Food Party

All the OUMC Youth beat up Jennings and took the van keys. Then they collected a bunch of food and pigged out! It was a great time of fellowship!

Homeowners' Banquet

Last night the homeowners came to eat dinner with us! The youth served them and the youth leaders. Some of the owners stuck around for the worship service.

A visit to Mammoth Cave

On Thursday we visited Mammoth Cave! It was a spectacular place. The Park Rangers only got mad at us twice :-)

Work almost done

Getting near the end our projects are coming to completion!

Here is what we did on Tuesday...

A Sleeping Story

A couple of pics

Here is a friend we found at the work site and a pic of the roof we are working on.

Some of the site directors

A Break at the Work Site

Early Monday

Here is Britt doing some remote work so he can be with us!

Roof Work

Here is Brian working on shingles.

Odom's Good Morning Pep Talk

We made it to KY!

Safe in KY at Eastwood Baptist! Tonight we had worship, dinner, split into our work crews for the week, and had an ice cream social! We are ready to start our week bright and early in the morning. There are 85 people here this week serving the Kentucky Heartland! More to come tomorrow...

A quick stop in Athens, Greece

J/K Here we are we at the downtown park in Nashville! We stopped to stretch our legs and eat snow cones! In the background is Parthanon.

KY Middle School Retreat Begins

Here are a few pictures from our travels to KY

Being left out (my first blog)

Ever feel like you are left out? I know I do. A few months ago, I went to a World Hunger event with my Youth Group and there were many bands from a couple of churches there. About half way through, I saw one band from another Youth Group setting up their instruments and there was only one person left sitting where the group was. How awful that must have felt, just sitting there by yourself watching everybody else have all of the fun. Just so you readers know, I am not a very popular person at my school, so I always wonder what it's like to be somebody very popular. At all school it's easy to be put into groups by the way you look or the way you dress. I always see that one kid that is at all peoples school, the kid who just sits at a table by himself. I'm not that unpopular, but I always wonder what it's like to be that kid.It's these outsiders that Jesus came to help the most. Luke 4: 18-21 says that " The Spirit of the Lord is on me, for he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor, He sent me to proclaim the captives will be released, the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, and that the time of the Lord's favor has come. He rolled up the scroll, handed it back to the attendant and sat down. All eyes in the synagogue looked at him intently. Then he began to speak to them. "The scripture you have just heard has been fulfilled this very day"It's outsiders like at schools, or homeless people that need to hear about God and His Son. I encourage you to help them out. If you see your friends making fun of an outsider, don't be like them! Help him out, try to make some friendly conversation, and if they don't want to talk to you, just walk away. Don't force them to make you their friend, it's them who will be sorry. If you do get along, that's great. If you become friends, that's even better. Invite them to your church or youth group. It's one of the best things in your life to help change someone's life, and you can be sure that God will always remember that you did this.So basically, help the people in need around you. I have tried more recently, not with much success, but I keep trying. I try to help my friends be better people to each other and well, other people. I know I don't always follow this guideline that I am trying to get others to follow. It's very easy to pass a poor person by and ignore them. But you don't have to give them money if it's hard for you, a simple hello or picking up something they dropped goes a long way. - N/A

Brian's comments about Boston...

The Boston Project was awesome and it was a very learning and moving experience. All the staff was awesome and so were the other kids.

Evan's Thoughts

The Boston Project was a great experience. It was a great time to grow in my faith of God. The staff taught us some great lessons in life. It's an amazing opportunity for kids next year to grow closer to God. I would like to come back next year. I had lots of fun interactions with the other groups. It was also fun to go into the city. All in all, it was a great experience for me and I hope that we can do it again next year.

The Trip According to Jimmy

MEATSACK-MEATSACK! Meatsack, I think the Boston Project and the people I've met, experiences I've had and the closeness I feel to God have all changed my life and who I want to be as a person. I know I wasn't always serious or "good" but I really tried to be a good leader. This trip really affected me.

Reflections by Emily!!!

It was great serving alongside the youth and watching God work in them. My most memorable experience would have to be when the youth were put into groups, given a Ziplock bag with a worship booklet, Bible, and told they could use $5- then sent to different areas around Boston Common and instructed to "spread the Good News." The group I was with had a difficult time. They were turned away, cursed at and money was snatched from their hands. It was a great reminder of how we reject God and how Jesus must have felt as he was shunned.

The week was filled with great morning challenges, eye-opening service projects, amazing debriefing sessions, and evening worship. It was a learning experience for all of us. Hearing the youth speak about what they learned each day and how they saw God working in debriefing was one of my favorite parts of the day. The Boston Project was an amazing experience for all of us.