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And this one is the third and final music video group from our 2024 New Years Party!

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This is our second group from the 2024 New Years Party!

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This is the first music video from our 2024 Youth New Years Party!

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IT'S A WRAP!

We can't believe that today is our final day here in Elk Creek! It seems like a long time ago that we got here, but at the same time it feels like it was just yesterday. We've developed some great friendships and will treasure them always! This morning at sports camp we received thank you cards from some of the kids and it was super special. They really had a great week and so did we.

Andrew taught the lesson today and it was about the end of Moses' life and the Israelites eventually making it to the Promised Land. He did a great job and the kids were paying attention and answering questions. They've been very respectful during the lessons this week and that is always helpful.

BARF Night was also super fun. The final night is usually more like a party and we're all just kind of being wacky and having a great time. That meant that tonight was a perfect night for Kiana to share her testimony - because she's kind of wacky! In fact, if you saw the picture of her in the last post, that picture was taken when she got a hold of my phone and took some pictures. I decided that a good "punishment" for stealing my phone was that her picture ended up on the world wide web!

Like this pic from today:

In all seriousness, Kiana did great and she has become a leader within our group and also with the people here. Everyone loves her, she brings the energy and excitement and loves to have fun. I'm blessed to have known here forever and watching her grow makes Nicole and I super proud! Way to go Kiana!

I'd like to thank the people of Elk Creek for welcoming us this week. We love this town and it will always have a special place in our heart. This week random people were dropping off desserts and beverages at the church just to show appreciation. We even received some monetary donations from a couple people! So cool!

Elk Creek Community Bible Church is also a great church. Pastor Joe is leading well and it's so cool to see a healthy church in a small town like this. Village Missions is a great organization and Pastor Joe and his family really fit in to the ministry of Village Missions. Pastor Joe preaches the word and loves the people. It is so obvious that he does and it is so obvious that they love him back. The other day, I thanked Pastor Joe's wife Ana for letting us come to their awesome town, and her reply was amazing - She said, "Thank God that he put us in such a wonderful town!" They totally love it here!

Please continue to pray for this church and the Levesque family as they minister here. They have a very important role in building God's kingdom!

Over the next week or so, I'll be posting some more pictures and videos of our trip. I have some great tubing footage and other stuff. Goodnight all, thanks for your support! We head home on Saturday!

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TUBE TIME!!

Man, what a great day! I feel like I say that sort of thing every day on these trips but I really really really mean that today!

Sports Camp was really great, we even had one first timer! I taught the lesson and it was about Moses leading the Israelites through the Red Sea. We did a fun activity associated with it that got Seth and Tyler a tiny bit wet. It was super fun for everyone.

Between our events, we had one of the best activity days ever on a Mission Venture. A friend of Pastor Joe's named Stan took us out on his pontoon boat! For most of our students, this was their first time tubing and we all had a total blast! He also brought kayaks and paddle boards. Such a cool dude and we appreciated it very much!

We had another good BARF Night and I'm sure you can guess one of the games played - Nuke 'Em! Easily the favorite game so far. We also were able to introduce my favorite BARF Night game - Plungerball!!!! It was really tiring but fortunately the temperature went down a bit at the end of the night. People were flying all over the place playing super hard - even Nicole! Her team beat my team 3-2 thanks to a game winning score by Andrew. It was pretty intense!!

We had two quite powerful testimonies shared tonight. One of the coolest things about it is that these two have similarities to their stories, and they didn't really know each other super well before this trip. They had interacted with each other during our training class when we were working on testimonies, and that was pretty much how they started to get to know each other.

I'm talking about Malia and Bailey. Malia is on her last Youth Mission Venture, and Bailey is on her first. Malia has become so comfortable sharing in front of a crowd. She is engaging, genuine, and really speaks from the heart. It's really hard to not tear up when I see her up there. Nicole and I have known her since she was born and we are so proud of her!

We haven't even known Bailey for a year, but it is obvious that God drew her in and that she has a real relationship with Him. She showed up on the first night of youth group last Fall and hasn't stopped coming. It was awesome seeing her get to know everyone and they all welcomed her in right away. She's a joy to be around and I couldn't imagine this trip without her. She brings so much to the team!

Bailey, thanks for sharing so boldly and for being a part of the team! We're so glad you are!!!!

We have a big final day tomorrow, and the weather is supposed to get hotter again. Pray for us to go out and finish strong!!!!!

Thanks and love y'all!

