Pics of my whole team!!!!!!!!!!

Hello Everyone,

Since Prosper joined us, we had to take a new promo picture for posters. So, finally, here is the whole Cross Fire team!!

Peace,

Tiffany

Adding a Teammate!

Hello Everyone,

Since my last post, Cross Fire has been working on adding Prosper to our team. At Living Springs Lutheran Church in Columbia, South Carolina, we did a preschool program. It was good for Prosper see us do our preschool program so he was ready to join in on our next on. Since Heather and Prosper joined us on Monday night, we have spent a lot of time adjusting him to team (rehearsal, relationship building, job training, etc.). Thursday, we traveled on to Pooler, GA to Abundant Life Church. We are in the midst of a one week stay in Pooler, which is a rare length to stay in one place. It has been both fun and challenging to stay in one place for so long after being used to going to a new place every one, two, or three days.

Adding Prosper to our team has been easier than I expected. Prosper is a very fast learner. Prosper plays drums (djembe) and other percussive instruments including many kinds of shakers; he also plays a bit of guitar. The unique African sound that he brings to our group is really excited. It is awesome to have a drummer from Africa given that the djembe (see left) originated in West Africa. Thankfully, our rehearsals with Prosper have further encouraged others to learn new instruments. I am excited for my teammates to learn guitar so that I can learn the drums for a change in instrument. It was nice to have Heather here to help Prosper fit into our team and we really enjoyed her musical input.

While in Pooler, we also spent a fair amount of time talking about team stuff. We talked about our personalities, our spirituality types, and our conflict resolution styles. We also had a much needed discussion about how we thought things were going so far. Each of us got the chance to meet with Heather to talk about how things have been going. Sadly, Heather left us on Friday.

Here in Pooler, we have done a variety of things at Abundant Life; we have sat in on a Bible study, done a family night program, played at a nursing home, led a youth program, led Sunday worship for Reformation Sunday, and gone to a community wide Reformation service. Pastor Seth has been great; he led a really go devotion for our team.

Today is our day off! Since we are near Savannah, we will be going downtown on the river walk today. Hopefully, we will also have time to go to the beach. Today, we get to use our team outing money--money from Youth Encounter to go out and have fun together (once a month).
We are all very excited!!

Wednesday, we head to the Atlanta area for family night program.

I hope you are all doing well!


Peace,

Tiffany

North Carolina, an ordained sister, and a new teammate!

Hi Everyone,

Our first destination in North Carolina was Christ the King in Cary (which is outside of Raleigh). Christ the King is a large church that has four services on a Sunday, with two going on at a time. We had some team time there before and after leading some songs with preschoolers on Wednesday and Thursday. It was a great church that we will be returning to in the beginning of November. Thursday and Friday night, we just had housing (no programming) because of last minute bookings. We all stayed with Lindsay's aunt in Raleigh. It was a fun relaxing time, but strange not to have to do much. At Lindsay's aunts, we enjoyed meals, video games, going out shopping, and rehearsing.

Saturday, we traveled to Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Goldsboro, NC to do a family night program. This congregation really appreciated our program and were very generous at helping us with our needs list and financially. Also, our hosts were great!! Sunday, we led Sunday school by singing some songs and doing our puppet show. We got to enjoy worship outside! During worship, we did the children's sermon and sang a song for the offering. Afterwards, we enjoyed an amazing potluck meal.

On Sunday, my sister, Lara, was ordained! Sadly, I had to miss the service because of my work with Cross Fire. I am glad to here that the service and reception both went well. It was tough for me to not be there with her and my relatives. Lara is on her way out to Rialto, California where she will begin her first call. I am very excited for her!!

Monday, we relaxed for our day off. We slept in, did laundry, watched TV and movies, and talked to our host families. Monday night, we all went to the airport to pick up our new teammate and Heather. Finally, our new teammate, Prosper, has arrived!! Prosper is from N'Gaougdéré, Cameroon. It is interesting to hear that he has worked at Outlaw Ranch (a Bible camp in SD), where I worked for three summers. Heather is the international team director, who will be joining us until Friday for some on the road support to help Prosper adjust to team. We enjoyed a brief outing with them to steak and shake. We all look forward to getting to know Prosper better. Luke is very happy to finally have another guy on the team.

