SD youth 2009--site day 2

Another great day in SD. The weather is awesome--perfect blue skies, 50's overnight then 70s-low 80's in the day with very low humidity. I might could stay here.
The camp is soo peaceful. Some of the kids enjoyed their devotional time this morning outside!

Each of our 3 groups is really working hard on their projects--
group 1 scraped the remainder of the playground off and began painting today and the weeds were sprayed with roundup......

group 2 scraped a house to get ready to paint tomorrow

group 3 --divided in half--part of the group worked on roofing the house while the other part weeded, mowed, poured concrete, moved dirt and flowers and pressure washed a driveway.

Lots of great work today in SD. Be proud of your youth they have done an amazing job---I had no idea they were so talented especially in construction!

Pray for us to stay well and to find opportunities here to share the gospel. Marlita is a Lakota Indian that we met today. She explained to us more about the reservation and how hard life is for the Lakota Indians. She is a Christian and it was really good to talk with her and learn more about her culture.

SD YOUTH 2009-SITE DAY2 (61 photos), by LATRELLE CONE

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South Dakota 2009--Youth mission trip day 1

Today was such a great day---I am soo proud of all the kids. They worked soo hard!

We started the day with a great breakfast of pancakes, bacon and fruit--yummy!
Then we had a short devotion--Jeremiah 29:11--God has great plans for us--even traveling for 23 hours to be in SD!!

Then we headed out to our work sites--I have to give a praise to Tom our bus driver--we are 2 miles off the road on a little bitty tight dirt road and he is driving the charter bus!!! He reminds me of Viktor our bus driver in Nica!!

Group 1 went to the VBS site at a like community center--they had to mow grass that had not been mowed in forever, weed the playground that had not ever been weeded and scrape paint off the playground set. They worked really hard and the site looks much better but they still have more to do. A pressure washer and some round up are the ticket for tomorrow....

Group 2 went to a school building-more like a small church like building--and they painted several rooms. They finished this job and hope to mow and weed eat tomorrow.....

Group 3 went to a mobile home belonging to a Lakota indian family to put a roof on.
These guys and girls climbed up on the roof, toted lumber up a ladder and drilled the screws into the wood, then they started putting metal roofing on just as the thunderstorm came through. Part of the group hung 2 sets of blinds for the family.....

Schedules change always so no VBS today we will start that tomorrow morning--maybe???

Now we are back at camp some sleeping, some walking or running, some swimming in the river/creek , playing cards or ping pong---just chillin :)

We have had a great day--pray for us for strength and rest tonight. For tomorrow that we will do whatever it is that God has planned for us.

I smell brownies in the oven and spaghetti is cooking-yummy supper.

Please keep Machelle, Debbie, and Vicki, Haley and Tommy in your prayers :)

,

SD YOUTH2009 (124 photos), by LATRELLE CONE

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THE LONGEST DAY sd 2009 (26 photos), by LATRELLE CONE

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WE ARE HERE---PLACERVILLE CAMP

Good Morning

we made it to camp after a beautiful day long adventure---Colorado, Wyoming and South Dakota are just gorgeous!

Pray for us as we go out today to VBS and construction that God will use us in a mighty way!!

We are in Placerville Camp a UCC camp--imagine Camp Piney woods---but mixed with the coolness of N. ga in October and a river runs through it.

Yesterday was a LONG day but everybody survived it and we made it. We slept well and some of us are wearing SWEATSHIRTS!!! It is like heaven :)

more later.................

Another airport........

another day another airport.......:)


So excited to be a part of another mission trip--this to South Dakota to work with the Lakota Indians outside Rapid City with our great youth from FBC!!

We left around 5:30 from FBC and headed via motorcoach--with AIR and lots of it--BRR...stopped off for breakfast at Forsyth--yummy biscuits--

Then we arrived at the ATL airport--it took us about 5 min of waiting and 5 min to check the WHOLE group in---God is good He is always taking care of us. We got through security quickly and now we are sitting waiting at the gate--woohoo!!

I will try to post this week but i never know when i will have access to the internet or not.

So I ask two things of you this week------

1) please be in constant fervent prayer for us this week. I believe that God has a plan for each of us and that he will protect us as we do HIS work in SD. i ask for prayer that we will do WHATEVER it is that He asks of us as we serve HIM. Pray that we would be bold in our faith and always looking for opportunities to share HIS love with others.

