Hooray for Friday!

Today was our final day of worksites! What a wild week it has been! This week ten squads took on 9 sites –two painting and seven roofing squads. The squads busted it out today and we are proud to announce that our groups have finished all their worksites! Even through a day of rain and high temperatures, these squads have worked with passion and servant hearts. We are so blessed by our good, good Father!

To wrap up the week, we had closing ceremony. We are so appreciative to everyone in a leadership position for taking time out of their busy schedules to serve with us this week. We’d especially love to thank the band, volunteers, lodging facility, speaker and project coordinator.

Tonight, Heath spoke out of Acts 9:26-31 about Paul’s relationship with Barnabas. He spoke about how ‘Each church needs a Paul’ to stand on the foundation of Jesus and proclaim His faithfulness and truth of our Lord. However, even through the passion and desire to know Him, Paul had doubt that he was not equipped to do our Savior’s works justice. This lead Heath to explain ‘Every Paul Needs a Barnabas’ to encourage and enlighten. Even though Paul was strong in his faith, he needed someone to enlighten him so he may be renewed to speak the truth to others. This lead to Heath’s last point of the night: ‘God can equip us through the lives of others- and can equip others through our lives’. Heath challenged the participants to think about who their Barnabas is and how they encourage our faith.

Even though we are sad to see everyone leave tomorrow, we pray for everyone’s safe travels home. We pray that the relationships made this week continue and the faith that has started this week continues to grow.

Till Next Project!
Lauren and Sam

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Happy Thursday folks!

It has been a beautiful day! The squads set off bright and early for their fourth day of work. A handful of squads today were relocated to other sites to be an extra helping hand. While the weather was clear of rain and the sky is full of clouds, the heat index is high so please remind your participant to hydrate, hydrate and hydrate some more. We are blessed to have such servant hearts willing to work in these temperatures while still maintaining a smile and a passion for Christ.

We had all hands-on deck today to help squads get ready for the last day of work tomorrow! The painting squads pulled through working as a ground group for our roofing sites. Everyone had a job and worked with a purpose.

Tonight, the participants experienced a concert of worship. This is a self-lead service of prayer and praise. This is lead by our speaker, Heath Holly, quoting scripture and our band singing worship songs. It was clear His presences was with us tonight. From focusing on simple prayer to leaving our worries at the foot of the cross, the service was awesome to Him.

Now, our students are heading to bed to rest up for their final day of work tomorrow. Don’t forget to send them positive prayers through ServeMail to let them know you’re thinking of them!

Signing off,

Lauren and Sam

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Greetings on this wonderful Wednesday from the lovely city of Birmingham, Alabama!

We had a great day on the worksites! God has blessed us with no rain today and a clear forecast for the rest of the week. Despite only having a half day on the site, some of our groups finished or got close to done. We are so proud of them and their accomplishments.

Churches departed for fun activities around the Birmingham area such as the zoo, the 43rd largest mall in the United States, a water park and laser tag. Tonight, all groups returned to the project rested, relaxed and eager to get back to their worksites tomorrow morning.

We did not have worship tonight, but we will pick right back up tomorrow night with the concert of prayer. This praise service is a self-lead service in which the participant can choose to worship our God in any way he or she chooses. This is often one of the student’s favorite nights of worship and an event that looked forward to.

Please continue to pray for strength and perseverance for our students and adults as they finish strong. Remember your students, friends and loved-ones would love to hear directly from you, so make sure to send them some ServeMail!

Best Blessings,

Lauren and Sam

Your Mission Serve Summer Staff

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Hola! Happy Taco Tuesday!

We are all having a terrific Tuesday here in Birmingham! From getting up to going to bed, these participants are all smiles.

Today, our participants went off on their second day of work. Lots of progress was made and hopefully tomorrow, multiple squads will finish their worksites. We are so blessed to have this group of hard working participants! In addition to great accomplishments on the worksite, two squads, India and Juliet, lovingly surrounded their homeowner, Amy, to celebrate her 81st birthday!

Worship tonight started off with our offering. This offering will go to all hurricane relief including Hurricane Harvey relief in Houston, TX, Hurricane Matthew in Fairbluff, NC, and Hurricane Irma in Juana Diaz, Puerto Rico.

Our speaker, Heath, gave a wonderful message tonight about God’s grace for us. At times, we think there is no way God could ever love us, but He does. Even if you were the only person on earth, He would still die on a cross for you simply because He loves you infinitely. There is no way you can out sin God’s grace! He talked about how assurance is His grace. Heath challenged the participants to think about how much He loves us. Heath closed the message with praying these thoughts bring joy to our lives.

We ask that you continue to pray over our project and for the safety of everyone involved. Of course, Servemail is a wonderful resource to spread your love for any and all people attending this week’s project.

Adios Amigos y Familia!
Lauren and Sam

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What a marvelous Monday here in Birmingham!

Today, we kicked off the first day of worksites with a wonderful ‘Great Send Off’. After hearing the praise band guide us in a worship song, our speaker for the week, Heath Holly, prayed over the participants, their impact on the homeowner and their safety. We are so thrilled to see the joy and eagerness of the participants to serve our Lord.

Unfortunately, the rain caused a small kink in our squad’s plans today, and all participants returned from their worksites early. Students used this free time to play basketball, table football, bond with other churches and take some much needed naps. Many of the squads were able to complete a solid days work before the rain, but there is still work to come tomorrow. Our squads are in good spirits and are thrilled about tomorrow’s clear forecast.

Worship tonight was impactful and eye opening! Heath Holly spoke about how our trust in God affects our obedience to Him and thus, our ability to view the blessings He provides for and through us. As humans, we tend talk to God as if we know what we need and ask Him to move certain obstacles in our lives. We are humans with simple reasons, but He knows what we need and our desires before we can even conceive the thoughts. When we use to our own thoughts to validate our actions, we lead ourselves away from Him and His will. We are his instruments to guide others, but Health reminded us that obedience is the only way God is able to change hearts and the only way to remain obedient is to trust in Him alone.

Now that participants are calming down and getting ready for bed, it is clear the blessings this week are abundant. We ask you pray for those involved this week lay down their hearts and allow our Lord to use them as His hands and feet. As always, let your loved one know you are thinking about them with ServeMail.

Peace out,
Lauren and Sam

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Howdy from Birmingham, Alabama on this bright Sunday!

We are ecstatic to have seven churches arrive today from North Carolina, Georgia and Kentucky. With the help of all the participants, ten squads will be taking on ten different worksites. The majority of the sites are roofing, but we have full confidence our participants will work faithfully and remember to hydrate!

The worship got kicked off wonderfully with opening celebration, and worship songs. Our speaker, Heath Holly, gave a wonderful message about opening our hearts to Christ this week and letting Him work through us regardless of our wants and desires. This was a great challenge for the students to think about as they connect with homeowners and their neighbors this upcoming week.

All of our participants are excited to head out for their first day of work tomorrow. We ask that you pray for everyone involved in this project! Don’t forget that you can send your friends and family a word of encouragement through ServeMail!

Loving thoughts,

Lauren and Sam

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