Ok - just one important thought that I would like all of you to consider. Each night while we are gone, we get together to debrief and discuss the day's events. During that time, we go through any "comments" that parents or others who are following the blog might post! I have to tell you that this is MAJOR encouragement to our students!
So, here is my challenge for you... as you are following the blog throughout this week, please consider leaving a comment as often as you can! Your comment can be a little note directly to your student, or a prayer for the team that you simply write out, a verse that God is laying on your heart or a quote that impacts you... ANYTHING that could even remotely be encouraging to our kids!
All you have to do to leave a comment is go to the actual blog page (you can't do it from the emails). So, visit http://www.godeepblog.com/ and go to the bottom of the post on which you would like to comment (we read the comments from the most recent post each night) - - click on the word "comments." From there, you can view the comments left by others as well as post your comment.
Listen - comments can be left by ANYONE... parents, friends, family, people from the church, strangers, ANYONE WHO WANTS TO ENCOURAGE OUR KIDS!
PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT... it can be as simple as "I am so glad you arrived safely" or "I love you, _______" to a full paragraph with an update on how the cat is doing.
WE LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU!!!!!
Thanks!
Jeremy
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Friday, July 18, 2008
My heart for this trip
Even as I write these words, the vast majority of our team is watching an important video. Today, I have asked our students to watch (and in some cases, re-watch) the sermon that our Church experienced together at the close of the "One Prayer" series ("Make us Wise by Wayne Cordierro). This is probably the 5th or 6th time I have seen this sermon - it is still challenging me!
As I am listening, I find myself running over the most important things I would love to see accomplished on this trip. The funny thing is that Nate and I have spent countless hours working on the most ridiculous minute details...
To make a long story short - here are the things that I am praying... will you join me?
~ Spend time with Jesus. Life goes by too fast - we are hoping that students will have a chance to begin to develop the habit of spending quality time with the Master. Each day student will be given a tool that we have developed to coordinate with the day's activity that will help them discover truth from Scripture, apply it to their lives and then see life through the goggles of Wisdom.
~ See what God is doing when they are not looking. One of the repetitive questions that I have asked kids on missions trips like this one is "What on earth is God doing?" My hope is that students will have a chance to experience the truth that God is at work on a timeless, spaceless mission to bring Himself glory - - even when they aren't looking!
~ Give something away! I am excited about all that our Church is doing in Honduras. Over and above the unexpected costs of the trip, our church has given well over $3000 the building of bunk beds that will help the mission in La Ceiba house more volunteers in the future (we will be building those beds in the afternoon). My hope is that students will leave something of themselves behind... selfishness!
Please join me in praying for this trip - it is so much more than a chance to do something nice for someone else - so much more than a "do gooder" trip - this is a chance to show the love of Christ to the world He died to save!
Jeremy
As I am listening, I find myself running over the most important things I would love to see accomplished on this trip. The funny thing is that Nate and I have spent countless hours working on the most ridiculous minute details...
To make a long story short - here are the things that I am praying... will you join me?
~ Spend time with Jesus. Life goes by too fast - we are hoping that students will have a chance to begin to develop the habit of spending quality time with the Master. Each day student will be given a tool that we have developed to coordinate with the day's activity that will help them discover truth from Scripture, apply it to their lives and then see life through the goggles of Wisdom.
~ See what God is doing when they are not looking. One of the repetitive questions that I have asked kids on missions trips like this one is "What on earth is God doing?" My hope is that students will have a chance to experience the truth that God is at work on a timeless, spaceless mission to bring Himself glory - - even when they aren't looking!
~ Give something away! I am excited about all that our Church is doing in Honduras. Over and above the unexpected costs of the trip, our church has given well over $3000 the building of bunk beds that will help the mission in La Ceiba house more volunteers in the future (we will be building those beds in the afternoon). My hope is that students will leave something of themselves behind... selfishness!
Please join me in praying for this trip - it is so much more than a chance to do something nice for someone else - so much more than a "do gooder" trip - this is a chance to show the love of Christ to the world He died to save!