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WELL RECEIVED

Everyone from yesterday returned to Sports Camp today for an awesome time. They all arrive here every day with such excitement ready for the day. Pastor Joe is also very present here talking with parents that stick around. He's great! He and Ana are always checking in to see if we need anything and they've provided us with a few items and other things on short notice. We so appreciate them and I know this town does too!!

Kiana taught the lesson today and it was about the first nine plagues that God brought on the Egyptians as Moses was asking Pharaoh to let the Israelites go. The lesson was about sticking with the game plan and following through with things even in the midst of resistance. Once again we had another gifted teacher at the helm today. Thanks a lot Kiana!!

We took it easy today between our two events. I've realized over the years that at least two or three of our days have to be rest days. Sports Camp and BARF Nights already take a ton of energy, we can't plan outings in between them everyday. Most of us took much needed naps or just sat around in the AC, playing games and hanging out.

I was able to get in a two hour nap! And I came into the sanctuary and Nicole was reading Ellie a story! So sweeeeet.

We also had lasagna for dinner!!

The weather wasn't too bad again today so we hung out a bit at the church for BARF Nights then we all walked to the school to use the field. We played Nuke 'Em at the church then Extreme Ultimate Kickball at the school field. It was a blast! We had one new guy with us tonight at BARF and he had an awesome time.

Isaac shared his testimony tonight. It's hard to believe that this is his first Youth Mission Venture, and his first time sharing at a BARF Night. Isaac has been on a few Intergenerational Mission Ventures and in many ways is already a veteran. I think those experiences have really shaped him. He told everyone that he knows that God is continually there and pulling his heart towards Him. He also recognized that sometimes he gets pulled in the other direction. Now that something that all of can relate to, right??

It was just a super honest testimony and Isaac was very bold in sharing it the way he did. I'm very excited to see how he continues to grow in Christ for the rest of his high school years and beyond!!

We found out that there are really only a couple youth in Elk Creek that haven't come to our events. That's a super great turnout!

We had a good family time tonight and included Pastor Joe's sons in it. They were able to give us some insight and their take on how things are going this week. It really seems like it's been a positive week all around and we're so happy about that. People are continually stopping by the church and dropping of items like cookies, cupcakes, brownies, popsicles, lemonade, iced tea.......the list goes on! We're definitely being treated like kings and queens!!

I want to close out this post by saying one more thing - Shout out to Marcus! He's a real one!!!

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QUESTIONS AND NUKES

Hello once again everyone! Wow, God is SO GOOD! We have fallen in love with this town and the opportunities here to connect with people have been outstanding. Both of our events today just about doubled in size and they were awesome! Honestly, we've stopped counting attendees because we are confident that God will bring who He wants.

Today's focus in Sports Camp was on knowing your opponent. Malia taught the lesson, continuing on with the life of Moses. One of the points that stuck out to me is that sometimes your biggest opponent can be yourself. That is so true! Thanks Malia for teaching it so we'll. She made it relatable for a wide range of ages and I think everyone got it.

We decided to eliminate volleyball because one girl was in it yesterday and she switched to basketball. There are lots of kids in basketball and four or so in football. It's been pretty fun. There are some real athletes out here!

After camp we went swimming at a pool club in Willows. Pastor Joe booked the whole pool for two hours and it was super fun. His family and another family from the church joined us. It was a great time! And btw - it was only about 97 degrees. That might sound hot, but that's 19 degrees cooler than the day we went to the lake!! Yep, that's right, it was 116 that day! The weather really had us concerned in the beginning, but it's really not bad now!

Speaking of great times - BARF Night was just the best! We certainly love our BARF Nights with tons of people, but there's also something special about having a group of less than 30, including our team. The interaction is much more personal and there's opportunity for friendships to form faster.

We played The Question Game tonight. The first time we played, Eva won! It came down to her and I and she schooled me. By the way, I'm not the type of guy to let the young people win, so it was legit.

We went outside and played Nuke 'Em again at the end of the night. It's definitely the favorite so far! The game was epic and seemed to last forever. We actually ended the night 30 minutes late!

In between the games, Marcus and Eva shared their stories. They were both very different, but each one was spot on!

When Marcus shares you cannot deny that it is from the heart. He is a young man who is serious about his faith. His relationship with God is so real. He shared boldly tonight, even about some hardships. I see him developing into a rock. He is a calm, steady leader that can be consistently relied upon. It's such a joy watching him grow up. Love you, Marcus.

Eva was also a joy. She shared boldly too, and man, she preached it! She challenged those in the crowd to choose Jesus over anything else on earth! This is Eva's first trip with us because in the past she wasn't really interested in coming. God did an amazing work in her heart several months ago and she fully committed her life to Him. Praise the Lord!

