Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Burney Johnson is great at leading kids of all ages in games.

It looks like sometimes the KIDs lead Burney in the games!

And if the games grow old....

before Burney's back gives out, there is more fun to be had!

Today the little girls learned all about archery and what it means to hit the mark.

Burney and Roger Johnson led music in the pavilion.

The boys got to meet the snakes and...

try their hand at archery.

Lois "B" Callen introduces Carter Stewart's group to her snakes.

Monday, July 9, First Day of Explorer Camp

What better way to get a glimpse of the first day of Explorer Camp than to read words Church of the Redeemer Pastor Jon Taylor shared via email with his congregation. This is an excerpt:

Do you know the difference between a coral snake and a red rat snake? The kids who came to Explorer Camp today do! And not only that, they got to touch and hold two snakes (non-venomous, of course), courtesy of "B", the 88-year-old retired Alabama teacher [Lois Callen, mother to Leslie Edwards]. God gave us such a perfect day to set this week in motion. 

There were the 12 team members from Birmingham, 12 adult helpers from CTR, and 33 children! They played games, sang, heard God's story of Creation, practiced archery, hiked into the "puckerbrush," enjoyed lunch together in the gazebo, and made new friends. The Derryfield Park is so lush and conducive to this kind of outreach. In all, it was a great, great day! We praise God for this dedicated, talented team leading the week.

This afternoon the team and several CTR members fanned out in the 99 Mammoth neighborhood to place door hangers advertising our upcoming move to the neighborhood. They had many positive interactions, including some who are looking for a church. We pray that God uses these investments of time and effort for his glory.

Learning to build shelters for survival in the woods.

Burney and Roger Johnson teaching archery skills.

Monica Stewart leading small group time.

Dan Edwards telling the Bible story.

Explorer Camp allows everyone to run some!

Each day ends with an opportunity to reach into B's "Feely Box" to see what nature treasures it holds.

Everyone eventually gets a turn to reach into the box, pull out an object, and guess what it is. The box is full of animal bones, shells, antlers, etc. Some of the objects are a little tricky to identify!

After Explorer Camp ended at 2 p.m. Cov Pres team members joined members from Church of the Redeemer to place these hangtags on the doors of homes in the neighborhood of their new building. Thank you, Paul Loyless, for getting these produced for us! Pray that many become aware of and visit Church of the Redeemer as a result.

Sunday, July 8, Take Me Out to the Ballgame

Manchester is home to the minor league team, the Fisher Cats, the Double-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. That's where you would have found the Cov Pres team and several members from Church of the Redeemer on Sunday night. The Fisher Cats won the game 5-4 over the New Britain Rock Cats.

Jon Taylor, pastor of Church of the Redeemer in Manchester, is in the blue shirt and waving.

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.