Meeting and Payment Time Again

The next team meeting will be Sunday, Feb. 6th @ 4pm @ Winton Rd. First Church of God.  The next payment of $130 is also due at that time.   We'll be setting up the VBS teams so be thinking about which group you would prefer to work with.  We'll do our best to get you with the group you would like, but no promises.  :)

Informational Meeting for the 2011 Trip

There will be an informational meeting for anyone interested in going on the Pine Ridge Mission Trip next year on Sunday, Nov. 21st at 4pm at the Winton Rd First Church of God. Winton Rd. is located at:

6200 Winton Rd.
Fairfield, OH

If you have interest in going you really need to be at this meeting to find out what you're signing up for BEFORE you register in January. Once you register there's no backing out so come and find out what you're in for. :)

The date for the trip is July 30, 2011 - August 8, 2011

The deadline to register is January 2, 2011 (all registration forms and a non-refundable fee of $100.00 will be due at that time.)

There will also be mandatory monthly meetings on the first Sunday of each month from Jan - July to prepare for the trip.

July Meeting

The last Team Meeting for the 2010 team is

Thursday, July 1st at 7pm at Winton Rd. First Church of God

ALL crew should be there for important last minute instructions.

Each crew member from Winton Rd. needs to have a total of $800 in their account at this time.

Meeting Change

The April meeting has been rescheduled for Saturday, April 17th @ 9AM @ Winton Rd. First Church of God.

April Meeting

Pine Ridge Team Meeting

Thursday, April 1st

7pm @ Winton Rd. Church of God

Payment of $100 is also due at that time.

Team Meeting This Thursday!

We have our 3rd team meeting this Thurs, March 4th @ 7pm @ Winton Rd First Church of God. Team members, your next payment of $100 is also due at this time.

This month's theme is "Spiritual Preparedness" - the most important aspect of the whole trip. Be sure to be there.

We also are looking forward to some really great news!!

Upcoming Dates!!

Sunday, Dec 27th - after the morning service we will need to get the table of card/candles/etc. down. Cathy Jackson has asked to have the stuff to sell at her Pine Ridge yard sale next Spring but we will need a few people to help get the tables down and load the stuff. It would also be nice if we could go to Cathy's to help her unload it too. Any volunteers?


Sunday, Jan. 10th - We will start taking orders for Superbowl Subs. We'll need people to sit at the table and take people's orders and money. They have to pay up front so we can have some cash to buy the ingredients.

Thursday, Jan. 14th @ 7pm @ church - our first team meeting. All registration materials and payment due.

Sunday, Jan. 24th @ 6pm @ church - Jenny will be doing a concert and we'll be taking up an offering for the work project. So far we made around $400 (I think) on the table of card/candles. We need to raise $4500.00 so we've got about $4000 to go. The team will be acting as ushers to take up the offering. If you have a team t-shirt from a previous year you can wear it.

Saturday, Feb. 6th - 12 noon @ church - Team members need to be there and plan to stay until we have all of the subs made up and stored. Everyone who works will benefit. If you don't work, you don't receive any of the fundraiser money.

Sunday, Feb. 7th @ 12 noon - SUB Pickup for Superbowl. We'll need team members to help deliver subs (at church) to those who ordered them.

It Begins!

Sunday, January 4th is the deadline to sign up to go on the '09 trip and its our first meeting!

Be there @ 4PM (not 4:30 as was posted before), bring your completed paperwork (from your packet) and your first payment of $100.00

Keep in mind that some of you already have $ in your account but you are not signed up until you have both money and paperwork turned in.

At this point the cost looks to be $900 per person.

The Payment Schedule is as follows:

Jan. 4th - $100
Feb. 1st - $135
March 1st - $135
April 1st - $135
May 1st - $135
June 1st - $135
July 1st - $135

Please prayerfully consider going on the trip. We need everyone we can get but we need people who can be committed to making the payments on time and being at each monthly meeting.

March Meeting

The March team meeting will be on Sunday, March 2nd after we clean up from the Itialian Style Dinner. It will be a long and grueling day .... just a preview of days to come. ;)

The next payment of $100 is also do at that time.

The good news never ends does it.

Informational Meeting for the 2008 Trip

There will be an informational meeting for the 2008 trip to Pine Ridge Reservation on

Sunday, September 9, 2007 @ 4PM

Anyone who has interest in going on this trip needs to be at the meeting. Attending the meeting does not in any way commit you to going on the trip.

