Kenny Hibbard

This coming Spring will be our third year having a family mission trip to Jamaica. Our partnership with Won By One to Jamaica continues to grow and get better each year. Why do we call it a Family Mission Trip? We call it a Family Mission Trip because we have uniquely designed this trip to allow kids 12 and up to attend with their parents.  Over the years Dad’s have gone with a daughter or son. Mom’s have worked side by side there with their kids. We have even had both parents go with their kids!  Of course, anyone can go and we encourage everyone to join us. However, we have scheduled it around Spring Break to that families can choose to do the mission trip instead of a typical Spring Break vacation.

Over the last two years, we have been fortunate that Meck and Union County both had the same Spring Break schedule. That is not the case this year. We will be going April 1-8th this year. That is the Spring Break for Meck Co.  However, with those dates …….those who are in Union Co. would only miss 4 days of school as the Friday we are gone is Good Friday. Also,  UC students would have the following week of no school to have time to do make up school work.

The entire cost of the week long trip is $1,450 per person. This covers airfare, lodging,  all food….everything.

I know many people have told me that they would love to spend a week doing mission work with their kids or others from Team Church. However, most people see the cost as a challenge. Here is the good news……Steve and Wendy Hall are Team Church members and are the leaders of our Jamaica Missions. They always make sure that those who want to go are trained in how to raise personal support to help pay for your trip. Steve tells me that he has never seen anyone who wanted to go and then prayed and followed the instructions not raise the support they personally need. YOU CAN GO….if you want to go!

The deadline to sign up is October 30. We start early in the training and payments so that by the time April gets here…you are paid in full and the financial hit is not sudden or over burdensome.  Ask the many people who have gone before about the trip…..they will tell you what a great experience it was in their life. If you think you would like to go this year……start praying and then contact Wendy Hall at    wendy@wonbyonetojamaica.com

Wendy can answer all your questions and help you see if this is the trip for you! Also, go to the Won By One website and take a look around.  Again, anyone can go with us. You do not have to go with a family member. We have just made sure that those who want to come with their kids have the opportunity to do so. This is a great trip for singles,  married couples and everyone.   Over the next few Sunday you will be seeing more information and have a chance to sign up.

Start NOW……

• We know that people have a lot of questions about the trip. Now is the time to ask those questions and determine if you would like to go.
• We know that the average person needs 6 months to raise the funds to go on the trip. (By the way….every person who ever signed up and then followed the instructions of how to raise your own personal support…..has always had enough money to go!)
  
• We know that you need time to make sure you can have the vacation time off.
• We start in November with some training and that happens periodically through the winter.

It will change your life!

This past Sunday, I left the second service early so that I could make it to Panther Stadium by noon. Once again, I had the privilege of doing the opening  prayer  for a Panther Game! In front of 68,000 or so people I stood on the 50 yard line and said the Invocation!  (actually…. it was probably only like 40,000 people as Panther fans are like many of us at Team Church….they rolled in a few minutes after the game had already started ..HA HA)

I was able to bring my two sons and a friend to enjoy the afternoon. The three boys were a little star struck by hanging out on the sidelines with the players. They heard and felt the enormous roar of the crowd when the offensive players were introduced one by one! Steve Smith got the loudest applause and screams…followed by Cam Newton.

Hanging on the sidelines of an NFL game is a very cool experience for boys and adults alike! It is a WEiRD experience because it does not feel normal at all.  You have 68,000 people looking at you, larger than life athletes running around you, camera men jockeying  for position, security guards everywhere telling you where to stand and NOT stand, music and screaming so loud that it is hard to hear yourself talk and sideline TV reporters doing live news feeds as this is all happening. Very Cool….but not common everyday experiences.

However, the real WEiRD and unusual part that actually took the boys by an even greater surprise was when we we escorted to our seats. We spent about 45 min on the sidelines. However, a little while after the game started we had to go sit in the seats they provided for us.  These were nice (free) seats. However, we were surrounded by Redskin fans who had probably started drinking about 9am.  By the time we got to our seats……what is far too Normal these days….was obtrusively WEiRD for the three boys and even for me.  Rude fans sloshed beer on us, used four letter words as if they were everyday adjectives, gawked and spoke sexually to every girl who walked by and slurred jeering comments to the Panthers on the field and to the Panther fans. I would like to say that it was just the Washington Redskin fans that acted this way…but it was not. Panther fans were just as guilty. As a matter of fact two female Panther fans got escorted out by security for fighting with a group three rows up from them and throwing their beer on them!

As I gave a few of these people a certain glare that communicated “REALLY?” and pointed to my 6-year-old sitting next to me……I realized something gut wrenching.  These people are all over 30 and do not have a clue that their actions are distasteful and improper.  I even heard one guy scream at another concerned parent……“This is normal…we are at a football game!”

We are concluding our WEiRD series this Sunday. I will be teaching on a very simple concept found in Matthew chapter 5!  It does not have the sex appeal of the Lust talk, the emotion of our Anger message or bite of the Money sermon.  However, I promise you……it is currently a normal way of living that as Christians we must turn the tide on and be WEiRD if we are to be all God desires for us to be and live the best possible life in relationships with others around us.  Parents will especially take home a few nuggets of practical and applicable truth as they deal with growing kids.

This past Sunday….our giving was over our weekly budget needs for the first time in a while. Great job…..lets all keep giving as God directs! We are still in need of digging our way out of the summer drop in giving. I know we can do it in just a few more weeks if we all determine to give as we should and not just as we think we can.

Living a WEiRD life is sometimes hard and many times thankless!  To all those who are committing to living a WEiRD life…here is an encouraging word from a WEiRD lady!   (Remember …WEiRD is radical commitment to Christ that many times go counter to our NORMAL culture)

People are often unreasonable and self-centered. Forgive them anyway. If you are kind, people may accuse you of ulterior motives. Be kind anyway. If you are honest, people may cheat you. Be honest anyway. If you find happiness, people may be jealous. Be happy anyway. The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway. Give the world the best you have and it may never be enough. Give your best anyway. For you see, in the end, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.” — Mother Teresa

Also, be looking for new TC Weekly….coming soon!