Arrived in Houston

We have safely arrived in Houston and now waiting for our flight to Philadelphia. The kids are out getting dinner while I have bag watching duty.  See you all real soon.

Travel Day

We have arrived at the airport in Phoenix.  Please pray for safe travels as it's a rather windy and cloudy day here in Arizona.  

It has truly been a blessing leading this group of kids. I have greatly enjoyed getting to know each and everyone a little bit better. It has also been amazing getting to watch how God has used them on this trip and how God has worked in their lives this week.  Last night I had the opportunity to talk with the girls about the trip.  It was so great staying up with them talking about the bus ministry, construction, and our time at The Wang's home. The kids names and stories from the bus ministry will be with them forever.  It was also awesome hearing them share about what they were able to accomplish because of God (going on the roof, giving up their devices, hammering, etc).  

We are all looking forward to coming home and sharing about our trip but also continuing out missions even though this chapter of the trip is over.  We thank you for your prayers and support and love you all.  See you tonight!!!

Miss Stow

Prayer Request

Please pray for a safe travel back to New Jersey.

Our Final Day on The Res

So today on our last day of construction we finished the roof on the church and put up dry wall on the porch. This ended our long week of shoveling and moving dirt, smoothing concrete, painting, hammering nails into the roof, & moving wood & etc. It was good to see how much we accomplished, and knowing what it would be used for. On this last day we say goodbye to the workers at ARM and we keep the faces and names of children in our minds & the feeling of accomplishment with a church almost finished with our contribution. 

                                                                                                         -Douglas

Hey guys this is Molly! I am sad to say today was our last day of our missions trip. Today was bitter sweet, I loved doing all the construction and playing with the adorable kids however I am also excited to sleep in my own bed and see my family. Today we did lots of construction! We finished building the porch on the church. It was so fascinating to see the progress on the church and finally see the finished product. To see something be created from nothing is eye opening and reassures me of our ever loving God. Yesterday was our last day of the Children's Bus Ministry and it was extremely hard to part with the kids but I know they are in good hands with the ARM staff. I have learned so much from this trip and I will forever remember the new expirences and friends I have gained.

Day 4 on The Res

 Hey guys, this is Mer! This morning Matt and I made some killlllerrrr waffles and bacon with the help of Mr. Savidge! It was pretty bangin' I must say. After that we ventured off to our church work site where we did a plethora of painting, roofing, and laying concrete. When we first arrived at the church earlier this week there was no porch at all so it is really amazing to see the progress that we are making!! After construction we headed to ARM headquarters and loaded into the bus for the bus ministry. Mr. Savidge, Daniel, Nick, Douglas, Christy, Molly and I played an intense game of bobble ball where I accidentally nailed Mr. Savidge in the face, it was great if I do say so myself. On the bus I met and played with a girl named Mabel, she ran up to me and asked "HEY can I have a ride on your back?!?" We ended up just staying inside of the bus and building a big tower made out of Legos for Rapunzel the princess. After the bus ministry we had UHHHMAZZZZING pulled pork sandwiches with potato salad, which was the perfect ending to a great day spent here in Arizona. The scenery is breathtaking and God is doing some spectacular things in our team and also on the reservation. 

WASSUPPPP! It's Matt! WOOHOO! It's a party over here in Arizona wish you guys could experience the things we are experiencing.  It's fantastic! Today we made considerable visible progress on the church.  We finished the paneling on the roof and prepared it for shingling tomorrow. We also poured and flattened concrete for the sidewalk on the side of the building and got some Q U A L I T Y painting done today a bunch done by yours truly. Then I cleaned semi dried concrete off of tools and such so my hands got concretey and stuff and I had a hose for cleaning so my feet got soaking wet and muddy... Pretty gross. The wind is pretty nice to keep yourself cool but when your high up on a ladder or on the roof it kinda gets a little freaky... And some pretty acrobatic painting skills trying to reach every corner of under the roof. Breakfast was handcrafted, tantalizing, mouth watering WAFFLES AND BACOOOOON! Made by me and Merri(assisted by señor Savidge). We did the children's bus ministry today and today was our last day with the kids :(. But it was a lot of fun sno cones have been a big hit all week and that didn't change today! Me and Cowboy Tinkies accompanied by Cole train sang along to POCKET FULL OF SUNSHINE and a few other catchy popular tunes while in the van on the way to the bus ministry. The kids were a little rambunctious but aren't all kids haha... *Cough* *Cough* Anyway it was a still fun day and looking forward to the last couple of days with my team! Thank you for all your prayers 

                              See ya! 

