Follow French youth on my new blog

Here is a photo of the youth group from Colombes, France, visiting Effingham Christian School in Rincon.
You can follow the daily progress of the French youth group on my new blog at www.bobrogers.me

Friday: Nicaragua team has much to share

From the youth mission trip team to Nicaragua, we got this message from team member Beverly Harvey: Church Family, Thanks for your prayers and support on this trip. I have seen the kids grow through this amazing experience. God has had His hand on us all week. Thank you! We fly to Miami tomorrow. Please pray for a safe ride home. We have so much to share!!!!

Wednesday: VBS

Photograph of VBS in Nicaragua. The Anglo guy in blue shirt is Student Minister Bryan Gilde!

Tuesday mission report from Nicaragua

 Part of an email received today from Student Minister Bryan Gilde, with our youth mission team in Nicaragua:
"Pray for tomorrow as we will have an invitation time with the kids. We have about 140 kids each day we are working with. We just spent a few hundred on 60 Bibles for the older kids to be handed out in the discipleship program they have here on Saturdays.
 The nursing home we visit has about 12 residents and one of them is 101 yrs old (19 yrs left according to Genesis, right? lol)
 They have a 1000 sq foot bldg that they don´t use cause its too old. This place is sixty seven yrs old! They want to redo it and add 12 more residents. 
  This trip is so rocking my world, it makes you realize how much need is in the world and how we are called to make a difference.  I was reading in I Thessalonians this morning. I think chapter 1 or 2 and it says our labor is not in vain!!"  

Monday: Finished first day of ministry in Nicaragua

It's Monday in Nicaragua where our youth mission team is ministering. In this picture, Student Minister Bryan Gilde says, "On the way home with an AWESOME team after an AWESOME day! True servants from FBC Rincon! Thank you for sending them to Nicaragua!
180 kids in VBS. La Gran Manzana was a hit! Ministered to 13 residents at the Baptist Nursing Home... sweet time. It's hot!"
From team member Beverly Harvey: "Thanks to everyone praying for our mission team! The Nursing home was an eye opening experience. These people have NOTHING and yet so happy.....so in love with God. I felt GUILTY because we came here to bless BUT I was blessed. One woman sang "Rock of Ages" in SPANISH! I simply cannot put to words how that felt. I love our Lord! I am thankful for that experience! For all those praying for our Nicaragua Mission team....THANK YOU!!! God has already shown He is the boss and He is in control. I LOVE IT!!! Everyone is doing fine. The food is good, the driving is wild, and God's love is shining. You would be proud of the youth! God's love is spilling out of them. Watching these kids hugging and touching these elderly people that need it and seeing them hug and love on the VBS kids is a blessing. I AM BEING BLESSED! Thank you for your prayers and support."

Sunday in Nicaragua

From Student Minister Bryan Gilde, with youth mission team in Nicaragua: "Pray for our VBS tomorrow in Nicaragua to communicate the gospel to 300 kids in the size of our youth center building! We are only doing VBS with 200 of them though,a s the other 100 are with Compassion International. We went to church this morning and saw some of the country today. All of the students and leaders are being all they can be for Christ. We will also go to a nursing home in the morning tomorrow."

Arrived

The youth mission team has arrived safely in Managua, Nicaragua.
Message from Erica Bolton, one of the team members: "Mr. Bryan asked me to let you know we got to Nicaragua safely. Everything went smoothly today. Tomorrow morning we're going to a local church. People from the Florida Baptist Children's Home are super nice and really helpful! Thanks for all the prayers!"
Message from Sarabeth Gaskin, another team member: "We safely landed today at the Managura International Airport, which is about the size of Valdosta's airport! Tomorrow we plan to go to church, then to see Managua's famous volcano, which I am very excited to go see! The airplane ride was very bumpy, but we got to watch movies and have a light lunch/dinner so that definitely made it better. It has been a long day of traveling and I'm very ready to get some rest!"

Mission team departs Miami for Managua

The youth mission team spent last night in Miami, and left at 3:50 p.m. today from the Miami airport, flying to Managua, Nicaragua. They will be doing a VBS in a local church in the afternoons, and at a nursing home in the mornings.

Miami at night

Here's a picture of the youth mission team riding the bus at night in Miami. They fly to Nicaragua on Saturday morning.

