Re-entry

I need Jesus

I need Jesus

Your the only One who can help me

I need Jesus

I need Jesus

I need You to help me with my life

by:Hannah Morlan

My sweet 9 year old wrote this song while we were in Peru. She really had a hard time with worry and anxiety while we were away. She was encouraged to lay her fears at the feet of Jesus, and this song came out of that exercise. In the picture above, she is singing it for us the day we returned using her homemade microphone.

The words to her song have been the cry of my heart since our entry into the United States. The simplicity of her lyrics have met me in the deep dark places of re-entry...

I will continue to update the blog with the rest of our week in Peru. We were bombarded with exhaustion and sickness at the end of our week last week, so updates stopped and survival began. Now that we have been home several days and the fog is somewhat lifting, the desire to document what God did in Peru is rising up in me again!

Great and marvelous are Your works,

Oh Lord God, the Almighty;

Righteous and true are Your ways, King of nations!

Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify Your name?

For You alone are holy;

For all the nations will come and worship before You,

For Your righteous acts have been revealed!

Revelations 15:3-4

FEEDING THE CHILDREN IN CHILLON!

This morning we awoke and left our home at 5:30am. We had a specific purpose. We joined several Pastors from Iglesia and their daughter churches to feed the children of Chillon. In this first picture, the gentleman with the bullhorn is loudly calling the children to come and eat. He was walking up and down the road calling to them. He then turned on his siren that echoed through the mountain. Children started to make their way out of their homes, walking down the mountain holding hands with siblings and hungry bellies. Pastor Julio walked that huge red trash can down as well. It was filled with cups for the oatmeal.

Every child gets 2 rolls.

This is their "oatmeal." It is really like a milky drink with some oats added in. It also had peruvian cinnamon in it for taste.

They also each get one of these cups filled half way with the oatmeal.

Actually giving these babies food was a truly humbling experience.

They were so thankful with bright eyes and smiling faces!

We had around 75 kids for breakfast. Once they were handed their breakfast, they then took a seat on benches. Pastor Julio takes advantage of this time and plants seeds of Truth in their hungry hearts.

Pastor Julio then took several of the men up the mountain to another area where they were feeding more children. This photo was taken by Philip while up above us on the mountain looking down on us.

Mandy and Yeliska became fast friends. Yeliska (3years old) and her baby sister, Annalea (18 mos ) walked together to breakfast. We never saw their momma. They bobbed down the mountain together.... happy as larks! They were the last to leave.

SUNDAY NIGHT CONCERT & THE FIRST DAY OF CAMP!!!

On Sunday night, we were given a special treat! They had a special band come and play for us during the service. It was a 10 piece band with several guitars, flutes and pan flutes, some native stringed instruments, and a giant cow jaw that the percussion player played!

Along with the band were fabulous dancers that danced several times....each time with a different native costumes.

They graciously posed with us afterwards. Ellen and Philip both got to dance with them. Ellen learned some of the dances and Philip just blushed and did his best!

He was a great sport.... and then got to model their headgear!

Yesterday was our first day of camp! The kids were so excited! The language barrier was difficult at times, but we all understand the language of love. They are very generous with hugs and kisses! We had a little over 100 kids!

Ellen (otherwise known as Tigger) started us out with games! They LOVE to play! Energy is something they are not short on!

Our campers! Don't they just warm your heart?

I'll end with this picture.... one of the games they played was a ballon contest! How quickly can you blow your ballon up from YOUR NOSTRIL!!!! Hilarious! This is David... he won the contest!

WE ARE IN PERU!!!

We landed last night around 10:00pm in Lima, Peru. We spent a bunch of time (8 hours) in the Miami, FL airport yesterday.... a very bonding experience!

This picture was taken outside of the Peru International Airport sometime around midnight! We then all loaded up on a school bus and drove 45 minuted to the Guzman's home where we are staying.

This morning we were taken to the church, ate a delicious breakfast, and then took a drive up the mountain to the cross overlooking the city. We walked the last little bit up to the cross.

We spent time talking with several children and then Pastor Enrique led us in a prayer for our time in the city asking the Lord to move and work in all of our hearts. He talked about the many examples in God's Word where people "went up the mountain" to hear from God or to be close to Him. It was a bitter sweet time. Pastor Enrique shared with us that a beloved brother in Christ and marriage mentor was killed last night in a robbery/shoot out right around the time we were landing in Peru. He received the news of his friends death as we were unloading at the Guzman's. He had spent the night at the hospital and was so transparent about our deperate need of Jesus and His continued faithfulness to us in times of grief and in celebration.

