North Beach Kurt

sos blog update

2011-06-29T20:52:00.001-07:00

Sorry parents ... this has been a frustrating week foe the internet here. I can only get on from my phone and although I carried my computer with me all day, I wasn't able to upload anything to the blog because I didn't have internet access. Looms lime I will have to add the videos that I have shot later and you will get to see them later. We are having a great time. Today was a very full free day and we are now exhausted and ready for bed. We will see you on friday and since the blog didn't work this year your student is going to have to do an amazing job at communicating all that happens this week.

Kurt

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.8

sos 2011

2011-06-28T20:47:00.001-07:00

Parents .. I have had very little time to update the blog and to post videos. I will try to get some up tomorrow or Thursday. We are doing great and having a blast. See you friday night.

Kurt

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.8

pictures

2010-06-30T19:52:00.000-07:00

2010-06-30T19:20:00.000-07:00

Michael and Ashley's Group:

Our homeowner has lived in her house for aobut 30 years. For the last 9 years, she has lived as a widow without aide for upkeep or restoration of her home. The previous SOS crews have recreated the back of her house and have fixed the roof--and the work they did was amazing! However, the remaining walls of the home and interior still need to be fixed.

Outfitted in Haz-Mat suits, we tore down the existing siding and were horrifed to discover that her house was without any insulation. We have now installed insulation, put up OSB board, replaced her window, and will begin tomorrow putting up the next layer of boards.

On the inside, we are completely reconstructing her kitchen floor from the ground up! Upon arrival, her fridge and water heater were close to falling through the floor; you could feel the floor give beneath your feet as you walked. By the end of the week, she'll have a new, safe floor!

Our homeowner continues to hug us, thank us, tell us that she prayed for us, and that we are angels. In truth, she is our blessing and angel, and we thank God for the opportunity to glorify Him through serving her.

Josh Polkow's Group:

Hey, this is Josh! My group is Patrick Maloney, Alex B, Phillip O, Johnny, Noah E, Olivia C, and Hannah H. We are working on the home of the Johnson family. The Johnson family has four kids; one of them is an eleven-year-old named Josh who the boys in our group have really attached to.

Monday we worked on the roof of the house; Tuesday and Wednesday we worked on their fence, built garden beds, and did clean-up work around the interior of the house. The kids have worked really hard, but the majority of the time has been spent in relational ministry, spending time with the kids and their friends. Tomorrow we hope to finish tarpapering the roof and doing more shingling!

Ed and Dean's Group:

Team Dean and Ed are off to a great start to our week. Eric, Matt, Pat, Jason, Audry, Sarah, Matty and Lexie along with Dean and I have made a great team thus far.

We are working at a home in Bing Hampton owned by Miss Shirley. She is 32 years old and very friendly. Her family has lived in this home for the last 10 years. She has three children. A 15 year old, Chris, who left on a Greyhound bus to St Louis in order to spend the sumer with his Dad. A 14 year old, Kim who has kept to herself so far this week. The third child is Jasmen. She is 8 and the team has spent a lot of time loving on her this week along with her 5 year old friend Amber.

Our project for the week is to re-roof the front of Miss Shirley's hous. We are ready to finish shingling on Thursday.

Dean and I have been very impressed with the teams hard work thus far on our project, but we have been even more impressed with their focus during our devotionals at lunch each day.

What an amazing experience for the teenagers as well as Dean and I.

SOS Day 2 updates

2010-06-29T19:55:00.000-07:00

Brett and Brooke here! We have Mikey, Parker, Evan, Abby, Grace, Emily C. and Emily P. in our group. We have the opportunity to serve Ms. Delores and work on her home for the week. Her house seems to be a revolving door for people in the neighborhood, so we have had the opportunity to get to know some of them. The boys have done a good job engaging Delores' grandson who has been living with her. They play soccer and an interesting game involving a ball and two smashed coke cans. We are very proud of their initiative game. Monday we finished the roof and began a garden...we are not to optimistic about the success of our flower planted in concrete ground. But we followed the orders we were given and Delores is pleased with the outcome! Today we began to remove the siding from the house, which required haz mat suits and lots of perspiration. Upon taking off the siding we found the house boards to be rotten and needing to be replaced, upon removing the boards we discovered the house did not have insulation. So tomorrow we will tackle insulating, residing, and continuing to remove the siding from the other side of the home. This group has been a joy to lead... we think every introvert was placed on our team, but with a point system/initiative we have been able to loosen sealed lips and shy personalities.

