It's hard to believe that we are only a few short weeks away from the start of Boot Camp! We have started putting up the Big Tops this week and May 2 is “Big Top” Day when the main Big Top Tent will go up! This will be a family event where we will all work together to put up “Big Top 1!” It is very exciting to see all of the tents going up and boot camp starting to take shape.

We are already starting to pack and prepare for our summer. It takes a lot of time to pack 5 people to travel overseas for a month. We (Shannon, Vikki, Madison and Zoe) have been asked to lead a team of teens to Nicaragua this summer. Our project will be to continue construction on a church that was begun by a team last summer. We have been trying to learn some basic Spanish before we go so the language barrier is not so hard. We have also started praying for our team members and assistant leaders as well as for ourselves. Spending extra time in prayer and in reading God's Word is essential to preparing our hearts to lead the team each summer.

Canaan has chosen to serve on a team that will travel to Papua on the island of New Guinea. He originally wanted to go on the Orphan Angels Team to Zambia where they ride motorcycles, but has to wait a little longer to get his driver's license. He will soon reach the “6 month seizure free” milestone and can then be cleared by his doctor to get his license, but his doctor does not think it is safe for him to be on a motorcycle at this time. He is very excited and can't wait for summer to get here. His team's project in Papua will be to construct the first building for a brand new Bible School that Teen Missions will be opening there. This will be the sixth bible school that Teen Missions has in Indonesia and the 28th world wide.

Taylor will be staying in Florida this summer. She is looking for a summer job to earn money for college. She will also be helping at the Teen Missions base during Debrief, when teams return to Teen Missions for classes before returning home.

Finally, we would like to thank all of you who came to volunteer this winter! So much was accomplished and we are so grateful for your help! At one point, there were so many Ohioans around here working, it seemed almost like home! We hope you all come back real soon and hope to see even more of you next winter!

We are all doing well as we work daily to support the global mission of Teen Missions. We are doing well health wise except for Shannon he has been struggling with disc problems in his lower back but recently he has been feeling better.

Thank you again for all of your faithful support, encouragment and prayers! We are truly blessed!!! GOD IS GOOD!!!!

Prayer Requests:

Financial support for the kids summer expenses.

A summer job for Taylor.

Safe travel over the summer.

Safety and good health for Canaan.

Healing for Shannon's ruptured discs in his back.

Big Top Day!

Saturday, we set up the Main Big Top at Teen Missions. It was an all-day, family event! The day went really well and everyone finished the day tired, but safe and injury free...Praise the Lord. It was a great day of fellowship and working together. It's hard to believe that Boot Camp is only one month away!!!

This is Zoe singing Francesca Battistelli's song "I'm Free to Be Me" at the Preschool talent show. She loves singing this song!!