Adi: My reflections on the trip to Southwest Florida.

Adi - planting trees Wednesday morning

Even though the work was tiring and it was hot and humid in Florida, a large amount of mosquitoes were around all the time, but I had a great time weeding, trimming and planting trees, pulling cattails in the lake, and building fences with my youth group friends in Gator Wilderness camp in Southwest Florida. I saw God in their willingness to work hard for the boys who live in this camp and I was also motivated to work even harder. The highlight of my time there was when we prepared the worship service and actually met the boys we worked and prayed for. What I liked about the worship service was how positive and joyful they were during the service. Also, how respectful they were with us and with their chiefs, even with the circumstances they've lived in in the past. In addition, I had a lot of fun going to the beach with my youth group and swimming in a relatively cold water. Then having a time with God and enjoying the beauty of God's creation. I was blessed to travel with my youth group to Southwest Florida and experience this time of looking for God and also, spending time with my youth group friends and getting to know them better.

Adi Mansour😊

In the Miccs campsite, sleeping tent - the boys have mosquito netting and fans, but sleep and work in this open air campsite all year round.

Morning Devotions on our last morning at Camp

Gator camp

In one of the boys camp sites

Chief Greg telling us about the
workings of the camp

On Friday morning we got our stuff packed up and put it in the van. We went and got a small tour of a campsite that the boys had made. Then, Brenda had to leave with a small group early so that they could get Jacob to meet up with his parents. The rest of us split up and did a couple quick jobs. Some of us went to the house and cleaned up the rest of our stuff then went and pulled the last few cat-tails. The rest of us went and put fence posts in the ground. Once that was all done we ate lunch and started on our journey home. We took the first few hours as a quiet time, many of us slept during this time. Once we woke up a little we started playing some games to pass the time. When we made it to the hotel in South Carolina we had our last daily debrief. We woke up on Saturday and got on the road a little after 7:30. Many of us sat quietly so others could sleep (Taylor), and played some games. We stopped later for lunch and then got back on the road for our final leg of the trip. We arrived back around 5:00 and were pretty tired, but excited to be back. We will be telling a little bit about our trip Sunday at church.
- Cameron Brown

Breakfast on the last morning at Camp with Chief Josh

We are HOME

It has been an amazing week.  We arrived back at the church at 5pm this evening and quickly dispersed to our homes.  Things we are looking forward to?  Our own beds and sharing our experiences with everyone.  We saw God in so many places, we will post a few more pictures and some reflections on the trip later.  Tonight however we will sleep well.  Thank you so much for your prayers for our trip and service.

Day 5 - Beach Day

Weavers Youth Gator Team

Day 5 -
This morning after devotions and breakfast we piled into the van and headed for Lover's Key State Park.  The day was clear and cooler than it had been, all in all a perfect day at the beach.  We played in the warm, placid Gulf of Mexico, soaked in the sun, had a picnic on the beach and then all retreated for a time of solitude and reflection.  An afternoon storm rolled and the majesty of God was on display.  We had another hour of time at the park after the storm cleared which we all used how we saw fit.  
Our next agenda item was a little sad, we took Dylan to the airport to return home for a family event. We missed him immediately of course!
On to the City of Punta Conta to explore for a while and then we had a very nice supper at a pizza restaurant. We returned back to Gator camp late and had a enlightening and wonderful time of evening debriefing and prayer.  When we were done however the time was getting late for our boys to head back the the house where they are staying.  Thus the brevity of this post.  I will just include some pictures from the beach today and finally a group picture.  Be sure to check out the post from Dylan and Luke about their special experience yesterday

Dylan/Luke

Path from the Chuckwagon to the Boys camps

Note: Wednesday Dylan & Luke were giving the opportunity to serve as "Chief" with the boys at camp.  What follows is a small glimpse of their experience.

"Alright everyone circle up and tune in." This saying meant that I, Chief Dylan, along with other Chiefs, and all the boys of the middle aged group, the Miccs, needed to circle up and listen to the problem at hand. For the Miccs, we walked and circled up for an hour and a half around lunch time.  After that I was moved to the youngest group, the Cowboys, for the rest of the day.  I was immediately greeted with hugs and excited talk and was welcomed into the group.  Soon we headed to the pond to go swimming.  The boys had been threatening to take me on the whole time.  As soon as we arrived at the pond, the boys gathered around me getting ready to take me on.  They all ran at me and I picked them up and took them into the water with me.  We crashed in, and the boys didn't get the memo that they were supposed to let go, so I flung them off of my body and surfaced.  After a rousing time of swimming and throwing boys into the water, we left to get supper ready and finish our work schedule.  I helped make a supper of ribs, watermelon, and pudding.  After supper, we showered and then went to Vespers service.  The youth group was leading the worship service for the night, and I enjoyed leading singing and the atmosphere of the worship time with the boys.  I had a great time being a Chief for the day, and it might've even inspired me to do it in the future.

