WE ACTUALLY WENT ON DA SLIDE!

WOO! So today was awesome! We went and picked up Christi for band practice. Then we finally got beef loaf (it was only okay but still good)! Then we had band practice which went well. Then Karen, Jono, Nathan and I went to pick up Travis then off to the Ferguson's. Momma Ferg made us some amazing garlic bread pizza and then Ali had a soccer game in a little so we hung out with her until she left. Then we played soccer tennis and Egyptian Rats until she left. Then we FINALLY went onto the slide. We drove and parked across the street from some resort and walked over to the big slide called The Hippo. It was tons of fun and we got some good pics! Then Jono, Nathan and I went on this other slide and hung out in this pool until it was time for volleyball. We had a good game going until it was time to give the ball back. Then we chilled in another pool until we decided to leave. We then went back to the Ferguson's and waited for Ali to get ready and we went to the Wert's to eat and chill. Then we went to some park to play whiffle ball and it was awesome! Then Karen and I played Wii volleyball and badminton and then we drove everyone home. When we got back I typed up all the words for tomorrow's worship, packed up most of my stuff, and cleaned out the van a little bit! It was such a good day!

Tomorrow is church then some goodbye party for Henry Knowles (the associate pastor) and I'm not sure what else is in store! We're gonna be saying a lot of goodbyes at church! I'm excited to come home but I'm definitely gonna miss it here! Leaving will be sweet bitter.

Love you

p.s. Erica, 1 more day!

Day 5

So on Thursday, we didn't do anything because nobody showed up. It was okay though. Nathan and I just chilled and rested up. Then we went and cleaned up Coke Memorial and then went to the beach. It was a nice rest day.

Today was awesome!  Karen, Christi, Brittany, James, Jade, Nathan and I went to this cool beach thing and prayed about Fox hill, Nassau, and our day! It was really good. Then we went to Ranfurley Home and they said that they didn't have anything for us to do so we went to Fox hill one last time and played with kids and just loved on the community. It was a great time and an awesome way to end the week. We talked when we got back and then Karen and I learned some magic tricks. We're magicians now. Then we had our last youth group hang out time and it was fun. We played soccer tennis, pool, ping pong, cards, and dominoes! YAY

Tomorrow we're doing band practice at 10:30 and then we're going to the slide at crystal palace. We're ACTUALLY doing it this time! I'm really excited! I can't believe we only have 2 days left!

Love you!

Day tree!

Today was a blast! We had a good sized crew (Me, Nathan, Rumell, Karen, Christi, Shaquille, Brittany and James)! We went over to Melissa's again and we started cleaning up across the street. We trimmed the bushes a little bit and I took a bunch of vines off these tree's but for the most part we picked up trash and let me tell you, it was overwhelming! There was smelly stuff all over and we picked up like 10 bags full and it didn't even make a dent in it. That left us all discouraged going into lunch. We had a good lunch time and then we went back and decided that we were going to stop picking up trash and just play with the kids and hang out with people from the neighborhood. We played dominoes with older people from the neighborhood and soccer/ piggy in the middle (monkey in the middle) with the kids! It was a really great time and it went by so fast! Then we said our goodbyes, packed up and left! That was sad a little. But then we debriefed and drove Rumell and Shaquille home. We had to say goodbye to them which was also sad because they are going camping/hiking in Texas tomorrow! I was really encouraged by Shaquille because on Tuesday he was set on not coming today but he ended up coming and it rocked! Woo hoo!

Tomorrow, well I'm not sure what we're doing but it's in God's hand. Hooray

love you

Day 2

Today was equally as good as yesterday! Mr. Curry came over and we traded all of our Bahamian money to American. Then Matthew Cole came over and we said our goodbyes which was kinda sad. Then Christi, James, and Shaquille came over to go to the worksite. We got to Melissa's and the backyard looked great! Nathan got a weed eater and he wacked the side yard and we just cleaned up some other stuff. By lunch we were done with the back and side yard! Hooray! After lunch, we took Christi home and we cleaned the lot across the street. There's a watering hole where everyone hangs out and they just throw their trash on the ground so we went and got them a trashcan to throw stuff away in. We also got Melissa a trashcan which was neat! Today was great because we cleaned up a lot of the neighborhood and I joked around with Melissa a lot! Playing with the kids was great too! I saw God in everything that happened!  We got back and talked about everything then took Shaquille and James home! I'm excited for tomorrow! Miss everyone! 5 days til home! WOO!

