Our last day

This morning we had our final time with the kids. We had 15 kids and one baby. It was pretty much free play as we had given away all of our toys and supplies to the conference attendees the night before. This afternoon we either took naps or sat by the pool until it got cloudy. some of the team went to a nearby seaside community for dinner.

We got a huge surprise today. As we checked our flight schedule for tomorrow we found that our flight was delayed by over 6 hours which meant we would miss our connecting flight. So after much time on the phone we got rescheduled on other flights. This means we have to leave the hotel at 1:30 AM Thursday morning to make our 5 AM flight. The good news is we will arrive home earlier in the day than was originally planned.

I will write a summary report when we get home. The team did such a great job we have already been invited back! We were told we "set the bar" for this organization.

Thanks for following and supporting us. We could tell you were there!

Blessings

A day of goodbys

Today was our final full day with all the kids. Once again we started our day with devotions at 7 AM. It was a rich time as we took the time to write something that we saw in each of our teammates this week. There were lots of words like; sacrifice, leader, loving, compassion, and faithful. We were encouraged to keep these notes and refer to them once in awhile for encouragement. Even though we have poured ourselves out and are tired, one of our team members has already said "sign me up for 2012"!

This afternoon our kids did a program for their parents. The little kids sang two songs with hand motions. The older kids sang songs and did a skit. As usual the parents loved it. Afterwards we reflected that because of where these dear families live they do not often get to see their children sing in a group or do plays. No wonder they loved it.

At the conclusion of the program each member of our team was given a gift by the International Director of the company we came here to help. Our team was also blessed by a standing ovation from the room full of parents. We were greatly encouraged.

Tomorrow we will have only a handful of kids whose parents are staying for a special workshop. At this time we are not sure how many we will have. Tomorrow will be a much slower pace. Tonight the parents are getting to select from all the things we brought here for supplies that they would like to take home with them. Another blessing for these dear people.

A special treat

It's 9:30 PM on Monday night. Another full day is in the bank! This was a very busy day for all our groups. It is fun seeing the kids connect with our staff. A lot of them are asking to each meals with our team members. It is a riot watching the parents try to keep up with their kids as they run down the hall in a hurry to get to their class. Afternoon "Movie Matinee" has proven to be a great hit for the kids.

After dinner tonight our team had a special treat. Dr Gary Chapman, author of the "The Five Love Languages", and the conference speaker spent time with our team. It was great interacting with him as he shared his experiences as a husband of 49 years, a pastor and a counselor.

It's Sunday night and we just finished dinner after a very full day. After devotions and breakfast we begin our service to the children at 8:30. At 10:15 the parents came and got their kids and most people headed out on 1 of 3 different tour options. Most of our team went on a guided tour of Istanbul. On the tour we saw Hagia Sophia, The Blue Mosque, Topkapi Palace, and the Spice Bazaar. The sights were amazing and the weather great.

The team continues in good spirits and health.

Encouraging feedback

Our mornings start at 7 AM with a time of devotion shared by one of our team, then prayer for our day, our kids, and their parents. Then we review our plans for the day and make any adjustments we need to make. This morning the adjustment we made was to replace one of our "object lessons" with a time of prayer for each of our kids. This change was prompted by our team realizing some of these kids are very fearful.

We had a very nice compliment from the conference coordinator. She told me that she was very impressed with our early rising and spending the first part of our day in prayer. She said she has not seen a team so organized.

One of our parents told one of our team members that the best part of the conference for her is the children's program, She wants her kids to have fun and they can't wait to get to their classroom in the morning.

The older kids had a grand time outside playing "capture the flag". It required lots of strategy and even more running!!!

We made it!!

Well we made it through our longest day with flying colors! Everyone is tired but they did an awesome job. The parents keep telling us how much they appreciate what we are doing. The kids really like the various craft projects they are doing. You can see some of them painting their new bags.

Others watched movies, participated in a drama about Joesph, and did an object lesson on parting the Red Sea. Our team has really gone all out in making this a memorable time for the kids.

One family told us they had to leave their country of service with no warning and left everything behind, even the toys. We will be giving them a bunch of the toys we brought with us.

Well its getting close to bed time. Check in with us tomorrow. Keep talking to the man upstairs for us.

The longest day!

It's Friday and we are about 1/2 way through our longest day. It is almost 3 PM and we have 4 more hours to go. The kids are really having fun. It is great to see them waiting to get in the classroom early and hugging their teachers at meal times. He is clearly answering our requests.

We had 5 babies this morning and they all slept at the same time!

Later this afternoon the older kids will have a water baloon fight.

I am so proud of our team. They came here with the attitude of service and they are really doing it. Their spirits are high and their attitudes are super. For the most part everyone is feeling good.

We had a good day

Thanks for standing with us. We had a good day today. Our team started the day with a devotion and speaking to Father. Then we walked all the rooms again speaking to Father for His help with our day. Your time with Him and our walk made all the difference today. The kids had fun, the babies were good and the workers are tired. We had a music worship time, drama, games, movies, water baloon fight, baloon animals. One of our parents told me that their kids got up this morning and could not wait to get to their class. That is exactly what we were hoping to hear. Some of our kids even wanted to sit with their teacher at dinner.

Tomorrow will be our longest day. We have our kids from 9 AM to 7 PM with only a break for lunch.

What an amazing day

On Tuesday, our little band of warriors traveled to Ephesus. What an amazing day. We visited the site where the people here believe Mary, the mother of Jesus, spent her final days. They say that the apostle John lived nearby and watched over Mary. We also got to walk the streets where Paul walked and visited the huge outdoor auditorium where Paul preached and debated. It was an emotional experience. We also had some great laughs as four of our team sat at the "public latrine". So much for privacy. On Wednesday we spent the day with our final preparations for our work with the children. Wednesday afternoon we had our first time with the kids and it went very well. We had a few challenges with the babies! We only had 1/2 of the 10 babies and several cried a good share of the time. Some of the help we had planned on is not available. Please pray we can get some additional help. I think we brought the Oregon weather with us. It was cloudy and wet today with lots of lightening. The whole team is feeling very well! Tomorrow we will have the kids for about 7 hours. Pray for strength. Our spirits, unity, and attitudes are great.

Getting ready

Today we had team devotions where Mike shared about being thankful and God as the supreme "networker". Reflecting on how God networked this team together. Then we sorted our 11 suitcases of supplies we will use for our children's program. This evening we toured the rooms we will use for our classrooms to see which ones best suit our needs. Everyone is doing great. Tomorrow we leave the hotel at 6 AM for tour of Ephesus! We can't wait. We should be back to the hotel around 9 PM. Thanks for tracking with us.

A beautiful day ahead

This is our youngest team member! She will be 3 at the end of our trip. This was yesterday at the Istanbul airport after a very long day of flying!

It is almost 7 AM here on Monday morning. We are getting ready for breakfast and then we will begin setting up our meeting rooms to get ready for our time with the kids. The sun is out and the sky is blue. It is going to be a great day.

We are in Istanbul

It is 8:30 PM on Sunday June 20. We have checked into our hotel and had dinner and now we are ready for bed. Our flights were great. We even got into Amsterdam 30 minutes early so we had no issues with a short connection time. Everyone is tired but feeling good. More tomorrow, but for now its bedtime

Team Logo

Here is our team logo. One of our very creative team members came up with the design.

We are ready!

Our suitcases are packed and we are ready to go! Our team of 12 leaves Saturday June 19 from Portland Oregon for Istanbul Turkey. We are ready to Live The Adventure! Follow us each step of the way.