Amy and Josh's group includes Morgan, Emma, Katie, Matthew, Jacob, Caleb, and Thomas. We are currently working on repairing and reroofing the home of a very sweet woman named Miss Nadaine. On Monday, the guys tore off all the shingles which was no easy task. The roof had 10 layers of shingles. The guys did an amazing job and worked so hard. The heat index was 110 and it felt even hotter on the roof. The girls worked hard moving what felt like hundreds of wheelbarrow loads of bricks and shingles to the dumpster. This turned out to be tougher than we thought as both wheelbarrows broke in the first hour. That only slowed the girls down a bit as they carried bricks and shingles by hand for over an hour while we waited for new wheelbarrows.
Tuesday was spent pulling out damaged boards from the roof. There are a lot of holes in the roof right now. We have started cutting boards and nailing them onto the roof. We also spent some time visiting with Miss Nadine (our homeowner) who makes gingerbread houses and even showed us a few she has in her house. This is such a great group of kids, working all day without complaining. Everyone is safe and having a great time whether they are up on the roof or painting each other!

I will post more leaders groups later.

SOS 2010 Day 1

2010-06-28T16:03:00.000-07:00

Hey Parents... today was a great day, but today was hot. All of our teams worked really hard on the work sites. Our projects this week include shingling, deshingling, tearing off siding, siding, painting, and landscaping. I'm really proud of our students because they worked so hard today even in the heat. We were blessed to have a safe day, but if you ask the students they will be able to tell you war stories. One student stepped on a nail today, but thankfully Brett our EMT is able to keep an eye on her and she is doing fine. We also had one student get a little sick from the heat. However she is doing much better after a couple hours of resting and drinking water.

I'm pretty sure that my favorite moment from the day was when I found out that two of our teams had to wear Haz-Mat suits because they were taking off siding with lead paint in it. I'm so thankful my group is on the roof and not in those dorky, hot, non-breathing suits.

We are looking forward to a great program tonight and I'm so ready for dinner. And of course, Sonic run #3.

We'll post more tomorrow.

Kurt

No power due to storm. No more posts this trip. Seeya tomorrow.

2009-06-12T19:37:00.000-07:00

wednesday pictures

2009-06-11T15:53:00.000-07:00

We will try to have some more groups give updates tonight.

Kurt

yeah pictures!!!

2009-06-11T15:45:00.000-07:00

just a few more. Hopefully more tomorrow

2009-06-10T18:30:00.001-07:00

2009-06-10T18:24:00.000-07:00

pictures

2009-06-10T18:22:00.001-07:00

2009-06-10T18:10:00.000-07:00

Wednesday... Day whatever that is. Pictures to come later today

2009-06-10T18:05:00.000-07:00

This is Josh and Susan. Our group consists of Katie McCune, Kenzie Sapp, Robbie Ficzner, Brendan Singell, Ian Griffiths, and Timmy Hildebrand. Sorry for any spelling errors. We are working on the home of Odie Williams. So far this week we have been working on replacing the roof on his garage. The team has spent time removing shingles and laying tar paper. We should begin to lay new shingles tomorrow. Only injury so far is when Timmy decided to the touch the blade of exacto knife to see just how sharp it was. All the kids have worked very hard and we are very proud of the work they have done. They have been stretched mentally, physically, and spiritually.

Report from Binghampton, TN:
Wayland Thompson here…. It has been an honor to serve with your children this week. I have all three of our Morgans (Peebles, Thomas, Galovic) as well as David Hildebrand, Brandon Park and Alex Beckman. To watch these young people love on our home owner, Ms. Mary (90 yrs. old), has been unbelievable. Not only are they taking the time to get to know her – they have sat at her feet and heard some “good country preachin”. The home repair has gone well and I am happy to report that I am the only one who has bled to this point. We have affectionately named Ms. Mary’s chimney – Hell’s Chimney. It is an 8 foot beast of a chimney that was built by the world’s best carpenter (it refuses to come down). We will be laying tar paper and shingles tomorrow. I would like to leave each of you with this picture of your awesome kids: sitting under a huge shade tree in Mrs. Mary’s backyard listening to her talk about life, marching during the civil rights movement, and the love she has for her God. These are truly special kids.

Hey Guys! This is Brett and Amanda …we have Gabby Kinser, Hanna Pope, Cyle Letzinger, Billy Tousaint, Eric Gainer, and Chase Hattlet on our team. Like many of the other teams, we too have been working hard on a portion of a roof for a family here in Binghamton. The family consists of an elderly couple with a disabled husband, their daughter and her husband, and their four kids. This family all lives is a three bedroom house, and the father does not have a ramp to get into the house so he has to sleep in the car! They are a great family and all of our team members have really bonded with their kids! Gabby and Hanna are about to adopt the 7 year old girl, who says that she wants to repair roofs when she grows up. Cyle has been taking great care of the two dogs and cat that they have. Eric, Billy, and Chase have all loved being on the roof. They have all been working so hard and learning so much. We are so proud of them and it has been great to see them grow throughout this process.