I already told you that Eva preached it, and to prove it let me tell you what Pastor Joe's son Sebastian said after she shared. I walked back up, and he looked at me and said "you're about to lose your job!" LOL! How cool is that?!?!

Way to go Eva! Nicole and I are honored to be a part of your life and growth!! We are praying that you remain in Him for life!!

Also, Bailey bought some Beanboozled Jelly Bellys at the factory the other day. If you don't know what those are - DON'T GET THEM!! They convinced me to play the game with them and I had the absolute joy of eating a jelly belly flavor titled something like "Used Band Aid".

AWFUL!!

In our family time tonight we challenged ourselves to take the conversations a little deeper. We are even discussing ways that we can help this happen. We will likely have a little more "hang out" time during BARF Night to allow relationships to develop. Please pray for God to open up doors for this to happen!

Thanks for your support!!

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AND SO IT BEGINS

Our main events got off to a great start here in Elk Creek! Our team is doing an amazing job here. We've had devotionals based on our theme scriptures for this week and they've been doing a great job living it out. Here it is:

Philippians 2:1-5

So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus.

I'm so proud of every team member, they're working together in unity and encouraging each other every day.

We didn't have a huge turnout at sports camp this morning - 6 kids. But it was so cool watching our team interact with them. We said from the beginning that God will bring who He brings and that it doesn't matter how many or how few show up. Those 6 kids had such a great time and were treated so well!

I also have to give a major shout out to Eva. She taught the Sports Camp lesson today and did a fabulous job. Eva's mom teaches Sunday School at PVCC and it's obvious that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. She is a gifted teacher. She was engaging, clear, and energetic.

For those that have been praying, one of the girls at camp was on the golf cart last night. Then two of the other girls showed up at BARF Night tonight with her! Please keep praying for them, there were some great interactions.

After Sports Camp we ended up eating lunch at the local restaurant and it did not disappoint! The workers there had heard we were in town and said they were expecting us! The service and food was outstanding. We even saw one of the girls there from sports camp with her family and her grandma paid for a portion of our meal. How cool is that!?!?

At BARF Night, we played Nuke 'Em much of the time with Bear Ninja Hunter and The Captain is Coming mixed in. I think there were 10 locals here with our group and we all had a great time. By the end of the night, everyone seemed like they'd been friends for years. It was pretty sweet.

Andrew shared his testimony first and let me tell ya - he preached it! He shared how God drew him in over the past couple years through some circumstances that caused him to just decide to start coming to church. We are so glad he did!!

Andrew was a great example of sharing your story while also sharing the gospel. He was clear in his presentation and also told everyone here that he hopes they can have a relationship with Jesus too. Thanks a lot Andrew, great job! I also loved that when he went up to share he went straight to the pulpit!

Ellie also was a great example of sharing very personally about how God drew her closer to Him through some difficulty. She was diagnosed with a rare type of juvenile arthritis almost two years ago and told everyone that it caused her to rely on God more. He has been with her every step of the way. As difficult as it has been on her, she said that she doesn't know if her relationship with God would be as strong as it is if she wasn't going through this. That's a powerful thing to say!

I watched some of the locals listening to the testimonies and it is obvious that they are connecting with them. Please pray that this will lead to great conversations and that people would receive the gospel message!

Thanks for praying for the golf cart girls, there is one that was with them that didn't make it tonight. There's also another dude that drove his truck around with another girl tonight. They drove past and waved a bunch of times and everyone knew who they were. Pray that they'll come hang out with us too! Honestly, it seems like if these remaining three come to our events then that would mean pretty much everyone in town would be here!

Serenity went out of town today. She's going to a Christian Camp and might be back in time to come to BARF Night on Friday. There are some other youth that live around here that are also out of town.

I fell like we've really made some great connections in a short period of time. Please keep praying. God is good!!!

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GOOD DAY

Well, let me tell ya! This place is awesome! Church this morning was fabulous, everyone was so welcoming and told us how excited they were that we are here. Pastor Joe has definitely done a great job letting people know we were coming.

We also got meet his wife Ana. They're a great couple and are so committed to the ministry here in this great town. Joe regularly meets with people at the local restaurant, Nancy's Elkhorn Lodge. We plan to eat there sometime this week. He told us it was voted best restaurant in the county! They even have a meal named after him called "The Preach"!

Today is supposed to be the hottest of our days here. After church we went to Stony Gorge Reservoir which is only about 5 minutes from the church. We had a great time swimming for a couple hours!

