Cleveland Mission Trip: Day 1

The Nehemiah Mission

Well we spent about 4 hours straight up I-71 on our way to Cleveland.  We saw a lot of classic cars and Ohio motorcycle gangs on the road for some reason.  It kept it interesting.  It was also a beautiful day to travel.

We found our destination called the Nehemiah Mission.  It is a church that is set up for missions work throughout Cleveland.  It is an older building that has been renovated to host groups as large as 50.  The downstairs is the kitchen, cafeteria, bedrooms and showers.  The rooms that the teens are staying in are large bunk style rooms.  There are 2 showers for each gender!  So the 5 minute rule has been put into effect.  The rest of the building has a nice classic sanctuary, a basketball court on the second floor, and more bunk rooms.

When we arrived we found out that we were early enough for a hip hop worship service that was scheduled for the evening.  It was awesome.  Very different than what our teens are used to but it was great.  Then the pastor of the church, who looks a lot like a 20 year old version of TobyMac, preached a great sermon about blocking out all the noise in our world so that we can listen to the One True Voice.  He did a great job.  I was jealous of his coolness.

We ate dinner, had a leaders meeting, had a team meeting and established all the rules, plans, and procedures for the week.

I am excited about the week.  I am also a little anxious.  I really want this week to go well for our teens and for all those we serve.  I am also really excited to take them out to have some fun in North East Ohio. We have a great team of teens here.  About half of them have done trips with me before and the other half are new to this type of experience. 

Well, it is close to lights out time and I would like to feel a little clean before I go to bed.  And I do want to get my sleep tonight.  So until tomorrow . . .