Week 6 in Ocean City, MD    The last week of MP1 was the pinnacle to our trip!

                                    Ryan Throne preaching on Wednesday night

We faced some challenges throughout the week such as finding a spot to set up the sketch board.  Even though is was difficult some nights to find a place to set up we still had very large crowds stop and listen each night.  Another obstacle that we faced throughout the week was the police officers on the boardwalk.  Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday they stopped and told us to turn down our music for the drama or to move in closer to the side of the boardwalk or to try to get the crowds to not block the boardwalk.  All of these were reasonable request but, it felt like they were targeting us because we had to be very aware of about all of these things to ensure we could continue to preach the gospel.

Our devotional and time of praise and worship prior to going out each day was very refreshing and prepared our hearts as a team for the ministry and the opposition that we faced on the boardwalk

A turn of events occurred on Thursday night.  We went out early to set up on Division Street and it seemed as though we were not going to have any problems with the police.  Then as soon as I began to open the preach-o-matic an officer came over and told me we could not set up there because of a town regulation.  Apparently, that is the only street on the boardwalk that is closed to preforming.  I tried to explain we are not performing but, they considered it that because we set up something and were going to be drawing a crowd.  So I decided to try to find another spot further down the boardwalk.  About 4 blocks further down I saw a spot that was open but, two magicians were set up near by.  I decided to stop and see if we could still preach beside them.  They said they would rather not share the space but, told me about a spot on Surf street which was really far down  the boardwalk but, it was available and we would have no other vendors to compete with on Surf street.  So by this time I was getting discouraged by the fact that we had to move around so many times.  We went to Surf street and it was a awesome spot to set up and we were not harrassed by the police one time all night.  Praise God for moving us around until He got us were He wanted us.  We even went back to this spot the next night and were able to park the van about 30 feet from where we set up and in the beginning of the week we had to carry everything a couple of blocks from the van to set up.

The crowds at Surf street were amazing and many good conversations occurred after the messages!!

Another favorite spot of our towards the end of the week after we finished using the sketch board was the sand sculptures.   We would go there to sit and relax after preaching and some of us preached messages at the sand sculptures as well.  This was a great time to lift up the name of Jesus while people stopped to look at the beauty of the sculptures.

Sarah giving her first message on the boardwalk at Surf street.  She did a great job!

Ryan preaching at the sand sculptures!

Ruth Anne praying before she gives a message at the sand sculptures!

Overall, the last week at Ocean City was incredible everyone did a wonderful job at either preaching or sharing the gospel one on one and the dramas were great also.  I can not say enough about the way God used this team for His glory at Ocean City and throughout the summer.  Thanks again to all that made this summer's Mission Possible One a reality.  Without your prayers and support we could have not made the impact for Christ that we did.  I also would like to ask you to lift up each of these teens in your prayer because I know they can do great things for God in the future and they need your prayers to keep them strong in their faith and service to the Lord.

preaching with Evergreen Baptist

singing songs with the kids

hangman

preaching in silver spring

we didn't let the threat of rain stop us

Fridays cookout with the kids

setting up the water fight

water fight

Week 5 of Mission Possible was once again exciting and exhilarating for the participating teens. We arrived at Forcey every morning around 1 P.M., did our devotion, packed the various coolers which kept us going throughout the hot days, and set off for The Villas in Langley Park to organize a Kid's Club. The kids were our primary focus last week. Each teen was assigned a partner earlier in the summer, and the partners were, in turn, assigned a sketch board message to preach to the kids during this past week. We arrived at Langley Park each day around 3 P.M., although our arrival time varied throughout the week, and then set up for the daily program. The program consisted of a puppet show, a rather painful but worthwhile part of the day, a humorous skit or interesting trick depending on the day of the week, a hangman puzzle competition for the kids performed by the teen whose partner would be preaching, and of course, the message, which was used as a teaching technique to share the Gospel with the kids. In addition to all of this, we purchased several prizes for the "best-behaved boys and girls", which were awarded to the kids each day who had been witnessed being attentive during the hangman puzzle and the message. After we concluded the scheduled part of the program, we provided ice cold water and a snack for the kids before playing with them. However, on Friday afternoon, as a departing thought, we provided a picnic, consisting of hot dogs, hamburgers, chips, and soda. The meal could not have happened without the help of one of Zane's co-workers in OAC, named Tom, who provided a very fancy grill. We sincerely thank him.Anyways, playing with the kids included activities such as "Duck, Duck, Goose", freeze tag, and frigid but entertaining water fights. We usually departed from the location around 5 to go eat dinner, which was usually done at the church, but also occurred in a park some days. We had a great time witnessing to the kids, and many seemed intrigued at the Gospel message. The departure on Friday was difficult and sentimental in many ways, and we were disappointed to have to leave the fun and interesting kids there in Langley.

