Ok, here is the update! Below are some videos and pics of our last few weeks at TC!

Start here, this is my vlog.

Railey eating a hot dog.

Lunch time.

staff disciplers getting off the bus having just arrived at the field.

students greeting the staff disclipers as they drove onto the field.

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First Week of Training Camp + Videos

Travis: Well, we are one week into training camp.

It has been a good week so far. The girls had a little bit of a rough transition as they struggled with the change to Central time and the massive amounts of bugs on the field, but are doing well now and performing like veterans. It was sad though on the second day that we were here when Railey fell head first into the trough area where we get our water. She got a nasty strawberry on her head but was in a phenomenal mood just 30 minutes later. Jovie, on the other hand, is having a ball. She loves all the attention she receives from everyone on staff here and is a constant ham. She did have a rough night however on Thursday when a big storm whipped overhead in the middle of the night. The thunder was so loud that you could feel it. Jovie instantly woke up and started to cry. So I quickly grabbed her and put her in bed with her mom who comforted her and sang her to sleep. I then went back to Railey’s crib as the worst of the storm whirrled outside and the lightning lit up our tent like a strobe light. I stood there waiting for her to wake up to one of the explosive (only way to describe it) thunderclaps. But miraculously she slept through it all, unaware it was even happening.

Steph: Tonight was an exciting night at camp as we had our first batch of students come in — the Nehemiah team (including our nephew Zach and Marissa Jestice – as well as alumni from both last years team and our Ukraine team). Our India team leadership is all here now as both of our assistant staff have arrived. As well as our NANNY! (Steph is ecstatic). We will spend this week training as a leadership team and the various roles we will serve in (finances, food, medical, logistics). Travis will be vision casting for the summer and what he hopes we will be able to accomplish with our students and summer staff, and we will be able to spend some time preparing ourselves for how God may want to use us.

Lastly — because we have brought it up a few times already — we wanted to give you an update on how God has been providing for Emily — she is currently $4070 out of the $4400 required for the trip! That is great! Thanks to many of you who helped her out.

Please pray for us as we spend this next week building into our leadership and preparing for the craziness that awaits us this next Saturday as our first round of students arrive here at training camp. Pray also that the storms of this area swing around us and allow us sleep and Jovie peace.

Below are some videos took tonight as the Nehemiah team arrived at training camp and some pictures of the girls from earlier in the week. Enjoy!

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Eve of Departure

So I am pretty dang bone tired as I write this update. We have spent the past two weeks in a whirlwind of activity as we have A)moved out of our house of the last four years and packed all of our stuff into a POD and B)Prepared to leave for our two months with Royal Servants in Illinois and then India. For those of you wondering, the reason we have moved out of our house is that we will be moving into the Holcomb’s house upon returning from India. But we are sad to move out of our house of the last four years. It has been such a great house full of such wonderful memories of our family at it’s earliest stage. And we could not have had greater landlords. They were such a blessing and encouragement to us.

Tomorrow we get up early in the morning and head to the airport for another summer with Royal Servants. What’s funny is how melancholy I get every year at this point. It is hard to leave home, leave our family and friends and church. And it is hard to pack our lives up every year to spend our summers half way around the world. There is a part of me every year that says, “What are we doing? Are we nuts?.” In other words, we are not exactly overjoyed to leave home; we love it. And sometimes I wonder what all this transition does to or for our girls. It is easy to worry about them through the whole process.

But as hard as it is to leave home, the moment we get on the plane and finally take a deep breath and focus our attention on the summer ahead of us, we can’t help but get excited. And then, when we step off the plane and meet up with our fellow Reign Staff, it is like reuniting with this other home with our other family that we love dearly. And we think about the fellowship that we will experience and the front row seat we will have to what God wants to do in the lives of students and the ministries we partner with. So I guess all that to say, as hard as it is, it is worth it. And we feel lucky to do it.

So, here we go. Please pray for us this summer. Pray for our family that God would watch over and protect and that His grace would permeate our relationships and help strengthen us in challenging and stressful times. Pray for our team and the young people who are nervous but excited about seeking God this summer. Pray for the weather at training camp in Illinois, that the storms that have been whipping through the Midwest will avoid us. Pray for traveling mercies and smooth transitions. Pray for the continuing communication and work between us and our ministry partners in India as we continue to set up our trip and details are still to be ironed out.

You all are a great support team for us. It really means a lot that we know you are praying for us and thinking about us over the summer. So many of you have already been helping us in various ways up to get to this point. We just want you to know how thankful we are for you and how important you are to us and what an important role you play for us while we gone.

And a side note–if you happen to get the urge to send us mail while we are at training camp (June 4th to July 3rd) here is the address: 14253 E. Epworth Springs Rd. Lewistown, Ill 61542. You know, like a note of encouragement or a pepperoni pizza or a note for our girls.