The Mustard Seed- Summer Recap

so we had this amazing summer and part of the incredibility was the places we visited, organizations we worked with, and people we connected to.... and all three of those important factors coordinated at one of our favorite and now most cherished and we believe a place of true incarnational hospitality and collaborative life change...

for any of our friends that have not had a chance to travel north you must visit and serve at the Mustard Seed in Calgary, Alberta, CA... we call all of those on staff and volunteers friends and true fellow laborers in Christ... an organization built to rescue lives not just for the night but to redeem the rescued ones... the entire city is beginning to waken to the deep level of commitment that this well-formed and forming organization has for its community, not just in the impoverished or destitute subculture but the entire community at large....

thanks to all of our friends that made are visit so insightful, significant, and truly special!

below is an interview with the two main coordinators for youth volunteers- Byron and Lee thanks again guys... we are hoping your friends from OKC can come visit again!

we are home

for all those that were worried we wouldnt make it... we are home.... and so it comes time to post a few thoughts and trail a few credits and accolades....

(however do not stop reading... there is at least 5! yes 5 more posts coming your way just about mission trip.... and wait until we get into super summer and camp stuff... you might as well just get used to reading here and staying caught up!)

first of all i have to thank our entire team of students and adults... everyone really outperformed all expectations in service, attitude, and self-control... well done team... you have proven great wisdom and maturity and it was a pleasure to travel and serve alongside you

secondly the unsung heroes of our venture... the red and blue vans... for those that may not believe in the power of will or ford automotive believe in the divine intervention that occured in the last few days... vans well past their prime traveled cross country with no more needs than food and shelter... well done machines... well done

thirdly for our new friends and family north of the border (mettie jane, richard, ethan, mettie bell, joanie, glen, lee, byron, joyce, all the billets)... thank you... for everything... you turned a half-held half baked hope into a wonderful memorable learning experience that will shape us for the rest of our lives... and has already shaped some our immediate individual and collective destinies... we love you.. you have taught us the value of community, mission, generative friendship, and hospitality... all of which of Christ Virtures which bind us together and loosen us upon the broken world

fourthly for our family friends and church at home... your prayers, support, encouragement... testify to a commissioning vision for the children of God... we are not to remain dormant or silent or suspended but released into a watching world to emit light and unearth the broken people that lie in the dark soil of this world

finally for the renewed vision of love and repurposed testament offered to us freely and openly from the Spirit that desires to lead us all... we are to be a people about restoring the humanity that was lost, not a humanity of depravity but a humanity of beauty... it is possible... is is happening... are we of the work

dont leave us now friends we need you and you need us we have shared in this story together so now we are both accountable to it... and it does continue

"the future is not unknown, only uncharted... 

the fog does not replace what it holds only what it hides for a time...."

Day 2a Work Plan- Mustard Seed Blitz Mustard Seed

sandwiching our time today between working at the mustard seed in morning and evening and blitzing this afternoon we should be happy, busy people keep us in your thoughts and prayers!

it's okay to be jealous.... this city is beautiful, growing, and broken... we are hoping to see all three

Day 1b Storehouse Blitz Seed

so i think we are all a little bit overwhelmed after today....

"healing comes with a steadfast devotion to love and love always comes with expectations"

so this morning we started off by helping the Storehouse a multi-dimensional multi-ministry facility, that is coordinated by one of the members of Cambrian Heights Baptist Church... Mr. Glen Upseth had some remarkable insight about how it all can really happen and that sometimes finding supplies doesnt even involve spending money but using your brain... thanks Glen... oh and we shucked over 100 boxes of corn... you will just have to see the pics and video when we get them to believe it

this afternoon we returned to cambrian to prepare for our first after school day with the kids from the elementary... we will post that about 30-40 came but excitingly enough about half of them were first timers to the church and all promised excitedly to come back and bring friends... you would have been proud of your kids today church family they loved on these kids like no other.... taking initiative pouring investment and smiling and listening a lot... stories abound in deep sweet love

this evening we had our conceptions and worldview tilted... now to be fair we have done and have been apart of various downtown "urban" homeless mission projects, sites, and centers but never have we met any organization or location that had it all and had it all together like the mustard seed of calgary... i can not even begin to list to you the enrichment that is laid out not just for the hungry and unclothed but for the entire community... they are rebuilding the idea that a community center can be a grassroots for connectivity and growth... they are a Christ-centered organization that is literally doing it all for the lives of those they reach out too... and the number of people they help each year is easily in the thousands... multi-site, multi-focus, multi-dimensional. multi-ethnic... our hearts were touched when they toured us through facility and mentioned not only wide scale impact but personal stories of transformation... some staff and many volunteers oil a machine that is destined for kingdom greatness...

