Here it
comes!! My summer starts in four days…

I leave for my
first trip of the summer on Saturday.
This is actually a different trip and one that I am very excited
about. I am taking 13 students from the college
ministry at West Park
to our base in Philadelphia,
PA for the week. We will be partnering with some of my good
friends from AIM in ministry for the week.
On Sunday we will go to church and get to know the city. In the evening we will have a cookout for the
Kensington community. Monday we will do
some clean-up a the church in the morning and Mon-Thursday afternoon will be
spent with a special after school program that will look more like a mentoring
program. Each participant will be paired
up with a couple of kids for the week.
On Tuesday and Wednesday morning we will do some street ministry. Thursday morning we'll spend a little time
site-seeing. I am excited to see our
college students stretched and to be able to lead this experience. Just pray that God's ministry will be
done.

Philadelphia
-
June 2-8th

Pray
that the team will hear God and experience him in amazing ways.

Pray
that we will really see God work in the lives of people in Philadelphia.

Pray
for me as it is a different challenge to lead a team of your friends and
family. Pray that I will be sensitive to
what God is doing and where we should be ministering.

Pray
for protection over our team, as we will be ministering in the inner city of Philadelphia…a rough
neighborhood.

We will get back on
Friday night, June 8^th. I'll
spend a few days at home and then will head out to New Orleans on June 13^th. Beginning June 16^th, I will be
leading one of my favorite groups from Ohio. I have led their trip for 5 years now. We will continue to minister to victims of
Hurricane Katrina.

New Orleans
- June 13-22^nd

Pray
that we will be able to fit the needs of the group into the big picture of New Orleans. We have had ongoing ministry and partners
down there since the storm and we want to partner with their needs.

AIM
will be hosting about 1500 students and adult in New Orleans this summer, we want to fit the
needs and logistics that they have.

Pray
for the leaders who will be on the ground for 10 weeks in New
Orleans that I will be able to partner with them and lead this team
of 45 from Ohio.

So, I'll get back
from New Orleans on the 22^nd and will
actually spend 2 ½ weeks at home before heading off to Guatemala. This is the one that I am most concerned
about. In my mind it will be my most
stretching experience (I say this because it would not be unlike God to stretch
me in ways I was expecting). But I have
never been to Guatemala
and it is a pretty new location for us.
We will have a host church and pastor that is set-up for us to work with
but there is not a person on the ground that has had a lot of experience
working with AIM. A lot of
responsibility will fall on my shoulders for this trip. I will show up in a country where I have
never been and don't even speak the language fluently and trust that all that
has been pre-arranged with set-up will be done and ready to go and if not, will
have to get that done. Here are some
specific requests I have.

Guatemala
July 11-23^rd

Pray that all that the set-up team has put
in place will come together.

Pray for translators…this is a very
hard community to find translators in.

Pray
that God will show the set-up team, who will be in Guatemala at the end of June, one
person who could be our on the ground contact/host. This person needs to have transportation,
speak English, and be logistical.

Pray
for lots of flexibility from the group.
We have 45 students coming from the states.

I have a little bit
of a lighter summer than my previous ones have been but I also am excited about
the awesome opportunities that I will have this year. Please join me in praying for these trips. I look forward to sharing with you what all
God did and all the things that I saw. I
will try to keep you posted throughout the summer as well.