Construction!

Hey ya'll!
First of all - Julie that's awesome and so good to hear!!!!! I'm proud of you for getting out there and making phone calls :)
Today was my first day of construction and it was so much fun! I worked with Jennifer (staff lady), Kevin, Tom, and Allison. We got a lot of drywalling donw in an elderly lady's house, so that was sweet! Tomorrow we'll finish drywalling and start mudding. Throughout the week we'll be painting, tearing down a shed, and whatever else she needs us to do. I'm so excited to be building these peoples lives! It's such an amazing opportunity, especially after hearing the need these people have like we did yesterday.
Tonight is our night of reflection, so yay for time w/God!
Anyway, love ya'll!
lys

support!

Dear Everyone
Hola! I just wanted to let ya'll ( to steal your saying Lys) know that I have more than enough support, so thankyou soooooo much for all of your help in getting me there, especially the practice phone calls. I'm super excited for New York, and I now have a HUGE rolling suitcase.
I didn't here anything about our house blowing down, so I think we're good. Um...........yep. God is good and faithful to answer.
Amen
I'm eating noodles.

Naw'leans

Hey! Well since we work on Saturdays, Mondays are our fun days. So today we went to New Orleans, which was great. We walked mostly around the French Quarter, which wasn't affected so much by the hurricane, but we talked to two people who told us their stories of how they were affected. It was a very sobering day in that respect - to hear how lives were so drastically changed. And the second man we talked to was so lacking in hope. He has known ten people since last september (Katrina was on aug. 28-29) who have commited suicide because they don't have any hope - nowhere to go, nothing to look forward to. When you think about it, why not? Without God and with all material possessions gone, what would they have? It was really sad. He mentioned that the suicide rates in the city have skyrocketed and his friends are losing hope. He asked us to answer the same questions his friends keep asking him: Why would God do this? If he had the power to stop the hurricane, why didn't he use it? This man said that the "He did it because we have to learn to rely on him" seemed like a cop out answer. It was really hard, and there's really nothing to say. He mentioned that Katrina has turned so many people away from their faith because they don't believe a loving God would do such a thing. He's paying 20,000/month for rent, but there is no business in the city as only half of the people are back. So he's going to wait until September to find out if he can financially support himself anymore and if it doesn't work, he'll have to move to Charleston, SC which is the closest city that is most like New Orleans. But he's also torn because he doesn't want to pack up and leave the city he loves and has been in. But it's so mentally hard on him. He stayed during the storm and told us that he had to walk over dead bodies in the streets. But he and the other man we talked to also thanked us over again for coming down to help them out. They both mentioned that if it wasn't for the help of people coming down, these cities wouldn't have come anywhere. That's so encouraging to hear that they honestly appreciate us.
In church yesterday, the pastor recognized us, prayed for us, and they all stood up and clapped for us, some of the ladies were crying. These people are so nice and appreciative and it's so great to be able to work alongside and for them.
I'll be working construction this week, so it'll be hot and tiring. Pretty sure i'll sweat more than I ever have, but that's ok. Today was a great way to put it all into perspective.
Anyway, I have more I could write, but I need to get to my 95 degree bedroom (we still don't have air conditioning + 20 people in one room sleeping = ridiculously hot). G'nite!
lys

VBS

Hey all! Well i'm still in the group working on VBS stuff, so that's going really well. We just finished the most enormous slip 'n slide you will ever see in your life for the kids to play with when VBS starts. Of course, it wouldn't be safe to let the kids use it without us testing it out first, which we'll do tonight. Really, it's a necessity ;) But somehow we got our hands on a billboard poster..from an actual billboard. So we cut that in half the hot dog way and glued pool noodles around the edges. We just got done stitching around the entire thing with 30# fishing wire, so it should be good to go. I'm really excited...i think it's about 30 feet long and 8 or so wide. It's gonna be amazing! Other than that...um..we had our first weekly meeting type get together last night which was pretty sweet...i'm music deprived! haha, but it's all good.
I'm also excited for when I won't be the only one posting on here! Thanks again for the comments...feel free to leave a comment, even if it's just to say "hey" It would be great to hear from ya'll!
Oh..and no one answered my question :( I heard there was a tornado in the Elk Point area, but our house is still standing right? Hm..well if it's not, I guess by the end ofthe summer i'll know how to demo and rebuild :)
Love ya'll! Have an amazing weekend!
lys

First day of work

Hey ya'll! Wow...i'm able to keep this updated much more than I thought! Sweet! Sooo for the first day of work my group worked a lot on getting the VBS ready, so that included doing an amazing cleaning/reorganizing job on two of the back rooms of the church, building a great stage for our weekly meetings and for the city council meetings that will be held in the church every tuesday night, and taking a lot of garbage out to the huge pile on the corner. So we got a lot of work done. I'm having a lot of fun getting to know the people on my project, they're all so great. Here's a story I heard this morning at breakfast in the Kitchen (the meal tent) that I thought was sweet, and probably the first of many - There was a church in Gulfport that had four members and was going to lock it's doors and shut down the week before Katrina, but then the hurricane came, did a lot of damage and the cousin or something of someone that lives down here heard about the story and told their pastor cousin from Wisconsin who moved down here, rejuvinated the church and now their weekly attendence is about 70-80 people. I've heard a lot of great stories like that about how Katrina had such a good impact on the morals and ability of the people to refocus their lives. Granted, there are many people who did not turn to God or who turned away from God, but there are some great stories also.
Anyway, I'm off to read then to bed.