Hey, it’s Lauren and Gary. In our group are Lauren Moreland, Caroline Bates, Caleb Campbell, Tyler Osswald, Jacob Sandburn, and Adam Williams. We have also been working on part of the roof for a family in Binghampton. Miss Shirley is the owner of our house. She lives with her 30-year-old son and her nephew. She works during the day, but she took Monday off so that we could meet her. Their house is not in very bad shape except for their leaky roof. The biggest obstacle is their six Pit Bulls. They keep them chained up, but we have to be careful not to get too close. The boys (Tyler and Jacob to be specific) are set on taking one of them home with them. Everybody loves to be on the roof, even though it is more sloped than most. We’ve taken all the shingles off one plane and replaced some boards. We will begin measuring and putting up the tar paper tomorrow. Everybody is working really hard, and also staying patient during the slow times. It is really neat seeing them work that hard for somebody they just met. All of them are learning so much and growing in their faith.

Hi, it’s Randy. In my group are Drew Moreland, Will McWhorter, Lexi Skelton, Angela DeLuca, Ryan Dietrich, and Jacob Walsh. We have the biggest project in the group. The house is so bad that the owner has to live in his van. The homeowner’s name is James McDoogle. We’ve been tearing the roof off all the way down to the ceiling this week. All of the kids are doing a great job and working hard. Our SOS team leader and the SOS construction manager are surprised that we got so far along already. We are so blessed to have such great kids; they are doing awesome.

SOS Day 3

2009-06-09T19:53:00.000-07:00

So here is the computer issue, it isn't just me, it is all the computers of those here at SOS, other than staff members. So we'll get pictures up on the blog hopefully tomorrow when we are away from the retreat center and can find wifi somewhere else. Today instead of pictures I will start having leaders include you on what their group is doing for work this week. Each day I will a few leaders post about their group.

Here is today's update:

This is Kurt and in my group this week are Dylan Sheets, Andrew Day, Emma Davidson, Emily Pielmier (spelled wrong) Kayli Vankirk, and Tres Carver. This week we are working on Miss Margrett’s house. The inside of the house is in really nice condition, other than the hole in the ceiling where Dylan accidentally stepped through. The outside of her house is really in need of many repairs. There are a couple of overhangs on the house that have completely rotted and fallen off, we have found termites in her roof, and pulled layer after layer of shingles off of her roof. So far this week we’ve been able to remove an old chimney, de-shingle half of the roof, replace the boards with termite damage and water damage, and spray for termites. It’s been so great to work with your students. I am so proud of their work ethic and attitude. This week I have been told multiple times how great our kids are, and as much as I would love to take credit for that as a youth pastor, I know that I have very little to do with that. The students are a reflection of their parents and of Christ and you should be very proud of them.

Brooke and Sean here! And in our amazing group we have Emma Phillips, Madison Peebles, Thomas Metcalf, Nate Thompson and Nate Sharkey. We have been assigned to the house of 95 year old Charles Richards. Currently his neighbor is taking care of him and lives with him. Also in the house is an 18 year old girl and her new born baby, who we got to welcome home from the NICU. We have spent the first few days like most groups, tearing off shingles, beginning to tar paper and put shingles on the house. We are very proud of our group and how hard they have worked. A barrier that our group has faced is that our homeowner is deaf and is unable to communicate well with us. But Nate Sharkey and Nate Thompson have stepped up and really invested in ministering to Charles. Thomas is always ready and willing, and Emma and Madison have done a great job taking over tedious jobs that no one else want to do with great attitudes. We look forward to the rest of the week…

We'll give you more tomorrow.

Kurt

SOS day 2

2009-06-08T19:53:00.000-07:00

so I am still having problems with the wireless network here. We have our best people working on the problem, however our "best people" are all under the age of 14. So this will be another short post.

Today was our first work day. The day was amazing and the students worked harder than you'll ever believe. We tore off shingles, took apart a chimney, put in forms for concrete, and picked up nails, lots and lots of nails. It was a great day. We are looking forward to another good work day tomorrow, the team is already tired, but we managed to get a little Sonic run in tonight to boast our energy. It is possible that the servers at Sonic will know all 58 names by the time we leave. I'm sorry I haven't been able to put up pictures yet, we will as soon as I get internet on my computer and I don't have to borrow a staff member's.

Gotta go, it's time for me to put an end to this pillow fight...

Kurt

SOS 09... we have arrived

2009-06-07T19:17:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to send a quick note to all you parents that we have arrived at SOS. The trip was great and we are busy getting settled in here. We arrived a little before 4:00, so we went over to Sonic to kill time until we could arrive at SOS and as I'm writing this... I believe some students and leaders are going to Sonic for round 2.

Of course technology let me down today, so I don't have pictures to post yet. My computer won't connect to the wireless here, so I am using a staff computer and can't get you pictures on it yet. But I will figure it all out tomorrow. I plan on post at about 10 (your time) each evening so that you can see what we did during the day.

All the students are doing well, Emily says "hi". (I had to say that because she is sitting next to me) If you would like to leave a comment for a student in the comment section, I will make sure they get the message.

Until tomorrow night!

Kurt

Nicaragua #2

2009-04-06T19:40:00.001-07:00

If you would like to send a message to the team, just leave a comment below and I'll be sure to pass along your message. I'll try to post more pictures next time I can get internet service.

