Thursday, May 31, 2007

Thursday, Another Work Day

Today we woke up, had some cereal, and headed off to our work site. We ended up driving about a half hour to just outside st. Francis South Dakota. At our work site, we took off shingles of an abandoned house and took the roof off. They are going to use the walls of the house and bring them into mission and rebuild a new house for an alcoholics anonymous group. Tonight our plans are to relax, watch a movie and maybe play some extreme Frisbee with the cute Creighton prep boys :)

Posted by the wonderful: Boston and Brenna

Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Rest Day

Today was just a day for resting and relaxing. we did a lot in a short period of time. We didn't leave the house until 10:30 from there we made our way to Valentine Neb. just to walk around and check out the town. we ate lunch and made our way to the bad lands but after we were done they were the good lands. we made our way around there for a couple of hours after that we made our way to Wall Drug. There we visited all these different stores and statue things. It was pretty cool. We took a lot of pictures there. We ate at a cafe there. On our way back to mission, we were counting how long Neal couldn't talk. It is going to be a short night because we need to get our energy back for working at the site tomorrow. Bye!


Posted by: Ciara and Brenna

Tuesday, May 29, 2007

The Men and Ciara

Today We began our day going to our second work-site, where we tore out the old tile with a flame thrower(intense). We also started working on the bathroom installing a new toilet and vanity. The boys started out with a rude wake up call this morning with pots and pans by the girls. we had eggs and ham for breakfast, the we split up into groups, the boys and I (ciara) went to the house and began our duties. Neal and Luke worked on the window from yesterdays project. we went through some interesting obstacles such as: chris burning everything down in the house with the flame thrower. Max and Jason helping him. Jason tried to start a fire with no lighter but there was the ever happy handy napkin and toaster idea to get the flame. we can't wait for our chillaxin day tomorrow. And i can't wait for the boy's 6am wake up call!!
posted by:Ciara and Max
:)

Day @ the nursing home

Today, Boston, Tina, Mary, Brenna, and Katie took a trip to white river to visit the people in the nursing home. On the way we stopped and got coffee from a trailer drive up coffee shop. Boston's Face lit up! At the nursing home we met a guy named William Walks AKA Willy he's such a cool guy. He told us tons and tons of stories about his life and about his "girlfriend." Katie also met a 33 year old named Bernadine, who Katie became close with. So Boston, Brenna and Katie decided to surprise the two and we sewed them pillow cases with there names on them. Boston and Brenna also played a little beauty school and painted some ladies nails. The cool thing about the nursing home is that it wasn't like normal nursing homes. The people who worked there were really respectful towards the elders and didn't just think of them as old people, they thought of them as elders and really did have so much respect for them. Also we got to play bingo with them residents which was also cool because they get so into it and are really competitive. Tonight we listened to Shane Redhawk who talked about his culture and showed us some of the clothes they wear.
Some predictions: Boston And Brenna decided that we think a girl on our team has a crush on a guy on our team. But we're not for sure.
Some quotes of the day: a girl from the nursing home told Brenna to give her the cigarettes that she had in her pocket because she's not supposed to have them. (she didn't have any) and then later we found out that the lady steals cigarettes from nurses purses.

"coffee, coffee, coffee, coffee, coffee." by Tina and Boston and Katie

"you can stay here as long as you don't drink alcohol or smoke weed" by willy

Posted by Brenna and Boston

Monday, May 28, 2007

Monday Work Day!

Today we finally got a work day. I got sunburned! Katie, Neal, and I got to replace a window. Ciara and I have been taking long walks each night around the area. The other group got to make a fence for this family so their daughter wouldn't escape. Tonight we are all going to the sweat lodge. Each night we get to talk about our highs and lows of our day and what we are looking forward to and all that other good stuff. Last night, when everyone else was sleeping Katie and I were talking in our beds, and we heard strange noises coming from the guys' room upstairs. Katie goes "what are they doing up there?" and I go "Probably playing Spin The Bottle!" It is obvious that Luke is annoying his mom with his famous quotes such as, hey dawg, or you player. i think that she is ready to leave him here for a while. And Tina lost her nut last night(she had a bag a peanuts and she lost them!!).There is this really cute staff person that helps us on our work sites, so that was a plus! For dinner tonight, Mary(ciara's mom) made tuna casserole. It was amazing! Well i suppose i better get going we have a sweat lodge to go to. Bye!
Posted by: Brenna Randolph

Sunday, May 27, 2007

sundays adventure

Today we began our week journey in Rosebud. The Ride was long, but in a way short. we enjoyed keeping each other company, and enjoyed annoying one another. Chris as usual listening to his punk rock music, Brenna and Katie passing notes to each other. Max keeping Jason company in the front. Luke chompin away on his very own homemade cookies. when we arrived we unloaded everything then we got ready for dinner. But it was strange because we kept hearing this knocking noise and thought someone was already getting to work with a hammer. and we go check and max is locked in the cellar by Chris and Katie. he was just waiting for someone to let him out. we will keep that mind when Neale gets on our nerves.

posted by: Ciara Millikan

Safe and Sound

For those who are here at this site tracking the progress of the 2007 Rosebud Mission Team, welcome. We are here and safe. We arrived at about 5:00 and got unloaded and settled into our house for the week. We ate dinner at about 6:00 and start our orientation at 7:00.

