Today was our last full day in San Francisco and we finished strong. We prayerwalked the South Beach/Mission Bay area with Epic Church, a new church plant that will be starting monthly services in October and weekly services in February. From there we sang and encouraged the people at 19th Avenue Healthcare Center. It’s been a great week and we’re looking forward to leading worship at Foxworthy Baptist Church in the morning and then driving about 8 hours home. Parents, we’re looking at an arrival time of 9:30 or 10 Sunday night, but we’ll have students keep you posted from the road. I’ll also try to remember to post an updated arrival time on Facebook.

Today we finished off our ministry time in our teams and then headed out for some relaxation. Some students headed to Haight-Ashbury and another group went to Chinatown. And yet another group stayed at the hotel to relax. The students have all done a great job this week and team time winded down very strongly.

Tomorrow we join with Epic Church in the morning to prayerwalk their target area and then we’ll be singing at a convalescent home in the afternoon. Then it’s off the recharge the batteries, pack up, and get ready to head home on Sunday. Thanks for praying!

Today was a great day for Going Public! We saw 7 kids come forward at VBS with 5 of those being first-time commitments to Christ. The evangelism team spent some time in the Tenderloin district today which was very beneficial, but also very intense and emotional. It’s a very dark place with a large homeless population, many alcohol and drug problems, and high crime. We were able to shine light into that dark place. Please pray for our team as we return there in the morning to finish out our week. The labor team is almost done with their painting project, but had to pursue work at a different location due to extremely heavy fog at the coast (their church site overlooks the Pacific). Mega Summer Fun is also going well. Tomorrow’s our last day of ministry teams so pray that we finish strong! We’ll also have an afternoon and evening of downtime. We were able to get some relaxation in today and the students walked the Golden Gate Bridge. Looking forward to sharing more of what God has been doing here in San Francisco.

Made it to the middle of the week! We had a good day today. The highlight was singing at the rescue mission, serving dinner, and then participating in their church’s midweek service. I think that the time of worship was a great middle of the trip refocusing. Tomorrow our schedule begins to slow down some which is great because our pace has been wearing many of us out. We will be singing for senior citizens at Laguna Honda hospital Thursday afternoon and then heading out for some sightseeing. Thanks for your prayers!

This may be a very brief update as I still have 8 minutes with the possibility of going to bed before midnight this week. Progress was made today on painting Trinity Baptist Church in Daly City. It will probably take two more days to finish up. The VBS teams did well – please pray for the kids’ energy to be channeled in positive directions . Evangelism Team spent the day in and around Union Square and had several good conversations including some stretching ones. Haven’t heard how Mega Summer Fun went today, but I’m assuming no news is good news. The students performed twice in Union Square to good crowds. The students have done great diving into engaging the crowds following each performance. We capped off the day with a surprise trip to a Giants game. The highlight for me was seeing several hundred Giants fans boo and heckle Andrew Schwandt (a fellow Dodger fan) who was wearing a bright Dodger blue sweatshirt.

Prayer Needs:
Rescue Mission on Wednesday night – performing in chapel and then serving food.
Rest – our schedule’s been pretty tight so far and we have an extra hour or two tomorrow to grab some rest. Pray that everyone on the team makes the most of it.
Health – we’ve had some health issues on the trip, but even the ones who aren’t feeling well are doing a great job.

It’s been a long and good day. We launched into our ministry teams today. The Labor Team painted half of Trinity Baptist Church in Daly City. The Kids VBS Team got off to a good start and are adjusting to their assignment. The Youth VBS Team also launched in the same location and had about twice as many teens as they were expecting. The Evangelism Team spent some time in and near Ghirardelli Square having spiritual conversations with people. The Mega Summer Fun Team kicked off their day camp teaching math, science, and reading. They’re doing a great job ministering at a Chinese church here in San Francisco.

Please be praying for crowds to gather and watch the students’ two performances in Union Square tomorrow afternoon. Also, we’ll be heading back out in teams in the morning and are looking forward to all that God is doing. Also pray for rest for our entire team. At least from the leaders’ perspective I know that we’re pretty tired (although having a blast).

We’re hoping to put some pictures up here tomorrow. I’ve put a few quick pictures from my phone up on Facebook.

Had a great Sunday here in San Francisco. The youth choir did fantastic at Calvary Hill and we experienced a very powerful service together. There were quite a few tears shed both in the youth choir, among the leaders, and in the congregation as Jocline really allowed God to break her during her singing of Free. The afternoon was spent in preparation for ministry teams which launch Monday morning. The VBS team is having to flex some, but the leaders and students are doing a great job with it. We also moved Adam P. and Brad S. over to the VBS team due to some newly discovered needs there. I really appreciate the way they were flexible and switched teams.

Please continue to be in prayer for us. Teams launch in the morning and then we have our first “public” performance at Ghirardelli Square in the afternoon. Pray for open hearts and good conversations.

We made it to San Francisco with no issues and as I type all the students are (theoretically) getting to bed. Got into our hotel a little after 5pm and then headed to a nearby mall for dinner. We spent some time afterwards in worship and then the choir did some last minute tweaks for tomorrow and the rest of the week. Stay posted here for more updates. Also make sure to check out facebook.com/journeyhsm for status updates throughout the day. If you’re on twitter you can also follow @journeyhsm. Be praying for us tomorrow as we lead worship at Calvary Hill Community Church in the morning and prep in the afternoon for our week of ministry!