Hellooooooooo you fabulous person you!!!

Today was a day I won't soon forget- my faith has increased!
Let me break it down for you... one of the main aspirations of this trip was to reach the teen population in the Port of Spain Church who have mostly been uninterested in spiritual growth. Our team has served in their 2010 Teen Camp "Freedom" this week. Bringing seven UNBELIEVABLY SPIRITUAL teenagers from NRCOC has produced nothing short of a miracle. In fact, many teens who weren't planning on coming to the camp changed their minds after meeting these awesome GA teens last week. Monday was the first day of camp and there was a typical awkwardness of the TT kids getting to know our people. Some heartfelt sharing and our crazy energy seemed to break some of the ice. Each day it got better. We got crazier and they seemed to start to appreciate our madness. By Wednesday, everyone realized how much were all in love with each other. The magical experience I want to share about was tonight's Midweek service. There was some cool singing in the beginning and then a segment of the group got to perform a dance we worked on since Monday. Then, the floor was opened for sharing about Teen Camp and the flood gates opened up for sure. So many teens (surprisingly lots of GUYS) came up to share how much they've been impacted by North River being here. Some choked on their tears as they tried to express their gratitude. About 4 or 5 announced their decision to STUDY THE BIBLE. And, I have much confidence that even more will come to that decision in the coming weeks. What a powerful time! Remember, these are teens who haven't expressed this interest to their parents before so there were many parents and friends shedding tears in the audience. Have you ever watched the face of someone who has had a hope restored? There's nothing like it.

Proverbs 13:12- Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a dream fulfilled is a tree of life.

These teens haven't seen a group of young people who love God wildly. This week they have seen the impossible.
Their parents haven't heard their kids express a desire to know God. Tonight they witnessed the impossible.
How great is our God? He laughs at what we think to be impossible!

This was so moving for my own faith because I can only imagine how long this church has praying for a night like this... how many times did they think God didn't hear? Was He sleeping all these years?

Psalm 121:2-4
2 My help comes from the LORD,
the Maker of heaven and earth.

3 He will not let your foot slip—
he who watches over you will not slumber;

4 indeed, he who watches over Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.

I'm convinced God has been planning the REVOLUTION that is about to happen here very carefully. This was the year for us to partner with Trini. This was the year their teens would be ready to change. This was the summer our teens had the undeniable conviction and influence that was needed. Last year would have been too early, next year too late. I sing the praises of Jeff and Lin for their incomparable leadership; Ross and Kim for their wisdom; Kristi, Michelle, J.I., Bridgette, Nikki, Travis, Mack, J. Beaty, Ashley, Amber, Brie, and Lily for how they have given their heart and souls to these people; the Trini Church for how they've loved and embraced us. More than anyone, though, I STAND IN AWE OF GOD! He's never off the clock. He's working on something huge right now as I type these words. Please be encouraged by what God is doing here and back at home and all over the world. AMEN!

Michael Cunningham, Port of Spain Church of Christ!! WoooH!!

Yo,this is MC and I am excited and happy to have the northriver teens with us here.(by the way i am 15 this year 2010) It has been great learning different cultures and understanding alot more about God. Well, this is my first blog on the site and I just want to share my experience with the northriver church(I was about to put choir instead of church)Anyway, the camp lasts an entire week and so far it has been very exciting,also very inspirational to me and many other teens out there.On monday we met the teens from atlanta and it was as akward as ever.(not for me I'm a cool guy)Eventually they settled over a period of three days.We have so many different nick names like Boo Boo,Spanish,Ryo and many other weird ones.I grew up in a christian home so i grew up learning about God, now i am at the age where i can make the decision to follow christ and make my way to heaven or choose the worldly life which only leeds to chaos and hell. When you put it this way it sounds very easy.Like just pick heaven but trust me the battle is not as easy as it seems.There are so many temptations that can mess with not only your relationship with God but the actual life that you live in the flesh here on earth.I hope that I will be able to get baptized soon.My parents were really glad to hear that from thier loving son.Well i don't really have much more to say so I will close by saying that if there is anyone who has advise on how to start on becoming a disciple and hopefully and estraudinary speaker.( think i spelled estraudinary wrong but oo well)

