Photos

Just a reminder that you can view photos from the trip at www.kodakgallery.com/bbruneau in the Jesus Trip 6 album. Feel free to download or order reprints of any photos that you would like.

Back Home - Safe and Sound

Friday was a long day of packing, cleaning up our campsite, tearful good-byes, traveling to the airport, flyng to Minneapolis, and traveling back to Madison by bus. We pulled into the church parking lot at 4AM to a warm greeting from families and friends.

In this blog, you have learned of some of our successes - burned barn and fences torn down, horse pens moved, the riding arena cleared of rocks, undergrowth cleared, and the wheelchair ramp sanded and painted. You've also learned of some of our struggles with camping conditions, injuries, 110-degree heat, sunburn, and illness. It has truly been our experience that God's strength is made perfect in our weakness.

On the last day of our travels, I asked several of the youth and adults if they were glad they had come on the trip. Without a moment's hesitation, each of them said "Yes." During our final evening devotions, we were asked to reflect on what we had learned about ourselves over the two weeks. The reactions of members of the group included these:

• I realized that I am stronger than I believed.
• I realized that I can make do with much less than I thought I could.
• I learned that I have skills that I didn't know I had.
• I learned that I need to care for myself in order to care for others.

God has surely used this trip to teach us things about ourselves as well as to be instruments of God's love for those whose lives we were privileged to touch. May those bessings continue to grow in each of us as we continue to seek ways to serve others.

CORRECTION: Madison Arrival 4AM

I hope that you all have heard from your travelers by now with the news that the kids did NOT want to stop and eat on the way home. Instead, we will be driving straight through and arriving in Madison around 4AM.

We plan to wake the kids about half an hour before we arrive, so if you've asked them to call you when they're close to Madison, they can do that.

See you all in a few hours.

Pastor Barbara

Thursday Update

Just a word of assurance to parents who are concerned by all the blog entries about sickness. We still aren't sure what caused the upset stomachs... it doesn't seem like it was reaction to the sun, since it affected some who were not badly sunburned at all. We're suspecting that some sort of 24-hour "bug" started with one person and got passed around the group.

The good news is that everyone seems to be bouncing back. Most of the group was eager to be working on fences, caring for horses, and even riding horses in the arena yesterday. The memories of being sick are still vivid, though, and show up in a lot of yesterday's blog entries.

There are a lot of great photos still in the kids' cameras. Tonight I will try to get them all to share their memory cards with me so that I can upload the rest of the photos to the gallery (www.kodakgallery.com/bbruneau). When you view that gallery, you can download or order reprints of any of the photos.

Tonight in our devotions, we will continue to ask the kids to reflect on what they've learned or how they've changed in the last two weeks. I look forward to sharing some of their comments with you.

Depending on our schedule for Friday morning, I will try to post one more set of entries. Any that don't get posted on Friday morning will be posted on Saturday after we arrive home.

Thanks to all the parents and friends who posted comments. Please continue to do so, as I'm sure the students will come back to this blog to read it after they get home.

It has been a tremendous privilege to get to know each of these travelers as we have laughed and worked, suffered and celebrated together. They have all enriched my life and my ministry in more ways than I can even count right now.

Pastor Barbara

Time Change: Arrival in Madison

Parents and Families--

We have made a slight change in the plans for our return trip. Our flight is due in to Minneapolis-St. Paul just before midnight on Friday. Instead of driving straight through to Madison (arriving around 4AM), we have decided to make a meal stop on the way. That means that we will arrive at a (slightly) more reasonable 6AM. We'll let the kids know when we are about an hour out of Madison, in case you have asked them to call you.

Please pass the word, especially to parents who might not have Internet access to get this update. We would hate for anyone to get to church at 4AM and have to wait for two hours.

Pastor Barbara

Wednesday and Thursday - Thoughts Turning Toward Home

Several of our travelers have offered contributions for the last couple of days. Ryan O wrote this post on Tuesday evening:

Today we ate breakfast. Some of us did work, some of us sat in the medical area. Some of us want our home early. But I don’t think we are going to get that. I think we all can’t wait to get on the airplane. Kirk is starting to get back into the car way. All of us our temperature (anger) is starting to rise. The chaperones are taking it hard. Three of six are taking it slow. Most of us are either sick, bored, or in pain. As we people at this trip are starting to know about each other, some of us are willing to get dirty with dirt to do something, such as Tiff, Ryan, Carly, Marissa, Trisha, Dan, Whitney, Lukas, and others.

