2008 Appalachian Christmas Project

Our 4th Annual Appalachian Christmas Project (December 12-14) was a great success.
We had a great response this year. It’s hard to believe how much this project has grown. This year, it involved nearly 80 volunteers from 7 different churches. Those churches were: Antioch Chr Ch (Willisburg, KY), Nelson Chr Ch (Bardstown, KY), Mt Olivet Chr Ch (Williamstown, KY), Big Hill Avenue Chr Ch (Richmond, KY), El Bethel Chr Ch (Owenton, KY), Gardenside Chr Ch (Lexington, KY) and Ruckerville Ch of Chr (Winchester, KY).

Our focus was on the eastern Kentucky communities of Lee County (Beattyville, KY) and Owsley County (Booneville, KY). Volunteers helped with work projects at a local mission in Beattyville (Cumberland Mountain Outreach) as well as helping make some minor repairs for area homes. In addition, we gave nearly 400 presents to area children and food baskets to several families in need.

Christmas parties were held at two different Lee County locations on Saturday, December 13th. One took place in the mountain community of Spencer Ridge and the other in town at Beattyville Christian Church.
In addition to doing a VBS there this summer, this was our second year in a row for doing a party at Spencer Ridge. We meet in a vacant Church of Christ on the top of a mountain.
One of the ladies in the community wrote a card to the team that read: "Our little church is almost a forgotten place. But Thanks to you all it has life two times a year. From all the children let me say thank you."
This is was our first time for doing a party at Beattyville Christian Church, but things went very well. Our team was able to tell Bible stories, play games, do crafts and give presents to several area children. We say THANKS to Jeff Porter (minister) and the folks at Beattyville Christian for allowing us to us the church building for the party.

Several inches of ice and snow caused us to delay the Owsley County portion of the ACP until Thursday, December 18th. On that day, a group delivered Christmas presents to over 75 boys and girls at the Owsley County Elementary School in Booneville, KY.

We hope and pray we made this year’s Christmas a little merrier for many people in Lee and Owsley County.
I say THANKS once again to the many people who gave of their time during a very busy Christmas season to be a blessing to others.
May God bless and have a very MERRY CHRISTMAS!

In Him,
Greg Herriford (Teen Mission, USA)

Teen Mission Notes (November, 2008)

I hope and pray you had a wonderful Thanksgiving and things are going well for you as we head toward Christmas.

November was a good month for Teen Mission, USA. Here's some noteworthy items:

Regional Banquets
We held two more banquets during the month. As you may know, the fall is a time where we focus a little more on fundraising and development as money is in short supply at TM every fall.
Banquets were held at the Gateway Church of Christ (St Albans, WV) on November 1st and at the New Life Church of Christ (Flemingsburg, KY) on November 6th.
At the Flemingsburg banquet, we honored Bill, Pam and Joshua Teegarden with the Mission Journey “Distinguished Servant” award for their service to Teen Mission, USA, & Mission Journeys since 1990.
During that time, the entire Teegarden family has been involved with many short-term mission teams all around the world.
On July 27, 2004, Bill and Pam’s only son, Joshua, was killed on a Mission Journey in Mt Vernon, KY. Joshua was to graduate from Johnson Bible College in 2005 with a degree in missions and ministry.
Nearly 80 people were in attendance to honor this special family for their faithful service.
In fact, we've had record attendances at all the banquets. They have been a wonderful time of celebration, food and fellowship. THANKS again to all those who have helped make them a big success.

National Missionary Convention
TM, USA, had a booth and was represented at the 2008 National Mission Convention held November 20-23 in Tulsa, OK.
The NMC is always a great way to meet people and reunite with folks who we've worked with over the years.
It was especially encouraging to hear from missionaries we're working with in several countries and hear how our teams are making a big difference in the lives of many people around the globe.

Appalachian Christmas Project
Our 4th Annual Appalachian Christmas Project is coming in less than two weeks (December 12-14, 2008). We've had a great response this year. It’s hard to believe how much this project has grown. This year, it will involve nearly 75 volunteers from 7 different churches. We'll be giving presents to nearly 300 children and food baskets to several families in need.

2009 Mission Journeys
We're starting to hear back from several people interested in taking part in the 2009 Mission Journeys. We have trips planned for 2009 that may be of interest to you and there's still room for you on several of them.
Let us know what kind of location you had in mind and we can work with your dates, matching you up with one of our partner communities. Visit the Mission Journeys web site at www.missionjourneys.org to see our 2009 trip list. That will give you an idea of some our communities/locations we’re working in.

TM Board Meeting (12.08.08)
The Teen Mission, USA, quarterly board meeting will be on Monday, December 8, 11:30 am @ Gardenside Christian Church (940 Holly Springs Dr; Lexington KY 40504).

