Nett Lake, Minnesota
JUNCTION 180 SUMMER MISSIONS TRIP 2009
We will be posting updates at various times throughout the trip on this page...
Saturday Night (June 6): We arrived safely this afternoon in Nett Lake. Despite car trouble we were able to get the whole team up here thanks to the Mueller's lending us their vehicle. Kevin and Kathy went through orientation and helped us get settled in. We have already connected with many of the teenagers that we met last year and began building relationships with many new students. Pray that we'd be able to step out of our comfort zones and go deeper in our relationships within the team and with the people of Nett Lake. Pray that we would point them to Jesus Christ in all that we do, from VBS to hanging out with the teens. Thank you for all of your prayers and support, we are excited to see all that God is going to do in this community and within our team!
Sunday Night (June 7): After a good night of sleep we woke up and got ready for church. It was incredibly encouraging to worship the one true God with people from a completely different culture. After church we went to the high school and attended a pow-wow. It was a great learning opportunity and spurred many questions and helped us better understand the people we are serving. After the pow-wow a native church member shared his testimony with our group. God truly can heal the broken and bring hope to the hurting. Despite all of the problems facing the community at Nett Lake, God is working in amazing ways and transforming lives as He expands His Kingdom. After listening to the testimony we also had the opportunity to visit the bear sanctuary. It was entertaining to see so many bears (and even 7 cubs) but it was also a great chance to connect with a couple of the teens who tagged along. After we got back from the sanctuary we continued building relationships with the teens from the community. Praise God that walls are being broken down and pray that our relationships with our team and these people would be God-centered and Christ-exalting. Pray for boldness as we share the truth of God's amazing love for broken and messed up people, the truth of His Gospel!
Monday Night (June 8): God has been doing amazing things here in Nett Lake. It is so encouraging to see God accomplish His will despite all of our planning and preparation that has frequently failed. Today we had our first day of VBS with the younger students. Because of a new Boys and Girls Club, and cold rainy weather, we ran into problems getting some of the kids to show up. Yet God was faithful and brought exactly who He wanted here to hear the story about the young King Josiah and His love for God and His Word. The students did a great job with the drama, crafts, games, music, and a lesson. It was encouraging to watch our students set an example by faithfully serving God and working hard in every way to point people to Jesus Christ. It was encouraging to see more students show up throughout the day and really enjoy the program our students put on and start to understand God's love for them. It was also encouraging to have teens show up (even though they showed up way later than we planned) for our outreach night. It has been challenging connecting with some of the teens this year but God did amazing things as students (both from our church and from Nett Lake) shared their testimonies around the fire. We ask that you would pray that our team doesn't get discouraged with lower numbers than we anticipated and challenges in connecting with the teens. Also pray that the conflicts with the Boys and Girls Club would be resolved and that more students would come tomorrow to hear truth from God's Word. We also ask that you would pray for the teens up here. Hearing their stories tonight helped us understand the scary reality that so many of these kids/teens are going through every day. Pray that there would be healing from a better comprehension of the Gospel, a more complete understanding of who God is and what He sent His Son here to accomplish for our joy and His glory!
