Pictures for the last day of South Dakota on July 10th, 2016.

Lily's little sister Bailey with the dog. 

My little sister with Bailey. 

Charlie and Jill LeBlanc.

Addie, my sister and I with our milkshakes. We enjoyed our car ride so much!

Dinner back in Colorado.

August 11th, 2016 Last day of South Dakota on July 10th, 2016.

This is for the last day of South Dakota missions trip on July 10^th, 2016.

My meal team and I set out cereals, toast etc. which was so hard! Ha ha! I’m just kidding. ;) After breakfast we all got ready, and drove 30 miles to go to a church where Mrs. Porter’s close friends were playing worship for that morning. Their name is Charlie and Jill LeBlanc if you want to check them out on YouTube. They have performed with some really famous Christian artists and they played really powerful wonderful worship songs themselves. I was really encouraged and blessed by them, I am so thankful we were able to go and see them play as well as hear the message that morning in church. Our choir sang Amazing Grace during the offering time (spontaneously) and Mr. LeBlanc gave the message.

The message was SO good, uplifting and encouraging. The message was about loving people and after the message it really made me realize that sometimes I wasn’t the most loving towards my choir “family.” Sometimes I can get a little controlling and when I do, I can tell some people don’t like what I am saying; I then start holding a grudge towards someone for a little while… which I am working on getting better. Here were my notes from the message, sorry if they seem a little scatter brain. “Life isn’t over when you go through a tragedy. You only go through this day once, don’t spend it all on being mad or sad. Keep your heart in the right direction, guard your heart and follow the ways of the Spirit. We sometimes don’t want to move forward and dig deeper into His word and prayer. But He is calling us to thrive for Him and dig deeper each day in an even more personal way. When we draw closer to Him it helps us to press through the pain and move forward. Let God hold you up even when you want to give up. Run to Him instead of running away from Him.

If a brother or sister in Christ is going through a hard time, be there for them. Don’t tell them, ‘well if you had done this differently’, ‘I knew this was going to happen’ or even telling them ‘it’ll be ok, you’ll get through it.’ Our words can be like sharp daggers, instead of throwing words at them just have love towards them. When people are hurting all they need is love. Sometimes they don’t even need words to comfort them, just love. Whenever people are going through something we are all so quick to judge. But let God be the judge. He knows all that is going on in their life and how to handle it. Encourage each other even though you might be struggling with something too. Don’t focus on yourself, but focus on others and on Yeshua. Be a beam of light for the people around you. We are like light sabers (from Star Wars) shinning our way through the darkness. Be the arms of Yeshua when people are hurting around you. Turn around and give someone a smile offering. J Smiles bless and help people; they also can change the world.”

The LeBlanc’s prayed over our team and then we headed on home. Our family plus Addie (she was driving home with us) got ice-cream for our 6 ½ hour drive home and once we got into Colorado we stopped for dinner with some of the other choir members. Even though South Dakota wasn’t over seas like Vienna, we still did a lot and had a powerful time there. I am very thankful we had this opportunity to be able to go and be a light. Exciting news… I am going to Africa next year with my choir and I will definitely be blogging about my experience there and taking pictures. It has always been my dream to go there and severe at an orphanage, and now it is finally coming true!

Blessings and Shalom ,

Kaila    

Pictures from July 9th South Dakota day 3

The fish in the fish hatchery 

Kira and Megan chillin' out of the hot sun

Mrs. Porter and Emma 

My sister, my mom and me. 

Jackson felt a little left out, I feel bad that he is the guy in the choir. :(

Some of the choir

My mom, Mrs. Bore , Rebecca and the two girls below... Abby and Addie!

A beautiful little area in the garden at the fish hatchery.

Rebecca and I relaxing at the river.

The river was so peaceful, it kind of sounded like the ocean... It was so nice.

Singing in the Band she'll.

Waiting in line for 9 square.

9 square with the choir and church.

Maiza, Abby and Jackson enjoying some good cotton candy.

Megan REALLY enjoyed it.

I love my dear choir family! 

August 7th, 2016 South Dakota entry day #3

This is for July 9^th, 2016 after breakfast we all got ready and had the morning devotions. Here were my notes from another lovely devotional: “My inheritance was purchased by God’s grace. No one, not even Satan’s evil power could ever take or separate us from God’s grace. ‘I have loved you just as my Father has love Me.’ Think about how much Adonai loves Yeshua. He loved His Son so much and He loves us all so much that He was willing to give Yeshua and see Him go through pain and suffering all for us. 2 Cor. 5:21. His love will affect your life completely. If you always think about how much He loves you, you won’t have to care what anybody else thinks or loves you.” I thought this was a great encouragement and a wonderful devotional. Mrs. Porter then told each of us to go to separate spots outside or in the house. We each sat for 20 minutes just sitting in His presence either journaling, worshipping, meditating in His word, praying etc. It was so nice to 1. Sit in His presence on Shabbat and 2. Do nothing choir related and just relax. I’m not going to share what I felt like God was telling me because it was a private time, but a lovely time indeed. I am so glad Mrs. Porter asked us to do this.

We then visited a fish hatchery and took some group photos of the team. I found out from my parents that the town name Spearfish came from the Indians. They would use spears to catch the fish for their meals. After touring around the hatchery, we broke up into teams and with our teams walked around the park where we would be performing  that night. We went around praying for the performance and praying for the people that were coming that night; that they would be encouraged, touched by God and coming away with a peace within their soul. After praying we all dipped our feet into the cool river, which helped with being a hot day. There was a man there that had a puppy so some of us girls went to pet the puppy and talk with the man. I invited the older gentleman to come to our performance. I could just sense that he needed Yeshua.

Back at the house, we played a short game of soccer, which was a blast. We also practiced for the performance, relaxed a little and then headed to the park. At the band shell we sang our eight songs, fellowshipped with people, had some yummy cotton candy and played a really fun game called nine-square with the people from the church that hosted the concert in the park. The man that I had invited at the park earlier that day actually came. I sure hope we were able to touch his heart. Our concert and time in the park was definitely a highlight for us all-- being able to play a really fun game, meeting new friends and just having a good time. I was talking with a guy named Dillon and I asked him if he played any sports. He said no because when he was 24 days old he had to have heart surgery and now 16 years later, he is still healing and getting back to normal from that surgery. When I meet people like that it makes me realize more and more how everyone has a story. Someone may be going through something and even just a smile could brighten their day. I really hope we reached people in the park that night and I hope we shinned the light of Yeshua. This is one of those times we planted seeds of faith, hope, and joy, along with the message of the gospel and trust that God will do the watering His way and His timing.  
Blessings and Shalom,
Kaila 

Pictures from the second day of South Dakota!

Practicing outside for the Assisted Living later. 

The falls

Emma, Addie, Abby and Maiza beside the river. 

Me, Kira and Megan at the falls. 

Me in front of the falls :) 

Rebekah and I infront of the falls praising God. 

Poison ivy on the trail... Thankfully none of us got poison ivy. 

A beautiful sight on the hike. 

Me, Kira and Megan on the car ride back to the home. 

"The Spice Girls" at the Assisted Living. 

Our team singing in the Assisted Living. 

Our team singing in Down Town Spearfish. 

Worship time! 

Devotional time.