Jeremy
Thursday, July 17, 2008
ALERT TO EMAIL UPDATERS!!!
Just a short note to all of you who are getting this information through the email subscrption!
I know that it is much more convenient to get the updates through email, but that is not a 'real time' connection to the blog. When I submit a post, the email doesn't go out to you until our service provider (feed burner) decides to blast it out.
So, since the information on this blog will be coming at you quite quickly over the next few days, and much of it is VITAL, it will be very important for you to check this blog as often as you possibly can!
If you are considering that the idea of trying to remember to check this blog that often is a really daunting task, here are couple of options.
- make www.godeepblog.com your home page. That way, whenever you open your internet explorer, you will get the most recent page (you might want to hit the F5 key to refresh that every time you open it to make sure you are actually getting a 'refreshed' page)
- Try a "feed aggregator." I know that sounds difficult, but it is REALLY simple. At my house, we use a service (free) called bloglines. All you have to do is go to www.bloglines.com and sign up for an account (I never get junk mail from them). Once you do that, add a feed from the website www.godeepblog.com and then every time a blog is posted - you will get the info immediately. If you have trouble, feel free to give me a call.
- Do you use Microsoft Outlook for your email? If you do, most versions of outlook support what is called an RSS feed. All you need to do it connect Outlook to the feed at www.godeepblog.com and you will get them immediately.
In the end, I just want to make sure that you get the most up-to-date information as possible!
Thanks!
Jeremy
I know that it is much more convenient to get the updates through email, but that is not a 'real time' connection to the blog. When I submit a post, the email doesn't go out to you until our service provider (feed burner) decides to blast it out.
So, since the information on this blog will be coming at you quite quickly over the next few days, and much of it is VITAL, it will be very important for you to check this blog as often as you possibly can!
If you are considering that the idea of trying to remember to check this blog that often is a really daunting task, here are couple of options.
- make www.godeepblog.com your home page. That way, whenever you open your internet explorer, you will get the most recent page (you might want to hit the F5 key to refresh that every time you open it to make sure you are actually getting a 'refreshed' page)
- Try a "feed aggregator." I know that sounds difficult, but it is REALLY simple. At my house, we use a service (free) called bloglines. All you have to do is go to www.bloglines.com and sign up for an account (I never get junk mail from them). Once you do that, add a feed from the website www.godeepblog.com and then every time a blog is posted - you will get the info immediately. If you have trouble, feel free to give me a call.
- Do you use Microsoft Outlook for your email? If you do, most versions of outlook support what is called an RSS feed. All you need to do it connect Outlook to the feed at www.godeepblog.com and you will get them immediately.
In the end, I just want to make sure that you get the most up-to-date information as possible!
Thanks!
Jeremy
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Great Meeting!
Hey Everyone!
We had a great parents meeting last night! It seems like we are well onto our way to a great trip. I think the biggest concerns on my heart right now are that we will have no (airline related) delays or cancellations and that student's (and leaders - primarily mine) hearts will be ready to experience exactly what God will have us experience during these 10 days!
Speaking of prayer, we are planning on having a time of blessing and prayer over the students in each of the three services at New Hope this week. To do that, I would like to have EVERY MEMBER OF THE TEAM (INCLUDING ANY LEADERS WHO CAN POSSIBLY MAKE IT HAPPEN) WEAR THEIR BLUE TEAM SHIRT AND BE PRESENT FOR ALL THREE SERVICES (8:10, 9:30 AND 11:00).
I know that this is a great deal of time - - and trust me, I know how early that is (I get to church at 5:30 every week) but I want to you understand how important an act like this is to the people of our church (also - they are largely the reason we raise so much from the 2 fund raisers).
So, please be at the church no later than 8:00 AM. For the first and the second services, I will ask you all to come out from backstage (the praise team room) and for the second service, I would like you all to consume the first several rows. I think that this will be a GREAT testimony to the family of our Church and will certainly raise their excitement and interest in the trip!
