Vegas 5

Hey!

Today was such a great day! It started out with seeing a good friend from last year, Cynthia! She works with Burmese and Bhutanese refugees in Las Vegas, and she shared her story and a little bit about what she does now. After that we set out to two different Club Christ sites. I went back to the one from the first day and got to tutor a kid named Xaiver. It was so great. Here is a picture of him:

It was such an honor to do that. After we got back from that, the team went out to an authentic Mexican restaurant that looked very different and had great food! Here is that restaurant.

Then we headed to Freemont Street which is the old strip and had a great time! We had a dance party in the middle of everyone, and got to spend a little night on the town. It was so great!

Vegas 4

Today was neat. We started the day going to school! Yup! Each one of us was in a different classroom observing for the entire day. Melissa is a teacher there that is on fire for Jesus, and wants to impact people in her school. We got to hear stories about students she impacts, but there is one issue. It's a public school, and so she can't flat out say the name of Jesus there. So she brought us to observe in classrooms and maybe if we got the chance we could give students a little hope. It's a title I school which means that at least 70% of students are on free and reduced lunch. They're freaking poor. The high school they feed to has a 50% drop rate. So just to go into the schools, talk to them about college and give them hope for a future was enough reason to go to that school. I got to observe in an Orchestra class. It was really neat to go into an Orchestra class because I'm so involved with music, but never orchestra so it was really cool to learn a little bit myself. I also got to lead the class in some percussion exercises. 

That brings me to what we did next. The picture below is Katie Green and Mallory Barkholz. There is a girl named Keisha who started a ministry called "Blessed." Keisha is a christian because of Melissa's ministry at the school. These two girls were able to give their testimonies, and I had the priveledge to help lead worship for the night. It was such a great night.

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Today was our chill day. I got to stare at this all day:

Not only did I get to stare at them, but I got to climb them. Yes, I climbed mountains. Actually, Red Rock. After we did that, we went over to the Dodd's house. They are the people in charge of the African Refugee ministry that goes on here, so they talked a little about the ministry and what we'll be doing. You'll have to wait and see. :)

Tomorrow we go to school. I get to work with an orchestra teacher all day. I'm excited about that.
Short and sweet, but it was a nice relaxing day.

Vegas 2

Today was great. So freaking great. We woke up and had a guys breakfast. That was really neat. Here's the thing about Vegas; it's lust hell. Seriously, girls everywhere, and they aren't wearing very much. So since today was our first day walking to strip, the guys started the morning talking about purity and how to maintain it here.

After that, Wes, Theo, Ethan, Steven and I set off for Caliente Youth Center where Juvenile's from Las Vegas go. It was one of the greatest experiences of my life. It was about two and a half hours away in the middle of no where. We pull in, and start setting up sound equipment for the rapper for the worship service. He rode with us. His name is Twzo (twih-zoh), and started to pray over every seat in the place. Once the kids arrived, we started to greet them. These kids were here for some type of felony, but they were the most well behaved young men I've ever met. Seriously. They, of course, loved Twzo. Then a couple went up to lead worship and then Evan, Vanessa Vann's boo went up to preach the word, and let me tell you. He BROUGHT IT. He spoke about marriage, and he was so transparent and vulnerable with the people there. So neat. Then my favorite part. We got to break off into groups, and pray for people specifically. Here is a picture of the prayer card I wrote on.

 

In case you didn't see, three of them have babies on the way, and all three of them want to be good fathers when they get out, and to get a job and their lives back in shape. How inspiring.

After this we went to a guy named Joseph's house so that he could talk to us a little bit about human trafficking and then we went on a prayer walk along the strip. I had the privalegge of walking with KT and Katie. I love praying, but I honestly can't tell you what my reactions are because I haven't fully processed them yet. 

Here is the group from Caliente. So great. Seriously. My life will never be the same after this experience. God is SO good.

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hey guys! I'm here in Las Vegas, NV where it is sunny and 80 baby! I've just finished my first full day here, and it has so far been an incredible trip.

We set off from SAU to Lansing at 11:45, where we boarded a plan for Las Vegas airport! After we got our luggage and rental cars, we went to Jack In The Box! Ever been there? No? You should. After we ate there, we got to our place of residence where this was waiting for us:

 

 yup, that is all ours for the week. We rented a home because it's cheaper. Anyways, after a night of relaxation, we decided to hit the sheets. We slept in a little so we could get rid of our jet lag, then the ministry begins. We hopped into our mini-vans and went to Morrell Park where there was a church service. I had the privileged of cooking the burgers and hot dogs with Katie for all of the homeless people that came. It was so great. So many great people, with so many fascinating stories. The coolest part of this is everyone was happy. Seriously, these people don't have homes, and they were so happy! After we left there we set out for a city tour! We got to go to a Mexican and an Indian store which were both very cool!

Club Christ is next on our itinerary. Club Christ is a non-profit after school program for underprivileged kids. We got to share some testimonies, lead worship, do a skit, and Becca did a lesson on prayer, then we hung out for hours! Just chillin' with the little kids. We then got pizza for everyone and just enjoyed the company of the adorable children and each other.

Finally, we drove down the strip. Tomorrow we do a prayer walk of the strip, so we thought it would be a good idea to drive down it first for the people who haven't seen it yet so it's not distracting our prayer time. It's so beautiful, but so broken.

That leads me to right now, and the hot tub awaits, so see ya.

-Marc