Finishing it off with a big 'BAMG'!!

Hi guys! The summer is almost up. We are finishing up the week here in Myrtle beach! Only one day left...but it has been a great week so far! I just wanted to tell you all that today was the day we taught about Jesus' death and such! Then we passed out decision slips...and there were 8 kids who made the decision to accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior! And there was also a girl who made a rededication to Christ! So...even though me and the girls are ready to be home...we have had a great time!!! I think one of the coolest experiences though has to have been meeting Sasha! Sasha is an 18 year-old exchange student from Russia! And although her English still needs some work...we somehow managed to have a great time and many laughs!!! She has actually been teaching me some Russia this week too, which has been really cool...but I still need lots of work!! HAHA! :) We even exchanged information...so we will be able to e-mail and write to each other!! I have been blessed to know her!

I really have enjoyed my time here! And although I am ready to be back home, I have had a wonderful time here in Myrtle Beach!

It has been a Fantastic summer!!! Thank you all for praying for me and my team this summer! Please continue to pray for safety though...b/c we are not home yet!

I love you all!!! See you soon!

~Eleni~

WOW! Long time no blog! so this one is going to be pretty long! :)

Sorry guys! I know I haven't written in like forever!!! Many of the places that I have been staying haven't had Internet! Plus...I am one of those people who doesn't really writing much...b/c instead, I am out there doing it! :)

Anyways...I will try to catch you guys up on previous events! LOL!

So...the last thing you heard was that there were 4 kids that accepted the gift of salvation! Well...let me tell you more about the big chunk of the summer that you missed out on!

June 22-June 29

St. George

So...this week we stayed with Leslie and Doug Dixon and their beautiful and sweet daughter Anna! We had VBS at night...but in the mornings we got to sleep in! HOLLA!! I love my sleep and it was a much needed rest!! LOL...but this was also the week that my stomach was messed up and I didn't feel good!

Anyways...I taught music this week and it was so fun to see the kids having so much fun! We got to know some of the kids and they were really awesome! And best part is...2 girls got saved!!!!

June 29-July 3

Columbia (GO CAMP!!!)

This week we helped with Go Camp, which was stationed on the CIU campus! Go Camp has only been up and running for about 3 years...but what they do there is they have worship stuff and things like that but unlike some other camps, they go out into the local area and do mission work! The kids were split into teams for the week...there were 2 construction teams, 2 service evangelism teams, 2 kids teams and 2 teams working with nursing home people (I think!?). This week was one of my favorites...but some parts were just so-so. My favorite parts were getting to know the kids participating in Go Camp (they are all in like from middle school to high school ages) and getting to chill with the kids on the mission sites and tell them about Jesus! The only thing i really didn't like about this week was that we had 2 different sites that we had to do balloon animals, face painting and snowcones at, so we didn't get to really get a chance to build relationships with the kids! God totally spoke through me though which was awesome!

July 3-July 6

Off to Florence for a Mini Break (YAY!!!)

These few days we got the chance to go home for a mini break! I got to see my family and i got to see some of my friends and hang out with them before I had to leave again! And i got to spend some much needed quality time with my sister! We had fun and tie-dyed t-shirts! They looked super cool and my mom even got in on the fun! Then it was off to Elgin for me!

July 6-July 13

Elgin

I think this was one of my least favorite weeks of all in I had to pick one. And i only say that b/c they didn't prepare very much and we passed out flyers like the day of the back yard bible clubs and we didn't get to really make relationships with the kids b/c they got to come and go as they wanted b/c we were stationed near their houses! Anyways...we had 3 backyard bible clubs to do that week, 1 in the morning at 10am and 2 in the afternoon at 6pm. The mornings we had bible club at a boy named Michael's house! So some of the kids from the neighborhood came to that. We never had more than 10 in the morning. Well...then come to find out there are no kids home in one of the neighborhoods in the afternoon! All the kids were either grounded, sick or on vacation! So we me and tia ended up just going and helping out the girls at the other site which worked out sooo much better anyway!! We had a good crowd of about 12 or so, give or take, and we had a blast!

July 13-July 20

Hunting Island State Park (campground ministry!)

Ok...So this week we stayed at a missionary house on St. Helena Island! It was nice, except the last tenants were rats and they left us presents all over the kitchen! But no sweat...I cleaned it up and we had strict rules on the cleanliness of the dishes we ate on and stuff! LOL!