The rest of the posts are from Wednesday. We’ll start with one from Dean:

I have learned a lot on this trip. I learned it doesn’t take a lot to make a person happy and to do a good thing. It is even great to give a person a water without them asking, or picking up trash in the camp. I also learned to apply lots of sunscreen all the time. A big lesson I learned myself is to always get a cut checked out before it gets infected and you must go to the hospital. Biut the trip was a great time. I had lots of fun and learned much.

Boe offered this thought:

I have learned that the sun can be deadly. So don’t mess with it. And I do know that gas is a lot more down here, way more.

Ryan O and Joel had this to say:

Some of us are busy playing cards. Some are starting on the fence. Most of the people went to the fences on the other side of the ranch, but the people left behind have to write these blogs. Some of us are trying to get back to full health. Kirk is the best early morning person I think I know. Jacob is in the shade a long with Tiffany, Ryan and Carly. Before some people went to the fence, a handful of people climbed up one of the hills.

Here are a few comments from Lukas:

Monday night was terrible for many and me. I think about eight people got sick. Tuesday morning I heard people say it sounded like the night of the living dead. For the rest of the day I felt so sick I laid around with the other sick people. We talked about many thingks but I can’t remember what we talked about. I think I fell asleep for who knows how long. I didn’t eat breakfast, lunch, or dinner. I went to bed befor most people. Well that’s all I have to say and no more. See all of you on Saturday.

Here is a reflection from Carly:

First off, I want to say to my family that I’m doing all right. I haven’t been able to call since Saturday night, so you probably haven’t heard too much about how I’m doing. Sunday we went to the beach and yes, Mom, I put on sunscreen, but I don’t think I put on as much as I was supposed to. The whole back of my legs are burnt and it hurts to move. So I literally slept all day Monday and Tuesday. But today I’m sitting up and not feeling as sick as those other days. So hopefully I’ll be all better by the time it’s time to come home!

Anyway, we have learned that God has really blessed us on this trip (as hard as that is to
believe) like if we were going to sleep in a church the whole time we were here then we would be sitting out on this ranch with pretty much nothing all day. So God has blessed us with chairs, shade, and cots. We’ve also realized how thankful we are to have the things we have now because we’ve seen people on the streets who don’t even have a home.

The first few days we all kind of looked around and just saw dirt and brown dry grass until some of us climbed the mountain/hill. We then realized that God’s creation is really beautiful no matter how dull or colorful. We miss you all! Please keep us in your prayers. God bless!

Marissa has this to say about our sunburn epidemic:

Burn baby burn! Our legs are burned, our faces are burned, everything is burnt to a crisp. These last few days have been quite tough. We’ve gone through extreme sunburn, yucky porta-potties and getting sick. Hospital visits have also been a factor here. I think we all have a new sense of hospitality for the thing we have and we will never take Minnesota weather for granted again! Our two days we had off were great, especially SeaWorld. I went on a roller coaster for the very first time, and we all got to eat junk food that we truly needed! On Sunday we spent our day at the ocean. This was a great experience for most of us as some had never been to the ocean before. Even though this was a great day, we all realized the next day was going to hurt because we had all gotten sunburned. The best part about Sunday to me was the fact that my feet were finally clean, compared to being full of dirt! Sunday came and went and the next day was Monday. This was a slow day as many of us were sick and throwing up throughout Sunday night. We aren’t sure what caused this sickness, but we all agreed it was not a fun thing to go through. As our days here at Cornerstone are dwindling down, thoughts of home are starting to set in. We are doing such great things here and we know in the long run our efforts will pay off not only to us, but also all the great people here at Cornerstone.

As we finish off our last days here, we all ask that you keep us in your thoughts and prayers as some days we truly need them! I hope you all respond to our blog because it’s a great feeling to hear from home. Hopefully our travel home goes smoothly and we can’t wait to see you all!