Nicaragua post #1

2009-04-06T19:33:00.001-07:00

Pictures from some of the students that we met and also Pastor Belzer's school.

Day 4 (My Feet are Burning)

2008-07-03T16:06:00.000-07:00

Today our group worked on the roof and mulitple times I heard, "My feet are burning!" They claimed the high today was 92 degrees, but on that black roof, I'm pretty sure it was 110.

Hi mommy it is kayli for a couple of seconds! i miss alanna if you could tell her! I told her i would say hi... here is angela for the update!!! :) Hi everybody this is Angela :) ummm... hi mommy i will see you tomorrow and today was hard cuz we were on the roof and my feet hurt and so do my blisters! Yesterday was pretty fun though. Well that's it from Angela! See ya soon!! :)

Sorry about that, they wouldn't stop bugging me until I let them type.

Anyway, our last day of work was awesome. The teens worked so hard. I know it's hard for most of you to believe, but they really did. This week we had teens laying felt paper, nailing shingles, doing demolition, using power tools (scary), picking up trash, removing shrubs, and eating snow cones. Lot's and lot's of snow cones.

Here are some more pictures from our great trip. We'll see you all tomorrow.

Day o' Fun

2008-07-02T20:13:00.000-07:00

Today we had a great time. We just got back from a Memphis Redbirds game. The kids really had a blast. They cheered more for the third base coach than they did for the team. I'm sure that Coach Maloney has never had such a big fan base.

Earlier today we went to the go kart tracks and played a lot of mini golf. The teens all seemed to have a great time today. I'm going to post some pictures so you can see all that happened.

The other really cool thing that happened today was that in our group, our construction manager told us that today was the most productive half day his team has ever had. Our kids were amazing. I'm really proud of their work ethic this week.

Day Three...

2008-07-01T20:03:00.000-07:00

The second work day is coming to a close and it was even better than the first! Due to computer glitches you are probably wondering about the other few groups. Kristin and Megan lead the group of Cody, Josh V., Amanda, Maggie and Sydney. They are busy repairing the roof at their house. During some minor demolition they uncovered some of the homeowner’s pets, dozens of wasp nests! No worries, no one was stung. Gary leads the group of Robbie, Wyatt, Dylan, Katie, Angela and Emily. And surprise…they were working on a roof too! Some students conquered their fear of heights and they are working very hard and with great attitudes. Most teams are still plugging away at their roofs. Bryan and Brooke’s team finished their roof today and began some serious demolition. They removed carpet, flooring, cabinets, sinks, and windows! Charlie displayed great patience with his team when a hammer was dropped from the roof and found a landing on his head! He is fine, but was disappointed that it didn’t happen like it does on cartoons. We all worked hard and after talking with each leader, ya’ll (were picking up some southern accents) should be very proud of your son or daughter. Each leader has been impressed with the attitudes and joy that the students are serving with. It is our continued prayer that they would bring their servant hearts home with them and impact their families and community. We are off to a Sonic run before bed. I am sure we will have much more to tell you tomorrow.

Day 2

2008-07-01T13:06:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the delay. The internet went down at SOS. I(Megan) spent the last hour driving all over town trying to find somewhere to connect and nothing was working. I'm now sitting outside a park (picking up some of my kids from helping with VBS) and it's working.

Day 2

Today was a great day down here in Memphis. It was only 90 degrees, so we had a really cool day. I wanted to give you some updates of what each of the teams are doing this week on their projects. In my team, Kurt, is Jacob Walsh, Jacob Sanburn, Caleb, Kayli, Caroline, and Kristen P.. Sorry if I botched the spelling of the names. It looks like our project for this week will be mostly roofing. We spent a lot of day putting tar paper on the roof and also clearing some trees and brush in the backyard. We also ate a lot of snow cones. Our homeowners mother is the local snow cone lady, so she brought over her supplies and we had an all you can eat snow cone buffet today. We left the worksite with a lot of dirty clothes, some sore bodies, and very blue stained mouths. The team is in high spirits and can’t wait to lay some shingles tomorrow. I’ll update more later.

This is Charlie and in my group are Josh, Kristin F., Lauren, Sam, Mason and Ibby. Our project for this week is to continue and possibly finish roofing a house that had to have the roof reconfigured to allow better drainage. We spent the day putting down tar paper. We expect to be finished with the tar paper by mid morning tomorrow and will be moving on to shingles. Our SOS team leader is Dave Vigness and he is hopeful, as are we, that we will be able to finish this roof this week. Our homeowners have two Rottweiller’s named Jade and R. Kelly. All the kids love to hang with them on our limited breaks. Talk to you tomorrow…

Bryan and Brooke here! Our group was so rowdy that they had to put two of us in charge. We have Heather P., Aaron C., Sarah W., Morgan P., Andrew D., and Jordan W. and to be quite honest our team ROCKS! Today we were on the roof (common theme among the groups) and are pretty certain that we will finish up tomorrow morning. After that we have windows to demolish and new ones to install. Our home is in pretty much disarray and there is a lot to be done. Today we had great attitudes and we expect the same, because our teens are amazing. Until tomorrow….