If you aren't going to be there, you better have a GREAT excuse!
Also, for those of you who asked me last night about a list of students... I completely forgot that we have been planning for weeks to have a complete list of students and adults included (as a prayer tool) in the bulletin this coming Sunday.
Thanks!
Jeremy
We had a great parents meeting last night! It seems like we are well onto our way to a great trip. I think the biggest concerns on my heart right now are that we will have no (airline related) delays or cancellations and that student's (and leaders - primarily mine) hearts will be ready to experience exactly what God will have us experience during these 10 days!
Speaking of prayer, we are planning on having a time of blessing and prayer over the students in each of the three services at New Hope this week. To do that, I would like to have EVERY MEMBER OF THE TEAM (INCLUDING ANY LEADERS WHO CAN POSSIBLY MAKE IT HAPPEN) WEAR THEIR BLUE TEAM SHIRT AND BE PRESENT FOR ALL THREE SERVICES (8:10, 9:30 AND 11:00).
I know that this is a great deal of time - - and trust me, I know how early that is (I get to church at 5:30 every week) but I want to you understand how important an act like this is to the people of our church (also - they are largely the reason we raise so much from the 2 fund raisers).
So, please be at the church no later than 8:00 AM. For the first and the second services, I will ask you all to come out from backstage (the praise team room) and for the second service, I would like you all to consume the first several rows. I think that this will be a GREAT testimony to the family of our Church and will certainly raise their excitement and interest in the trip!
If you aren't going to be there, you better have a GREAT excuse!
Also, for those of you who asked me last night about a list of students... I completely forgot that we have been planning for weeks to have a complete list of students and adults included (as a prayer tool) in the bulletin this coming Sunday.
Thanks!
Jeremy
Monday, July 14, 2008
More important Information
We are drawing very close to leaving and I know that there are a lot of questions about the trip. While we are planning an important parent's meeting tomorrow night (Tuesday) at 7 PM in the Youth Center, I want to touch on a few VERY IMPORTANT DETAILS that will need to be cared for (some BEFORE tomorrow night).
MALARIA VACCINE
At the first parent's meeting (and other times since then) I let each of you know about the recommended vaccines and treatments that you might consider for the trip. While all of these are optional (up to you as a family and your doctor), I want to do everything that I can to help you take them correctly. In the case of the Malaria vaccine, the regimen is a series of pills that are taken every WEEK on the same day with the first dose taken the week before you leave. In speaking with a Pharmacist, we now know that it is not important that these pills be taken at the exact same time every week, only that they are taken with the principle meal for the day (although others have reported no problems with taking them without food - the difference is one person's stomach compared to anothers).
Here is the important detail: One of our very helpful parent's suggested that it might be easier if we would plan to take that medication on the same day so that once we are in Honduras we can take the next week's dose together (to ensure that everyone takes it correctly). That is the plan. So, please plan to take your first dose of the Malaria vaccine on Tuesday, July 15 with your principle meal. As I understand it, if you are not able for some reason to take the vaccine tomorrow, it will still be OK to start on Wednesday and still take it with our team the following Tuesday. As you can imagine, we would love it if everyone were able to stick as closely together as possible so that we can manage the 35 people who will need to take that medication together (it will be kind of like a mosquito communion). So, it at all possible, PLEASE TAKE THE FIRST COURSE OF THE MALARIA VACCINE TOMORROW!
PASSPORTS
We will be handling your students passport from door to door. Please bring their passport with you to the meeting tomorrow night so that we can make the appropriate copies and get them assembled into the teams in which they will travel. (We will return the passport to your student when we return to the Church at the conclusion of the trip).
PACKING INFORMATION
Please see the link in the top corner of the blog page (you will need to go to http://www.godeepblog.com/ if you are subscribing by email) to download the MS Word Document with detailed packing instructions. The document is 3 pages long and details everything that you need to know about packing for this trip. Make sure that you read it - we will be following those requirements very closely.
