about this tour
March 14
The team safely arrived home shortly after midnight last night.
Mar 13, 1:56 am Submitted by Lindsey Lide
Hey guys,
We are in root to come home, staying in a quaint little town called Williams, but we wanted to update you about the last few days that we've spent in Arizona….Sunday, the morning service started with a sweet prayer in some English and some Navajo from Pastor Stanley, and then the worship team kickstarted what turned out to be an amazing service. Four of us, Jorge, David, Scooter and Moriah gave their testimonies and blew it out of the park. After the service concluded we were able to pray for some of the people individually and meet some of the elder people. Then, afterward we all ate Navajo tacos that some of the ladies made for us (Lindsey, Stephanie and Blake learned how to make the homemade bread and there was only one dough fatality.) The fellowship with the people,; eating, laughing, playing pool and ping pong together, was just a time of blessing and ground breaking things all around. Later on, we found out that the ground breaking things reached far beyond creating relationships and sowing seeds of faith, but it included the corporate worship of families in the surrounding community that have not attended there before. After a wonderful morning, we concluded the day with naps, movies, song writing and ping pong. Monday, we all woke up and made the hour trek to visit the Petrified Forest and the Painted Desert. Words can't explain the beauty and majestic presence of God that hung over the Painted Desert, we couldn't help but praise God in that time of complete awe and adoration for His amazing handiwork. And riding through the Petrified Forest was a neat experience full of funny stories, bumpy roads and immensely beautiful pieces of Petrified Wood. After a full day of beautiful sites, shopping and some traveling, we finished the day with a bonfire and hamburgers and hotdogs. Then after a good night of smelling like smores, bonfire and a stray dog we named Thomas, we finished strong with a day of walking around the Grand Canyon. Some of us climbed, some of us took pictures, some conquered fears (Stephanie faced her fear of heights) and overall we achieved one thing, and that was witnessing one of the intricate, gorgeous gifts God decided to bless us with. Now, we are about to go to sleep with bellies full of steak, brisket, fired chicken and potatoes thanks to The Iron Horse Saloon Restaurant. The next time there will be an update, it will be in person or over telephone because we fly out tomorrow around 3 and will be getting home around 12. Please pray for safe travel and adequate sleep for us tonight. We can't wait to see your lovely faces, hear your dear voices and tell you all about the work God has done in our lives these past 8 days.
P.S. We were literally "living on the edge" today.
Love the A.Z. Team!
Mar 10 9:42 am Submitted by Lindsey Lide
Heyy Guys!
Long time no see, just SNOWING here in Arizona, No big deal. We drove in the SNOW, saw horses running through the desert and stopped by the Little Painted Desert which was absolutely beautiful all to get to Winslow and see a little bit of civilization. We got to drive on the famous Route 66! Timeout: Gotta share a ridiculous story from the night before! Picture this: It's 4:45 am! A screeching alarm is going off in the girls parsonage! Where is it coming from? WE DON'T KNOW! Is it a fire? WE DON'T KNOW! A few of us that woke up(including our team lead…don't worry parents) are frantically looking for this mysterious alarm! Where do we find it on this cold, winter night? IN A KITTY LITTER BAG OUTSIDE!!!! The battery was dying. Ridiculous!!! Back to the update! When we got back to reservation we prepared for the youth service. We didn't know what to expect or how many people to expect but we knew the Lord was up to something. Building relationships with the kids was not hard at all. They all just wanted someone to laugh with them. As we went into worship the presence of the Lord was there and our worship team ROCKED it. Victor gave his testimony which led into the "Everything," skit and the looks on their faces were amazing. The rest of us gave our testimonies and Blake closed it out and the Lord really used us. These teens are filled with fear and they seem to be so insecure. They're desperate for love because of all of the situations in life that have kept them from true love . Even though them opening up is like prying teeth, the Lord just had us love on them and tell them there is so much more out there. When it was all over they wanted all of our attention! It was clear that the Lord was at work. Telling them that we loved them was no stretch at all. God filled our hearts immediately with a compassion and love for them. Because we know we may be the only ones to represent Jesus in their lives, it makes the impact that much greater. Not only in their lives, but in ours too. We know we've planted a seed and we can't wait to see what God has in store for this reservation and these people. Today we were given many things to do, but as a team we went hard and got it done. Our main task was to "fix up the place," but it mainly involved painting, cleaning, and whatever else Pastor Mark and Pastor Tommy had for us to do. Even though it didn't seem to be the most "fun" thing to do this morning, I sat back and watched everyone laugh, sing, and give their all to their jobs. It's all about the simple things! Who knew spackling, scrubbing floors and door frames in this place could pull together and make such a difference in this church. I'm beyond thankful for the family we have here, and this opportunity to serve and make such a difference on this reservation.
P.S. We cleaned the junk outta this place.
P.P.S. Props to the food team, we are not only not starving, but we are happily gaining weight along the way!
AZ BABY!
Mar 8, 12:26 am submitted by Jorge Mendez
Our team is now in full swing. We arrived safely on Tuesday night after some interesting events with our flights. Our flight schedule was to leave the Columbia airport to Atlanta and from there fly to Phoenix. Due to bad weather we had a two hour delay in Columbia which led to a very close call in Atlanta with our connecting flight. Our flights were very smooth and we arrived safely. We spent the night in Phoenix and on Wednesday we drove to the reservation. On the way we stopped for groceries for the week, at Sam's Club we literally filled six shopping carts full of groceries and on top of that two more at Walmart!! Bryana Bookwalter did an excellent job of organizing the list and getting everything we needed. In short, we are all gunna be eating real good!! Thursday was our first official day on the reservation. We got to meet the people and went door to door in local communities to promote the upcoming services throughout the weekend. That night we began with a kids service led by Jon Alexis. The Lord really showed up and we saw healing in the lives of the kids who have gone through so much hurt in their families. After the service the team gathered around and shared heart in the events that occurred during the service and the mindset we must have for the rest of the week. We are looking forward for our next service on Friday night for the youth and anticipating for The Lord to show up in a very big way!!
Mar 6, 12:30 am
After delays and an intense sprint to the terminal, we made it safely to Phoenix! We'll stay the night here and head to the reservation tomorrow morning
-Lindsey Lide
