GREEN TEAM!!

So this week is PRAISE WEEK!!! It's sort of like VBS for the youth group. It's a lot of fun. Monday was crazy we did a lot of running around for Praise Week then we had praise week. It was so much fun! We played a game where 4 people put a big trashcan on their head and ran at each other. the results were hilarious. Then we played more games, did skits, and I played in the band. We drove Thomas home and it was fun. I liked it.

Today we woke up and Travis came over dead early. I brought the message for praise week today and I talked about the Parable of the Sower. So I worked on that this morning. I finished reading "Forgotten God" by Francis Chan and I really enjoyed that. Then we went and got our passport extended so we can stay until August 1st. HOORAY! Then I DROVE for the first time eva to go pick up Thomas at work. It wasn't bad but it was on the left side which was weird. Then we had Praise Week again. We had a game where you had 2-6 people run out and try to drag a blow up tire to their side and it was brutal. Then we did another skit and played a game where we put peanut butter on people's faces and threw marsh mellows on them. It was funny. Then I talked. I feel good about it and I wasn't nervous at all! We drove Thomas home again and had another good car talk. What a good day!

Praise week for the rest of the week then 30 hour famine! Busy 2 weeks ahead!!! I love it!

-Josh

p.s. Love you Erica!

Dirty Dog

WHOA!! This weekend rocked!

Friday we had some meetings with Rev and Matthew and I set up all da air mattresses and tables for the retreat. We set up for church then people started showing up. Not gonna lie, beginning of Friday wasn't that great! But it got way better when we went rock climbing at Atlantis. We would climb up and if you make it to the top you can eliminate a rock with a piece of tape so the next climbers can't use it. It got really challenging but it was tons of fun. Then we had our session about courage and I lead my small group and it was just amazing. I was nervous to lead a small group but my group was cool and they made for some good discussion. Then we played dominoes and sang karaoke all night. We finally all went to bed at 3:30 and woke up the next morning at 7 for breakfast.

Saturday, we had a session pretty early in the morning. Everyone was dead tired and I had to make my group do jumping jacks so they wouldn't fall asleep. Then we were getting ready to go to Blue Lagoon (an island close by) but it was POURING down rain. We toughed it out and went. Once we got there, our day was filled with volleyball, beach soccer, wrestling on trampolines, free daiquiris (virgin) and chilling in hammocks. The day didn't end there. We went back, ate some tasty dinner and had another session (group was a little more lively than the morning session!!). Then the night was filled with lame pranks, dominoes, piano playing, and karaoke again. We went to bed at 1:30ish and then woke up at 5!!! serious wybes.

Sunday we woke up and packed all of our stuff and cleaned the rooms for church. Then we went to Cabbage Beach to have a sunrise service. It was cloudy but still pretty. THEN NATALIE (a girl in the youth group) GOT BAPTISED! It was awesome and I loved it! Probably the highlight of my weekend for no reason other than she got baptised!!! We chilled by the beach for a while then we got back and played a game with a HUGE ball! We then got ready to go see Xmen. I fell asleep for the first 20 minutes but then  I got hooked into the movie and it was amazing. After the movies everyone went home and Nathan, Matthew, and I did a lot of cleaning up and sorting and taking down. Then we cleaned our room and organized all the leftover food we got from the weekend and I did laundry. I went to the tail end of a VBS meeting and then it was COLLEGE GROUP!!! I'm not gonna lie I was only looking forward to it a little because I was so tired, but then it turned out to be such a good time! Bower, Thomas, and James came out and we just chilled and had bro time. We played dominoes and presidents and hung out. I'm still really excited for the college ministry and I know God's got big tings in store for dat.

I'm super tired so I'm going to bed.
Sorry this is so long- Josh <3

Nerf Shark!