Marlin, Mervin, Marcus and Mark

Monday was great! We woke up and ate some breakfast with James and Rumell then got everything ready for the mission trip! Then Brittany showed up and we headed out to Coke Memorial (The church we're doing the mission stuff out of). We chilled there for a while because Nathan and Pastor Bethel had to check out the site we are working at. Then he came and got us and we went over to a lady named Melissa's house. She has 4 sons, Marlin (7) Mervin (6) and twins Marcus and Mark (4) and they are so cute! They just played and helped us out the whole time!!! It was tons of fun!

Our job was to clean the side and back of her house. There was so much garbage and stuff back there it was crazy! There were layers upon layers of garbage back there and it took 6 people all day to clean a small area. We still got a lot done and I'm really happy about it! It was an amazing experience playing with the kids and cleaning up the yard but also seeing the college kids work and stuff too!

Pray for us that we can clean it all up and touch the kids as well as the adults too! Thanks

Rumell, Why are you tickling me?

Saturday was a blah day! For some reason I wanted to do something but I didn't feel like doing anything. I don't know but it was weird. So I just read and hung out all day. At night we went to the beach and watched the sun set into the clouds and it was amazing! Nathan and I just talked and talked and enjoyed the beauty. It was awesome

Today was church and it was cool because we finally got to see everyone who came back from camp and that was really cool hearing about everything. Church was really good! Then Nathan, Rev and I went to get stuff for mission week this week. Then Nathan and I hung out until 3:30 softball. It was fun. We didn't really have enough people (6 vs 7) but we managed. Nathan was picked last  but he hit a homerun his 4th at bat. He was the only one to hit a homerun today! Yay for Nathan! I played well and I was super cautious because of my knee. I had a blast. Then I talked fantasy baseball and football with some of the guys and that was good times. Then Nathan and I went and got some food for the mission trip and got some pizza for tonight. Then it was college group. At first, it was only Nathan and I. But then James, Rumell and a TON of cousins came. We played pool, ping pong, cards and talked about nerdy things like Star Wars and Harry Potter. It was fun! Now It's just my awesome friend Rumell and James here. SLUMBER PARTY!

We will wake up in the morning and do some cool mission work in Foxhill!

mini blog

Thursday was a chill day again. We loosely planned the mission week and hung out. Then last night we went and hung out at the Green Parrot and walked around Atlantis for a bit. It was really fun! Nathan and I went in the pool and had a good time!

Today we talked with Rev about the mission week, set up for church on Sunday and then went to the beach. It was so hot but it was a good time! That's really all for now. Everyone comes back from camp soon and I'm really excited to see everybody!!! Yay!

-love Josh

Mullet Town

Well the USA girls didn't win but it's okay. College group made that all better. James and Brittany came and we played dominoes and talked then Matthew and Karen came and we played some ping pong and watched Zoolander.

Monday was a rest day. My knee still bugged me and so I just kinda laid in bed and rested it all day. I started reading Harry Potter. There was a crazy storm that produced a mini tornado that didn't touch down. There was a lot of lightning and rain and Nathan and I had a sweet worship session on the balcony. That was Monday. I needed it though because...

Tuesday, my knee felt way better. I woke up and read a lot more Harry Potter. We had a short meeting with Rev and then went over to Matthew Cole's house. Wendy (Matthew's wife) cut my hair! My sweet hair that I've been growing for over a year! I had a really dirty, awesome mullet for a bit. She cut me all the way down to a 3 and it's so much cooler! I love it! We played with Ben and Naiomi (their kids) for a while then we went to the Yacht Club to play in the pool and eat dinner! It was great! I'm sad that they are going away on Tuesday!

Today we tried to go to the beach but it was raining so we had to leave early. We came back, ate lunch and went shopping. When we came back the power was out so we watched some How I Met Your Mother. We had some dinner and then went to the movies to see Harry Potter! It was AMAZING!!! Oh my lanta! It was a wild time!

Anyways, this week has been really chill because all of the kids are at Camp Bahamas in Eleuthera. Next week is "mission week" and we'll have a mission project a day and I'm excited. We'll  be planning that this week! I miss everyone!

