Blog Post 072911
So, the first blog post for the Poland missions trip 2011. I'm writing this as we hurtle through the air 37000 feet straight up, traveling at roughly 550mph.
Well, we got to church at 9:00 this morning in order to sort out all the luggage and all related baggage weight issues. All in all that went as well as could be expected.
We started off our trip to Poland with a bit of a road trip, driving from Rocky Mount down to Charlotte, North Carolina to fly out of Charlotte Douglas International Airport. My ride down was actually quite enjoyable. We stopped at a Cracker Barrel an hour outside of Charlotte to have lunch, thus avoiding exorbitant costs for food at the airport. I ate hearty knowing that it might be my last chance for a decent meal this week.
We continued our trip, and made it to Charlotte an hour or two a head of time. We lugged our suitcases to the closest shuttle stop, and waited for ten minutes in the blistering NC heat for the shuttle. The first thing I noticed about said shuttle once boarding, was that the glass box, with "break glass in case of emergency" printed across the front, had already been broken. Great, what glass were we supposed to break in the case of emergency.
This is jumping ahead of myself a little bit, but I noticed on the plane, they give the instructions first in German, then in English. If there's a real emergency, and the pilot needs to make an announcement, what is he going to do, give it first in German, and then the rest of us Americans can wait and listen for the English version? I guess it might pay to be German.
We made it to the Charlotte terminal, and drug our suitcases off the bus onto the sidewalk, to this message "May your flight be better than your bus trip to the terminal!" "And have better safety equipment, I thought.
We then got our boarding passes and proceeded to security. Although they made me nervous by running my backpack through the X-Ray machine several times, we made it through without incident. No knives this year! Several of the members of our team did go through the full body scanner. Apparently Doug, Joseph, and Mr. Andersen look extra suspicious.
We proceeded to our gate, and the Carters, Joseph and I staked out a spot behind a kiosk that had a power outlet. Joseph went to buy a Dr. Pepper, and Amanda and I followed. We found an amusing toy dog rolling around on the floor, which Amanda, always the compassionate one, promptly untangled from it's leash. I said "Amanda, it's a toy."
We then continued into the staging areas and, from there, onto the plane. Takoff was smooth. We weren't ten minutes into the flight when Mrs Andersen, sitting several rows up turns around and yells "Tanya, you doing OK back there?" I enjoyed a great documentary on Google. Having so much fun!
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Poland Informational Blog
Witaj! (Polish for Hello)
At the moment I type this, I am less than a week away from leaving the country with a group from my church. We will be traveling to a small village located in the foothills of the Tatra Mountains of Poland. The village is half a world away, but as I learned during our trip last year, the people are the same as they are in every other place in the world.
As this trip draws closer, I can barely contain my excitement. What a great privilege and opportunity it is to travel across the world to work with people that otherwise I would have no chance of meeting in my life, and share with them a life changing gift. As Doug (our youth pastor) has emphasized several times, this is a beautiful picture of the love of Christ. That people from half a world away would give up valuable time and resources to come visit, and share Christ with a specific group of people.
So, a little bit of background about the trip: On this trip, we will fly to Poland with the specific intent of sharing the love of Christ with the inhabitants of a small village of about 100 people located in the mountainous region of southern Poland.
Other goals for the trip include:
To be a blessing and encouragement to the Goss family (IMB missionaries that we are coordinating with) and further their mission efforts.
To be a witnesses of Christ as we travel and interact with people that come into our paths.
And, to experience a deeper level of community with our own team from Franklin Heights Baptist Church.
These are our stated goals, but we know that the nature of missions is that things can and do change. So, an unstated, but very important goal for us on this trip, is to be flexible in all that we do. I must confess that although I feel as though I can adapt to change fairly well, it does jar me a bit whenever things do change. My personality is one that likes to know what’s going on and why, almost all the time. I hate getting in a car and just riding. I want to know where we’re going. I’m OK if plans change, as long as we have another plan, and we know what it is. The one thing I hate is “Just winging it”.
So, who’s going? Well, here’s the list (in no particular order):
Doug Hayes
Courtney Taylor
Pate Doherty
Meg Carter
Amanda Carter
Claire Guilliams
Ricky Wampler
Tanya Wampler
Joseph Wampler
Fran Wampler
Kateleigh Wampler
Shana Kohnen
Amy Layman
Eryn Layman
Matt Mays
Ezra Richards
Mark Andersen
Beth Andersen
Katie Andersen
Dillon Andersen
Melissa Andersen
Ian Andersen
I apologize in advance if I misspelled anyone’s name.
You can tell just by looking at the list that the group dynamic is a bit different this year. We have several families going, and not quite as many youth as in previous years. Although this is different, I’m actually looking forward to it. I think the unique mix of students, adults, and children will make for an exciting and interesting trip. I also think it will be a lot of fun!
During the trip, I will be doing my best to keep everyone informed on how the trip is progressing, so that you can know what’s going on with our team, and will know how to pray. My goal is to write one blog post a day, as well as post occasional photos and videos.
There are several places on the web where you can check for these updates:
First (and most important) this blog: mrzchuck.blogspot.com
Second: My YouTube Channel: www.youtube.com/MrZchuck
Also: My Facebook and Twitter pages
I will be posting updates on the youth group Twitter and Facebook pages as well:
www.twitter.com/fhbcimpact
www.facebook.com/fhbcimpact
So, if you haven’t already, go like/follow the youth group pages!
Do Widzenia! (Goodbye)
At the moment I type this, I am less than a week away from leaving the country with a group from my church. We will be traveling to a small village located in the foothills of the Tatra Mountains of Poland. The village is half a world away, but as I learned during our trip last year, the people are the same as they are in every other place in the world.
