Or go to: www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPHcX1p9GHw and watch it on ESPN and Outside the Lines.

Granted I am a runner. But I have both LEGS! Granted I have a 4th grade son. But he has BOTH legs.

What I am getting at is this will touch your heart. I was NOT able to embed the Outside the Lines clip…please consider going to that video for the whole story if you want to add a few tears.

What I want to emphasize is the importance of INVESTING in a young persons life. When a 70 year old invests in a 7 year old like Boston Bill it is AWESOME. It is never about TIME…always PRIORITY. Make a decision to influence someone younger.

Second…this story highlights the importance of parents “inviting” others to speak into the lives of our own kids. It does take a VILLAGE to raise a Spiritually STRONG student. Invite OTHERS to speak truth and mentor your kids!

Third…if you watch this in either format you’ll be able to “hear” that those involved are aware that there is no such thing as CHANCE. God ALWAYS has a plan. It was not luck that Boston Bill couldn’t “clip out” — God is Soveriegn.

Peace,
Pastor Bruce

Mexico Mission Video

Enjoy this recap from our trip this summer to Mexico!!

We had a BLAST at Summer Impact last week! We dug deep into Scripture and discovered the UPRISING that Jesus creates in us so we can be part of the Jesus Uprising in the world! Perhaps you could even ask a 5th/6th grader (your own might be a good start) the memory verse for the week…2 Corinthians 5:17!

Here’s just a snapshot of the NUMBERS from the week:

120 students attended

86 student/adults served

$1022.82 raised for Feed My Starving Children

147 students/adults served at Feed My Starving Children on Friday

32400 meals were packed because of Summer Impact

Feel free to check out the videos below to share in our experience at Summer Impact last week!

God blessed us with an amazing week! We thank you for your thoughts and prayers during the week of Summer Impact 2010!

It is hard to believe that today is our final day in Ecuador. The time has been rich and fulfilling, and for many of us we are torn between wanting to stay and returning home to our family and friends.

Our final day here is beautiful, warm and sunny. About 15 team members left at 4:00 a.m. to hike the perimeter and see the sun rise a final time. Those who went said the view was spectacular – but it was cold at the top of the mountain! The teams are now finishing their work projects. We will work, have a late lunch and then take an hour or two on the zip lines. After that we will start packing and cleaning our cabins.

As a reminder, we return to O’Hare tomorrow on American Airlines flight 291 from Miami. We are scheduled to arrive at 3:40 p.m. and anxious to see everyone.

Love and miss you all,

The Quito Quest Team

We serve an AWESOME God! We had a great two days in the jungle with the highlight being the baptism by a beautiful waterfall/pool. Twenty members of our team  were baptised and it was a wonderful celebration for all of us. As great as this trip has been – it would be difficult to say anything was better than the baptism of so many of us. Sterling did a wonderful job.

After our trip to the jugle we returned late yesterday evening. Everyone was exhausted but in good spirits. We all woke up early this morning to another challenging work day. We completed laying out the fence posts alone the perimeter hike (tough work!) and then in the afternoon everyone participated in raising the climbing tower. This tower is 40ft tall and is very heavy! The staff here used a series of cables and pulleys and as a team we were able to stand the tower up and secure it to a concrete foundation. It will be the best climbing wall in Ecuador.

It is hard to believe that our time here is coming to a close. One last work day tomorrow and then we have to start cleaning and packing for our return home. The time has gone by fast!

We love and miss you all. Thanks again for your prayers and support.

The Quito Quest Team

Hello all! The last few days are here! We are excited to come home and share our experiences with you all. It has been a great trip and God is working inside all our hearts. Sunday the group went to Cabo Church (an english speaking church) and then went to the markets to do some shopping before returning to the hotel and having a relaxing evening.

Monday was out 2nd to last day of our work projects and the group went to Los Ninos to finish painting the murals and one more classroom. We also got to play with the kids a bunch and really just laugh and play with them. Its great that playing has no language barriers at all and that is quite a blessing!

So some administrative things must be addressed regarding our flights home! Wednesday we are taking US Airways Flight 332 from Los Cabos up to Phonenix. We depart at 12:55pm and arrive at 2:03pm. We then have a quick layover in Phoenix and then take US Airways Flight 7 from Phoenix to Chicago O’Hare leaving at 3:10pm and arriving home at 8:27pm. Oh course the times may differ slightly but plan on picking up your kids around 8:30 or 9pm. We will see all of soon!

This image above is the group dancing to La Macarena on the boat going into the marina!!

Today (Saturday June 26) and tomorrow (Sunday) will be exciting! Today we started off early with a very small breakfast but it was to experience how poverty affects most of the world. We learned more about Compassion International’s campaign One Meal, One Day in which on October 20, students around the country and world will be giving up eating lunch and donating that money to help feed starving children all over the world.

After that the entire group from LEAD 222 walked over to Jerry Nelson’s home and learned from Jerry about what it looks like to be a leader in this world. Jerry has started over 40 successful companies such as TicketMaster and the Troon golf courses. He is a wonderful man of God and gave us all things to remember.

A couple groups then went down to Chileno Bay to do some snorkeling and swimming and had a great time there. Tthe highlight of the day for most of us was a 2 hour sunset cruise in the Sea of Cortez where we enjoyed good music, good friends and most of all God’s AMAZING creation!! We then had dinner in downtown Cabo and had great food and conversation.

The second day of VBS was as succesful as the first and every one could tell the kids enjoyed their time here at the camp.  We have lots of pictures to share with all of you.

Tomorrow morning we get up at 3:00 a.m. for a trip to the jungle. As we will be away from camp we will not be posting a blog until Monday.

We continue to appreciate your prayers,

The Quito Quest Team

Hola from Cabo San Lucas! It is now Friday and the weekend has arrived. The students have worked hard the past 3 days at both sites, Los Ninos Del Capitan and Centro de Fe. The murals are starting to be painted and there has been some significant progress at the daycare. Today the students splits up and help teach the kids. Some taught on the color blue to 2 and 3 yr olds, the 3-4 yr olds learned the alphabet and 4-5 yr olds learn about the season of summer. The kids did a great job in getting the kids to interact and do the crafts! At Centro de Fe the walls are completely painted! it has taken about 2 and a half days but we have had fun and gotten a lot done! Tomorrow and Sunday will be great days! We have many things planned to do and will post pictures and a blog about our weekend. Tomorrow we will be going snorkeling and taking a boat ride around the point and then having dinner together as an entire which everyone is looking forward to! Our team is going in relationship and friendship and we have had some great moments encouraging and sharing with one another. Ok well its almost off to bed for us here in Cabo. Please continue to pray for Sterling as he left us today to head to Quito. Pray for strength and a strong spirit as travels and pours his heart into the students lives.

Grace and Peace to you all,

The Mexico Team