North Carolina Day 6

Hello everyone!

Last night we packed, cleaned, and slept little! But we were up this morning, ready to hit the road. We got into our giant van we've had this week (which we are very grateful we were able to borrow) and headed to pick up Phil and then on to the airport in Charlotte.

I won't bore you with all the travel details, but the main point is the Lord was gracious to us. We made our connecting flight and all our luggage showed up with us!

We are all home now and ready to get some rest after such a busy week, but I know that we are all so grateful to God for giving us such an amazing trip. We appreciate the efforts of people like Beth and Josh for making sure we had everything we needed and for taking care of us. It was really fantastic to see Phil and Melanie and Bret and Mindy and to spend time praying with them and fellowshipping with them. We are also very thankful to God for allowing us to get all the work done at the Jungle Jump Off. It was awesome getting to know and work with the boys from Ohio and Pennsylvania Katie. I think Vernon was impressed that a bunch of Californians (they liked to tease us about being from California) were able to re-roof all those buildings. It's only by the grace of God that we had the strength and fortitude to get it all done and that as a team we worked so well together.

Thank you all again for your support - your prayers really did make a difference that we all felt. 

God bless you,

The North Carolina Team

North Carolina Day 5

Hello everyone!

Well, it was our last day here in Waxhaw, NC at the JAARS facility. We were up early to have breakfast together and head to the CAM devotion service. At the CAM devotion service, the staff brought us up to the front and presented us with service certificates and gifts for the work we've done at the Jungle Jump Off. Collin was given his very own tape measure as a special gift from CAM.

After the service concluded, we headed to the job site and got to work! We had two latrines and a shower block to re-roof today. We finished all the cabins and one shower block so far and we were determined to get everything done by the end of today! We worked hard and by the grace of God, we finished all the work (even more work than Vernon figured we could do) at the Jungle Jump Off. This should go a long way toward reopening the camp in the near future!

Kaity and Katie decided to try the nail-gun today!

Bret showed up to help out...

After we finished our project and cleaned up the job site, we went to lunch. We spent some time with Bret and Mindy after lunch time and took the opportunity to find out where they need help and what we could be praying about for them. It was really great spending time with our missionaries this week!

After that we were able to go on the Mission Adventure 4X4 drive! JAARS has an extreme 4X4 course where they train missionaries to drive in terrible conditions. The ride was really fun and it was great to see another way that JAARS trains their missionaries for practical skills they can take to the field!

After the drive, we went to a couple of the museums here on campus and had a short meeting and prayer time at the main JAARS building. We went to dinner tonight with Philip, Melanie and Hunter and then came back to the apartment to start cleaning and packing for our trip home. Beth and Josh stopped by to do our final debriefing tonight and to say goodbye.

Lord willing, we'll be back in California tomorrow! We will be heading to the airport first thing in the morning. Please be praying for our safety as we travel, and that we can catch our quick connection in Phoenix! Thank you all for praying for us and we will see many of you soon! God bless you!

North Carolina Day 4

Hello everyone!

Greetings from North Carolina! We started the day with a devotion service in the CAM building with the staff. From there, we headed back to the Jungle Jump Off area. We fixed roofs, cleared brush, and cleaned around the hut sites. We have gotten a lot done on this project so far! We finished the huts and we've started working on replacing the roofs on the shower buildings and outhouses. 

After lunch, we had the opportunity to go up for a short flight in some of the JAARS planes. They do a lot of aircraft training, maintenance, and innovation here at the JAARS campus. It was a great day for flying and we were able to see the area around JAARS, downtown Waxhaw, and Charlotte in the distance. We spoke to the pilots after the flight and they told us some stories about how important it is for missionaries to have access to pilots and planes in difficult to reach areas. They said there is an extremely remote area in Africa that is reachable by plane in one day, but would take 30 days by car!

(For the folks who might be interested, we flew in a Cessna 206 and two Helio Courier H295s)

After the flights, we headed back to the Jungle Jump Off to finish up a couple of loose ends and then went back to the apartments to freshen up. 

We hosted a Youth Group BBQ tonight! We (Bernal Church) provided the food and cooked all the hot dogs for the kids who come to Bret Taylor's youth group. It was really fun and after dinner, everyone split up and played games with all the kids. After the BBQ, the kids all headed to the Olive Branch building (the youth building) that the first Bernal missions trip team worked on!

(Caleb took his duties very seriously)

(Kaity was slightly less serious)

(Nick had the eye of the tiger)

After cleaning and packing up, we all headed back to the apartments for fellowship and games. We should be able to finish the roofing project at the Jungle Jump Off tomorrow. Everyone is still feeling pretty well and the weather has been beautiful. Please keep us in prayer for safety at the job site, good weather and good health, and that we can really be a blessing to our missionaries here and to the CAM staff that we've been working alongside all week.

