"Workin' at the Car Wash, YEAH!"

Well, our car wash fundraiser was a SUCCESS!

The team started arriving between 8:30 and 8:45 Saturday morning to start setting up. Everybody was dressed and ready to go, but we hit a little speed bump: the water wouldn't turn on in the front parking lot, where we were planning on washing. Everyone was putting their heads together and trying to figure out ways to get the water working, but there was a valve we never could locate! How did we expect to have a car wash without water?!

Luckily, God put a great idea into our church plumbers' mind when they installed ANOTHER water faucet in our back parking lot! So, we loaded up all of our hoses, soap, buckets, and sponges and took off to the back of the church! In my opinion, I believe that God used this as a little "pre-Alaska task" to remind us to stay flexible!

Once we got our first car in around 9:10, it was busy, busy, busy, until about 11:45! We learned to work better as a team, but even more importantly - we got to meet a TON of interesting people! Everyone enjoyed talking and meeting new people that stopped by, and we also enjoyed catching up with a few members of our own church family! Thanks to everyone that stopped by, YOU are helping to send us on this journey.

I took a few pictures of everyone (big and little) working hard - from scrubbing, to rinsing, to drying, to waving signs! We have an awesome crew!

A Little Background

A few months ago, our church (Lavonia First Baptist Church) felt called to go on a mission trip. We searched for different locations, and all signs pointed to... Anchorage, Alaska! Every piece of the puzzle matched up, and there was no doubt that Alaska was where we were being called to serve.

There were many people eager to go on this trip, and we have ended up with a Christ-loving, geared up, 32-person team! This crew is full of ideas, ready to learn, and willing to do whatever it takes to share the love of God.

So how are we planning on sharing that love? We will be partnering with GraceWorks, an organization that brings churches in to work in multi-ethnic communities in Alaska. We will be focusing on the children by traveling to playgrounds and teaching them Bible stories, playing games with them, singing songs with them, making crafts with them, feeding them meals - just LOVING and entertaining them! At night, we will put on Park Parties. These are community parties where anyone can come and get a meal, and a wonderful opportunity for us to meet local families and spread the Love. To read a little more, check out this page.

We will be in charge of coming up with games and activities for the week, which means we need unique, fun ideas! We have SO many creative minds on our team, but if you have an idea of a fun craft or game for kids of any age, comments are definitely welcome! We would love to get anyone involved on this journey!

Our adventure starts on July 19 and we will spend a week in Anchorage, then our feet will step back on Georgia clay on July 27! "The Journey at First Baptist Church" can't wait to see what THIS Journey has in store. Please pray for our team, for the GraceWorks team, and for the lives we will have the opportunity to impact.

"For I am the Lord your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you."

-Isaiah 41:13 (NIV)