Sweet peruvian babies!

Our team picture up on the mountain standing in front of the cross and overlooking Comas. Gigi and David were not present. They had gone into Comas to shop for supplies for camp. Speaking of Gigi.... HAPPY BIRTHDAY DARLING FRIEND!

The boys are jumping... some are attempting toe touches!

On our walk up the mountain we met several friends who followed us up to the cross!

At lunch they had a party for us. All the pastors and their families ate with us, and then they had a very special presentation for us. The Santo Crew did a "break-dance," and it was incredible.

It was at this point that the dance breakout began. We danced the Cotton-Eyed Joe a few times and a peruvian (fanny shaking) dance as well. We laughed and danced and laughed some more! In a little bit we are going to have a full band rehearsal. Four of our band members are peruvian....a combined worship experience!

PERU- ready or not...here we come!

In a few short hours we will be boarding a plane to Peru! This is our incredible team!! From top left to right.... Philip Morlan, Vince Wallace, Rob Howard, Scott Moore, Bengy Del Villar, Stephen Rush, Ellen Staggs, Barb Taylor (bottom row) Jessica Morlan, Mandy Reutter, David Mills, Gigi McMurray, and Erin Tumlin. (not pictured) Juan Vasquez, and Matt Eldredge We will be meeting at the airport at 4:15am tomorrow morning.... there are benefits to meeting this early I'm sure! We will be posting updates, pictures, and prayer requests on this blog. For now you could be praying specifically for.... 1. health of our team 2. safe travels 3. that the Lord would provide all the support needed to reach our finacial goals for funding this trip 4. for comfort and protection of our loved ones that we are leaving behind in the states 5. for the hearts of the Peruvian children.... that they might be transformed as they worship the One True God! 6. that the words of our mouths and the meditation of our hearts will be acceptable in His sight, our ROCK, and our REDEEMER!

To God be the Glory!

Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly than all we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to HIM be GLORY in the church and in CHRIST JESUS throughout all generations, forever and ever. AMEN. Ephesians 3:20

Too Much Fun

What could be more fun than seeing these children learn to give all their hearts to their Lord in worship? He is so pleased as we delight in Him. All this fun can be exhausting! Click for more photos!

Worship

Oh come, let us WORSHIP and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker! For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand. Psalm 95:6-7 In art, 25 second graders created collages. One child debated the use of humor in worship - whether humor had a place in worship. I think he answered his own question. I am certainly humored. I am thankful that our Lord has a sense of humor. Click below for more photos... http://gallery.me.com/mattmcmurray#100254

155,000 Words on Worship

Want to know what your child is learning about worshiping the Lord this week? Take a look at about 155,000 words. Yeah, I think the old proverb is true. A picture, a thousand words. At least. Photos of Tuesday

...the beat of a different drummer!

Buckets, trash cans, traffic cones...... who'd a thought you could worship God with these things!!

Leland and Ryan lead your children in a rhythmic down beats using sticks and smiles! You could hear them for miles..... strong and sure, much like a heartbeat.

Of course the trash cans and buckets were the main attraction.... while the egg shakers and wood blocks weren't as hot of a ticket; however, that lead to great conversations about a true heart of worship. When we worship, we need to give God our very best - regardless of how big or small we think our gift of worship is. We need to offer Him all of us.... our "whole heart." The motivation of our hearts is what He sees and is all He cares about. He is interested in the heartbeat of the individual.... not their abilities, and definitely not in how big or small their drum is!!

As I listened, I was wishing I had some drum sticks, a bucket, and a traffic cone..... instead I marveled at the wonder of our Lord. He was inhabiting a hot barn filled with children who were unashamedly creating LOUD music in honor of their Creator!

I Scream, You Scream, We ALL Scream for Ice Cream!!

Well, as many of you have already noticed, we are planning and preparing for a fun, fun, fun Ice Cream Social immediately following Family Worship Night on Friday. As such, we are asking every family who can to please bring a box of popcicles, a box of ice cream sandwiches, or a package of ice cream cups. As you can see we are trying to avoid cartons of ice cream so that we will not need bowls, spoons, servers, etc. Thanks in advance for your help with this. We think that we will all have a wonderful time together remembering the week, introducing new friends, eating yummy ice cream and just being together. - Your e-camp Staff