God bless!

North Carolina Day 3

Greetings from North Carolina!

Today our team continued working on replacing the hut roofs of the Jungle Jump Off here at JAARS. So much work was done today! The team was working like a well oiled machine with folks cutting shingles, placing shingles, cleaning brush, moving wood, carrying tools, and so much more. We finished 3 roofs today and we've got another 1 about half way done! It's been a great experience working with the wonderful CAM staff and our great teammates from Sidney, Ohio.

One of our other teammates worked with Bret Taylor and some of his students from the youth group on their sound system. We got the sound system up and running a little smoother and provided training for the students who are interested in running live sound for the youth group.

After we finished working on the Jungle Jump Off, we headed to Philip and Melanie Shipley's house for dinner. The Shipleys made us what they called "2AM Burgers" which are a combination of cheeseburgers and breakfast! We had some fellowship time and looked at pictures from Philip's recent trip to Asia where he met and built relationships with staff members from SIL and Wycliffe. We took time to pray for the Shipleys at the end of the evening. It was a really great day.

So far the weather is holding up well for roofing! Please continue to pray for us as we try to finish this project before we return to California. Please also pray for our missionaries here - the Shipleys and the Taylors as they continue in the Lord's work here at JAARS.

North Carolina Day 2

Hello everyone!

Today, after we were introduced to everyone at JAARS at a chapel service, we started our project at the Jungle Jump Off. The Jungle Jump Off is a training area set back in the woods that simulates life in the jungle and is used for training and educational purposes. There are several outdoor huts where missionaries train to live in undeveloped areas and we are helping to put new roofs on the huts. They haven't been able to use the area for a couple of years after severe weather made the area unsafe and brought several roofs down.

Our Bernal team is working alongside other people that are here visiting JAARS. We have 4 young men from Sidney, Ohio and a girl from Pennsylvania. It has been great getting to know new people. We are working under the guidance of the CAM department (Construction and Maintenance). We put up new plywood and tar paper, cleaned the areas around the huts and central building, and prepared shingles for work tomorrow.

After work, we met with some of the JAARS members for an ethnic dinner night and heard from some of their missionaries. 

Jim Baptista, a retired JAARS member, shared some of his amazing stories from his early years of being a missionary pilot and heading up the project to bring the first helicopters into service for JAARS. We also heard from a young couple named Josh and Katie Eicholtz who are heading to Papua New Guinea very soon. 

We also learned about the ways JAARS supports missionaries and scripture translation around the world. Caleb was the willing assistant during a demonstration of how JAARS takes on a lot of support roles for the missionaries so they can concentrate specifically on translating the Word.

North Carolina Day 1

Greetings from North Carolina!

After a fairly smooth flight from Sacramento, we landed (bleary eyed but excited) in North Carolina at about 6:30am this morning! Philip Shipley met us at the airport and brought us to Waxhaw where the JAARS facility is located. Some of the team caught a few zzz's in the van!

Our team stopped for breakfast before arriving at our apartments on the JAARS campus.

We arrived at the JAARS campus and had a little bit of rest time and then we met up with Bret Taylor for lunch. Today we had some time to familiarize ourselves with the JAARS campus and we took a tour of the facility and some of the different departments. Pam, our tour guide, told us all about the history of the Summer Institute of Linguistics and the JAARS campus. The work they do at JAARS is amazing and we saw their bookshelves lined with hundreds of Bible translations that SIL and Wycliffe have worked on over the years. Thousands of people have access to the Word of God in their own heart language because of the work that has gone on here.

After the tour, we returned to our apartment accommodations here at JAARS and had dinner together with Philip, Melanie and Hunter. After dinner we had time to bond as a team and play some games together. 

We can't wait to start our building project tomorrow at the Jungle Jump Off! Please keep our team in prayer for continued health and fair weather. We'll be working outside, refurbishing some training areas for missionaries heading out to rugged, jungle areas. It's a privilege to be here on behalf of Bernal Church and we are so thankful for all of your support and prayers that have brought us here. We just want to glorify God and help our missionaries at JAARS continue the amazing work they've been doing for so long!

God bless!

The North Carolina Team

North Carolina Team Leaving Easter Sunday!

Our team of 11 is anxiously awaiting their departure Easter night.  They will be flying all night and landing in North Carolina early Monday morning.  Please be praying for a safe flight and that the team would remain healthy.  Return each day as the team blogs about their trip!