Jersey Shore Summer Mission: Last Couple of Weeks

This post is going to be long but there are just so many highlights! We had THE. BEST. SUMMER. MISSION. EXPERIENCE!! We have just so much to thank the Lord for, big and small. From changed lives to ice cream cones. From incredible friends to sunsets. From opportunities to step out in faith and trust the Lord more, to good guacamole:) This summer exceeded our expectations in so many ways! Here are a couple more pics and memories from our summer...

Dunkin' Donut Saturdays with the Roordas!

 8 boys to play with

 An incredible staff team to work hard with and play with as well (here we are playing putt putt golf) 

 The ocean! I can't say enough about the ocean! 

 Killing the Giants week where our staff and students initiated almost 1300 spiritual conversations on the boardwalk! 29 placed their faith in Christ!

 The staff women! We got to live below all of the single girls and it was so fun to spend time with them. I got to train a girl as well. This was at a women's time that I spoke at.

 Staff day off at the waterpark!

We wrapped up our All for One week with a staff versus student softball game. It was so fun to play again and a bonus that we won!

 Our boys were able to be a part of some of the mission. Here they are helping with the International Dinner which was a learning experience to demonstrate the availability of the gospel around the world.

Ice cream!

 I just LOVE my family! So fun that we get to do together! This was at our final banquet.

 The 6 UND students that came with us this summer!

 These 3 students (Hannah, Per and Somer) watched out kids throughout the week so the moms could be a part of staff team meetings and sharing on the boardwalk. They were incredible with the boys and it was a blessing to be more hands on in ministry!

 Our whole group! Students, staff and kids. 

Sunsets on the bay!

 Weekly time with the leadership gals!

 Bonding with this sweet family!

And last but not least, sushi from Xinas and fish tacos from Surf Taco. MMM!

Jersey Shore Summer Mission: Over the Half Way Mark

It is so hard to believe we have already been here for 3 1/2 weeks. We have been loving our time here for so many reasons. Our team has been incredible to work with! The students are great and are growing in their faith. And the boys have 5 other buddies to play with and an ocean that is a block away! Here are some other highlights...

We partner with the Union Church of Seaside Park. They have been incredible allowing us to use their church, doing an "adopt a student" program for our students, hosting a dinner for us, and just welcoming us to the community. Some of the members are people that former Summer Mission students have led to Christ or invited to church which is so encouraging to see!

 The boardwalk! Such a fun place to go on bike rides, runs, and hang out. Not it is also the main place we bring staff and students to initiate spiritual conversations with people. 

 Ninja training. Of course the boys have created a ninja course around our summer housing:)

 Staff team bonding! I get to train Cassie this summer (2nd in from the left). It's been a joy to meet with her weekly. 

 I love exploring and finding new parks for the kiddos. So far we've found 4 on the shore. I'm sure we'll find more in our last 3 weeks!

 Hanging out on the pier looking for fish!

 We found a great library up the shore!

 The bakery down the road had a meet and greet with the superheros last weekend! Cooper brought a book to have signed:)

 Friends!! There are 2 other families on the JSSM and they both have only boys as well. So there are 8 boys aged 7 and under! Our friends the Pennings visited with their 3 kids (2 boys and a girl) so the 11 kiddos had a blast playing at the beach.

 And of course their is always time for the boys to be themselves:)

 3 dads + their 8 boys + an immense ocean!! 

 Church family pics!

 I bring the boys to the Cru meetings whenever I can. They love listening to the music and participating in what they can! I'm so thankful for extroverted boys:)

 Family night! We try to get some quality time whenever the schedule allows. This night we went out for Surf Tacos (mmm) and then a walk on the pier.

 Tim got these 3 razors brand new at Good Will right before we left!

 Summer cuts!

 Our neighbor here drives a Cooper. :)

As I previously posted, our family took a day trip to NYC last weekend. Tim also went with the whole JSSM for a day of exploring and seeing what God is doing in the city. We are praying that the Lord raises up laborers from our group to do full time ministry in NYC.

Day Trip to NYC

We typically have one day off a week on our Summer Mission on the Jersey Shore. Last Friday was that day and we decided to head up to NYC for the day with our friends, the Roordas.

 We drove to Staten Island and caught the ferry over the Manhatten. It was so fun to see the Statue of Liberty as we cruised by.

 Our next stop was the 9-11 Memorial. The boys had so many questions and I found it very hard to explain to them all that happened to our county. 

 Pep talk from Luke on how to ride the subway.

 The transportation was definitely a highlight for the boys!

 I got so excited when we saw all the characters in Times Square and took a bunch of pictures. I had no idea that meant we needed to pay them! Whoops!

 Times Square. So much to see!

 We got a recommendation to go to John's for a pizza lunch. It was AMAZING! It is located in an old chapel and the food was soooo good. Great to get off our feet for a bit too. 

 Next stop: The Intrepid (Sea, Air and Space Museum) 

 

 There was so much to see and the boys LOVED it all!   

 After the museum we wanted to make one last stop at the Lego Store. Little did we know we'd be walking for MILES! The boys were troopers! Carter ended up walking all day, which was about 10 miles. Cooper and Cros had a little time on daddy's shoulders:)  

 On our way home we caught the subway through Grand Central Station which was fun to see.  

The kids were WIPED OUT but all in all it was an incredible day!

We anticipated it being like this so we were pleasantly surprised!!