Tuesday on the ranch

Wyoming...big blue skies. As I sit and write this journal, I am struck by how big and how blue the sky is. It has been this way all week, even when it has rained, there is still a big blue sky. It continues to remind me how big our God is.

Tonight I am by myself at the ranch finding some alone time to be necessary. Kelly, Jesse and Stephanie are hiking a mountain close by looking for moose, bears and snakes. The staff all ventured into town for the last night of the Cody rodeo. There is peace in being alone.

Today we cleaned the bunk houses preparing for the DTS team that will move in next Wednesday. All four of us got to work together, so that was really fun. That took most of the morning. After lunch we baked cookies and made a Wartburg favorite (cool cookies) for the staff. Following the cookie baking madnes we washed the kitchen (lights, walls, chairs, floors, stove tops, ovens, microwaves, fridges...you name it)

My favorite part about this ranch is meal time. It is such great fellowship around the table. I feel like that is where people start to get "real" and share who they are. There is always laughter and stories. It reminds me of home...

I am not sure what the plan is for tomorrow. We have a few things to finish up in the kitchen and I know Kelly is dying to ride a horse! Hopefully she won't break a leg.

Thanks for all the e-mails and responses to our journals, you have no idea how fun they are for us to read. I am peacing out, but before I go, below you will find the words to Bebo Norman's "Big Blue Sky" This is life for now.

Laura <><

"I don't have a lot to give. This broken world can make it hard to live. I got nothing left to say. My empty words have simply gone away. But this big blue sky shows me all that I have got. And you're by my side to be everything I'm not. The angels sigh I breathe deep the breath of God. I cannot find another sky. My thoughts are heavy and they cloud my eyes. But when I'm searching for the sun. You rise up quickly with your kingdom come. I'm coming alive, nothing is good apart from you I'm coming alive...with you. I may not have a lot to give. This broken world can make it hard to live. I may have nothing left to say, but I know that you will never go away"

Wyoming!

After being rained out from camping last Friday we stayed in Denver and hit the road on Saturday. That night we stayed with a Wartburg graduate and her family in Thermopolis, WY who took us to the famous Thermopolis hot springs (largest hot springs in North America, I think). It was great hospitality complete with a home cooked meal and then off to sit in the warm mineral waters.

We are at the Western Frontiers Ranch in the hills outside of Meeteetse, WY. Arriving Sunday afternoon we were immediately invited to a BBQ. After the BBQ Stephanie, Laura and Kelly went on to a rodeo in Cody, WY. One of the staff members here at WFR is in the running for 1st place in his division and he was riding last night. I opted for a hike through the river and into the hills behind our ranch. Returning from the hike, I was offered a ride through the countryside with another staff member. We saw much of the local wildlife coming down from the hills to feed on the alfalfa fields.

Today was filled with plenty of activity. We are getting ready for this weekend's rodeo by making horseshoe awards and stick horses for the youth competitions. S, L and K also worked on cleaning one of the bunk houses and preparing the day's meals while I ventured into Meeteetse to assist a third staff member running errands. It was here that I ended up catching a rattlesnake with my bare hands (a story for another time). Aside from the fact that there is an up and coming rodeo, we are at WFR during their "down time" from hosting their Discipleship Training School. I am learning about DTS as the week continues.

**NOTE: The staff here is from all over the country with a few from Canada as well. It will be difficult to leave here without picking up an accent, eh?

That's Wyoming for now... waiting to see a wolf! Jesse

Thursday in CO

Today we were at the Gathering Place, a women and kids shelter. What a neat organization – a huge blessing to the city of Denver. Women can come here for a variety of services. They can receive 3 meals a day, bus tokens, mail, voice mail, e-mail and clothes. They can also take a shower, a nap, GED classes and can drop their kids off at “daycare” while they are in the building.

Most of the women who use these facilities are homeless or are currently living in a transitional housing unit. Some may have a home but still need to use the Gathering Place as a supplement for what they do not have (hot, nutritious meals for example).

After being on the road for a week – without a home base other than our van (sedgwick) – I am better able to grasp the importance of having a familiar place to retreat to in order to rest and to be able to connect with the outside world. In some ways, I feel like these women: sometimes I (Latreia) wonder where I will be sleeping the next night, where my meal will come from, when the next time is that I will be able to check e-mail or even when and where I will be able to receive regular mail or connect with my family. Yet, I will never be able to fully relate with these women or begin to imagine what they are (have been) going through…By the grace of God, I have friends and family who love and support me (both here and at home), I have a college degree behind me, I have the funds to draw on if need be, and I will always have a home to retreat back to…

God is continually opening my eyes to the numerous blessings He has placed in my life. He has blessed me beyond my wildest imagination.
Stephanie

Wednesday in CO

Laura here…What a day. We started the day working at the Food Bank of the Rockies. It is the largest food bank in Colorado. I was amazed at the amount of food. The four of us were a little nervous about spending the whole day there…you know moving great big boxes of food all day long, just makes for a long day. But wait- it was so fun! We worked with a guy named Andrew. He is 24 and just started a full time job at the Food Bank. He was so helpful in teaching us how to use pallet movers and how to fill orders. It was the first day this week that we spent the day together working. We even had enough free time to push each other around on carts, try pull-ups and laugh a ton.