Today, we move on to Columbia, South Carolina and then will be going to Georgia. Thanks for keeping up with me!


Peace,

Tiffany

Kentucky, Virginia, and DC

Hello Everyone,

Slowly, but surely, Cross Fire has recovered from the robbery. After staying at Luke's house, we travelled on to Sayersville, Kentucky. It was a beautiful drive! We saw many trees with leaves that were changing colors (see pics in last post) and the Appalachian Mountains. We stayed at the Christian Appalachia Project (CAP)--which is a non-profit organization that provides many service to people in need. Our team led a devo and a song for a group of volunteers who were there (CAP has many volunteers; they were building houses). We toured the CAP office and led songs with preschoolers. It was interesting to learn about the program and the many services that they provide to people in the Appalachia area. After performing our puppet show for the preschoolers (see pic in last post), we got to play with the kids! We enjoyed hearing the southern twang accents that many of the kids had (I hadn't really heard it before).

Following our time in Kentucky, we had another beautiful drive through West Virginia on our way to Blacksburg, Virginia. Unfortunately, we hardly got to see the city because we got there at about 4:00 p.m., did our program at United Methodist Church, and left at 6:00 the next morning. It was our first program in a week and a half; so, it was interesting, but it went pretty well. We left Blacksburg early so that we could get to Newport News, Virginia by noon (on the other side of the state!). We were all pretty exhausted by the time we drove into Trinity Lutheran Church in Newport News. After enjoying our lunch, we did a program for 5th-8th graders at the church/school. It was a difficult performance because our contact didn't communicate her expectations very well, but we did well in spite of the surprises. I think that was our largest audience so far. It was nice to be in front of all youth; many of them had a lot of energy that showed during the songs. After the songs, they enjoyed asking us questions about Africa and about what we will be doing. Because we had such a long day, we had the rest of the afternoon and evening off, except for a potluck dinner.

Saturday morning, Sonja, Adrienne, and I got up early again. Even earlier!!! We got up at 4:00 to be at the church by 5:00 to be in D.C. by 9:00. We were invited to join several adults from the church and the acolytes to D.C. We all went to the Washington Cathedral in D.C. for a huge acolyte festival. The cathedral was packed. The service lasted about two hours, including an hour of prosessional for acolytes from many different places to prosess. It was long, but very neat to see. We sat in the balcony, which gave us a great view of the nave (see pic in last post). I really enjoyed hearing the organ and looking at the art in the building during the service. However, for me, the worship made God seem distant, instead of relational. Even though it was not my preferred style of worship, I really appreciated it. After the service, we ate lunch in the gardens outside of the cathedral. Next, we were led on a phenomenal tour by a pastor from another church (not a Washington Cathedral tour guide!) and it was amazing! He was great at explaing the architecture and its Gothic style; I especially enjoyed it because he compared it to some large churches in Europe that I have been to. He took us up the tower to see the city. Sonja really wanted to see the White House, so we took a brief drive around the National Mall, which was difficult because of extra traffic. It was another long day and we didn't get back until 9:30 p.m.

Sunday, we didn't have too much to do for worship. Lindsay led the children's sermon and Luke preached a sermon. Their messages were both great! We led some songs for Sunday School and sang a song for offering. We were all still tired and overwhelmed by the miscommunication of things, so we were ready to move on. Thankfully, we didn't have far to travel Sunday afternoon, so we relax before going to Hampton, Virginia. To relax, we went to the beach in Newport News on the James River (which looks like a lake or bay to me!). We enjoyed swimming and playing together before moving on to the next church. Sunday, we just did housing ministry, meaning that we just stayed with our host families.

Today, Monday, we went to Virginia Beach for our day off. It was really fun to be on the beach of the ocean! Being from South Dakota, oceans are a rare sight. I especially enjoyed calling my sister (who is almost a Californian, but is currently in South Dakota) to tell her that I was on the beach. On our way to the beach, we saw McCain's motorcade going north--we assume he was in there because of the many cops around the bus; it was brief, but still neat.

Tomorrow, we head on to North Carolina--a new state!! Hope you are all doing well. Keep in touch!!


