Thursday, July 22, 2010
The Blog Has Moved!!!
Hey everyone, the Nashville 10 team now has a new blog! You can follow along with the team at www.gsmnashville.blogspot.com
Thursday, May 27, 2010
BIG NEWS!!!
Hey “Mexico” team! We’ve got some exciting news for you! Since we made the decision to no longer travel to Mexico we have been looking for an alternate destination where the team could engage in high impact, truly meaningful ministry. We didn’t want to just find something to do, we wanted to make sure that our efforts would be reaching people in a powerful way and showing them that they matter to God. It has also been our aim in relocating this trip to have the impact we make be part of an ongoing, sustained ministry that will continue on in strength after we’re done. In addition to that we committed that the trip would still be in the original timeframe, would remain stateside and would not cost any more than what was originally planned for Mexico. We are ecstatic to tell you that we’ve found a ministry to partner with that meets all of our expectations and standards for this trip.
We’ll be partnering with Crosspoint Community Church in Nashville, Tennessee to assist in the relief and development of a community and a state that was devastated this May by record breaking flooding. It’s hard to summarize the amount of destruction and damage that was caused as the Cumberland River (which weaves back and forth through Nashville) rose to twelve feet over flood level. Houses flooded, businesses flooded, schools flooded and even some of Nashville’s most historic buildings such as the Grand Ole Opry flooded. Life as people knew it changed in an instant. But amidst all the loss, fear and uncertainty Crosspoint Church has been one of the many who have reached out to this community to not only offer help, but to offer hope. Crosspoint has mobilized thousands of volunteers these past few weeks to help with some of the immediate needs that exist in such a crisis and are beginning to look to the future and how they will help their community rebuild after this tragedy. Our Nashville ’10 team will be a part of those efforts to help restore and rebuild what was lost in the floods and in doing so share the hope and the love of Jesus which can never be washed away.
We’ll be ironing out all the logistical details over the next few weeks but wanted to share with you the opportunity that God has put before us to go offer help and hope to a community desperately in need. We'll be in touch soon with the next details!
-John
We’ll be partnering with Crosspoint Community Church in Nashville, Tennessee to assist in the relief and development of a community and a state that was devastated this May by record breaking flooding. It’s hard to summarize the amount of destruction and damage that was caused as the Cumberland River (which weaves back and forth through Nashville) rose to twelve feet over flood level. Houses flooded, businesses flooded, schools flooded and even some of Nashville’s most historic buildings such as the Grand Ole Opry flooded. Life as people knew it changed in an instant. But amidst all the loss, fear and uncertainty Crosspoint Church has been one of the many who have reached out to this community to not only offer help, but to offer hope. Crosspoint has mobilized thousands of volunteers these past few weeks to help with some of the immediate needs that exist in such a crisis and are beginning to look to the future and how they will help their community rebuild after this tragedy. Our Nashville ’10 team will be a part of those efforts to help restore and rebuild what was lost in the floods and in doing so share the hope and the love of Jesus which can never be washed away.
We’ll be ironing out all the logistical details over the next few weeks but wanted to share with you the opportunity that God has put before us to go offer help and hope to a community desperately in need. We'll be in touch soon with the next details!
-John
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Team Workday this Saturday and $$ Project!
Hey amazing "Mexico" team! Had a couple quick heads up I wanted to give you!
First, this Saturday is the next team meeting. It's in the form of a team workday so we'll hop on a bus at GCC at 9 am and go spend the day serving together at Crooked Creek Ranch! We'll actually be ending the workday earlier than expected so we'll be back to GCC by 3 pm. Come ready to work outside, paint, work with horses, etc. We've got lunch covered!
Also, VERY IMPORTANT!!! You must have 2 release forms signed to work at the ranch because it is a working ranch with horses. You can print these out from below and have parents sign them if you're under 18.
Second, we're still making some phone calls and connections for the new destination of our trip this summer, but we're hoping to have the location information at our team workday.