2) if you would please let me know that you read this blog by posting a comment.

thanks for your prayers and for your support.....

Finally, if you see Jacob today please say HAPPY 11th BIRTHDAY to my baby :)

and as usual---please hug on the cone boys when you see them this week---I am very thankful to be able to have Thomas with me this week. I pray that God will use him in a great way this week. Student life camp was so good I pray that God will continue to work in the lives of all of our youth.

A HAPPY AND SAD DAY

Today was our last day in Costa Rica. It is always a bittersweet day.
Breakfast and then Jacob gave the devotion on courage--like the courage Daniel had and the courage it takes to go to La Carpio and share the gospel............ and then we went to the Language school. Ron Droke gave us a tour.
We saw where Tim and Tina and the drokes go to school. Tim and Tina joined us
as we went to chapel. Jeremiah led the praise and worship and then Bro Jerry preached. It was an awesome service.

Then we got Eden and headed to the Drokes for lunch---David would have been thrilled--chicken noodle soup and grilled cheese sandwiches---it was yummy. Tina said it was a real treat because cheese is so expensive here.

After lunch and visiting with the team we headed back to the mission house to rest and pack. Eden came with us to visit. Jacob and I were so excited to have her with us--and the spencer boys:)

The Louderbacks joined us about 3:30 as we got ready to head out to La Finca which is in Los Guidos. We had a worship/sharing service there. The children sang for us, Naomi played the guitar, and Melinda played the clarinet--it was beautiful.
Jerry spoke and Rojillo spoke then we had supper. After supper we celebrated Teresa and Marvin Mefford's 31st anniversary and Matt Mclains 34th birthday. Birthdays are celebrated by cracking eggs on the head of the birthday boy or girl--Matt was a great sport.

We finished the service with some sharing time--Jacob cone and Jacob Spencer shared about the week. It has been a great one. God has helped all of us to grow. We will never be the same.

Saying goodbye to the Louderbacks is so hard. They are where God wants them to be but I sure wish I could stay and visit longer. They are so precious. Please keep them in your prayers.

Our flight leaves Costa Rica at 12:15 which is 2:15 Ga time--please pray for our safety and that of the team which is leaving at 8 am. God has truly blessed us this week:)

La Carpio June 2009

Today was La Carpio--this is the poorest place and the baddest place in Costa Rica.
CLF goes in for discipleship groups and eventually hope to have a church building or community center there.

We started the day with a traditional breakfast of rice and beans with sour cream--and it was really good:) Then Jeremiah Spencer did the devotion on prayer. It was so good. Jerry Spencer was so proud!!

Then we boarded the bus for La Carpio. I had already been praying since yesterday that God would give me more strength and keep us safe--especially Jacob. I know that yall have been praying for us too cause we had a great day! The rain held off, we were all safe, the trek today was not nearly as uphill or hot and we never felt in danger--Mark, Ron,Matt and Coco all watched out for us. But the best part is there were so many decision to accept Jesus for the first time and the others who said they were already Christians asked to join a discipleship group. I think Mark's number of groups may double. God is so awesome. It is such a blessing to watch the tico kids--who are 8 yrs old and up share the gospel over and over with different people. They really know their Bible, and the scriptures. Can you imagine our 8 yr olds out sharing the gospel door to door??? They use the Bridge to salvation and do an amazing job.

Lunch was hot dogs---thank you God for not having us try the black bean paste/cream cheese sandwiches----then we headed out for more sharing. We gave out 200 food bags that were actually 2 bags of food---red beans, black beans, rice, sugar , flour, margarine, milk, spaghetti and a few other things. Bro Jerry had collected $15 for each bag through donations.

Now we are back at the Mission house chillin for the night. It is nice to have some down time at the end of a long day.

Tomorrow we have a worship service at the Language School so we get to hear Bro Jerry preach and Jeremiah sing and maybe even Tina or Trinity:) I cannot wait.
Then tomorrow night we meet at La Finca to celebrate the week and eat supper.

God is so good!!!

Keep us in your prayers. We are praying for VBS and for Debbie McHenry as she recovers from her surgery yesterday.

Costa Rica--Tuesday

Tuesday was a great day in Costa Rica!