                                          Matt Savarese 

Prayer Request

Please pray for the Church that we will be working on during our time with ARM.  Pray that the construction will be completed for the dedication on May 10th.

Day 3 on The Res Photos

Construction

Children's Bus

Day 2 on the Res Photos

Working on the Church Moving Stones and starting to frame the roof of the porch

Day 1 on The Res Photos

Breakfast Duty

Working on the Church

Traveling to Globe Photos

Goldfield Ghost Town

Apache Trail

Day 3 on The Res

Howdy fellers, it's cowboy Tinks. Today, April 23, we made decent prog on the construct, henceforth and hitherto there be a ruf on the porch of thy church us are building. We took a joyous jaunt to the friendly neighborhood walmart and I bought a cowboy hat, probs the greatest item I ever bought and I'm now called Cowboy Tinks or Farmer Tinks (Molly likes Farmer Tinks better). Also I played with happy apache children and beat them in basketball, it was a close game I promise. S'prisinly non o the teammate are upset with each other but I rekin that'll last a short time cus I seldom e'er go a full trip without fustration. Any way us are havin a wonderful time in az and I honestly will miss this here place when I make the long journey back to nj. For those who don't know this is Aaron and I'm having a blast here with all my compadres.

Sipping my Macchiato in my most favorite coffee shop in existence right here in Globe, Arizona, relaxing after the hot spring day in Arizona, refreshed through God's presence and helping hands within this trip, and feeling zen over the beautiful Indy music and happy over the warm spirited hearts of my golden tan team members. Nick here, excited to share with you my meraculous Wednesday with my awesome teammates. Construction this morning was great! If you have been involved with this blog, first I want to thank you, and second, you'll know that we have been working on a church for full and complete use for the Apaches! However, today was extra great because we finally got to constructing the roof! This might not sound like the most exciting thing you've ever heard, but we've finally moved on from moving dirt, and I'd say that's pretty exciting. We got to nail in roof boards and complete the skeleton of the new roof to the lobby. Pretty wacky puzaz right there.. Secondly, we worked with some crazy adorable kids. I personally talked with Malachi, a child more intreged over poking me in the side and riding my back. But hey, whatever WWJD, am I right? God has worked through this entire team in ways that are clearly visible, and has been working through my teammates in ways You wouldn't believe, and it encourages me to see that the only people smiling more than the overjoyed kids we work with are my teammates. Thank you for keeping with this blog, and for the prayers sent our way. God has opened up opportunities and encouragement inside and out of this trip, and it's thanks to our Lord and your faith in Him to carry out great promises He had planned for these unfortunate yet beautiful and happy kids. Peace :)

Prayer Request

Please pray for the Bus Ministry that we will be serving on through ARM.  Pray that God will continue to bless this ministry.

Day 2 on The Res

Hey everyone it's Alanna! Hope you're all enjoying Jersey weather while we spend our days working in 80+ degrees. Today after enjoying breakfast, made by our five star ninja chefs, Molly and Douglas, we headed out to the church on the reservation to begin today's construction. During construction, we finished shoveling a mound of dirt into wheel barrels for the foundation and we set the framing for the roof of the porch. Today, we learned that sunblock is a must, we can hear Nick and the squeak of the wheel barrel from across the lot, white shirts don't stay white, and Merri needs to be aware of falling objects (she's okay by the way). After construction we headed to the ARM property and separated into our two groups for the bus ministry, 8 on the bus and 7 in the van. I was in the van and listened to Matt, Cole and Aaron's rendition of Switchfoot. We picked up children in the neighborhood of La Bamba, considered one of the worst neighborhoods because of the high suicide rate. An array of activities were assisted by our team members such as memory verses, crafts, sno-cones, basketball, and roller skating. I talked to this one girl named Christina who was a cousin of a 5 year old girl named Legend who was hit by a drunk driver and killed last year. Christina had shared with me that the site where the bus was stopped will be made into a park this summer in memory of Legend. Also, there are signs and t-shirts promoting #teamlegend across the reservation against drunk driving. It broke my heart to see the staggering number of roadside memorials. God's definitely been opening my eyes.  Please be praying for the families affected and for the soon to be park. 

Hello it's Daniel. I won't repeat what Alanna said but the people who were on the bus invented a new game while on the way to pick the children up. It was named bobble ball and it's pretty stinking epic. Finally I learned one Native American word and it is Dagot'ee which means "hello" so ehhhh yeah pretty awesome. I please ask that you pray extremely hard for the children we are working with because their living conditions I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy, but don't be fooled God is here in Arizona and is working in major ways through the organization of A.R.M. 

New prayer request

This is Jack.  Please be in prayer for me.  I have lost my voice almost completely. (and there was much rejoicing).