MEDICATIONS
In addition to all of the instructions on the packing document, I need to point out a couple of other things that you will need to consider:
1. All medications must be in their original containers with your student's name on the outside. This is not a requirement from us - this is directly related to Customs. As you can imagine, we will be crossing the US border with a LARGE amount of medication and will likely be questioned as to the contents of the bottles we are carrying - they will not allow us to cross the borders with unmarked containers or containers belonging to people who are not present. Please help us out by working with us on this.
2. Does your student use an inhaler or other regular or emergency medication? Inhalers are one of the only medications that students will be allowed to keep with them. In the event of their losing their inhaler, we will not have access to purchase another one. You might consider sending an additional inhaler that we will keep in the medical boxes. Again, this is up to you.
3. Feminine stuff. As you can imagine, I don't like to discuss this reality. But, I would rather talk about it now than try to deal with it in person while we are gone. It would be very helpful if all of our girls were prepared for the possibility that they may have not read the calendar correctly or just the possibility that the stress of the trip made the clock run a bit faster than expected. Hopefully, that will be enough said...
I know that is a lot of information, but it is only a fraction of what we need to cover so that we can plan to safely and quickly move through all of the security checks, Customs lines and airline boardings that will happen during the trip.
If you have ANY questions, please email me at jeremy@newhopecc.org and I will reply as quickly as possible.
Thanks!
Jeremy
MALARIA VACCINE
At the first parent's meeting (and other times since then) I let each of you know about the recommended vaccines and treatments that you might consider for the trip. While all of these are optional (up to you as a family and your doctor), I want to do everything that I can to help you take them correctly. In the case of the Malaria vaccine, the regimen is a series of pills that are taken every WEEK on the same day with the first dose taken the week before you leave. In speaking with a Pharmacist, we now know that it is not important that these pills be taken at the exact same time every week, only that they are taken with the principle meal for the day (although others have reported no problems with taking them without food - the difference is one person's stomach compared to anothers).
Here is the important detail: One of our very helpful parent's suggested that it might be easier if we would plan to take that medication on the same day so that once we are in Honduras we can take the next week's dose together (to ensure that everyone takes it correctly). That is the plan. So, please plan to take your first dose of the Malaria vaccine on Tuesday, July 15 with your principle meal. As I understand it, if you are not able for some reason to take the vaccine tomorrow, it will still be OK to start on Wednesday and still take it with our team the following Tuesday. As you can imagine, we would love it if everyone were able to stick as closely together as possible so that we can manage the 35 people who will need to take that medication together (it will be kind of like a mosquito communion). So, it at all possible, PLEASE TAKE THE FIRST COURSE OF THE MALARIA VACCINE TOMORROW!
PASSPORTS
We will be handling your students passport from door to door. Please bring their passport with you to the meeting tomorrow night so that we can make the appropriate copies and get them assembled into the teams in which they will travel. (We will return the passport to your student when we return to the Church at the conclusion of the trip).
PACKING INFORMATION
Please see the link in the top corner of the blog page (you will need to go to http://www.godeepblog.com/ if you are subscribing by email) to download the MS Word Document with detailed packing instructions. The document is 3 pages long and details everything that you need to know about packing for this trip. Make sure that you read it - we will be following those requirements very closely.
MEDICATIONS
In addition to all of the instructions on the packing document, I need to point out a couple of other things that you will need to consider:
1. All medications must be in their original containers with your student's name on the outside. This is not a requirement from us - this is directly related to Customs. As you can imagine, we will be crossing the US border with a LARGE amount of medication and will likely be questioned as to the contents of the bottles we are carrying - they will not allow us to cross the borders with unmarked containers or containers belonging to people who are not present. Please help us out by working with us on this.
2. Does your student use an inhaler or other regular or emergency medication? Inhalers are one of the only medications that students will be allowed to keep with them. In the event of their losing their inhaler, we will not have access to purchase another one. You might consider sending an additional inhaler that we will keep in the medical boxes. Again, this is up to you.
