On The Road Again

Finally! We are on the road to another event. Our team will be spending the next couple weeks at Windemere Conference Center in Roach, MO. We all are beyond pumped to be out of the office and back to events. I haven't written much the last couple weeks because there isn't much to write about.

The majority of our last two weeks in Joplin have amounted to twiddling our thumbs and having fun, but none of it compared to being at a MOVE event. Last weekend my team and I went to Kansas City to shop and have dinner with Hannah's mom who was in town there. That was fun, but really the most we did.

Tuesday, we had the opportunity to check out Windemere, as it is only about three hours away. Our team is beyond pumped for the campus. It is right on Lake of the Ozarks and has so much to offer. I can not wait to see the fun students have and how the Spirit works there.

Please keep praying for the students and our endurance. Pray specifically for the four guys and Clif heading to Illinois this week for that MOVE event. I wish I could be there with them.

The Preparation Will Pay Off Soon

My team leaves tomorrow. Raise your hand if you're pumped. I know I am. We have spent three weeks in the office, doing a few odd jobs, preparing housing, and making sure we're ready. Let me tell you about yesterday, today, and look ahead with you.

Yesterday, we viewed the film Love Costs Every Thing made by CIY in association with The Voice Of The Martyr. It was fairly intense, seeing brothers and sisters persecuted and even killed for confessing faith in the God I love. The film was full of great stories that broke my heart and inspired me. You can watch it at any MOVE event this summer, or it will be available in the fall.

Following the showing, we took place in a 24 prayer like the one students will experience at the events. Each of us had a half hour shift in our prayer room (set up in the conference center). Like I said in a previous post, I'd love to share more with you because it was an awesome experience, even when tired (my shift was 1:30am), but I don't want to spoil it for students attending. Let me just say that God will be present, moving, and working through and despite the stations and experiences we have set up.

Today, the Colorado team left early in the morning. The rest of us did a lot of work to make sure our teams were ready to leave (two teams tomorrow morning, one next week). Now we are packing, hanging out, and getting stoked to start events and see God's plan fall into action.

I want to look into the near future with you now to share some requests for prayer. To be honest, I know nothing about these students, I may not get much time to interact with them, and even if I do it may amount to nothing. But I love them and my heart breaks for them. Frankly, I'm not sure who will understand this if they are without the Holy Spirit. Logically, I should hate high schoolers. They are loud, don't always smell nice, and can be arrogant. But they are the future of the Church, and they continue to amaze me and show me God's glory. So, if you will, ask God to work in the high schoolers at the events, their friends, and the strangers they meet. Ask that God will start their hearts towards him and his work, that their friends will be affected by this change and even the strangers on the street will react to how they shine.

As well, please ask the Father to continually remind us MOVE staff what we are doing.

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
Ephesians 2:10

It is insane to think God uses us, but he does! In fact, he prepared these works for us ahead of time. I can't explain how that makes me feel. It is so crazy and amazing. I pray that we can live out these works as God wants, and give him the glory.

Please tell me, how can I pray for you?

So Many Updates, So Little Time

Sorry for updating so often, but there is so much to tell you about! First off, was our Memorial Day party at the CIY office. Well, our day actually started with team meetings to discuss goals in our own lives for the summer regarding leadership, serving, fellowship, spiritual growth, and professional growth. My team (Jenn, Michelle, Hannah, and led by JB) met at Joe Muggs in Books-A-Million and discussed ours and had some great bonding time.

Our afternoon proceeded meeting at CCO (Christ's Church of Oronogo) and sorting stuff to go out on our first truck. We thought it would be easy and quick, but the staff kept adding more and more to our list. The event staff have decided they did this to tire us out for the wiffle ball game. Some didn't even make it back to the dorm until a few minutes before the party.

But we made it alive somehow and ate some delicious brats, hamburgers, cupcake truffles, and other food. Soon we were onto the wiffle ball game. The first inning left us losing with a score 6-1, but we held it there the rest of the game. I think that's pretty good considering the staff wore us event staff down and cheated.

