Work projects and more!

It's hard to believe we are already over halfway through our time in Alabama. Each part of this experience feels like it has been forever ago, but the summer, as a whole, is flying by! The Rollin's family and some friends came down during the 4th of July holiday to focus on work projects and serve. On a day that most people are having cookouts, swimming, and hanging out, they were painting trim, staining a huge porch, building a porch for a community member, and putting steps on the back of another community member's house! What a better way to celebrate our freedom than to serve the people around us. We finished up with fireworks and s'mores. The group was such a blessing and work relentlessly! They did all of that work in only 2 days time.

Since then, we've been visited by two past staff members and Sarah Vestal. They have helped us get everything prepared for VBS and were an enormous encouragement to the entire staff. We've cut out superheroes and created a whole set for our theme "Prayer Power". We are excited about helping teach the kids how to communicate with God and understand the importance of a healthy prayer life. We have 53 people coming from North Carolina and 21 from Indiana for a total of 74 participants! I'm not certain, but I believe this is the biggest group ever! Who knows where they will all sleep but I can't imagine how much is going to get accomplished in the coming week. Keep us in your prayers as we get everything ready and as they start to drive in this direction.

Continue to pray for unity in our group. I don't think I've ever worked with a group of people who get along as well as this group, but I know that the longer the trip, the easier it gets for human nature to come into effect. We all want God's will accomplished here, and I pray we don't get in the way of that. The staff has actually created what they call "cuddle puddles". Anytime we have a break or are just hanging out, they are all laying in a big group playing games or just talking. It's amazing to see and incredibly uplifting. God has been so good to us!

Thank you for your thoughts and prayers!

In His name,
Alex

Sports Camp Motiv8

Hello all!! We just finished Sports Week at the MOWA Center and it was great!! The North Carolina participants arrived on June 20 and there was immediate chemistry in the group. Very quickly, we learned to go with the flow. We moved in the directions we felt God directing us and we bonded almost instantly. Each day, we had 50-60 community kids attend the sports camp and we taught them about football, basketball, and soccer. We finished the week up with an unbelievably fun water day. The kids were excited and ready to be picked up every day. We had kids actually racing the buses when we arrived!! The devotions were aligned with sports themes and got the kids talking in both directions. The North Carolina kids opened up to the Alabama kids and vice versa. It was amazing to watch, especially with the older kids. 

We also did work projects on the property. The kids scraped trim on the lodge to get it ready for painting, raked up the yard and picked up trash and sticks, repaired trash can bins, and began a porch for one of the community members. 

Every night we had worship and heard God's Word from Meg Williams. She spoke with us about the things that motivate us to pray, worship, serve, fellowship, and love. She had a unique way of captivating our attention and speaking truth into our lives. 

To say the week was a success would be an understatement! The group left June 27 and safely returned to North Carolina. Since then, the staff has relaxed and recuperated and is now getting prepared for a group coming down specifically for work projects. We are excited about their arrival, along with the arrival of an assistant staff member and some former staff members!! Yay!

The last thing I want to let you know about is a church we have been attending. We went to Crossroads Church on the first Sunday we arrived and have had a great deal of involvement with them since. About 8 of their youth attended our camp for the first time and really enjoyed themselves. They gave testimonials about their experiences today at church. The church also took up a love offering for our ministry!! How awesome is that?! They have been a huge blessing to us and I'm excited about the relationships that are being built!!

Continue to pray for us and God's work! Thank you for your continued support and encouragement :)

In His name,
Alex 

Roll Tide!!!

We're back! :)

Friday night, we met in Greensboro to head to Alabama. After a difficult and long drive, we made it safely Saturday morning. We got a little bit of rest and then were welcomed by the 2nd Annual MCFC Luau. There were about 75 community members present along with the 9 of us from NC. There was lots of delicious food and fellowship, followed by a slip and slide for the kids and adults who pretended to be kids for a bit. It was a great way to start the summer.

The SOUL team is made up of Evan Walden and Megan Patterson, the two resident interns, Elizabeth Westbrook, Anna Smith, Meghan Luffman, Will Beeson,  Tyler Radford, and myself, Alex Sikes. Throughout the summer, we will have the help of Summer McVey and Kathryn Moore as assistant staff. There are a lot of new faces to our group! This is exciting because it brings a freshness that breathes life into everything as if it were new. It will also bring challenges and we all become more experienced in what we are doing and carrying out God's mission. Please be in prayer for us over the coming weeks.

We are excited as we begin to plan for sports camp which will run June 23-26. Our first NC participants will arrive on June 20 and we have A LOT to prepare before then. Our theme this year is "Motiv8". We want to examine our motives and make sure that we are being motivated by God and godliness. If those are in line, we are sure to succeed!

I will do my best to keep the blog updated with the newest revelations and happenings here at the center. Until then, keep praying and thank you for the support you've already given! :)

In Christ's love,
Alex