos Division.
We stayed at a very lovely guest home and the staff there was very friendly. On our last night there, they surprised our team with a cake....a delicious cake!
While in Machakos, the team learned a new dance. It was a harder dance than the first one that we prepared, but it only took 3 rehearsals to learn it, and we performed it the day after we finished learning it.
We visted many schools, both primary and secondary, during our time in Machakos. Some of the children we visited had never seen white people before. The kids loved touching the girls hair on our team!
we also had a youth rally and a crusade while in Machakos. Kris spoke for the first time at the youth rally, and he did very well! We were all proud of him.
We still all love it here in Kenya, and it is hard to believe that we have less than 2 weeks here! It is a bit sad. The people are so loving here, and we have come to love all of them.
Today we go to Thika and we will meet the Iglehearts there tomorrow. We will spend most of next week with them! We are of course excited about that!
Love to you all,
The Kenya team
PS Sorry for a short blog, but we are to leave shortly!
PSS Pray for Lindsey, she has started a sinus infection yesterday....nothing serious, but it takes a lot of energy out of a person!
this is most likely the last chance we will have to write on the blog, so I hope you all enjoy it!
This past week has been a busy one. We went to the Machakos Division. We had many prayer walks and visited many corps in the Machakos Division.
We stayed at a very lovely guest home and the staff there was very friendly. On our last night there, they surprised our team with a cake....a delicious cake!
While in Machakos, the team learned a new dance. It was a harder dance than the first one that we prepared, but it only took 3 rehearsals to learn it, and we performed it the day after we finished learning it.
We visted many schools, both primary and secondary, during our time in Machakos. Some of the children we visited had never seen white people before. The kids loved touching the girls hair on our team!
we also had a youth rally and a crusade while in Machakos. Kris spoke for the first time at the youth rally, and he did very well! We were all proud of him.
We still all love it here in Kenya, and it is hard to believe that we have less than 2 weeks here! It is a bit sad. The people are so loving here, and we have come to love all of them.
Today we go to Thika and we will meet the Iglehearts there tomorrow. We will spend most of next week with them! We are of course excited about that!
Love to you all,
The Kenya team
PS Sorry for a short blog, but we are to leave shortly!
PSS Pray for Lindsey, she has started a sinus infection yesterday....nothing serious, but it takes a lot of energy out of a person!
Thursday, July 05, 2007
Live from Gulfport....
As I am writing this I am in the process of putting pictures up on our Myspace, so go check those out! Sorry it has taken me so long to get them up but we don't always have reliable internet access and the pictures take a long time to upload! This self-appointed assignment is, however, getting me out of Home Leauge(sorry to all you dedicated HL members!!) but I can hear a rousing game going on in the fellowship hall.
We also have a few new blogs up from the past week or so.
All is going well down here. Tomorrow is our last day of VBS here at the Gulfport corps and next week we are going on to round #3 of Avalanche Ranch in Biloxi and Yankie Stadium. We should all definitely be pros at this by the time we get home. Be ready to saddle up your horses at THQ the night we do our thing!
Last night for the 4th of July we climbed up on the roof of the warehouse and got to see all of the fireworks the Gulf Coast had to offer, from D'Iberville to Ocean Springs to our gool ol' Biloxi. It was quite a show. I think we are venturing up there once again tonight to watch the Beau Rivage (a casino) set off their fireworks because they wanted theirs to be special and not do them on July 4th. The weater and the mosquitos might prevent this from happening though.
Tomorrow we begin our beach ministry that I, for one, am very excited about. Beach volleyball and passing out water for Jesus!
Only a little over 2 weeks left here..wow!
In Christ,
Shannon Rogers and the SSC Gulf Coast Team
We also have a few new blogs up from the past week or so.
All is going well down here. Tomorrow is our last day of VBS here at the Gulfport corps and next week we are going on to round #3 of Avalanche Ranch in Biloxi and Yankie Stadium. We should all definitely be pros at this by the time we get home. Be ready to saddle up your horses at THQ the night we do our thing!
