DEADLINE UPDATE!!!

Hello everyone! It's hard to believe, but we are about to put the final cap on the team that is going to Honduras in July! As of right now, I have 28 students (in addition to our adult staff) signed up and confirmed.

Here is the deal... THIS NOTICE IS FOR ANYONE OUT THERE IN THE BLOGOSPHERE...

If you are still on the bubble about going, you need to make a decision or unfortunately it will be made for you. I can take your registration and commitment via email until 8AM tomorrow morning! All that you (actually your parent) needs to do is to send me an email stating that you are planning to go with us to Honduras and that they will commit to paying the cost of the plane ticket even if you do not go.

My reasoning for extending this deadline is help those of you who might be considering a last minute plea. I would love to be as gracious in this as I possibly can, but you must understand the VERY limited flexibility that I have once I order the tickets.

So in short, if you have any questions or concerns about the trip, please feel free to contact me ASAP so that I can answer them and get you registered.

You can reach me by emailing me at jeremy@newhopecc.org or calling me at (419) 553-0050.

I am looking forward to serving with you!!!!!

Jeremy

The DEADLINE is HERE!!!!

Remember - TODAY (Sunday, March 30) is the DEADLINE to sign up for the trip to Honduras! I have done everything I can to communicate this deadline to as many people as I can, but inevitably there will be some misunderstanding about the details... let's clarify what is going on:

TODAY is the deadline that is set by our airline (DELTA) for us to be able to secure the same rate for students to attend. So, each student has been asked to bring in a $150 non-refundable deposit as well as the "Parent Affirmation Form" which communicates the commitment on the part of the family to pay for at least an additional $800 on the behalf of their student regardless of that student's attendance.

Now, understand that the $150 being DUE TODAY should not prohibit your student from registering today! I will be glad to make alternate arrangements for the payment - the most important piece is the commitment on the part of parents to paying the full amount if the students cannot go for some reason.

PLEASE REGISTER WITH ME TODAY (OR COMMUNICATE WITH ME A.S.A.P)! THIS IS VITAL!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks!!! (I am really looking forward to having the team secured and named so that I can start crafting the experience portions of the trip!!!)

Jeremy

Meeting Recap - IMPORTANT INFORMATION!!!

Hey everyone - hope this snow isn't slowing you down too much!

Well, we had a great meeting last night! It was a lot of fun watching student's (and parent's) faces when they saw the pictures and videos that we showed of our pre-trip to Honduras.

I just want to recap a couple of things that are VITAL for you to know (did I mention VITAL?):

- All of the documents that we handed out will be available at the South Campus Welcome Center (you will need to pick them up THIS SUNDAY as some of the information is time sensitive!)

- PARENT AFFIRMATION FORM: Each student who is going on the trip will need to have a parent read and sign a "Parent Affirmation Form." This form is DUE by the deadline below

- $150 NON-REFUNDABLE DEPOSIT: Each student will need to submit at least $150 as a non-refundable deposit by the deadline below

- THE DEADLINE to sign up for the trip is Sunday, March 30th. Your sign-up will need to be done by filling out the enclosed (in the parent pack that is available at the South Campus Welcome Center) envelope, the Parent affirmation form and the $150 non-refundable deposit. You will need to turn that envelope with the necessary contents in to the South Campus Welcome Center that Sunday (or to the Church office BEFORE that Sunday) or you will not be included in the list of students for whom airline tickets will be purchased on Monday morning. I am very sorry, but there is NO GRACE PERIOD for late sign ups - I cannot purchase additional tickets at this rate once we have made the list.

MANDATORY PARENT AND STUDENT MEETING!

Hello everyone!

I am home and (almost) recovered from the trip (my forehead is peeling... and I have a rather LARGE forehead).

I just wanted to remind you that this Thursday night is our mandatory parent and student meeting! We will meet at 7 PM in the youth center (NC110).

If you are unable to make it for some special reason, please communicate that to me ASAP so that I can make plans to get the important information to you after the meeting.

