During both Sunday services on July 12, the team going to New Mexico was prayed for at EBIC.

It's Sunday. We arrived at EBIC at approximately 10:30 am. We're exhausted...
Thanks for all of your prayers!

We have all been very busy. We are all exhausted. We are all blessed.

The kids are gone and the place is clean. No one has been seriously hurt and many lives have been changed for the better.

We are coming home now. See you then

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ

Well, here it is Wednesday night already....boy, time flies when you are busy and having fun all in the same day!

Just to update from the last entry, the next day went a lot better! The construction crew caught up in their roofing, the chapel project with the extra rooms are almost done, and the VBS attendance was around 50 children! Well, the vehicle project ran into the most difficult issues, but we're getting there!

We all went to Angels Peak tonight and it was a beautiful sight. We got lots of pics....oh yeah, and by the way, Pastor Ken has inherited a name from one of the Indian chiefs hear at Navajo. It is Chief White Cloud, due to the beard he is growing. But since he got burnt today, we now call him Chief Burning Bush. And yes, while we were up at Angels Peak, Aaron Surochak rolled down a hill after getting too close to the edge of a sand bar. He was not hurt, but the Chief now calls him Chief Tumble Weed!

The weather here runs about 90-105 degrees with no humidity and some breeze, so it is not too bad at all. In the evenings, the temps have gotten as low as 49 degrees with some gusty winds.

We thank you for your prayers and it certainly was a day full of answered requests. The humbleness in each one of us here sure did bring the joy to our hearts.

Agape,
George

We had a wonderful trip traveling through the states. On Thursday, we stopped at the Gateway Arch in St. Louis and then continued on to Salina, KS. There we met some wonderful people from Abilene BIC and Zion BIC who took us in, fed the mission group, and took us to their homes where we showered. We then left that night and arrived at Colorado Springs on Friday at around 7:00am. After breakfast, we stopped at 'The Garden of the Gods' and WOW! What an eye-opener of God's Design of the mountains and sculptor of his hands. It is indeed a beautiful sight! We then stopped and toured Focus on the Family. That was an interesting experience. We stayed that night at YWAM (Youth With A Mission) and left the next morning, We arrived at the BIC Navajo Mission Saturday morning.

Must tell you--teaming up with E-Town BIC just for the bus trip alone was a pleasing time in fellowship and getting to know each other, but the challenges we faced the next two days were unexpected for both churches.

Saturday night, we had a group meeting planning our days and what we were going to do. The next day (Sunday morning), Dorine and I took one of the mission's vehicles to town (which, by the way, is a good 50-60 minutes drive and then to Sam's Club or Wal-Mart is another 15-20 mins.). On the way, the brakes gave out--so we continued. Ha-Ha! That was just the beginning! When we got back, we heard how another couple had taken the other mission vehicle and it had broken down along the highway about 7 miles away from the mission. It had the rear axel lock up at 70 mph and caught the grease on fire (the fire went out after the grease was gone)! Thank God no one was hurt! So then the mechanic crew started a day early (Sunday). The mission has a school bus, a Chevy Suburban, and a Dodge van, which we had planned to use for transporting the VBS children this week. With two of them out of commission, we were still counting on the school bus for transportation. Then, on Monday, on the way to get supplies with the bus, I got a call that the school bus had blown a left front tire while driving. Again, we thank GOD that no one was hurt!

We then had one of the VBS leaders fall during the play time with the children. He hurt himself with scratches and open cuts on his arms and legs. While the roofing guys were up on the roof today installing metal roofing, they had to stop due to the heat. It was so intense that the metal was too hot to handle. They decided to wait until after dinner to start again, but after dinner we got high gusts of winds and had to weigh down the precut roofing so it wouldn't blow away. That put them a half day behind schedule. Then some other minor things came up--like another blown tire on a trailer transporting the axel assembly on the way back on the highway. To top it off, I was told tonight that Duane's wife Diane, who has been in the hospital for a couple weeks, has not woken up this afternoon. We are not sure the full status of her condition yet.

So, dear Brothers and Sisters, we had expected some spiritual warfare, but not quite like this! So early tomorrow morning, we are going to have a deep prayer time for our mission, for healing, not to get discouraged or frustrated, and a lot of other things. We only ask that you pray for us and that God will intervene in the enemy's plans.

The scripture verse that came to me during reading time tonight was Deut 33:27--The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms. He will drive out your enemy before you, saying, "Destroy him!"

We are in good spirits and plan to finish this mission that we were sent here to do and, with God's help and lots of prayers, we know it will get done.

I must tell you that I wouldn't want any other mission team to work with than the ones we have now. The E-town BIC people are wonderful to work with.

Agape,
George

VBS went well despite disasters with transportation, multiple injuries, the news that Nick would be stuck in PA with bronchitis and laryngitis, and extremely short sleep shifts. About 50 Navajo kids showed up, ages 4-16, and although many of them were at first difficult to lead, we appreciated them.

Pray for the buses and vans, which are falling apart. Pray for the drivers.
Pray for the BIC kids, who are stretched farther than anyone could have expected.
Pray for the construction crew, which has been clambering around on roofs and has already encountered one snake.
Pray for Sam and Jameson, who will be taking over lessons for the Navajo teens.
Pray for Ed, who is very worn out and is bleeding a lot.
Pray for the Navajo. Pray that they will be lifted up by this program and that the seed of the Spirit will be planted within them.

We're hoping to post more photos as the week progresses, but are working through "technical difficulties." Click here to view some photos from our traveling days.

We had a beautiful service and prepared for the VBS and construction, which start tomorrow.

Pray for Nick, who's still pretty sick. We're not positive he'll make it out here.

Also pray for transportation. Two of the mission's vehicles died today and we're going to have to rent vans in order to pick up all of the children.

We departed YWAM (Youth With A Mission, the place we spent the night at in Colorado Springs) and trundled through the mountains and woods and desert. New Mexico is terrific. Hares, hawks, mountains and mesas are everywhere.

A few words from the intrepid passengers:

"It's hot. And dry." -Eric
"It's really really beautiful here. The bus sucked." - Matt
"What's a blog?" -Mr. Barlow
"Just arriving is such a relief and blessing." -Cassi
"The views of God's creation on the drive were empowering." -Nate
"Nice, wide open spaces." -Seth
"The air is unbelievably refreshing." -Sam

We have arrived in Colorado Springs. While the cramped, noisy bus is beginning to get to us, we had a great time getting ice cream at Whit's End, going down a very long, super-cool slide, and tramping around the Garden of the Gods National Park.

Yesterday, we were profoundly thankful for the extreme hospitality of Zion BIC and Abilene BIC church members, who cooked us a real dinner (very good) and let us into their homes for showers (better).

Yesterday, we visited St. Louis. That's all.

Hope you are well. Tonight, some of us will be in beds and some will be on the floor, but at least we get to lay down for undisturbed sleep.

Everybody says hi.

Loaded up at EBIC this evening...prayers for Nick Ressler, EBIC Youth Director, as illness has prevented him from traveling with the group...will hopefully rejoin group later in the week...more news to follow...