A man of few words, Brandon had this to say:

Hi, I’m Brandon, and I found out that there is a name brand of bread named Weber’s Enriched Bread. And I am bringing two bags home.

Jenna and Lindsay titled this post “Just Another Work Day!”:

Today, Wed. the 25th is like any other work day. In the morning it was a little chilly. Mostly everyone sleeps outside at night. We had a very good breakfast today! It was different than a regular one. We had pancakes with bacon. After that a couple of us went on a hike up a hill with Pastor Kirk. Once we got back we just sat around until lunch. For lunch we had the usual, sandwiches with fruit and chips. After that half of us went to work on a fence at Chris’s house, then the other half went and picked rocks out of the arena. We are not quite sure what will happen after supper. We usually get ready for bed and do devotions. After today we only have ONE MORE DAY TO WORK!

Monday and Tuesday - Recovery Time

On Monday and Tuesday, our group was still showing the after-effects of too much sun. In spite of that, we got quite a bit of work done on Tuesday. Here’s a post from Sandi that gives you a glimpse:

Mondays on this Jesus Trip 6 have not been good. Today is another nightmare. There are sick people all over the place. Carmen and I now know the reason we came on this trip. We have that “mommy instinct” to sit upright in the middle of the night and bolt out to the sound of kids throwing up. Lots of our kids and half the adults are very miserable. Pray for them. Our days here are coming close to the end. Praise the Lord! We are all ready for home.

By last night, the count for sleeping outside was up to 18. Those that decided to sleep outside last night for their first time was a poor example. It was a very damp night, and also chilly.
Today the few that are healthy have sanded the wheelchair accessible ramp and will be painting it this afternoon. Others have been cutting down more branches and loading them up and hauling them away.

Sounds like Friday will consist of folding up our tents and putting everything away, showering, then loading up our bus around 1PM and heading to San Diego. Then HOMEWARD BOUND! Our flight will be in the dark, and I’m anxious to experience that. The flight here was awesome!
Well, time to go paint now, so I just want you parents to know your children are being taken care of well and are getting lots of lovin’! This has been very rewarding to get to know all of these kids in a way that I didn’t know them before. They’re great kids. Oh… the meowing has really gotten quiet. The must be wore out!!

Cindy, thanks so much for treating my family! It was hard to hear of their poor living conditions back home. (They’ll never let me leave again! Or will they beg me to go?!!!)

Hi back at you, Tam! I’m keeping Boe in line!!! I’ve only had to beat him a couple times! No, he’s been fun!

Okay, gotta go – it’s 2PM and no new people sick since this morning. :) Will be home soon, everyone!

Hi Dad, Dari and Carson. You better save me a Special K bar! And remember Dad, I better get to enjoy a meal out when I get home, too! Love you Carson and Dari – lots! Dad too!

Weekend of Fun and Sun(burn)

Friends—

We have two student posts to include today, but I also wish to share a couple of prayer requests with you. First, the weather has not cooperated by cooling down as quickly as we had hoped. At 4PM today, it’s 92 degrees in town and closer to 100 up in the foothills where we are. There’s still talk of the rest of the week being better; please pray that the high temperatures ease off so that we can work.

Second, our two days of Seaworld and ocean have left quite a few of us sunburned and most of lethargic. (New rule: friends don’t let friends fall asleep on the beach!) Please pray that the sunburns heal quickly and that our group regains its energy for service during the remaining days here in California.

To catch you up a bit, on Friday, some of our group worked at removing a wooden fence that had been damaged by the fire. A length of fence that by my (admittedly poor) estimating skills looked to be about 150 yards was gone before noon. Friday afternoon, we took each small group and its chaperone into town to do the laundry (the first time some of them had encountered a washing machine, so it was a new life skill).

Saturday, we left Cornerstone at about 9AM and were bused to La Jolla Lutheran Church to drop off our belongings. We were greeted by our host pastor Mark Dahle, who made us feel very much at home in the buiding. Then it was on to Seaworld by about noon. Some of our group went back to the church about 6:30, while the rest attended the late Shamu show and got back to church around 10:30.

Sunday we walked about a mile and a half to a Panini’s for breakfast and then went back to church to pick up our “beach duds.” By the time we met our bus again at 5:00 PM, most of us were some shade of pink with sunburn.

