Yeah... we like the beach.

A few more highlights from camp...

Okay, thanks to your comments (Yay! We got comments!!!) the top ten list has gotten longer...

11. Does anybody have a red skittle? (ahhaaahh... we love stephen!)

12. I can't vacuum up a piece of fuzz without smiling...

13. I still stand in front of the refrigerator ... and wait.

14. John S. + raw oysters = funny (or so I've heard – never actually saw the video)

15. So, apparently some certain people would like recognition for a nearly traumatizing visit to someones room at 4:30 in the morning. (they also don't seem to care if that someone could get in trouble about it either... I'm just sayin...)

16. Mr. Kenneth - just cuz he went on the trip and he's pretty much da bomb.

17. The helicopter that circled like ten feet over our heads to save us from a 15ft long bull shark! (j/k - I made up the part about the shark ...)

Coming soon... more pictures from camp AND, by popular demand, a post featuring the infamous chicken coop joke by Tom Bird!

Top 10 from SL @ the Beach

10. Watching LOST on the bus ride there and back... this led to lots of new fans.

9. Whitney and the 6th grade girls got locked out of their room until almost 1:00 in the morning, but she wouldn't want me to pick on her about that...

8. Somebody needs to show Morgan how to step down a curb - without spraining his ankle!

7. Did anyone NOT hear Mr. Tom's chicken coop joke this week? - funny stuff

6. Don't be late to family groups (0r you might get taped up and put in the elevator)

5. Mrs. Di's food (especially mac & cheese and dessert!)

4. TURKEY!!!

3. For the last time... it's a SKETCH!

2. Congratulations to Jason Poole's family group for placing 1st in the sandcastle competiton - good job!

1. We have a new rule for camp trips... let's just call it the "jellyfish sting remedy rule." (you know what I'm talkin' about!!)

If you have something else that you think should've made the top 10 this week.... leave us a comment and let us know about it! Also, check back later for more pictures from camp!

We're off to Beach Camp!

We are leaving tomorrow morning at 9:00 to go to Orange Beach, AL for Student Life Camp. Camp is an awesome time because we get unplug from our everyday lives for a week and really connect with God and seek Him.

Please be in prayer for the students and our whole group while we are gone...

-pray that students would CONNECT with God this week.
-pray for the family group leaders as they guide their groups through discussion about God's word.
-pray that students would GROW with other believers in family group time and just being together.
-pray that lives would be changed.

You can keep up with your student (send emails, gift certificates etc) at:
http://beach.studentlife.com/experience/welcome.php?cn=08ORBH01

We'll be back on thursday!

Project 25 - VBS 2008

It was an amazing sight this week to walk into the worship center and see over 700 kids and their crew leaders gathered together for a week of learning about Jesus through an awesome week at VBS.

This year I had the priviledge of coordinating the 150+ student volunteers. It was really cool to see students serving as crew leaders as well as helping with crafts, snack, drama, video, preschool and all the other aspects that are important to make vbs possible.

Throughout the week I had several of our adult helpers come to me with compliments on what a great job their student helpers were doing... so I just wanted to pass those compliments along. Thanks to all the students who volunteered, you did a great job! Thanks for showing up on time, being where you were supposed to, turning in your nametags :) and working so hard to help these kids learn more about God.

Lacy

Project 24

On Monday of this week a group of 16 students and adults went back out to continue the work on Mrs. Williams' house. The day got off to a great start as the metal drop box outside the church office drilled Oliver in the face on the way to morning prayer with the church staff. (Oliver tried to pretend this didn't happen) Then we piled into the cars and headed to Mrs. Williams'. It was pretty hot outside, but thanks to Andrew, Oliver and Will leading us in a variety of tunes, we were able to forget about the heat. Throughout the day Katie and Gene' also helped provide some comic relief. Overall everyone worked really hard and it was a productive day. We were able to finish scraping and priming the second side of the house. Here are some pictures...

Project 23

8th Grade Life Group Project – Alabaster Street Clean-up

On Saturday May 30th, the 8th grade girls and guys participated in an Alabaster street clean-up. The group joined with Freewill Missionary Baptist Church, Christ Church, and the city of Alabaster to clean up garbage from the streets in several low income neighborhoods around the Shelby County Alternative School.

It was hot, dirty, and smelly work but we were all blessed to be a part of the team. Our group, led by Mrs. Kim Frank and her husband Larry, greeted each person we saw in the neighborhood, as well as those that drove by with a friendly hello, a smile, and the girls all said “have a great day”.

We picked up everything from cans, bottles, food containers, paper, old tires, and even some underwear (thanks Justin!). It was amazing how different the streets looked after we were finished.

After the trash clean-up, we joined the other teams at Christ Church and they had prepared hamburgers and hotdogs for everyone. They were so thankful for our help that they called us their special guests and asked us to get our food first. We all ate and had great fellowship before returning to Area 51. --Mr. Danny Wash