Anyways...This week was a pretty leisurely week for the girls and me! We only had the bible camp from 9:30-11:00 every morning! We had lots of kids most of the time! There was only one day that we were short on kids and that was the day we had 3 total! LOL! Anyways...we had fun hanging out with them! This week the girls and I really bonded and had some relax time! We even had a photoshoot! Also...this week we also learned in our group bible study that we need to give God the control and that we need to have faith and trust Him!!

Jeremiah 29:11 stuck with me this week! It says,"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

July 20-July 27

Lake City!

This week has been amazing!!! It has been one of my most favorite so far! It ties for first with my first week in Columbia! This week I have been in charge of music at our VBS every night! And in the morning we all do a back yard bible club with about 8 kids. And just this week we have had

*drumroll please*

4 KIDS ACCEPT CHRIST AND BE SAVED!!!! PRAISE GOD!!! 3 new sisters and a new brother in Christ...and hopefully more to come!!! Tuesday night's lesson was on Jesus' death, burial and resurrection a.k.a. the salvation story! So I felt lead during music class to take some time with the kids explaining in depth the price Jesus paid and told them more about what sin is and how we can be freed from it! God really spoke through me! I even used a really cool demonstration too and they really understood!! But I really love this church we are at now! They are so awesome! And their church is undergoing some changes that have some people taking drastic measures...but just pray for them that they can pull through! They sure don't show that they have been going through some hard times! Also...there is this lady named Teresa Smith and she is just one of the sweetest, funniest and most kind-hearted lady you will ever meet! And come to find out, her daughter and I know each other and we were in the high school musical play together at the Florence little theater, in my home town of Florence!! This week has definitely been a blessing! And me and the girls only just now got into our first little arguement tonight...LOL! I think that is good that we haven't had one til now! We really do get along really well though! Just pray for us that we can just make it this last week and a half with no problems! And just pray that we will remember that this may be our last week...but it is the kids' first week! B/C we are pretty ready to go back home...we are just missing everyone! But we will prevail!!! LOL! :)

Anyways...I hope I kinda filled you in on a the missing pieces!! Sorry it took so long to put up another post! More later!

Love yall! Thanks for reading!

Eleni a.k.a. "EJ"

YAY!!!

So...Just thought I would write and tell everyone that there have been 2 more kids to accept the gift of salvation!! So...that is 4 total kids that have been lead to Christ by the Kids Connection team! We have had 2 great weeks with the kids! It is so great to see them getting excited about Jesus and to just see them smile! The kids have been learning so much!

We had been staying with a wonderful older couple and they have been such a blessing to us all! Helen is the name of the older lady and she totally reminds me of my Greek, food pushing grandmother who's name is also Helen! LOL...but she has been a total doll! She woke up the other morning and made us apple, cinnamon pancakes and they were delish! But she is soooo cute! She is also a really creative lady and she has some of the coolest thing that she made displayed in her house! There is a really cool poem in the bathroom! LOL...but it is a really good poem! It is called "Do You Have the Time?" and goes a little like this:

Do You Have the Time?

I knelt to pray, but not for long,

I had too much to do.

I had to hurry and get to work,

For the bills were coming due.

So I knelt and said a hurried prayer,

And jumped up off my knees.

My Christian duty was now done,

My soul could rest at ease.

All day long I had no time,

To spread a word of cheer,

No time to speak of Christ to friends,

They'd laugh at me I'd fear.

No time, no time, too much to do,

That was my constant cry.

No time to give to souls in need,

But at Last, the time to die.

I went before the Lord, I came,

I stood with downcast eyes.

For in His hands, God held a book,

It was the book of life.

God looked into the book and said,

"Your name I can not find.

I once was going to write it down,

But never found the time..."

I just love that poem! It really says a lot! You know if we don't start acting like Christians then how do we expect to get to heaven?? God deserves a lot more time than we (myself included) give him! So...today...just take a while and listen and talk to God! Take time from your busy day to just relax and enjoy what God gave you! Think of everything you have and give thanks to God for that!

Anyways...Keep praying for me and the girls as we minister to kids all over south carolina! We have just settled into our new house we are staying at! VBS also started tonight...but yeah! I will post more later!

Just remember....Give God thanks! And talk to Him, b/c you can't have a relationship with out talking to someone! And all God wants is a relationship! It isn't too much to ask for the large price he payed!

Amazing the ways God works isn't it!

So...I am going to share with you the amazing story of my day yesterday!