Update from youth mission team Friday afternoon

UPDATE on Friday afternoon at 5:00 p.m. from Bryan Gilde:
We are in Miami. Spending night here. Going to tour Miami night life afterwhile. Very nice visit with Florida Baptist Children's Home. The people are FBCH are well prepared. Thanks to all who sent us off this morning and who are praying for us.

Ministry in Virgin Islands

Here are some more pictures of the mission trip to the Virgin Islands sent to me by Jason McNair, our student minister. You can see our team and the VBS.

Wade in Virgin Islands

Our son Wade took these pictures on the youth mission trip to the Virgin Islands. Apparently, they had a lot of fun. There is a picture of Bovoni Baptist Church where they did a VBS, and some kids from the VBS who caught a chicken, and pictures of Wade trying to manage the kiddie pool during VBS recreation, with Jonas H. wearing a kickball they busted, wearing a facemask with Danielle F. and confronting an iguana (I assume you can tell which picture is which).

Update from Virgin Islands

I talked to Jason McNair, our student minister, today by phone from St. Thomas, the U.S. Virgin Islands, where he is leading a youth mission trip from our church.
Jason says that they have 47 kids in VBS at one location, and 39 kids at another VBS, that our group is leading simultaneously. He said that 6 children have accepted Christ and have been counseled by the local pastor! They were excited to get Bibles that have the "ABC's of Salvation" in them, and Jason plans to ship them additional copies of these Bibles.
Jason said that they painted five large rooms at the mission and they completely remodeled the nursery.
We had heard reports that the girls had insect bites from chiggers, but Jason said that was incorrect, that it was mosquito bites, but they were recovering from that pretty well.
They will be returning to Rincon late on Friday night. Pray for their safe return.

Report from Virgin Islands

Brittany McNair passes along the following report on our youth mission trip which she just received from Jason McNair, our student minister:

VBS at Towne Center is about 42 kids; VBS at Country Center is about 38 kids, both going great—Thursday they will take the kids from Towne Center out to Country Center and have a “big” VBS together (and water day).

Laura Mesmer is certifying the teachers in first aid and CPR. The original plan was to do that while the youth did VBS with the kids. That plan was altered and Laura teaches them in the afternoon so the youth do VBS in the AM with the kids then after lunch, they watch them again (preschoolers are sleeping so some of the youth get a “break” and the others are entertaining the school-agers).

Gerald Turner has experience in plumbing and has been fixing a lot of their problems (lots of little stuff plus has two showers working that didn’t before). This has been an unexpected blessing added to the center.

They had plans to paint the centers. That has been delayed because some of the walls hadn’t even been put up yet and the paint just arrived this morning. They should be able to begin painting this afternoon or tomorrow depending on when the “mudd” dries. They have been cleaning and preparing the old walls earlier this week.

They will be cleaning out a basement today. The yards have needed a lot of TLC, so 1/3 of the group will work on that today.

They have been singing nightly at a revival/crusade. Tonight Danielle F. will dance while Susanne H. signs. The choir will also sing two numbers tonight.

Two of our youth went forward at last night's service (a recommitment and one who feels that God may be calling him to missions—wants prayer to be the man God wants him to be where ever he is called.)

The youth are having a hard time adjusting to the “slow” pace of island living. They feel like they aren't doing enough. They are getting up at 6 a.m. to do morning prep for the day (b’fast, devotions, VBS prep, +++), doing VBS, lunch break, watching kids during teacher training, afternoon work around center, dinner, crusade (participating in and with the church), evening church group time. There are down times between each of those things and the kids get restless because they want to work. (That’s good.)

So things are going great, pray for everyone to relax and go with the flow/don’t rush things/enjoy the experience.

Sunday in the Virgin Islands

Our son called late Sunday night from St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, where he is on the mission trip with the youth group from our church.
He said that the area is hilly, and the water is very clear, it is "very hot," and he got a little sunburned. They are staying "on top of each other" in an apartment building that is part of the mission church.
On Sunday they sang at Mt. Calvary Missionary Baptist Church, and they set up for Vacation Bible School, which begins on Monday and goes through Thursday. He said that everybody is doing well.

Youth on way to St. Thomas

Our church youth and adult chaperones boarded the bus for Charlotte yesterday, and got on a plane in Charlotte this morning. They will stop over in Miami before arriving in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands.

Pray for them as they do Vacation Bible School, paint and sing at a Baptist church.

I will post any updates and pictures that I receive on this blog.