Love you!
-Josh

<3 you Erica

Captain Josh

So Saturday, Matthew (youth pastor) came over and we talked about Sunday's service for a bit. Then I had band practice and it went well. Then we went to Matthew's to tear down an old shed. It ended up raining really hard but we did it anyways. We were supposed to go on the big slide but the shed took too long so we didn't go. We drove Karen and Jono home and came back to QC. Nathan worked on his sermon and I went and played football. Football was a lot of fun. It was really hot but I had a good game until... I hurt my knee! I just like tweaked the knee that I tore my ACL on in 2009 and I can bend and straighten it all the way. It just hurts to walk a little bit.

Today we had an early band practice. I had to scurry/hop around and type  up all the words for the songs and stuff and it was kinda crazy. Worship was really great though! I had a great time! Then Nathan preached an awesome sermon! I payed attention the whole time (rare)! It was so good! I'm proud of my little guy! Now I'm just resting my knee and watching the USA womens soccer team beat Japan in the World Cup Finals! Then college group!!! HOORAY!

-love you!
Josh

monkey riding a dog.

We've had a lot of chill times this week and they were all good good times! 

Wednesday we played Ultimate Frisbee at 4 and it was SO HOT!!! I'm pretty sure we were playing on the sun! It was funny because we started and like 5 minutes in people just stopped playing but it was still good good times (mostly because I'm a boss at Ultimate)! After that we had a group of people come and watch Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows pt 1 and it was sooooo good! Shaquille got dead scared when the snakes jumped at the camera! haha

Thursday I read a ton of Crazy Love and got ready for the Worship Workshop. I had to pick Ethan (one of the youth) up from work and I got really lost and I was driving a large 17 passenger van and I was trying to turn around in some tiny driveway in and I had to do like a 22 point turn. I finally found the place and I got Ethan and we had Worship Workshop. That went really well. It was slow at first but more people showed up and the discussion got better and it was cool. After that we had chill time and like 10-15 youth came out and we played 4 square, pool, had a pillow fight and played ping pong. Hooray

Today, I found out that there was a documentary at the Sundance Festival about the abortion clinic and the pro life center across the street from each other on the corner of 12th and Delware IN FORT PIERCE!!! I watched it and it was wild! Then I finished Crazy Love and we had youth! A ton of kids came out and we played a ton of dominoes, ping pong, pool, and with Ali's ipad (that was rad)! I had a great time! The youth drank like 12- 2 liters of soda which was wild! 

Love you

Live it out, shout it loud!

Sunday was cool! Church was a VBS service. We sang and did all of our dances and it was cool. I was glad when it was finally over! Then we chilled out and we had Legit Sunday. It was Bahamian Independnce so not many people came out but we still had a good time!

Monday was a slow day. Nathan didn't feel great but he slept it off and then Thomas came over to give me back some clothes and we went to the beach. It was a day off for Bahamians because of Independence so the beach was packed! It was still fun but then we had to say goodbye to Thomas which was sad. Then James came over to give me some Gneps (spanish limes) and we went to get some ice cream but it was too expensive. Then I worked on stuff for leading worship on Sunday.

Today was productive. I sent out emails to people playing in the band. We went shopping and got some sweet deals on some groceries. I made a ton of facebook events for stuff coming up. I looked up my books for classes next fall. Then Nathan made country fried steak, mashed potatoes, and green beans. I loved today! It did go by fast though but it was solid.

love you!
Josh

5 fish, peas and grits!!! Oh when the saints...

So Friday, we were supposed to go to the big slide at crystal palace. We got lost going to Travis' and then we finally found his house n went to Ali's. We got her and went to BK and then waited for Karen and some other cousins. They got there a lil late and Nathan and I ran out of time to go on the slide. It was all good though, we went to Travis' and played with their puppy, Molly. They have 2 cats and they made my eyes really itchy and it hurt my right eye really bad, I like popped a blood vessel or something but it's better now. We went back to QC to have the last night of VBS. I was really relieved when it was done. I had a ton of fun but it was frustrating being in charge of a group. After VBS we rejoiced and chilled until bed time.

Today I woke up dead early at 7:00 AM. I finished watching Boardwalk Empire and read a little. At 11 we went to Harbour Bay, a shopping plaza, to do some last minute fundraising for the 30 Hour Famine we did. We raised $400 which was awesome. At 3 we wrapped it  up and we went on our way to the Bahamian National Soccer game! It was a FIFA World Cup Qualifier against Turks and Caicos and WE won 6-0! My boys Sykes, Smokey, Nesley, and Sealey brought it home for us! It was tons of fun and I loved it! It was on a turf field with only a few tiny bleachers for fans to sit on. There was a silly guy trying to get us to make noise and sing "When the Saints" and he said some goofy stuff. Entertaining. Tonight we're hangin out with some college kids and I'm excited!

