Adam: Today was our day of worship and rest. Kids from various groups spoke at each service and gave their “testimonies”. Also, it is very important that we remember all the kindness the Emanuel Lutheran Church has shown us here in North Carolina. They have fed us and housed us and have made this event possible. Their charity to us allows us to show charity to North Carolina.
Lisa and Hannah… I will be home soon. I have been praying for you both and our families back home have been in our prayers.
Seth: Today we got the opportunity to go to church. It was especially nice because we got to sing, now, one of my favorite songs God is Mighty to save and listen to testimonials from our group. We also received letters of encouragement from one another which was nice. Unfortunately Nick broke his ankle on the slip and slide. It is a good day of worship and rest. Love you mom and dad, good luck with work.
Rachael: We just ate dinner, we had a barbeque. It was amazinggg, hamburgers hotdogs and lots of yummy sides. I love the food here. It is so awesome that all the food we eat was either donated or someone was kind enough to pitch in and buy all 60 of us breakfast lunch and dinner for 10 days. It’s incredible. Tonight we are doing community life (playing games with everyone) and then spiritual life (pretty self explanatory). Tuesday we would usually go into Ashville and eat at the oh so famous Mellow Mushroom. But I am pretty sure that we won’t be able to this year because the family we are working for wants us to be there on Tuesday so that they can thank us. which is a blessing in itself. Well I am off to visit people!! Bye
Luke: Today was interesting. Got up early for church and ate breakfast and went to early service. After that service we had a bible study in the cafeteria and then sang for both the traditional and the contemporary service. We also got to listen to all the testimonials from different ASE members. It was pretty cool seeing friends go up there and talk about ASE and what it means to them. After all the church services we took pictures and then had a bunch of free time to do whatever we want. So of course we set up a slip and slide. Unfortunately someone broke their ankle after about thirty minutes in so we had to stop. It was pretty epic because the kid didn’t cry. He just sat there and took it and asked me for his Nintendo DS so he had something to do at the hospital. Tomorrow should be fun. Our group is splitting up and about six of us will be going to a little plumbing site while the rest stay to finish up around the church. We’ll finish the church early, so we’re planning on spending the rest of the day at Ashville AKA mellow mushroom. So hopefully it will be a lot of fun.
Mark; Well today we had church. We went to the early service and also the late praise and also traditional service. We sang at both of the later. After church we built a custom slip and slide! Which was a lot of fun. But during all the fun we unfortunately had someone break their ankle which required a hospital visit. Fortunately he is back at the church and spending the night here! That is all for tonight because I am really tired as it has been a long week! Goodnight everyone!
Sarah: This morning we went to the 8:30 service for church, and we wore our ASE t-shirts. There were also testimonies, and I was someone who gave one of these; I spoke at the 11:00 traditional service. I have been blessed with the opportunity to talk about the difference that ASE has made in my life for the past 2 years, and I’m really glad that I got to do it this year too. Heather was my speaking buddy. For lunch we had pizza, which was incredible, and after that we took pictures in our matching shirts, first as a whole group, and then as individual state groups. The rest of the day was ours to spend as we wished. One of our wishes was to make a slip ‘n’ slide with a giant tarp, but that ended as soon as Nick (Monroe, MI) broke his ankle and had to be taken to the hospital via ambulance. He was a trooper though, and he didn’t cry or whine or anything. In fact, what he really wanted was his Nintendo DS. Afterward, all of the girls who went on the slip ‘n’ slide took showers, because we were covered in grass and mud. Then I fell asleep on one of the couches. When I woke up, Zach (Northville) was sitting next to me, and he took Kelsey’s (DE) camera and just took random pictures and videos for awhile, so we had some fun doing that. Then we played with Meg’s (OH) Icy Hot, which was an adventure. Dinner was good, and Rachel (NC) from last year’s ASE was there again, so it was great to see her. Our routine after dinner was the same: state groups, community life, spiritual life, and chapel. I just love chapel. That’s all for tonight.
Nikki: I forgot to mention in yesterday’s journal that the man I spoke to at Marshall worked at the River Rouge factory for a time in his younger days. It is not uncommon here, when talking with older men, to find when you tell them you are from Michigan that at some point they lived in Michigan and worked in one of the factories. I also met a man at Marshall that worked at the GM factory on Bristol Road. Sometimes it is amazing to realize how small our world is.
Today was a relatively laid back day, with the exception of the broken ankle and hospital visit already mentioned by the others. Adam did his journal early in the day today, before this happened. The youth who broke his ankle was the only from his church, along with one adult leader. They rode down with MI Northville, so did not have a vehicle. Adam volunteered to take the counselor to the hospital and stayed with them, so he was there for about seven hours today.
Spiritual Life was very interesting tonight. Since our topic this year is questions people have about Christianity, and there are so many pastors here (5 in all) we had the opportunity to submit questions for a panel discussion on the questions we have. There was quite a variety, ranging from “Is kissing considered pre-marital sex?” to “What happens to babies who die before they are baptized?” to “Will we recognize each other in Heaven?” Overall, we had good discussion. Occasionally the responses got over the kids head, but they were quick to follow up with an additional question. I pray that the youth all were able to take something from the evening