Finally, there's another work project that's come up for this coming Sunday, May 23 to stain a fence. First two to RSVP get it! RSVP by facebook or email (jkeim@gccwired.com)
First, this Saturday is the next team meeting. It's in the form of a team workday so we'll hop on a bus at GCC at 9 am and go spend the day serving together at Crooked Creek Ranch! We'll actually be ending the workday earlier than expected so we'll be back to GCC by 3 pm. Come ready to work outside, paint, work with horses, etc. We've got lunch covered!
Also, VERY IMPORTANT!!! You must have 2 release forms signed to work at the ranch because it is a working ranch with horses. You can print these out from below and have parents sign them if you're under 18.
Second, we're still making some phone calls and connections for the new destination of our trip this summer, but we're hoping to have the location information at our team workday.
Finally, there's another work project that's come up for this coming Sunday, May 23 to stain a fence. First two to RSVP get it! RSVP by facebook or email (jkeim@gccwired.com)
Thursday, May 6, 2010
More Work Projects to Earn $$$
Hey team, got some more opportunities to earn some $$$ for our location-to-be-still-determined mission experience! Here's the scoop;
Yard/Outdoor Work-Tuesday, May 11th after school for around 3 hours.
-Room for 4 students
-Work is cleaning up pine needles and doing some mulch work.
-This is first come first serve on responses. You can facebook John, email him
jkeim@gccwired.com or text him.
Childcare at Elkhart Campus' June Gathering
-June 6th, 5:30-8:30 pm
-To qualify you must serve or have served in either All Stars or GSM-middle
school, this qualification ensures a background check has been done
-I'm not sure on the final count needed but it will be quite a few, if you
qualify and are interested put your name in and then the Elkhart team will be
contacting you to officially schedule you in.
-Please respond to John by May 14th through Facebook, email(jkeim@gccwired.com) or
text.
Yard/Outdoor Work-Tuesday, May 11th after school for around 3 hours.
-Room for 4 students
-Work is cleaning up pine needles and doing some mulch work.
-This is first come first serve on responses. You can facebook John, email him
jkeim@gccwired.com or text him.
Childcare at Elkhart Campus' June Gathering
-June 6th, 5:30-8:30 pm
-To qualify you must serve or have served in either All Stars or GSM-middle
school, this qualification ensures a background check has been done
-I'm not sure on the final count needed but it will be quite a few, if you
qualify and are interested put your name in and then the Elkhart team will be
contacting you to officially schedule you in.
-Please respond to John by May 14th through Facebook, email(jkeim@gccwired.com) or
text.
Monday, May 3, 2010
The New Adventure
Well we've found ourself at a new point as a team preparing for a mission trip! Due to volatile conditions in Monterrey, Mexico including recent counts of violence and kidnapping we have decided that we will not be traveling to Mexico this summer. We will however be taking the same group of students and leaders on an alternate mission experience this summer. Here is the letter we wrote to the parents and students explaining more of what has happened and what is going to happen as the new adventure unfolds!
"Dear Parent,
You are receiving this letter because your high school student was participating in the
Mexico ‘10 Mission Trip with Granger Community Church. Mexico has been in the news for several months now regarding violence and reported travel security concerns. Up until now this violence was focused along the borders and primarily amongst drug cartels. The situation has continued to escalate and is no longer isolated to the borders. There have been violent acts as well as kidnappings that have occurred in Monterrey. Because of the news of the last few months and the escalated need for security that these reports bring, we have decided to not take the GSM team to Monterrey, Mexico this summer.
This decision comes after many conversations and prayers and we believe it is the absolute right thing to do. GCC has also been preparing a family mission team that was also going to be serving down in Monterrey this summer. The trip leader for that team was the first to see the latest news report and after conversations with Jack Magruder and Rob Wegner on the Life Mission Team, they decided to cancel the family trip on Monday. After conversations with that team on Tuesday and a chance for the GSM staff to process the news, we also decided to immediately cancel our travel plans to Mexico.
As always, we are interested in doing what is in the student’s best interest and as we mentioned in an earlier letter regarding travel security, “We've never been interested in putting any of our students, leaders or staff in danger and this situation is no different. While we love the opportunity to be a part of an incredible mission experience, we are not willing to knowingly risk anyone's safety.” Safety first is always our standard with your students and we believe that a trip to Mexico this summer is not a safe decision.
