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?

Week 4 Why Serve ? Day 18

Depending on who you talk to, the word religion can be anything from a profanity to an annoyance, but rarely is it viewed in a positive light. How do you think God views religion? Why do you think this is so? Read James 1:27 Why do you think God places such a high priority on service to the lonely and helpless? For those of us who claim Christianity as our religion, how might serving others change how religion, specifically Christianity is perceived?

Week 4 Why Serve ? Day 17

Ok so Jesus sets the example of service for us.  He not only sets the example, but also, provides the motivation. Read Matthew 25:31-40  Who does Jesus align himself with in this passage?  How might seeing the face of Jesus on someone in need effect your reaction to them?   What other thoughts does this passage create for you about serving others?

Week 4 Why serve? Day 16

A big part of loving others, as we learned last week, is serving them.  Service is not optional for the Christ-follower. Serving others is as much a part of following Jesus as breathing is a part of being alive.  Read John 13: 1-17.  What is your reaction to Jesus' service in this passage? Why?  What does Jesus kind of service tell us about how we should serve? Make it your goal this week to serve someone you normally wouldn't.  Then, maybe come back here and tell us what that experience was like.

Week 3 Why am I here? Day 15

Jesus was/is always raising the bar.  He does the same thing with the concept of loving others. Read Matthew 5:43-48.  Who does Jesus tell us to love? According to these verses why do you think he said that?  Are there people like that in your life?  What is one practical thing you can do to love them this week?

We are here to Love God and Love Others.  It is not rocket surgery...yes I said rocket surgery.  The really cool part is that doesn't necessarily have to look exactly the same for everyone of us.  We are each wired with distinctive gifts, talents and passions.  We begin to live the life we were created for when we Love God and Love others as we were each uniquely created to do.

Week 3 Why am I here? Day 14

Jesus simplified our faith into two things Love God and Love Others. We spent the last couple of days talking about Loving God.  Today we will take a look at what it means to love others.

Read Philippians 2:1-11  According to these verses what does it look like to love others?  How did Jesus love others?  By this description how are you doing at loving others?  Where are you doing well?  Where do you need some work?

Week 3 Why am I here? Day 13

Part of loving God is offering Him the praise and worship He deserves.  Read John 14:21. According to this verse what else will we do if we love God? There are two parts to this aspect of loving God. 1) We need to know the bible. 2) We need to put the bible into practice.  How are you doing with these two aspects?  What is one practical thing you can do to improve one or both of those?

Week 3 Why am I here? Day 12

Part of loving God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength is offering Him our praise.  Read Psalm 145 through several times.  Read it once to get an understanding, read it again to let it sink in.  Read it a third time, this time read it outloud and give it to God as your offering of praise to Him.

Now write your  own "Psalm" to God praising Him for who He is and what He has done in and through you.

Week 3 Why am I here? Day 11

God is God, I am me. I need to let God be God and do his job and do only the things that only He can do. I am me. The best thing I can do is be the best “me” that I can be. God even gives us direction in how to go about doing that.
Read Mark 12: 28-31 According to these verses what is our purpose? Why are we here? How are you doing at these things? Give some examples if you can.

Week 2 Who am I? Day 10

Day 10 Read Ephesians 3:20-21 What is it that God is able to do according to this passage?  Where does this power reside? Do you live like that is true? If so what does that look like for you? If not,  what things do you have to change about the way you live?

We are made in the image of God.  He is with us, wherever we may go.  He is all-powerful and all-knowing.  Through Jesus he invites us into his family and comes to live inside each of us.  We are each uniquely and supernaturally gifted and empowered through the Holy Spirit to do ridiculous things. WOW! Wow! WoW!  Spend some time thanking God for these amazing blessings.  Then ask Him what you should be doing with all these blessings? (The answer to this question should not be the same for everyone)

Week 2 Who am I? Day 9

Day 9 Read 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 and John 14:15-17 What does it mean to you that you have the Spirit of God actually living in you? Because the Spirit of the Living God resides in you, you have both natural gifts and abilities as well as super natural ones. Did you know that? Do you know what your gifts are? What some ways that you think you might be able to use those gifts on our trip?

Week 2 Who am I? Day 8

Day 8-Read Ephesians 1:4-10 According to these verses what is the Spiritual process of adoption look like? What does it mean to you to know that when you enter a relationship with Christ you become a son/daughter of the God of the universe?

Week 2 Who am I? Day 7

Day 7 Read Psalm 139:7-16 What do these verses tell us about how we were made? What do they tell us about our relationship with the God of the universe? How does this knowledge make you feel? Spend sometime before God today and let him love you just the way you are. Don't ask Him anything. Don't tell Him anything other than “Lord I want to know your love.”

Week 2 Who am I ? Day 6

Day 6-A proper and full understanding of God is the starting point of our Journey. A proper understanding of ourselves is also critical. This week we will focus on who we were created to be.

Read Genesis 1:26-27 What do these verses tell you about who you are? What difference should this make in the way we live? Given all that you learned about God in week 1, coupled with the fact that we are made in his image what else does that say about you?

Week 1 Who is God? Day 5

Day 5-Read Colossians 1:15-20 What does this passage tell us about God? According to this passage how do you think we can get to know God better? What is one specific way you can do that this week?
God's character is limitless and perfect in every detail. What an amazing thing that God would want to know us. Spend some time thinking about what you have learned about God this week. Maybe one bible verse really jumped out at you. Think about that verse for a while. Reread it several times and ask the Holy Spirit to show why that verse seemed to jump out.

Week 1 Who is God? Day 4

Day 4-Read Ephesians 4:4-6 According to this passage who or what is God? How does it make you feel to know that God is like this? Spend some time thanking God for this part of His character.

Week 1 Who is God? Day 3

Day 3- Read 1 Peter 1:15-16 According to this passage who or what is God? What does it mean to be holy? Holiness is a concept that we are not used to and therefore tend to under-appreciate in God. Spend time asking God for a better understanding of his holiness so you might appreciate this part of His character.

Week 1 Who is God ? Day 2

Day 2-ReadLuke 15:11-32 According to this passage who or what is God? Do you know God in this way? If so spend some time in prayer thanking God for who He is. If you do not know God like this, ask Him to reveal this part of His character you.

Youthworks Summer Missions Trip-Queens 09

We are roughly six weeks away from leaving on our summer missions trip to Queens, NY. Six weeks, that's not much time at all. Hopefully you have been thinking and praying about this trip since you signed up. Our challenge, over the next six weeks, is to get ourselves ready to serve God and others. The most important thing we can do to get ourselves ready is stay connected to God. It is my hope and prayer that this website will help you stay connected to God.  Each weekday Monday-Friday there will be a new post with a scripture reference and/or questions and/or a quote and/or a thought for you to spend sometime wrestling with.  Each day I would like you to comment on your thoughts regarding that days post.  It doesn't have to be long but please take this seriously our time of preparation before the trip is vitally important to our actual time in Queens.  Please do not hesitate to ask questions.  Remember there are no dumb questions.

Week 1 Who is God?

Who is God?
Day 1-Read 1 John 4:7-9 According to this verse who or what is God? What does that mean to you? Spend some time in prayer thanking God for who He is.