So it's 7:31 as I am typing this. It certainly has been a very busy week so far and i am thrilled to be here. From the BEAUTIFUL beaches of Tobago(okay it took some major prayers to make it across on that ferry alive and well) and the inspr=iring trip to St. Mary's Childrens Home. As tough as it was for me to go and see a community of children without families I look back and realise how much more respect I have for the caretakers in my Children's Home. Of course I grea incredibly attatched to Kisha, 3-years old. I pray for her future and that she can be safe and hopefully she may one day be met by disciples. I would love to talk more about it but for now I think J.I. would appreciate if I didn't cry all over his computer:) We began the Teen Camp, the theme was Freedom. Jeff preached the word on how The Son Sets Us Free. Krisit and J.I. shared the stories with us and it was amazing to hear how God works through so many people's lives. We split up into five groups and made banners and chants for our teams. the teams are, Righteous Lions, Spirit Warriors, Blazers,Eagles,and C-Unit. Yes we are "fye" as the teens now say. So after our limin we slipt up and the lesson from the teens was on Purity. Travis and Mack for the guys and I, for the girls. It was definitely not a lesson I would automatically teach but as i begna to study it out I realised how stron my convictions were. It went great and I received a lot of encouragement afterwards from my fellow Trini-Team. It's been amazing to get to know the teens more as well as the EDGE members. Special Shout-out to Ross and Kim! and Jeff and Krisit! and of course Lin! Without them our trip would not be as wonderful as it has been. We miss our frineds and family, some more than others but we can't wait to comeback and share our stories. Get ready for some crazy inside jokes. Love to all!

P.S. apologies if i mispell...its SUMMER TIME!

Oh, man! Never have I seen God's Presence as clearly as I have in even these first few days of the trip, through experiences, conversations, trips to the ocean, and especially the bonding within our group.
I'm a senior in high school and part of the teen ministry at East Triangle Church in North Carolina (random, right?). So I could've easily felt like an outsider coming in, but when the North River group first met at the airport, I was immedeately encouraged by the positive attitudes and welcoming hugs I recieved (plus a bag of DELICIOUS cookies from Mack's mom!). Since then, we've done nothing but grow closer.
The group of teens especially have had awesome times together (for example, we can basically speak our own language with all the new phrases and words we've created), and we've been very open and honest with each other. I feel so close to each teen individually; there is not one teen on the trip that I haven't come to respect immensely. Last night us teens had our own encouragement circle, where we all shared how we're encouraged by each other... THIS is the Kingdom!
Our first full day of the trip was spent in Tobago, the tiny island next to Trinidad where the tourist industry is the dominant source of income... in other words, it's a craaaazy gorgeous island getaway that the entire world must see at one time or another. We took a glass-bottom boat to the beautiful Buccoo reef where we snorkled, stopping along the way at the famous Pigeon Point, and even swimming in the legendary Nylon Pool (which is supposed to make you ten years younger). We had midweek with the Tobago church (a booming eight people congregation) and us teens got to hang out with the four Tobago teens. Also, Lily, Travis and I answered many questions that the mothers of the church had about raising kids. That was all pretty encouraging.
My favorite part about the adventure in Tobago was the next morning, where we checked in for the morning at the Blue Haven hotel. This hotel is very old and absolutely stunning. It has its own private beach nestled between the cliffs, and a beautiful porch, and palm trees all around... I felt like we had just walked onto a magazine cover (and the blue sky wasn't photo-edited!). God's hand was so obviously on that land. The breeze was refreshing, the water was warm and blue, the sun was high and the palm trees were dancing. God made his Presence known so magnificently and strongly on that beach!
We took the ferry to and from Tobago, which was an interesting but definitely worth-it experience. Many people got sick, and basically everyone was sleeping. Pretty solid bonding time.
When we got back in Trinidad we had a chill night at our guest house, which has quickly become a home to all of us. On Saturday, Lin, the Hickmans and the Mackenzies took our group of teens and Jasmine to the parenting workshop at church. The teens each shared one thing in our relationships with our parents that has helped us grow closer to God. It was a very impactful time for everyone, and I so appreciated hearing the gratitude of the parents who listened (I learned how cool it is how God uses a little bit of effort on your part, nothing you may think is significant, in very powerful ways).
After the workshop we visited St. Mary's Orphanage, a facility that HOPE Trinidad has been very involved with and supportive of. We basically hung out ("limed") with the kids there for a couple hours, and played and laughed and danced and sung songs. The little bit of time we spent there was impactful to all of us. The orphans, most of whom were between ages 2 and 8, were so loving and carefree and fun. The immediate love they so freely gave to us melted my heart and taught us alot.
This morning at church was one of the most spiritually uplifting services I've been in. The singing was OFF the chain, and the preaching was inspiring. Travis and I led the thoughts at communion, and that experience was very fun and encouraging. After church the teens went to a world cup party at a brother's house with all the Trinidad teens... oh BOY do these islanders love their futbol! (GO SPAIN!)
If I could think of one word to sum it all up, it's straight up AWESOME. The devos are awesome, the fellowship is awesome, the adventures are awesome, and this group is just AWESOME.
So if you read this far in my novel, I want to thank you for following us on the blog, and please remember us in your prayers!
Love, your sister in Christ,
Brie