Each night we were picked up from Forcey at around 9 P.M., so, as you can imagine, the kids' club, although it was the highlight of our week, was not the only thing that we took part in last week. During the nights, we partnered with Evergreen Baptist Church, in NE Washington D.C., as they took part in their annual "Evangelism week". We traveled just around the block from where the church was located and preached in a neighborhood called "Clay Terrace", walking door to door some nights, sharing the Gospel with those on the streets, and open air preaching some nights as well. While there, we also set up pray corners for the residents of that community, giving people the opportunity to have us pray for them, some maybe for the first time. Overall, helping Evergreen Baptist this past week was a learning experience that was well worth it. The people there seemed quite receptive to the Gospel, and several, praise the LORD, professed Jesus as their Savior. We participated in their "Evangelism Week" on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday night, unfortunately we had to remain at Forcey Wednesday night due to a rain storm. However, the storm was a blessing in disguise, and the rest, fellowship, discussion and discipline that we took part in and received was pivotal and needed. We concluded the week by preaching in a normal manner on the streets of Downtown Silver Spring. There we had a very interesting discussion with rather interesting people, and it was a great way to prepare for Ocean City. In conclusion, Mission Possible was blessed abundantly by the children of Langley Park and the staff of Evergreen Baptist Church during week 5, and we have been and look forward to growing more next week as we eagerly anticipate preaching on the boardwalk.

we rode the Subway a lot

Wow, we've already finished week four of mission possible, the summer is going by way too fast. Thank you so much for your prayers, God has been doing amazing things in New York. This week we were privileged to work with Richard and Diane, they not only housed us but were our tour guides for the week. During the week we preached in several different locations, including Downtown Brooklyn, Central Park, Time Square, and Coney Island Boardwalk. We passed out tracks, and got into some really good conversations with people. Please pray for Topia, he is a man that we meet who we think was a universalist, he seemed very adverse to the idea of there being a God and was convinced that all roads lead to something good, we gave him a track to read as he was flying back to Italy that day. Please also pray for Mohammed, he was a muslim, but he was very open to the ideas of Christianity, and unlike most Muslims that we've met, he wasn't as argumentative, and thus we were able to present the gospel to him and give him the gospel of Luke in Arabic.
Through it all the team has really bonded, and grown spiritually together, and now we anxiously wait to see what the Lord does this week.

doing a kids club

preaching in downtown Brooklyn

the Brooklyn Bridge

On the Brooklyn Bridge

Preaching in Time Square

This week was so jam packed with new, fun, exciting, spectacular, and God type moment experiences. Monday and Tuesday we went open air preaching in Lexington market, Baltimore. We got into to several conversations and crowds gathered every time we began to preach. We did the drama for the first time in public, which went really well. After that, we went to do a kids club near by, the kids had a lot of fun, and so did we.

Wednesday we went out to D.C, we didn't actually preach on the mall,  but near it. People stood to watch as we preached, and did the drama. One man in particular started shouting about how Jesus was not God, but one of the guys who was with us from OAC started talking to him, and lead him away from where we were preaching.

We slept over at church that night, and the next morning we were in for a surprise. We were just about to go and preach in Baltimore, when Art Kennedy came out and told us about this great quantity of food that needed to be out of the churches fridge by the next day or it would spoil. He wanted us to take it and give it out to homeless people on the streets. God had a plan and we ended up doing exactly that, we took it to a park in D.C, the the rest of the food we gave to a homeless shelter. 

Friday, we did evening/night preaching, and once again our plans were changed, but only slightly this time. We went down to Annapolis, and the place where Zane would usually set up the preach-o-matic was inhabited by musicians, so went and preached on the actual dock. We got into some pretty interesting conversions, and a lot of people were affected in some way by what God did through us. It was really awesome to see God work through us this week, so week anxiously await the next.

And thus concludes the second week of MP 1, we had a blast! On Monday we went out witnessing, passing out tracks, and engaging people in conversation. We didn't talk to many people, but we did get into a really good conversation with a lady at Chick-fil-a.
Tuesday we learned and practiced our, kids, and adult messages. It was really difficult at first,but we are making progress.
 Wednesday we put our knowledge and painting abilities to the test, as we went open air preaching in D.C. Not many people listened, but we pray that God would still be glorified through our efforts. Then when backing the van into our parking space, back at Forcey, we backed into a tree! However he Lord was gracious in that we had taken out the back seat to put the preach-o-matic in, so no one was sitting back there, and no one got hurt.
Thursday we open air preached again in D.C but in China Town, then went on to do a kids club.

On Friday it was too hot to go open air preaching again, so with our spare time we painted up for this coming monday, then did a kids club at the same location as before. We then decided to have some fun at the kids club, by having ice/water fight with the remainder of the drinking water we had brought for the kids. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed themselves, and now we anxiously await to see what the Lord has in store for us this coming week has in store for us this coming week.

practicing paint boards

taking it to the streets

Brendan's first message

playing with the kids

ice fight