Yesterday sucked!! JK it was the best day ever!!! woo! We went to the Wert's beach and we got to go snorkeling out by this fun reef (I'm pretty sure it was the great barrier reef) and we saw tons of pretty fishies there. Matthew pointed out a Nurse Shark chilling in this crevasse and it was awesome. After that we swam back and Ali, Karen, Travis, Nathan (Karen's little brother, not Nathan Wilkinson) went down to this "secret spot" and we jumped off this like 10 foot high rock thing and we did back flips from this tiny rock thing and it was good times! Then we went back and I learned how to play dominos (and I totally won 2/3 times!!!) ((Dirty Dog)) and then we left.

Then there's the traffic. We left the Wert's at like 5:15 and we didn't get to our destination of Thomas' house until like 7:00... that's how bad the traffic was. It probably only should have taken 15-20 minutes but nope, it took an hour and 45 minutes. But that's okay we went to Thomas' and had some amazing burgers and played some pingpong and some backyard cricket. We also had some brownies and ice cream which was DELICIOUS! We haven't had any chocolate since we've been here so it was a sweet treat!!

Today starts the retreat and we're going to PI and rock climbing today. Tomorrow we're going to Blue Lagoon and playing volleyball and chillin. And Sunday we're doing a sunrise beach service where people may get baptised! Let the good times roll!

-Love Josh!

dead fresh

YO! Tuesday we went to the beach with Travis and Amethyst! Nicola and Alison met us there but it was a lot of fun!!! We walked all the way down and climbed out on these rocks that were sharp, pointy, and hurt my feet! Muddoe! We jumped in and then we swam around... we saw this tiny tiny reef thing and there were fish around it and I tried to catch one with my hands but I was unsuccessful! (Ali will owe me $10 if I get one) After the beach we hung out with Amethyst for the rest of the day and then watched the Voice!!!

Yesterday was a chillaxing day. We woke up and I just kind of read a bunch and did a lot of prep work for the upcoming weeks. I got some games and some skits ready for praise week and the retreat that's coming up! I'm really excited about these next 2 weeks because they are going to be amazing and amazingly busy at the same time! I'm ready for it though!!!

Today we're going to "the best beach in the world"! Anytime you ask a questions that's like "what's the best beach to do this...???" the answer is always "Wert's beach".. so we're going to the Wert's and were gonna chill at their beach and do a lot of fun stuff! Then we're going to Thomas' to get beat in ping pong and eat some tasty burgers!! Hooray for today!!! I'm having tons of fun but I miss everyone back stateside. miss you love you!!!

-Josh

AHHHHHHHHHHH

Yesterday after church, I watched The Voice and some of the USA soccer game!!! Then I played softball with a bunch of guys from church and it was tons of fun! Then we played make me a sandwich with some of the college kids and then had college group! College group was amazing again! We talked about having personal relationships with God and it went well! After, we talked to Matthew about Praise Week and stuff and I'm excited about that! 

Today I woke up later than usual and then Travis came over. We helped Rev move a huge log and then talked for a while. Then he went home and Nathan and I went to the beach!! Then it rained so we left! Now I'm reading and chillin for the rest of the day! For dinner, we're eating some garlic chicken, black beans and rice. I'm excited!!! =)

-Love you! 

Happy Father's Day!!!

Yo! Friday's youth hang out was neat! We had a good turnout but the power went out again. The power goes out often so they can take a load off of the power plants and stuff, it's silly. Friday night, Travis slept over and that was a good time. We got a tv in our room now which is sweet!

Saturday morning we woke  up and hung out with Rev and Rayon (the youth band director). Then we went shopping and we got some good deals on some stuff. We drove all around the island and saw a lot of cool stuff! Then we had an awesome jam session with 2 girls Amethyst and Jasper where I played the djembe! Then we went and played football, but the lights went out AGAIN! It was still a lot of fun though!

This morning I played with the youth band at the Father's day church service! It rocked! After church I started raising money for the 30 hour famine we're having. I raised $680 in like 30 minutes which is awesome!!! Hooray! We're playing softball soon and there's a USA soccer game! Go USA!!! Tonight is Legit Sunday (college age group! ) and I CANNOT WAIT!!!