Today it was (reluctantly) back to work for some and quick trips to the doctor for a couple of sunburn victims with quite severe sunburns. Our doctor’s visit yielded three prescriptions and a scolding from the doctor.

Now, here are today’s student bloggers. First, Amber will tell you about our Saturday adventures.

On Saturday, we went to Seaworld. The day was completely beautiful, the sun was shining and there were no clouds in sight. Most people headed straight for the water rides. There were two rides: Journey to Atlantis and Shipwreck Rapids. Some headed for the souvenir shops, but most people went for the exhibits. We saw Shamu and Dolly Dolphin. Some went to the Pets Rule show, which is where they show dog’s and cat’s and other domestic animals’ tricks. We saw Flamingos and Penguins and Polar Bears and Beluga Whales. We also saw seals and otters and a couple walruses.

When the time came to meet back at the front entrance, half of the group went back to the church while the other half stayed there and went to the Acrobats Show and Shamu Rocks. The Acrobats show was cool, but kind of weird; they were all dressed in very colorful wetsuits and had on wigs and a lot of makeup. We got there about five minutes late and they had a guy out on a trampoline with a huge plastic ball. Five minutes later the guy got into the ball and they pushed him into the water. He sat there for a little bit and then a JetSki came and started to push him around the water. Then later they had another ball on top of a castle and a guy in it. They pushed the guy and he rolled down a ramp and into the water. It was cool.

After that, we went to see Shamu Rocks. Shamu Rocks is a show where Shamu performs to rock music and they have really cool lighting. We got soaked, but it was so fun! Three people got kind of lost but we did find them. One, we did not know where he went, but later found out he went back to the church with the early group. After our shows, we went to catch our bus, we had to wait about 20 minutes for it. There were also other people waiting, too. They got on first, so we had to stand and the ride was very bumpy and winding. Then we had to get off and wait for another bus, which took another half hour. After we got to the church, Pastor Barbara tried to order pizza. She called many places before she found something. Then we waited for 45 minutes, ate, and went to bed. Our day was very fun and eventful.

Michelle offers us her perspective on Sunday at the Beach:

Yesterday we enjoyed (for the most part) the beach. Many people have severe burns. Tiffani is very close to the most painful. Some people such as Whitney, Amanda, and Amber fell asleep while relaxing on the sand. They are burned bad. Mostly everyone is burned pretty bad. There are a few people who have small burns.

While we were at the beach, we enjoyed riding the waves. These waves were huge! Many people would jump into the waves and be taken to the shore. We enjoyed this even though it was painful at times. The beach was so beautiful – white sand and blue water. The currents were very strong. Just standing out five feet, the water would push you out and then pull you in when the water went back. We enjoyed the great experience.

Saturday - Seaworld

The students were so busy at Seaworld today that none of them have had time to write any blog entries. I'll just leave you a quick post to let you know tat it was wild, wooly, and WET (we sat within the "Soak Zone" of the Shamu show and got thoroughly drenched).

Sunday we'll be getting up early to have worshp on the beach (about 3 blocks away). After spending the day on the beach, we'll head back to our campsite.

We'll undoubtedly get back to a more regular schedule of blog postings on Monday.

Pastor Barbara

Thursday: Adventures and Entertainment

Today’s post begins with a rap song composed by Boe and performed with help from Blake as the DJ and chaperone Dan:

Dan: Yo! All you Christians, got Sum’n to say. If y’all don’t obey, y’all gonna pay.

Boe: Yo! Dis is Boe and Dis is Dan, he’s my right hand man, and he’s really gettin’ tan.

Dan: Yeeeeeee AAA

Boe: Now all you ladies in the hot, hot sun, throw yo’r hands in the air ‘cause the trip’s nearly done.

Dan: No’I’m gonna tell you a li’l story ‘bout Pastor Kirk… He tends to get a li’l irked. Look at his smirk, him ‘n’ his white tee shirt. He works on Sundays and vacation on Monday… and Tuesday… and Wednesday…

Boe: Yo! He’s runnin’ every day, so he can get away, from the bills to pay.

Dan: Yo! It’s time to go, so thank Little Boe, so keep it low and say it ain’t so.

