Impact 2008: Cherokee, NC: July 2008

Final Impact Update 7-24-08

7-24-2008

Dear Praying Friends,

What a week it has been so far.

Since our last blog a lot has been accomplished in two days. Relationships at both senior centers have grown. The house that we are painting is about 99% done. And add to that a great afternoon off on Wednesday.

Needless to say, I am thrilled with how the Lord has been at work in and through our team. It has been wonderful to watch and to be a part of.

With that, we would covet your prayers for the final days of our trip, and here are some items for which we would ask for your prayer.

Continue to pray for the health of our team – that everyone would continue to feel well. We give thanks to the Lord for the good health and protection that he has given to us so far.
Pray for deeper interaction with the seniors at both the Tsali Manor and Snowbird Senior Centers during our last time there tomorrow.
Pray that the team will finish its tasks well.
Pray for safety as we travel home on Saturday.

Additionally we have attached 8 pictures to this post: 3 from the Tsali Manor Senior Center, 1 from our worship and devotional time here at the camp, 1 from the worksite and 3 from our half-day off trip to Dollywood's Splash Country in Pigeon Forge.

By God's grace we should see you all soon. We are scheduled to arrive at the church at 8 p.m. (or thereabouts) on Saturday.

Please also plan to be at our pot-luck dinner to see all of what was accomplished here in Cherokee. The dinner is at 5 p.m. on Sunday, August 10 at Aisquith. If you are planning to attend, you can r.s.v.p. to me at john@aisquith.org.

With Love and Thanks to All, yours in Christ's Service

John Ceselsky

Final Impact Pictures 7-24-08

click on a picture for a larger image

Impact Update #2 7-22-08

7-22-2008

Dear Praying Friends,

As in the previous post, I would again, on behalf of the entire 2008 Impact Cherokee Team, like to thank all of you for your prayer and support.

Since we posted our first blog, we have been quite busy here in Cherokee. In the mornings, our team is split in half to go and minister to members of the Tsali Manor and Snowbird Senior Centers. At the centers we interact with a number of Cherokee as we do crafts. So far we have made yarn bowls – a lot of fun but really messy, and personalized foam journals and photo albums. The interaction of the team with the senior Cherokees has been wonderful to watch and to hear about – they are truly serving as ambassadors for Christ.

In the afternoons, we have begun our construction project – that of painting a house. So far, we have made great progress and if the weather holds out (we had to quit an hour early today to avoid a thunderstorm) we should get the house finished on Friday. The four teams have worked very well and overcome obstacles with grace – obstacles such as a great deal of prep work that wasn't foreseen, and wasps which seem to be everywhere – but so far, by God's grace there haven't been any obstacles thrown in our face which we couldn't overcome.

With that, we would covet your prayers for the second half of our trip, and here are some items for which we would ask for your prayer.

Continue to pray for the health of our team – that everyone would continue to feel well and able to participate in all of the work planned for us.
Pray for deeper interaction with the seniors at both the Tsali Manor and Snowbird Senior Centers.
Pray for the weather – we have had thunderstorms on Monday and Tuesday nights. Tomorrow afternoon is our time off and the team would be blessed to have good weather to relax and have some fun. Additionally, we need good weather to finish our work project.
Pray for the wasp situation at the worksite. One team member has already been stung, but is fine. We do have team members that are allergic to stings, so we truly covet your prayers in that regard.

Again, we thank you for all of the support, love and encouragement.

Additionally we have attached 8 pictures to this post: 3 from our time on Sunday at the Tsali Care Center, 2 from our worship and devotional time here at the camp, 2 from working on crafts at the Tsali Manor Center and 1 from the worksite.

With the Lord's help, we will seek to post more pictures and updated information on Thursday evening.

With Love and Thanks to All, yours in Christ's Service

John Ceselsky

Impact Pictures #2 7-22-08

Click a picture for a larger image

Impact Update #1 7-20-2008

7-20-2008

Dear Praying Friends,

On behalf of the entire Impact 2008 Cherokee team I would like to thank all of you for your prayer and support, without which this trip would not be possible, and there would be little chance for success.

The first 2 days of the trip have been long, yet we are eager to get busy with the work that the Lord has set before us, which in many ways has already begun. Earlier this morning we had the privilege of leading a worship service at the Tsali Care Center, a nursing home here on the reservation. I was blessed to have the assistance in the service of Andrew Bell for the music and Carrie Burns, Rick Willis, and Marlies Cabell as leaders within the service. They did a fantastic job, though the preaching was unusual for us – unusual, not in the sense that it came from me, but unusual in that I preached for only 15 minutes (that must be a record) and in that the message came from Hebrews 12:1-3 and not from the Gospel of John. It was truly wonderful for me, throughout the time that we had at Tsali Care Center, to watch as the rest of the team interacted with and ministered to the residents there at Tsali Care – they all did a wonderful job.

Seven of us were additionally blessed in that we got to spend a bit of time later this afternoon visiting with Ned & Mary Smith, the couple whose home we painted two years ago. We were warmly greeted by the Smiths and welcomed lovingly into their home. Within a few minutes of sharing with them, we all began to feel as if we were renewing acquaintances with long-time family members – and that is indeed what we are in Christ. We look forward to interacting with them more as they frequent the Tsali Manor Senior Center where half of our team will be doing ministry in the mornings.

We are anxiously awaiting now our first day of work and covet your continued prayer. Half of the team will spend the mornings at one senior center and the other half will serve at another. In the afternoons we will then be painting for a lovely lady that we met today, Ms. Ida Rattler.

Here are some items for which we would ask for your prayer.

Pray for the health of our team – that everyone would continue to feel well and able to participate in all of the work planned for us.
Pray for our interaction with the seniors at both the Tsali Manor and Snowbird Senior Centers.
Pray that we can build a relationship with Ms. Rattler, like the one that we have with the Smiths.
Pray for Tom Warner as he seeks to recover from the injury which occurred here last week.

Thanks again for all of the support, love and encouragement that you have all given to us and enjoy the pictures that we have loaded with this message.

With the Lord's help, we will seek to post more pictures and updated information on Tuesday evening.

With Love to All, yours in Christ's Service

John Ceselsky