If you have never been on a Pine Ridge Trip before it essential that you attend this meeting. You need to know what you're getting into before you make a decision about registration.

If you have gone on two (2) of these trips in the past, you need not attend this meeting but you will need to see me for your folder with your registration materials in it.

All youth 13-16 must have a parent attend the meeting with them.

June Meeting Update - For Those Who Were Not There

Dianna came to share her story with us. She is from Liberia and has an amazing story of God's provision. I asked her to come for two reasons, 1) her story is worth hearing, and 2) it's a way for us to hear about Africa firsthand. Sometimes Africa can seem like a long way away and that it has very little to do with us. It's easy to ignore things that do not affect us or anyone we know. By hearing Dianna's story and meeting her, we now know someone who has been affected by the conditions in Africa and the next time we hear a news report about the wars there, we will feel more connected. Or at least that's my hope.

Which brings me to one of the topics for this month's meeting.

It's all about RELATIONSHIP.

As much as I would love to see people know Jesus and as much as I love charity, I do NOT want us to go out there to evangelize or even to only do acts of charity. Those are all well and good but I firmly believe that relationship is the key. Once we build relationships with people, they become more than just a mission project - they become our friends, and we are not likely to allow friends to deal with the harsh conditions of poverty without acting. Neither will be be reluctant to share our best friend, Jesus with them. Either of these, charity or evangelism, without relationship is meaningless.

That is why I keep saying that in spite of whatever else we do at Pine Ridge, the playground is where ministry happens. Being with the children, loving on them, playing games, giving piggy back rides, and pushing them on the swings is what our trip is really all about. They will not likely remember what we teach in the VBS classes but they will remember that someone loved them.

We also talked about preparing emotionally and physically for the trip.

We will be living communally for 9 days. During that time we will face some challenges, including:

• Having very little rest
• It will be HOT - over 100 degrees
• There is absolutely NO privacy there - you can't even go to the bathroom to find a moment alone because there will be people in the bathroom too.
• The food, although far better than most mission trips (thank you John), will still not be what we would eat at home every day.

So, how to we prepare emotionally to deal with these challenges?

Being at your best spiritually and physically will help. Here are a few tips:

• Stay prayed up. You may not have the time for a lot of prayer out there - pray now.
• Rest. Especially the week before we go - get as much rest as possible
• When we stop at the hotel in Des Moines, sleep. It's a nice hotel with comfortable beds - take advantage of the last chance for a decent night's sleep.
• Take care of yourself out there. Take breaks to avoid becoming overheated. Don't feel guilty about taking a 15 - 20 min. break. It's better to do that than to overdo it and need to go to the clinic and miss half a day.
• Drink plenty of water out there. Carry a water bottle and keep it filled and drink it. It is easy to become dehydrated out there.
• Remember - IT'S NOT ABOUT YOU. Don't expect things to go your way.

You will also be encountering a different culture. We will not only be in the Great Sioux Nation and among Native American culture, but we will also be in a culture of poverty. You will see things that will rub you the wrong way. You will see things you may not agree with. Remember, it is not our place to judge them for the choices they make. Here is a quote I like:

Of all the preposterous assumptions of humanity over humanity, nothing
exceeds most of the criticisms made on the habits of the poor by the
well-housed, well-warmed, and well-fed. ~ Herman Melville

Child Abuse. See Amber for information about how to deal with any child abuse we encounter.

I also need to mention meetings. We are getting sloppy in our attendance at meetings. Last month we had to cancel the meeting because too many team members were not able to make it. This month we had the same situation although we did not cancel it. This is disappointing to say the least. I cannot stress enough how important it is for EVERYONE to be at the meetings. A number of people ask on occasion if we are doing anything important at the meeting. OF COURSE WE ARE. If we weren't, we wouldn't have a meeting. Here's the deal - we have 27 people going to a different culture for 9 days and we need to pull together to accomplish some things and we basically have 7 hours to prepare. We meet on average once a month for an average time of an hour. Every meeting is essential. If you've never gone with us - you really need to be there or you will simply not be prepared and that's bad news for you and for the team and for our mission there. If you have been before and think you know what it's all about - you've not been with the current team before and even if you know "the drill", you still need to be part of the new team.

One thing I am doing is to go back and re-do the chore schedule to reward those who have been at every meeting. They will not have bathroom duty - at all. Which means that those who miss meetings will have more bathroom duty.

