From guest blogger Zack Russell

Hey guys, Zack wrote up a very cool post-trip tribute to all of us and wanted to make sure everyone saw it. Please Click Here to read it.

Final Pre-trip Post

Hey Guys--This is the final pre-trip post.   To those of you who have been faithful to commenting here, I believe your time of preparation will make your trip that much better.  To those who have chosen, for whatever reason, not to participate, I am making the assumption that you have engaged in your own times of study, prayer and preparation.

In these, the final days before our trip, I encourage you all to:

• take care of yourselves, get plenty of sleep,
• lay your fears and anxieties before God in prayer.  
• pack now, don't wait until Sunday morning, make sure you have everything. Don't forget your bible and a pen.  One bag only please.  (Your sleeping bag can be outside of the bag)
• Identify a prayer partner.  This should be someone who is not going on the trip who you can trust to pray for you daily while you are gone.  Make sure you ask that person to be your prayer partner before Sunday
• If you still owe me money, paperwork, or an insurance card get it to me by Saturday.  I do not want to be collecting anything on Sunday.

I am excited about our trip. I spoke with the site director today and they have everything ready to go for us.  If I don't see you before hand, I'll see you on Sunday at 3:00PM at my house.

Week 5 Pciture yourself there Day 23

It's Tuesday. And you are psyched for the day. Your crew is bonding and you are having an awesome time. One of the hard things to remember about this trip is its not about you!. It is about serving others, residents of Queens, your fellow crew members, your fellow Crossroads peoples. What can you do to help you remember this trip is not about you? Are there any verses that come to mind? Anything that we have already discussed?

The weird thing about this trip is that the more you can remember it's not about you, the more you actually get out of the trip.

Week 5 Picture yourself there Day 22

You wake up monday morning after a questionable night's sleep on an air mattress. The person next snored and the person on the other side you had a bad gastrointestinal reaction to the fast food they ate in the van on the way down. You will meet your crew today, maybe one or two people, at most from Crossroads. You will have time for a devotional after breakfast than it is off and running.
You are excited about what the day holds. You are also a little nervous about what is expected of you, about spending a whole day working with and for people you don't really know. Begin asking God now to get you ready for Monday morning. What do you think you'll need to start the week off right? What obstacles from starting the week off right should you be asking God to remove?

Week 5 Picture yourself there Day 21

Proverbs 29:18 says without vision people perish. You were supposed to write a vision statement for Day 20. A vision statement is broad and general . This week each post will ask you to think specifically about a different aspect of the trip and envision yourself on the trip, what you will do, how you will react. The logic is this: If you don't know what you are shooting at you will never hit it.
Picture yourself on Sunday June 28th, we unpile out of van and unload our gear. We check in and start meeting people; Youthworks Leaders, other campers, other leaders, kids from the neighborhood. How do you respond? Do you extend yourself? Do you hang back? Are you still ticked cuz I took your phone? What are you thinking about the week ahead?

Week 4 Why Serve? Day 20

Jesus sets the example for service. He provides the motivation. God tells us who we should serve. Our service should be the very best we have to offer because it is a reflection on Jesus.
We now have all the"right" answers, lets step this down a level and make it personal. Write a brief personal "vision" statement for this trip. It should include things like why you are going on the trip, how you hope to conduct yourself and what you hope to accomplish. What impression do you want your service to leave behind.

Week 4 Why Serve? Day 19

Read Colossians 3:17 What does this verse have to do with "Why we serve?" What impact should this verse have on us during our trip? During our everyday lives?