Oh, do i need to be worried about my house???
Ok...thanks
see ya!
lys

Last day of relaxing

Hey guys! Well, tonight I have some free time, as it will be our last day of relaxing before we start our actual work projects tomorrow. About 30 people will be demo-ing a home, some will be working at God's Katrina Kitchen serving up food along with love, and I'll be helping out with getting ready for VBS. I'll work two weeks of VBS total, 3 weeks of construction jobs, and the last week will be at the Kitchen. Hours for working at the kitchen are 4:30am-2:00pm, so that should be a good time! haha...most other jobs start at 8am, usually. But I'm looking forward to starting working. I'm actually close to getting everyone's names down, but it's not quite there yet. hmm...other than that.... we'll be studying 1 John this summer, which i'm excited about looking into. I've read it I believe, but not done a study on it. It will be about living out your Christian life, I think. So walking your talk, which everyone can be challenged in. Oh, and Joy, don't worry...there's a true UNL cornhusker here to represent Nebraska for you.
Well, I don't really have much to say. It's still really hot and humid all of the time.

The town, as a whole, really is destructed. You can't go anywhere without seeing the effects of Katrina. Our project leader mentioned that this is when it gets really depressing for the people in the area. They got through the hard part of living afer the hurricane, but they're getting tired of living in FEMA trailers and not being able to see work on their houses. The woman that we're demoing for tomorrow recieved 5,000 to rebuild her house. Needless to say, that wouldn't even cover getting her old house out of the way, let alone rebuilding a new one. So that's where most of the people are at. Everyone I've talked to from here (which hasn't been many yet) has been really friendly. I think they really appreciate the work that we'll be doing for them, which is awesome.

Oh, and one thing that our project director mentioned yesterday is that the people down here who are not Christians are acknowleding and appreciating all of the work that Christians are putting into the area. One non-Christian said that if it weren't for the Christians coming here, nothing would be getting done. So yeah, that's pretty sweet that the body of Christ can move in a way that other people can recognize and appreciated, even if they don't understand why or how.

Ok...I'm off for now.
Love ya'll!
alyssa

Mississippi Girl and Address!

Hey guys!!! Well I obviously made it to Mississipp ok! Not gonna lie, it was a looong drive. We left Nick's house at 10:00 on Saturday morning and, minus about 3 hours of stopping to eat and get gas, we were on the road untill we pulled into Gulfport at about 10:30 on Sunday. It really wasn't bad for the most part, just got to be a little long. We all got about three hours of sleep since we rotated driving throughout the night. I drove through Arkansas and Illinois from 11pm-3am. So now we're here, learning about the Pass and talking a little bit about the work we will be doing. I'm getting to know A LOT of new people, there are about 60 here, so it's a lot of names and trying to remember names and faces. The weather...haha it's a bit gross. The humidity is what gets to people. It really hasn't been too much hotter than in the 80's, but it's so humid all the time. There's still no air conditioning in the library we live in, but they're hoping to get it fixed in the next week, which would be amazing! Considering I'm sharing a bed with someone and living in one big room with 22 other girls, it gets a little hot at night. We just got back from a scavenger hunt around Gulfport and Pass Christian which was a lot of fun. We used GPS systems to get our clues, the went around the towns. It took about 3 1/2 hours, but my team won :) Anyway, that's about all I have time to write right now...but I got here safe and the people here are great (as if I had any worries...:) ) and I'll hopefully update again soon! Thanks so much for the comments!
Here's my address for the next six weeks:

Campus Crusade for Christ
Alyssa Mittleider
P.O. Box 1465
Long Beach, MS 39560

Bye ya'll, love ya! :)
lys

Wisconsin!

Hey all! Yup, I'm in Wisconsin! I made it safely, it was about a six hour drive from my home town (Brookings) plus an hourish stop to see Miss Amy Wellner! Yay! So we're spending the night here, then we're off tomorrow morning to Iowa, then straight down to the Gulf! I'm so excited! Maybe not so much for spending 24 more hours in a car...but you know...whatever it takes. haha ok, well I'm out for the night, im exhaused! Bye guys! Much love
Alyssa

