Update by Jake Huhn

Hey, Jake here. This week has been very interesting and exciting so far, but it has been an amazing experience. I did not start the trip well, mainly because of an extremely suspecting airport security crew. After finally making it through security, the rest of the day was fine. My crew was assigned to work at the Boys and Girls Club in the Tenderloin for the week. We have to drive about an hour through heavy traffic to get to and from where we're staying. Despite having six kids cramped in a small car, and listening to the same song about 8 times on the radio, we've been having fun. Working with the children at the Boys and Girls Club has been a great experience so far, and all the members of my group have taken to it very well. Though we may try, none of us will ever be able to beat the kids in a game of pool. Today we got to go to the Golden Gate Bridge, which was fantastic. It was amazing to see that mankind was able to build something this huge and impressive, which only widened my understanding of how amazing it was for God to create the whole earth. That's about it for today, we'll be back with another blog tomorrow.


Jake

Group at the Golden Gate Bridge tonight

Update by Lauren Schulze

Sorry for not blogging yesterday, we couldn't connect to the wifi and we were/still are very exhausted. In the morning, we went to Mt. Davidson and we got to see God's incredible creation, had an inspiring devotion,and the boys almost died trying to play on a dead tree which almost snapped in half. Also, we went to Fisherman's Wharf and several of us had a sourdough bread bowl with some fresh clam chowder. Then, we went to Gharadeli Square and had many many free samples of chocolate. The weather was perfect and we had a beautiful view of the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz. Later that night we arrived at YouthWorks after several hours in traffic. While in the car, Pastor Beyer FaceTimed us about a million times trying to "get ahold of Jim," but secretly we thought he was just checking up on us. Today we started our first service site missions. We were split up into groups and each of us were touched by the people around us, even though we all had different first experinces. I got to work at All Nations and got to hang out will K-1st graders. These kids have touched my heart and it is only the first day. We are about to go on our first evening activity and get to work off all of the sugar and starbucks that we have had to keep us awake. God is good all the time, and all the time God is good. More to come... Lauren

Group pic

1st Day by Adam Meyer

6-27-2015
1st Day


         Today was our first day on our servant event in San Francisco.  The flight was a bit rocky in the beginning but soon smoothed out and allowed us to arrive safely in Oakland.  After we landed and rented our vehicle, we headed to our hotel which immediately set off Steve's police sences due to the rough looking area but got settled in okay. We ate dinner at an Italian place near our hotel after we were all settled in.  After dinner, we had some free time of swimming and talking at the hotel before we began devotions at 9:30.  At devotions, we started on our cloth for the trip by putting our name, place of birth, and one word that defines us.  We each talked about that one word that defined us and how it relates to our life and faith.  After devotions, we reviewed our schedule for the upcoming week. Steve also shared many words of wisdom in the field of our spiritual life and how we must fight to keep it strong throughout our high school years. Adam Meyer

Arrived Safe and Sound

We have made it safe and sound to Oakland where we will be spending the night.  We've had a good day of travel with no bumps in the road except for one teen who had to go through secondary screening.  Go figure - the quietest teen in the group (Jake Huhn) was randomly selected.  Our flight was a bit delayed but nothing too unexpected for summer air travel.  We are having a blast, and everyone is safe and healthy.  Devotions will take place in about an hour.  Devotions are one of my most favorite parts of taking the youth group on trip because it is a time of openness, sharing and getting to know each other.  Sometimes there is laughter.  Sometimes there is contemplation.  Sometimes there are tears.  It is a time of building trust and relationships that will last beyond this trip.  Thank you for your continued thoughts and prayers!  Teresa Staton

Countdown Is On

In about 48 hours, Steve and I will be boarding an airplane to San Francisco with nine teenagers from Community Lutheran Church, and we could not be more excited!!  Woo! Hoo!  Steve and I get to hang out with some very awesome teenagers, and we get to spend a week in God's word through devotions and living out our faith through our actions.  The group will spend a week of fellowship in God's word with a Bible study at Mt. Davidson and nightly devotionals.  We will also be working in the San Francisco community on a variety of projects to help those less fortunate.  We will be meeting teenagers and adults from other churches as we work on our projects and share time in God's word with them as well.  Our individual worlds are about to get much bigger.  As we move into our week of putting our faith in action through this trip, we ask that you follow us on the blog and keep us in your prayers.  I am absolutely confident God will have his hands on us as we grow as a group and as individuals in making memories to last a lifetime.  These memories and experiences may be very personal as we grow in our own individual faith walk, but we also look forward to memories of love and laughter as we share as a group and help others outside our circle. It is our goal to share these memories, thoughts and stories as we move through our week.  Thank you to the parents of these teenagers in trusting your children with Steve and I.  Thank you to Community Lutheran for making this trip possible through your financial support and prayers.  Thank you for your prayers!  More to come as we start this journey.......Teresa Staton 

Headed Back to S.F.

This summer we will be sending our 8th group up to serve in San Francisco.  They will have a great time serving a great city.  We will again be partnering with YouthWorks who helps to connect the service organizations with high school age who want to work.  Please check back during the trip for updated stories and pics from their experiences.