Peace,

Tiffany

Pics of OH, KY, VA, & DC

Hi Everyone,




Above is a picture of our team!
On the right is Adrienne and me in front of beautiful scenery.

We were robbed at Jacob's Porch, the Lutheran Center on the Ohio State University campus. Thankfully, Pastor Jay found some of our belongings in the dumpster.

I love nature!

Above is our puppet show, which we frequently do for kids. It is about how Christ breaks down walls between us.

I still love nature!

One of my host moms played the harp, so I got to try!
Sonja, Adrienne, and I went go to go to the Washington Cathedral in DC for an acolyte festival.

More details about the pics will come soon!

Peace,

Tiffany

The Robbery :( and the Support :)

Hi Everyone,

I wish this post could be as upbeat as the last, but it won't be! Sunday night, we slept on the comfortable couches at Jacob's Porch. Monday morning, we awoke to stolen stuff. First, Sonja noticed that her purse was missing (with her personal stuff and treasurer stuff). Us four girls were sleeping upstairs (on ground level) and Luke was sleeping downstairs. We looked for it for like 20 minutes and then finally woke up Luke, our team leader. He woke up and then helped us looked for a short time, then looked to see if their was more missing. He noticed that his laptop and cell phone were both gone. We all began to panic and looked to see if our stuff was there. All of my stuff was there, because I slept in the back of the room where it was darker (and where there was a comfortable couch!). Next, we told the two residents of the place what was missing. One of them called the pastor, who came shortly. Later, Lindsay noticed that her backpack was missing. We began making a list of all that was stolen, so we would be ready for the cops. Sonja's camera, i-pod, sunglasses, and money was stolen. Also, all of our money for Youth Encounter was stolen (about $500). In the midst of her activities, Sonja missed her hand lotion and pens, which made Adrienne check her toiletry bag for hand lotion--then she realize that her toiletry bag was gone (probably because it looked kind of like a purse). The cops came and we did an incident report. Unfortunately, the side door was left unlocked, which was left unlocked accidently as it is not usually a door that is open. We explained how the robber could have seen the labtop and cell phone from the sliding glass doors, which we understand how they stole those, but they kept going. Four of us were sleeping in the room and two of the items were right next to the girls' heads (Sonja's and Lindsay's). None of us woke up! We are trying to convince ourselves that there was a reason that none of us woke up (something worse could have happened). The robber had to meander through couches to find what he did. Also, he could have taken so much more.

Thankfully, that is not the end of the story. At first, we thought that all of Sonja's cards (id and credit cards) were missing as well as the team's credit cards. After talking to the cops, Luke checked the dumpsters near the building and found some of our stuff in there. He came in and told us and Jay (the pastor) jumped in the dumpster to help us. He was amazing. We recovered Sonja's purse, which had her personal cards and the YE credit cards. Unfortunately, there was no cash in there (~$500 was stolen). Also, some of Lindsay's clothes that were in her bag were in the dumpster. We really appreciated Jay and all that he did for us! Thankfully, Sonja didn't have to replace all of her Denmark id's. We were overjoyed at that, but still overwhelmed with everything that was missing.

Monday, Jenny France (a previous contact at another Columbus church) took us out for lunch. She was very helpful and generous to us. Jay gave us some money from Jacob's porch to put us on our feet again. We were supposed to stay at Jacob's Porch again Monday night, but we went to Luke's parents instead. It was really comforting to stay with a teammates family. They cooked us an amazing meal and took us shopping (and paid for items for the people without money). They were will really great and I am anxious to be with them for Thanksgiving.

In the midst of all of this, Cross Fire has remained surprisingly calm. Yes, there were tears and moments of panic, but we held together pretty well. It will be interesting to continue on the road withouth any YE money, but I know that we will be okay because we have already received money from Jacob's Porch and will receive money from Jenny France's congregation (she's a youth pastor). While what happened was terrible, I know that we will be okay and I am thankful for all of the support we have had.

Next, we travel to Kentucky and Virginia. Hopefully, there will be pics in the next post.

Please keep Cross Fire in your prayers.


Peace,

Tiffany

More of Ohio!

