Day 1

After months of prayer and planning, we have finally made it back to Chadron, Nebraska! We left Underwood late Saturday morning and did not arrive in Chadron until very early Sunday morning. Our first flight went over without a problem and we spent several hours on our layover in Minneapolis. Prior to boarding our flight to Rapid City, South Dakota, it started to storm. Little did we know, we would be delayed about an hour and a half ON THE PLANE before we even left the gate. Once the lightning finally subsided and the ramp opened for the third or fourth time, we were ready to go! Just to give "youse guyses" an idea of how much it rained in that hour and a half, the guy that was helping back the plane up was standing in ankle-deep water! We finally arrived in Chadron a little after 3 a.m. (4 a.m. Alabama time) and the beds were ready and waiting for us! (Tim and Shelly Hollis drove up to NE a day early and had all of our beds ready for us when we arrived, what a blessing that was!)

We got up on Sunday morning and headed to Grace Baptist Fellowship to worship with Bro. Darren Willett and his church family. Since the last time we were in Nebraska, Bro. Darren's church has almost doubled in size, a youth group has formed, and they have a preschool and elementary Sunday schools! PRAISE THE LORD! At the conclusion of the service, Bro. Darren baptized a couple outside of the American Legion building in a horse trough. That was definitely outside of the norm for us Underwood "folks," but it was such a blessing to see! We have already seen the Lord work and we had not even been in the state 12 hours! We spent the afternoon resting and the night canvassing the neighborhood inviting everyone to Vacation Bible School and the Parties in the Park!

This morning was our first VBS meeting and we had 26 children! (Again, PTL!) We shared a Bible story, made crafts, had a snack, and played in a jump house!

We are now back at Chadron State College waiting to leave for our first Party in the Park in Sharps Corner, South Dakota. It is on an Indian Reservation and we are all very excited! Thank you for all of the prayers and continue checking the church website (underwoodbaptist.org) or my Facebook (Andrew Bishop) for updates. 

Day 2

Whew! What a week it has been...and it is only TUESDAY! We are having a blast here in Nebraska! We had a great turn-out yesterday at Vacation Bible School and our first Party in the Park was a big success. The Lord is already working and we have seen several people get saved since arriving early Sunday morning. During the Sunday worship service, 2 people got saved, then last night (Monday) at our Party in the Park there were 14 decisions made with 9 professions of faith! God has been moving before our plane even touched down here and we continue to be amazed as each day passes!

As I mentioned yesterday, we drove about 2 hours to Sharps Corner, South Dakota, for our first park party. We held the party at Sharps Corner Baptist Church located on a Sioux Indian Reservation. We did everything from making snow cones, spinning cotton candy, and popping popcorn...all carnival style! Be sure to ask Mrs.
Shelly about the cotton candy making process. I think she is still pulling the sugar out of her hair! It may have been messy but it sure was a lot of fun! The puppet and drama teams performed officially for the first time at the party and it went over without a hitch...well maybe there were a few, but we all had a great time performing!

Really be in prayer for the Sharps Corner community and surrounding reservation. The towns getting to and from Sharps Corner can be very dangerous at times. However, the church is situated in a prime location to witness to and draw people in from the reservation.

This morning was our second day of VBS held in Chadron's very own Wilson Park. I think we had 32 children today plus a few, which is an increase from yesterday. Also, during the VBS time, a small group went to the Chadron Public Library and helped with the Summer Reading Program by reading books and helping with the crafts! We will be leaving again shortly going back to the library, while another group will be heading to Gordon, Nebraska to canvas the neighborhoods before the final team arrives to set up for our second Party in the Park.

Day 3 & 4

First of all, I apologize for not sending an update yesterday, but we have been hard at work and when we get opportunities to rest....we take them! We have been going from morning til dark everyday that we have been here in Chadron.Trying to find time to do this is difficult, but I had a few minutes before heading to the library, so, I took the opportunity to send an update your way! Our team is continuning to be encouraged and blessed each day by what we see the Lord do not only in our lives, but in the lives of the people in Nebraska & South Dakota. I think since the last update, we have seen at least fifteen or twenty more people make decisions for Christ! PTL! KEEP PRAYING! What we think will be our biggest event is taking place tonight at 7 pm and we are praying for a big crowd and even bigger decisions for the Kingdom of God!

On Tuesday, after I sent the last update, a group of us went back to the library to read and help the children again with crafts for the summer reading program. Afterwards, we had a little bit of time to see some of the "sights" of Chadron, which includes the home of the "World's Greastest Nachos!" Our team then traveled to Gordon, Nebraska which is about an hour outside of Chadron. We hosted another Party in the Park with a great turn-out of people and decisions made for Christ! Let me be the first to tell you, we have an awesome group of people here from Grace Baptist Fellowship working along side of us and helping us with each of their events! I have never seen so much dedication from a group of people in my life. The people from Bro. Darren's church have traveled each night up to 2 hours one way (on their own dime!) to serve the Lord and serve along side our team and Bro. Darren. They also did the same when Westwood Baptist Church (Bro. Rodney's church in Alexandria) was here a few weeks ago! One special lady has even taken 2 weeks vacation from work (WITHOUT pay!) to help out this week. I have learned so much this week just through seeing the memebers of Bro. Darren's church work so hard and serve so faithfully. I think I speak for the team when I say that is something we will all try to work harder serving the Lord through our own church when ever the opportunity arises!

We have also had a great turn-out of children in the last two days of our Vacation Bible School. We have been teaching the children that God's Word is surprising and life changing. We have only been here a week, but we have built relationships that will last forever. We have already had to say goodbye to some great friends and it will only get harder from here. We have had opportunities to pray for people, share our faith, and even share God's love through skits and puppet shows! As I said, tonight is our last Party in the Park and we are praying that this finale is a special one! Continue praying for us as we prepare for tonight and pray that God's Word will fall on hungry hearts as the Gospel is shared! 

I am not sure if I will be able to update tomorrow or not. We are leaving early tomorrow morning traveling to Rapid City, South Dakota, to sightsee and spend the night before our flights early Saturday morning!

Thank you all for your prayers and support to make this trip possible! PLEASE continue praying and we look forward to sharing our stories when we are all back in Alabama (where you can say y'all without getting a funny look and getting asked where you are from!).