I love you! Bye!

p.s. last blog I said I was at a meeting, I forgot to mention that Cara Curry (awesome) was also in attendance for the meeting! Sorry for leaving you out of my last blog! :) haha

Travis Stole Nathans Shirt

Hey It's been a little while since I've blogged. Wednesday was rad, we went to Beth's house and she cooked us some awesome spaghetti and meatballs, let us do our laundry, and let us swim in her pool. It was a good time. 

Yesterday went by fast. We had a meeting with Matthew (youth pastor) Rev and Giselle about everything coming up and it was funsies. God's got some cool cool things ahead for us! Then we went to a music store with Rev and the church bought a Djembe for us to use while were here and I was really excited. It felt like I was getting a new instrument. Then we had youth band practice and hung out with TEAMeffort for a bit. After that we talked to a couple people that I haven't gotten a chance to talk to much yet and I enjoyed it a lot. 

Today we're going to a graduation to see Karen (the valedictorian) speak and then we're going to a fancy Methodist Banquet! Then we have youth hang out! YAY! 

- JTW 

USA! USA! USA! USA!

hey hey hey! Yesterday was Whit Monday so it was a holiday! We just chilled for most of the day. We walked to Wendy's with our friend James and that was fun! I went to bed early because I had a headache. This morning I set up my hammock on the front porch and I read a little. Travis came over and we went to the super value discount store. Travis got a Goombay Champagne and it was a pretty tasty treat! I talked to my mom on the phone for a while which was cool! I decided that I'm going to get a mandolin and maybe a melodica so I'm excited about that!! Right now Nathan and I are watching the USA vs. Guadalupe soccer game! Go USA! Tomorrow night, we're going to dinner at Beth's house (a lady from church) and we're going in her pool and doing our laundry there. I've already done most of my laundry in the sink but I can wash my towels and a few more things! We're so spoiled down here! Oh and we're getting a car again tomorrow! We're getting Jordan's (Pastor's son) car! Can I get a whoop whoop?

-Josh

Dafy, High Schoolers (legit)

Today was a super sweet day! So was yesterday! Yesterday band practice went well. We had some technical difficulties but it worked out. Then we went to the beach with Travis and Thomas then we went to the Bamboo Shack (a Bahamian restaurant)  and I got an alright burger. I'm gonna try some cracked conch next time! Today we lead worship for church and it was awesome! After church, we went to Black Beard Cay (pronounced key) and we touched a bunch of sting rays. I tried to pick one up for a while but it didn't work. We played beach volley ball and that was a great time! We came back and I did some laundry in the sink and I saw Clark, my TEAMeffort counselor in 2006. His youth group is at TEAMeffort here this week. I'm stoked that TEAMeffort is here! Now, it was time for the highlight of my day, college aged group (Dafy, High Schoolers (legit)) and it was AWESOME! We had 11 people this time and it was just great!!! It's for real the highlight of my week! Tomorrow morning we're helping TEAMeffort do something then it's our "off day" so we're probably just relaxing and chilling! I miss everyone!

love Josh!!

P.s. Dafy = Dat ain't for you

=)

So we haven't been doing a whole lot but I kinda like it. Yesterday we had youth band practice for worship night tonight and we've just been chillin, going to the beach and reading. I got a bunch of mangoes out of a tree and I accidentally hit Nathan in the chest with one which was funny. Tonight is praise night and we're playing 11 songs with the band and it's gonna be wild. Sunday we're leading worship for church and then going to swim with stingrays and stuff with Cheryl, the church band leader. I'm excited! Hooray!

love you

wild at fart

So I got the idea to start a congregational mens small group while I was here and base it on John Eldridge's "Wild At Heart" so I've been putting a lot of time deciding how to lead it and reading the book while taking notes. Reading a book goes by fast but reading and taking notes takes a while. Anyways we had the first meeting today and... nobody shows up... So now we decided that it would be best to not do mens group. I'm not gonna lie I was kinda bummed. As nervous as I was to lead a group of older men in a bible study, I was still really looking forward to it but you know what? Oh well. Stuff happens. I now have more time to spend on other things and I guess God wants me to use my time and efforts elsewhere so sweet. Bring it on! I'm still stoked about the college age ministry and I'm looking forward to working with the worship bands! So I was down but only for like 2.72 minutes. It's all good though. No wybin here!