Camp reminders...and impressions from the day

Wow! The past two days have been amazing. God has shown up in so many ways and I stand amazed at the specific, detailed care of our Father. Each and every child that has come to camp this week has been prayed for and their Father has drawn worshipers to Himself in a beautiful way. Today, I watched transfixed as one of our campers, one of your children, worshiped her Heavenly Father with reckless abandon - arms raised, eyes closed, full voice, in love with the King. At our Family Worship Night on Friday I believe these children will lead us into the Throne Room and we can all bring our offerings of love, adoration, and praise to Him. Speaking of Family Worship Night, we are thrilled that Jason Houser of Seeds Family Worship will be teaching our Parent Workshop on Family Worship! Jason will be joining us in the morning tomorrow for our worship and devotional time, then on Friday while your e-campers are preparing for worship, you can come to E-Camp, too! Just drop off the campers at 5pm in the Student Center, then walk over to the Learning Center for a wonderful 45 minute session on Family Worship and what that can look like. As a reminder, if your family will need childcare for your younger children who are not campers, we will need your RSVP by no later than tomorrow morning at drop off. If you plan for your children to participate in childcare, please RSVP to pmorlan@fellowshipnashville.org by drop off tomorrow. Include the names and ages of your children. Thank you all so much for sharing your children with us this week. As we endeavor to teach them what true worship looks like, I believe the Father has been blessed by their precious seeking and desire to honor Him through all the avenues He has given us to worship Him.

A couple of dance reminders

Hello Parents!! What a wonderful couple of days its been with your children. I have thoroughly enjoyed having your children in the Move It! class. They are doing a wonderful job learning all the choreography. One thing that will help them learn the dance faster is if they get practice at home. If you've noticed we're doing the song "Prepare Ye the Way" and it is not on the e-camp cd. I would ask that if you don't already own the song, that you would go to itunes (or any online music store) and purchase the song there. Again, the song is "Prepare Ye the Way" by Michael W. Smith. If you'd like to use iTunes, the link is iTuneslink. Thank you so much! See you tomorrow! In and thru Him, Raychel

Monday, Monday

What do bubble gum, army crawling, sprinting, painting, singing and dancing have in common? e-camp!!! We learned about what it means to KNOW God. Today, I overheard a child share about a time when God spoke to her heart. She heard Him say, "It's gonna be alright." Friends were slow-coming this year and she was sad about it. God spoke into her shadows and lent her some peace. What a beautiful testimony to her fellow 4th graders. Another shared that he felt God's Presence when he looked up at the clouds. This afternoon I nearly wept looking into those clouds and knowing the heart of a 4th grader experienced the goodness of God in clouds. I'll say this: AINT NO ROCKS GONNA BE CRYIN' TONIGHT. Cause some children worshiped the Lord today with all that was in them. And we're going to do it all over again tomorrow. See ya there! PS Click the link below to get a glimpse of some photos of this awesome day. Paste that link into your browser to see the gallery. Sorry, new to blogger. http://gallery.me.com/mattmcmurray#100238

Camp reminders...

Hello e-camp Moms and Dads: Some of the following information is repeat and some is NEW! Please read carefully because we do not want you to miss anything. We are so very excited about seeing each of your children tomorrow! Please also, visit our blog at e-camp-fellowship.blogspot.com. You will find daily updates, photos, stories, and more. There are already a few posts, so feel free to drop by even now, before camp starts tomorrow. COMMUNICATION: In case of emergency, please call the Fellowship Bible Church front desk at 777-8500. Tell the receptionist you are calling about e-camp and she will connect you with the appropriate extension. Any questions, or other communication (ie - in case of absence, sickness, etc) can be done via email at ecamp@fellowshipnashville.org. DRESS CODE: The weather forecast for the week of e-camp is HOT!! Please send your children in sunscreen and dressed appropriate for the weather. We ask for no inappropriate t-shirts, slogans or advertisements. We also ask for no tank-tops or dresses with spaghetti straps, and no “short shorts”. Please dress modestly. BLOGS AND DAILY UPDATES: We will be posting photographs, stories, and updates on our blog daily. The address is 
e-camp-fellowship.blogspot.com. Be sure and check it out!