"I'll back you up on that Chief Dylan."  This means I agree with what Dylan has said.  After breakfast, I went from being regular Luke to Chief Luke.  I joined the eldest group of boys, the Buccaneers, for their day.  I immediately felt welcomed and answered the questions they rattled off to me.  We began the day giving a tour to a new recruit.  During this time, I was able to hear the boys voluntarily share their stories with the new recruit and inform him of their progress since they've been at camp.  After the tour, we began work schedule, and I joined one of the boys, J*, and Chief Alex with laying down new borders along the path.  J*and I worked hard without any power tools on 

cutting a three inch diameter log.  After a lot of work using a hand saw and wood scraper, we eventually cut it off.  I was so proud of his work ethic.  We then had difficulty finishing work schedule because there were a lot of times where we had to circle up because they boys had gotten into a conflict.  We eventually ate lunch of burgers, corn, and watermelon and then settled into siesta time where I gladly rested and took a nap.  When I awoke, we finished work schedule and then headed to the pond to swim.  I raced the boys at the pond and then attempted to tackle some into the pond.  Surprisingly a lot of them with pretty strong, so I ended up in the water quite a few times that were witnessed by the youth group across the pond.  I allowed the boys to throw me in many times, and it wore me down by the end of the swim time.  The boys aren't allowed to have their hands on each other, but they can punch, push, kick, and tackle their Chiefs, so I absorbed a lot of that throughout the day.  I was taken away from the boys, but eventually met them back up at the showers.  We showered and then headed back to the camp to make supper.  We had a supper of ribs, applesauce, and pudding, and then got ready to go to Vespers service for a time of evening worship.  Walking through the rain, we arrived at Chuck Wagon and enjoyed a great evening of centering, praying, scripture reading, and singing.  At first the boys were a bit timid, but then a lot of them joined in, and I could see joy on their faces which gave me joy.  It was a great day.
*Name omitted for privacy

Day 4 - more hard work & vespers

Day 4

Today started off like normal, waking up at 6:30 and getting from the house to the camp at 7:30 for our morning devotions and breakfast. After Breakfast we split up into three groups; Taylor, Adi, Cameron Brown, Jesse, and Cameron Byer were working on planting 60 Cyprus trees next to the lake and other places around the camp. Holly, Jacob, Anna, Brenda, Jessica were in the kitchen helping to cut green beans for them to store for later use. Dylan and Luke got the wonderful experience of being able to spend the day with the camp boys, but more from them on that later. And then we were able to eat lunch in Chuckwagon for the first time and it was air conditioned and the food was delicious.

 After lunch we split into other three groups. Adi, Jesse, Jessica, Micah, Carla, and Anna were pulling out the cattails from the lake once again. Taylor, Cameron Byer, and Jacob were cutting down bamboo and chopping them into splints for the newly planted cyprus trees. Brenda, Cameron Brown, and Holly were putting the splints into the ground and tying them to the trees. After everyone had finished those jobs everyone headed to the lake to try to finish pulling all the cattails. We had almost finished when a thunderstorm came and we had to get out of the water. We had about 5 of them left so it was really frustrating and we wanted to finish but Micah wouldn't let us.Silly him. After that we went back to our respective place and showered and got ready for dinner. 

Once again we were able to eat in Chuckwagon and prepare for our evening service for the boys. About 7:15 the boys started coming in. They sang a song or two and then handed the program over to us. Luke and Jacob started out the service by introducing what all we had been doing and letting them know how beautiful of a job they had done in building their own campsites. Then Luke did a centering prayer practice with them. The practice involved sitting in silence and repeating 3 words in their heads for a few minutes then closed with a prayer. Cameron Brown read Philippians 2:5-8 and then Jesse explained the verses. Holly then led the Boys in another prayer which involved giving them a shell which represented a person or situation that they wanted a prayer for.  Then all the youth group went up in front of everybody and we sang 5 songs. The camp boys were really organized, interacting, and focused. They clearly loved "chiefs" Luke and Dylan :). After that the boys left and we sat in the group and did the end of the day discussion and then we headed to the house where the girls were staying to play games and it was good.

Adi and Taylor

Day 3 - It's still hot

After breakfast we embarked on a mission to thrash our way through a jungle... 3 hours later and the seemingly impenetrably landscape was now quite open. The task involved, but was not limited to abundant poison ivy, numerous thorns, Brazilian peppers, swamp, and trees of all shapes and sizes; one more notable than the rest. Although the task seemed daunting at the beginning, it was the most fun we had had working all week. We charged into the jungle with loppers and a hacksaw and never looked back.