As announced, students will be blogging on this site each day throughout the week, so keep checking back to see what they are up to. See you in a week.

Jason

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Peace and Quiet...At Last!!

For those who don't know, my wife is in charge of one of the freshman dorms at the University of Sioux Falls, which means we have the privilege of living with around 70 freshman men and women, sharing life with them on a daily basis. This past week was finals week so the students have now moved out for the summer, leaving me and Mandy with the entire dorm to ourselves. It is sort of nice not having screaming students all day, every day. I am sure we will be missing the students by the end of the summer, though, and will be ready for a new batch to move in.

We have learned so much in this first year in this position. God is teaching me a lot about living a lifestyle of ministry, rather than just doing ministry as a job. We don't have the luxury of having nights off, because we live in our ministry setting, with the people we are ministering to. It would be like a year of lock-ins at the church.

I think this is the kind of ministry that God calls us all to, though, whether we get paid by a church or not. We are called to be in people's lives, to get our hands dirty in the daily grind of living. We are called to walk alongside those in pain and do our best to be the hands and feet of Jesus. Mandy and I are so blessed to have this unique opportunity to do college ministry, but I hope we will always be the kind of people whose doors are open and hearts are tender. I hope I am always more than "the youth guy at the church."

Tuesday, May 8, 2007

What I'm Learning...No One Else Cares About!

I hesitate in even writing this post for fear that no one even cares, but hey, oh well. This place has become a place where I share what I have been learning and what God has been teaching me. So here's what I've been learning lately:

I have been quite interested in studying Jewish history, culture, and background in order to better understand the context that Jesus spoke in and that the Bible was written in. I had known that knowing and understanding Hebrew language and Jewish culture was important, but it had always been ingrained in me that understanding Greek language and culture was more important to understanding the New Testament. I was wrong.

We all know that the Old Testament was written in Hebrew, thus making 77% of Scripture Hebrew right off the top. I had always thought that the New Testament was all written in Greek, but I was incorrect. While we have Greek manuscripts of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and the first half of Acts, the original text was actually written in Hebrew. Also, there are a lot of quotations found in the book of John and Acts that are Hebrew. Adding these books in with the Old Testament writings brings the grand total up to 90% of the Bible being written in Hebrew.

I am only beginning my quest for knowledge, but this information that I recently came upon reinforces my need to be a student of Jewish thought in order to better understand what it is Jesus has called us to. I trust that God will continue to lead me as I seek to understand what He is doing in this world and how I can get on board with His plan.

Sorry to bore you. I know I am nerdy. Hey, we are all nerdy at something. This is mine. What is yours? What is it about you that your friends give you grief for?

Tuesday, May 1, 2007

My Plans...I Think

I was just thinking that although I blog frequently, I rarely share information about myself. My life is constantly changing, but I have failed to inform people of my plans for the future (whenever that may be).

Those who know me well know that I deeply desire to go to seminary one day and was even going to a seminary here in Sioux Falls for over a year. I wasn't exactly pleased with the quality of education I was getting, so I quit going there. My wife is finishing her graduate degree currently, but when she is finished we will begin to think about doing seminary the right way, the way we want to and at the place we want to.

The school that is currently on the top of my list is called Mars Hill Graduate School in Seattle, WA, and no, this has nothing to do with Rob Bell in Grand Rapids, MI, even though I would marry him if he asked. Mars Hill is attempting to do seminary in a way no other seminary is currently doing it, by combining strong theological and biblical training with real life, practical preparation for ministry. They teach you how to figure out how to do ministry in whatever culture God places you in.

Mandy and I will be flying out to Seattle in November to tour the school so you can be praying for us as we seek God's direction for our future. If you are interested in exactly how Mars Hill is different, you can check out their website at http://www.mhgs.edu/common/new-mdiv.asp. Here are a few thoughts on the program I am considering:

What if you truly believed that the gospel could change the world?

Sometimes the questions are more important than the answers. Sometimes the process of discovery is more important than the discovering. Sometimes mystery is more important than certainty. Mars Hill Graduate School students are uniquely curious, deeply passionate and intentionally thoughtful about both the theory and practice of their faith. They are keenly aware of the vast reality of what they don’t know…and that awareness shapes the dialogue of the classroom as well as the life of the community. They’re asking questions of text, soul & culture in order to experience God through transformed relationships. Will you join them? What if…?