tears fill our eyes not only when we see the broken, but when we see the broken restored

Day 1a Work Community Kitchen Blitz Mustard Seed

hey friends just an early morning post (well roll your clocks back an hour for full effect... we are in mountain time baby!)

we are starting this morning by helping out with the community kitchen... they are transitioning from spring to summer activities and need some manpower for the shift, and we are more than happy to help!

after lunch we will be launching our after school sports/education program... we are calling it blitz and our family and friends at CHBC have been more than gracious hosts to our endeavor 

and then tonight we will conclude our time by starting our community missionary training with the mustard seed a life and faith rehabilitive center for the impoverished and underprivileged... this organization is legit and a well oiled machine and we are excited to see their underworkings and help out in any way we can

missing home but not too much yet!

links:  http://www.communitykitchenprogram.com/

http://www.chbclive.ca/

http://www.theseed.ca/

Travel Day 3 Falls, Mountains, Customs, Canadians

wow so another late night posting by "mac light"  well it seems like several of you have found our spot!  not near as many miles today but we HAVE ARRIVED SAFELY! for all the parents grandparents and worried pastor and church family we are here and safe and sound in Calgary, Alberta, CA! oh and for our church family and staff... the vans have never run better (i think they just needed some mountain air) so we are in and ready to get to work tomorrow so less touristy pics and more of our missionaries at work... we love you all, stay up with us lots of goodies to come!

our first taste of the mountains and beauty that became our staple scenery, we are still in awe of the majesty.... 

mountains are so beautiful but so were the falls of the infamous great falls, MT if you are a lewis and clark fan then you know all about the ardor to explore the tricky falls

we are smiling because this was pre-customs adventure... in case you hadn't heard the customs regulations have become even more astringent for those traveling by car than ever before and on the inaugural customs restriction day they delayed our transit for 2 hours because of system errors and restarts, but  we were not hassled just held back but are still so excited to be in a brand new place

oh and one other fun pit stop came from vulcan, alberta... a small quaint town dedicated to star trek and trek culture... this replica hovers outside their museum which triples as their tourist/travel center and chamber of commerce what a wonderful place full of memorabilia, dedicated fans, and host to spock days (a annual conference that trekkies attend from around the country and US)... but one of the most interesting stories is linked here!  what a cool place to pit stop at...

Day 2 Travel 730 Miles is still a pretty long way

so today we kicked it off early, not quite as early as yesterday but still early enough... leaving ft collins colorado at 7:00am and heading up through almost the entirety of wyoming and into montana for a little run in with everyone's favorite defeated general (and apparently shelbie's favorite general pastry) Gen. George Armstrong Custer (custard for shelbs)

wyoming looked like something out of the wild west... the real showdown landscape between the foraging pioneers, manifest destiny's children and the hearty and home protecting natives from a multitude of tribes and cultures... the backdrop for their episodes was nothing short of wild trees, flowers, scrub mountains, cascading hills, plateaus

the battle of little big horn is quite a place to visit, scenic, historic, well-documented and well organized... found out from our resident historians herby and austin that this battlefield is the only one in on american soil that marks the spots of dead, not only american soldiers but the native tribes as well (thanks herby and austin)

after big horn we just booked it into montana we began to feel a little bit of the travel burn and were flat out ready to crash into sleep, so we arrived in great falls, MT with high hopes of getting much needed rest... 

Montana is beautiful (well eventually the first half... southern? not so much) the rollicking hills and dipping valleys pick up towards the north- Canadian half!!!! love it love it love it we are all so impressed and rocked by the amount of scenery change/geographic shock that we are in

another big travel day down but more interesting pics and stories to come tomorrow... keep following us friends, and leave us comments we would love to hear what you are doing as well!!

this quote hung with us as we left the battle of little bighorn thought we would leave it with you as well

Follow Us on the SPOT!

in case you have missed out on the wonders that are GPS (global positioning system) then you must read up and follow us with our SPOT tracking device.  The little orange "bug" clips on our dash and relays the position "redwings" and "blueflight"  to the site where you can follow us.   The link to follow our journey  is listed below or right here!  we would love for you to follow us via satellite as we traverse 10 states and a new country in just a 2 weeks.

we will be traveling a bit more tomorrow and then just here and there for the next few days before we make our triumphant return home

http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0FjqxlGistzQ0EYtbUzSuKlq86DIDlVmB

Good Morning FBC Bethany!

we miss you guys so much! we are off and driving!  great falls montana here we come!

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