It started off quite ruff...and it pretty much stunk...literally! We were at the trailer park setting up the tent. Then, I just happened to step in a massive pile of dog crap and got it all over both of my shoes! It was gross! So I was pretty much aggravated at that...so then my day just got worse and worse because it was my turn to lead the bible study. We had split the children into groups since the beginning of the week...and so the first group I had was the older girls...and the paid attention...but it was my first group of the day and I was kinda nervous as to what to say and so they weren't as responsive as I would have hoped. So I got a little discouraged about that...and then the boy group came! They were pretty much not wanting to listen at all and they didn't want to hear the story...so I got really even more discouraged about that and stuff...so then when it came to the little girls group, they understood some of the story...but they were kind of distracted with the toys in the house and stuff...so i didn't really get a chance to talk about much with them. So then we were done for the morning at the trailer park...and I was still very upset and discouraged with a mixture of being a little aggravated at the behavior of the boys and not doing a good enough job myself at making it interesting and clear for the different ages to understand. So i left feeling pretty crappy.

Then, we went over to the house of the leader of the trailer park ministry. Her name is Christy. So, we ate lunch at her house...and on the ride to the apartment complexes I just took a minute to pray for the next group and pray that people would be responsive to the message that I was presenting about salvation. We had a lot of kids who were really curious about all the stories and things we were saying...and so, I told the bible story, then we explained how to become a christian, explained how to ask Jesus into our hearts and we answered any questions they had (and they were very curious and had quite a few!). Then we did an activity with it, where we made boats by folding paper. When they finished their boats, I told them to write their names on the outside of the boats and on the inside write 'yes' if they wanted to accept Jesus into their hearts and pray the prayer, 'no' if they weren't ready or if they didn't want to, and to put a check mark if they already had accepted christ. So...we got a good number of check marks and all the rest were answered with a 'yes'! So we were all excited...and so some of us pulled a couple of kids aside and we talked with them...and 2 of them were lead to Christ that day!!!! And I was one of the lucky and priviledged ones of the day to get to lead a girl named courtney to Christ! She had been very curious about everything we had been saying all week long! So...I just thank God that she was curious...and i thank him also for preparing her heart and answering my prayers about her! See...I had been praying for God to prepare her and he totally did! Also...a little boy we call 'little D', was one of the ones who got lead to Christ by a girl on my team named Kayla! He had been super responsive to everything that happened! We gave each of the children, who made decision, bibles to keep and 'little D' brought his bible with him today and was very excited about it! He also went to the lady in charge of the apartment mission stuff, Mrs. Becky, and met her at her house from 9:30 to the time we got there at 2:30...and he sat at her house reading, studying and highlighting scripture...for literally hours!!! We were super stoked...and yesterday God answered my prayers and helped me to have a wonderful day! So it started out litterally crappy...and God turned it around and made it a beautiful day full of excitement and all the encouragement I needed! So anyways...today is thursday and everything went well yet again...and so tomorrow is our last day with the kids here...and we have kind of put together a couple of special activities for them! So...I hope everything goes well with all of that! Anyways...I will talk with you guys more later and keep you updated! Just know that God is good...and He WILL answer prayers in the way that will be best for you! In Jeremiah 29:11 God tells us,"I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper and not to harm you. Plans to give you hope and a future." So there you have it folks...God is on your side and with him all things are possible...He tells us that in Philippians 4:13! It says,"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." So just learn to trust him more, as I will also try to do...and know that he answers prayers in his time and his way! He knows what is best for you! He wont let you down!

Anyways...love to all! More blogging later!

Have a blessed day and a wonderful weekend! Spend your time wisely!

Well hello to all everyone! Hope all is well with you! I miss you all!



Anyways....for all you out there who dont know....I am training for my summer missions positions with Kids Connection! We are a traveling team of four girls, going around and doing Vacation Bible Schools (VBS) and other various evangelistic activities with children! We have been pretty busy so far, just learning everything we will have to do this summer! Sunday, technically yesterday, we arrived to our first place of missions...Columbia! And actually in my previous blog i told you all my schedule....I also told you it was tentative and that it could change...and it did! LOL...I don't really know what changed...but they told us that our schedule was a little different now! I will post that one later!



Anyways...we have been staying at Camp La Vida for the past couple days so we could do our training, and there are other counselors for the camp doing training at the same time. I met some of the counselors of the all girls camp and they are awesome! I cant wait to hear later what all God has done at this Camp.



During our training this week we have had various people come and teach us things we will need to know on our missions trip...so we had this cute little old couple who came in and taught us plate spinning, balloon making, face painting, rope tricks, etc.! They were sooo funny and they were like the cutest little old people I have ever seen! LOL...but it is cool to see how they have just do what God wanted them to do, and keep on doing it even with their old factor. I just hope that i am the same way when i get old! They actually told us that they had 2 houses in...Costa Rica I think it was...and they used those houses for missionaries that would come from all over! It was really cool b/c they said that they sold one of the houses and are in the process of selling the other one...but they sold it to people who would continue to let missionaries come and use it! They are such amazing servants of God!