Tuesday, we worked hard again, getting a lot ready for the events that are coming up quick. What I'm super excited about is the work we did today. Aside from the trophies Addison and I made (with help finishing up from JB and Caiti), we got a look at my job at the events as customer service manager and the events coming up. I am so pumped. My job will be working with people. Like, hello?! That is Garrett Daniel DeMeyer. And it's just great to be finally looking at these events and getting some training.

In the afternoon, we went to CCO to look at some of the elements we'll be using for the sessions at Move. My. Goodness. The games and artistic design are sweet. And we got to see a bit of the closing for each main session and boy are they powerful. I must admit, and CIY friends are not allowed to make fun of me, I teared up a bit. I am soooooo excited for God's working and I know his Spirit will move this summer. If you are a student reading this and can't decide to come to Move, please do. You won't regret God's calling presented there.

Cpt. Red (aka our backstage managers)

Please, continue to pray for the students coming to the Move events. I am so excited for them. You have no idea.... I am tearing up again thinking about all God can do in them, through them. Ask our Father to let his Spirit fill us and these students that we can give them the best experience and they can see past us, our flaws, to God.

I love you all, and thank you for praying.

First Week Synopsis

So after I finally made it to Joplin, it's been a blast. Office days are not nearly as tedious as I pictured them. We have been getting a lot of stuff ready for events, such as folding shirts, shooting videos, making trophies, cleaning inflatables, and the like. One of the more exciting parts was walking through what the prayer room is going to look like. I am sooooo pumped and, to be honest, am almost brought to tears just thinking about how God's Spirit will be moving and speaking to students there and how they will be talking to and praising God. It's so exciting I can't contain it!

After work, we've been eating, chilling, and a couple extra tasks. It seems our hang out is the mall food court, home of the area's Chick-fil-A (because we are good Christians and eat there). It's sweet making these new friends, even though I do wish I could see those back home too.

I'm sure plenty of people are wondering about how Joplin is doing, after the tornado. I must admit, I haven't had much time to spend helping out and I haven't been to the most disastrous parts. What I have seen is an awesome response to the need. As we have off Saturday, we got to help out at a local church (http://cornerstonejoplin.org/) unpacking a semi full of supplies that they are handing out there. Not only do they have so many supplies they have to turn down donations in some places, but we were having trouble finding ways to help sometimes today because of the overwhelming response from volunteers. Praise the Lord for such an awesome response from his church. As well, a lot of us got shirts or stickers with proceeds going to the city. You can check them out on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/restorejoplin).

Please continue to pray. First, for the students attending Move events this summer. Ask that God can start working in them now and preparing them for the week they'll be with us and that the leaders and pastors have the wisdom, strength, and love to help them through their journey. Also, please pray for Joplin. Even though they have a lot of help, they still have a lot of need that I predict will outlast the help. Finally, please pray for my strength as I'm finding it harder and harder to be away from home.

I love you all. How can I pray for you?

Finally! Garrett Has Made It To Joplin!

So I'm not as cool as The Rock, but I think people are happy to have me here. That's right, after having flights canceled, sleeping in a hotel one night and the airport another, I have made it. God has remained faithful and got me here. In fact, he even threw me a bone and let me meet one of my heroes, Dan Smith of listener (iamlistener.com). I was waiting for Wesley to pick me up from the Springfield airport and he was walking in. Pretty stellar stuff. I was stoked.

And today was my first full day here. With all the confusion and chaos of the tornado that hit, all the staff have been behind. So we did orientation today, which was pretty simple stuff. Then the customer service managers (my position) got to meet with a couple of ladies from 24/7 prayer about our vision for a prayer room at each event. I don't want to explain too much, in case one of the students from Fox River reads this I wouldn't want to ruin it for them, but it will be awesome and I'm more than happy to be part of it! Then we helped the Station managers fold shirts.

Long story short, I'm having a great time now that I'm actually here! I don't plan on posting again until the weekend, so watch for that. Love you all and I'm praying for you.