Thankfulness and Hope

Hey guys it's Mack. I just want to share about how incredibly encouraged i am by everything here. I mean just seeing how welcoming and warm and hospitable the Port of Spain Church of Christ and Tobago Church of Christ are encourages me to see how amazing it is to actually have brothers and sisters over seas. And guys, I wish ya'll could experience their singing down here because it is INCREDIBLE! It sent chills through my body when i heard it. And also seeing how eager everyone in the church is to get to know us also and build bonds with us rocks. It's kind of like being encouraged by those who are encouraged, you know? But I just wanted to share how amazing the teens have been reacting down here. Like a lot of the guys have come to Travis and I and have just poured out there want to follow and obey Jesus. Like coming from the perspective of many people I've talked to, it came across as the teens really didn't care what we had to preach because they just would sit in their chairs looking sleepy the whole time! But there are about seven or eight teen guys who have come up to us and just been so grateful for what we have to say which is SO AWESOME!!! And i know tonight at church was VERY impacting. The older teen guys started off sharing at how they have seen what God is all about. AND THEY WANT TO BUILD A RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD!!! Like that is crazy enough, right? So get this, guys. A thirteen year old came up and started crying from the impsct God has had on him! He poured out what he had learned to the church and wouldn't stop thanking Travis and me. I couldn't stop getting these powerful waves of chills and couldn't help but be impacted by this teen had been impacted. It really helped me to come to the realization that God can appear in the lives of people of any age. From thirteen year olds to eighteen year olds. He can change the lives of those who you would least expect. I just think it is awesome how He has spoken through us to such an amazing extent.
Also what is on my heart to talk to you guys about is that the guys here are so easy to get along with and so easy to have fun with. Like I was playing with eight year olds today. I got the chance to just talk to them about how much they are enjoying this camp. But I genuinely had fun hanging out with them! And like just hanging with the other guys is just as awesome. Like many teens have come home with us tonight because they want to hangin out with us and spend the night! Our friendships are so great here! Today at camp we talked about how godly relationships and why they are so much more amzing and so much more meaningful then worldly relationships are. And like right now we are all having a great time here at the Inn having a good, godly time. This is such a great way to portray the lessons taught today! God's impact is happening right in front of our eyes and is helping us to be strengthened spirtually as well as the other teens. Our faith is building and building and building DAILY guys because of the hearts of the teens down here.
What's also really cool is that last week Ms Lin talked to us about spiritual Highs and Lows, and I didn't even know she was such an amazing teacher!!! Hearing her just preach the word was super encouraging and i just thank her for taking her time out for us! I just again want to thank Ms. Lin sooo much for inviting me to join everybody on this trip. I really am blessed to be able to be with this group of disciples. Like just seeing how they preach and how God effects them shows me how I need to be and act and live my life. I look up to them so much. Especially Travis with him being the only other guy here. Seeing how much he loves God and how humble he is really is just so incredible. And i'm proud to call him one of my best friends. But also the girls hearts are crazy super awesome too guys. Like I was listening to Jordyn Beaty talk and listening to her perspective on things and she is so much smarter than me! This goes for all of the other girls as well. They are all so incredibly intelligent when it comes to knowing, loving, and obeying God and making him Lord.
But guys this is just what is in my heart tonight, I just want to make sure that you have Lily Jacoby and Ms. Kristi Hickman in your prayers. I know that Ms. Kristi left sick and that Lily is sick right now. So please just keep them in your prayers.
I do not want to leave yet, and I hate the fact that I have to. Thanks guys! Love you all so much!

Andrew Frank From Port-Of-Spain Church Of Christ

Hi Georgia im Andrew Frank from Trinidad & Tobago.I became a christian at the age of 16,and im 17 now.In our church their's not much Teen christian actually i was the only male christian teen there so it was difficult for me to be open about my struggles plus alot of people expected much from me.I felt like i was a major fake cause i stuggled with my sins still. I thought i would never get help or ever talk to someone about my struggles cause i was afraid to, i was drifting away from God slowly to a point where i stuggled with quiet times where as i was not reading at all. We usually have teen ministry on Sunday's and a week before i meet the teens from North River i was stuck with a challenge to do a message on Sunday i didn't know what it was doing until Saturday.I had to do a Communion message so i had some hour's to prepare for it,i was clueless on what to talk about so i called up my dicipling buddy David. He was an adult and even when he poured out his heart to me i only sratched the surface with my struggles and i felt bad at times.I learn alot from him about God and if i didn't have him to help i probably would not be coming to church all the time. So Sunday morning i came extra early to church trying to make it good enough then i found out that their were teens as well from America that have to share a message as well. So Travis and Brie came up on stage and did a wonderful job and the minute i saw that i was i amazed like WOO. So I went up on stage and i was nervous but i did good. Then after at the fellowship break this whole group of teens came up to me introducing themselves and i felt welcome and inspired by that. Then Monday we had camp and i got to know them a little more and they were real cool, we had crazy fun together to a point where i slept over where they stayed and just fellowship alot and talk about God. I spoke to Mack and Travis and they were open with everything plus they were my age so it was ok for me to be open with them. Well after i slept over we got up around after 6 in the morning and just got out the house with our Bible's and walked to a quiet area and had our quiet time. It was inspirational to me. Then Wednesday we had mid-week service and we did this dance which we did not know how to do that much. Actually i was encoraged by Ms lin and others to go for it even though i was nervous real bad. After that we had different teens to share on stage what we got out of camp and boy... was the church inspired. Their were alot of tears of joy. Matter a fact it was magical. Teens were inspired to studying the bible and that touched me alot. To myself i feel like i have a major responsibility now to get closer to God and help the younger ones know more about God. I can't let God down now, Never! i have some work to do spiritually and honestly im looking forward to that challenge.

