Habitat Build

John and the other men from camp have taken a break from the ropes course build to help out a family from our church. The Holmes family of 9, is receiving a Habitat for Humanity home this spring and John gets to help. This week they are framing the house and I have a couple pictures to share with you. Hopefully I will have more in a few days.

Ropes Course

Work continues on the ropes course. This is not work for anyone who struggles with heights. I don't think the pictures capture how high up they really are. You will have to stop by and visit to feel the full effect and understand the magnitude of the project.

This shack is where the course starts. You would climb onto the roof and choose the easier course or the harder course.

The harder route

Off this platform there will be a zip line and a giant swing

John is on the pole in the center and Tbird is in the forefront.

View from above

They hoisted that big log up there on the left and John is on the right end of the log

John is still on the right side of the horizontal log

John working on securing the log

Higgins

Update

My Grandmother's house has an accepted offer and they are closing on May 27th! This is a huge praise. It helps us know we need to move on and it will help, all those involved, finish the huge task of dealing with the estate. This next month will be crazy for us! I hope to be moved out of here a month from now and a month from TODAY, John will be on his way to Israel! Amazing... So the plan is to move in with my parents until we figure out the next step. Last week I sent in our loan application and I am trying to wait patiently for an answer. They said it could take up to 30 days to get approved, but I am praying for a quicker answer, haha. Please pray for the details of this next month to fall into place and that, if it's the Lord's will, we will get approved for a loan.

The Op Center

The Op (Operations) Center has been the biggest project of this winter. Cold temperatures and cold steel led themselves to some exhusting days for these guys. Thankfully, it is mostly done for now. They still have a bit of work... electrical and setting up the shop part.... but the structure is up and useful for storage. If you are interested... this is a video that Erin from Expeditions posted on Expedition's Facebook page. http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=503854575360

Marriage Seminar

John and I had the opportunity to attend a marriage seminar being held at Expeditions this last weekend. A church from the Sauk Praire area was holding a couples retreat with speaker Dr. Joe and Kathy Wasmond and they invited us to participate. We were one of 34 couples. Although John and I weren't able to attend all of the sessions, what we did attend was a blessing. Thank you to all the staff that served us!

Youth Leader Retreat

Last Monday and Tuesday, Expeditions hosted a first ever, retreat for youth leaders. Our goal at Expeditions is to create an atmosphere where youth leaders can minister to their students without having to worry about all the details. So we don't plan a camp or retreat and then invite people to come. We invite youth pastors to bring their students to Expeditions and allow us to work with them to custom design a retreat that will best serve the needs of the group. Expeditions believes every group is unique and the youth pastor knows what his students need. Also, after the retreat is over, the youth pastor can continue to build on what was covered at the retreat and continue to cutivate relationships. As a thank you to the youth pastors who have been faithful to bring their students to camp and as an invitations to some new youth pastors, Expeditions invited them all to camp for a time of retreat and encouragement... withouth their students. About 35 pastors attended and seemed to have a wonderful time of refreshment. John said watching these men sit around at their tables for an hour or 2 after every meal, talking away, was cool to see. And as usual, they were a blessing to our staff as well!