Hi, this is Joe. I had an unbelievable time getting to hang out and serve with your kids today. In my group are Cove, Alex, Blake, Riley, Lexie, and Mackenzie. They were great. It was funny at first. They were so nervous getting on the roof for the first time. But looking at them an hour later, it was like a whole new group of kids. They had their roof legs and were running around on the roof like it was their profession. Well, I better go. It looks like us leaders are getting ready to have a dance contest. Don’t worry, I’ll represent your kids well. Talk to you later.

This is Mark, I am the adult with the group of Ryan D., Jacob V, Brandon P , Aly S., Mellisa W., & Paige D. What a group it has been. This morning at chapel before we went to our home to work on, the devotion leader was talking about how 200 junior high kids were here and that we needed to work as one, get along, and cooperate. The only way this can happen is from God. I saw that happening today with your children. We walked onto the job site and Mrs McVey, who is the woman whose house we are repairing, immediately told our group that she was very disappointed with the high school group that was here last week. They goofed off and got very little done during the week. So our group went up on the roof (yes they all went on the roof and became very good at carefully moving around and removing the shingles). By 11 am they had already done more than the high schoolers did. When it was lunch time she praised and bragged on our kids. She could not believe how much work they had done. Our team leader from SOS was astonished how much work they accomplished and how well they worked together. In fact this is the first Jr High group he has ever worked with and to date he said this is the best cooperative and hard working group he had. He was comparing this to high schoolers. The important point is that your kids are taking to heart helping others and in that way demonstrating their Christian faith. As we left today exhausted (at least me) and all dirty, I heard Mrs. McVey tell our SOS leader that she wanted our group back tomorrow and even for the next 2 weeks. Your children’s faith and demonstration of God’s love is evident. You should be proud.

All is well

2008-06-29T19:01:00.000-07:00

Hey Parents,

We arrived safely and had a great road trip down. This year we managed to cut out at least two stops on the road, so we arrived in Memphis early enough to make our first Sonic stop for milkshakes. Ironically enough, it was the adult leaders that forced us to stop due to bathroom problems. These students are road warriors!

All of the students met their team leaders tonight and are really excited to get to go work on their houses tomorrow. I'll write a more detailed report tomorrow night, once we actually get to work.

Of course the stories are already building. One girl has already changed her clothes three times, I'm a bit worried that her bag isn't big enough. I'm pretty sure that a couple boys won't change their clothes three times the whole week.

The students are having a great time.
I'll write more tomorrow,

Kurt

Friday night serving service

2007-07-24T05:45:00.001-07:00

On last Friday night we had a student led service and the message was all about serving. If you want to get involved in serving, email me at kurt.brodbeck@nvcl.org or you can check out the website that little D mentioned. http://www.volunteermatch.org/

Have a great week and we'll see you on Friday!

more pictures

2007-07-04T20:43:00.001-07:00

Wednesday half day!!!

2007-07-04T20:36:00.000-07:00

Half day Wednesday was a crazy day. We spent the first half of the morning working on our houses, and then after lunch we went off to have fun. We found a Putt Putt Golf and Games, and for the afternoon we played mini golf, video games, go karts, batting cages, and bumper boats. In the bumper boat pool a Sami Veller and Luke Wozniak decided they would throw me into the pool. It’s sad that these kids haven’t figured out that I never go down without a fight. Needless to say the only ones in the pool were the kids. Then to finish the night we went and watched some fireworks. I'm exhausted but the teens are still going strong.

I figured I’d update you on the progress at the house where I’m working. In my group are Dylan Sheets, Ryan Dietrich, Luke Wozniak, Morgan Peebles, Kinsey Horner, and Kristin Foster. Our home owner is Miss Polly, and today she even cooked us lunch. It was pretty much amazing, corn on the cob, chicken, fruit, potato salad, and baked beans. On Miss Polly’s house we are working on putting up shingles on her roof. The roof was leaking badly, so our job has been to cover the roof with new plywood and drip edge. Hopefully, tomorrow we’ll start putting up the shingles. We’ve also sanded and painted some of the ceiling in her house and cleaned part of her house. The kids have had an amazing attitude, and they’ve worked so hard. It’s hard to believe they are the same kids that we left with in Carmel. They’ve been amazing. By now they are almost professional roofers, so when they get home re-roofing the house can now be added to their list of chores.

Hi, this is Megan Murphy. My group is Cove Lee, Tyler Bowman, Lauren McWhorter, Hanna Pope, Ellie A. and Cody D. Our home owner is Miss Sandra. We have been working on deshingling 6 layers of shingles and preparing to redo her roof. The kids have all been working really hard. Some of them are a little to fearless when it comes to working on the roof, but so far no major injuries. Tomorrow we’ll start tar papering and putting shingles on. It’s been extremely hot, especially on the roof, but the kids have listened really well and there hasn’t been too much complaining. So, when they get home, you should be able to put them to work and shouldn’t hear any questions or complaints.

