Day 2:

We went White River Rafting in Idaho Springs, Colorado.

Then we walked around in Idaho Springs to eat  dinner at a place called Buffalo along with shopping.

Went back to the hotel for a movie night, and just hung out until we had to go to bed!

Day 3:

We left our hotel,

Attended a service at ‘Faith Lutheran Church’ in Denver,

Walked around Golden, Colorado for a lunch break,

Went through a park called ‘Mountain Outlook Park’,

Arrived at the church and had pizza for dinner.

Then attended a Evening Program which is where we found out our Crew, and our Location Sites.

Day 4:

Woke up and had some breakfest,

then we all went to our different locations for the day and worked!

When we got back we hung out until supper, which was spegetti and meatballs!

Currently we are now waiting to go down and go to the Evening Program.

Great News though….THE SECOND VIDEO IS NOW UPLOADED!

Enjoy!

Also: Day 3 and Day 4 are currently in the works, along with constantly updating our Twitter! (http://twitter.com/#!/stmarkym)

Stay with us!

Wow! What a GREAT start this mission trip has been ESPECIALLY because we left in amazing weather.:)

It is now the third day we’re blogging to you, (sorry for the wait but it has been a tough time uploading the videos to you.) Good news: We have the video completed for Day  1 and you can watch it below. Even BETTER news is the Day 2 video is finished and we will upload that later today. This morning we will be leaving the hotel for a church service at Faith Lutheran Church and then possibly be hiking today. Thanks for being so patient with the updates and videos and hope you enjoy the first one! God Bless!

who: any junior high student and their friends
when: Friday, February 25 @ 7pm to Saturday, February 26 @ 7am
where: St. Mark Youth Room
what: games, movies, video games, pizza and snacks!
cost: $5 and a two-liter of your favorite soda

Email Brandon Mick to sign your student and their friends up today!
brandon(at)stmarkwdm.org

Wednesday, December 15th

We’ll have pizza, games, a white elephant gift exchange!

Then, when parents join us at 7:30 we’ll have treats and sing Christmas carols.

Students: Bring (1) two-liter of soda and a wrapped gift for the exchange.

Parents: Bring treats (homemade preferred) when you join us at 7:30.

Registration is now open! Get us your $100 deposit by Sunday, December 12 to reserve your spot.

Any student who is currently in grades 8 through 12 is eligible and encouraged to attend the 2011 mission trip. I’m excited to report that we will be venturing to Denver, CO from July 17-22 to volunteer as part of Group’s “Week of Hope.”  Group is the same organization that we have gone with to Red Lake, MN. They are a solid organization and I am happy to continue to support their work around the country. Rather than doing building projects, we will be helping communities through preparing meals, leading Vacation Bible School, or helping elderly individuals.

… and yes, hot cocoa is in season!

There is a really moving scene toward the end of Deuteronomy where Moses, who has led the Israelites through the wilderness since the Exodus, exclaims that he is no longer directed to lead the tribe. He speaks to his apprentice Joshua and tells him that God wishes for Joshua to now lead the tribe into the Promised Land.

It is with that scripture in mind and a very heavy heart that I write this note to share with you that my time at St. Mark as Director of Youth Ministries will end effective Friday, September 3. I believe that God is calling me into a new, unfolding chapter of life, and as part of this calling I have accepted the position of Director of Youth Ministries at Faith Lutheran Church. As tough as this decision has been, I am at peace and hope you find peace as well.

Thanks to this community’s leadership and unfaltering commitment to my future, I have gained invaluable experience in leadership, ministry, discipleship, and life. St. Mark took a great leap of faith in hiring a young, recent college graduate as part-time Director of Youth Ministries, and over the past three years we have enjoyed many successes and have been gracefully granted space to learn and grow from my mistakes.

Know that I love you all. I have delighted in sharing the privilege of ministry with you, becoming a part of your families, and growing alongside one another. It has been my honor to be a part of your lives for the last three years.

While it’s impossible to know who St Mark’s Joshua is, I am praying for that person as well as the beautiful community that I know you to be.

May the Lord bless you and keep you;
May the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;
May the Lord lift up his face upon you and give you peace.

Blessings,
Jake Bouma

We’ve had an unbelievable week, in every way imaginable. That being said, we’re really looking forward to being home.

Enjoy the videos from days 3 – 6 below. Thanks for your continued support!

The video from the last two days will be posted within the next few days.

What an incredible start to our trip! We’ve been having a blast, but we’ve also had to do a little bit of improvisation these last few days. Here’s a quick rundown:

But here’s the good news (despite the minor setbacks)! We were able to get everything packed despite the rain; we’re using the wireless internet at Kohl’s Resort this afternoon to compose this blog post and upload videos; and we’ve been using Jake’s and Erin’s iPhones to continue video recording.

Besides, the real reason we are here isn’t to make videos, it’s to serve the community of Red Lake. We’ve been hard at work building decks, painting houses, and doing various other construction projects at homes across the reservation. Sorry for the lack of updates and communication from up north, but we promise everything is going great and we can’t wait to share our experiences with our families and friends!

Enjoy the videos from our first few days!

Day 1

Day 2

P.S. We think we’ll be able to upload the last few videos late Saturday evening, which is the next time we’ll have internet access. Thanks for being patient with us!

It’s just under a week until 24 students and 4 adults from St. Mark depart for Red Lake, Minnesota for our 2010 mission trip! Although you won’t be physically with us during our time in Red Lake, we want to provide ways for you to share in our experiences. Here’s how you can:

Scripture and prayer

All of our youth and adults have been provided with journals to help us digest and reflect upon our time up north. We’re given a small piece of scripture every day to use as a springboard for our thoughts and reflections. You’ll find the scripture schedule below; I heartily encourage you to join in our scripture reading AND to pray with and for our students and leaders (and the rest of the ~400 youth and leaders in Red Lake next week!).

Blog and email updates

If you’re reading this, you’re in the right spot! There will be a new post here every day of our journey, beginning either Sunday (June 27) or Monday (June 28) with quick, written updates and videos. Two things you need to know:

(1) At the bottom of every post, there’s a link with the phrase “Leave a comment” or “[Insert # here] comments”. Click this link to leave the group a message. We gather as a group every evening to read all of the previous days’ comments out loud. You have no idea how much they’re appreciated!

(2) If you wish, you can receive these updates via email! You’ll receive an email every morning with the newest post, and you can even forward it to your friends and family. Click this link to sign up for email updates.

Twitter

Several of our leaders and students will be sending intermittent updates to St. Mark Youth Ministry’s very own Twitter account. This is a great way for you to follow along with our journey in real-time throughout the days and evenings this week.

You don’t need a Twitter account to see the updates, so don’t worry if you don’t “get” Twitter. You don’t need to! Just click this link, bookmark the page, and check back often!

YouTube

You’ll have no problem watching all of our videos right here on this blog, but if you’re interested, St. Mark Youth Ministries has its own YouTube page. Check it out!

Flickr

Since the beginning of time, any pictures of our youth ministry events have made their way to our Flickr page. We may be too consumed with video filming/editing/uploading to bother with the hundreds of pictures we’ll no doubt be taking, but you can check the SMYouth Flickr account periodically (just in case) by clicking here.