So, where does that leave us? While we believe strongly in the ministry that Back2Back is doing in Monterrey, our primary concern has always been your student. Students are the reason we do these trips and we believe that the team is what makes these mission experiences so impactful and meaningful. The shared impact of serving God and serving with others is where the sustaining year-round effect remains with your student. We believe that God put together this team of students and leaders to make an impact this summer which is why we’ll be providing an alternate location for this team’s mission experience.
We realize that a new location will bring about a lot of new questions, which we honestly don’t have all the answers for yet. The decision to not travel to Mexico was a thorough, but quick process and we wanted to inform you of that immediately as well as the decision to relocate this team’s experience. That being said, here is what we know now:
• We will be keeping this trip stateside. We don’t feel that three months is adequate time to ensure an international experience that meets all of our standards.
• ALL of the money your student has raised will be going directly to this new experience. The great news is we did not “lose” any money on airfare or trip deposits.
• We are not sure of the final cost of this new experience but we guarantee that it will not be more than what was originally expected for Mexico and there is a high probability that it will be less costly, depending on the travel necessities.
• The new experience will still be within the July 24-31, 2010 timeframe. We realize that vacations, family trips and camps have been planned around this commitment and we are committed to honoring that.
• This new experience will not be added to our regular mission focus in GSM but we are going to make every effort possible to ensure that the impact we make is part of an ongoing, sustained ministry that will continue on in strength after we’re done.
• Finally, we will have the new details including location, cost and what we’ll be doing by the time of the next team meeting on May 22.
We wanted to be very open about the process and where we’re headed and we hope this information is helpful. We trust that you will communicate this information to your student and assure them that they can ask either one of us any questions they may have. We’ll be addressing the students through Facebook and the team blog as well. We are grateful to you trusting us with your students and we are committed to do everything in our power to keep them safe and help them have a great mission experience. We are committed to excellence and helping your student take their next step!"
"Dear Parent,
You are receiving this letter because your high school student was participating in the
Mexico ‘10 Mission Trip with Granger Community Church. Mexico has been in the news for several months now regarding violence and reported travel security concerns. Up until now this violence was focused along the borders and primarily amongst drug cartels. The situation has continued to escalate and is no longer isolated to the borders. There have been violent acts as well as kidnappings that have occurred in Monterrey. Because of the news of the last few months and the escalated need for security that these reports bring, we have decided to not take the GSM team to Monterrey, Mexico this summer.
This decision comes after many conversations and prayers and we believe it is the absolute right thing to do. GCC has also been preparing a family mission team that was also going to be serving down in Monterrey this summer. The trip leader for that team was the first to see the latest news report and after conversations with Jack Magruder and Rob Wegner on the Life Mission Team, they decided to cancel the family trip on Monday. After conversations with that team on Tuesday and a chance for the GSM staff to process the news, we also decided to immediately cancel our travel plans to Mexico.
As always, we are interested in doing what is in the student’s best interest and as we mentioned in an earlier letter regarding travel security, “We've never been interested in putting any of our students, leaders or staff in danger and this situation is no different. While we love the opportunity to be a part of an incredible mission experience, we are not willing to knowingly risk anyone's safety.” Safety first is always our standard with your students and we believe that a trip to Mexico this summer is not a safe decision.
So, where does that leave us? While we believe strongly in the ministry that Back2Back is doing in Monterrey, our primary concern has always been your student. Students are the reason we do these trips and we believe that the team is what makes these mission experiences so impactful and meaningful. The shared impact of serving God and serving with others is where the sustaining year-round effect remains with your student. We believe that God put together this team of students and leaders to make an impact this summer which is why we’ll be providing an alternate location for this team’s mission experience.
We realize that a new location will bring about a lot of new questions, which we honestly don’t have all the answers for yet. The decision to not travel to Mexico was a thorough, but quick process and we wanted to inform you of that immediately as well as the decision to relocate this team’s experience. That being said, here is what we know now:
• We will be keeping this trip stateside. We don’t feel that three months is adequate time to ensure an international experience that meets all of our standards.
