Operation Central America

Come and see what is happening on the Operation Central America missions trip. Also learn about the teams and their prayer requests.

Saturday, May 03, 2014

Final Preparations

Welcome back!  Only 5 more weeks before OCA 2014 arrives in Guatemala City to start their two weeks of serving God, the people of Guatemala and each other.  We are creeping closer to feeling prepared for what we plan to do.  We are also praying that God is preparing us for what he has planned for us to do.  Sometimes those plans overlap, sometimes not so much... which is where faith comes in.  We are never disappointed when we follow His leading.

Our team retreat was last weekend.  We spent Friday evening at Camp Edenwood in Eden Prairie, participating in different types of small group team-building exercises.  Then we went to the Woodddale Edina campus to spend the night.  Before bed, though, we had the opportunity for everyone to get to know each other better as each of the students shared their faith stories.  It was a wonderful time of hearing about how God has been working in their lives (the leaders have been sharing their stories over the course of the other training sessions).  As a leader I am always touched by how open the students are with sharing their success, struggles and doubts.  Being honest and vulnerable with each other sets a good foundation for the times on the trip (and beyond) when things get challenging and we each take our turn at needing some support.

After Friday night's session we got a few hours sleep, and then got up in the morning to spend several hours helping clean up the neighborhood around the Urban Ventures facilities in south Minneapolis.  It was eye-opening to many of our students to see the level of poverty in this area that is only 15 minutes from Wooddale.  They had some good interactions with residents in the area and heard the history and the challenges of the Urban Ventures mission to that little corner of the world.  Hopefully some of the students will feel the call to return to the area and volunteer with one of the Urban Ventures programs on a regular basis.  After lunch each team spent a couple hours preparing for their particular area of service.  We did get a chance to see the mime team perform Forgiven By His Love Friday night.  Even though it was their first run through with a live audience they did a great job.  Its such a powerful presentation - we are all looking forward to the finished product.  Overall the teams made great progress toward being ready to go.

Thanks for your continued prayers and support.  We still have a ways to go with our fundraising so if you could specifically pray that we would be able to raise what we need we would appreciate that.  And also if you could be praying for the people we will be serving and serving with once we get to Guatemala - that the Spirit would be preparing their hearts for the seeds we hope to plant through all the things we hope to be able to do there.

On this past Wednesday night Kate taught on being a servant, using the stories of the Good Samaritan and the current Pope to illustrate the message of James 1:22-25 ("... don't just listen to the Word, do what it says...").  The main idea that we should be living out our faith, not just trying to look faithful. We want to be radicals- Jesus calls us to abandon ourselves. The first disciples were leaving certainty for uncertainty, safety for danger, self-preservation for self-denunciation.  Why should it be any different for us?  In a world that prizes promoting oneself, we claim to follow a teacher who tells us we should be last.  Over the next few weeks, as we put the finishing touches on our preparations, we will continue to to talk about how this perspective plays into the missions experience.

Please put June 13th, 7pm on your calendar.  That is when we will be having the send off service for the team.  There you will have a chance to meet the team members and hear about what each team will be doing.  You will also be able to see both the mime and the drama teams perform their skits.  We hope to see you there!