Training, treehouses and time

So...here's the deal...I am changing my blogging schedule!  :)  Looking ahead at what the rest of my summer looks like, there are going to be multiple Fridays when I am traveling for work and will not be able to post (like last Friday).  That said, I am going to begin blogging on Mondays and see how that works (hopefully much better!).

Last weekend, Nathan, Gene, Joseph and I all traveled to Portland for a Mission51 Retreat where we helped train about 65 students to go out on mission trips this summer.  Most of the teams are going on domestic trips, and one church is gearing up to go to Costa Rica.  We got to run their team building exercises as well as teach them about how to relate cross-culturally for the purposes of ministry.  It was great fun!  Here are some pictures of training:

One of the training exercises we do is called "Spaghetti Towers" and the kids have to build the tallest structure using just dry spaghetti noodles and candy Dots....without talking!

Do you see what I see???

 A DEER!!!

 As Nathan and I were walking around camp exploring, we came across a family of deer!  They just stared at us as we walked closer and closer to them.  Once we got about 15 feet away, they darted off into the woods!  It was pretty cool.

While exploring, we stumbled upon the most incredible treehouse I have ever seen!  It was two stories and the top story had a whole bunch of bunks!  It was a cabin in a tree!!

The front door to the treehouse.

The stairs to the treehouse were around one tree and then you walked across a bridge to get to the main treehouse section.

 We had fun being trainers together for the first time since we both started working for YMI.

All of that to say that our weekend away was fun and most importantly, it was packed with ministry.  We had the opportunity to teach kids about how important it is for everyone to play their part on a team and how God is glorified when we all work together for His purposes.  

Nathan and I are looking forward to getting to do more trainings together and see how God works through the ministry of YMI.

Praises:

1. We are pretty set with volunteers through August!  Sports camps are filled and host homes are almost full!

2. Out of the Mission51 training over the weekend, we were able to get three sign ups for trips in 2014.

3. Nathan and I were able to do our first donor visit together last week!  It was really fun.

Prayers:

1. Please pray that we will be able to do some more donor visits soon.  We still have a ways to go in our funding before we are married.  Our goals is to be 100% support raised by the end of 2013.

2. Please pray that we are able to secure one more host home for our Japan team's launch (June 30-July 1) and debrief (July 11-12).

3. Please pray that we are able to secure housing for one of our interns for the rest of the summer.

*If you are interested in helping us meet any of these needs (both organizational needs and personal needs), please let me know at morgann@ymimissions.org or by commenting on this post.

1, 2, skip a few...

For all of you faithful followers, you may have noticed that I skipped a week of blogging last week...my bad!  Last weekend was my first weekend of Mission51 Training and time got away from me before I realized that I needed to plan to blog earlier so that I would have last week's post up!  Sorry, friends!

Speaking of Mission51, I am headed out this evening to another Mission51 Church Training as a Trainer.  YMI helps train these churches by running team-building exercises.  Last weekend's training was about 250 kids and this weekend will be about 150 kids.  I am excited!

When I got to Mission51 last weekend,  I saw a few familiar faces!  This picture is with one of our good family friends, De'Nysha.  My family has known her family for a long time and it was so cool to see her at this training in preparation for her youth group's trip to Mexico this summer.

This weekend I am looking forward to getting to train students for the trips they are going on this summer!

Another exciting thing that has happened in the last couple weeks is that I am at my NEW DESK!!  Up until this point, I have been in the back of the office, kind of hidden.  It was simply an issue of space and available resources.  As we have expanded our office space and done some rearranging, a desk area more central in the office has opened up and I am now occupying it!  My new desk is clear glass, open and really professional!  I am so thankful for my new office space  :)

Praises:

1. My NEW DESK!!!

2. Mission51 Trainings are going well.

3. Nathan and I have recently hit 75% of being fully-funded!!!

Prayers:

1. Pray that Mission51 would go really well this weekend.

2. Pray for Joseph as he is out training a church in New York this weekend.

3. Pray that we will continue to fill our leader spots on our teams in 2014.

.a week in pictures.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then I guess this is a realllllllly long post  ;)

Nathan and I were looking at our crazy schedule coming up!

