One last treat!

The team is now assembled and on their way home. This morning we spent time at the ranch feeding the deer. It turns out that the couple at the ranch were very good friends with Mary and Tito Gonzales at First Assembly Spanish.








-- Post From Mr. Mitchell's iPhone

Paintball and Mudpits on Monday

Plenty to do at the ranch before we head home...








-- Post From Mr. Mitchell's iPhone

Monday Morning Reward

We are aboard the USS Lexington:


-- Post From Mr. Mitchell's iPhone

Sunday Summary

From our ministry in the park:

160 hot dogs

140 burgers

75-85 local people who came to the service

Several first time salvations and many chideen and adults prayed for that day. We had a great time and the people were very thankful.





-- Post From Mr. Mitchell's iPhone

8th graders and parents

It is great to have parents who are able to come with their kids. Here are a couple more:


Mr. Royal and Kierstin



Jordan and Mrs. Gulbronson

-- Post From Mr. Mitchell's iPhone

Testimonies in the Service

Pictures of students giving personal testimonies in the service:











-- Post From Mr. Mitchell's iPhone

Sunday in the Park

Pictures:














-- Post From Mr. Mitchell's iPhone

Live picture at 2:15

The ministry in the park has started...


-- Post From Mr. Mitchell's iPhone

Preparing for Ministry

Music teacher and First Assembly West's, Dorothy Gulbronson, prepares to minister to the children in the park:





And more clowns


-- Post From Mr. Mitchell's iPhone

More Pictures

-- Post From Mr. Mitchell's iPhone

Sunday Morning

We were asked this morning this to share at the Emmanual Christian Fellowship Church. Our students played out the cruxifiction in the drama, "Sculpture." Dusty Zarick also shared a testimony about the drama with the church. After the servic, we are praying to have over 200 people in the park.





-- Post From Mr. Mitchell's iPhone

Saturday Outreach

The people in the housing project were very thankful that we would take the time to minister to them with our time, food, and sharing Christ. Many of the people there were placed there after Katrina. The kids are sharing more and more in their time together and "never want the trip to end." Our kids have been very excited about praying the sinners prayer with children!








-- Post From Mr. Mitchell's iPhone

Saturday Morning - Right Now

As I type, people are gathering for our service, testimonies and message - pray for us! We are feeding them and helped clean up the neighborhood also.








-- Post From Mr. Mitchell's iPhone

Dads and Daughters

Dads and daughters able to minister on the trip today!


Tim and Sarah McLaughlin above, and Bill and Jessica Miller below.


-- Post From Mr. Mitchell's iPhone

Reaching the Children

God has blessed to work with Pastor Munoz and his wife to reach those in one of the lowest poverty areas of Corpus Christi. We had a service outside the Zavala School and in our service, our kids prayed with several children to accept Christ. We passed out flyers for an outreach we will have Sunday: dramas, puppets, clowns, free cookout, bounce houses - pray that we can win this area for Christ!

We are also proud of Alumni student, Dusty Zarick, who led portions of the service today!











-- Post From Mr. Mitchell's iPhone

Creation and the Creator

We were blessed to spend time with horses and animals at the ranch. A 600 acre property that people want use for the Lord!





-- Post From Mr. Mitchell's iPhone

We Are Blessed

The last service and remainder of the day could not have gone any better. We had several people come to the service from the rescue mission come into the chapel. At first, we were not going to be able get a place to minister but we were given favor to meet in the chapel. God is good. We had some divine appointments today. We also celebrated Andre's birthday.

We had a GREAT TIME of sharing tonight. This group has one advantage that other teams have not - real conversation. Being able to talk with people and pray with them is something that no other team has had the freedom to do. Tomorrow: hayride, horseback riding, feeding animals and we get to minister to children when they get out of school.










-- Post From Mr. Mitchell's iPhone

Takin It To The Streets

Thank you for your prayers. It is about 5:35 in Corpus and we have had a great experience in the streets and in a bus station. At the moment, we are preparing a service for people at the rescue mission. I'll make one more entry before the end of the evening. Thank you





-- Post From Mr. Mitchell's iPhone

Thank You

Thank you for your prayers! The kids are safe and having a good day. They should be thankful for what they have at home - they will have no electricity in the cabins, and cold showers - it's missions! We have dinner, devotions and worship at a bonfire tonight! Pray for our first service tomorrow!


-- Post From Mr. Mitchell's iPhone

The Eagle Has Landed

Parents: the missions team has landed in Corpus safely!


-- Post From Mr. Mitchell's iPhone

Mission Team Report

Parents: safe in Houston! We are all ok! Next stop Corpus Christi. Mr. Royal sat next to former Miami Hurricane football coach, Larry Coker on our first flight!


-- Post From Mr. Mitchell's iPhone

Things to do at the Ranch

From the Sarah Cieslik: The ranch has deer, deer, and more deer! I believe they do a feeding time, and there's a picture of over 100 deer around, all kinds. They also have horseback riding. I am sure there are plenty of wild animals, too, especially at night, as all through South Texas: javelinas, armadillos, coyotes, fox, possum, raccoons, possum, etc. There is also catch-and-release fishing. Also plenty of birds.

