Day 7 Update

We survived! We are going to bed now.

Good night.

Day 6 Update

What a day it was!

We all packed in the vans and headed to Red River Gorge for canoeing and rock jumping.  Brian took us to his Operation Wilderness rock jump area.  You climb to the top of a really big rock and jump about 75 to 80 feet down to the water.  It was a blast with everyone completing at least 1 jump.  Some did as many as 8!  (Actually it was only 18-22 feet)

After the big jump we canoed for about two hours.  (We did paddle about 150 yards upstream to get to the rock)  Lots of splashing and canoe flipping along the way.  The best part was to save yourself from drowning you needed only to stand up.  

With the canoe trip behind us we made our was to Miguel's Pizza down by Natural Bridge.  Don and Donna Tedrick joined us for some yummy pizza and Ale 8 1 soda.

We headed back to the Happy Church around 7:00 and finished some service projects from 7:00pm to 9:30pm.  We don't have many pictures yet to post.  We did not take any cameras on the canoe trip so you will just have to wait for the stories.

Brian, Jess, Grace and Nick Angstadt headed to the airport after the Pizza dinner to welcome the Simmons' home from China with their new addition to the family.  Brian and Nick will return to the Happy Church either late tonight or early tomorrow to help with the final clean-up before the grand opening of the Happy Shack!

For all you coming down, we will see you tomorrow.

Thanks for all your prayers, blog comments and support!

Yours in Christ,

Todd - Deputy Youth Pastor!

Day 5 Update

Hello again from Jackson,

Our final day of VBS may well have been the best day. Just over 50 kids attended. The weather cooperated for lots of fun and games outdoors. We also were able to complete a few of the items on our service project list.

The team really pulled together despite being a little groggy from the late nights. After the VBS we transported about 55 kids to the local "Shoe Show" and had them all pick out new shoes. It was amazing to see the joy on some of these kids faces as they picked out their own "first pair of new shoes". Some of them were still in disbelief as we went to the checkout. On the ride home they were putting on theirs shoes and smiling from ear to ear. They were ao anxious to get home and show mom or dad what they picked out. Sorry for the short post, but we are in a time crunch to get to Natural Bridge for canoeing. We'll add more details later! Have a great day!

Grace Mease

Day 4 Update

Hello Lads & Lasses,

We have survived a VERY full day of ministry here in Jackson, KY!  Besides putting on a VBS in the afternoons, our team has been waking up early and doing service projects around the church.  We began chipping the paint from a section of the Happy Shack porch yesterday.  Today we began priming the area.  It was as successful as Jr. Highers armed with paintbrushes can be! Honestly, they worked hard and did a great job.  Following the VBS, we were feeling a little stressed about how much painting still needed to be done on the porch.  So, the students opted to work into the night.  We concluded a full day of work at 9pm and debriefed the day until 10!  We will be feeling the brunt of that in the morning.  Todd suggested we give them the option of Orange Juice or Mountain Dew to drink with breakfast.  

The VBS was incredible today.  Kids must have really enjoyed it yesterday because they brought friends.  Today, we ministered to about 50 kids.  Too many more and we won't have enough crafts to cover them!  Pastor Mike was excited because some of the children coming out are first timers.  That news blessed our team.  We are praying that they might come to know Jesus through our ministry or the continued ministry of the Happy Church.  Please join us in this prayer.  

Tomorrow, we will conclude our VBS and hopefully put the final touches on our paint project.  It is our goal to have the Happy Shack looking spic and span for the grand opening on Saturday.  By the way, any of you coming for that???  It's at 1pm on saturday.  Anyone is free to come and find a place to crash for the night and join us for church on Sunday.  

Well, please pray for our team tomorrow.  It is usually the day where the 'novelty' of serving and working with children wears off a bit.  Please pray that the group gives generously of themselves no matter what they gain back.  On that note, I also want to let you know that the group, for the most part, is really having a high degree of team unity.  You never know what you are going to get when you have 16 teens on a trip for 8 days.  This group is doing an outstanding job of including one another and protecting the team unity.  It has been a blessing!  

Okay, good night.  Looking forward to seeing you all soon.  

Serving Him,

Todd & Brian Hinners ;-)

Day Three Update

Hello friends and family,

Thanks for following along with our blog.  We would love your feedback on how you like this as a communication tool for the future.  I know many on our team have really appreciated the opportunity to look online and see people's responses to our posts.  So, please keep encouraging the team.  

Today was the first day of our 'pirate land' VBS.  I wish it was a day you could have all experienced.  We have to admit that we had our doubts about how many kids would show up for our VBS (especially considering the blistering heat today).  Much to our surprise, we pulled into the trailer parks with the vans and one honk of the horn brought the kids running!  Some vans had to load up twice.  All in all, our team ministered to about 40 kids from the Jackson area today.  It was a joy to see everyone in 'pirate garb' loving on kids.  The entire team pitched in and it was definitely a beautiful day of ministry.  Our team is quickly learning how the culture here affects EVERYTHING these children do.  Teaching the Bible, leading in games, doing crafts, playing music...these things translate differently to kids who come from such dismal backgrounds.  The learning curve for our Hope Church students is incredible.  They quickly begin inheriting grace, love, compassion, and other works of the Spirit of God.  They literally bloom before your eyes.  It's quite surreal.  I think most of our adult leaders would agree that 'debriefing' at night is always the highlight of the day.  The reflections our students make are moving, inspiring, and encouraging.  

