Greetings from the Central 2 team!

We just left Green Bay, a small but loving city that we won’t soon forget. The people of the Green Bay corps were extremely welcoming of our team, which made our stay there very pleasant.

In the first few days we were there, we mingled with the Home League ladies, taught bible lessons at day camp, helped out at the thrift store, cleaned out an attic, and learned much about the social service department at the Green Bay corps.

Towards the end of our stay, we had the awesome opportunity to bond with the teens of the corps, some of whom will soon be going out on a short term missions trip of their own.

We were blessed by the Green Bay corps, who taught us that servicing our own communities is every bit as important as servicing communities overseas.

We have just arrived in Grand Rapids, MI at Little Pine Island Camp, and we’re looking forward working out at camp as well as helping out at the Fulton Heights corps.

God Bless,
Abby, Audrey, Carolyn, David, Eric, and See

We received a note from Major Fred Musgrave, officer at Majorca. The Spain team is spending their first week there. After a start that included missing some luggage, the team is well underway ministering at Majorca. According to the Major, they held a Bible School in Cala Mayor on Saturday for children that lasted the whole day, including outdoor activities, games and lessons. Adults were able to participate with the children in the evening. Sunday included two evangelistic worship services in Cala Mayor and Palmanova. Monday the team will be working with the “Mums and Tots” program and at an Over Sixties luncheon. Lots of variety already! They head for Denia on the mainland of Spain on Tuesday.

Hello Friends and Family!

       We are happy to report to you that we arrived safely on Tuesday, June 12 at Army Lake Camp. We had a little trouble finding the right road in the beginning but we eventually found our way. 
      The first day we met the camp staff and had a praise and worship meeting with them along with some team building activities. The staff is very friendly and opened up very quickly to all of us. We already felt at home the first night. Then, as the week got started we did a bunch service work, mostly consisting of painting. We painted a garage, picnic tables and benches. We are all expert painters by now! We also did some gardening.
       God has really showed us His faithfulness even in our first week on SMT; whether it be the gorgeous sun that He gave us or the strength to keep going when we were tired.  We have been learning to give Him complete surrender even in the small stuff. We praise You Lord for giving us this opportunity to serve You by serving others.
       As we leave Wisconsin today, we are very thankful to Army Lake Camp. The people have been gracious and hospitable. May God Bless Army Lake Camp and the staff that is here.
       Now we are off to Laporte, Indiana to participate in their Sunday morning meeting and throughout the week we will be holding a VBS in their corps. Pray that we will be willing to do all God asks of us this week. Thanks for supporting us in prayer and we will continue to keep you updated with all that Central One has going on!
    
                         With all our love and prayers,
                                Central One Team.

The 2007 Summer Mission Teams have arrived at their destinations and most are already

at work! Below is the first communication, from Team Chile. Reports will be posted here on this newly dusted off web log! While we wait for details, I can tell you a few things: Team South Africa stopped by IHQ enroute. Grant was able to see Major Raju, who was the main officer to care for the planning, translation, and travel of the India Team last summer. Grant and the Major were happy to see each other again–in London!

Spain Team arrived safely but without most of their luggage–ah yes, I’ve been there…..Anyway most of it has now arrived and they are settling into their first ministry location in Mallorca.

The Central 1 & 2 Teams begin their ministry this week in Wisconsin Upper Michigan Division. Central 1 is doing painting and other work at Army Lake Camp. Central 2 is ministering at the Green Bay Corps.

More to come, here is the note from Chile:

Just writing quickly to let you know that we made it safe and sound to Chile! We’ve had a wondeful two days that included seeing much of Santiago (in the rain!), including THQ, and  time at the Training College. The Davissons’ have been wonderful hosts!  We had a blessed evening tonite at the Santiago Central Corps tonite.  The people were very extied to see us, and we were equally blesed to be in worshiping with them! Most of us actually got to play in the band, which was a blessing in it’s self.
Tomorrow we catch the bus to Antofagasta, which will be about 18 hours up north.  We are very much looking forward to our work there, and have been in much prayer about the city.
I’ll be updating a little later, after we have settled in Antofagasta.
Please be in prayer for traveling mercies, and the people and work which we will encounter up north.
Much Love,
Team Chile!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

By now, this is not news to anyone and is proof of how I should not ever have a xanga site or other weblog….but here is the SMT 2007 list. Note at the bottom the breakdown of applications. I had to put that in there because you need to see the disconnect between Metro and all other divisions. If you do it by percentages, Heartland, Northern, and Kansas had 100% of those interested on a team. But that is not clear picture since OBT had more persons who did not make a team than any of those three divisions had applicants.

God bless all of you.

Posted by:  Chris Shay
Date/time posted: 10:27:05 AM Yesterday
Expiration date: 06/10/2007
___________________________________________________________________

Title:  2007 Summer Mission Team

Category: Summer Mission Teams

On behalf of the Territorial Program Secretary I am happy to announce the 2007 Summer Mission Team. Thank you for your prayers on behalf of these young adults as they prepare to serve the Lord this summer!