Well that's enough for tonight, I'll send one more post tomorrow.

day 2 (WOW it's hot)

2007-07-03T19:40:00.000-07:00

Today was a great day, but I figured you were tired of just hearing from my perspective about what was going on. So on the blog tonight each team leader is going to share about their group.

This is Ken I.
I have Liz C, Sami V, Keegan H, Shawn D., Jessica I & Jason S,

We have been working on re-shingling and painting the exterior peaks of the house. They have really pulled together and worked as a team. On the 1st day we accomplished more than the SOS Team Leader thought we would. They have shared and talked and I hope they have learned from each other. All have received Gods blessing of Sun since it has been in the 90's and working on the roof. Even though we have coated each other with sunscreen, we all have some new color.

It has been great working with them, can't wait till tomorrow.

.......................................

This is Gary Bowron and Megan Coy!!!
Our students are: Aarah, Erin, Emily, Hunter, Hayden, and Logan. As well as our great and awesome SOS team leader, Rebecca!

These last two days have been great with the students and community. Their hearts have been set on helping an amazing woman, Ms. Betty, with home. On the first day, the kids and leaders went up on the roof and shingled and tarred! What a mess that was...good thing we had the WD-40!!! On the second day, two projects went on inside the house: a floor was ripped out as well as a ceiling!
All of the neighborhood (or so it seems) comes over to Ms Betty's and hangs out in the front yard and in the living room! with kids running all over the place and teens and adults working around the clock to improve the house's condition, memories have been made, hearts have been focused and God has been in the very pressence of your children!
Hello Parents! This is Sesley, and I have the pleasure of working with Chad, Jonathan,Alex (aka Pretty Boy), Tayler, and Heather, not to mention our fearess team leader, Will (aka Super Juan) who have never worked with junior high kids! :) We are working inside Miss. Peggy's house painting ceilings, walls, and blowing "popcorn" texture. Sadly, Miss. Peggy lost her mother-in-law today, but we were able to surround her in prayer. We are being charmed by the 5 kids that live there as they dance for us and help us hang plastic-MILES of plastic. We saw first hand how to put your little brother in a full nelson and carry him inside the house. Your kids are wonderful servants and are learning so much: roofing, painting, hanging plastic, cleaning tables...They can't wait to come home and work on their own homes!

This is Kari Muller and Rachelle Smith. The team working with us on Miss Ruby's house is Amanda McKay, Lauren Moreland, Elise, Jordan, and Kaleb. She is 60 years old, but you'd never know it! She works 2 jobs in order to make ends meet. Ruby has a great heart for God, and we are honored to help make her home a better place to live. The new skills we have gained in roof demolition, paint scraping, and priming are nothing compared to the lessons of patience, teamwork, and servanthood we have already experienced this week. ME (Mary Elizabeth, our S.O.S. leader) has challenged us to memorize scripture--creatively we might add--ask your teen!--and challenged the students to look deeper at the "why" behind what we do as followers of Christ. Jordan and Amanda took several neighbor girls to VBS today and enjoyed a time of singing, memorizing verses, and decorating cupcakes. We're very excited about how God is working in our group--both as a group and as individuals. Be praying for our continued safety and God's hand in all that we are doing here in Binghampton. We are so blessed to have your teens on our team, and Memphis, Tennessee, will never be the same because of their love and hard work!

Well that's all for tonight. If you didn't hear about your student tonight, check out tomorrow.

Good Night

Work (sit in the heat and eat popsicles) day 1

2007-07-02T20:06:00.000-07:00

What a day! Today was our first day of work and everyone came back exhausted. We spent a good part of the day learning how to use tools and all about worksite saftey. Then we finally got to work. Some teams took off shingles while others nailed up new decking. We also had teams that painted both interior and exterior or the homes. Sanded drywall, cleaned up shingles, and played with stray dogs. I was even told by one student that today was the hardest they have ever worked in their life. The teens had a great attitude and we really couldn't be prouder of them.

Then tonight we had dinner in which the SOS staff convinced some of our "good" kids to get involved in a little chocolate cake war. After dinner we had chapel and then went to the coffee shop in the neighborhood and all the kids spent all your money! We've had a great time so far and I can't report all the funny things that have happened. In fact, right now I'm breaking the bed time rules to give you this short report. I'll blog more info and stories tomorrow, but for now I better lead by example and get into bed. We are doing great and loving serving God and this community. Here are a couple pictures from the day. I'll write a little longer tomorrow.