List of the activities:
- Mud Pit with mud slide
- Pond swimming, inner tubes available
- Paint Ball
- Volleyball
- Horse Shoes
- Archery
- Pellet Gun Target Practice
- Horseback Riding
- Hay Ride
- Kayaking on pond
- Pool swimming with 10 ft. slide
- Game room with pool table, foosball, air hockey, ping pong and card table. Cards & board games available.
- Fire pit in two locations, house and camp area
- Assorted wildlife viewing
- Specialty team building games upon request, i.e. Gross Olympics, Platform Race, Fugitive, etc.
- Fishing, catch and release, bass and catfish

Mission Meeting A Success

I am very thankful for a very good time tonight to meet, pray, discuss procedures, share and worship.

Parents: make sure you get all the papers they brought home

Extra info: They will need a pillow, we will have a sleeping bag there - twin sheet or fitted sheet up to you.

We focused on being a team, unified, Corpus Christi - "body of Christ"! Keep praying - see you next week!

(team worship time led by alumni, Dusty Zarick)


-- Post From My iPhone

Definitely Not God's Will For Us in Juarez

I was just forwarded this information from the Assemblies of God to our church:

Safety Update

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Hi Youth Leaders:

One of the primary responsibilities of the national Ambassadors In Mission (AIM) office is to do all we can to assure our Assemblies of God (AG) host missionaries provide safe trips for our students, including current updates regarding traveler safety.

We’ve received the following travel alert from Assemblies of God World Missions (AGWM) for the USA/Mexican border because of on-going violence:

"The situation along the USA/Mexican border is dynamic in nature and we are attempting to gather as much information as we can which has led us to take the following steps:

We cannot approve any AIM teams going into the following areas of Mexico: Nuevo Laredo (Laredo, TX), Ciudad Juarez (El Paso, TX), or Tijuana (San Diego, CA).

Currently, we are looking at the entire state of Durango and the advisory that has been placed on that area. Generally, most other areas in Mexico are not as affected and we haven't felt the need to close them to ministry teams. We strongly encourage teams to use discretion as they select ministry spots in Mexico and to work with Assemblies of God missionaries who are well acquainted with their areas of ministry”.

If you were headed to these areas this summer, please re-direct those plans. Help us to better serve you by registering your AIM teams with the national AIM office so that forms may be processed through AGWM. AIM registration guidelines and forms may be found at: http://www.aim.ag.org/getstarted.cfm

God bless and please give us a call if we can assist you in any way!

Jim Wellborn

Pray for Anapra, Mexico

Article in today's El Paso Times - one of the poorest areas that we used to go to in Mexico - Anapra. Pray for Lisa Hernandez and her church and that neighborhood.

Mexican soldiers on patrol in Juárez find abandoned arsenal in Anapra

This morning our 8th graders, who will be going to Corpus Christi, Texas on April 1st for their missions trip, were each assigned to an elementary class to: tell who they are, where they are going, what they will do in Texas and pass out prayer cards so the children will remember to pray for them. It is a great "mini-experience" to see what missionaries go through.

PS - we had a GREAT MEETING last night with the adults going on the trip. Your kids will be very blessed!

Reminder - please make sure they are here for the meeting on the 27th!

Your money is due today - if there are complication, please let me know.

Have a great day!

Missions Trip - 20 days away!

Reminders:

* I am meeting with the adults Thursday night that are going on the trip.

* Friday - all money is due. Please contact Donna Jennings if you need an updated total!

* Also, Friday morning, each of the 8th graders going on the trip will be headed to an assigned elementary classroom to speak on where they are going and what they will be doing in Texas. They will pass out prayer cards for support (make sure they bring the extras home to you) and the classes will pray for them!

* Flight details:

Wednesday, April 1 - Meet at airport 4:30 AM (please comply with all drop off and parking guidelines)

Flight #CO1563 - FORT MYERS FL(RSW) 6:25AM to HOUSTON BUSH INTL(IAH) 7:55AM

Flight #CO26811 - HOUSTON BUSH INTL(IAH) 8:50AM to CORPUS CHRISTI(CRP) 9:50AM

Tuesday the 7th - flight #CO2071, CORPUS CHRISTI(CRP) 3:45PM to HOUSTON BUSH INTL(IAH) 4:52PM

Flight CO1662 - HOUSTON BUSH INTL(IAH) 6:45PM to FORT MYERS FL(RSW) 10:01PM

A Video Clip

A video clip off some of the students getting the finishing touches on their make-up from Saturday! Click here

PRAYER REQUEST: for the city of Juarez, Mexico

More than 3,000 Mexican troops arrived during the weekend in Juárez as part of what authorities have described as a frontal assault on crime in the coming weeks.
The new soldiers, which are in addition to the 2,000 already assigned to Joint Operation Chihuahua, were deployed after a meeting last week among high-level Mexican government officials in Juárez.