You can also look for emails regarding changes, should the need arise. LUNCH: We have partnered with Chic-fil-A in Cool Springs to provide lunch for $2 per lunch. This includes 6 pc. nuggets, chips and a drink. Please fill out the enclosed form if you are interested in this lunch option. Otherwise please send a lunch with your child and remember, Fellowship is a PEANUT FREE environment. CHECK-IN AND PICK-UP: Each day check-in and pick-up will be in the back barn. This is the building located next to the playground. An adult will need to sign each child in and out each day. We understand that car-pooling is convenient, so please make sure that your car-pool adults are all listed for drop-off and pick-up for each child in the group. FAMILY WORSHIP NIGHT: Our goal for this week is that each child would grow in their knowledge of the Father and discover their natural style of worship. Each day the children will be working in a chosen area toward our worship event on Friday night. It is important that they attend every day so as to be prepared for their part in the evening. Everyone will be relying on each other to know their own parts. REHEARSAL TIME: We will need the children to be back on campus by 5 pm to get ready for the evening. Please be sure that your children have eaten dinner before they come. PARENT WORKSHOP: We are offering a parent workshop between 5:15 and 6 pm Friday evening. We will be
 talking about creating family worship times at home. During that time, we will also distribute evaluations for you to tell us about your child’s experience during the week.
 Childcare will be provided for siblings not attending camp. Family Worship Night will begin at 6:30 in the Student Center where Sunday worship is held and will be immediately followed by an Ice Cream Social in the back barn for e-camp families. CHILDCARE: We will need your childcare RSVP no later than Wednesday at drop off. You may RSVP the number of children and their ages to ecamp@fellowshipnashville.org. If we have not heard from you by that time, we will assume that your child(ren) who are not e-campers will not need to be with our childcare workers during the Parent workshop. Please, know that we do not want anyone to feel as if they can not attend because of lack of childcare. If you need to, you may bring your children to the meeting. Again, we are looking forward to spending time this summer with your child. We pray that God will greatly impact all of our lives in the process. We would also love your prayers for safety and that God would uniquely touch each child involved, growing them in their knowledge of who He is. We look forward to seeing you at e-camp! In Christ, The e-camp Staff

Delight & Worship

The core of our delight is our capacity to worship, to create and enter beauty as a reminder and anticipation of God's goodness. Dan Allender, Sabbath Recently, I experienced the thrill of sensing God's pleasure. Jerry's Arterama may seem the least likely place to encounter God, but I experienced DELIGHT right there. I believe God delights in us as we play and simultaneously we delight in him. At Jerry's, I roamed the aisles in search of the canvases, paints, brushes, and other surprises. I talked with Shannon, the manager, about our needs and desires. I calculated cost and budget. I dreamed about little fingers and medium fingers grabbing a brush and expressing a heart to worship God through art. AND... I felt the delight of my soul intersecting with God's delight. In short, I worshiped my Creator. Overwhelmed with God's abundant provision, I loaded up my van. These empty canvases and unstained brushes await the children, God-worshipers. All of this preparation, prayer, and purchasing will blossom tomorrow! Who would think that I could worship the Living God on an aisle in Jerry's Arterama and sense the converging of my design and His purpose for me! My prayer is that each child would tune their spirits to hear the voice of their Creator. Creating will breed listening which will breed more creating. Delight. I believe He delights in us as we play. I could not be more excited to get to play with paint, chalk, glue and other neat art supplies. Thanks to Jerry's for their generosity in donating and discounting enough art supplies to dazzle 100 children!

To Dance or Not to Dance? That is the Question.

Hello Blogger World! Some of you may not know me, but I'm Raychel McKelvy and I will be teaching "Move It" of the dance part of e-camp. I am so excited to get to encourage kids in worship through the art of dance. As I searched the scriptures for references of dance I realized that God intended dance to be used as an outward expression of joy. Ecclesiastes 3:4 says, "[there is] a time to mourn, and a time to dance." Psalm 30:11, " You have turned my mourning into dancing..." And it makes sense. There is plenty of dancing at weddings but I've never seen someone dance at a funeral. Dancing is just an automatic response to a happy heart. Even adults can't contain themselves when their happy. They have to do a little "jig" as my mom calls it. Two verses that really hit me were Psalm 149:3 and 2 Samuel 6:14. Psalm 149:3 says, "Let them praise His name with dancing, making melody to Him with tambourine and lyre." We are to praise God's name with dancing. Its not about the dancer, its about the Lord. In Exodus 15 Miriam and the women of Israel dance to give thanks to God for bringing them across the Red Sea. David dances like a crazy person because he was so excited about what the Lord had done. Speaking of David :D... The verse about him dancing is what hit me the hardest. 2 Samuel 6:14 says, " And David danced before the Lord with all his might." Not for others and not half-heartedly, but before the Lord and with all his might. That is how David danced. That is how I should dance, it is how we as believers should dance. And it is my prayer that it will be how the kids of e-camp will dance. Before the Lord, with all their might, bringing praise to His name. Continue to pray for camp.

In and thru Him, Raychel

True Worship...

...a willingness to give your Savior his due... no matter your circumstance or location...

two weeks from today..... YIPPEE!!!!!  

TWO WEEKS FROM TODAY..... YAHOO!!!  

e-camp begins 2 weeks from today....Halleluia!!