Week 4

The first half of the week started out with adult and kid out reaches in San Francisco and the during the latter part, we were involved in training SOS ministries in how to use the sketch board, illusion tricks and other methods of how to attack a crowd. The hardest thing we had to do this week was to say goodbye to the kids at Potrero Hills, as we will be working with Steven Schultheis next week with Youth for Christ in Sacramento.  There were a few tears shed by both the Mission Possible team and the kids the day we said our goodbyes and watched them get smaller and smaller in our rear view window as they waved goodbye to us. We pray that the short time we had with these kids, will be life changing and that they will always remember the things they learned in these past few weeks and how special they are to God.

It is amazing that our time here now is short.  It really flew by so quickly, yet when we look back on everything we have done here in San Francisco, it feels as though we have been here three months or more. This foreign place has now become our home, and I think we can vouch for everyone, that it will be hard to leave this place; a place where people are in so much need of Christ in their lives.
Carmiña

At the beginning of our fourth week we started our day with adult ministry in Market and Powell (one of our favorite places to preach).  There, we did five paint board messages and we were able to complete the drama four times.  We all were able to engage in some awesome conversations with all kinds of people; some of them were receptive to the gospel, but some weren't.  After adult ministry we went to Potrero Homes and did our final day of kid outreach.  Right before we left, we talked to all the kids and made sure they understood the gospel.  Thankfully, the boys seemed to understand some of it already, but we explained everything to them again to make sure they fully understood the Gospel.  Please pray for these kids.  They are being brought up in a really rough neighborhood and don't have any Godly people to help them keep their faith in Christ.  I hope that some day I'll be able to come back and see these kids again. 

Micah

On Monday, we went out to Powell and Market street. While we were there we had many interesting conversations including one with Texas Rangers, Josh Hamilton.
It was so encouraging talking to someone with such strong faith. It was even more encouraging for someone pretty famous to tell us we were doing a great job and to know that he gives all his glory to God no matter how many home runs he gets.  Even with all this spiritual warfare going on The Lord still sends people to come and hear the most important message and to tell us that it's encouraging to see a group of teens from Maryland sharing the Gospel in one of the most needed cities in the U.S. for their whole summer.  Jianna

The much talked about Eddie Sheilds

This past week, we had our last kids club at Potrero Hills.  The boys at the club met with the guys from our team and the girls met with Shauna, Jianna, I.  I started asking them about their faith and whether or not they had accepted Christ as their Savior.  All of them said that they were Christians and they prayed often.  One girl, Rakel, started crying because a few family members had recently died.  She started talking about her uncle, who died long before his time, and her grandmother who dropped dead while blowing bubbles with her.  Then AJ, one of the other girls, started crying as well.  She talked about how her dad was now living with another family and wanted nothing to do with her or her mother.  She turned to Rakel, who is her best friend, and said that she looks at her life and how she can't ever have the perfect family that Rakel has.  Rakel started crying harder as she explained that her life and family is not nearly as perfect as it might seem.  It got quiet for a minute and then the third girl started crying.  She told us that her dad used to beat her mom and older sister.  He's been on the run so that the police can't catch him and they've been going to court to try to get a restraining order.  It was so touching to see how hard their lives are.  It definitely gave me a new perspective on the problems in my life.  Shauna and I were just talking about how the girls we talked to are so good at hiding the hurt and pain that they have.  I never would have guessed that they are dealing with so much. 
Julie

Muir Woods on our day off

Group Devotions at Sausalito, CA

It has been such a blessing seeing how many people have been encouraged by our team coming to California this summer as well as how they in return have encouraged us. Every group we work with has been encouraged in some way by seeing us come to California and being willing to preach the Gospel to people we don't even know. Last week we got the pleasure of training 2 different churches in how to use the sketchboard and do kids ministry. Both churches were so encouraging to us yet they both told us often how much of a blessing we had been to them. We had people from the ministries and churches tell us that they didn't want us to leave, that we're more than welcome to come back and stay with them anytime we want, that they don't want to see us go, and some have even cried when we had to leave. They were so encouraged seeing young people being willing to share their faith and encourage others to do the same so much so that we're willing to give up our summers to come to the cold Bay Area to share and teach others how to do the same. Seeing their hunger for these tools and practical experience sharing their faith has been such an encouragement to us. We have really enjoyed seeing others' faith and different ways of doing ministry. We have made many great friendships in Christ this summer and are sad to see our summer coming to a close, but have learned so much, seen God show up in our every day lives, and been so encouraged by our sisters and brothers here.
Kelly

Training SOS Ministries