Hello world. I have had SUCH an amazing time. Sorry Mom & Dad, but I don't want to come home just yet. Thurday we traveled 2 hours to Tobago and it was BEAUTIFUL! We went snorkling and saw reefs, which wasn't the most exciting experience for me because I definitely didn't want to touch the fire coral or whatever its called. Also, the next morning we got to go to the Mckenzie's hotel and experience the luxurious private beach. I can officially say I know how to body surf :) Anyway, the teens there were truly an inspiration and I look forward to spending more time with them. It was bitter sweet, but we were all grateful to get back "home" to our beautiful inn in Trinidad. Today was also very impactful. Travis and Brie gave an amazing communion and the singing in Trinidad is PHENOMENAL!! I was almost in tears! Ahhhh, and I can't forget the bake n' shark I had today. Sooooo good! Now I look forward to sharing more bonding experiences with my fellow teens, and speaking of which, I'm going to go lime with them now! Over 'n out. EH WE :)

Our Sunday morning resembled many of the mornings we start here on Woodford St. Disciples are usually sprinkled all around the house with bibles and journals, having a big spiritual breakfast. This is definitely the ONLY time the house is quiet! As usual, the troops head out eventually and today we had the incredible privilege of going to the Port of Spain Church of Christ's Sunday Service. If you don't like to sing to God, never visit this church! We sang at least six songs to start the service and it was an AMAZING time of worship. Some sisters sang two solos and we all were crying like babies. One thing that blew us away was that our friend Valentine who works at the house where we live came to church :) Another highlight was the communion message by Travis Hawkins and Brie Broyles, who shared a message from Acts 2 about the responsibility of our sin and its correlation with the cross. Wow, they made us so proud! Travis really spoke with authority and conviction. And, Brie captivated the audience with her sincerity and passion. It was also encouraging to hear one of the few teen disciples here, Andrew, give the contribution message. Our young people really set the bar high! Jeff preached the word from Luke 7 and as usual the Spirit gave the whole room whiplash. Ross came up after to close out...by the way, people here are SO fired up to have an elder and an evangelist around. I've realized that we may take that for granted some times but other churches are just craving spiritual maturity and leadership. We are fortunate indeed. After church, the singles went to "lime" around town, the marrieds went to the beach, and the teens watched the World Cup Finals with some local teens. What a game! At one point we were miserable with the score but the intense friendship bracelet assembly line definitely passed the time. For dinner, we had something you could never find in America...fried chicken and mashed potatoes and gravy! I know you must be jealous. For the past few hours, teens have been hanging out at the house and all I can say is that it's been loud and stuff is breaking, but its nothing but FUN! Well, we're having a blast and looking forward to Teen Camp which starts tomorrow. Please pray for our impact, focus, physical and spiritual strength as we try to bring the heart of Jesus to these teens. We love and miss you.

Signing out from Day 5,
jazz

Sunday, July 11th

Trinidad and Tobago are a country with much promise and many needs. The disciples have welcomed us warmly and been very humble with many questions. Your teens have represented Christ and their families quite well - their sharing with parents was very impactful. They returned from the orphanage grateful and moved emotionally. We are located next to the American Embassy (which we hope not to need) and the All Saints Anglican Diocese. I attended their 7:30 service this morning which had much singing, incense and chanting. The sermon was quite good - our willingness to see needs (good samaritan lesson), not look the other way but instead meet one persons need (Daily?). Like many denominations, there were very few youth attending which was discussed in their bulletin article. We must teach our children well and show how the gospel is most valuable and relevant to our youth. Jeff is preaching today from Luke 7:36 at the Port of Spain church of Christ. We are meeting with their leadership group tonight who are seeking a full-time ministry couple and help reaching their youth. We also hope to help re-build a thriving campus ministry in Trinidad which many attend since the tuition is covered by the government at this time. Love for now but I must get ready for our service this morning.