Chaperone Sandi has shared these reflections for our blog:

Today is Friday. YEA!! It’s been a long, hot week, with conditions some of us are definitely not used to – but Dan won’t allow me to whine – so enough of that! Although it’s been horrible in some ways, it’s been a pretty cool experience. It’s fun to see everyone pitch in and work together with everyone taking a break whenever needed. I personally have never drunk so much water in my life. It’s great… I now love WATER!!

We all enjoy being sprayed by a simple water spray bottle (often!). And every so often we turn on the sprinkler system in the horse arena and get cooled off that way! Each evening it cools down to a perfect temperature and we have our supper (and all of our meals have been great!! Then we have our devotions.

Last night a bunch of us waited and watched the moon come up over the mountain and many took cool pictures. Lots of card games were played and lots of visiting and giggling! Oh yea, and LOTS of “meowing.” My group of girls that consists of Trisha, Lindsey, Jenna, and Katie named themselves the “Cool Kitties” and guess who I am? Yep, “Mama Kitty”! Last night they would all meow til I came to take care of them! And it was useless to try to ignore them!! Anyway… they are SPECIAL little kitty cats!!

It has been so cool to see all of the kids mingling with each other that maybe they normally don’t hang with, it’s awesome! Lots of new friendships are developing. More and more people each night have been sleeping outside – the first night only four of us dared to do so, three adult females (who do not think camping is the greatest thing in the world!) braved the great outdoors, along with Pastor Kirk (Mr. Adventurous, “I enjoy everything” guy!). Although we froze our butts off because of no sleeping bats, we covered ourselves with our bath towels, and thank God I brought two blanket throws along. We got to enjoy the absolute beauty of this ranch! Hills surrounded us and a gorgeous full moon! Awesome! So now each night there gets to be more people deciding to sleep outside (last night was 10).

After the first day of complete stress, crying and telling myself there was no way I could last for two weeks like this, it has gotten much better. Praise the Lord!! I’m even having fun and loving the kids – they are great! I am looking forward to getting back home to my babies (a lot) – but in the meantime I’m enjoying my new part-time family here. Hi to all of you Madison people, and a great big hug and kiss to Carson, Dari, and dad! Love you lots!!

And finally for today, a contribution entitled A Pretty “Normal” Day from Tara, Carly, and Amanda:

This has been an exciting trip so far, especially today. It all started this morning when Tara woke up to a big bug crawling on her. After we thought it was gone, Amanda felt something crawling on her. We got up and ready for the day. Not too long after that, Amanda fell down a hill and popped her knee out and had to go to the doctor, but she turned out fine.

Shortly after that we were chopping down trees and Tara and Carly were sitting on the branch trying to break it. Unexpectedly the branch broke and Tara just about tumbled down the hill along with Danielle. We went in for dinner and laid low for the rest of the afternoon, except for Mac, Trent, Joel, Matt, and Carly, who decided to climb a nearby mountain. It was very steep but quite an adventure. But luckily we had a reward at the end, the scenic view. We slid most of the way down but ended up back at camp safely, yet dirty.

We all had supper and showered up. After supper Amanda, Brandon, Taylor and Tara went into the tent with the bug. Brandon felt something crawl on his leg and then we saw the nasty bug. We cleared everything out of the tent besides a cot, which we sat on to search for the bug. After the third time seeing the bug, we finally got it! It was a big bug with a lot of legs. We then got settled in and went to bed. It made for an interesting day!

Thanks for the Comments

Thanks to all of you who are leaving comments on this blog. The kids (and the adults) love to hear from you! Every time I return from a trip to town to update the blog, I get lots of questions about what comments were left by family and friends. We read our latest blog posts and your comments during our evening reflection and devotions time, and it's something that everyone looks forward to.

I understand that a few people have found the blog uncooperative when it comes to comments. Here's an approach for you to try:

Below a post, click on the comments link (it will say "0 comments" or whatever number of comments have been left already).

Before typing your comment, look on the right hand side of the page where it says "Choose an Identity." Go down to the line that says "No Google account?" and click on "Sign up here." (This is for your first comment only. After that, you can log in with the info you used the first time you set up the account.)

