Thursday, October 27, 2005

Update on our 2006 Status

Well, the deadline for signing up is fast approaching. So far we have 8 people who have turned in all of their registration materials and money. I would really like to have a crew of 15. I just don't know how we can do what we do out there with less than that. It's going to be close - really close, so keep praying that if God wants this trip to happen that He will bring the right people on board. If we don't have 15 people then we'll have to step back and see what the next step should be. So far it's looking like a really good crew but we do need some more people.

Why the early deadline?
Some have said that the early deadline is part of the problem - that people just can't plan that far ahead. I'm not sure what to say to that. I do see their point, but I also have to consider all that it takes to put a trip like this together. I am especially thinking of the person who has to do all of the planning and shopping for the meals. The planning and cost estimating all has to be done by mid-December so that in January I can have an idea how much the trip will cost each person. It's not fair to team member to drag them along with no idea as to the cost of the trip. Since the price for each member is dependent on the cost of materials, I really need to start getting esimates early and I need a crew to do that with first. So the early deadline is to give the cook a bit of grace. All of his/her planning has to be done early and all during the busy holiday season. They have a hard job and it is my hope to make things a little easier for them by not having to rush them to get Pine Ridge work done.

The Meeting for this Sunday
We also had a meeting scheduled for Sunday, Oct. 30th. That meeting will need to be rescheduled once we see if we have a crew or not. I'll be posting the resecheduled meeting sometime next week.

Sunday, October 02, 2005

About the Registration Deadline....

Everything changes..... isn't there a song by that title? Well, it is certainly the rule of any mission trip. When I set the deadline Hurricane Katrina had not even developed let alone hit Louisiana, so little did I know that I'd be joining workcamps to that area. But, things change.

I've thought about what to do about the deadline since I wont be here but I *think* and hope that we can all deal with registering without my being here and without me having to reset a deadline. I really don't want to get into the habit of pushing back deadlines - otherwise, what's the point of a deadline. That would only open up the doors to misunderstanding and complaining so we'll keep the deadline as is. There are still ways you can register ....

I will be here until the Wed. before the deadline so you can give me your registration then, or you can mail it to me at my home. I wont' post my home address on the 'Net but anyone in our church can easily find it.

What is, is.
Amber