Upon arriving at the office on my birthday, I found lots of little celebratory decorations! 

 I work with wonderful people.

My coworkers brought in fresh berries and popcorn for snacks on my birthday!

Did you know that when it's your birthday, Google changes your homepage to a birthday theme?!

Wen I got home, I discovered that my sweet Nathan had sent me flowers :)

Sticking to office dress code sometimes means wearing skirts with soccer jerseys  :)

When I got back to my car on Friday, I found that someone had taken my mirror off while driving down the alleyway.  They did not leave a note, which was a bummer, but it was an opportunity for me to react in grace and learn to be resourceful.  I found the mirror on Amazon for a mere $45 and was able to use a friend's Amazon Prime account for free shipping.  The mirror should be here Tuesday and I found a Youtube video to teach me how to install it!  Praise the Lord!

Priases:
1. Nathan is DONE with his Junior year of college in a few days!
2. God allowed me to find a reasonably priced mirror and a way for me to get it fixed soon!
3. I was able to get my work computer this week so that I am not using my personal computer for all of my YMI files!

Prayers:
1. Gene and John are in Denver now at a Mission51 retreat.  Pray that kids would catch the vision of missions and that it would leave to future involvement with YMI.
2. Pray that people will continue to sign up to host teams for the summer.

3. Please keep praying that we find at least one more student for Japan 2013.

.Needs.

Many people have asked me how they can help with what we are doing at YMI.  There are so many needs, so I figured I would compile a list of ways in which YOU can help contribute to what God is doing at YMI.

5 Tangible Needs of Youth Missions International
1.  Participant - We need at least 1 more high school student to sign up for our Japan trip for this summer.
2.  Host homes - We need host homes that are willing to host teams during their launch and debriefs before and after their trips respectively.  This involves having enough floor space for a team to sleep, being able to provide meals while they are in your home and being willing to either provide transportation to and from the airport yourself, or round up a crew of people to do it in your absence.
3. Team Leaders for 2014 - Believe it or not, we are already planning for our 2014 trips all around the world!  We are in need of people who are at least 23 and willing to lead a team in the coming year.  To see our 2014 trips, click here.
4. Training Camp Cooks - we are in need of people who are willing to help out by cooking at training camps!
5. 2014 Participants - Are you going into high school or in high school?  Do you love the Lord and have a desire to share the Gospel around the world?  Then sign up for a trip in 2014!  We are training and sending teams to 9 different countries, including 4 different continents!!  To sign up for a trip, click here.

If you are interested in any of these things, please email me at morgann@ymimissions.org!  I woud love to get you plugged in!

Praises:
1. Nathan and my support raising is going well.  We are sitting at about 61% of our married goal, which is really great!  That said, we still have a ways to go and would appreciate prayer for that.
2. Volunteer training went really well on Saturday morning.

 They listened very intently.

I had access to a white board, so I drew pictures to help the students remember the answers for the test. Needless to say...I am no artist.

Prayers:
1. Pray for Brian as he is traveling all over Europe right now doing some pre-trip work for our teams this summer.
2. Pray for Nathan as he is finishing up this year at school in Oregon.  Pray that God would give him health and that he would be diligent in his studies and finish strong!
3. Pray for the Burres family as Grandma's memorial is tomorrow.  We will be getting together as a family to celebrate the life she has in Christ.  Pray that the Gospel is proclaimed and that the family would have hope and peace that can only come from Christ.

.hope beyond hope.

Why I do what I do: HOPE. 

HOPE that there is more than the here and now.

HOPE that we are more than flesh and bones.

HOPE that the troubles of today do not compare to the sovereignty of God.

HOPE that Christ will come again.

Praises: 

1. It's FRIDAYY  :)  Who doesn't love Fridays?!

2. Leader training went very well last weekend and we already have some of those people who have signed up to lead trips next year!