• ALL of the money your student has raised will be going directly to this new experience. The great news is we did not “lose” any money on airfare or trip deposits.
• We are not sure of the final cost of this new experience but we guarantee that it will not be more than what was originally expected for Mexico and there is a high probability that it will be less costly, depending on the travel necessities.
• The new experience will still be within the July 24-31, 2010 timeframe. We realize that vacations, family trips and camps have been planned around this commitment and we are committed to honoring that.
• This new experience will not be added to our regular mission focus in GSM but we are going to make every effort possible to ensure that the impact we make is part of an ongoing, sustained ministry that will continue on in strength after we’re done.
• Finally, we will have the new details including location, cost and what we’ll be doing by the time of the next team meeting on May 22.
We wanted to be very open about the process and where we’re headed and we hope this information is helpful. We trust that you will communicate this information to your student and assure them that they can ask either one of us any questions they may have. We’ll be addressing the students through Facebook and the team blog as well. We are grateful to you trusting us with your students and we are committed to do everything in our power to keep them safe and help them have a great mission experience. We are committed to excellence and helping your student take their next step!"
Sunday, April 11, 2010
REMINDER-Team Meeting
Hey Mexico '10 team! Just a quick reminder that we have a team meeting this Thursday night (April 15th) from 6:30-8:30 pm in the Great Room at GCC!
Remember to bring your journal and folder! We'll also have your financial updates ready for you at the meeting!
See ya soon!
Remember to bring your journal and folder! We'll also have your financial updates ready for you at the meeting!
See ya soon!
Work Projects to Earn $$$
Hey Mexico '10 team, we've got 3 work projects lined up over the next 2 weeks to earn $$ for Mexico!! Here's the deal each project is limited so it'll be the first people to RSVP to John that they can be there. We'll keep 1-2 people on a waiting list in case someone has to back out. You can RSVP to John by texting or leaving a message at 574-276-0297 or by sending him a message on Facebook.
Here's the work projects and dates
CHIC-FIL-A-Monday (TOMORROW) April 12-spreading mulch at Chic-Fil-A on Main Street right by Home Depot/Chipotle. Work starts at 5 pm and will be for 3-4 hours, I recommend bringing work/garden gloves. In addition to $ for Mexico you'll get Chic-Fil-A for dinner when done working! There is room for 5 students at this project tomorrow.
BEESON'S WORK DAY #1-Saturday April 17-work day at Beeson's house. We'll meet at church at 11:30 am and work from 12-5 being back to the church around 5:30. You'll need to eat lunch before coming and bring work gloves. There is room for 9 students at this project.
BEESON'S WORK DAY #2-Saturday April 24-Work day #2 at Beeson's house. We'll meet at church at 11:30 am and work from 12-5 being back to the church around 5:30. You'll need to eat lunch before coming and bring work gloves. There is room for 7 students at this project.
All the $$ will be applied before the April 30th deadline! RSVP to John immediately so that you can get in on these projects! John will reply and let you know if you got one of the spots and any other final details.
Here's the work projects and dates
CHIC-FIL-A-Monday (TOMORROW) April 12-spreading mulch at Chic-Fil-A on Main Street right by Home Depot/Chipotle. Work starts at 5 pm and will be for 3-4 hours, I recommend bringing work/garden gloves. In addition to $ for Mexico you'll get Chic-Fil-A for dinner when done working! There is room for 5 students at this project tomorrow.
BEESON'S WORK DAY #1-Saturday April 17-work day at Beeson's house. We'll meet at church at 11:30 am and work from 12-5 being back to the church around 5:30. You'll need to eat lunch before coming and bring work gloves. There is room for 9 students at this project.
BEESON'S WORK DAY #2-Saturday April 24-Work day #2 at Beeson's house. We'll meet at church at 11:30 am and work from 12-5 being back to the church around 5:30. You'll need to eat lunch before coming and bring work gloves. There is room for 7 students at this project.
All the $$ will be applied before the April 30th deadline! RSVP to John immediately so that you can get in on these projects! John will reply and let you know if you got one of the spots and any other final details.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)