Central Manor Trip Blog Pre-Trip

If you have been blessed this week and would like to be a part of helping make these kinds of trips available to more people, you might want to consider becoming a prayer or financial partner of The Center for Short Term Missions . . . or take advantage of one of our fundraisers.

For more information, email us at bob@shorttermtrips.org. It has been such a joy to serve the Lord together this week.

Thanks again for choosing to use your time to be a light for Him in Kermit, WV.

In His Love, Bob and Lauren Wright

Your team concluded their ministry today with power. Not the kind of "power" that comes from skill or strength but rather the kind of power that comes from their submission to our Savior.

The trailer is nothing but the steel frame. The church interior updates are done. Twenty nine children left camp today, many in tears. The bridge will handle cars for many years to come. And 15 cars were washed. This team accomplished what many thought would not be possible. Their work was incredible.

But the real story is about their love for the Lord. They shared it with this community. They shared it with this church. They shared it with each other. They shared it with little fear or apprehension. They shared it boldly. The shared it lovingly. And by God's grace His family grew by one this week.

Please pray that this team would do the same back home. Pray that life won't be allowed to get in the way. Pray that this local body of Jesus will continue to wrap their arms around each other and move forward into God's plan for them.

Be sure to ask each of your team members about their new name!

Well, things are starting to wrap up. The 70+ foot bridge that the team started has been completed. They were able to provide a safe crossing for the family to their home and they were able to have multiply conversations with several of the neighbors. The owner isn't often a man of tears but he was when he shared his gratitude for the work that was done.

The team was also able to install two new toilets and a new interior door in a local church. They fixed a small gas leak and spent tiime with 4 of the missionaries foster children. Only 3/4 of the flooring remains of the trailer. The rest will be gone on Friday.

We have a wonderful praise. It took a high school newspaper artical, 2 days of conversations and a movie about Jesus but Meghan was used by the Lord to lead a little girl to a relationship with Jesus. Just recently, Shea lost her 3 year old little sister but today she is sharing the gospel with her cousin.

What a blessing this team is. We have had zero concerns with them. From the leaders to the students to their work to the care for each other to their love for the Lord this team has been an example to all. And what a blessing it was to hear that the leaders credit the parents of these kids for all that they are.

Thirty eight children joined us for camp today. They enjoyed some of the best crafts I've ever seen brought to a mission trip, they danced and sang to Jesus, heard a wonderful challenge from God's word and ran and ran and ran.

Today was also the kick off our Free Four Wheeler Wash. We washed 7 cars and 1 four wheeler and had several spiritual conversations. We were invited to a sound studio to make a cd and heard from a dad whose kids grew up going to the camps that Pastor Reeves has provided.

I would ask you to pray for our quiet time each day and the debriefing we have in the evening. Please pray that conversations continue to go deep as the team meets in small groups to discuss how to develop a Biblical sense of fear where we are more concerned about what God thinks of us that what people think of us.

And please pray that the powerful prayer we are experiencing in the evening would open our eyes to God's power.

Welcome back and thank you for releasing your family member(s) to serve here in Kermit, WV. I can't help but imagine that the Lord is so very pleased with their ministry. So many on the team have been meeting the Lord in new ways. They are processing His truth in even deeper ways. Drawling new conclusions about what the Lord has for them. They are working hard in the battle.

Camp went very well. The team is leading the children well. The kids well behaved, they are listening to the lessons and they are eagerly accepting the love being given by the team. Today we had 35 children. We had 5 children from a new area that the church is trying to reach out to. God is working. Your team has put wonderful effort into this camp and it is paying off.

A new project opportunity came up today. A member from the church needed to replace the bridge leading to his home. Six members from the team went to tackle the project. They were able to remove and replace half of the bridge. They hope to finish the rest tomorrow. Please pray for the team as they continue to have conversations with some of the neighbors. One gentlemen has already engaged in spiritual conversation with the workers.

Work on the trailer is going very well as you can tell by the picture. All that is left is to burn the
wood that is left. The frame will be sold to be used as a bridge. And the scrap will be recycled.

Again, thank you for checking in. Please pray for your team that the Lord will continue to keep us safe, that the team will continue to work hard as we focus on prayer and that the Gospel of Jesus will be clear.

Hi Friends and Family,
Thank you for checking in and thank you for responding with comments. We will be passing some of them on to the team. I am sure they will be a tremendous encouragement.

Today was a wonderful day. After a time of planning and re-planning the deconstruction team began the process of disassembling one of the old trailers on the property. The plan is that by the end of this week this trailer will be complete torn apart, burned, blow torched and sent to scrap. Please pray that the team will be safe and continue to see their work as genuine ministry for His glory.

The Children's Camp team also began their ministry today. The team is obviously well prepared and skilled for this ministry. The 15 children that attended really appreciated the attention they recieved along with the fun of the camp. Please pray that the Lord would continue to bring the children He wants to bring and that the team will be used to show the love of Jesus.

Thank you for checking in on your team. They arrived safely around 5:30pm and were ready to go. After a quick supper the team joined Pastor Reeves at an evening church service at Steptown Baptist Church. Pastor Reeves is the Director of Rural American Missions and pastors two local churches. The church was very accomodating as we maxed out the seating. We were welcomed with open arms and warm smiles. The team enjoyed having this time to get to experience a small taste of this ministry and to get to know some of the folks from this small community.

After discussing some of the details of the trip at our first debriefing, conversation turned to the unique unity this team experiences and what challenges they believe the Lord has for them during this week. The students described their team as accepting, supporting, like a family, hardworking and encouraging. And I need to say that even after only a brief time with them it is evident that much of this is true.

We went on to discuss what they felt would be a challenge for the team. They said evangelism, adjusting to the fact that Srs. are moving on, being vulnerable and working with children would fit the challenge category.

Please pray for your team as they move into this week. Our prayer is for them to leave this trip more like Jesus Christ. Pray that they would be willing to put in the work necessary to accomplish this goal. Pray that the Lord would give them what they need to do battle. Pray that they would seek Him and His strength. Pray that they would have His victory.

We concluded our evening by asking the Lord to give us an idea of who we would meet this week and how He would want us to pray for them. Please join us as we pray for the connections the Lord has planned for us and pray that His Kingdom would grow as a result of our time here.

Thank you so much for checking your teams trip blog. Daily entries are tentatively scheduled to start the first evening of the trip. Please check back for the first entry.
Also, we would love for you to add your comments to the team throughout the trip. Just click the "COMMENT" tab to leave your prayers and encouragements.
We look forward to keeping you in touch with your team in West Virginia.