Greetings from the Lord's Boot Camp!

All 23 team members have arrived safely. On Monday night, we had the first couple of kids arrive, with the others trickling in during the day on Tuesday. So far, it has been awesome to see the way that the team has already shown significant growth in their ability to work as a team and be organized.

Days at Boot Camp are filled with activities designed to build team unity, develop skills that they will use on the field, and increase their knowledge of God's word.

Each morning, we wake up at 5:30 to get ready for the day. On Wednesday, we had some issues leaving the campsite efficiently. However, the next day, the Preteens did awesomely and managed to leave in half as long and arrive at the Obstacle Course (OC) on time. After the OC and breakfast, we take thirty minutes to have personal devotions, a time devoted to the individual reading of the Bible and prayer.

Between devotions and about 3:15 PM, the Preteens have a series of classes to teach them Biblical classes and practical abilities. In painting class today, the team members did an amazing job staying focused and painting an entire section of fence.

After their classes finish for the day, they have a chance to bucket bathe and do laundry. Thus far, they have generally done very well for only having learned a couple of days ago.

At 7:00 each night, all the teams gather together to have an evening rally, which consists of some games, announcements of the obstacle course and Miss Piggy results, and, most importantly, worship and a message from God's Word. After the songs are over, we Preteens break off to hear a different speaker catering specifically to their age group.

All five of us leaders are super excited to be able to spend this summer with your kids and are looking forward to seeing all that the Lord does in and through them over the following weeks!

Thank you very much for all the letters you have sent and the prayers you have offered on behalf of our team and the others. We serve a powerful God.

"Pray ye, therefore, the Lord of the harvest that He shall send forth laborers into His harvest."
Matthew 9:38