3. We had our first sign-up from a high school student for a 2014 trip this week.

Prayers:

1. Pray for Gene and Brian as they are out in New England this weekend doing a Mission51 retreat.

2. Pray for our Japan team to get their funding in and for at least one more person to sign up for that trip!

3. Pray for volunteer training tomorrow morning! 

Playing "catch up"

As you may have noticed, this is my first post in two weeks.  Though I had planned a post for last Friday, God had other plans for my weekend.  God allowed me to spend lots of time with my (future) family as we said goodbye to Nathan's grandma over the weekend.  She lost ended her battle with cancer on Tuesday, and we spent lots of time by her hospital bedside leading up to her departure into eternity.  Please be praying for the Burres family as the plans are being made for a memorial in the next couple weeks.  Grandma was an amazing woman of the Lord.  I only got to know her for just a short time on this earth, but I am so thankful for the example that she set of what it looks like to live out Proverbs 31 each and every day.

My (future) sisters and me grabbing dinner at the mall before heading back to the hospital.
I adore them.   :)


I thought since I didn't post last week, I would just do a longer post this week!  Last week, Nathan led a mission trip of college students from his school to come up our way and run a sports camp at a church in Tacoma.  On the front end of the trip, my wonderful mother volunteered to have all 14 of them over for dinner and a bonfire.  The night was filled with laughter, good food and s'mores for dessert  :)

Spaghetti, french bread and green bean casserole!

We were so thankful that they volunteered to clean up after the meal was done.

Since they didn't want to go back to the church smelling like campfire and make the church smell like campfire, the whole team put on clothes belonging to my brothers and me.  It was rather humorous to see them all dressed in our clothes.

My brothers did a fantastic job building a "man fire"

We sang worship songs, roasted marshmallows and told jokes  :)

Nathan and I were very thankful to have some time to spend together after him having been at school for a long time without us getting to see each other.

Praises:
1. The Corban University spring break mission trip went very well!
2. It seems like we may be back to health here in the office.
3. We are getting airfare booked for many of our teams!!
4. We just announced our mission trip destinations for next year: http://www.ymimissions.org/mission-trips/ymi-teams/

Prayers:
1. Some of our teams are still behind in fundraising; we need prayer that they would get their money in!
2. Nathan and I are still working on our personal fundraising; please pray that God will continue to provide and that he would get the glory for it!
3. Pray that our leader training would go well this weekend--that we would have leaders who are excited to serve and excited to learn!

.Sharper than any two-edged sword.

I've been staring at this computer screen for much longer than my words show for.  I want to write something beautiful, something inspiring, something that will adequately convey what God is doing at YMI.

But today, on this Friday, the words are not coming.

I'll be honest, this week has been trying for me.  Last weekend was absolutely wonderful and filled with great moments of seeing God break through to students' hearts and prepare them for the mission field.  We got to come together as a staff and pray fervently for God to break chains in hearts and lives. We got to come together in a concentrated time, for one purpose, one goal.

It's so easy to lift God's name high when all is going well and he seems to be moving swiftly right before my eyes.  But let me tell you, it is much harder to lift his name high in the day-to-day living.  I am learning that this week.

This week I have spent more than one moment needing to "take every thought captive to obey Christ" (2 Corinthians 10:5).  I have found myself questioning Is God really going to provide? and then needing to preach the truth to myself and remember that God provides for his children (Luke 11:13).  I have questioned Can God really use a broken person like me to do his work? and then reminding myself that God's work says that in him we can do all things for his glory (Philippians 4:13).  

Ultimately, I have found that for every question I have, God's Word has the perfect answer to help turn my focus back to him.  

The truth is, not every week is going to be all smiles!  Some weeks are going to be harder than others.  And some weeks I am going to question God's purpose in guiding me to full-time missions.  But at the end of the day, I know that God's Word is true and that it stands firm through the toughest days.  

I am so thankful for the comfort of the Word of God!

Praises

1. Training last weekend went so well. The students really got a lot out of it and are well on their way to being prepared for their trips!
2. I am looking forward to helping my lovely husband-to-be this next week with a mission trip that he is leading.  Although I will be in the office, I will head over in the evenings to watch Corban students run sports camps.
3. Gene and Brian are doing another training this weekend down in San Diego!

Prayers

1. Please pray for health in our office.  It looks like there is another nasty bug going around this week.
2. Pray for our PROCLAIM campaign that is going on right now--that we reach our financial goal for supporting the ministry.
3. Pray that all the details get worked out with our teams so that all airfare can be purchased soon!