After work we had about 10 minutes back at the church to change into our Latreia garb before we got to meet with a youth group. We met with the two youth directors at Bethany Lutheran church. They fed us some pizza and then we went to their Wednesday night worship. It was so good for me. It felt like home. Weird how just a LBW and a little “Now the Feast and Celebration” can fulfill the longing for home. I am learning that God can speak to me in so many different ways. How amazing that the Gospel is powerful enough to fill us back up after we are empty.

Spending time with the youth group was so great. It was fun to laugh, to play games, to sing, to pray and to share Latreia. What an encouragement their energy was to me. Well, all except Kevin, a senior in high school who flat out told us that “we weren’t going to make it” Thanks Kevin!

After church we made a long awaited stop for ice cream. The four of us we wired. The night was filled with e-mail, laughter and Jesse’s head lamp. It is hard to believe that we are almost done with Colorado. I think I will be ready to move on…good thing!

Angel Heart

Tuesday we would work again preparing meals for those in need. It would be a different style of preparation and a different need, however, yet still a need. I decided to take an excerpt directly from my personal journal... here is a piece of my Tuesday:

"We arrived at a nice looking building at about 7:45am... Our contact arrived after us and guided us into the kitchen where she introduced 3 full time chefs and 5 (or so) other volunteers. The kitchen was state of the art; large with all kinds of equipment. The meal of the day consisted of some sort of seafood that looked really good. We learned that the kitchen prepared 300 meals a day to be served to folks with little money and who were diagnosed with a terminal illness such as cancer or AIDS. Of that number, 80 were served hot because the recipients could not prepare them for themselves (or what-not) and the rest were served frozen. So a second day in a kitchen preparing meals, but what a stark contrast. We worked in a fancy kitchen with professional chefs albeit the day was far removed from the clientele."

The place we worked was great. The people were good to work with and provided a wonderful service. We basically spent our morning cutting, chopping, washing dishes and packing the meals. As I said, it was much more removed from Monday's experience but great none-the-less. We did deliver 2 meals but did not get the opportunity to visit with the recipients. Volunteers will normally deliver the meals each day (they serve 6 days a week). I visited with one of the chefs, however, to find that they rotated "on duty" days meaning that if the volunteers could not deliver the meals the chefs would deliver them. He said that this kept them "in touch" with the people they were working for. I like that idea.

We spent the rest of the afternoon at the DenUM building. Our guided tour showed us their programs and all of the services they provide. Part of our tour was visiting with a homeless man who spearheads a newspaper focusing on homelessness. The newspaper has a circulation of 8,000 and he has strong connections with the local Denver government that allows him to travel the country and speak at conferences on the topic of homelessness... an intelligent and interesting man to visit with.

Here's to staying "in touch"

Jesse

Monday in CO

Our first day of service work was at the Grant Avenue Street Reach in downtown Denver. We helped prepare and wait on over 850 people, working for 8 hours straight and running constantly...we were so exhausted and it felt so good. It is amazing how quickly your attitude can change after serving. It is such a humbling and rewarding experience. The program and the volunteers we worked with were wonderful because they recognized how vital it is to treat the homeless and less privileged with respect, referring to them as 'sir or ma'am,' clearing their plates with a cheerful smile, and respecting as many of their requests as possible. It was amazing to get to be part of such an empowering atmosphere.

The other awesome part about our service that day was how easily conversations about faith and God can be started... So many people kept asking why we were here serving and my answer was, in a gist, because God first loved me. So simple but so true. And how exciting to get many an "Amen sister" in response! I had so many of the homeless thank me and say 'God bless you' as they were leaving the church basement that day...and at the end of the day I definitely felt more blessed than I have in a long time. Their blessings were working on me much more than mine on them...
Kelly

Arrived in Denver

Hello from Denver,

We have arrived safe and sound in Denver, Colorado. We are staying with friends for the weekend while we finish up last minute details and gain our bearings to start next Monday with DENUM (Denver Urban Ministries).

Updates: Latreia is an official organization. We received our letter of Incorporation from the state of Iowa on July 22. As we type this we are also filling out the paperwork to establish Latreia as a non-profit organization.

Thank you to all who joined us for the send off last Sunday. We appreciate everyone's support.

With the many requests to send care packages and mail, we are working on lining up an addresses that you could send items to Team Latreia while on the road. Please stay tuned as we will post the up and coming address!

**NOTE: Please feel free to leave comments by clicking on the "COMMENTS" right below.

Off to work for now...