Remember, as with all of the required team events, the list of students who are going to go with us will be made up of those who PRIORITIZE our time together - that means no skipping out because you got a better offer. That being said, I am a realistic (and reasonable) - please let me know that you won't be able to make something (and a decent reason) and we will make it work somehow.

This Thursday, in addition to medical plans, we will talk about the travel, lodging and schedule arrangements and carve out some time to answer questions.

See you Thursday!

Jeremy

Last Day!

I can't wait to see my family! I have been able to briefly connect with my beautiful wife and three girls each night via a webcam and a great free service called Skype, but it just isn't the same! I miss my wife!!!

Ok... today was the last day of our little expidition. We spent the day looking at the available options for our "day off" while we are here. The most productive part of the day was the 3rd degree sunburn that I got (bring sunblock with you when you pack!).

I don't want to let too much out of the bag about our day off... just know that no matter what it will be a great day to relax and enjoy Honduras!

George and I leave fo rthe airport at 5 AM... ride the same ancient Russian aircraft to San Pedro Sula (a flight that students will not have to take). Then it's off to Atlanta... through imigration and customs and then on to Detroit. We will arrive (all things being equal) at 11:11 PM and then head for home.

This has been ONE CRAZY WEEK, but I am glad to say that we got a great deal of clarification about the work that we will be doing, the place we will sleep and eat and the people we will fall in love with!

I can't wait to get home, but I also can't wait to bring you guys back... YOU ARE GOING TO LOVE THIS PLACE!!!

Sorry, no pics for today... it's a secret :-)

Jeremy

DAY 2 - OVERWHELMING

In the words of my favorite American Idol judge, Randy Jackson "It's gonna be HOT!!"

It is March 11th and I left a foot of snow behind me in NW Ohio... not so much here! Today had to be at least 90 degrees... I have a sunburn on my right arm from hanging it out of the car window!

Today, we visited 3 villages, 2 churches, the mission headquarters, a campground, a 2000 student Christian school and an Applebee's... now that is one intense day!

We took off early this morning (after I posted yesterday's blog) and we headed to the headquarters of the mission that we will be working with for this trip! After touring the places that we will eat, sleep, shower and live, We toured a 2000 member Christian School that is THE cutting edge of education in Honduras - IT IS HUGE!! Students meet in classes of about 60 kids in about 600 square feet. Their computer labs are limited on PC's, so 2 or 3 students share one computer! Get this... of the 2000 students, only about 35% are actually professing Christians... TALK ABOUT INCREDIBLE INFLUENCE!!!! WOW!!!!

After the school, we crammed into a little Geo Prizm and headed out to a small village called "La Bombo" (the Bomb)... if I am being candid, that is exactly what it looked like went off! Let's jsut say that the living conditions (to me) seem inhumane. I told the family that I have been working with that I have a hard time processing just how desperate these families must feel - just how dangerous their circumstances really are, yet when you see the children, their little faces just glow - they are running, jumping and playing like they didn't have a care in the world!

THIS TRIP IS GOING TO BE AWESOME!

You are going to be remarkably uncomfortable... The heat, the traveling, and the work will be exhausting, but the experience and the rewards will be amazing! I don't know how to express this in words, but the things I have seen and the people I have met in the past 14 hours have been extremely impacting... I know that working hand in hand with the people will be nothing short of LIFE CHANGING.

If you are still on the fence about going on this trip, let me give you one piece of advice:

If you are happy with your life the way it is... STAY HOME! This place will not leave you the same!

Jeremy :.

WOW! (Advance Trip - Day 1)

Well, we are here! I am not sure how many of you parents and students are following our little excursion on our advance trip to Honduras, but George and I have arrived safely in Le Ceiba (where we will be staying when we all get here).

Yesterday was a day PACKED with airports and airplanes. We left for Detroit at 4:15 and arrived here at the hotel at about 9 PM after a brief layover in Atlanta and a 3 hour delay in San Pedro Sula, Honduras. I WAS EXHAUSTED when I finally got into bed!