<3 you

SWAYD!

Yesterday was a swell day! We went to church in the morning and played in the band and did all that jazz. I had a stringy mango and it wasn't my favorite but I hear the other mango are way better. Then we went to this sweet lunch place called Compass Point and it was a tasty treat! Then we chilled around all day, planning for the college group. OMG the college group went extremely well! We lead worship, played the "take as much toilet paper you think you'll need then tell me a fact about yourself for each sheet you took" game, then we just talked about why they were here and what they want out of the group. We all shared our testimonies (there were some quite powerful, and some deep ones), then we prayed and then just talked and stuff. Both Nathan and I were just ecstatic about how well it went. I'm stoked for next week and the weeks to come! Today is our "day off" so we're headed to the sea glass beach and I'll be preppin for the mens group that I'm leading!  hooray for days off!

-JTW

Cornucopia of Sea Glass!

Today was pretty sweet! I read more of Wild at Heart and got ready to lead the men's small group on Tuesday night!  Nathan and I went to this really pretty beach called Cabbage Beach and it was awesome! Really pretty water, not rocky and not many people. I about had a heart attack though when I found 82 pieces of sea glass! Hip Hip Hooray!!! Then we came back and I watched part of the USA vs. Spain soccer game and took a power nap. Then James, the sound guy, picked us up and we played football! It was so much fun and despite play 2 hand touch there were a lot of injuries (2 skinned knees and a skinned elbow for me)! Others bumped heads and sprained ankles and all that stuff. I scored 2 TD's though so I'm a boss! Tomorrow is our first church meeting and we're starting the college aged ministry but we don't have a plan yet but I think that'll work! I'm still extremely excited for everything that's happening this summer!

Love you! -Joshua

No Wybin here

Today was Bahamian Labour day so it was a pretty chill day! We both woke up sick today and I think allergies are just getting the best of us. My eyes are super itchy and I sneeze approximately 12 times per minute. it's all good though, I still had a great day. We went to the church band practice and now were playing with them on Sunday which I'm really excited about! After that Nathan took a nappy nap and I read and took notes on Wild At Heart for the Mens group we may start up! I cooked some rice and we added some taco seasoning to it and it was delicious. After that we played a little soccer tennis and some guy climbed up a coconut tree and knocked all of them down. He gave us coconuts and I opened it with my $1 walmart pocket knife... and I was really disappointed... Newsflash: coconuts aren't good... A girl in the youth, savanna, said "this is nothing like the shampoo" and boy was she right but oh well. 

After that we had youth! It was just a chill day where we just played games and stuff. I played Volleyball and then soccer tennis with these guys who were extremely good at soccer. It was a really good time meeting all of the youth kids and just hanging out with them. Savanna and Jade taught me some Bahamian slang...

Wybin- problems... like having a lot of problems

swayd- so who asked you that?

muddoe- aww man this sucks

muddasickbey- aww that sucks dude

bey- a term like dude or bro

stale- that's a sucky joke, Nathan (I'll be using that one a lot) haha

nani- poop

Boungey- butt.

Hooray! love you

Hello My Name Is...