Hi Everyone,

After going to Ashville, Ohio, we went to Cincinnati, where Luke grew up. We went to Trinity Lutheran Church and did a family night program there. Luke's dad used to be a pastor there, so it was good to have that connection. For worship, we did some songs and our puppet show for the second service. Sunday night, we went to Augsburg Lutheran Church in Cincinnati to do a family program. On the morning of our day off, I went with Sonja and my host family on a walk in a beautiful park.

Tuesday, we left Cincinnati for Augsburg Evangelical Lutheran Church in Toledo. We enjoyed playing background music for the farmer's market that was going on in their parking lot. It was very relaxing! It was a different pace then our normal program. We picked songs to play as we went, which was surprisingly fun! All of us slept on the floor or couches of the youth room for three nights. Our time in Toledo was pretty relaxing because we got to cook our own food in their kitchen and we didn't have a whole lot of programming. Tuesday night, we made an unbelievably delicious meal of spaghetti (with choices for sauce), corn, raspberry salad, green beans, and bread with dip--it was so good!!! Wednesday night, we helped with an after school program for elementary kids--it was basically like Sunday school (Bible stories, arts & crafts, and music). After that, we hung out with the high school youth group. The community that was formed between the youth was amazing (considering some of them had just met). We had a lot of fun playing games with them and talking. We had most of Thursday of and we spent it rehearsing and doing our jobs. That night, we went to Lutheran House of Mercy, a place for mentally and physically disabled. We shared some songs with them and enjoyed talking to them. We were all pretty stressed (because we forgot our puppets), but the residents perked us up. After our song "One Voice," one of the residents asked us to pray for her mom, and then before we knew it, most of the residents were asking for prayer; Luke led a prayer, which comforted them. I really enjoyed talking to the residents even though they weren't also able to talk back to me. It was nice just to be with them and I could tell that our presence made a difference to them.

Friday, we left Toledo for Willard. Willard was a last minute booking, so we stayed in a hotel!! It was nice to stay in a hotel after having slept on the floor. Friday afternoon, we sang some hymns with residents at Hillside Acres, a retirement community. They were really touched my our ministry. After singing a few of our program songs, we spent some time talking with the residents. They really appreciated us--primarily because they don't get many visitors. I had long conversations with several of them. It was difficult to see some of the health problems that I saw--especially Alzheimer's. Friday was our international day for food--we had Chinese for lunch and Mexican for supper.

Saturday, we had a beautiful drive to Cambridge, Ohio. We saw many beautiful trees that were changing colors and we also saw some Amish. We led a few worship songs for their Saturday night service and Sunday morning service. On Sunday, we also led some sing alongs with the kids. After Sunday worship, we enjoyed fellowship time with ice cream.

Sunday afternoon, we travelled back to Columbus to Jacob's Porch, which is the Lutheran Campus Ministry on the Ohio State University's campus (the largest campus in the country!!). That night we helped prepare the meal of tacos and then just got to relax for the worship service. The worship service was amazing. It was really relaxed. We sang worship songs and read some Scripture together. Then, we ate tacos together (during worship). Pastor Jay was great at encouraging us to be relational with others. After eating, we got into groups of 2 to 4 people and told others about our prayer concerns and then another person would pray for us. It was really neat to see that as a part of the worship service. Next, we communed each other--the pastor said the words of institution then we all went up one by one to a station and commune the person after us. That night, we slept on the couches of Jacob's porch. Sounds great right??? Read the next blog!

Peace,

Tiffany

Pics of Ohio

Hi Everyone,

Here are some pics of my last week in Ohio.

This is my team performing at a Farmer's Market at Augsburg Evangelical Lutheran Church in Toledo. We assisted teachers with an after school program similar to Sunday school. We also hung out with high schoolers. It was awesome to see the community that had formed between the high schoolers even though they haven't known each other for long.

Above is our first outdoor concert at First English Lutheran
Church in Ashville, OH. After Ashville, we went to Cincinnati. Sonja, my host family, and I went on a lovely nature walk there.

This was our fun meal with our

contact at Trinity in Columbus.

This was at Trinity Lutheran Church in Cincinnati, which is across from Capital University and Trinity Lutheran Seminary in Columbus, OH--which made me miss school. We did a program there and led songs for preschoolers. More pics will come soon!

Peace,
Tiffany