THANKS again and may God continue to bless!

In Him,
Greg Herriford
Associate Director/Teen Mission, USA
Email = gregh@teenmission.org
Web http://www.teenmission.org/

Teen Mission Notes (October, 2008)

The fall has never been my favorite season (which makes naming my first child Autumn seem sort of strange). While it's a beautiful time as the leaves change colors, it doesn't last that long. After the leaves fall, things seem to go colorless as temperatures drop and the daylight hours become less and less.
I have usually get a little case of the blues as the year winds down and winter looms.
This fall, however, has been a little different.
October was a beautiful month. For starters, the weather is been unseasonably nice. And, despite a lack of rain, the fall foliage has been super and longer-lasting.
Add it all up and I've had some really nice drives this fall heading to and from speaking engagement at area churches. Areas of Northeast KY (Rowan, Carter, Boyd, Fleming and Lewis Counties) and West VA were especially picturesque.

October speaking opportunities included the following:

• Preaching for fall revival at Stoney Creek Christian Church (Carlisle, KY) - My good friend, Bobby Cairell, is preaching at this Nicholas County church and doing a really fine job. We had a good number out of the revival. I preached on Saturday night on renewing a commitment on evangelism and reaching the lost.


• Visiting Leesburg (KY) Christian Church - Sam Harris (my former preacher at Gardenside Christian Church) has been there as preacher since 2002. When he arrived, the church was running about 30 people (on a good day). Now, six years later, the church has nearly 400 people coming to four weekend services! The church is looking to go into a building program. God is doing some great things at this "turnaround" church.


• Speaking at Quincy (KY) Church of Christ - a group from Quincy is interested in doing a mission trip with us in 2009. A group led by David Lucas (youth minister) is considering going to an area in the Gulf South to help with post-hurricane recovery and rebuilding.


• Speaking at Farmdale Church of Christ (Barboursville, WV) - John Swanson (TM Board Mbr) had me up to give the congregation and update on Teen Mission. Farmdale has sent mission teams with us for the past 4-5 years.

The fall is also a time where we focus a little more on fundraising and development as money is in short supply at TM every fall. So far this fall, banquets have been held @ Gardenside Christian Church (Lexington, KY) on October 23rd and @ Gateway Church of Christ (St Albans, WV) on November 1st. Our final banquet of the year will be tonight (November 6th) @ New Life Church of Christ (Flemingsburg, KY). The banquets have been a wonderful time of celebration, food and fellowship. We say THANKS again to all those who have helped make them a big success.

This fall, we added a Fall Festival to our list of projects going on in Owsley County (Booneville, KY). The first-ever Fall Festival held on Saturday, October 25th went extremely well. You can read more about it in yesterday's post.
Our 4th Annual Appalachian Christmas Project will be held December 12-14, 2008. We'll hold Christmas parties, giving presents to children and food baskets to families in need. We've had a lot of feedback on people interested in helping out with this project. There's still room for you; contact us if you'd like to take part in this great program!

Work on the 2009 Mission Journeys is starting to pick up. The 2009 Mission Journey newsletter has been printed and was mailed to over 7,000 churches and individuals in mid-October.

Please continue to pray for us as we try and finish 2008 on a strong note. THANKS again and may God continue to bless!

In Him,
Greg Herriford
Associate Director/Teen Mission, USA
Email = gregh@teenmission.org
Web http://www.teenmission.org/

"Harvest of Hope" Fall Festival in Owsley County

Teen Mission, USA, held a first-ever a “Harvest of Hope" fall festival on Saturday, October 25th, in Booneville, KY. It was a huge success as we were able to work with over 60 elementary age children at the Owsley County Elementary School. Nearly 30 volunteers from Leesburg (KY) Christian Church and El Bethel Christian Church (Owenton, KY) helped in making this event possible.

The volunteers worked with the students in painting pumpkins, telling stories, playing with puppets and transforming the gym into a carnival-like atmosphere. The carnival included face painting, several games and a cake walk. Once again, a big THANKS goes out to all those folks who helped. You did a great job!

Owsley County (Booneville, KY) has become a special place for both me and Teen Mission, USA.

Over the past few years, we have been striving to build a “community partnership” approach to doing missions. By that I mean we, as an organization, are looking to “adopt” communities and do ministry there throughout the year. Eventually, we would love to have staff people living there either year-round or close to year-round. They would then serve as the mission “hosts” as short-term teams come in through our Mission Journeys outreach. When the teams were not there, these hosts would work on service projects and developing relationships with folks in the community. We don’t have the funding to pay these people or field missionaries, church planters, etc. Therefore, they would need to raise support (as traditional missionaries would) and/or be bi-vocational, working in the community.

