We had a great first team meeting at my house tonight. It was cool to see everyone together in the same room and to get to hear from each of you why it is that you want to go on this trip. Here is a quick list of things to do after tonight's meeting.
1. apply for passport. If you haven't applied for your passport this needs to be your #1 priority in life. It can take some time and we don't want anyone getting their passport the day before we leave (like last year). apply today!
2. type support letter. Priority #2 is getting our funds for this trip. Use the sample letter I gave you to get an idea of what to include in your letter and write your own so that it is personalized. Nobody wants to get a letter from you that I wrote. Remember that you are responsible to bring in all of your money for this trip. If you receive more than what you need you may choose to save that for next year, or contact the donors to see if it may be applied to others who have not raised their support. You may not use extra funds received as spending money. I will keep a running total of all of the checks that come in. You may indicate in your letter for checks to be sent to you, or directly to the school with "c/o Mr. Neill" in the address and I will process them through the business office. If you choose to have checks mailed to your house make sure you bring them to me as soon as possible so that we can get them cashed and get tax receipts printed. I will give each of you a list of all those who donated money before we leave on the trip so that you can contact each donor for personal thank yous. You may also want to include the team website in your support letters so that those who support you can get a glimpse into what we are doing on this trip. Some have used bookmarks or postcards with a picture of themselves as both a fundraising letter and a reminder for those who are supporting you financially or through prayer.
3. check out the website. If you are reading this then you can check this off your list of to do's. But make sure to navigate back to this site on a regular basis so that you can be up to date on the latest stuff. Remember to be doing all you can to learn about Costa Rica. Read about their customs and their dominant religion. Find out statistics about the climate and about the population. Check out the things that you may see in the city. If you learn something interesting send me an email or post a comment on this blog so everyone can learn too. If you find an awesome website with cool info pass it on and I'll add it to the link list on this site. Make sure you tell your parents about this site also so that can be informed about all that is going on.
4. check your e-mail. I sent you all an email today. If you didn't get it then click here and send me an email. If you did get it make sure you reply to me so that I know i have your address right in my database. E-mail is the easiest way for me to let the whole team know what is going on and to send out updates. If you don't have an email account... well... you ought to get one, they are really handy.
5. start praying. As if I needed to say this, right. We've already seen how prayer has been an important part of this team coming together. We only had two applications in one week ago and now we have a group of 18. That's pretty cool and the trip is still months away. We've got lots of time to be praying about this trip and to be looking for ways God is at work.
I have three suggestions regarding your prayers.
- pray specifically. don't just say "God, bless this trip." Instead, tell God the specific kinds of things that you are hoping to see (not talking about tourist attractions). What does blessing look like to you? Ask God for those things.
- pray earnestly. Don't let this be another one of those routine prayers that we all have from time to time. Get serious about the discipline of prayer and really spend some time talking with God.
- don't do all the talking. One thing that I think we can easily overdo in prayer is talking. We get done and say amen before we have given any time for God to say anything to us. Consider praying and before closing in prayer, try opening your bible and reading some psalms as a way of listening to God. After that, sit for a while and be still. I know what you may be thinking, that sounds like it could take a while. Exactly. That's why prayer is called a spiritual "discipline"... it takes discipline.
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