Last night for the 4th of July we climbed up on the roof of the warehouse and got to see all of the fireworks the Gulf Coast had to offer, from D'Iberville to Ocean Springs to our gool ol' Biloxi. It was quite a show. I think we are venturing up there once again tonight to watch the Beau Rivage (a casino) set off their fireworks because they wanted theirs to be special and not do them on July 4th. The weater and the mosquitos might prevent this from happening though.
Tomorrow we begin our beach ministry that I, for one, am very excited about. Beach volleyball and passing out water for Jesus!
Only a little over 2 weeks left here..wow!
In Christ,
Shannon Rogers and the SSC Gulf Coast Team
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
Back From Muzudzu
We have had a long week in Western Kenya, long but good.
The accommodations left something to be desired, but I had a bed every night so I can't complain too badly. The water at the hotel we stayed at only came on when it wanted to, and that wasn't very often. And for we the water temp was either boiling hot or freezing cold. But it's all good, because we still managed to stay clean, although some of the boys (no names mentioned, but you can probably guess) chose to go without bathing for days. Nice, eh?
We were fed very well in Western, and managed to take in a meal every two hours. Tea times are a priority, like you cannot go any further in the day without tea.
We painted everyday there except the 2 Sundays, and then on Thursday we had a youth rally instead of painting. So, we had a lot of work to do. But, several of us had our paintbrushes taken away on many occasions, so some days we felt like we accomplished nothing, or at least not a lot. We were at a different corps in the Muzudzu division every day, and the salvationists at each corps came out to help in painting, but there were enough brushes for all of us, so we had our brushes taken away a lot. For me, in a period of 20minutes I had my brush taken 3 times. Despite the feeling that nothing was physically accomplished by the team, the corps leaders and members at each corps were so honored to have us there and they appreciated us just for our presence.
Every morning we woke up around 6 am like I predicted, and the country side was also beautiful as I predicted in the last blog. There were times when I just wanted to stay in the car because the hillside and mountains were so gorgeous.
On Saturday we travelled to Lake Victoria. We all really wanted to see it, and so we did! Surprisingly though, it wasn't a big deal. It was large and beautiful, but people were washing their cars and their bodies in the lake water....I suppose water is a precious commodity. Just seeing that distracted the viewer from the beauty of Lake Victoria.
Later in the day on Saturday we went to another corps to do community visitations. We split up into 2's and each group had a local officer as the leader. My (Lindsey's) and Daynes' leader took us to a member of Parliament's house. It was the most beautiful house I have ever seen, at least in Kenya. It was grand and furnished with very nice and modern furniture. We took soda with the mp's wife. the mp (member of Parliament) is up for re-election in December. He's already been in office 15 years, and we are told that he is a well-liked mp.
We led 6 services while in Muzudzu. And Andie preached 2 of the six sermons....both at open airs. She did very well both times, despite only a few hours of preparation. God spoke through her and the other speakers as well.
Here's who spoke and on what:
Andie- Clay jars, God uses simple vessels to fill up with His precious treasures
Lindsey-God's Faithfulness
Andie- God's Faithfulness
Daynes- Being Holy and set apart
Kristin- Not running from God
Jesse- Giving thanks in all things
we met some amazing divisional leaders:
DC- Majors Mboto
PRO- (public relations officer) Major Kaikai
DYO- Captain Wayanbe
They were with us for the whole of the week.
We spent a wonderful time on Western Kenya...praising God with drums and dancing, leading services, experiencing the open and loving hearts of the people, driving on the rocky but beautiful roads, seeing one of the 7 natural wonders of the world! We were all blessed. We are tired now, but blessed, so it is a good tired.
Today we went to the Masaii Market and got taken for all we were worth, but we are happy with our purchases. I won't tell you what we bought, you may receive it as a souvenir!
Tonight we are ordering pizza! A pleasant break from ugali and kuku (chicken).