As this trip draws closer, I can barely contain my excitement. What a great privilege and opportunity it is to travel across the world to work with people that otherwise I would have no chance of meeting in my life, and share with them a life changing gift. As Doug (our youth pastor) has emphasized several times, this is a beautiful picture of the love of Christ. That people from half a world away would give up valuable time and resources to come visit, and share Christ with a specific group of people.
So, a little bit of background about the trip: On this trip, we will fly to Poland with the specific intent of sharing the love of Christ with the inhabitants of a small village of about 100 people located in the mountainous region of southern Poland.
Other goals for the trip include:
To be a blessing and encouragement to the Goss family (IMB missionaries that we are coordinating with) and further their mission efforts.
To be a witnesses of Christ as we travel and interact with people that come into our paths.
And, to experience a deeper level of community with our own team from Franklin Heights Baptist Church.
These are our stated goals, but we know that the nature of missions is that things can and do change. So, an unstated, but very important goal for us on this trip, is to be flexible in all that we do. I must confess that although I feel as though I can adapt to change fairly well, it does jar me a bit whenever things do change. My personality is one that likes to know what’s going on and why, almost all the time. I hate getting in a car and just riding. I want to know where we’re going. I’m OK if plans change, as long as we have another plan, and we know what it is. The one thing I hate is “Just winging it”.
So, who’s going? Well, here’s the list (in no particular order):
Doug Hayes
Courtney Taylor
Pate Doherty
Meg Carter
Amanda Carter
Claire Guilliams
Ricky Wampler
Tanya Wampler
Joseph Wampler
Fran Wampler
Kateleigh Wampler
Shana Kohnen
Amy Layman
Eryn Layman
Matt Mays
Ezra Richards
Mark Andersen
Beth Andersen
Katie Andersen
Dillon Andersen
Melissa Andersen
Ian Andersen
I apologize in advance if I misspelled anyone’s name.
You can tell just by looking at the list that the group dynamic is a bit different this year. We have several families going, and not quite as many youth as in previous years. Although this is different, I’m actually looking forward to it. I think the unique mix of students, adults, and children will make for an exciting and interesting trip. I also think it will be a lot of fun!
During the trip, I will be doing my best to keep everyone informed on how the trip is progressing, so that you can know what’s going on with our team, and will know how to pray. My goal is to write one blog post a day, as well as post occasional photos and videos.
There are several places on the web where you can check for these updates:
First (and most important) this blog: mrzchuck.blogspot.com
Second: My YouTube Channel: www.youtube.com/MrZchuck
Also: My Facebook and Twitter pages
I will be posting updates on the youth group Twitter and Facebook pages as well:
www.twitter.com/fhbcimpact
www.facebook.com/fhbcimpact
So, if you haven’t already, go like/follow the youth group pages!
Do Widzenia! (Goodbye)
Monday, July 18, 2011
VBS Poems
Seeing as how we just finished VBS at Franklin Heights, I thought it might be appropriate to post a couple of VBS related poems for your enjoyment. Enjoy!
VBS
Every year when VBS rolls around,
I have to be running when I hit the ground.
I walk in the door and I‘m handed a CD,
And from then on it’s all up to me.
I start to put together the slide show,
And oh! Here we go!
The first slide is there: “Boomerang Express”
But where are all the rest?
The computer decides to hibernate,
Oh, this is just great!
In the middle of all this,
While for a break I’m starting to wish,
I hear Brandon start to cry.
And when I ask why,
He whines “No girls in my group!”
I tell him “No big whoop.”
A wireless mike starts to feedback
And my eardrums are about to crack
When something goes wrong
It doesn’t take long
Everyone turns around to see,
Who the person that caused it might be.
One thing they need to understand,
And I hope eventually they can:
If everything comes to a halt
It’s not Ezra’s fault!
By:
Ezra Richards
VBS 2010
Craziness, craziness, VBS
It wouldn't be authentic if it was anything less
Two hundred screaming kids galore
Well, at least it can't be called “a bore”
Slide shows, light shows, and music to boot
At least the question of whether it's complicated is moot
Snacks, crafts, and games are in there too
And the opportunity to serve no matter what you do
Whether you help with registration, rotation, or as a group aide
There's no one place where you've just got it made
It's never easy, (sometimes hard)
But it can all be summed up in one response card
MrZchuck
VBS
Every year when VBS rolls around,
I have to be running when I hit the ground.
I walk in the door and I‘m handed a CD,
And from then on it’s all up to me.
I start to put together the slide show,
And oh! Here we go!
The first slide is there: “Boomerang Express”
But where are all the rest?
The computer decides to hibernate,
Oh, this is just great!
In the middle of all this,
While for a break I’m starting to wish,
I hear Brandon start to cry.
And when I ask why,
He whines “No girls in my group!”
I tell him “No big whoop.”
A wireless mike starts to feedback
And my eardrums are about to crack
When something goes wrong
It doesn’t take long
Everyone turns around to see,
Who the person that caused it might be.
One thing they need to understand,
And I hope eventually they can:
If everything comes to a halt
It’s not Ezra’s fault!
By:
Ezra Richards
VBS 2010
Craziness, craziness, VBS
It wouldn't be authentic if it was anything less
Two hundred screaming kids galore
Well, at least it can't be called “a bore”
Slide shows, light shows, and music to boot
At least the question of whether it's complicated is moot
Snacks, crafts, and games are in there too
And the opportunity to serve no matter what you do
Whether you help with registration, rotation, or as a group aide
There's no one place where you've just got it made
It's never easy, (sometimes hard)
But it can all be summed up in one response card
MrZchuck
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