Yummy pancakes, fresh pineapple and watermelon for breakfast followed by a great mission challenge at our devotion time. Marvin is from KY and a friend of Bro Jerry and the Kuzdas. He came here in 2007 on a mission trip with his wife Teresa. They have been supporting the ministry here ever since. He talked about
the great commission in Matthew 28--that is why we are here!

Then we headed out to Pastor Rejillios house. We had a time of prayer and then we headed out--first we walked to the pines--a division of houses---we went through
mud and trash into some of the poor areas and handed out food bags. These bags were enough food for these people for a week--it was heavy!!!! After walking about 5 miles to give these out we headed back. This time we gathered 3 bags per each team of 3 and headed up the hill to another area. This time we were paired with two ticos or nationals. jacob and i gave out the food bags and the tico girls with us dayan and michel shared the gospel using the bridge illustration. The girls did a great job and we had about 8 people accept Jesus for the first time AND they wanted to be in a discipleship group :) After a delicious lunch of rice and beans we headed back out for a walk around and handed out more bags and the ticos again shared the gospel. In all we had 80 decisions for Christ--awesome:)

I was really proud of Jacob--we walked a VERY long way today and he never complained and he really enjoyed what he was doing. It is wonderful to see your child being obedient to God. Thank you Jesus for a mission minded church and a pastor that encourages missions. I am so thankful for FBC and what great childrens programs we have.

Thank you for praying for us. Tomorrow is La Carpio and it is very poor and dangerous ---pray for our safety and for our strength--this is hard work and we are all very tired tonight. pray also that decisions will be made and hearts and lives will be changed.

LIVING LARGE IN COSTA RICA

After waking at 3:00 leaving Tville at 3:30 we arrived at Orlando's airport
around 8. Checking in was great ---Orlando is my new home airport--so easy to get through.......then we flew out at 10 and arrived in Costa Rica around one.....

Ron Droke picked us up and we got to go to the Louderbacks house--woohoo:)
Jacob and I spent a great afternoon with them--we went to town, got a snack at Taco Bell and went to the market. We rode the bus and went to a corner store for tomatoes and lettuce......just a fun afternoon hanging out....

Jacob and Jeremiah, Jacob Cone and the louderback kids played soccer in the back yard, apples to apples and wii---fun:) It is soo good to see them. We will see them again on Thursday at the worship service-yea!!!!!

The Tennessee team is on their way from the airport. In the morning we start the door to door ministry and giving out of food....please pray for us as we minister to the people of La Carpia and Los Guidos.

676 is the number from VBS @ FBC---pray for the teachers and staff as they work with such a huge group of kids---to God be the glory:)

THE MOST AWESOME SUNDAY AT FBC

What an amazing day in the House of the Lord :)

After a mountaintop experience like Nica was sometimes you come home to a letdown caused by rountine--especially after what we experienced in Nica! The worship there is so freeing, the devotions were so sweet and spirit filled and so honest....
and yesterday(Saturday) we were soo busy with baseball and life but....

Today belonged to the Lord. From the minute I walked into the foyer I truly felt God---from the music to the message--Can you imagine even a little of how awesome it will be to see God in all HIS GLORY in heaven---how do you think Peter felt at the transfiguration????? It reminded me of Matthew Milton's devotion in Nica about prayer and how we should approach the throne of God when we pray......

Then in Sunday school we talked about the Miracle of feeding the 5000---we fed a lot this week in Nica--God is still in the miracle business---and the memory verse--God will supply all your needs....he really showed off this week as he met us at our point of need...

At the youth mission meetingfor the ones of us going to SD on June 28---Francis Chan whose book "Crazy Love" we are reading spoke through video of giving ourselves and how we buy things and want things while others have nothing and how that is not a sin but it is silly---think about it! You have to read this book--it is life changing.....

Root 3:16 is awesome and if they played every service or in one service it would not be enough----I loved it soo much----after the music in the worship service in Nica I needed MORE!!! Thanks Root 3:16!!!!!!!

Then Dan preached on the prequil to his morning sermon about the transfiguration.
He led us through the Bible with the promises that Jesus will come again, the rapture of the church, the great tribulation and the battle of Armageddon and the purpose of HIS coming........wow I could camp out here for a while..........and I will until Thursday when i hear Bro Jerry preach at the Language school in Costa Rica--woohoo!!! The moutaintop experience just keeps getting better!!