It is just after 6 AM here and it is BROAD DAYLIGHT (and has been for over an hour). I won't bore you with rediculous details, but here area few things I observed yesterday... some relevant, some... well, not so much.

- I am thankful that we only have 2 flights to get here! The flight from Detroit to Atlanta is on a TINY little plane, but it was a very smooth flight (I think our group will fill a third of the flight). The leg from Atlanta to Honduras is about 3 hours and 20 minutes - about an hour less than George and I waited in San Pedro for our 40 minute flight to Le Ceiba. when we come with students, we will meet a bus driver and he will take our group on a 3 hour bus ride through the country to La Ceiba.

- The Water. I have been terrified that I would accidentally drink the water, but the people here have been very helpful to serve or offer bottled water to drink. No signs of Montezuma's revenge yet (I promise to blog every detail if anything changes - kidding :-)

- Speak the Language. One thing that struck me yesterday was on our short flight to La Ceiba. We borded this extremely old plane that looked like something out of Indiana Jones (that one was for moms and dads). While we were flying, the captain turned off the "fasten seatbelts" sign for a while. Then, suddenly he truned it back on again. Now, I hadn't moved an inch (there wasn't much room or anything to do) but the flight attendant came on with an announcement that I didn't understand - - it was in Spanish. Now, here I am in an old plane flying over the Honduran jungle with what is potentially life saving information being given to me IN A LANGUAGE I DON'T UNDERSTAND! After I got over the need to vomit, I thought about our witness to those outside of a relationship with Christ... how often do we talk to them about the life saving truth that Jesus paid the penalty for their sin in a language they don't understand... of worse yet, we turn the seatbelt sign on and don't say a word. Just a thought - you should expect to hear more about that one later :-)

Well, we have a long day of touring the sites where we will be working, sleeping and eating (and even a couple where we will be playing). I am looking forward to posting some of what we are doing... keep checking back! In the meantime, here are some pictures from yesterday's travel:

This is what I look like after I found the camera that I left on the plane...

45 minutes in the line for immigration into Honduras - I am glad that I was able to experince this first so that I can ensure that all of our group handles this correctly... btw - they don't like to joke around.

See what I mean - - I think that Dr. Jones flew in the one when he was looking for the Arc!

It doesn't even begin to do it justice, but this is the Honduran countryside from the plane on the way to Le Ceiba... it was breathtaking (I am trying to convince myself that was the reason George was green on the way there :-)

More tonight... pray for us - this is an entirely different world!

Jeremy

Keep Checking!!!

I only have a few minutes (everything has been amazingly busy lately) but I wanted to get some very important info out to all of you!


First - GREAT job on the Chili Supper everyone! While the final amounts are still to be determined (the end result for each student will be determined by the final number of students who actually go) the chili supper was a HUGE success - we did raise almost $3000! Everyone had a blast and we raised a lot of money toward the trip - the final amounts per student will be out soon!


NOW FOR THE IMPORTANT STUFF:


I leave on Monday morning (REALLY early) for the advance trip to Honduras!


Pastor George and I are heading down to meet with the team on site, see where the team (students and adults) will sleep, eat and work and get some much needed exposure to what we will be doing while we are there!


This is an important trip for each of us for a couple of reasons: not only does this trip give us an incredible amount of important details that are vital to effective and safe planning, but I will be blogging during this trip (complete with pictures) so CHECK EVERY DAY NEXT WEEK for updates on the progress of the advance trip - I am positive it will be exciting!!!


MANDATORY TEAM MEETING:

Also, don't forget the team meeting (team orientation and such) that was mentioned in your last parents letter. Thursday, March 20th is a mandatory ALL TEAM meeting. ALL STUDENTS and at least one parent should plan to attend. At this meeting, we will see more pictures and videos and will talk about some very important details of the trip (like vaccinations, money, deadlines, etc).

ANY INTERESTED STUDENTS OR PARENTS SHOULD PLAN TO BE AT THIS MEETING ON THURSDAY, MARCH 20th IN THE YOUTH CENTER

IN THE NORTH CAMPUS!