The Trip Home...

We made it! Thanks to everyone for all of your prayers. It was an amazing trip and we can't wait to share what God has taught us. In the meantime, here's a taste of what we did in the 15-passenger van ride home! We came up with some Christian pick-up lines (don't ask me how it got started). We may have stolen a few from the internet, but some of them are ours! So, we thought it would be fun to see which ones you like the best! Please vote for as many as you want below!!!

Last Day!

This week was one of the most amazing weeks of my life. The amount of serving hearts was a sight within itself. Every family who came to Shawnee this week had loving hearts for all of
the STM's and leaders. I don't think there was one kid who couldn't make me laugh this week, whether it was a joke they told or it was just a funny action. This week started out very quiet and slow for me because I was new to this, but by the end of the week I was talking to about ten different people at once. It was very hard to grasp the schedules of the kids. God showed me the right path towards many of the things I had to do this week. My campers name was Micah. He is 12 years old and a very open and loving boy. He is someone who can't tolerate a lot of noise and can't stay in one place very long. We were usually in a room with our group for maybe 10 minutes before we would have to leave. Most of the time we would walk around the lodge or spend time down in the quiet room. From what I have seen, he loves looking at God's creation. He has taught me how to more than just patient this week. He has taught me to take a step back and look at everything with a more open heart--not just a plain heart but a servant's heart. If they did this camp every month I would come back in a heartbeat. When everyone is together at this place it makes it seem like we are one big family because we all just interact together like a family. The activities this week have been amazing and planned by dozens of people. We had fun doing things like swimming in the large outdoor pool to going to the dairy bar to play putt-putt golf and get some pretty awesome ice cream. Today was the last day for all of the families and we had a great last morning together in the grandstand sharing stories of how Joni and Friends and God have impacted their lives at home. Before everyone left, every family got a balloon to take out to the front parking lot with them. At the same time every family released their balloon into the air to see it sail across the sky, which was a sight to see. I am very excited to come back someday and I hope we can get even more people to come too. Thank you all for your support this was an amazing opportunity for us all.

-Kevin Herwerden

Day Five Continued...

Thursday Night Talent Show!

Amara and her camper

The family I worked with consisted of eight people.  The parents met through two of their sons autistic school.  I was assigned to be Noah's STM along with a girl named Betsy.  Noah is a super sweet kid who loves to play any game whenever there is free time.  He is a big eater and loves piggy back rides, back scratches, and hats.  Whenever something is bothering him, such as a stomach ache he immediately asks for us to pray for him, so we'll sit right down, wherever we are, and pray.  He quotes lines from movies over and over and absolutely loves the song Jesus Loves Me.  There was one day during the rotation that involved singing the talent show songs where he even got up in front of all the kids and directed them in singing Jesus Loves Me.  He had everyone sing the first verse, then had them stop while he did his solo on the second, and shouted "Now everybody sing!" and everyone joined right in again.  He even got to sing it during the talent show today and everyone loved it.  He always says things like "God is in control" or "God loves me no matter what."  It seems as though even though this is only his family's second year being at Joni and Friends, everyone knows him.  Noah is such a sweet kid and you can really see how much God is working in his and his family's life.  Being around Noah and his family has been such a wonderful experience and they have been such a great influence on me and everyone they are around!

Maddie

Day Five Continued...

Christians can have a reputation for being self righteous a bit, as in, "I'm better than you because I serve others and God.  Hah!"  For me, my daily routine is get up, babysit, work, sleep and sleep on the weekends.  I find myself a bit self righteous sometimes with my busy schedule.  I don't make time for my family.  Mission trips add to the busy schedule of the summer in a way that I can say that I did something good and didn't ignore God throughout the entire summer.

This trip has brought about a bunch of lessons.  1) I am self righteous.  2) I am selfish.  3) I don't only need to "be a better person", I need to strive to be more like Christ.  There's a difference.  I went into this trip eye closed thinking I was going to change someone's life or make someone happy for a week.  I came out of this trip with my eyes open.  These families and especially siblings sacrifice time out of their day for their needy family member.  THIS is part of their routine.  And....they love it.  My eyes need to be opened more often.

McKenna  

Day Five

I went into this week not knowing what I was doing or who I  would have to take care of this entire week. When we found out who we were taking care of I looked at the sheet. The first thing I saw was that my child was non-verbal and thought this was going to be an impossible challenge and on top of the autism, he was a walker/wanderer. This meant he would just walk where ever he wanted to and would not stop for anything. I knew by the end of the week I was going to be changed. I found out that I was not the only one. Everyone had something and for me it was my comfort zone. I had to watch over this kid with two other guys that I just met and had no clue of their experience. This made me have to trust in God rather than my own wisdom and abilities. This is what I learned this week.

Norman 

Day Four Continued...

Jenna finds a new friend!

Can you tell Ryan's camper loves the pool?!

Day Four

Middle Schoolers visit a local nursing home

Dance Party!!!

