River of God Blog & Pictures Day Two (Thursday)

This morning we woke up to the smell of french toast. Yum! Each day we have different students and leaders preparing the meals so everyone gets in on the fun.

Erin Salveson gave devotions this morning on Joy & Peace in our lives (what things keep us from having joy and times when God has given us memorable peace), then spent time in prayer and personal devotions.

We were picked up at 10am and headed to see the new land where the new facility will be. When we arrived one of the staff explained to us about the land and the provision of God. There were two trees we brought with us, one fig tree and one peach tree. It was a very memorable moment for us because at the beginning of our year our theme for youth group was "Real Life." We painted a huge tree and wrote things on leaves that we felt were impossible. The first message of our year was about the first and last tree in the Bible. The tree of life in creation and the tree of life in Revelations, very significant of Alpha and Omega - the beginning and the end. The students planted the peach tree and the leaders planted the fig tree.

We then walked over to the location where the new dormitorio will be and prayed over it. There were many tears as we asked God to bless the land. At one point we all knelt on the wet muddy ground to symbolize a humility amongst the government in favor towards the ministry here. It was a very special time.

When we returned to the orphange we had lunch (tortillas, soup and noodles). After lunch we began day #2 of Impossible Camp. The kids made paper maché vases, crowns and face painted; amongst a number of games and prizes. There was glitter everywhere. Our team was covered from head to toe! :o) The boys had fun catching flies and feeding them to the lizards. The girls were really excited about all the candy prizes.

Tomorrow we climb the mountain. Please pray for strength to make it to the top, no rain, and the staff members who will be leading us.

Funny note of the day: Carolynn had an interesting time getting ready this morning when we thought the water bin that holds the water for the showers ran out of water, and sat in the shower an hour and a half waiting for the water to filljup only to find out we had only blown a breaker and simple needed to flip a switch. She was a very good sport and told me to put her story in the blog! Good times, good times!

Blessings,
Andrea & Team