And tomorrow, we will celebrate the 4th of July at the Pelletier's homes (where we stayed for the first 10 days in Kenya). They are home now and excited to celebrate with us. Pray for Capt. Paul Pelletier. He is an officer from USA East and have been here less than a year with his family. we are told toady that on July 15th he is headed back to the States due to poor health. So pray for his health! We love you all and we thank you for all of your comments! You are all so sweet! And I had a wonderful birthday spent singing in the middle of a sea of children form a school next to the corps we were painting at. So thank you all who wished me a happy birthday!
Joy,
Sheena has a flight to Dallas
Kristin is driving home
Andie (Andrea) is driving home
Daynes is driving home
Jesse is driving
and I believe you have the rest! Comment us if you get this message)
The accommodations left something to be desired, but I had a bed every night so I can't complain too badly. The water at the hotel we stayed at only came on when it wanted to, and that wasn't very often. And for we the water temp was either boiling hot or freezing cold. But it's all good, because we still managed to stay clean, although some of the boys (no names mentioned, but you can probably guess) chose to go without bathing for days. Nice, eh?
We were fed very well in Western, and managed to take in a meal every two hours. Tea times are a priority, like you cannot go any further in the day without tea.
We painted everyday there except the 2 Sundays, and then on Thursday we had a youth rally instead of painting. So, we had a lot of work to do. But, several of us had our paintbrushes taken away on many occasions, so some days we felt like we accomplished nothing, or at least not a lot. We were at a different corps in the Muzudzu division every day, and the salvationists at each corps came out to help in painting, but there were enough brushes for all of us, so we had our brushes taken away a lot. For me, in a period of 20minutes I had my brush taken 3 times. Despite the feeling that nothing was physically accomplished by the team, the corps leaders and members at each corps were so honored to have us there and they appreciated us just for our presence.
Every morning we woke up around 6 am like I predicted, and the country side was also beautiful as I predicted in the last blog. There were times when I just wanted to stay in the car because the hillside and mountains were so gorgeous.
On Saturday we travelled to Lake Victoria. We all really wanted to see it, and so we did! Surprisingly though, it wasn't a big deal. It was large and beautiful, but people were washing their cars and their bodies in the lake water....I suppose water is a precious commodity. Just seeing that distracted the viewer from the beauty of Lake Victoria.
Later in the day on Saturday we went to another corps to do community visitations. We split up into 2's and each group had a local officer as the leader. My (Lindsey's) and Daynes' leader took us to a member of Parliament's house. It was the most beautiful house I have ever seen, at least in Kenya. It was grand and furnished with very nice and modern furniture. We took soda with the mp's wife. the mp (member of Parliament) is up for re-election in December. He's already been in office 15 years, and we are told that he is a well-liked mp.
We led 6 services while in Muzudzu. And Andie preached 2 of the six sermons....both at open airs. She did very well both times, despite only a few hours of preparation. God spoke through her and the other speakers as well.
Here's who spoke and on what:
Andie- Clay jars, God uses simple vessels to fill up with His precious treasures
Lindsey-God's Faithfulness
Andie- God's Faithfulness
Daynes- Being Holy and set apart
Kristin- Not running from God
Jesse- Giving thanks in all things
we met some amazing divisional leaders:
DC- Majors Mboto
PRO- (public relations officer) Major Kaikai
DYO- Captain Wayanbe
They were with us for the whole of the week.
We spent a wonderful time on Western Kenya...praising God with drums and dancing, leading services, experiencing the open and loving hearts of the people, driving on the rocky but beautiful roads, seeing one of the 7 natural wonders of the world! We were all blessed. We are tired now, but blessed, so it is a good tired.
Today we went to the Masaii Market and got taken for all we were worth, but we are happy with our purchases. I won't tell you what we bought, you may receive it as a souvenir!
Tonight we are ordering pizza! A pleasant break from ugali and kuku (chicken).
And tomorrow, we will celebrate the 4th of July at the Pelletier's homes (where we stayed for the first 10 days in Kenya). They are home now and excited to celebrate with us. Pray for Capt. Paul Pelletier. He is an officer from USA East and have been here less than a year with his family. we are told toady that on July 15th he is headed back to the States due to poor health. So pray for his health! We love you all and we thank you for all of your comments! You are all so sweet! And I had a wonderful birthday spent singing in the middle of a sea of children form a school next to the corps we were painting at. So thank you all who wished me a happy birthday!