Today was a very fun, very busy day.  After breakfast the group I'm in, the Twixters (middle school), took a bus to a nursing home nearby.  We performed a skit, had a Bible lesson, served the residents lunch, and walked around passing out race car door hangers with the verse of the week printed on it.  Later on, after us STM's had our break, all of the Twixters loaded back up on the bus that was headed for putt-putt and ice cream.  We had just finished our ice cream when it started to sprinkle, rain, and then completely downpour!  It was the hardest rain I had seen in a while.  We were finally able to get onto the buses without too much panic.  The last thing we did was to have a huge dance party in the Grandstand ballroom.  Today has been busy and amazing all wrapped up into one.

Amara


I have been paired up with a 16 year old boy named Chris with Cerebral Palsy and he has a brain tumor as well.  He really has quite an amazing story.   In his High School, because of his love of football, the team made him the honorary football captain and let him do the coin toss for the games.  He has really become an icon in his school and because the football team is so nice to him it is showing the others in the school that he is special but they can still be accepted in society and is just like all of us.  He also really wanted to be able to ride a bike but because he is in a wheel chair most of the time and can walk short distances, he will never be able to.  So to give Chris the opportunity to ride a bike, his father ordered a handicapped bike and modified it so that he can use it.  This led to an organization that Chris had the idea to start where he and his dad would modify bikes for other kids with similar circumstances and give to them so they to can have their own bike to ride.  They have given bikes to many kids and have made surprise reveals on Fox 8 news, the local Columbus news and other local media.  One story his dad told me was they gave a bike away to a family with a kid with who was given only one or two years to live. They presented a bike for this child and his two siblings all without their parents getting prior knowledge of it. He said that it brought so much joy to their family that the mother and father just stood there in total shock and just started crying and it took them a few minutes to even regain their composure.  Chris is a such a blessing from God both in school and in his community and whether he knows it or not he has really made an impression on all those lives he has touched.

Kyle

Day Three

Jenna, the Line Follower 

Today was filled with smiles and friends

We sang songs and we ran around too

A line follower's job never ends

Sometimes it feels like a zoo

Hallelujahs and laughter rang through the halls

Moms and dads had some time on their own

STMs tamed their children that bounced off walls

All the love I've seen has my mind blown

My job requires some patience and care

As I try to put name tags on shirts

"No, Johnny! Don't run, we're not going there!

Stay with me and no one gets hurt!"

The sun set and the families returned to their rooms

But the beautiful memories will stay

Can't wait until tomorrow when the fun will resume

We'll forever praise God for this day

... and there were some motorcycles rides too, but I couldn't make them sound poetic.

  

Jenna 

Meet Malachi...

Malachi is a sibling of a very large family with many adopted disabled children. He's extremely sweet, but........ SO HYPER. The first two minutes I had him in my care, he was off. Up and down, running back and forth, I couldn't keep up with him. I was losing energy and strength, but suddenly he just stopped. He calmed down and would stay with me and hold my hand wherever we needed to go. I started off thinking that this week was going to be extremely rough but the Lord showed me otherwise. I can't wait to continue this week with Malachi and hopefully connect with him and build a great relationship.  Everyone on our team has some great stories about their first day with their kids and we are all looking forward to tomorrow!

Mollie

The Families Arrive!

This has been a very eventful afternoon! The families arrived and we got to meet the families we will be serving all week for the first time! The whole camp lined the driveway to welcome the families in with cheering, clapping, and flag waving. My girl is 6 years old and has sensory needs. She is extremely shy and did not want to talk to me or have anything to do with me. I was assured by the family that she would warm up to me, but it is something to pray about. Also pray for all the relationships forming between all of us as STMs and our families we were assigned.

Before they arrived we had more training. Some of the training was on disabilities specific to the person we will be serving and some of it was on evangelism. Soon we will be off to dinner with our families.

Abbey

Training Day!

Hey there! Brooke and Ryan

here! We arrived to Shawnee State Park today around 11:30 after we enjoyed a nice picnic in a park.  The park is absolutely gorgeous! We spent the majority of the day training for this upcoming week. These included personal (medical) treatment of our campers, code of conduct, safety issues, and the theme song of the week (which is already stuck in all of our heads!).

     Dinner was...definitely....an adventure. We were either blinded, forced to wear masks, hands tied behind our backs, forbidden to speak, or visually impaired (with nice rainbow glasses) and were supposed to eat dinner like that! The point of it was to give us a glimpse of what it's like to live with a disability. I (Ryan) had a nice fuzzy blindfold over my eyes, and Maddie had sandpaper around her wrist and glasses to blur her vision! It was definitely an experience to remember. We're all anxious, excited, nervous and very slap happy! We are also ready for a good night sleep and a nice cool shower to prepare for tomorrow! We bid you all a goodnight!

Brooke and Ryan

WELCOME!!

Welcome to our Joni & Friends mission trip blog!  Short term missionaries from Harvest will be using our time, hands and heart to make an eternal difference in the life of a child, teen or adult with a disability.   We will each be paired with a disabled child or adult, to assist them throughout the week. During the day we will provide service and leadership to the children and youth, allowing moms and dads to attend seminars, hear biblical teaching, and enjoy time together as a couple. Please stay tuned for updates during the week of our trip!