Wisconsin

Rio 9/22-9/24
We stayed at Pastor Stephanie’s house which was less than a block from the church – long commute! Confirmation was Wednesday, where we did games and songs and Elliott did a great sharing. He tied in their requirements for the confirmation class with the pitfall of going through the motions. We all have gone to church or read our bible or gone to Sunday school or a bible study without really getting anything or even looking for anything from God. He had some great words about being intentional about seeking God.
While we were waiting in the parking lot, after the confirmation class was done, we started jamming and dancing – so much fun! And we get to go back and visit them in April when we are back from Africa!

Racine 9/24-9/26
This was a really cool church. It had a mansion attached! We got to stay in the mansion instead of host homes. We did a youth service on Thursday, and then a game night with a campfire on Friday. Games included Human Knot, Skittles, a new version of Twister (one you can buy at Target) that includes hopscotch in rings, Frogger (otherwise known and Frogs and Flies) and Racecar. We then got to sing songs around the fire and make s’mores… Yum yum!

Black River Falls 9/26-9/27
We arrived a little early to find that a wedding had taken place that afternoon and that they were still taking pictures! We led all 3 services, Saturday night and 2 Sunday. We all take turns doing the sharing and this was my turn. I used some of the material from when I spoke at my church this summer, about our Legacies, and tied it into the theme verse of Micah 6:8.
We all stayed at a beautiful cabin with our host family. Saturday night we had a campfire on the beach of _______ near Hatfield. Our host cooked some venison sausage over the fire – Yum!
The next morning, we had to get up really early because the host family did not live the closest… but the scrumptious egg bake for breakfast and the beautiful drive in the early morning fog totally made up for it!!!

Fairchild 9/27-9/29
This stop was one of rest. Truly. We stayed with a wonderful family who welcomed us so warmly and then basically gave us run of the house. It was so awesome to be able to truly relax and just be. In the 48 hours we were there, I played Boggle with the host family (I had forgotten how much I enjoy that game!), Made homemade chicken noodle soup, read 5 books, and slept in… I think I understand this whole day of rest thing!
Our host family lived on 75 acres, a beautiful mixture of forest and fields, and when you looked out the dining room window, you could see turkeys in field. Here, we experienced our first real cold temps of the year. It was really windy, which made the boys attempts at Frisbee quite comical!

Steven’s Point 9/29-10/1
The Lutheran Ministry center invited us to come and hang out with the students and lead their vespers service. When we arrived, they were having what they call English Café, a time for all of the exchange students, or students whose 1st language is not English, to get together and use their English skills and meet others in the same situation. Nametags were brought out when we got there, and by the end, some of us had 5 or 6 tags in different languages. The ones I remember are Korean, Japanese, Chinese, German, and English.
We stayed with students in apartments off campus – we rode the city bus to get back the next morning. Our first official duty here was a School chapel @ 8:30am, a rather interesting proposition seeing as we had to figure in the bus schedule, drive time, warm ups, and set up time before then! On our way, we Almost got lost, or had the great potential of, seeing as we differed on how to read the directions. But it all worked out, we went a block further and saw the sign and got there on time!
The kids had a theme in chapel of “I just wanna be a sheep.” They had banners and t-shirts and everything. We added that song in at the end and it was a big hit. They already knew it and could sing along, but we added new verses – we all had a blast!
At 9pm that same day, we lead vespers for the college. Campus ministry is much different than doing a Sunday school or family night, but in a good way. You get to go beyond the basics and go a little deeper. We were actually asked to do more of a concert than a service. It went rather well, I think. There were a few students who were interested in more info about team!
The next day, our contact discussed with us some of out strengths and weaknesses – it was really refreshing to hear straight talk about what could still use some practice.
The campus center has great retired couples who come and drop off stuff for the students, of which we were allowed to take part - blankets and cookies and bars, oh my! Not to mention the delicious lunch of homemade pickles, pulled pork sandwiches, cheesy au gratin potatoes, and brownies and homemade apple pie… Please excuse the drool!

Wausau 10/1-10/3
For Thursday, we were asked to lead our Family Night program and that the audience would be Sunday school age and their families. Great, ok, sure, can do. As we greet the people coming in, we quickly realize the crowd is about 50-60 years older than we had been told! The youngest person there was about 20! We followed our lineup of Sunday school sing-alongs with all the silly actions, and replaced the puppet show with a drama. Afterward, we were told they “hadn’t enjoyed something so much in a long time.” God works in mysterious ways.
The church had just hired a new Youth worker, Jordan, who hung out with us a lot of the time we were there. Friday we had no program, so after taking care of some rehearsal and other business, we had a blast just walking around the mall, having Wii bowling tournaments, celebrating Ludvigs’ Birthday, going out for some really good Chinese food, and playing Girls v. Boys Cranium (girls totally dominated of course!).