Our friends arrive in Porto where the journey begins

In her own words, please read an update from Heidi about the Four14 missions team as they prepare to begin the spiritual journey walking the St. James Way.

Good afternoon! I spoke with RAD earlier this afternoon on the phone. What a cool experience it was! (if you’ve never talked to someone in another country, I recommend it!)

photo by gaetan lee
















Here’s a little update:

It took longer to get to Portugal than expected, due to a flight delay here in the states. Because of this, their luggage was behind schedule, and they got it this morning. They have had a lot of team time together the past couple days. Last night they had a “big dinner” (RAD’s words) with the Hawkins. Then today was beach day…lots of swimming! Tonight they are eating dinner with the Hawkins & Plasters, and are meeting people from the International Church. RAD said they have a nice place to stay, and that the team is connecting well with each other. As a team, they are reading a book by Louie Giglio, which they started today. Tomorrow they leave for the hike, by catching a train ride to the beginning location. Then on Thursday, they begin the hike! While they are in Portugal they are 5 hours ahead of us, and once in Spain, they are 6 hours ahead.

The InfoLine has been updated, too. J (ext. 723 or RAD)

Heidi-

Four14 Road Trip WV2008

Four14 Road Trip--Webster Springs, WV





















Heidi Biehler shares what happened in her own words.

"We stayed at Mountain Marketplace Mission (MMM) in Webster Springs, West Virginia. The people who run the mission (and started it) are Rev. Gary and Lily Melton. Here’s a brief description of what we did: Friday- We arrived early in the morning (2 am) and unpacked. In the morning, after breakfast, we had devotion time, and then worked outside on projects all day long. We did those projects in groups of 2-4. It was really neat to see everyone working together so well. We were able to accomplish so much together. We definitely couldn’t have done as much if we had tried to accomplish things individually.Saturday- After breakfast we had devotion time again. We unpacked food from a semi’s trailer and loaded it into the mission’s warehouse. Then, we loaded the semi’s trailer with boxes of clothes and took them to another mission that was 2 hours away in Clarksburg (along with taking the bus). There, we unloaded the clothes and loaded the bus’s trailer with an organ and food to take back to MMM. It was neat to experience these two missions working together and sharing resources. Sunday- RAD preached a sermon on unselfishness, and then we packed up and left. We drove to Seneca Rocks, and climbed a mountain. After that we drove home.

This was a great trip. The team experienced a cross-cultural environment. You can read more here about the Appalachian culture.


Unloading food from the semi- we stacked it all in a food warehouse of the mission. They distribute bags of food every week

loading boxes (and boxes, and boxes, and boxes and…you get the idea) of clothes onto the semi to take to another mission

loading an organ into the trailer to take to the mission we stayed at…also loaded those boxes of food into the trailer





















Andy, Angie, and Rachel weeding the garden and planting flowers for 6 hours

On mission heroes

Please keep in prayer the Plasters who are taking a missions team to Brussels, Belgium. From their blog and latest email update that I received today, I am excited for them. You can even see a short video previewing what they will be doing.

























It is great to read how they are using their leverage points to advance the Gospel. Using the service ethic of young university students they have created an extended discipleship opportunity. I see a parallel to the Four14 roadtrip that is occurring on the same weekend. Although there are twenty-five going from Wooster to West Virginia and only four heading to Brussels from Paris, God's church is on mission for Him.

























I wonder if you saw Kevin & Jill Kane serving in VBS today at the refreshment area talking with children and sharing God's love in a real way. They have shared how blessed they are to be from this church. They wanted to serve this week at VBS, just like they did prior to their call to go to Cambodia. Again, God's people coming to Christ, getting established in their faith, growing in service, and then staying on mission for God.





What a mighty God we serve! Amen!