3. Feminine stuff. As you can imagine, I don't like to discuss this reality. But, I would rather talk about it now than try to deal with it in person while we are gone. It would be very helpful if all of our girls were prepared for the possibility that they may have not read the calendar correctly or just the possibility that the stress of the trip made the clock run a bit faster than expected. Hopefully, that will be enough said...
I know that is a lot of information, but it is only a fraction of what we need to cover so that we can plan to safely and quickly move through all of the security checks, Customs lines and airline boardings that will happen during the trip.
If you have ANY questions, please email me at jeremy@newhopecc.org and I will reply as quickly as possible.
Thanks!
Jeremy
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
PARENTS MEETING (and other important stuff)
WOW! 2 weeks from now, we will be waking up for our first day of sering in HONDURAS! It's hard to believe that after 9 months of planning and thinking, we are almost there!
We have a couple of important things to handle before we go. I know that many of you (parents) have a lot of questions left about how and what to pack, vaccination schedules (for ongoing medication), etc. So, we have planned a final "PARENTS MEETING" on Tuesday, July 15th at 7 PM in the Youth Center (NC110). If at all possible, it would be very helpful if AT LEAST one person (preferably a parent) would be present at that meeting.
We have a couple of important things to handle before we go. I know that many of you (parents) have a lot of questions left about how and what to pack, vaccination schedules (for ongoing medication), etc. So, we have planned a final "PARENTS MEETING" on Tuesday, July 15th at 7 PM in the Youth Center (NC110). If at all possible, it would be very helpful if AT LEAST one person (preferably a parent) would be present at that meeting.
IMPORTANT!
Also, to help with planning, here is a link to a word document that will help you in planning the specific things necessary as it relates to packing (what to bring and what NOT to bring) as well as requirements from the airlines regarding the size and weight of bags we bring. The document is 3 pages long - make sure that you read everything!
ALSO- DONT FORGET THAT WE HAVE ALL TEAM MEETINGS TO PACK THE MILLIONS OF TRIP SUPPLIES THIS THURSDAY (AND NEXT) FROM 11 AM - 2 PM!!!!
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
New Guy On Board!
Hey everyone,
This is Nate Bristol and I am the new youth guy working with Jeremy in the student ministries. It was great getting to know some of you at the pancake breakfast as you all worked hard to pull that off. By the way, my parents were visiting that weekend and said they were warmly welcomed and served by the students! Great job! I am truly blessed with the privilege of joining you on the Honduras trip in just 3 weeks!
Take note of a few things here:
Don’t forget that we are meeting on Thursday the 10th and Thursday the 17th from 11-2pm where we will assemble VBS supplies. Also bring your pizza money for lunch.
Are you planning on getting clothes for the trip? Note that the Goodwill in Bryan is having a 50% off everything sale on the 4th and 5th of July. If you don’t want to bring them back you can afford to leave them in Honduras where I am sure they will be put to good use!
Have a great Fourth of July weekend! I look forward to getting to know all of you soon!
Nate Bristol
Student Ministry Assistant Pastor
New Hope Community Church
419.630.5018
nate@newhopecc.org
This is Nate Bristol and I am the new youth guy working with Jeremy in the student ministries. It was great getting to know some of you at the pancake breakfast as you all worked hard to pull that off. By the way, my parents were visiting that weekend and said they were warmly welcomed and served by the students! Great job! I am truly blessed with the privilege of joining you on the Honduras trip in just 3 weeks!
Take note of a few things here:
Don’t forget that we are meeting on Thursday the 10th and Thursday the 17th from 11-2pm where we will assemble VBS supplies. Also bring your pizza money for lunch.
Are you planning on getting clothes for the trip? Note that the Goodwill in Bryan is having a 50% off everything sale on the 4th and 5th of July. If you don’t want to bring them back you can afford to leave them in Honduras where I am sure they will be put to good use!
Have a great Fourth of July weekend! I look forward to getting to know all of you soon!
Nate Bristol
Student Ministry Assistant Pastor
New Hope Community Church
419.630.5018
nate@newhopecc.org
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