Finally Root 3:16 sang I will rise---which fit perfectly as the closing song---Jesus has overcome and the grave is overwhelmed victory is won --HE IS RISEN FROM THE DEAD and I will rise when HE calls my name---praise God!!!!!


What an awesome day---Psalm 122 verse 1 from this week's connect journal says,I rejoiced with those who said to me, "Let us go to the house of the Lord."

and I am claiming psalm 121 as God's promise to take care of all of us on missions this summer--v.8 says the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forever more......

nica--final pix 2009 (79 photos), by LATRELLE CONE

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ORPHANAGE AND MARKET--NICA 2009

Today we got to sleep a little later---woohoo!!! chapel was at 7:30 and after a late night at church we were grateful.

Mary Beth shared today and it was awesome---she needs to be a speaker at a women's event:) She spoke about trusting God and having faith to obey what God is telling us to do. Mary Beth has a passion for children especially orphans and she is going to make a difference for Jesus. Thank you for sharing your heart and being bold!

Then we headed out to the orphanage. This is always a highlight because to me these kids even though they are mostly abandoned by parents they are loved by their caregivers. They have preschcol there and the older ones go to school. This orphanage is part of the Messiah Project----mpnica.org------funded by a church and a wonderful ministry here in Nica. We all loved on the children--we would all love to take one home with us--especially Mary Beth........David and I found a contact for the vitamin program for CLF so God again put us in the right place at the right time.

After the orphanage part of the group went to the Volcano and the rest of us came on to the market. Some of us have seen the volcano twice already or more.......
The market is fun and we had a delicious lunch..the whole gang is together now shopping.........we head to our special good bye supper soon at the lagoon......

Pray for us as we come home tomorrow ----we are ready to be there. We miss yall and love you. Thank you so much for being faithful prayer warriors this week.

CLINIC DAY 3--NICA 2009

Wednesday was another wonderful day at Clinic

We started out our day in the prayer garden. Matthew Milton led the devotional time.
He did a great job on prayer using the Francis Chan book---Crazy Love---that we are using to prepare for the SD youth mission trip. How we prepare our minds to pray is so important instead of trying to give God a grocery list of our wants and needs. If you imagine God in all HIS GLORY as we approach the throne to talk with God how humble we should be..........

After another delicious breakfast of pancakes prepared by Claudia, Robbie and two nica ladies we headed out.

The clinic was at a church and we had great shade like we did all week. We had 6 stations, plus Robin and it all went so smoothly. The evanglism team did a great job of sharing God's word--about 60 made decisions for a total of about 170 decisions for the week---woohoo---to God be the glory!!!! We saw about 569 patients for a total of about 1100 for the week......the pharmacy did a huge job of filling all the prescriptions!!! I gave two shots of Rocephin to babies who were really sick and listless......Will and I were really excited that they screamed when i gave the shot!! It was amazing what all we saw and how each team worked with the others to problem solve. Our interpreters for the week were soo wonderful! Robin, Jimmy, Gina and Jeff Willis worked tirelessly to pull teeth. They could stay for weeks and not be done!

We finished the day with WATER for wonderful showers! Thank you Jesus! Then we got to take the girls--Scarla, Maria Jose, Elay, Jemma, and Manuela to church after a delicious supper of gumbo. The service is just so wonderful. We all enjoy the music and the passion of these Nica people. Gary Milton preached and did a wonderful job. There were so many people that made decisions--Jimmy, David, Jeff, Laura, Gail and others went down to help pray with them. To God be the glory.

After the service we heard news of Debbie Mchenry---Debbie know we are praying for you and Larry!!!

Back at La Finca we had delicious brownies waiting on us-yummy.

Clinic Day 2--nica 2009 and miscellaneous thoughts......

Things I forgot to mention yesterday when i was in such a hurry trying to blog so we could get back to La Finca........

This trip is soo organized--God is so in this everything has been just great--John and Laura Pike are awesome and have done a tremendous job getting us here and organizing everything.

On the way to ATL we stopped at Striplings--anybody that knows me well knows the only way to ATL is by Striplings---Jeff Willis got souse! and ate all of it!!!!!
and of course we all bought lots of beef jerkey and brought it to Nica with us...

Each member of the team was challenged to share Jesus with someone on the way to Nica---I talked with a girl at Red Lobster about what we were doing and why we were doing it....there are lots of good testimonies from team members about sharing....Dennis Nunn would be proud!