We came back and hung out with Pastor's family and another girl who goes to church here named Serenity. Dinner arrived and was great - drumsticks, garlic bread, green beans, potato salad and watermelon. We're definitely eating good!!

After dinner we did some canvassing with the flyers we have for our events. Serenity, Elijah, and Sebastian (pastor's sons) took us around the neighborhood showing us which houses have kids. Everyone was super nice and most seemed to already know about our events this week. That was very encouraging!

We then went to the field at the High School and played a few games and hung out. The sprinklers came on, so of course we had to run in them.

I also have a prayer request for all of you. Obviously we would like prayer for all of our events in general, but there were four girls around town tonight that we interacted with a little bit. We'd love it if they would come to our events. The were driving around in a golf cart and drove past us like 20 times while we were canvassing and then several more times while we were at the school. We gave them flyers and invited them. They didn't say much, they just kind of laughed then sped off. Over and over! I'm sure we'll see them again, and we've started praying for them. Please pray along with us!!

We're off to bed, the big events start tomorrow. Goodnight everyone and thank you!

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LET'S GO!!

Our Mission Venture is off to a fabulous start! We had an awesome day that started right - we had pancakes, eggs, and bacon at the Browns. After that, we had a team devotional before we headed off to the Jelly Belly Factory.

What a cool place! Since it is Saturday the workers were not working but we still got to see the factory and how everything works. I'd highly recommend this as a stop if you ever find yourself in the area!

After the factory, we finished the rest of our drive by heading two hours north to Elk Creek. We shopped for groceries along the way and arrived at the church just in time for dinner.

We met Pastor Joe and two of his three sons. They showed us around, fed us some pizza, then took us over to the high school where we will be holding our sports camp. It's a great spot!

We had someore team time tonight with an activity led by Maci. We are excited for church tomorrow and then to go swimming!

We already love this community. It is a true small town, only about 160 people. Pastor Joe knows everyone, and he is very involved here. He seems like a great fit!

The church property is AWESOME! The sanctuary building is over 130 years old! It is beautiful and has so much character. I also really love the sign that hangs above the door as you leave. It fits really well with the sermon I'll be sharing in the morning!

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Check out some more pics of the Travis Hospitality House we stayed at!

Thanks Browns for an awesome time, we love you!!

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WE'RE OFF!

Greetings again everyone! We have now begun put 2023 Youth Mission Venture! We have a team of 8 students and 4 leaders heading to Elk Creek, CA to partner in ministry with Elk Creek Community Bible Church for the next week. Our travel day today was great, with no major issues on the roads and a lot of fun (at least in my truck).

We also are blessed to be able to stay at the home of Zach and Cassandra Brown tonight! The Browns were a huge part of Pine Valley Community Church for about a decade before they felt God's calling to be a part of Cadence International. Cadence is a ministry to our military and Zach and Cassandra operate what the ministry calls a Hospitality House. This particular house is in Fairfield, CA and is just down the road from Travis Air Force Base.

To learn more about the Browns and their ministry, click here - https://cadence.org/missionary/zach-and-cassandra-brown/

It was really cool when we arrived - we were just in time for dinner!! They have a Bible study here on Friday nights and there was a great group of military men and women here for that. We got our food, met some people, and played with Ben and Danny for a bit (they've grown!).

After that we got to participate in the Bible study. Cassandra led us in some worship then Zach taught from Philippians chapter three. Great stuff!

We then ate some dessert and hung out a bunch more. It's about midnight and all the guys are pretty much asleep and the girls are staying in another building just across the yard. This property is awesome. I'll try to get more pictures of it tomorrow. I believe it's on 4 1/2 acres.

Anyways, we're going to have breakfast here then tour the Jelly Belly factory tomorrow before finishing our trek to Elk Creek. Looking forward to hanging out with the team someore tomorrow as we continue to prepare for a big week coming up!

Thanks for all your prayers!!

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FRIDAY FINALE!

The final day of Sports Camp and BARF Nights for 2023! Well, at least the final day for this trip. Our youth will be heading out on our Mission Venture next Friday! We will be doing Sports Camp and BARF Nights in Elk Creek, CA. Then we'll also have some BARF Nights in Pine Valley along with our Sports Camp from July 31 - August 4!

At first there were several campers missing today. Then a bunch showed up late. I think people are tired from the long week, plus people like to sleep in around here. This is the only town we've done a sports camp at 10am. We do that because the first couple years people told us that 9 was way too early. We still get comments about 10 being too early!

Last night, while we were at Arctic Circle eating on the deck, I realized why the people sleep in. The summer nights are so beautiful around here that it makes you want to stay up late! We've heard late night fireworks and four wheelers all week long. Super fun!