Also...we had to put together a small childrens bible story for yesterday's church service and my teammates and I did it on having a solid rock foundation on God! This story in Mathew Ch.7 tells about story, told by Jesus, about 2 different men who built houses. One man built his house on sand and the other man built his on a solid rock foundation. The story goes on to say that when a huge storm came it washed away the house built on sand...but the house on the rock stayed strong! This story is supposed to represent our lives. It means when the storms of life start to beat down on you, will you be weakened and fall or will you hold on to Jesus with all your might and stand strong? What are you building your house on? rock or sand?



So...anyways...I have to go to bed now! We start our first project tomorrow morning at a trailer park! I am so excited! But we will be really busy so just keep praying for our kids connection group! We will need a lot of prayer power and help from God to make it through this HOT and active summer!

Thanks! Love to all!

Eleni

Ok guys! I leave tomorrow...ok...today if you want to get technical! LOL...but a lot of people have been asking me where I will be traveling to this summer and so I decided to post my shedule that we were given.

Tentative Schedule:

June 8-15 Columbia, SC

June 15-29 Summerville, SC

June 29-July 3 Chesterfield, SC

July 3-July 6 4th of July break

July 6-13 Elgin, SC

July 13-20 Laurens, SC

July 20-July 27 Lake City, SC

July 27-August 1 Little River, SC


So there you have it folks! My schedule...well at least that is the rough draft. I mean when someone says tentative then it is like the disclamer...meaning that these dates are subject to changing so be flexible! LOL!

Anyways...I am super excited to see how God is going to use me this summer! I am ready to be a beacon for His light to shine through! I will need all of you who read my blog to please just keep me in your prayers! Also I would like you all to pray for all the other missionaries on the field this summer! Pray that they will let God use them and that they will stay safe! The devil is going to start trying to hit us all hard so that we can't go on doing God's work...so also pray for strength for all of us missionaries! Just pray too that God will prepare the hearts of those who we are going to come in contact with this summer...and that they will have an open mind and an open heart! Also, I was at youth group tonight and it was open mic night...meaning that anyone could get up on stage and share how God was working in their lives or just give words of encouragement, etc....and pretty much they are all just trying to seek God and stop living for the world and start living for him! So if you guys would just pray for them and for perseverance so that when the hard times come, and they will come, that the devil wont be able to push them down...b/c the closer you get to God the more of a threat you are to the devil and so he will try to bring you down more and more!

I like this verse:

Romans 12:2
"Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind...."

If you aren't living for God....the Perfect, Holy and Loving God who created you, then who are you living for??
Yourself?

We are flawed people by nature! Romans 3:23 says,"...for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God..." This means that no one is perfect and that we all make mistakes...but God is sent His Son to die on a cross to bear our sins! He die for you and me!

Why not give all your troubles to the amazing all powerful God of the universe! Die to yourself and start to live again in Him! He died for you...and all He asks is that you live for Him!

Anyways...as a last remark, ask yourself...are you so on fire for God that the devil knows your name?


Check ya later,
Eleni

This is my first post! YAY! But yeah...I just wanted to say that God has been revealing a great deal to me lately. He has been teaching me to have faith and that nothing is too big for Him to handle!! What pops into my head is the concept from the movie "Evan Almighty". In one part of the movie Evan's wife has left him b/c she thinks he has gone crazy because he is building a massive ark in a field beside their house. She had prayed to God for Him to bring her family closer...but then she feels like God has let her down because it seemed now that Evan had gone crazy and her family was breaking apart. So...she and her 3 boys were eating lunch and the boys left to go to the rest room leaving their mom all alone...as she was sitting there (i don't really remember how the conversation came about with her and "God" but I think it was something about some fries...??) and anyways...He says something to her and the concept has stuck with me. He said, "If you pray for courage, is God going to give you courage or moments in which to be courageous? If you pray for patience, is God going to give you patience or is going to give you moments in which to be patient? If you pray for your family to become closer, is God going to bring your family closer or give you moments to bring your family closer?" And with that statement she remembered her prayer and she realized what she had to do. But think about it....God is not going to just give us what we pray for on a silver platter...He will just give us the tools and the knowledge that He knows will get the job done. Also something to think about...God will not give you more than you can handle! Just have faith and know that God is on your side!!! Have a blessed day!

With LOVE to all,
Eleni Jones