wrapping it up...*tear*

Today was our last day at the work site. I was happy and sad all at the same time. We got there and worked all morning. The church is almost done!! Praise the Lord! Everyone has really pitched in to work hard. After lunch the teen girls(except for me)went to Pat and Alan's to make tortillas. At the same time kids got out of school and immediately came to the church to spend time with us. The adults worked on the church while the rest of us teens played with the kids. It was so much fun to spend so much time with them for the last time. We had our kids service and everyone loved it. I got to be a whale, for the story of Jonah :) It was a blast! After service we said our final farewells. It was sooo heartbreaking to have to say good bye. I'm totally coming back. Hopefully within 2 years. I have collected quite a few addresses to which I will be sending many letters. We took many final pictures with people, young and old alike. There was hardly a dry eye. I have met so many amazing people on this trip. They have touched my life in an irreplacable way. I hope we have done the same. The saddest moment was when this little girl whom I have spent every day with for the past week had to be taken away from me screaming and crying by her older brother. That just broke my heart. I have grown to love everyone here so much.
Tomorrow morning at about 6am(here) we will be leaving for the game park. It is roughly a 7 hour drive. We get a better bus, that will hold almost all of us. (THANK GOODNESS!) The last buses were not very comfortable...to say the least... :P So this is the last blog before we get home. Please pray for our returning trip, and we look forward to seeing all of our loved ones. We can't wait to share our amazing experiences and show off our compiled pictures (10,000+) with everyone!!

-Amanda-

Relaxing after Morning Services

We have had such an eventful day today--the first service was at the International Assemblies of God church in Maseru, Lesotho, where we are staying. It was a small group of people meeting in a high school room but the worship was so energetic and we could sense the presence of the Lord in such a powerful way. There was a worship team of seven ladies and one keyboard player. They sang with such excitement and MOVED when they sang! I thoroughly enjoyed the way we were able to praise God together and almost all of this service was in English. Before Pastor John spoke, I was able to lead a few worship songs and Mary Ann sang a solo using a CD soundtrack. Since most of the people in this congregation speak English, Pastor John needed no interpreter. Before leaving the church, I felt especially honored to when the worship team asked for the words and chords to one of the worship songs I had written ("God Almighty"). They sang it before we left for the next service.

Mazenod is several miles outside the city and this is where we have been building the new church building. When we arrived the church was filled with children and adults as they began their children's church at 10:00 a.m. We sat on wooden planks supported by some of the cinder blocks we have been using for construction. It was such a lively service--people sang with fervor completely unmatched in the United States. Someone will start a song and everyone will just pick it up and sing! No accompaniment, no one "sitting out" and I truly believe every person was MOVING!! We were asked to sing a song as a group, so we taught them to sing "God Almighty" in worship and they sang along with us in English. We were unable to understand most of their songs but there was an excellent interpreter. After Mary Ann sang, Pastor John spoke again and the interpreter followed. We also passed out all of the gifts we had brought to the kids. The service lasted about 3 hours in all but I know our team members enjoyed the entire experience.

Currently we are at the Pettengers (our missionary hosts) and we have enjoyed a wonderful lunch and some have been playing volleyball, others just resting. It will be just the "break" we need before getting back to work on the building construction tomorrow morning. After having service in a partially-built structure, we realize the need for the completion of the walls.

We miss everyone back at home but when we get back to the U.S., there will be SO MANY stories to tell!!

Pastor Tim

Sunday post

Sunday: Wow what a great mission trip. We all have been truly blessed to be a part of such a great opportunity. Several of us went to two church services this morning. The first was in the Maseru city. There were abut 20 people in attendance but it was alive with God's presence. As Jennifer said the second service was also wonderful and so full of the Holy spirit. we all learned a new song which we can't wait to show the youth on Wednesday. Ralph and I miss the kids greatly but know that God and several of his other children are watching over them. We hope all are doing well and we send you blessings from Lesotho. Love you all.

Debbie Aguilar

Church Services in Lesotho

We are half way done with our missions trip and it seems like we've only begun. Today is Sunday, so we have had a day off from building the church and actually were able to participate in their first church services in the building. Even though it is not completed, the site was cleaned up and chairs brought in. We had a great turn out with lots of children who showed up to hear the bible stories. Afterwards, the children's service was followed by their normal church service, which lasted 3 1/2 hours. No complaints from us though, because we throughly enjoyed the opportunity to worship with them. After the services we greeted each other with their special handshake which I think may catch on back in Blue Springs.
Our hosts have been absolutely wonderful and just in case you were wondering, we haven't eaten any bugs. We have had a traditional African meal which was similar to what would be served as a wedding feast or at a funeral. Needless to save, even in Africa we've been spoiled.

Jennifer Seidel

Contentment

Hello everyone! I hope all is well in missouri!!...
So far Africa has been a completely inspiring experience! Seeing how the people here live versus the way we live in America is both amazing and awful at the same time! Today while preaching about selfishness, the pastor asked the children to raise their hands if they had eaten food that day. To my astonishment, only 1/2 of the children raised their hands. So many of them have swollen bellies from lack of food. It is so sad to eat with them watching you with their wide, starving eyes. It seemed almost ironic to me that the pastor was preaching to them about selfishness. They have nothing, yet are content. I have everything, but I still want. I complain about not having enough clothes in my full closet, when they only have a pair of ripped-up clothes. This week God has been working in me and the people around me in unbelieveable ways! I've seen a whole different side of several people that I didn't even know existed. Please continue to pray for the Our Missions Team!

-Isabella Hale-

We're in Africa...YEAH!

Hey all. This trip has been such a lifechanging experience. Each day I learn something new about myself and those around me. There have been many new experiences...first time on a plane, new food, being out of the country, and many others. The kids here are absolutely adorable! I have 2 girls that just love to hold my hands and sit on my lap. I'm going to be soo sad when I have to leave. They have already taken a special place in my heart. The building of the church has gone amazingly fast. Everyone pitches in and works hard. Aside from REALLY sore shoulders and arms it makes you feel great knowing you helped put together something for someone else. The kids love to touch your skin and hair. I sat down in the grass and I was bombarded by little kids who wanted to touch my blonde hair. It was very cute! After a while I took out my hairthings and the girls started braiding my hair. I now have a full head of little braids. :) It took about 4 hours to complete with many adjustments as different ages of girls worked on it. They had a blast!
That is a brief summary so far, but now for the main story... :) Today I was outside ALL day in the sun just playing with the kids. It was so much fun! But later in the afternoon my feet started to tingle and go numb. Me, not really paying attention put it off to the side. 1/2 hour later I fainted. It was horrible! Most everyone thought I was just messin around until they realized I wasn't all there and was falling to the ground. I couldn't see, hear or feel anything. It was decided that I had heat exhaustion and dehydration. It took about an hour and 15 minutes to recover. Thankfully I'm alive and well, aside from being really tired. I have drank sooo much water now because I have a team of parents(the teens included) who are constantly reminding me to drink water :P Well, thats about it for now. Hope you enjoy reading about our amazing trip!

~Amanda Swalve~

Awesome Trip!!!!!

I miss my mommy, and Erik, and Grandma, and everyone else. I love you all. Give the dogs a biscuit for me. I have had a great time, and learning some cool things. Tell my friends that i miss them. The weather here is great, and the people are cool. Except for the driving is weird. God is doing great things to me, as well as everyone else. The kids are very fun and energetic. I miss you all and will see you soon!

Luke Jowett