Nathan Neighbors
Follower of Christ, Husband, Father, & Youth Pastor
Today has been wonderful. I guess I ought to say – the last two days have been wonderful. When you cross over six time zones during a flight, the day seems to go on forever. We arrived in Berlin, Germany (Deutshcland) today on 9/11 at around 8am which was 2am eastern time. It was a long, but fantastic journey. Ashley and I feel honored to be with this great team traveling on behalf of our Lord and Morningside Church.
Today we saw many sites including the remains of the Berlin Wall, Check Point Charley, The Brandenburg Gate, The Holocaust Memorial and many other wonderful places around the city. We ate some authentic German food and then sacked out for a long nap before eating dinner. Now I’m sitting in a litte Chinese restraunt (at what would be 4pm eastern time) getting WiFi for 2 Euros per hour of internet access (about $3).
This is my first time traveling to Europe and spending that length of time on an airplane. It was strange having my morning devotional time on both Monday and Tuesday morning on the same plane trip. Students, I hope you are keeping up with your Experiencing God Bible Study. I was struck by today’s lesson on John 5. The idea that even Jesus could only do what the Father was doing is amazing. As we are here in Poland and you are home in Spartanburg – may we both be looking for where God is at work and join Him in what he’s up to.
God bless you all – keep praying for us! We should be in Poland by mid day on Wednesday (your time). Remember, I will be calling the students at mside at around 6:15pm eastern time at the church. Talk to you then!
It’s been a great weekend. Rally in the Valley was awesome. Not only did the Tigers win, but the Gamecocks did too. It was amazing. But you know what’s better than that? Four of our students made decisions for Christ. Those decisions were more important than any win on a football field!
Today was full of mixed emotions. We had a wonderful Sunday School hour and worship time at church and then tonight we had a fabulous kick-off to our youth discipleship groups, but Ashley and I also had to say goodbye to our boys today. They’ve gone to stay with their Pop and Granna for two weeks while Ashley and I are on the Poland Mission Trip. We are excited about going, but sad about leaving our boys.
Pray for us both and the rest of the team as we leave for Poland in the morning (Monday). We will arrive in Berlin, Germany in the middle of the night Monday (Eastern Time). I will try to update this blog as often as possible with info about the trip and our progress. We look forward to God giving us safe travel and fruitful ministry during our trip. Pray for us often!
It’s been over a week since my last post because I’ve been on vacation with my family. We’ve spent this past week staying at Lake Wateree.
Ashley’s grandparents have a house on the lake and it’s one of our favorite spots. They were gracious to allow us to have it for the week at no cost. It was a beautiful week. The water was warm, the weather was great, and the view was spactacular. But Ashley would say that the best part about this vacation was that there was no internet or cell phone coverage. It was very relaxing and the opportunity I needed to do nothing but spend time with my wife and boys. We spent everyday swimming, boating, feeding the ducks, and playing. Anderson even fished a little. During our trip we also got the opportunity to spend some time with our great friends from First Baptist in Lancaster because it’s so close to the lake. It truly was a great vacation!
Time away from ministry allowed me to renew my spirit and my connection with my family. A connection that seems to get fuzzy in the blure of busy summer youth ministry. But now I’m rested and ready to jump back into youth ministry for the fall. I look forward to seeing all of our students this Sunday for worship and for the Fall Parent/Youth Luncheon where we will premiere the fall schedule of events and new discipleship series.
Nathan Neighbors 