Thursday, October 21, 2010

Glow in the Dark.

We got used to staring at this.

This is a story about...
1 quiet nature country. 
10 girls. 
1 boy. 
11 passenger van. 
2 day drive. 
1 loud cement jungle.
So this is how the story begins... 
One morning all of us packed into a van.
And off we began on our 2 day drive down to Las Vegas. We drove for about 12 hours and stayed over in a Calvary Chapel in Pocatello, Idaho, and then woke up to sit in the van for another 8-10 hours till we hit our final destination...
Las Vegas, Nevada. 
Welcome to LAS VEGAS!
I was once again shown a city and INSTANTLY fell in love! 
(I miss being home in Philly all the time!!!)
Calvary Chapel Spring Valley opened up their guest home to us and it felt like home, because I looked out the window and the first thing I saw was CALVARY.  
So lemme tell you about this mission's conference. 
1. Calvary Chapel Spring Valley is a HUGE church. They have a elementary/high school, a coffee shop, bookstore, and a huge campus (the church/school is two separate buildings)!
2. It was SO amazing.... The worship, the speakers, and just everything about it.
3. They had an International Dinner night! (Which I'll write about later...)
4. The conference is called... the SEND the MEssage, mission's conference.
5. This Calvary Chapel doesn't spell their name normally, but spell it... caLVary chapel. 
(The LV is capitalized for Las Vegas! Isn't that creative?!)
Half of Calvary Chapel Spring Valley.
I don't know how to explain all of the sessions... So I decided to just give some points that stood out and encouraged me.
- "There are the Goers, SENDers, and the DISOBEDIENT."
- "If we feel that people are going to hell, we should feel the need to do something about it."
- "Being a missionary: It's not a profession, but a calling."
- "You can have 110 accountability partners, but you're only as accountable as you make yourself."
- "Until the WHOLE world hears, we are NOT done."
- "Your tongue will follow your heart."
- "God knows and has chosen me for a place that is perfect for me. God has also chosen a place for me that is the perfect place."
- "Be a... Learner, Sharer, Partner, and Minister."
- "Is it MY ministry or GOD's? Is it MY city or GOD's? If it's YOURS, then DO NOT ASK GOD for help. It's NOT His."
On Tuesday night, we had a special dinner at the conference. 2 words... 
INTERNATIONAL DINNER.
There was SO much to try!
In the courtyard, there was about 20 long tables set up and about 12 different countries represented. They had Filipino, Chinese, Indian, Mexican, American, Hawaiian, and many more... My favorite was the white rice and the dried seaweed pieces. It was DELICIOUS!   
Water show at the Bellagio.
Our orphan mom... Dawn Marie.
After a night of wonderful food, Dawn Marie (Mike and Pam Rozell's touring assistant) took some of the girls to drive down the Vegas Strip in our orphanage van. It was such a fun time!
On Thursday, we were able to go shopping (again with Dawn Marie) at the Forum shops. We went to a 4-story Urban Outfitters... I died and bought SO much stuff! At night, the group went back to the strip to the Bellagio and watched the water show. It was the nicest to watch. We also were able to walk through the Bellagio and see the inside. Literally. Nicest thing I have ever seen! Dawn Marie told us 
                                                          and said she saw Brad Pitt... Lies, Lies, LIES. 
I know this is out of order, but on Wednesday, the conference ended at 12 and we had till 4ish to just chill. So we asked Pastor Steve if we could do some kind of street witnessing or an outreach and he got us in with Calvary Downtown to help at their food pantry. We were able to help the group there unload a van PACKED with food so they could hand out boxes the following day to the homeless and unfortunate families. After unloading and putting away the food, Theresa, the lady who leads it up, gave me some information on how to run a food pantry and some stuff about what they do. It was perfect! It literally made my day!
This is the sad part... It's now Friday morning... And again, all of us packed into our 11 passenger van and drove again for 2 days. Over all, it was the best trip. I loved being in the city life.


3 comments:

  1. How can you visit LV without hitting Nellis AFB? Sounds like you had a good time without it!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Daughter:

    I'm glad you had a "so amazing" time at the conference, and also enjoyed the food pantry.

    You're there, so be there ... "perfect place" and all....instead of wishing you were somewhere else.

    of course: Your Mother

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love vegas. me and my brother went over the summer to visit my grandma, then we stayed in the luxor for a few days. and nevada has in-n-out burger, which is basically the best thing ever.

    ReplyDelete