So we weren’t able to post many blog entries while we were gone. We were just having too much fun to sit still for long! But, thinking about a final entry upon our return, I thought I’d post one picture. One picture to sum up what this trip was about for us. One picture to show you what mission trips mean. So here it is - we call it “Rain Jump.”

The moment pictured here happened on Tuesday night of our weeklong trip. We had been playing in a gorgeous field surrounded by mountains, passing the hacky sack and then the foursquare ball around the circle, just being goofy as none of us were particularly talented with especially the hackysack. When the rain started, we didn’t stop. We just kept playing and eventually went into the chapel for worship completely soaked. The jump happened right before worship started.

To me the Rain Jump sums up our trip because it represents a truly free moment. It is a snapshot of people who aren’t worried about how they look or how they have messed up in the past or what is coming in the future. It is a celebration of the present moment. It is a group of people being totally free with one another in play and silliness. It is each of us being only children of God, not worried about any other label. It is people free of the burdens that distract us from God’s love.

Mission trips are about service, but more than that, they are about living into God’s unconditional love for us. Being free enough to accept that love, we are able to see God’s love for each individual and give them love and respect in turn. This is truly serving with the heart of Christ.

The LPC youth are beyond awesome and so are the adult advisors who accompany them. Many thanks to our LPC family who supported us with prayer, money, and encouraging words. May we all be free enough to jump around in the rain!

Love, Katie

Hey guys it me Patrick. I have had an awesome week; we’ve painted and worked on an woman’s house and deck. We had an Australian musician named Chris work with us at our work site for two days. Then on Wednesday I rode a really big swing that was scary at first but now I want to do it again. Then on Thursday went on a high ropes course. After the high ropes half of our group went horseback riding, and the other group went mountain biking and that’s when the real fun began . Both me and Scott fell multiple times, all of  which ended in bruises(for the full story talk to Scott ,Katie or I).Today we went white water rafting and later we are going in to town to explore and have  dinner. I will see you guys tomorrow. Bye!