Sunday Afternoon, July 8, Derryfield Park

Derryfield Park in Manchester will be home to Explorer Camp this week! This afternoon we gave it a trial run and made plans for what activity will happen where. We ate lunch with new friends from CTR in the pavillion that we will use.

Sunday, July 8, Worshipping in Another Language--Northern!

Sunday morning found the Cov Pres team worshipping with brothers and sisters at Church of the Redeemer in Manchester. Exciting things are happening for this church. They (like all churches in this presbytery) have struggled to find a permanent location after moving from a music school to a hotel to the basement of another church to their current location in an office building. In this office building their neighbors are the local Muslim worship center, Manchester's Obama re-election campaign headquarters, and the department of transportation. This space has been too small for CTR for some time. After many starts and stops, the doors are now open to purchase a building from a Church of the Latter Day Saints congregation. They expect to be in it sometime in August. Having a permanent, stand-alone traditional church building will add to their credibility and visibility in the city.

Covenant Goes Granite

Welcome to the Granite State--New Hampshire! Yes, we know that the blog is called Mission Maine. Portland, Maine, is where we've partnered with Christ the Redeemer Presbyterian Church for the last two summers, but this year, we've added a second location for our summer camps for children.

A team of 12 folks--Dan, Leslie, Christina and Koyla Edwards; Lois Callen; Carter, Monica, Elson, Bradford, and Frances Stewart; and Burney and Roger Johnson--arrived in Manchester, New Hampshire, on Saturday. We are in Manchester at the invitation of Church of the Redeemer, one of 10 PCA churches in the Northern New England presbytery, made up of Maine, Vermont, and New Hampshire. Pastor Jon Taylor and his wife, Allie, hosted our team and CTR church members for a sweet time of dinner, songs, and getting to know each other. Burney and Roger Johnson awed all with a duet. We already have new friends in this gorgeous place.

"inhaling the Word and exhaling in prayer"

"inhaling the Word and exhaling in prayer"

I am sitting in the room before going to shoot one of our last interviews for this video project. It is striking me that I have failed so often and so frequently by not inhaling the word and exhaling in prayer. On this trip, in each step of my day, home, away.

To our team, to those who have come to love Maine and more so Mainers, I think we should all consider the coming weeks and days as our lives slide into the normal rhythms and patterns of life. I want to consider the pattern of prayer, the purpose of prayer, how God is glorified by our making requests and asking Him for His will.

I hope and desire that God will press upon me to pray for Maine, for Mainers. To inhale the Word and be reminded in it and respond from it to prayer for these people and the mission...the glory God would have here.

Peace.

A Lot Has Happened Between the Last Post and Now

We do hope you will keep checking back. We will be posting so much more from the last days. They have been busy and record-breaking HOT, but here is one quick update. This afternoon, one day after camp ended, Doug Warren, pastor of CTR, is at a birthday party with his daughters and two of our campers. The children didn't know each other before camp and the campers' family does not attend church. The children became friends and the connection was made. That's how it happens here so many times. We, at Covenant, wanted to invest in a mission where connections could be made with a local church. God is answering our prayers for this in Portland. In this and in so many other ways we will continue to share here, we are seeing fruit (even as most of our team is traveling home). We continue to give thanks.

Is it Wednesday already?

This happens every year. We work and grow and learn and knit together a camp. We come together as a team in a way that would not have happened at home. We are Covenanters who worship together, but not as often do we labor together. Monday comes around, and it's a bit nervous wondering what is going to happen. God's hand reveals itself, having held this wonderful plan and these relationships, these children and fellow labors in Christ at the local church for us together to praise and glorify Him. It's awesome every time.

Then Wednesday hits. It's almost over. We see and are planning for the parents' night tomorrow. Then Friday is around the corner. It will be gone. Already I regret the passing of these days. While we are each getting tired and worn down physically, we are also each so alive in the relationships we are building--those with each other, those with the children God entrusted to us, those with the the members at Christ the Redeemer.

If you are a bit nervous about going on a mission trip, that's smart. It just might change your life. I promise it will change your relationship with God. I promise you will see Him with a clarity and purpose that I wish I lived each day.

Eph 2 8-10

Monday, July 18

The first day of camp went very, very well even though we were managing more than 80 children, had a little rain, and were figuring out the lay of the land. New friends, hugs, smiles, and exciting new things to learn so overpowered those little challenges. We said our good-byes, packed up camp, and spent the evening at the local baseball park watching the Portland Seadogs cream the Binghamton Mets 7-2 (may not have been the final score--we only made it to the eighth inning before sleep threatened!). We're praying for more than 100 kids on Tuesday and safety as we go on a hike in a gorgeous wooded city park. Check back. We'll have updates and more photos! Thanks for your support in this effort!