All Nations Outreach

Camp Lutherhaven in Albion, Indiana again hosted the Servant Event "All Nations Outreach" for youth across the country to participate. This year brought in youth groups from Painsville, Ohio; Marshall, Michigan; Ft. Wayne, Indiana and Bridgeport, Nebraksa. Our group flew out on Saturday from Denver, and arrived at the camp a day earlier than the rest of the youth. Everyone else arrived on Sunday after a church service in the Pavillion. We quickly became acquainted with the people we were going to spend a week with and by Monday morning, we were all ready to go when the campers arrived around 10:00.

They all arrived on buses, 'adopted' of sorts by a church in Ft. Wayne who holds services for them in their language. They spent the day with our youth coloring, playing games, swimming, nature hiking, boating, and eating lunch. For some, it was the only meal they got all day. We served a lot of rice and noodles with their native sauces. (Not good on Sarah's stomach!) Then we said our goodbyes at 3:00p and they headed back to the city until the next morning.

The campers are all refugees from war torn or third world countries who have been sent to Ft. Wayne in search of a better life. Their basic physical needs are met, but their spiritual well being is more of a challenge. Most of the children who attended Camp Lutherhaven during our week are Buddist and Muslim. The older children are trained enough not to pray with us for lunch, or participate in the songs we sing, or to discuss Jesus. The younger, more influenced children, eat up any information they can get, especially if they have the one on one attention of a teenager. Most of the children live in small apartments with many other family members, so the one on one time was a real treat for them, and for our youth as well. All of our youth got to witness about Christ in one way or another, and it was neat to watch that happen. Hopefully, these children will remember something about this camp in the future, and turn to Him.

The rest of the day was spent getting to know each other. The youth leaders from the other groups were wonderful to spend a week with. They had all been to the camp before, and were extremely helpful and friendly. We played cards (as can been see on You Tube keyword: Lutherhaven Spoons), ate junk food, sang together, talked, had devotional time, and just plain goofed off together.

A good time was had by all and friendships were made and kept.

To God be the Glory!

(Because of their refugee status and the fear & abuse that comes with that, the camp asked us not to post any pictures of them online. Since that's what the camp was all about, I find it hard to pick out photos without any of the children in them! Hence the lack of photos in this blog.)

A few pictures only this week, as I'm still recovering from being gone last week on the LYF servant event. It was a good event, with many special memories that I will write about next blog. I've been dragging a bit since I had a nasty cold on the event, and it's now settled in my lungs. I did manage to get through the mail and laundry, however, so that is a bonus!

Eden and Samson were playing in the water tin last night. As you can see below, they were sharing a drink.

Hope all is well!~

Seeds of Faith Blog

A NEW Seeds of Faith blog has been started! www.stpauls-seeds-of-faith.blogspot.com (The link is on the left.) These are short one minute devotional thoughts that the Pastor of St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Bridgeport, NE broadcasts on KNEB radio out of Scottsbluff, NE.

It is quite a challenging, yet fun, task to try and boil a devotional thought down to just one minute. I pray that they are a blessing to you as well.

This year’s family vacation took us to Vail, Colorado for a resort experience, thanks to a church member who had an extra week with their timeshare. We journeyed down last Saturday, via Rocky Mountain National Park, and arrived in our 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom suite that evening, where Sarah immediately took advantage of the huge in-room Jacuzzi.

Sunday morning, we found the only LC-MS church in the area, got dressed up & headed to Edward, Co. When we arrived, there was a band on the lawn and Pastor said, “this must be their Spanish service”. Instead, it was their annual 4^th of July outdoor service, in which the pastor was in shorts and an untucked button down shirt. Now, I’m all for the occasional outdoor service, but when I’m 7 months pregnant, in a dress, at 90 degrees, I really don’t want to sit out on a blanket in the grass. Everybody else brought lawn chairs. We missed that memo. After a half hour musical concert, it appeared as if ‘church’ had begun. Forty minutes later, we were all sitting around, eating hot dogs and ice cream. It was an experience, to say the least.

Monday morning, we decided to explore a bit. Vail is a nice area, complete with 2 separate villages, both connected, with resorts and bike paths all throughout & on either end. Shops occupy most of the villages, with hanging flower pots and manicured gardens all along the paths. It is a tourist area, both in winter & in summer, and they know how to keep people coming back year after year. It was beautiful with all the flowers in bloom along the manicured paths.

Tuesday, we took a harrowing day drive to the west, up to a lake on a mountain. The dirt road was on the side of a cliff, switchbacks all the way up, and not frequently traveled. After 2+ hours at 15 mph, I was glad to get to the top for a secluded picnic lunch with the mosquitoes. Eden loved hiking with her new hiking boots.

Wednesday, we took in the 4^th of July parade, and then walked along the streets, listening to some of the musical entertainment. After naps and swimming, we went back for the fireworks. Waiting for darkness, Eden occupied herself with a family across the lawn, taking a young man’s hat on and off him for at least 20 minutes. By the time the show started, she was buried in the quilt, snuggled between us with her ‘kiki’ (blanket) and pacifier. She didn’t move until it was time to go! Vail’s fireworks were the best show either of us had seen since leaving St. Louis It was beautifully colorful, and well done by the pros. Definitely worth staying up for.

Thursday morning, we caught the shuttle for the Alpine Gardens in Ford Park.

We hiked through the gardens and took in all the waterfalls, natural hiking paths, and numerous plants growing among the rocks. It’s always amazing to me how roots can grow right out of a rock.

That evening, we loaded Eden into the backpack and took a ride up the gondola to the top of
Vail Mountain. Eden said, “wowww” over and over again, all the way up the mountain. In the summer, you can hike the trails up there, but the wind was so strong, we didn’t get very far. Eden wrapped her blanket around her like the Virgin Mary and said, “Cold” repeatedly.

Friday, we bummed around, went swimming and then out to eat at a Pizzaria called Pazzos in the village. It was great pizza, and Eden ate almost the whole loaf of “cheeesee” bread by herself! After supper, we walked along Streamside walk and enjoyed the river. Eden just wanted to play in the rocks.

Throughout the week, we biked the Gore Valley Trail, which went from our resort east, winding through playground areas, residential areas, shopping streets, into the woods, and out in the sun up into the mountains. Being as the air was so devoid of oxygen, we thoroughly enjoyed going downhill. Eden would scream “wheeeee” from her bike trailer. We also visited just about every playground in a 10 mile radius, prompted by Eden saying, “play”, of course. Sarah enjoyed the nearby 7-Eleven for frequent slurpies (very much missed from Michigan).

Saturday was the beginning of our trip home. As we did on the way down, we drove through Rocky Mountain National Park. This is quite possibly the favorite part of the trip (though the in-room Jacuzzi makes it a toss-up). Eden was a real trooper for the drive through the mountains, where we saw a herd of Elk, snow capped mountains, lakes & all the sites that God created. We took a short hike along the Colorado River in which it was very difficult to tear Eden away from the water. She kept putting her hands in the mud to get them dirty, then saying, “wash”, so we’d dunk her in the river. This would entail another 10 mintues of water play! After our picnic in the woods, we gathered up and headed out of the park for the 4 hour drive to Bridgeport.