Tomorrow we have VBS service at church where all the kids sing the songs and talk about how awesome VBS was! I can't wait!

Love!

<3 you Erica

Love you

yuh yuh yuh yuh yes to vuh vuh vuh vbs

So Wednesday was just as chill as Tuesday. I read a lot and hung out and chilled. Travis, Vilson, and I set up the church and then I got ready for VBS. VBS went well  and the kids are all awesome despite being extremely talkative. It rained all night so we had to tweak the schedule but it worked out. Then I watched Harry Potter 6!

Yesterday I woke up, and Amethyst was over so we went to the Haviannas store with Giselle. We shopped and then when we got back, Travis was here! Then a few more people came over and we hung out then went to the beach. We saw some couple get re-married and that was awesome. Then we went home, played with water balloons and cards. Then it was VBS time again. It's amazing how fast VBS goes by because it's only 2 hours long. We had fun singing and dancing again but then the power went out. luckily we just had like 20 minutes left and it came on anyways. Then we played  a ton of tag and then everyone went home.

Today we're going on this big inflatable slide and then VBS for the last time!!! Hooray!

love, josh

p.s. Erica I love you!

hear it! believe it! connect it!

I haven't blogged in a little while and according to Shaquille, I have a lot to talk about so here it goes.

Sunday we had an awesome time hanging with Syd and Sam from TEAMeffort. We drove them to the airport and had good talks about their time here and stuff. We got back and it was time for softball. I couldn't play at first because of a VBS meeting but after the meeting I went and had a ton of fun. After softball, Legit (college group) went to see Transformers 3D for James' birthday! I only liked the movie but a lot of people loved it! The power went out during the movie but the generator kicked in but it was still funny.

Monday was fun times. It was 4th of July but nobody cared around here. We went to the haviannas store because there's a sale and we went downtown and played tourist. We went to fireworks unlimited, which was kinda sketchy and got some ammo for the night. We had our first night of VBS which went okay. My group (grade 3-4) was big and they talked a lot but it was still fun. Then Amethyst, James, Nathan and I went to Cabbage to watch the Atlantis fireworks and they were gorgeous. I loved it

Tuesday was a chilltastic day! I just chilled all day. Read and watched some TV. Made Juan some lunch. Then I took a mini nap in my hammock and then got ice for VBS (This meant driving the huge van for the first time! ) Then we had vbs again. My group got smaller and less talkative which was nice. I also got an extra helper Savanna so she helped, along with Jade. We all had a good time then after VBS I had an amazing time running around with all the kids. Then I chilled more when they went home and then I crashed. Now I'm up and preppin for VBS for today! YAY

love

30 Hour Famine!

We just finished breaking the 30 hour famine! The weekend so far was awesome! We had a 30 hour famine meeting at 10 on Friday, and at 10:55 Travis and I were stuffing our faces for the famine that started at 11. Then Brandon and Ethan came over early and helped do some stuff. We then hung out and had praise week. The games we're kinda dull but the message and stuff was good. Then we kicked off into 30 hour famine mode. The power went out right away and it was a cool way to accidentally  start the night. We had some fun starting games and then set up tribes with a ton of carboard boxes. We just chilled for the night and I went to bed at 5:30am and woke up at 6:00am so I got a solid 30 minutes of sleep. We woke up all dead tired. Set up for church and sluggishly did more activities. It was still a load of fun. At 5 we had an ending worship service and communion and we broke the fast!!! We had some corn meal stuff that was kind of tasty, yet nutritious. Now, we're going to a place called the Cricket Club with Rev and we're gonna chow down! Tomorrow we're not going to church because we're driving TEAM effort staff to the airport. I'm excited but I'm currently extremely tired! 

love! 

Green Team Domination!

We still havin praise week! Wednesday was sweet! Nathan and I lead the worship with the help of some youth band people. It was great! We played a lot of goofy games then Travis slept over and we had a good time! Yesterday was praise week again! Travis and I woke up and walked around town searching for fireworks. No luck. Then we went to cabbage beach and team effort was there too! That was funsies! Then praise week happened and I played with the band. Nathan gave an awesome, much needed message on forgiveness and that rocked! We didn't drive Thomas home :( but Travis slept over again and we cooked some good pasta and hung out for a bit!

Today is the last day of praise week and the start of 30 hour famine at 11:00 AM!!! WOOOO I'm ready and excited!!!

love you!