I heard that about 100 times today! We went from meeting to meeting to meeting but it was all great! We met with Matthew (the youth pastor), Pastor Neilly, and Giselle (Pastor's wife) and we discussed all of the stuff we're going to be doing during the summer! We're starting a college age group (we should call it Wesley) and we're working with the youth band and the youth itself. We're also just having bi weekly youth hangouts and they want us to go on their youth retreat coming up (yes please!). We're doing the Dramas/Lessons for the VBS coming up and we're also doing a lot for the youth "praise week". I couldn't be more excited to see everything pan out during the summer!  We went shopping today and we got a bunch of food and only spend 57 dollars which is good for shopping in the Bahamas! we bargain shopped out the wazoo and saved some money which is always nice! We got some good healthy stuff too! WOO HOO!

-Love

p.s. James's last name is Duryea not Capelli!!!!

Did you see the moonwalking bear?

My first night was amazing! We just got settled into our room with the help of my new friend Rumell, and then we went to the prayer service. We didn't know where the meeting was so we traveled around and finally found it 15 minutes late but whatevs, I'm told that's the Bahamian way lol. Anyways the meeting was so good! Pastor Neilly talked about something so simple yet so powerful, the Lords Prayer. We prayed for quite some time. I had a lot of prayers directed at me which was awesome! Then Nathan lead some songs (I sang harmony!!!) and afterwards, a member of the church gave me and Nathan $50! What a blessing! It's encouraging to see members of the church on fire for Jesus and who were willing to do anything to further His kingdom! I'm excited to work with all of the people I met and I'm excited to meet more people too (and finally play some soccer)! Today we're having lunch with some dudes from the church so we can meet and talk about the rest of the summers plans!

Yesterday when we were setting up beds, Nathan says "I won't EVER need this big blanket" and he puts it away.... I wake up and the 1st thing I see is Nathan in that huge blanket haha. It's so cold in our room!

 Last night I watched this video...it was really funny but it got me thinking... While I'm here I have to be intentional about helping people out and I always have to be on the look out for people to go talk to and for things to do because odds are, they are not going to come to me so I'm gonna be on the lookout for the moonwalking bear this summer!

love you! bye

Here goes nothing.

I'm here in the Bahamas now! It's great! The airport was the smoothest that the airport can get! The flight was a bit rocky but only because we were taking off in the rain but it was all good. We got to the Bahamas and customs didn't like that we were "working but didn't have any papers saying we were working" so we only got granted a month stay here but we can go get that extended for the extra month anytime. This awesome dude named Rumell and Pastor Neilly picked us up from airport and drove (on the left side of the road) to the church. We're at Queens College (the place were staying) and were in the upstairs bedroom with the AC and it's super sweet. We moved in another bed and Nathan is sleeping on girly flower sheets. I'm just ready to play some soccer! I got to talk to Erica with my google voice number (757-BAHAMA-0) and that was the best! We're leading worship tonight for a tiny prayer meeting and I'm excited about that but from what I hear, the church is SUPER EXCITED to have us here too! I'm still not really sure what our duties are here but I think Titus 2:6-8 sums up what I wanna do... "Encourage the the young men to be self-controlled. In everything set them an example by doing what is good. In your teaching show integrity, seriousness and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned, so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us." BOOM! I want that verse to be lived out in my life!

Love Josh

Sure

Here I go, writing a blog for the first time ever (unless you count Xanga but that was a joke and I was like 12). I feel like I'm gonna be a horrible blog writer but I'm okay with it. I'm really excited because I'm going to the Bahamas today! I'm going with my buddy Nathan and we're gonna play soccer with some kiddos and make some sweet sweet worship music too! I've been excited for a while now but I'd say I'm more antsy not... 1:30 can't come soon enough! 

I love flying so I can't wait for that whole ordeal too! I just love people watching and seeing how strangers act in high stress situations. I always wonder like Where are they going? Where did they come from? Why? What made them wear that shirt? I also just like being on an airplane and being way higher in the sky and going way faster than everyone else. haha this is lame. 

Anyways, I'm stoked for what the Lord has in store for me and Nathan and just what this whole experience will be like (and to be chillin by da beach, boy). I'll cya in August, America (with a huge beard)! 

 

-Josh Wiater

p.s. I'm gonna miss Erica a bunch!