Tuesday Night (June 9): Despite our tiredness and mild depression from all the clouds and rain, God continued to do amazing things today. We truly serve a faithful God who answers prayers in ways we can't even imagine. The VBS went better than we planned, the clouds cleared up, and the temperature got warm enough for the kids to go outside and enjoy the beauty of His creation. We saw a lot of new kids show up today and many of the kids from the day before returned. The kids really enjoyed learning about the strength God gives people who depend on Him and absolutely loved the drama about David and Goliath. God is working in their lives and it is a privilege to participate with Him in bringing love and truth to these people. Tonight we had the privilege of going to Tom's cabin. Tom is the youth pastor here in Nett Lake and owns a beautiful piece of property on the lake. Our team, and a lot of teens from the church and community, were able to enjoy canoeing, swimming (in the frigid water), and sitting around the campfire. Our students are getting into good conversations with the teens and are truly representing Christ in the way they show love and enjoy God. It has also been encouraging to have a number of basketball players show up each night to play lightening. They seem very tough on the outside and many of them don't want anything to do with God, but God keeps bringing them back. We are praying and looking forward to seeing His Gospel transform their lives. Please pray for these teens and pray for Tom as he serves in a really challenging area. Pray that He would run the race with endurance and that he would continue to be encouraged by the overwhelming evidence of God's grace. A major praise is for the unity and strength of our team. Students are growing together in fellowship as they read God's Word (we're working through 1 Timothy), spend time in prayer with each other, and spur one another to love and good deeds. It has been such a blessing and privilege to serve our Lord and Savior in Nett Lake this week. Thank you for all of your prayers and support, we really appreciate it, and thank God for such an amazing church and so many amazing families!
Wednesday Night (June 10): It's been a long day of ministry but we are very encouraged by what we have seen God do this week. Today was the last day of VBS and teen outreach. God richly blessed it with many proclamations of the Gospel and much answered prayer. We had our largest VBS today, with more than five times as many kids as our first day. The lesson was about setting believers an example in speech, conduct, love, faith, and purity. (This comes from our theme verse for the year [1 Timothy 4:12] and from the chapter of Timothy we studied during quiet time this morning. We praise God that He beautifully orchestrated the content of this trip with our overall vision for the youth group this year.) It was also encouraging to watch the kids ask our team questions about the Gospel after it was presented today. Be praying that the children turn to Jesus Christ and receive Him as their Lord and Savior and that the cultural traditions of the families here wouldn't keep them from experiencing the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus as Lord. Furthermore, the last night of the teen outreach went really well. Many teens showed up and there were several spiritual conversations. Praise God for helping us build relationships with the teenagers despite our newness to this ministry location. Lastly, pray that our team recovers from illness. A couple of students have gotten a mild case of the stomach flu, pray that they would be healed and that it wouldn't spread throughout the team as we will be camping on the North Shore for our debriefing. Thank you again for all of your prayers and support! This will probably be our last update until we are able to tell you stories of God's goodness face-to-face. Please continue praying for our team as we review all that God has taught us and look at how we can apply these truths to living our lives each day for the Lord!
Here is a list of team members and some specific things that we would ask you to pray about as we serve God in this way.
The Team…
| Dani Byrne | Alec Dahlquist | Curtis Grosz |
| Kenna Hobbs | Alex Lindquist | Lindsay Mailloux |
| Madison Martin | Kaitlin Martin | Luke Ness |
| Kieley Regan | Darris Retzer | Cody Samuel |
| Kelsey Spies | Johnathan Spoden | Andrew Spoden |
| Toni Stone | Will Woolsey | Blake Burton |
| Josh Johnson | Kari Larson | John Mueller |
| Barb Revier | Jeff Spies |
Things to pray for…
-Grow spiritually as we glorify God with a servant heart in the spreading of the gospel.
-That God would prepare the hearts of the people we will be ministering to, that they would be open and receptive to the Good News.
-Safety and protection both physically and spiritually.
-That the details of the VBS and Teen Outreach nights would be worked out and that more importantly we would show the love and compassion of Christ in everything we do and say.
-That we would better know and understand the gospel and how it applies to our daily living as we connect, grow, and serve.
-Develop an attitude of prayer as Paul talks about in 1 Thessalonians.
-Trust on God’s providence in all situations.
-See the true joy that comes from knowing and following Christ.
-Understand the importance and purpose of Christian service.
-See the importance of the local church and missions work.
-Understand and recognize cultural differences of Minnesota
-Grow in unity as a team. Learn to work together as a ministry team following Biblical principles (teamwork, communication, forgiveness, and accountability).
-Develop God-given leadership qualities as we serve and depend on Him.