Almost gone

Hey guys!! Wow, I'm leaving tomorrow! How crazy is that?? I'm a little bit nervous and a lot excited. I'm confident that this will be an amazing experience. I'm so blown away by the fact that God can use someone like me to change these people's lives. I don't want to just go to just be there, I want to go and build a house or feed people or move dead trees (all by myself ;) ) or something worthwhile. I'm not very good at recognizing that I can't change the world. But I'm ok with that...
I'm all packed and ready to go for the most part, which is crazy to say because I actually didn't go over the one suitcase and one bag limit. It's basically a miracle because I've packed this much for a one week trip to a national FCCLA conference, and this is for six weeks. But I'm also glad because I think this entire scene will help me to focus less on what I look like and more on what I can do and who i can be.
So...that's my report for the night, I should get to bed and pray that I get some sleep so I can be ready to drive 55 across the entirity of Minnesota tomorrow...woot. Good night! Hopefully i'll be able to write more soon and/or after I actually get to Mississippi!

whoops

Ok, I think this is working now. How's summer treating you ladies?? Joy, I'm pretty sure you're doing well, but I could be asumming wrong. Amy, how's the home life? Lys, are you overpacking- I mean preparing for your trip? I'm just loving it here. It hasn't been too bad so far, but I've been busy. I have a job at a Bagle Shop, which is pretty easy and fun. I'm also going back to Coldstone tonight, so I'll be pretty busy up until project. My support is coming along nicely, which I shouldn't be surprised at, when God provides that is. Jordan is coming this Saturday and then going to church with me the next morning, which I'm defintly looking foward to.
I feel like I should be either complaining about my love life or writing poetry, because isn't that what people do when they blog? I don't know this is my first blog , so here's a poem for you all.
Trees
I like trees
They are green with leaves and grass underneath them
perfect for that summer day
when the world is lazy
and the world is turning slower than usual
good to dream and talk under
while resting your head on a boy's strong shoulder.

So, there you go, and poem and something about a boy. Love and miss you'all!

Getting closer!

Hey guys!! I can't even believe that I'm leaving to go to Mississippi in five days! I'm getting excited and nervous and a bit confused at how I'm supposed to pack everything...but I guess that last part is nothing new for me. haha But I'm so excited to get to work, I can't wait to see what the Lord has planned for all of our summers! The plan as of now is for me to leave sometime Friday afternoon to drive to Nick's house in Ellsworth, WI - about a 6 hour drive. I'll spend the night there to split up the driving a little bit, then I'll leave my car at his house all summer, and we'll head out in his car to pick up Katie in southeastern Iowa, about another 5-6 hours. Then down to Pass Christian (hereafter, The Pass) which is 13-15 hours from Katie's house. We'll be driving through the night so we can get there by our appointed time on Sunday, May 21. That's one prayer request - safe travels! And that we can mesh well together...haha - even the best of friends get frustrated when they're in the car that long! I'm not worried about that, though. So that's what's up with me for now.
In case you're wondering why I want to do this, I think it's a lot because of what these verses from Isaiah 61 sum up. God has plans to use us all in such HUGE ways! It's kind of long...but it fits SO perfectly, especially in terms of the work I will be doing.
"1 The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,
because the LORD has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners,
2 to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor
and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,
3 and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness
instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
a planting of the LORD
for the display of his splendor.
4 They will rebuild the ancient ruins
and restore the places long devastated;
they will renew the ruined cities
that have been devastated for generations.
5 Aliens will shepherd your flocks;
foreigners will work your fields and vineyards.
6 And you will be called priests of the LORD,
you will be named ministers of our God.
You will feed on the wealth of nations,
and in their riches you will boast.
7 Instead of their shame
my people will receive a double portion,
and instead of disgrace
they will rejoice in their inheritance;
and so they will inherit a double portion in their land,
and everlasting joy will be theirs.
8 "For I, the LORD, love justice;
I hate robbery and iniquity.
In my faithfulness I will reward them
and make an everlasting covenant with them.
9 Their descendants will be known among the nations
and their offspring among the peoples.
All who see them will acknowledge
that they are a people the LORD has blessed."
10 I delight greatly in the LORD;
my soul rejoices in my God.
For he has clothed me with garments of salvation
and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness,
as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest,
and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
11 For as the soil makes the sprout come up
and a garden causes seeds to grow,
so the Sovereign LORD will make righteousness and praise
spring up before all nations.

Medora, baby!

wahoo- a project blog! great idea, lys. As far as me, (amy), I am heading to Medora for 12 weeks and I am so super excited! I have 100% of my support and less 3 weeks to go. Can't wait to hunt some buffalo!! :]

amy

New to this Blogging Thing

Wow, I've never done this before. I thought I would give it a try. We'll see if I can get this to post. Do does the whole world have access to this? That's cool if they do. Anyway, I'm looking foward to a great summer full of suprises. I'll try to keep everyone updated as much as possible. Have a wonderful day.

Joy

Almost Summer

Hey guys!! Well, we created this little blog to keep in touch with each other on project, to let everyone else know what's up with our ministries, to share prayer requests, let everyone know what we're up to, etc...you get the idea. We would LOVE comments from anyone, even if it's just to say hi. I'm definatly excited about what God will do in our lives this summer! Counting down the days...
Alyssa