Hi Everyone!

Its Ashlee taking in the humidity in Texas City, Texas. I dreamed of this week about a year a ago, but only God knew that we would actually be able to do it. I feel so blessed to be spending a week with such amazing people and getting to see God's work right in front of my eyes. We are told on Monday that we are just ordinary people called to do extraordinary things, but what I've learned is that God never meant any of us to be just plain ordinary. I have seen seven other people work in the Texas heat until they are about to pass out, just to get a house painted. I've seen this group pick each other up, and work to help these people who really need it. I've seen these college students truly answer prayers. God has used each of us, and that makes this trip extraordinary. We have helped a lot of homeowners this week, but they have helped us even more, by showing us what true faith is, and where hope still lies. I'm already dreaming of what God has planned for us next summer.

With Love,
Ashlee

"Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, and persevere in prayer." Romans 12:12

Texas City

This is FeFe ( Jordan Meyer) coming from First Presbyterian Church in Texas City, TX. This week has been pretty amazing. We were able to work on three houses doing a variety of jobs. It has been really rewarding to help the families. We have also meet some amazing people who have all different stories to share with us. I feel like we have really helped the families and answer everyones prayers. Also we have grown closer to God. We have lead the Jesus talks which has helped us grow in our faith as well as become more comfortable with each other. This trip has helped us become closer with each other and now I feel as if i can tell everyone here anything. It has been amazing here but i cant wait to get home and get rid of all the bug bites i have. Keep us in your prayers as we travel home.

 Love,
 Jordan

Prayers Requested, Prayers Answers

Hey everybody,

I have been on five mission trips ranging from Mexico to Iowa and now Texas. Of all these trips it has been by far my favorite. Some of my closest friends joining together in order to serve God. This trip has spiritually  impacted me in a different way then the most. In Mexico it made me realize how lucky I was to have everything I had. Here in Texas we listened to the hope we gave to the families we were working for. They asked God for help and they believed that we were the answer to there prayers. This really hit deep with me to see that we could have such an impact on people. It got me to realize that God has a plan for me and he is working through me to do his bidding. I look forward to my future and further affirming my faith in our Lord. Overall this trip has been one of the most fulling experiences I have had in awhile. I plan to take the lessons I learned and continue practicing them in the real world

God bless,
Michael Wagner

Howdy!

What's up yall!

Just shouting a friendly howdy to the famous 505.  This has been an awesome mission trip.  We were blessed to work on three houses doing various jobs.  We have painted, installed shelves, installed air condition units, and other simple work.  It has been a great opportunity to not only learn about oneself but to become closer to one another.  These are definitely my best friends for life and am so blessed to have them.  I know that they will back me up no matter what.  Today we ended our daily discussions by talking about how ordinary people can do extraordinary things and how we as college students will take what we have learned with us to where ever we go.  Tomorrow is our fun day.  We are going to the beach and Houston.  Hope all is well in Albuquerque.  See you soon.

Love,
Emilio Arquitola

Dang 'Ol Texas Blog

Hey all you all back home at Sandia Pres! The College mission trip has been mighty fine! we've been getting a ton of work done down here in 'ol Texas and have been giving New Mexico a great name! God has blessed us with 107 degree weather and clear skies. even the mosquitoes have taken a liking to us. luckily, only day 1 was spent under the sun. we were painting, and putting skirting on a ladies house.  day 2 through 4 were spent indoors with air conditioning and running water. we spent those days painting the walls, laying down carpet, putting up doors and door frames, and many more little nick nack jobs. even though we have been very busy it has been a ton of fun. I have obtained a very strong Texan accent and a new pride in America. We will see you all in all in a few days when we get back!

love,

Michael Candelaria

Los Blog de Lackey

Hola Albuquerque!

This week has been muen bueno! We have gotten a lot of work done on and off the work site and have had a mucho loco time doing it. Today was our last day on the site and we helped out one of the nicest women I have ever worked for on a mission trip. She was escalated that we were working for her, and said that we would lift her spirits. It was nice to have some contact with a thankful owner after only minimal contact with a few others, though they all seemed nice. We had a fantastic dinner cooked by our camp chef (Ben) with some of the locals who we were either helping, or had been helped in the past by PDA. This experience re-established one of the main reasons we go on these trips. I gotta go, because Chad is about to knock his computer off the table while playing soccer with Guillermo. See you in like 2 days mom and dad!
Love,
Steve

Hey this G-Mo AKA Guillermo Yela!!

Wassup Albuquerque!!!

This mission trip has been a very cool experience, i have learned that i have been called to be here by God to help people and to impact their lives. We have helped in construction and in putting together stuff. So far i have loved this experience and I would love to do it again. COLLEGE MISSION TRIPS ARE SICK!!!!!!!

