Yes the youth are still alive- and adults are still too. I have had little time to update in the past few days and felt like it might be good to catch some sleep instead of writing. I hope you will forgive me. God has been working in all of our lives this week and tonight we saw something truly amazing-we all became one unified group. And some of that has to do with the different kids, but it also has to do with me, their youth minister. I guess I have felt since I've been here that I haven't fit in very well and the youth didn't bond to me. Part of that was the fact that I had a hard time allowing them to accept me. Tonight that all changed and after 17 months of being here, I now am where I want to be. The explain it simply, it was like the youth were in the pool and I was on the side teaching them, and they kept begging me to come in and tonight was the first time I cannon balled in! I truly believe that this is just the beginning for our youth group. I can't wait to see how God is going to work in the lives of our youth, our future church. Watch out because we are coming back stronger than ever!

It has been a good week and while I love camp and the kids, it will be nice to sleep more than 4 hours a night, eat cafeteria food, and not see those I call family. I love the youth dearly, but am ready to return them to their parents for a while! Thank you for all your support you give to them and continue to support and encourage them. Thank you for your prayers this week, we have definitely seen the answers to those in all our lives. We should be home hopefully around 9 tomorrow evening. Pray for safe travel and no traffic.

Tuesday

We have almost completed our first full day at camp and it has been awesome. For those of you who don't know, breakfast begins at 7 am which makes for very early morning and lots of caffeine. We then go to AM show at 8:30. That is where they pump up the volume and wake u up. Then its off to bible study with your track group- kids from other churches. Then after bible study we leave campus and go to our ministry sites from about 10-3. We have 2 hours of free time in the afternoon and then have dinner, worship, church group devotions, and then night life before getting to our rooms at 11. Worship was great tonight and in the words of one of our students, "the pastor made me think about god more than I usually do." It was great to hear how god was working in and through them in their ministry site today and all the memories they have already made. Tomorrow we have extended free time to go see some historical sites and eat the legendary philly cheese steak.

Monday

What a day we have had! We have had an eventful day that started for some of us in urgent care. Thankfully we have gotten everyone with the medicine they need that hopefully we won't have any more medical issues the rest of the week. Once we left where we were staying, we got to go experience the Amish country and see some things they do. Then we headed to camp at Eastern university on the outskirts of Philadelphia. The first few hours are crazy trying to get everyone in rooms and figuring out where they are supposed to be. But by the end of the night, when all the adults were tired and ready for bed, the kids were all fired up and excited to be here. We have a lot of kids who have never been this north before and never been to a city like Philadelphia. It is the 6th largest in the us. Pretty much all the groups will be helping those who are in extreme poverty and some homeless people. We were challenged tonight to not judge those people but share the love of Jesus with them as well. I can't wait to see all that God has in store for all of us this week. Pray for us as we head to our ministry sites for the first time. Some aren't happy where they are, so I pray they will have a willing spirit to allow God to use them. Pray for us to get enough rest and have a good attitude towards others as well, and for us to stay healthy! Can't wait to see how God changes us in mighty ways!

Day 2- hershey park

Today we all had a great day at Hershey amusement park seeing how they make chocolate, and getting to ride all the rides. All had loads of fun and stayed safe. We are heading to Philadelphia in the morning and will check into camp in the afternoon. The kids will find out what they will be doing for the week and experience their first night of worship. Continue to pray for all of us as we head to camp and be ministers and be ministered to. The Lord is going to do mighty things and I can't wait to see all that is in store! Thanks for your prayers!
Lauren

Day 1- Saturday

30 youth and adults left this morning and headed up to Lancaster, PA for our summer mission trip. We made a stop in Richmond, va for lunch to eat a bbq fundraiser by my former church's youth to help them go on a mission trip. We finally made it to our destination around dinner time, got settled in, and got to enjoy some pool time before bed. We are looking forward to a fun day at Hershey park tomorrow, getting chocolate and riding roller coaster. All the youth have loved the prayer cards they got today and are excited about the ones the rest of the week. Continue to pray for us that God would do mighty things in and through our group. Pray for the health of our group as well. We have already had a few minor health issues that we hope don't develop any further. Looking forward to all God has in store! Lauren

Mission trip to Philadelphia, PA

Check back starting Saturday evening, June 25 for daily updates from the youth mission trip.