We made it! Friday afternoon 20 students and 3 chaperones began our adventure to Cedar Rapids. Friday evening we served supper, Thanksgiving style, to the Celebrate Recovery group at the CR Refuge Church on Blair's Ferry. We were then allowed to worship with this bunch of men and women who are recovering from different addictions and struggles in their lives. It was really a very interesting experience. It was great to see people so hungry and grateful for the grace that comes from Jesus Christ.
After the worship service we were able to attend a concert at The Refuge by the rock band Jeshua Fire. They played a blend of worship songs and their own tunes in a hard rock style. It was fun to have a different kind of worship experience with the young people. When the concert end we headed for the friendly confines of Veteran's Stadium, the home of the Cedar Rapids Kernels.]
I have a very kind brother who works for the Kernels and allowed us to use the facility as our residence for the weekend. The girls occupied the home locker room and the boys got the lowly visitor locker room, not that we are complaining at least our TV worked. The biggest hit of the weekend was the batting cage in the basement of the stadium. We didn't use it for batting practice, but for epic dodgeball battles. Aside from our service work, dodgeball consumed a good portion of our weekend.
We awoke Saturday morning and after breakfast headed back CR Refuge to help a gentleman clean the building. The kids worked very hard and in a matter of a few hours had the place looking pretty sharp. We are very thankful to the Refuge for letting us help out and enjoy their company.
Saturday afternoon we split our group in half. The high school young people went to Mission of Hope, Cedar Rapids' homeless shelter. The younger kids headed back to the stadium. The high schoolers spent the afternoon cleaning and organizing the Mission. The 8th graders split into two groups at the stadium. One group helped the grounds crew finish up some fall field maintainance and the other group picked up trash and did odd jobs.
In the evening on Saturday we had the pleasure of going to Catch 419 in Marion. Catch 419 began as a young ministry for high schoolers and now has changed gears to work with college students. The building is right of the square in Marion and resembles the Student Connection in the way that it is set up. They have tables and chairs for kids to chat at. They also have several computers for young people to use the internet. The pool table and airhockey table were also big hits. We had supper and then had a small music concert for the kids. All in all it was a fun evening of Christian fellowship.
We retired from Catch 419 at around 930pm and returned to the stadium. The fun was only just beginning. The entire group played a game of Sardines which is much akin to hide and go seek. This lasted almost two hours and was a lot of fun. At around midnight we began what turned out to be a dodgeball marathon. The marathon lasted well into the morning and we finally stopped at about 330am. I haven't been so exhausted in quite a while.
Sunday morning came quickly after our late night. We had our own worship service in the suite section overlooking the stadium. Some of the young people shared their experience of service and we sang praises to the Lord and thanked Him through prayer for our safety. When church was through we packed up, cleaned up, and headed for Coral Ridge Mall.
I had forgotten that this is one of the busiest shopping weekends of the year. I was pleasantly surprised to see that our fairly large group of 23 people would blend in quite easily with the enormity of the crowd at the mall. We spent our time there shopping, but the most fun was had at the ice skating rink. Several students and my wife and self spent most of the afternoon skating. None of us had a lot of experience on the ice so it was an exciting experience. No major injuries to report thankfully, but I'm sure some of them woke up a little bit sore this morning.
Finally, at 4pm we heading back for Aplington a tired and happy group. We had a lot of fun this weekend but I think most importantly our young people have seen that there is a lot of work to do here locally. We were able to serve in Jesus' name right in our own backyard. I think the kids really enjoyed the time we were able to spend together and they were looking forward to another project. Thanks to the Lord for the growth and safety he gave us through this weekend.
SCHEDULE
monday nov 30: nothing, no praise band
tuesday dec 1: nothing to report
Wednesday dec 2: 330pm Early Herd done at 530pm; 630pm Herd done at 810pm
thursday dec 3: nothing
Friday dec 4: nada
Sat dec 5: nunca
Sunday Dec 6: 180 at 630pm
Wed Dec 9: EARLY HERD @130pm-330pm; HERD 630-810pm
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