Peace out 505,

Guillermo Yela

College Mission- August 7-15, 2010 to Texas City Texas

We're heading out Saturday morning at 8 am.  Follow us all week long.

Shenanigans

This is so exciting! I've honestly been dancing around the tent for the past 10 minutes out of sheer happiness. And no, I'm not talking about the mission trip.  I'm excited because this is the first blog I've ever written.  Even more exciting is the fact that I get to stay up 15 minutes after my bed time and this is the first time I've used a computer in a whole week. But really, this has been an amazing mission trip. Every year I venture on the trip with a small amount of nerves. Each year, I get on the bus worried that something will go wrong--the work will be overwhelming, the people will be shy, the leaders will be too strict. And each year, I'm proved wrong.  This year, like each of my past 2, has given me many gifts.  I've made instant bonds with my teammates and leaders, worked my tail off painting a house, and gotten into trouble plotting pranks with Nelson and Steve Sweet.  I could go into an endless story about the events of the week, but I'm sure you'll all hear the highlights soon enough. I still can't quite comprehend the fact that this is my last year on the high school trip. Or maybe I can comprehend it, but I just don't want to accept it.  I feel so blessed to have been called to serve the Lord with the Sandia Presbyterian Youth.  I hope that all is well with my family and friends at home.  Tomorrow, we're off to Six Flags, where I'll most likely spend the day people watching and lounging in air conditioned food courts, because of my extreme dislike of roller coasters.  Now it's bed time, and time to hope that the boys didn't pull any shenanigans our tents.

Bailey Flynn (B-Fly)

My Last Hoorah!

I gotta tell ya, I can't believe that this is really my last, my very last, mission trip. It's been 4 years since I first sat in those vans on the way to Mexico n my very first trip. I've seen so many people come and go through the years, and now, it's pretty surreal. You don't really think that your high school days are done until everything begins to wrap up. I owe everything to the Huntleys. I honestly felt that at the end of confirmation, I would stop church completely, as did 33 students in that class. Chad and Beth came along, and everything changed. I always went to youth group and I've never missed a mission trip. This trip was unique not just because it was my final mission trip, but because we were helping out with a disaster that happened in my home state of Texas, which actually felt more meaningful. Trips like these seem to just open my eyes more and more. Not just to what God wants me to do, but what I can do in volunteering around my community. And I owe it all to Chad, Beth, Nelson Bell, Mike Coltrin, and everyone else in the Youth Ministry. So to everyone I say thank you, and Goodbye

-Jordan Key

The Andrew, Bryce, and Kris Post!

SUP!

Well so far the trip has been oodles of FUN!!! We have rocked some serious bootay! We have been repairing houses all across Port Neches. Everyone has been working really hard and we appreciate everyone's support back in the Q. We hope that everyone is doing well and we look forward to seeing you soon. We are also looking forward to seeing Six Flags in the next two days!! WOOHOO!!! This has been a great eye-opening   experience, and we are truly becoming Las Manos De Dios En El Mundo!! 

Kris

Bryce

Andrew

Day 3

Yet another hot day on the work site, but somehow we managed to make it through. After a lot of painting and hard work, we returned to the village for a delicious spaghetti dinner and birthday cake for dessert. After dinner, in retaliation to an earlier prank by the older girls, us hee hee, (We poured glitter in the boys sleeping bags :) ), we were pranked and pelted by water balloons from all directions. It was a nice change to the heat and humidity. After all the crazy shenanigans, we were off to the nightly devotional in the sanctuary. Tonight was a special change from Chad's talks. haha just kidding... but not really :) The pastor from the church we are staying at gave a presentation on the destructive hurricanes that have come through this area and ruined homes and lives. The pictures were incredible and breathtaking. There were pictures of boats on houses, coffins raised from their graves, walls of water 30ft high, and the people affected by the storm. It put everything in perspective for us and definitely taught us not to take things for granted. We are really excited for our last day of work and, of course, six flags on Friday!!!! To be followed by a long, long drive...yeah.... We aren't very excited about that, but we are looking forward to sharing our stories from this long, hot, humid week. We hope you are having fun with this blog! See you soon!
Love, Katie Tillery and Lauren Diller

