The following is a post from Lynn Panosh

What a joy it is to spend a week with 47 high school students!!!  REALLY!

What makes our annual Eagle’s Wings/Hearts in Puppetry Ministry Tour so special?

Commitment

The students who participate in Eagle’s Wings and Hearts in Puppetry make the commitment to their ministry for the year…that means showing up for weekly rehearsals and sharing their music and puppet drama throughout the program year in worship and the church school.    The adult leaders that support these ministries also commit to these midweek and Sunday times.   We are united in our goal of music or puppet drama.  We work together, we pray together, we have fellowship together.  Relationships grow.  We model our ministry after the early believers as found in Acts 2:44…

“they met together constantly, shared everything they had, worshipped together, participated in the Lord’s Supper together, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity, all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of the people.”

Goals

We have a goal when we leave on our ministry tour… to share the Gospel with all we meet through music and puppet dramas. To model Christian love amongst our group and with those we meet. It’s not a cushy trip… we have long days, crammed in a bus. We load and unload every day… sleeping in a different place, sometimes dorm rooms, sometimes host homes, some hotels (nice!) and some church floors. We give up our time and some of our SELF for the good of the group. In a world of instant gratification and personal choices, we go counter cultural for a week, working together with patience and flexibility. And in doing so, we grow!

Blessings

We are incredibly blessed by everyone we meet. Older adults in retirement homes… the forgotten generation, whose smiles and warmth fill our hearts. We must face a reality that is hidden away and reach out of our comfort zone and in doing so, are blessed. Our simple act of sharing song and laughter brings joy and hope. We are blessed by those who welcome us into their congregations and homes. It is a big commitment to rally a congregation to provide a meal, host homes and come out for a concert. They do so with love and we are humbled and WE learn. We are the servants going out to share our ministries but THEY are the communities which open their hearts and time to allow the ministry to happen. From Mark 6:10…we are the disciples going out with little and they are the villages who welcome us.  Can we do the same?

Memories

We have returned with many wonderful memories of the beauty of a different part of the US… three college campuses, whitewater rafting, an afternoon at the beach and more. My heart is full of the growth of both groups as I saw high school students working together to make things happen and reaching out of their comfort zone to make new friends. We had no major drama… because all cooperated and gave of themselves. For sixteen graduated seniors it was their last trip and on our closing night, they shared and they grieved the end of a chapter in their lives. They, we, have been changed.

Parents

I am grateful for the parents who support their child’s involvement in these ministries… who encourage (or insist sometimes) that their child honor their commitment, who see the value of a Christian community, who work their family’s busy schedule around our schedule. I am grateful for the support of the Our Saviour’s community in our fund raising and recognizing and encouraging these ministries. I am thankful for the work of the youth leaders, Pastors and other musicians who work as a team… a village to help our children grow and learn. I am grateful to the seven adult leaders who give of their time and are passionate about their faith and these young people. I am grateful to God, who blesses our efforts and gives us all that we need.

Eagle’s Wings and Hearts in Puppetry take a “break” for the summer, but begin again with the annual “Fall Into” retreat at Lutheran Outdoor Ministries Center in Oregon, IL in August. ALL students are invited to this retreat or to become a part of either ministry. More information on that to come!

Here are pictures of our white water rafting experience! Below is the slide show but if you click here you’ll be directed to the Flickr.com page where this set is located.

If you or your child went on the trip, we would appreciate it if you would donate $2 towards the cost of these rafting pictures. They were taken by the staff at Nantahala Outdoor Center and cost us some money in order to have them send us the CD. You can give the money to me (Graham) or Lynn Panosh. Thank you!

Here are some instructions for downloading images off of any of our Flickr photo sets:

Step 1:

Click on “All Sizes”

Step 2:

Click on “Download the Large size” or whatever size you wish to download.

There you have it! you’ve got your own copy of the photo!

Ministry Tour 2009 was a great tour! I feel the need to share with all of you parents and with all of you kids who might make your way to this blog what it meant to me.

As most of you know… I’ve grown up in Our Saviour’s. I went through both the confirmation program as well as the senior high program. Many of my closest friend’s in life have all been connected to Our Saviour’s in one way or another. I absolutely love our youth and I go on these trips because I want to help them find the same connection to God and to each other that I found when I was their age. I’ve both experienced and witnessed life transformation on these tours and I am so grateful to Lynn Panosh and all of you parents and youth that I’m still allowed to travel with this group. I may have said this before but I want to say it again… ministry tour is my favorite part about summer! I’ve been an adult chaperone on the last two tours and I am so happy that I’m given this opportunity year after year. If you haven’t figured this out by now… I love blogging and I love being able to bring all of you parents and other interested parties a little tast of our days, each day during the tour.

I need to say a little something here about this year’s senior class. I know they are Brad’s “babies” but I feel they are mine as well. I’ve been a junior high confirmation mentor for 9 years and have always been involved in one way or another with the senior high and am now a senior high mentor too. I had Alex Mayszak, Jeff Leets, Mike Miller and David Pector in my junior high confirmation group and I have thouroughly enjoyed watching them grow up in the church. I again feel honored that God has called me to be a part of their faith lives… and that goes for all of the seniors this year. This year’s seniors will always hold a special place in my heart and I’m so proud of each and every one of them for the Jesus loving young adults they have become. The future is bright for them and I can’t wait to see what God has in mind for them next!

On the subject of the puppets and the choir integrating… I really feel like we made great strides with this on this tour! As you know, this is only the second year Hearts In Puppetry has joined Eagle’s Wings on tour and they are already integrating and becoming a part of the group. Some of the choir kids expressed interest in singing one of the songs for the puppets next year instead of playing it off of my iPod! I think that’s a fantastic idea and I hope we can work on that for next year! The puppets add such an awesome dynamic to the group and to our concerts! The people we perform for love seeing the puppets and the choir and I like the variety they add to our shows.

To everyone that went on tour this year:

You… are all very special young men and women and I’m so happy that I got to spend a week with you cooped up in a bus and driving around North Carolina! When we came to a small retirement community and needed to setup our risers and puppet stage in a less than desireable position, you never complained and you found a way to make it work. The way we worked together to load/unload the bus each time was nothing short of poetic. I think you have all formed some lasting bonds with each other on this trip. I love watching you help each other through situations and just giving each other random hugs when needed. We had fun… I’ll never forget this tour and I know you won’t either. Thank you again for letting me be a part of it!

Some business:

• Now we have some business to take care of… as you know… we now have tour pets but someone needs to take care of them throughout the rest of the year! Click Here for more information on that!
• Keep checking this blog or subscribe to it because there will be important updates happening on it throughout the year!