Jimmy, Frank, William, David, Pastor Amos and others work the evangelism site---it was awesome to hear Jimmy share Jesus with the crowd......

Every morniing we start our day in the Prayer Garden--it is a little slice of heaven on earth--the first day Jimmy shared--I love that man and I love to hear him speak--today Clark Connell spoke--what an awesome job he did! I cannot wait for tomorrow :)

Jeff Brinson has kept us secure this week---he does a wonderful job keeping the traffic flow steady in the clinic and not overwhelming--he is a joy to work with....

Gina Wise started the week in Thomasville then went to Iowa with Jack for Odyssey of the Mind competition then came back to ATL and finally arrived in Nica on Sunday night late. We are soo glad she made it safely. I love Gina and her sweet spirit.
I love to watch her and Robin working together with the little children as they get their teeth pulled. They make a great team with Jimmy and Jeff Willis.

Frank Pickle is a wonderful man---he worked really hard with Pastor Amos and Rick Orso to get us water to the girls showers---we appreciate his hard work soo much:)

Sunday night at the church service Sonny Holland preached--he is the founder of SHEO ministries.

Now for Clinic Day 2-------
we were down the road from the trash dump we could smell the smoke but were not in the midst of the dump!
We were housed in a little church and had a constant breeze--God has surely kept us comfortable this week. Again the people were registered, heard the gospel and about 65 decisions were made---praise God!!---then we saw them in clinic, then to pharmacy and they got food bags, shoes and undies.....it is truly awesome to watch the doctors, nurses and others around me showing such compassion--truly the love of God ---to these people. It is so humbling. The people are so gracious and thankful to us for the little bit we do for them---all the glory goes to God. I thank God for letting me be a part of this, It is such a blessing to me.

Finally thank you all at home for praying for us and supporting us to go on this trip. We love you and feel the prayers you have been praying for us.

Please please continue to pray---especially for our strength. As I got on the bus after clinic i heard them saying that tomorrow will be the biggest clinic and the poorest people so far. Please pray that we will show them the love of Jesus tomorrow and give them a little bit of hope............

Matt and Josh---thank you so much for taking care of everything in Thomasville for us
We love you!

hugs

Monday---Clinic Day 1

Monday was a perfect clinic day---one of the best clinics ever!!

The weather was overcast for the most part, we got a little rain but then we had a breezy day......

We had about 400 people---we presented the gospel--51 decisions--woohoo--- gave out Bibles, gave medical care, gave medicine, food bags, undies and cookies, toothbrushes and toothpaste! It was incredible.

This was a very poor area--even poorer than around the farm. These people live in the worst shacks or lean tos. But they were so gracious and grateful to us for the little that we did for them........

Check the pictures on Snapfish.......


Pray for our strength --tomorrow is the dump---it will be so emotionally tiring as well as physically tiring......

we love yall thanks for all the prayers

hug the Cone boys and GO DAWGS!!!

SUNDAY--FEEDING THE CHILDREN

Sunday was an awesome day ---it is my favorite day of the trip. We get to visit the children in their homes before we feed them. It is a chance to thank God for how truly blessed we are. They have nothing ---dirt floors, the streets are muddy from the rains, there is trash everywhere, the children are dirty, running around with no shoes on.........we are truly blessed!


The children and their mamas lined up at the gate--there are very few papas to be found--and wait their turn to enter the gate. The guys and the nicaraguan ladies that help at the farm cooked this HUGE pot of what William Clark called beefaroni--and the kids got their bowl filled with that, a tortilla and slaw. They were so grateful!

Then we did a medical clinic and saw about 60 people. Robin pulled some teeth with his great assistants--Jeff willis and Jimmy Clanton!

After praying and praying for the water to come back on at the farm the girls were blessed by the water returning so we could all wash our hair........nasty hair equals not so happy women :)

Saturday night we were without lights for several hours---which meant NO fans either!
We all prayed for the lights and the water but nothing happened. Then Jeff Willis and others started singing This little light of mine and the LIGHTS came on!!!!!!
What a praise to God!!!!!

Finally Sunday night we traveled to Amos' church for worship. You have not truly seen worship until you have seen Nicaraguans worship. They are so passionate!!
We even "Moved the mountain"----you have to see the video Jeff Willis made---David Cone and Will Cooper can really move mountains!!!

More later.......keep praying for our safety and strength.