Fill in your email address (twice) and a password you want to use (twice). Note that the password must be at least 8 characters long; shorter passwords will be rejected.

Continue filling in the form with a "Display name" (what you want to appear on the screen with your comments) and the word verification. Check the box that says you accept the Terms of Service, and then click "Continue."

You'll be taken back to the Comments page and can leave your comment for the group.

Pastor Barbara

PS - Don't forget to check out our photo albums at www.kodakgallery.com/bbruneau. I'm adding photos each day from several of the photographers on our team. They're not sorted or captioned, but they should be fun for you to browse.

Wednesday - Lots Going On

We have a few posts today from students. The first is from Ryan B and Sean:

In the morning it was very hot and humid. After a breakfast of cereal and fruit we sat around the camp and waited for everyone to wake up. When everyone was ready, we started to pick rocks and pull wild mustard out of the arena. After that we dismantled the horse pen stables and loaded it onto the back of the truck. Then we headed towards the indoor arena and our hosts introduced themselves. While in the arena we introduced ourselves as well. After that we brought three horses to the outdoor arena that we had cleaned earlier that day. Then we took apart the horses holding pens and moved them to another less dusty area. When we were done, we had a nice meal of hamburgers, hot dogs, chips and watermelon. After our meal we hiked one of the several of the hills that surround our camp site.

And now a word from Michelle:

Today we got to do horse chores in the morning or pick rock. I think the people working here, Sierra and Judy, really appreciated our willingness to help. I really felt happy helping the ranch workers and owners. I enjoyed spending my time helping others.

After horse chores some people helped pick rock and pull weeds in the arena. This arena is used to do the therapeutic treatments. Judy and Sierra were very happy that we take time out of our lives to come across the country to help them. These weeds were around the arena and inside. Taking these out made the arena look better.

The people not picking rock and pulling weeds were helping take apart an old barn. This barn is located by the horse pens. We took apart the panels that were still usable after the fire. The panels that can be used we piled up to be taken away. The pipes used to hold up the panels were piled up because they can’t be used again. The workers were really appreciative of us helping clean up the ranch.

In the afternoon, we moved the horse pens so the ranch can have somebody level off the ground. There are six horses owned by Cornerstone. Their names are Gem, Laddy, Slick, Daka, Sakari, and Ramon. My personal favorite is Slick. We moved three horses into the arena and the other three into other pens. Most of us helped put up the pens on a higher level. Then we moved the horses back.

A couple kids including Amber, Lucas, Mac, Joel, Blake, Jacob, Holly, Michelle, and Matt were accompanied by Pastor Kirk as we climbed one of the hills surrounding us. We enjoyed the adventure of climbing up, but once we got up and got pictures, Matt, Blake, and Jacob climbed across to a different mountain before going down. Mac, Holly and Joel stayed at the top for a couple minutes as Amber, Michelle, Lucas, and Pastor Kirk tried to go down. This part was more difficult but we all enjoyed it. There were many big rocks in our way. Pastor Kirk was very brave to lead us down. We came to a big rock we needed to get down past, so Pastor Kirk decided to jump first then to help us. Pastor Kirk jumped and as soon as he landed this rattling noise sounded. One girl screamed and the three that stayed back could hear her. Let’s just say it scared us all. Pastor Kirk jumped and landed about one foot away from a rattlesnake. We all asked him to move, but he insisted on taking pictures first. We finally agreed to take some after we noticed the snake wouldn’t move. After taking many pictures we decided to move on. Let’s just say it was an exciting experience and a GREAT adventure.

And finally for today, this contribution from Matt H and Ryan O:

As you know, it is hot. But we are starting to get through the days. People are hacking at branches and some are trying to phone home. And some of us our food is melted. Yum! At midnight, the moon peeks over the hills. I think we are lucky for the water we have. Some of us have the record of most injuries in one day (Matt has the record). As Matt’s choice of words for today, he said hurtful, bloody, fast, hot, and grateful. Some people were in the medical area. Some people have major sunburns and some are not too severe.

Tuesday - Ranch Tour

Today's student blogger is Jacob:

We woke up, had a breakfast which consisted of cold cereal, orange juice, rolls, and fruit such as bananas and grapes. Then we got a tour of the facility. We got to see a group of buffalo, which was cool. Then we cleaned up horse pens, washed out buckets and watered them. We then picked rocks out of the arena so the horses don't injure themselves. We also pulled weeds along the side of the arena.