Our afternoon involved planting 150 2-foot tall pine saplings. This work was much less enjoyable than the jungle thrashing, but we managed to find a way to remain entertained by singing a song about what any normal teenager sings songs about: hotels. Some of us remained more entertained by the song than others... specifically Luke. He commented, "If I wasn't a pacifist, I would punch the next person who sings that hotel song."
Dylan and Cameron (Byer)



 

Victory!

The More Notable Tree

Relaxing With Games at the end of the Day

Day 3

Dear people, 

Jessica - weeding around the new office

Today was a fine day of labor and fun. At the beginning Greg Kanagy gave us a short tour of camp (we didn't go in the back 90). He talked a lot about camp and about what they do. Our eyes were opened and we realized how well our lives are. He talked about how they trust in God and he provides for the camp. It was really amazing. We weeded garden beds beside the new office building at camp, trimmed trees along the main road, and mowed (Dylan) the grass. It was pretty hot and humid, so the conditions weren't ideal, but we still got through without anyone fainting and not having to make a trip to the ER! -Jesse

A very hot job

Resting at lunch (Luke, Jesse, Taylor)

After working outside in the flower beds we were rewarded with a delicious lunch of sandwiches and veggies. After that we went to a lake to try and pull a bunch of weeds called cat-tails. I was assured that the cat-tails would only take a small tug to get out. It turns put it took upwards to five people just to get one cat-tail out of the ground. Not to mention that the water which we were in was covered in grimy sludge and the majority of us were barefoot. This coupled with the constant fear of alligators and snakes (Dylan especially) made for a hard work day. Although we didn't finish everything, we are excited for tomorrow to get back at it. After we finished pulling cat-tails we had chicken and potato casserole, salad, homemade rolls, and pie. It was delicious. -Jacob

The whole group hard at work.  Our work leader did give us praise on being hard working!

The Lake.  Note: The water is NOT cool and the bottom is slimy and might be snakes, but we persevered.

Day 2 - Are we there yet?

Luke listening to his headcones -the latest in green music technology

 Day 2 - We have arrived!

We started the day in Walterboro, SC.  After breakfast and packing the van we met behind the hotel for morning devotions.

We hit the road for a very long day of travel.  Perhaps because we were tired, or perhaps because it was hot today's travel seemed much longer than yesterday.

We arrived at Gator Wilderness camp a little before 8 o'clock and are getting settled in.  Catching up with Sara (Byler) has been a highlight of the whole trip so far.  She has been here working at the camp for the past year, so she is our native guide!

After devotions and debriefing tonight everyone plans an early bedtime.  For whatever reason, just riding in a car all day makes us tired.  And tomorrow the real work begins!

We were so happy to meet up with Sara!!

Day 1 - On the Way

Getting Ready to head out

Picnic lunch on the way

Our morning started off with much excitement and anticipation.  Meeting at Weavers at 9:30 we were so thankful for all the friends and family that surrounded us and came to see us off.  Pastor Phil had a prayer with us and for us, then we piled into the van and were off.

Some highlights from the first part of the drive included:

By the way... its hot

• Looking at the semi-truck passing us and see a skeleton buckled in riding shotgun
• Seeing a black bear wandering up a road beside the interstate
• The unbelievable beauty of the blue ridge mountains in southern Virginia
• Lots and lots of laughter

We stopped for lunch at a rest area just beyond Christiansburg.  We ate quickly and were back on the road in about a half hour.  

The drive was, thankfully, uneventful and we arrived at the hotel in South Carolina at a little before 7pm.  That left just the right amount of time for dinner and a quick swim in an oddly warm pool.  Apparently that is what 100 degree temps does to an outdoor pool.

We met together for group time and debriefed, had devotions and prayed together.

Now we find we are very tired, so bedtime is eminent. Peace Out.

A little game of Hackey Sack upon arrival at the hotel

Debriefing on Night 1

- Holly, Anna & Jessica

Back to Gator - Six Years Later

In 2010 Kevin & Sandi Byler led a team of Weavers youth to Gator Wilderness Camp School for a week of service in the hot Florida sun. Six years later we are going back on another adventure of service.  

Feel free to look back and reminisce on how far so many of our youth have come.  Teenagers on the previous trip are now college grads.  But come back as we add new posts and document our new adventure, our time of service and the ways we see God at work through it all.  We will be updating here as time and internet connections permit with pictures and stories of our journey.

The 2016 Crew

• Jesse Byler
• Luke Hertzler
• Cameron Brown
• Cameron Byer
• Jessica Hess
• Holly Mumaw
• Anna Layton
• Jacob Yoder
• Dylan Slabach-Brubaker
• Adi Monsour
• Taylor Longnecker

The Fearless Leaders

• Micah Hurst
• Carla Hurst
• Brenda Early Layton
• Owen Byer

We ask for your prayers as we go out, for travel safety & that the whole trip will be giving honor and glory to God!