Family Mission Trip Overview

Thank you all for all of your prayers and support throughout this trip. You're prayers have meant so much to us on this trip.

Well, although the week started out rough and we were all a bit discouraged. The rain that blessed us daily put a damper on our activities. We were not sure exactly what God was thinking and what His plans were for the trip because, from the way it was looking, most of our activities would not have a good turn out.

God obviously did have fantastic plans for us. Although we had fewer children at the VBS we truly had an impact on the children. Many of them were questioning religion and hungry to learn more. We had one child at VBS accept Christ and four of the mothers. This alone was an incredible act of God's strength. At the VBS it was incredible to see the way that God worked through the children and youth that we brought with us on the trip. I will admit that i was skeptical about having young kids on the mission trip. These kids totally proved me wrong! They were ready and eager to let God work through their lives. They were excited and totally willing to do whatever needed to be done to help the kids that we had there. They were incredible with the children. They could have almost run it themselves! It is so cool to see how God can work through so small a person as long as they have a willing heart.

Although the rain made it harder for the construction team, they pushed forward. The hammered and nailed in the rain and worked through the afternoon when necessary. They had an obvious impact on the family of the small house that they built and on pastor Omar and his wife. Not only that but they also got the chance to reach out to the family next door to one of the houses. They helped them to fix their sagging roof and, though this, had the chance to witness to them and tell them about Jesus and Omar's church. The construction team planted a seed that Omar and his church will pursue.

The block parties were the area that we definitely had to be the most flexible and had to trust God and put our faith in him. Both block parties were planned at parks but had to be moved indoors to different facilities because of the rain. We were discouraged because we knew that this would hurt the attendance dramatically. Di spite our skepticism, God did incredible things. The first block party, which ended up being held at the church, drew mainly church members. On this night, although many of the attendees were already believers, there were eight people who accepted Christ. This was something we totally did not expect and knew was definitely God's hand in our work. The second block party drew more people from the community that did not attend church. God totally blew our expectations out of the water with this one. We were expecting a smaller turn out for this block party and we ended up having more people than we could have ever expected or hoped for in these circumstances. On that night we had 28 professions of faith! We were dumbfounded. God definitely worked in spite of and through the rain.

Reach for the Goal Sports Camp ~ Vancouver 2007

God is working here in Vancouver at the Sports Camp! There are four different teams, three from different churches in the states working together with The Bridge, to form one team with a single purpose. It is a beautiful picture of how the body of Christ works together for His purposes.


The weather was terrific the first day - lots of sunshine. We had 42 kids in attendance. The very first day one of the new kids (a seven year old Asian boy) had a great conversation with one of the teenage counselors. They were talking about God. When the teen asked the little boy if he knew about God, he said he thought he died at Christmas. When the teen explained about Jesus' birth and death and reason God planned it that way, the boy said "he didn't live very long then, did he?!" The teen explained his death was several years later. Another little boy brought a book called Questions and Answers About the Bible. He has been bringing it every day. Jerry, the pastor of The Bridge, is telling a Bible story each day. This year he is telling the story about Daniel. Each day he leaves off the story at an exciting point, which causes the kids to anticipate the next day. It's exciting to see at the end of the story, the little boy with the Bible book always gets it out and turns to the Daniel story to look ahead.

Tuesday and Wednesday did not look so well as far as the weather is concerned. It rained all morning Tuesday, and most of the day on Wednesday. It is supposed to rain the rest of the week - please pray for sunshine for us! In spite of the gloomy weather, spirits remained high and we had a great time. All the kids still showed up and participated in the activities. We have had to modify games because we can't play basketball when the court is so wet.

Today (Wednesday) two of the campers asked a lot of questions about God and church. They asked why Christians go to church. One of the kids said he was a Christian (he prayed a salvation prayer with Jeremy a few years ago), but that he doesn't go to church. Please stay in prayer for us as the leaders answer all the questions the kids are asking. We are thrilled that they are asking such deep, probing questions.

Matthew 28:19 tells us to go and make disciples of all nations. There are numerous nationalities represented at the sports camp, some of whom don't speak much English! Of the 42 kids, 40 of them come from completely unchurched homes. Even with the language and religious challenges, we are seeing how God's love breaks through, so that they don't become barriers.

South Mountain Community Church, New Jersey

We have finally gotten access to a computer this morning. We worshipped with the South Mountain church on Sunday morning and were encouraged with the growth we saw compared to our time here last summer. This is a warm congregation working hard to share God's love with a community that is not very receptive to the Gospel. The locals are very nice people and the working parent typically rides the train to NYC every day. Pastor Bob Griner and his nine summer interns are striving to make an impact on this metro New York suburb.

Our team was originally planning to assist in leading a soccer camp however registrations were not what they had hoped for. We have been doing various servant evangelism projects such as handing out breakfast bars at the train station each morning, picking up trash at local parks, prayer walking and assisting with VBS. Please pray for our team along with mission teams from Maryland and Kansas as we work together to help South Mountain Community Church impact their community with God's love.

Family Mission Trip Beginnings

Hey guys! Well, in case anyone was worried, we made it down here on Saturday night despite the little run-in that Collins had with an impatient driver on the highway. Don't worry - no one was hurt, and with God's help, the damages were repaired quickly and we were on our way.

On Sunday morning, we experienced a new and different type of service than most of us were used to. At Omar's church we experienced a special praise and worship service. Although the majority of the service was in Spanish and we did not understand the words, we could definately feel God's spirit in that place. Their hearts spoke to ours with their words and their songs. We felt their emotions and the power of God surging through the church. Although it was one of the longest services the majority of our crew had experienced (the service lasted three hours), we didn't want to leave because we were still hungry for more. These people at the church truly love God and yearn for His presence.

Today was our first day of work both at the construction sites and VBS at the community center. We awoke this morning to pouring rain and lightning storms. I was immediatly fearful that not only the contruction crew would fall behind because they would not be able to work, but that VBS would also be a flop because the children would not show up. Well, God obviously had other plans. He will provide; we only need to trust Him. The rain stopped just in time and the guys at the construction site didn't lose much time and are right on schedule. They have the roof up on the smaller of the houses, and they have finished the electrical wiring and the insulation at Omar's house! God is truly blessing our labor. VBS also went well today. We had 16 kids which was more that we expected considering the rain. The children are already warming up to us and seem ready to learn more about God. It is cool to see God working through all of the members of our team. He uses each of us and our unique talents for His glory. He is working not only through the adults but through the children on the trip as well. Pray for us as the week progresses. God is with us and is going to do great things on this trip. We are here for one reason and one reason only, to glorify Him and that is what we intend to do.

Thank you for your prayers and your support!
Caroline Davidson