Then, because of the heat, we rested the rest of the day. At night we had Bible stdy and we went to sleep with a hope of cooler temps and for time to not take as long.

Internet, Photos, and Phones, Oh My!!

Friends--

This post is to let you know about our communications capabilities at our Cornerstone campsite. We have no Internet access at the campsite; we will update this blog every day or two, when we come into the town of Ramona for supplies.

I will try to include a few photos in this blog, but you can see all of our photos (again updated when I can get to town) at the following site: www.kodakgallery.com/bbruneau. Eventually, I may be able to add captions to all of the photos, but for now I want you to be able to share our travels as we are experiencing them.

Cell phone access is difficult at best. Our campsite is at an elevation of about 1500 feet, surrounded by rocky hills. If you are unable to reach your traveler or your calls are cut off, please do not worry about them; it probably just means that the signal has faded for some reason.

Just a quick update: after a beastly hot Tuesday, the temp is a little more manageble today (meaning it's under 100 degrees). We've all learned to pace ourselves, take frequent breaks, and drink lots of water. The "bruise count" is well below previous Jesus Trips... just one bruise where someone tried to pound a tent stake with a rock and hit a fingernail instead. The group has met the six horses that Cornerstone uses for their therapeutic riding program, and a few students are very eager to help with feeding and watering the horses, cleaning out their stalls, and spraying them to keep the flies away. Others have become experts in picking rocks in the arena and digging mustard weed out from the arena area.

Please feel free to leave comments for the group on this blog; I'll relay them to the kids at our evening devotion and reflection sessions.

Pastor Barbara

Monday, June16 - Travel Day

We will try to include student authors as much as possible to tell you about our trip. Today's account comes from Danielle and Marissa:

The first day was the most interesting day of traveling for pretty much all of us. We started our day traveling in a coach bus to the Minneapolis Airport. Once we got there we did the normal suff like checking in bags and going through security. After that we petty much just walked around for a while until we had to board the plane. We had a pretty good flight, for some of us it was a little freaky taking off! We then landed in the San Diego Airport. It was pretty cool; you could see palm trees everywhere!

From the airport everyone, except nine of us and Dan (one of the chaperones), went to the ranch and set up tents. The nine of us that couldn't fit in the trucks, lucky us, got to take the bus. We went on a series of buses and one train for what seemed like hours. We met many interesting locals that were nice enough to help us out with when to get off. We met this one guy who saw our Jesus Trip shirts and started saying "I just was talking about Jesus and then you showed up." He told us this numerous times. Then he got on the same bus that we did. He told us his whole plan to pay off all the churches' debt. There's a lot more to this plan but we don't want to get into that right now, it would take up a lot of time. So anyay, we continued to take buses for a long time, we then found out that we had to get off because they didn't have any more buses to where we wanted to go. We then sat in front of JCPenney when it was closed to wait for a ride from people from the ranch. Then the security guard came up to us to make sure that everything was OK, we informed him that we were only waiting for a ride.

Later, when we were finally picked up, we went to K-Mart to get our sleeping bags that were waiting for us. I bet you saw this one coming, but when we got there they were closed. We found out that night how extremely cold it gets at night! A few people even slept outside, but then we heard coyotes. The night came and went and we were ready for the next day! Let's just say everything that could have gone wrong did, but it was a great experience.

Sendoff!

Last night our travel group gathered at Faith Lutheran Church in Madison. After weighing our luggage (to make sure no one goes over the 50-pound limit for checked bags) and sharing some last-minute instructions, we had a brief commissioning service. Travelers committed themselves to serving others in Jesus' name, and families and friends promised to keep our group in prayer for the next eleven days.

This morning, we will board a bus to start the first leg of our travel. By the end of the day, we will be on the grounds of Cornerstone Therapeutic Riding Center near Ramona, California. Cornerstone's facilities were badly damaged in the California wildfires last year. They lost their barn, tack room, and several other structures. We will be helping with the rebuilding effort for the next two weeks. A visit to their website (click here) will give you more information about the work they do.