Where to begin. Trinidad is amazing. We started our day off today being able to just have some awesome quiet times. The boys went out early to a nearby park this morning to pray and read while the girls had their time on the outside porch. It was so cool to just be able to stop everything and just have some alone time with God and really feel his presence. Next the teens all headed out to the church building for a parenting workshop we were having today. This was a great experience to just connect to the parents. Us teens were all able to talk to the parents about what their parents have done in their life that has really helped us to grow spiritually and want to have our own relationship with God. Although we all feel like we didn't do much, we were soon to find out that God had used us more than we could even imagine. It is so encouraging to know that when we just give a little in the hand of God it is always enough for him to work thorough us. I think we are all just really encouraged to see how God used us all today to do his work and make a difference.
Next we all headed out to the St. Mary's Orphanage. This was incredible. The teens went down with Jasmine and Lin and met up with some of the disciples from the church down here who work with Hope. Here we were able to really just spend some time with the kids and really just relate to them. The boys started up a game of football, or what we call soccer, with the older boys and were really able to connect with them. The girls really spent some time with the younger kids playing games, blowing bubbles, going on lion hunts. It was really great to just see this children and be able to just have fun with them. I think what we all really went away with from this was just seeing that even though these children have so little and have lost so much, they were able to give their hearts away so easily and so fully. These kids were so joyful and trusting and loving. We all learned so much more from them they I think we though we would. Those kids have made an impact of all of our hearts that I know will stay with us.
Lastly tonight we all were able to just join together as a whole group today and just share about our day. The Hickmans and the Mackenzies told about their success with the parenting workshop that went on all day (even after us teens left) and the singles were able to just share about how great their singles class went tonight. And in case all you guys don't know... JESUS WAS SINGLE. This has been a long joke with the church making that message across. It was really cool to see tonight also just the closeness of the group and how much we have all grown together, spiritually as well as just as friends. As we shared about all we learned and took out of today, it was so encouraging to learn from each other and just to be able to have that time. The devo ended with us almost dying of laughter from all the jokes we have from this trip alone. As I looked up it was so awesome to see how this group, in just four days, has gotten so close and has created relationships that will last for a life time. Isn't that the great thing about the kingdom? We all can bond through our love for God and our heart to live out his will.
Well that's about all I got for tonight. Hope you guys are enjoying this and the parents aren't missing all of us too bad! Love you all!


P.S. let the world know.... AMBER HEIBECK CAN SINGGGGGGG.

Thursday, July 8,2010 For those of you that waited eagerly for our blog yesterday,so sorry. We were off island in Tobago and had no wifi access. So here we go, catching you up....Morning came way too early on Thursday. We left at 7:30 am to wait and wait and wait for the ferry to Tobago. In Trinidad, the phrase to hang out is liming. Well, we have learned to be great at liming since things take time around here. We be liming for several hours at the ferry terminal, eating doubles, a Trinidadian staple breakfast.The trip on the T and T Express was an adventure. Most of our travelers took motion sickness meds and made the rough voyage in stormy weather rather uneventfully. Kristi, JI and Jasmine were feeling it and took a few turns at throwing up. Not a pleasant sight or experience! We arrived in Tobago and the skies cleared just in time to take a boat out for some team building time. We went out to Buccoo Reef and the Nylon Pool and some beautiful beaches and were able to snorkel around. Everything was beautiful and such a reminder of God's amazing love for us and providing such an amazing world for us to enjoy.
Midweek with the Tobago church was wonderful! It is amazing to travel miles from home and be with family. The church was warm and inviting and hungry for direction when we began discussing parenting. The team was amazing with the singles jumping in and sharing their experiences. The teens helped with the kids and got time with the Tobago teens and encouraged them to come to teen camp. A highlight of the evening was when Travis, Lilly and Brie answered questions and did an amazing job at sharing their lives. I kept thinking of how proud I felt about them and how proud each of their paerents would be watching them.

Friday, July 9, 2010 Off to Blue Haven this morning to a hotel that was build in the 1950's on a prime location with a breathe-taking view. We spent the morning body surfing, swimming in the Caribbean ocean and eating tropical fruit. David, one of the locals, skimmied up a coconut tree to get us fresh coconut milk and then opened the coconuts with a machete or a cutlass. Dellicious!!! Travis, Lilly and Jasmine tried to climb a cocunut tree only to find out that it was alot more dificult than it appeared. We had amazing fresh mangoes and chenettes. The water was absolutely perfect and the time together wonderful! After alot of prayers and a few motion sickness pills, the trip back was uneventful. Ross and Travis (with the team) invited at least 200 people in the terminal to come and visit us for services on Sunday. That opened the door to several conversations on the trip. It was so encouraging seeing God work!!! We returned to Inn at 87 for dinner and a devotional. Dana, the receptionist joined us for dinner and a great talk. She is planning to come to church with us on Sunday. Pray for her.
The discipleship group tonite allowed us time to discuss the heart of Jesus and how He relied on God for His strength.We discussed temptations that we have struggled with this trip and how to use the Word to fight Satan's attacks. It was a great night just regrouping!
Today was Jeff's birthday so we had cake and singing. If you are reading the blog, you may want to be part of bombarding him with birthday wishes!!!
Big day tomorrow!!!!Parenting workshop, Singles Devotional, Parenting Panel and teen visit to the orphange.Pray for us...not much time for liming tomorrow!