As for the July meeting - you have to be there. It's the last meeting before we leave and you will be getting last minute instructions.

June Meeting & Payment

I am excited about our June meeting because we have a guest who will be sharing her story with us. Be sure NOT to miss this one! After she shares with us we have a lot of work to do. Because of that, we are moving the meeting time up a half an hour. Be in the Omega room at 4:00 PM on Sunday, June 3rd.

The last payment is also due June 3rd so if you're not already paid up please make every effort to get your payment in on time this month.

And those of you who have not brought me your toliet paper and paper towels - this is the last call. If I don't have them by this Sunday you will have to pack them in your one suitcase.

We leave in 2 months!

Selfish Giving?

Reminder: May meeting on Sunday, May 6 @ 4:00 PM in the Omega room.
Bring your TP and Paper Towels and your May payment.

Here is a quote from Occasio Blog that is worth our taking a look. I have felt very much the same way as I've been a part of many different mission trips and have witnessed others. This is one of the reasons I put more emphasis on building relationships with the Lakota people than on the chairty work. We want to do appropriate chairty work but that is never our main goal. As I've said so many times, it's really all about love.

Narcissistic Humanitarianism. Another frustration comes from a kind of
selfish benevolence that permeates our culture. Can making charitable
contributions be self-centered? Yes. We tend to feel good when we help others –
and that’s the new problem in a spirited age of voluntarism and philanthropy. We
are motivated by our own good feelings, not by a sense of responsibility to a
larger cause. Narcissism is defined as a preoccupation with the self and one’s
own self-importance, along with the desire for admiration. There certainly was a
lot of that happening on “Idol.” Is it possible that what we do in the name of
humanitarianism is simply a cover to congratulate ourselves and a chance to slap
one another on the back, thus alleviating our guilty conscience?

The church plays this game as well. I have seen and been a part of many mission trips that
have a stated purpose of helping the people they are going to minister to.
Churches raise $50,000 to visit an exotic country or flock across the border
into Mexico. Team members feel good when they return home because they have
served, but missionaries often report that the groups they host are loud,
arrogant, culturally insensitive and often more trouble (to the missionary or
national pastor) than they are worth. I wonder if the best thing that happens in
Mexico over spring break is that American churches stimulate the Mexicali valley
economy by buying tacos and Pepsis. Our spirit of outreach is a veil for
self-absorbed religious tourism. But we feel good about ourselves when we come
home.

April Meeting

THANKS to all of you who were at the April team meeting! I really appreciate your committment and willingness to sacrifice your time to make this trip happen! If you weren't at the meeting be sure to ask someone what you missed. We covered some really important topics that were designed to prepare you spiritually, emotionally, and physically for the trip.

One of the new things we did was to do a team building exercise. We placed a sheet on the ground and had all the team members get on the sheet with NO part of their body outside of the sheet. Not to challenging ....at first.

Then we folded the sheet in half and had everyone get on it again ... again, no part of their body was to be off of the sheet.

That was a little harder, but still not too bad.

Then we folded the sheet in half AGAIN and AGAIN had everyone get on the sheet.

We almost did it! Eveyone was needed. Some brought the creativity. Others the brute strength. It was hilarious to watch and very interesting to see how everyone worked together. Here are some pics. Click on them for a larger view.

Opps, not everybody got on the sheet. I think that's John!

April Meeting

Just a reminder that the April meeting is on Sunday, April 15th @ 4:00 PM in the Omega Room.

Feb. Dates to Remember

• Sunday, Feb. 4th @ 4:00 pm in the Omega Room - Team Meeting (guest speaker and work in your teams)
  
  
• Sunday, Feb. 4th - $100.00 payment due
  
  
• Saturday, Feb. 10th @ 7:00 pm - Movie Night at the Buriff's featuring the film Incident at Oglala and/or A Tattoo on My Heart (attendance is optional but if you plan to come RSVP)
  
  
• Saturday, Feb. 17th @ 5:30 (crew show up eariler to set up) - Giving Hearts Valentine Dinner (fundraiser - all who participte will benefit)
  
  
• Sunday, Feb 18th - March 4th - Two Weeks of Sacrifice for Blood Water Mission

It's That Time Again

Time to fill and pack the backpacks for the 2007 trip!

The Backpack Packing Party will be at the Buriff's on Sunday, Nov. 19th @ 3:00 PM

If everyone shows up, it shouldn't take more than an hour.

Mark your calendars now and plan to help us out