Greg taught the lesson and the kids got pretty involved in it. Some even got a little wet with water balloons. I always appreciate when the teachers use visuals and volunteers to keep the campers engaged. It was great!

For our final BARF Night, we had what we call our BARFbecue. Free burgers, hot dogs, chips, watermelon, drinks! We had an absolutely HUGE turnout!

We ended up eating and playing games till 9. We said our goodbyes - lots of hugs and long chats. Super great night, what a way to end a wonderful week!

We're obviously tired, and have a lot of travel to do tomorrow. We're all trying to get to bed soon.

I definitely need to do one more shout out. I mentioned in a previous post that Domynik is here for the first time. Besides the Aguayo babies, the only other first timer here is Nancy's brother, Tom.

I am so glad he came!! He was an excellent addition to the team right from the start. He has a missional heart, loves kids, and they love him too. So glad you came Tom, and I hope you can make it next year!

I also hope that you can make it next year too. Yes........YOU!!

GOODNIGHT!!

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Here's a little taste of our BARF Nights!

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Here are some more pics of Kiana and Ellie's Adopt a Room project!

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Here's a little taste of our Sports Camp in Colorado City!

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WAIT........THURSDAY ALREADY?

Yea, I know. I can't believe it either. But I also can believe it. It seems like we've just started out here, but at the same time, it seems like so long ago that we arrived. Please pray for great conversations and open doors for tomorrow. We head home Saturday!

Sports Camp grew by over 20 campers today. I think there were 76!! So glad we have a large team this year! Domynik taught the lesson today and did great, the kids were quite into it! It's hard to believe this is Dom's first time here, he's been on so many Mission Ventures with our youth and with his grandpa.

The dance team has also been outstanding this year. Actually........they've been "out dancing". Get it? Dad joke!! Isaac, Marcus, Ellie, Kiana - way to go! The kids are totally into it!

After lunch, we got a tour of the Dream Center's transitional home. You may be familiar with their "Adopt A Room" program. People, families, or groups can adopt a blank room in The Dream Center or in their transitional house and get the opportunity to decorate the room with furnishings, paint, and other decor. The rooms are usually done in a theme of some sort and some of them are quite creative. This was a great idea for the ministry to do this because when you acquire a home with dozens upon dozens of room, it would take a lot of time and money to do them all.

Back in December, Kiana and Ellie came out here with Nicole and I and adopted a room in their transitional house. They did such a great job that the people here made the two rooms next to their room adjoining and they actually asked Kiana and Ellie to come back and do those rooms too because they loved the style so much! During a few days of our free time here, the girls went there and finished the rooms. They did an absolutely beautiful job and it was so cool to see the finished product!

For dinner, Mr. Bill made his famous spaghetti and meatballs, it was groovy as usual.

I ate a lot for dinner, but was still able to participate in Plungerball at BARF Night. We also played Blob. There were several other side games going on too, we had a HUGE crowd. They were playing volleyball, spikeball, tails, and just throwing balls and frisbees around. In the midst of it all, I saw several team members getting into discussions with people they've connected with. One of our teens was just walking the loop around the park with a local teen, and there were several clusters of individuals chatting. One that stuck out in particular was Cathy. She was obviously engaged in a conversation with one woman and seemed to be with another woman sitting next to her as well. Cathy had offered to share her testimony this week and I thought it seemed like a good opportunity.

Wow! She came up and shared something that was so fitting, not just for the conversation that she was having but her story definitely relates to something that so many people have gone through here. And not only that, Cathy was able to share the miraculous hope that can only be found in Jesus. She did so good, thanks so much for sharing Cathy! Her testimony led to even deeper conversations afterwards with the ladies she had already been talking to.

After BARF, we went over to the Arctic Circle, which I think is basically Utah's version of Dairy Queen (but better). We hung out on their deck with a splendid view and enjoyed each other's company till they closed at 10. We then came home for family time and Skylar led us in some worship songs.

You might be thinking - who is Skylar?? Skylar is a part of a group of three that came out on their own this year. They've been a part of mission teams here in the past. Skylar and Emily are from Michigan, Delainy is from Pennsylvania. Delainy was here last year while we were here, the other two were not here during our trip but have been before. They've become such a part of our family that they're planning on joining us next year!

This is a great opportunity for another plug for next year. YOU NEED TO COME WITH US! Even people we barely know or have never met before this week are making plans for next year. It is such a great opportunity! You will be blessed as you bless others!

Final day tomorrow, talk to y'all then!!!