2-28-09 Team Practice A Success

You can see from the above picture and the website slideshow that the 8th graders were clowning around on Saturday! Many thanks to Miss Rachel McLaughlin and our helpers for showing them how to apply their clown faces. Mrs. Mitchell did another great job leading them through the practices on their skits! Miss McLaughlin remarked on how well this group did today compared to others. So we are off to a great start - still more work to be done. We have a music group we would like to prepare, and Mrs. Gulbronson will be working on that area. Mr. Mitchell will be working with puppeteers.

Next Important Dates:

March 12 - Last Adult Sponsor Meeting, 6:30 pm; Room 103 Middle School

March 13 - $875 due in your account

March 27 - “ALL TEAM MEETING” – all adults and students going on the trip (MANDATORY); 6:30 PM to 10:00 pm; Dinner will be provided

April 1-7, 2009 - Missions trip 2009!!

We Are Staying At A Ranch!

A little bad news...good news...an answer to prayer:

Bad news...the airline gas and surcharges added $50 to the final cost of our plane tickets. The van rentals switched from 12/15 passenger to 7 passenger vans. The 12 person vans are not available, we had to reserve enough vans to cover the number in our group.

GOOD NEWS...answer to prayer...Pastor James has set us up on a 600 acre ranch on the outskirts of town. The ranch is owned by a couple who have done very well in the oil business and allows ministry groups to us the facility. We have two bunk houses - one for girls and one for guys, separate shower/bath houses. The great thing is NO COST - that will offset the band news above and keep the price at $875.

Ministry update: schools will be out of session there so we should have no problem finding kids to invite to our services. We will also have some clean-up and painting projects to help people with their homes.

Pastor James will be sending me a brochure on the ranch - I will post pictures and info when I receive it.

Keep praying for the team.

Praise from Mrs. Mitchell

"Had one of the best practices I can remember today for missions team...every single person was very enthusiastic!"

Missions Trip '09 Update - 2.17.09

Missions Trip Update:

1. THIS IS THE OFFICIAL TEAM LIST - AIRPLANE TICKETS NOW PURCHASED
2. Mr. Mitchell is having "mini-meetings" with the team on Wednesdays at 9:45.
3. The team meets for prayer at 8:00 am on Thursday mornings.
4. Saturday practice coming February 28th, Drama Practice/Clown make-up session – MANDATORY – FMCS, Mrs. Mitchell’s room; 9:00 am to 1:00 pm. We'll also talk about what you need to pack!
5. You will be getting an update on your missions financial accounts in the mail. The $875 total is due March 13th.
6. Due to a WAY-FM concert scheduled now for 4/24, the Missions Night Ministry evening HAS BEEN MOVED to be April 23rd at 7:00 pm to 8:00 pm. On that night, the kids will do the skits for friends and families. ALL are invited.


KEEP PRAYING!


32 people going

Olivia Bissell
Brittany Cannova
Robert Cannata
Cory Erickson
Zachary Felice
Steve Felice
Dorothy Gulbronson
Jordan Gulbronson
Leo Hinkley
Abigail King
Lindsey Mabrey
Quade Marinell
Sarah McLaughlin
Timothy McLaughlin
Jessica Miller
William Miller
Melvern Mitchell
Lee Mitchell
Endrale Morisseau
Rebekah Neat
Wesley Opauski
Jessica Gibbs
Kiersten Royal
Dan Royal
Kaitlin Schafe
Annmarie Schafe
Tom Sinex
Maria Swiersz
Christine Swiersz
Dustin Zarick
Haley Zeigler

Pastor James Scieslik
Edwin Rivera
Shelly Rivera
Joy Rivera
Abby Rivera
Evelyn Rivera

TOMORROW - POINT OF NO RETURN

TOMORROW - We are coming to the date of February 10th - if your name is still on the missions trip roster, YOU HAVE PURCHASED A PLAN TICKET.We have to get the names to Continental Airlines, so that date is the deadline. Please email Mr. Mitchell or call at 939-4642.Thank you - keep praying!


Current Roster:

Olivia Bissell
Brittany Cannova
Cory Erickson
Zach Felice
Steve Felice
Leo Hinkley
Abby King
Lyndsey Mabrey
Quade Marinell
Sarah McLaughlin
Tim McLaughlin
Jessica Miller
Bill Miller
Andre Morisseau
Rebekah Neat
Wes Opauski
Jessica Gibbs
Kiersten Royal
Dan Royal
Kaitlin Schafe
Anne Marie Schafe
Courtney Schopke
Maria Swiersz
Christine Swiersz
Haley Zigler
Mel Mitchell
Lee Mitchell
Dusty Zarick
Dorothy Gulbronson
Jordan Gulbronson

"The Point of No Return"

We are coming to the date of February 10th - if your name is still on the missions trip roster, YOU HAVE PURCHASED A PLAN TICKET.

We have to get the names to Continental Airlines, so that date is the deadline.

Please email Mr. Mitchell or call at 939-4642.

Thank you - keep praying!