We're here and with only three bathroom stops

2007-07-01T19:40:00.001-07:00

We made it safe and sound to Memphis. At times the vans were loud enough that each leader lost a bit of their hearing, but other than that, no major injuries to report. For most of the van ride we listened to music, used sharpies to draw tatoos, and learned how to make fart sound on our armpits. (it's sad but that was the excitment)

I'd love to give you individual reports on all your teens tonight, but they already all have their own stories. From Liz making us stop twice in the first two hours of our road trip, to Dylan being disappointed that he couldn't show off his six pack abs, it's been an adventure already and it really hasn't started yet!!!! Of course of all the groups at the camp, we are by far the loudest, but then again you know your kids, so you probably figured that would happen. We just finished meeting in our individual teams and we met our team leaders. So now we're ready for tomorrow. I'll keep you posted on everything tomorrow, but so far the trip has been great. We miss you guys, but are still having too much fun to really think about it. I'll update more later.

Kurt and the SOS group.

Breaking out of the bloggin slump

2007-06-27T11:51:00.000-07:00

I'm terrible about updating this blog, and our North Beach website for that matter!!! But for one week I'm making a promise to myself and to the parents of our SOS kids that I will blog every night to let them know what's going on in Memphis, TN. So starting Sunday night July 1st, I'm breaking out of the slump. Wish me luck!

Believe Retreat

2007-04-18T08:05:00.000-07:00

This weekend is our spring retreat for the 7th-8th graders and I'm getting so excited. This weekend will be sweet. We're staying in a hotel so we have the indoor pool. The conference is going to be amazing. (great speaker, band, games, loud noises) Then on Saturday night we are going to Anderson motor speedway to watch some races and we get a pit tour. How amazing is that? The only thing that would make this trip better is if I get to sleep a little too.

So embarassed

2007-01-17T08:31:00.000-08:00

This blog is pathetic. I need someone that would volunteer to add posts to my blog pretending to be me. I don't really care who does it, I just need someone that can post random thoughts that I can claim as my own. Any takers?

Do dogs get bored?

2006-10-26T10:00:00.000-07:00

Yeah so I know all of you millions of people that read my blog are excited that I've updated my blog again. So here are my thoughts for today. I'm dog sitting for the weekend, which is wierd because I'm not a dog person. And so I have this dog at work with me and it's kind of fun to have her here, but I think she's bored. Let's say that I was baby sitting a kid. I wouldn't just have them sit with me while I worked, I would play with them and make sure they have a good time, yet I feel okay with having this dog just sit here while I work. And I look at the face of the dog and I can see in her eyes she is saying, "I'm bored". Yet I don't feel like it's my job to help her have a good time. I think dogs are okay with being bored. So for that reason, I'll just let this dog do nothing all day. Yep I'm okay with that!

2006-10-13T10:05:00.000-07:00

Tonight at NB we are doing an entire night of worship. Sometimes its just amazing to stop and think about how big God is, and just be blown away by his presence. For example, how amazing is it that we have this almost perfect mix of rain and sunshine so that things actually grow and are green? Or how amazing is it too look up into the sky at night and see stars that a so far away, yet they are so bright? And they look like they are just floating there. Or how amazing is it that we have air to breathe here on earth, but then there is this invisible barrier of air that separates our oxygen from the rest of the universe? God is crazy big, but he cares about crazy small us. That's amazing. Just my thoughts right now.

Fall Retreat

2006-10-04T10:25:00.000-07:00

So my thoughts on last weekend's fall retreat was that was stinkin awesome. What are your thoughts? Any favorite parts?

DIVE last night

2006-09-21T06:36:00.000-07:00

DIVE last night was a lot of fun. We didn't get a lot of our lesson accomplished, but we did plan next week's lesson and then finished it with a little monster truck! For those of you that don't know what monster truck is, it's only the greatest game ever. The basic premise is that I am the monster truck and I have to get to the end of the course. All the other guys are the cars and they can do whatever they can to try and stop me from making it to the finish. When my group was in 6th grade and even in 7th I never had a problem. But this year it's different. I'm actually sore today and I never did make it to the finish. But that's our little secret. Don't tell anyone that I got beat in wreastling by guys that are 12 years younger than me.

Smashing things for Jesus

2006-09-19T11:43:00.000-07:00

So I don't know about you, but last weekend I had fun at North Beach. I think it's amazing that God doesn't see our huge screw ups, but he forgives us and thinks we're valuable. I know there have been times in my life when I wondered how God could love me, but I think it's awesome that God doesn't have times when he wonders if he loves us. He knows he does and he forgives us. Carry, Drive, Push or Pull our way to Jesus, when we get there, he takes us in. That to me is amazing. He really is like a used car lot owner in that way. Last weekend was a great reminder for me and it was also sweet to smash that car. Too bad the fire didn't work!

So it's been a while

2006-09-08T10:28:00.000-07:00

I realized today that I'm terrible at updating my blog. And I know you've all missed it. I've heard reports of thousands of people logging on to view my blog only to realize that it hasn't been updated. Those thousand of people then ran out into the streets and begain rioting. If that isn't enough I even heard that one person has vowed to not cut their back hair until I update my blog again. Well Mrs. I won't cut my back hair, go ahead and cut it because today I make my new post.