Katie's Thoughts:
What a crazy week! You wouldn't believe how hot and humid it is here. We get out of a cold shower and immediately start sweating again. We sweat eating breakfast, walking to the bus, before we start working. Ridiculous. I am working at the Pickens's house. We have spent multiple hours scraping paint, priming, painting the house, and tearing down dry wall. It's exhausting, but well worth the effort. It's finally all coming together when you look at the house. We have the front of the house painted and both sides as well. The feeling of gratification is finally being felt, I believe. As mentioned above, we were presented with a slide show of the damage and effects of hurricanes Ike and Rita. It's impossible to fully describe the pictures we saw. There were boats on freeways. Houses, stripped completely of their foundations. Coffins, above ground. It's enough to haunt you... and deeply impact you. It makes you feel so grateful for what you have as well as where we live. We don't experience earthquakes, hurricanes, or tornadoes. I have realized how lucky I am to have never experienced such disaster except in aiding in the rebuilding. Which is awesome! To be part of something that seems so small at the time, but know that it is making a  huge impact on someone's life is phenomenal. Seeing Mrs. Pickens smiling face every time she comes to the house warms your heart. I can tell she really appreciates what we're doing. I'm looking forward to finishing up our work here tomorrow and going to Six Flags. I can't wait to come home as well!
Love, Katie :)

Lauren's thoughts:
This trip is once again not what I expected. haha It happens every year. This year has been a little bit different than the other years with pods to live in which is a step down from Iowa but a step up from Mexico. I haven't ever experienced humidity quite like this before. You sweat no matter where you are (except in our cold showers). The food has been excellent as has the service. We have three wonderful helpers from this site that live with us for the week but in their own trailers that go around to the sites and help us do the jobs on the sites and get us the supplies we need. They are amazing. The weather here definitely makes me appreciate our weather more. We don't have the humidity, or the large amount of mosquitoes nor do we have the natural disasters like here. This makes me realize that New Mexico's weather really isn't that bad. The slideshow that the pastor showed us at our devotional tonight was breathe taking. Houses, cars, bridges, and building just demolished by this deadly storm. Many were killed,injured,and homeless left without a clue what to do Throughout the week we have worked at 3 main sites and a couple of us went to another ladies house the last couple of days to paint the outside of her house. These people are such welcoming people and have taught me so much about enjoying life and appreciating what I have while I have it because you never know when it could all be taken away from you. The main site I have been working at is the Pickens' house. We have scraped paint, painted, dry walled, cleaned up trash around the house, and even gardened a little. It is all starting to come together and is looking really good. It is really gratifying when you can actually see the results. I have learned so much this week at the sites, through our devotionals, and in our small groups and also  through the people I am around. I am so blessed to have been able to experience this and be a part of such an amazing trip but I am getting ready to come home!haha It has definitely been a memorable one though. Love, Lauren :]

Day 2

As day two wraps up I think of all of the hard work that the team has done.
We did more scraping, cleaned up yards, painted, repaired, removed a stump, made a support pole, made a flower bed, scraped, cleaned and the scraped and did more landscaping.
Just take a look at all of the pictures on the picture page to see our team in action.

the stump

these guys made a tree stump into mulch

The Pole

the guys had to replace a pole to support a corner of the roof

Painting at the Perry's

the team did an excellent job painting

The Marks'

there is a lot of scraping and painting to be done

Mrs Pickens

Mrs Pickens is a very gracious host

t

Picken's Porch

Picken's House

Pics of our first day

Hot

Well our first full day was extremely productive. We broke up into three sites where we removed drywall, scraped paint, cleaned, painted, light yard work... Tomorrow we expect to be putting up more drywall and paint the exterior of two houses.

It was great getting to meet the owners of the houses and to hear their stories of perseverance. They were all very gracious and helpful.

The team is working together extremely well. The adult leaders are amazing and have a knack for seeing what needs to be done and then showing the students. The students take it from there and are driven to do what ever it takes to get the job done. Even if that means scrapping paint outside when it is 90 degrees with the humidity beating down on you.

Fortunately there are no injuries to report, just a few forgotten toothbrushes.

Pictures will come later tonight.

Chad

We're here!

We left Fort Stockton this morning at 7:30 and arrived in Port Neches around 6:30.
The bus ride was long, but fun. When we get back ask the students what they thought about the movie Jesus Camp. A very interesting movie about how Christians portray themselves.

The camp at Port Neches is nice, with plastic cardboard type tents, a large eating tent, well stocked kitchen and new bathrooms and showers.

We learned tonight that we will be working on three different houses. All of them require drywall, interior and exterior paint, and landscaping. We are ready for a good solid day of work in the Texas heat and humidity.

Pray that we what God has done here, what He is doing and what He will be doing.

Good night from humid Port Neches.

Chad

PDA Video

Safety First

Safety First

Packing List

Click on here for the list 
or go to the Mission Trip Page on the church website

Port Neches, Texas here we come!

During the trip we will be blogging daily to keep you updated on how God is at work in and through us.