Well, we appreciate your prayers.  There is much more we could say.  But, the hour is late and I can hear the guys jumping around upstairs.  They won't go to sleep until we make them :-).  Who raised these boys anways!?  ;-)  

From Jackson,

Brian & Todd Mease

Wanna Watch us?

You can watch our opening show at 12:30 tuesday, wednesday, and thursday. at www.stickam.com/hopestudentmissions08 and again at about 2:30 email austin@hinnersfamily.com if this doesn't work. :-)

Making friends...

Caroline Ewing with new friends Mercedes and Dezeray helped pass out VBS flyers to local trailer parks along with the rest of the Happy Project team.  Rain hardly put a damper on the effort to invite as many kids as possible.

The Happy Church is also hosting a horseshoe social evening tonight for adults.  We have three official horseshoe pits and are hoping to see about 15-20 local adults for some fun and games.

So far today was spent putting the finishing touches on the VBS sets and getting ready for the kids tomorrow.  It has cooled off a little today with a storm blowing through so it looks like we will also enjoy a campfire tonight.

Day One Update

Hello Everyone.  Thanks for your prayers today as we concluded our first full day of ministry here at the Happy Church.  It was a day of both work & play.  Following church (which refreshingly begins at 11am here!)our team enjoyed a potluck lunch and a bit of hang time with the Happy Church youth.  It was really sweet to see the two groups coming together in such a quick way.   The free time didn't last too long.  We put our team hard at work setting up the Happy Church to become a 'pirate land'.  The work completed in time for dinner and a full evening of 'youth group' with the Happy Church students.  It's been a while since 'everyone' present had laughed quite so hard.  We played a game called 'ugga bugga boo' in which contestants (unassuming volunteers) are tricked into sitting on a soaking wet sponge.  Let's just say that Pastor Mike looks hilarious with a soaking wet behind!  The team debriefed in the evening and we are already marveling at the lessons God is teaching all of us through this project.  Thanks for your prayers.  Parents, you had much to be proud of from your children.  They jumped right in loving kids, fellow students, and even adults in the church.  We are off to a great start!  

Serving Him,

Brian Mease  

Shipwreck Witness

The Happy Church children took part in an interactive story-time adventure this morning, daring to descend into the hold of a doomed ship on the Mediterranean in the midst of a great winter storm.  The shipmates needed help dashing the cargo overboard, as it was their only hope for riding out this seafarer's worst nightmare.  They were all quite seasick, groaning and wailing in misery, when prisoner Paul cheered them with the good news that his God had sent an angel to him with a promise that, although the ship would sink, they would all reach safety!  The brave boarders thanked God and broke bread together, taking heart from this respected criminal's encouragement.  In the light of dawn, they finally reached the island of Malta.  Tired, drenched and queasy, the courageous shipmates struggled ashore.  It had certainly been a rough rumble but they were all thankful for their lives, and looked forward to learning more about this God.  There were hugs and high fives all around!  Paul had been a true hero for sharing God's love!

Band practice?

Look out Hope Church - The newly created "Hope We Make You Happy" band is working had to bring a 1st, uh... maybe 2nd class band back to Hope!  Move over Tom White and company.

We made it!

Hello everyone. As you probably have figured out, we made it to Jackson, Kentucky and to our final destination, The Happy Church!  This being my first time here I am pleasantly surprised with the building and the area surrounding the church.  Getting here was a different story, I was kind of baffled, we left at 5 and we just got here... at 9:30.  We stopped at Penn Station to get dinner and a few unhappy customers decided to go to Subway.  To which I replied...what's the difference?  Anyway we all left Happy and ready to get to Jackson.  We (the guys) serenaded the girls van (via radio) with a playlist that consisted of: My Girl, Ready to Love, and Various Disney songs.  Afterwards, we got an hour closer and a few unmentionable people had to go to the bathroom (ahhhemm**the girls**). Us guys weren't too disappointed... it was our chance to get out of the car and buy some beverages and snacks.  Finally, we got back into the car and drove the rest of the way straight through to The Happy Church.  Now, I am sitting here watching kids hustle others for cots and Jess and some kids frantically set up for our VBS preview tomorrow.  The church service is in the morning and I am anxiously waiting for our ministry to really begin.  In conclusion we are all safe and made it here Happy and ready to sleep.  

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This is Nick Angstadt signing off. 

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P.S. Thanks Susie Klenk for the great pictures!

Remembering our VBS kids from last year - what a great time it was! It will be fun to see how much these kids have changed and hear how God has been working in their lives. Coming down to the wire before leaving always gets me in the "rushed" mode. So much to do before we blast off!

Todd

Preparations are underway...

As you know there is a lot of prep work to make any mission trip successful. Brian is speeding around town right now picking up last minute supplies, cots, binders, and other needed items. We plan on a box truck arriving around lunch time (that would be now) to pick up a donated pool/ping-pong table. After that we will be gathering and getting ready for the big load-up on Saturday at 4:00pm. Make sure you come to see us off (and lend a hand).

Welcome to the Happy Project Blog!

This blog was posted to provide updates and news regarding the Happy Project '08. Check back daily for updates.