Beyond our Dreams!

It is impossible to capture in words all that we have seen, done and learned in the past week. It seems impossible that only one week ago, I was packing and preparing. I am always amazed at how powerfully and quickly God works through the lives of those who are focused, surrendered to Him and truly united in purpose. That is truly the heart and mindset of every single member of this team. We challenged them to "leave it all on the field" and they have-every single day. They have preached, taught, encouraged and inspired, day in and day out, despite moments of discouragement and plenty of tiredness. They have lived out ICor.15:58, "always give yourself fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain" and God has already shown us the fruit of our labor.
Travis did the keynote speech today at teen camp on "Freedom: The Courage to Stand Out Rather Than Fit in" He preached with deep conviction and a heart filled with compassion calling the teens to live for something that truly counts. His examples were heart moving. Jasmine followed by powerfully sharing her story. She preached to the heart and shared so many examples of friends who got what they wanted only to see how Satan was destroying them with it. What an amazing speaker (and woman)! Every time that I get to hear her I am so thankful to God that I get to be around her to watch the powerful ways that God will be using her. She is so loving, giving and just plain fun! Watching her put together a dance number with a room full of beginners is a riot!
Evenings are usually family times with time to unwind, regroup and have discipleship groups. Last night was an amazing treat when Francis brought over the worship team to teach us songs from Trinidad. They really pour their hearts out in worship and inspired us to do the same. We got to spend several hours together just singing to the One that brings are hearts together in unity. It was absolutely wonderful.
Our singles could not be more amazing. They have been focused and eager to help in whatever the needs are. JI spent the evening out with brothers just answering questions and sharing his life and what he has learned in the ministry. He has had a couple of studies set up. Brigettes' deep insights and powerful way of sharing has been invaluable. It is so good to have Nikki join us. She is so loved and respected by the disciples here. As always, she just walks in ready to give and love and pours joy on everything she touches.
For me, one of the greatest joys has been just being around the teens and watching them grow and learn. They are so focused and determined to make a difference. They are absolutely wonderful, serving loving and encouraging. They are fun and stay just on the verge of "out of control" but are completely respectful and responsive to direction.I cannot imagine a teen watching from the outside that wouldn't want their lives. Their closeness is obvious and their respect and admiration for each other is contagious! What an amazing team that God put together for Team Trini 2010!!!! I am just honored that He chose me to be on it. I have absolutelly loved the week!!!

Whats up everyone?!!

It has been an amazing time! I am truly sad that we are two days away from being done. Throughout this whole time it has really been a life changing experience. We have gone to an orphanage, done multiple parenting panels, and have been doing an amazing teen camp that inspires me day by day.

Fortunately thanks to Jeff and Lin I have had the great opportunity to be able to preach multiple times to the church and too the teens and it has given me a whole new mindset of what the holy spirit can do! The teens were so hard hearted and so consumed in being cool but to see them grow from where they were to where they are now has made the trip worth while.

In the whole country of Trinidad there is only one teen disciple and he is amazing. He convicts and encourages my soul in every conversation we have. I am looking very forward to coming home to share all the good and amazing news with you guys.

Tonight was a nice and chill time where we were able to "lime" and we just went to see Karate Kid together and enjoyed each others fellowship. I have grown in friendships with all of team members especially Mack. We have all learned new and exciting things about each other. You can truly see why Jesus sent groups out because so much can be accomplished in just a short week with a team that is truly untied.

Hey everyone! Well we're at day 6 of our Trinidad adventure! It has been truly amazing spending time with the Port of Spain Church! After a full weekend (singles devo, parenting workshop, church, Maracas Beach) we had our first full day at Teen Camp today. Our theme for Teen Camp is 'Freedom,'a very relevant and impacting topic, indeed. In the morning Jeff preached a powerful lesson which helped us focus on how Jesus is the only one that can set us free the shackles of insecurity, greed, and the desire to fit in with the world. Afterward, Kristi and J.I. shared vulnerably from their lives about how having a relationship with our Creator has spared them from the talons of depression, imprisonment and even death! I could tell by looking at the teens' faces that many of their hearts were stirred. We had some time to divide the teens into five teams, where they came up with a team name, a team song, and created a banner. It was very cool to see each of the teams transform from near strangers to unified teammates! After a full day at camp, we enjoyed some 'Pollo Tropical,' a really great chicken restaurant here. (The Trinis LOVE their chicken!) I'm really looking forward to the rest of the week as God continues to open eyes and soften hearts!
Love,
Brigette