Joy,
Sheena has a flight to Dallas
Kristin is driving home
Andie (Andrea) is driving home
Daynes is driving home
Jesse is driving
and I believe you have the rest! Comment us if you get this message)
Monday, July 02, 2007
I'm Back!
This post is strictly for the teams. Sorry for any disappointment those of you who check this sight regularly for updates from the teams.
Dear Teams,
Today is my first day back at work! It's nice to be back. I'm wondering how each of you are doing and what God is doing in you. I can't wait until you get back to find out.
Speaking of you getting back, I need to know how each of you are planning on getting home. Some of you I'm guessing will be driving home and some flying. Some of you have flights, others will need me to book them. No matter what, I NEED TO KNOW HOW YOU PLAN ON GETTING HOME!!
So, if one team leader from each team would be kind enough to email me EVERY person's travel arrangements or lack thereof for their return, I would appreciate it. Please do not send me 22 separate emails but one per team. The individual emails are hard to keep up with and I know I'll lose information that way.
There's a list below of people from whom I have information, so, I won't need to know about them unless what I have has changed.
Thanks you guys! The sooner I can get those emails, the better.
Joy
Transportation Home
Daynes Viera
Rebecca Costas
Lindsey Fleeman – needs flight to Ft. Myers, FL
Sheena Hampton
Kristin Riley
Andrea Halsey
Kris Nickell - Flight to Orlando (change current ticket)
Jesse Hinson
Andrew Czanderna – staying in Atlanta, will be picked up from hotel
Antonio Hodges – will let me know by July 5
Matt Trantham – already has a flight
Nathan Bridges - driving home
Mary Scheerer – flight to Dallas/FW
Jill Riefer
Stephanie Fitzgerald
San Juanita Dominguez – needs flight to Laredo
Katie Street
Shannon Rogers – needs flight to Raleigh
Kirbi Vick – needs ride to airport (departs at 1:55 pm on July 26, American Flight 1117)
Amanda Poff – flight to Charlotte
David McQueen
Josh Hinson
Marion Killion – flight to Charlotte
Dear Teams,
Today is my first day back at work! It's nice to be back. I'm wondering how each of you are doing and what God is doing in you. I can't wait until you get back to find out.
Speaking of you getting back, I need to know how each of you are planning on getting home. Some of you I'm guessing will be driving home and some flying. Some of you have flights, others will need me to book them. No matter what, I NEED TO KNOW HOW YOU PLAN ON GETTING HOME!!
So, if one team leader from each team would be kind enough to email me EVERY person's travel arrangements or lack thereof for their return, I would appreciate it. Please do not send me 22 separate emails but one per team. The individual emails are hard to keep up with and I know I'll lose information that way.
There's a list below of people from whom I have information, so, I won't need to know about them unless what I have has changed.
Thanks you guys! The sooner I can get those emails, the better.
Joy
Transportation Home
Daynes Viera
Rebecca Costas
Lindsey Fleeman – needs flight to Ft. Myers, FL
Sheena Hampton
Kristin Riley
Andrea Halsey
Kris Nickell - Flight to Orlando (change current ticket)
Jesse Hinson
Andrew Czanderna – staying in Atlanta, will be picked up from hotel
Antonio Hodges – will let me know by July 5
Matt Trantham – already has a flight
Nathan Bridges - driving home
Mary Scheerer – flight to Dallas/FW
Jill Riefer
Stephanie Fitzgerald
San Juanita Dominguez – needs flight to Laredo
Katie Street
Shannon Rogers – needs flight to Raleigh
Kirbi Vick – needs ride to airport (departs at 1:55 pm on July 26, American Flight 1117)
Amanda Poff – flight to Charlotte
David McQueen
Josh Hinson
Marion Killion – flight to Charlotte
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