Tonight at North Beach is going to be so much fun. And not only that, we're talking about the differnt perceptions that people have of God. Like tonight we're talking about how some people see evil in the world and so because bad things happen like Hurricanes, Earthquakes, murders and such. They believe God created the world and then just left on vacation. Like he's now just hanging out on the beach and he's forgot about us. I'm sharing what I believe tonight, but I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Any Comment?

Beach Bash

2006-08-17T12:08:00.000-07:00

So Beach Bash is only two days away and the last minute planning is becoming serious. Our outside plugs for North Beach aren't exactly working right now, so I hope we can get them fixed. Otherwise the inflatable games will have to be blown up with my good old lungs. The food is coming along well, and Brooke and Bethany have made stops at every Mejier in town getting the good deal on pop. It takes a lot of stops when the limit is 2 per customer and your looking for 50 cases of Coke. It's going to be a sweet event. One that you won't want to miss, let's just all pray that it doesn't rain!!!

2006-08-15T07:33:00.000-07:00

Last Friday at North Beach was what I would call a "joyful" night. The atmosphere was pretty crazy, even though my game totally flopped, the rest of the night was so much fun. I hope everyone got a chance to sign up for D.I.V.E. It's going to be sweet this year and when I say sweet, I mean Totally Awesome. It might even be more awesome than watching a Rex-Kuan-Do match between Chuck Norris and Vin Diesel.

Paint, food, and dancing-who could ask for more!

2006-08-02T11:15:00.000-07:00

Oh,where to begin...Parents-just be happy you aren't here! Only kidding-there is some incredible bonding going on, and the kids really seem to enjoy the work they are doing. Remind them of this the next time they complain about cleaning their rooms!
Today part of Sesley group returned to the Senior center to put up border and do some touching up-who said teenagers were detail minded. As soon as we arrive, the sweet ladies in the cafeteria asked if Scotty came back. He found himself at the center of attention-who can resist those puffy cheeks! I think he just likes wearing the hair net!
One other group spent the morning painting a barn for an elderly gentleman. We were a little unnerved to see a severed,dried fish head hanging from the barn. John, the great fisherman, told us the story of how the fish was caught and provided a great banquet for him. However, I don't think the girls appreciated the sentiment.
The Mountain View Baptist Church provided lunch for the kids today. WOW! Personally, I had 2 desserts, and Kurt had to be dragged away kicking and screaming from the watermelon. God Bless this town-I'm sure they will never be the same after these North Beachers touched down.
The deck staining continues, much to the delight of Liz. However, I believe the body art the kids came away with in various colors of stain and paint are a testiment to their good natures. Let's hope the paint comes off!
We will spend another afternoon at the river. It's Chad excuse for not taking a shower-again. It's amazing the nature that God has provided us.What a gift! The kids continue to enjoy the services. Last night we were taught about the Fruits of the Spirit. Kurt designated each student a "fruit" and they are being challenged today to fulfull that "fruit". No one is supposed to know which one each other is except by the way they are acting.
We are looking forward to the rest of the week. God Bless!

Car rides, unknown smells, and screaming

2006-08-01T10:13:00.000-07:00

So we made it to Mountain View with no troubles. The car ride was a blast although I had to have a short discussion with the guys about letting girls put make up on them. I had to remind them of the kid that allowed the girls to make-up on him during my junior high mission trip and how when he got to camp that night, He was the first to get the swirly. Also I noticed that the boys van in front of us drove most of the way with the windows down. I don't believe Taco Bell was the wisest of choices for their lunch. I'm also a little disappointed that we paid for tickets to go to Six Flags on Friday because I think the girls screamed enough going through all the hills of Missouri, that they don't need to ride roller coasters. We might just drive around the country side, that should entertain them. But all in all, we made it safe and had a lot of fun in the process.

Last night we have our first worship session. The band was great and the message sparked a lot of conversation afterwards. We had a great small group time.

Now today we are working on two different projects. Half of us are painting some rooms at the senior center. I know we are only supposed to paint the walls, but I think a couple of the teens are wanting to paint the floor also for some reason!!!! Also Scott, Austin, and Chad have been rewiring their sound system, so know the seniors can rock out to their tunes. The other group is working at Crestview health center and they are staining a huge deck. I feel a little bit bad for them beause they are out in the heat, while we're enjoying the Air Conditioning.

After this we are headed to river to do a little swimming. I'll send you another update as soon as I can get back to a computer. We're all doing great and are looking forward to a great week.

First Post

2006-07-26T07:31:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone. This is the first post of hopefully many on my new blog. I'm starting this blog with the purpose of blogging through our mission trip next week, so that parents and friends can see what we are doing all week long. But after that week is over I will update this blog with my personal ramblings. Thoughts about our weekend services at North Beach, and then random updates from my life. So stop by and check it out often.