Chile
*1.  Lindsey Bailey – Oakbrook Terrace
2.  Jaclyn Davisson – Santiago, Chile
3.  James Davisson – Norridge
4.  Kirsten Gorton – Oakbrook Terrace
5.  Jon Taube – Hammond/Munster
6.  Angelica Vasquez – LaVillita
7.  Damon Winters – Oakbrook Terrace

South Africa
*1. Dana Cook – Pittsburg
2.  Alberto Carrión – Rockford Temple
3.  Katy Clark – Kalamazoo
4.  Doug Engle – Royal Oak
5.  Grant Holloway – Kalamazoo
6.  Ceamona Hood – Tri-Cities
7.  Sarah Kincaid – Oakbrook Terrace

Spain
*1.  Nate Himes – Norridge
2.  Gabriel Carrión – Rockford Temple
3.  Jackie Felt – Oakbrook Terrace
4.  Erica Johnson – Tri-Cities
5.  Keri Polsley – Oakbrook Terrace
6.  Barrett Shoults – Oakbrook Terrace
7.  Ryan Smith – Kankakee

Central 1
*1.  Amy Kruger – Rochester
2.  Rachel Aren – Dearborn Heights
3.  Alex Cox – Oakbrook Terrace
4.  Amy Eagle – Pekin
5.  Breann Massey – Petoskey
6.  Ashlee Norris – Des Moines
7.  Carolyn Romin – Des Plaines

Central 2
*1.  Abby Johnson – Royal Oak
2.  Astrid Carrión – Rockford Temple
3.  See Chang – Northbrook
4.  Eric Gorton – Oakbrook Terrace
5.  Audrey Hickman – Oakbrook Terrace
6.  Carolyn Meyer – Port Huron
7.  David Moran – LaVillita

Argentina Interns
1.  Elyse Dalberg – Oakbrook Terrace
2.  Viki Payton – Oakbrook Terrace

Haiti Interns
1.  Briana Dalberg – Lakewood
2.  Sarah Kistler – Des Plaines

We had a record sixty-one interested young adults, though most were from Metro.  The breakdown of potential candidates/applicants by division follows:

EMI   7
Heartland  2
Indiana  3
KWM   1
Metro   33
Midland  1
Northern  3
Western  2
WMNI   8
WUM   1

It is December 18 and only one month away from the deadline for 2007 Summer Mission Team applications. If you or someone you know has been thinking about SMT but have not asked for an application, please do so! We particularly need more guys to apply and also persons who can speak Spanish. We are looking for people who love God, love people, and are soldiers of the Salvation Army. You also need to be open to a summer that will be hard work but one that will change your life!

I am happy to announce the December 2006 Germany Missions Team! The members are:

Kirsten Aho, Grant Holloway, Nate Hood, Erica Johnson, Sarah Kincaid, and David Witthoff. The team leader is Mark Bender of the Evangelism Department at SATHQ, and he will be assisted by Sarah. The team will be involved in outreach in the community of Hannover, as well as various programming and assisting with the feeding programs. They leave on December 14 and return on Christmas day. They will be involved in a very special Christmas Eve celebration with folks from the community that have no family or place to be on that night.

We had a number of other good applicants besides these, but the majority of the team was chosen because they can play brass instruments–something that the officers in Hannover specifically requested.

Congratulations to this team! Be looking for other short term opportunities in the future, including Spring Break!

What a summer it has been….and since it’s now fall I figure I better get on the ball with next year’s Summer Mission Team! We have submitted the request for the 2007 locations and I am waiting to hear about the next steps. In the meantime, you can go to the website (www.usc.salvationarmy.org) and request an application under the missions tab, or write us direct at missions@usc.salvationarmy.org. We’ll get an application out to you. You must be a Salvationist, at least sixteen years old (eighteen for overseas teams) and active in your corps. When the team locations are approved, then I’ll list them here.

In the meantime, contact us if you would like to attend the Urbana Student Missions conference in St. Louis, December 27-31. Salvationist get a great deal, only $125 per person, but you must begin registration through us. Use the missions address above, and we’ll direct you to the right person and place to register.

If you are a short term missions leader, I want to tell you about the National Short Term Missions Conference in Los Angeles, January 19-21 of 2007. This is a great conference to learn all the needed tools for STM leadership. Included are sessions for veteran STM leaders as well. Visit nstmc.org for details. I have been four times and always learn new ideas for improving my leadership and training!

Yet a few more India pictures. This time I will avoid them coming out horizontally…..anyway, the next pictures will be from the Bahamas in a couple of weeks. Hope everyone is having a great and adventure-filled summer!

Keri and Helena participate in the stick dance.

An Indian wedding at Pedapadu Corps.

The bride and groom are sitting up front.

Gifts from the Central Territory were popular.

Learning a new chorus.

The team performing drama….

What time is it Mr. Fox?

Lunchtime!