Thanks & Praise to God
Thanks to all of you for your prayers and support of the 12th Annual Harvard UCC “Reach Out: Dare to Care Youth Mission Trip May 26-29, 2021. Participants were Trisha Burbach, Killua Geliga, Diamond Giliga, Noah Giliga, Talon Hausten, Allee Jarzynka, Madison Oborny, Dylan Pair, Faith Pair, Misty Pair, Rudy Pair and Pastor Dave. Since our theme was “thanks & praise to God” based on Psalm 138 we hope we sent a written thank you to everyone who helped make our trip a success all glory to God along with a thank you letter to all of the firefighters and/or EMT’s in the Harvard area.
As with many activities during the last 15 months, our trip was unique and offered many opportunities to see the Spirit at work in and near Harvard. This has many advantages such as being together for half the day which allows other regular activities to continue with family and friends such as sleeping in our own beds every night! Our basic routine was meeting at the church every morning for prayer & diligent study of Psalm 138 followed by delicious breakfasts and an energizer devotional with discussion led by Trisha. Then we did various work projects for a few hours at the Children’s Memorial Garden, our church, helping someone with yard work, picking weeds and cleaning up community areas such as the Community Room and shelters and playground at the park. We returned to the church to enjoy a Christian movie, “Woodlawn”, which has many themes such as God’s love, unity, teamwork, racial equality, conversion and revival in the Holy Spirit. Then we enjoyed lunch together before going our separate ways.
On Friday we left after our devotional and drove to the Christian Resource Center near Giltner where we enjoyed the hospitality of Pastor Paul Nauman, his wife Cathy and Jordan Grantham. We helped out with trimming branches along the many trails, putting wood chips and mulch where needed and other fun activities in a beautiful spot of God’s creation. “Eat dessert first” was our motto as we enjoyed cookies before driving to Aurora for a nice visit with Bob & Judy Kirkpatrick before enjoying lunch at Pueblo Viejo. Bob & Joann Norvall were spending Memorial Day weekend with family guests so we plan to visit them later this summer.
We began and finished our trip by picking one other person in the group to thank for their God given gifts based on the fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) thanks to Misty. Overall we are very thankful to God for this unique trip which also saved on gas and expenses. The youth voted to go to Camp Courageous near Monticello, Iowa in 2020 but they are still being cautious at the camp since they generally serve over 7,000 disabled folks every year with the help of volunteers from all over the nation. Please pray that we are able to return to Camp Courageous next year, all praise to God.
“We give thanks, O LORD, with our whole heart; before the gods we sing your praise. We bow down toward your holy temple and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness; for you have exalted your name and your word above everything. On the day we called, you answered us, you increased our strength of soul.” –paraphrase of Psalm 138:1-3
Shalom,
PastorDave 402-705-4079
Thanks to all of you for your prayers and support of the 12th Annual Harvard UCC “Reach Out: Dare to Care Youth Mission Trip May 26-29, 2021. Participants were Trisha Burbach, Killua Geliga, Diamond Giliga, Noah Giliga, Talon Hausten, Allee Jarzynka, Madison Oborny, Dylan Pair, Faith Pair, Misty Pair, Rudy Pair and Pastor Dave. Since our theme was “thanks & praise to God” based on Psalm 138 we hope we sent a written thank you to everyone who helped make our trip a success all glory to God along with a thank you letter to all of the firefighters and/or EMT’s in the Harvard area.
As with many activities during the last 15 months, our trip was unique and offered many opportunities to see the Spirit at work in and near Harvard. This has many advantages such as being together for half the day which allows other regular activities to continue with family and friends such as sleeping in our own beds every night! Our basic routine was meeting at the church every morning for prayer & diligent study of Psalm 138 followed by delicious breakfasts and an energizer devotional with discussion led by Trisha. Then we did various work projects for a few hours at the Children’s Memorial Garden, our church, helping someone with yard work, picking weeds and cleaning up community areas such as the Community Room and shelters and playground at the park. We returned to the church to enjoy a Christian movie, “Woodlawn”, which has many themes such as God’s love, unity, teamwork, racial equality, conversion and revival in the Holy Spirit. Then we enjoyed lunch together before going our separate ways.
On Friday we left after our devotional and drove to the Christian Resource Center near Giltner where we enjoyed the hospitality of Pastor Paul Nauman, his wife Cathy and Jordan Grantham. We helped out with trimming branches along the many trails, putting wood chips and mulch where needed and other fun activities in a beautiful spot of God’s creation. “Eat dessert first” was our motto as we enjoyed cookies before driving to Aurora for a nice visit with Bob & Judy Kirkpatrick before enjoying lunch at Pueblo Viejo. Bob & Joann Norvall were spending Memorial Day weekend with family guests so we plan to visit them later this summer.
We began and finished our trip by picking one other person in the group to thank for their God given gifts based on the fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) thanks to Misty. Overall we are very thankful to God for this unique trip which also saved on gas and expenses. The youth voted to go to Camp Courageous near Monticello, Iowa in 2020 but they are still being cautious at the camp since they generally serve over 7,000 disabled folks every year with the help of volunteers from all over the nation. Please pray that we are able to return to Camp Courageous next year, all praise to God.
“We give thanks, O LORD, with our whole heart; before the gods we sing your praise. We bow down toward your holy temple and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness; for you have exalted your name and your word above everything. On the day we called, you answered us, you increased our strength of soul.” –paraphrase of Psalm 138:1-3
Shalom,
PastorDave 402-705-4079