A Note Before I Go

Our youth group is leaving for Phoenix, Arizona today. We are pumped.

We were advised to select a prayer partner for our trip, and I immediately ran to my former pastor, John King, to ask if he would pray for me. He gladly accepted my proposal, and asked if I might write him up a little bit about what we're going to be doing. This post is a gist of what I wrote to him. 

Please pray for our noisy tribe! We've got lots to do during our short stay in Phoenix. We'll be doing work projects by day and directing a VBS for inner city kids by night. Also please pray for:

Our leaders, Leon & Wanda and Anthony & Shaina.

Health and energy for the group as we work in 100+ degree temperatures.

Unity amongst each other.

A moving of the Holy Spirit.

Pray that we would be able to pack and transport everything we need. We're trying to travel with as few check-in bags as possible, because we're Mennonites.

On a more personal note, please pray that I would live 2 Timothy 2:21, which states "Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work." 

I desire to be used by God on this trip. I want to lay down my preferences, my plans, and my priorities and adopt His. I already expect that I'll be stretched in this aspect.

In the VBS sessions, I'll be managing the Kindergarten-aged children along with Dylan Martin and Harmony Headings. I'm looking forward to interacting with the kids, and I pray that they will see Jesus through the staff. I'm not sure if the children will understand the Bible stories, but pray that they do. The stories we're teaching (Lazarus, Calming the storm & walking on the water, Healing the blind man & the lame man, Zacchaeus) are life-changing!
 
Normally I'd be worried about taking care of kindergarteners, but Harmony is especially good with kids. Also, Dylan is a super young man with his heart in the right place, so I foresee good things.

During the trip, we will be fasting from our cell phones in order to bond together as a group. Please pray that goes well! 

This is a silly prayer request, but pray that my toe won't hinder me from serving Jesus. I lunged full-speed toward the kitchen the other night, and all my toes made it past the couch corner except the littlest pig on the end, who decided to slam into the couch and go backwards. Due to the purple bruises forming throughout the toe, I'm fairly certain it's broken, but 1) there's no time to go get it checked and 2) there's nothing that can really be done for it anyway. I've done a fair bit of traveling, a decent amount of work projects, and a few mission trips in my day. What they all have in common is a colossal amount of walking. So pray that my littlest toe wouldn't get in the way of God's plans for this week. 

We will be returning on Saturday, June 8th.  Thank you in advance for all your prayers!