Our first such community project is Owsley County. Owsley County is a very poor area in Eastern KY. In fact, according to the 2003 census, Owsley ranks as the 2nd poorest county in the entire United States. The average household income there is just above $17,000 per year.

The Lord has blessed and allowed us to make some good contacts at the Elementary School in Booneville. As a result, we've held Christmas Outreach projects there in 2006 and 2007. This year, we've added the fall festival along with the Christmas project. Our hope and prayer is that we could have someone "on-location" getting the work “up and running” in 2009-2010 with a church plant beginning as a result of this work.

This will not be our last ministry project in the area for this year. We will have our 4th Annual Appalachian Christmas Project, December 12-14, 2008.

This will be a special “weekend” mission trip experience that will allow families to serve together and help bring hope to folks in the Appalachian Mountains. Our focus will be on the eastern Kentucky communities of Lee County (Beattyville, KY) and Owsley County (Booneville, KY). Projects will include:

(01) Helping with some minor repairs for area homes.
(02) Coordinating a Christmas party for area children in at least 2 locations.
(03) Giving presents to 300 children and food baskets to families in need.
(04) Worshiping with a local church on Sunday.

There's room for you; contact us if you'd like to take part in this great program!

In Him,
Greg Herriford
Associate Director/Teen Mission, USA
Email = gregh@teenmission.org
Web http://www.teenmission.org/

Banquet Update

The annual Teen Mission, USA, Banquet was held on October 23, 2008, at Gardenside Christian Church in Lexington, KY. We were truly blessed by having one of our best banquets in many years with around 140 people in attendance. The program featured inspirational music from JD Miller, Gary Nelson and the Bowden Family along with music and comedy from Kenny Speakes (pictured left) and a video presentation by TM, USA.

One of the reasons for the banquet is to say THANKS to the many supporters of Teen Mission, USA, who help make this mission/ministry possible. Many of you have kept this ministry going over the years through your prayers, financial support and volunteer help. May God bless you!

In a sense, you (the supporters) are stockholders in this ministry. The banquet, then, is like a stockholders meeting. We (the staff) give you an update on what you have invested your time and talent in. Many of us, have had nothing but bad news lately on many of our investments. The stock market has lost a lot over the past few weeks. There's even been reports of stockholders’ funds being used by CEOs for lavish personal vacations.

Let me assure you that this is not the case with your investment in Teen Mission, USA. On the contrary, I think you’ll some good news in what has happened with your investment with Teen Mission, USA. And we have not taken a staff retreat to a fancy spa or golf resort (Although we will go if you insist).

In 2008, the Mission Journeys sent 550 volunteers out to mission locations in many countries around the world, impacting thousands. I know of at least 45 decisions for Christ (17 by baptism) made as a result of this year’s mission trips. Ken’s schedule has been as full as ever with several speaking engagements around the country and world. Leonard reports thousands of people are currently enrolled in Global Bible School. We know at least three have accepted Christ and have been immersed as a result of the lessons this year.

We have this event to not only update supporters about what is happening with our ministry, but to also help fund our efforts. Money is in short supply here every fall. After the summer mission trips, we face September through January, as time when spending is greater than our regular income. We need extra income during that time. God has always helped us get through by special offerings and one-time gifts from individuals and churches. That’s the other reason for this event.

I'm happy to report we an offering of over $7,000 received at the banquet. Monies given before and after the event will take the offering total to nearly $10,000! THANKS again to all who helped. You've been a huge blessing to all of us.

Two more "regional" banquets will be held in the next few weeks. They will be: Saturday, November 1st (@ Gateway Church of Christ/St Albans, WV) and Thursday, November 6th (@ New Life Church of Christ/Flemingsburg, KY).

In Him,
Greg Herriford
Associate Director/Teen Mission, USA
Email = gregh@teenmission.org
Web http://www.teenmission.org/

Teen Mission Notes (September, 2008)

September was a very good and productive month. In fact, I recently realized that we're nearly halfway through October and I had yet to post a September update! I spent a good bit of my time in September making plans for the near future (fall & winter, 2008) as well as next year (2009).

The fall is also a time where we focus a little more on fundraising and development. Money is in short supply here every fall. After the summer mission trips, we face September through January, as time when spending is greater than our regular income. We need extra income during that time. God has always helped us get through by special offerings and one-time gifts from individuals and churches.


This fall, we’re holding 3 banquets in the following places:

October 23rd @ Gardenside Christian Church (Lexington, KY)

November 1st @ Gateway Church of Christ (St Albans, WV)

November 6th @ New Life Church of Christ (Flemingsburg, KY)

The banquets are a wonderful evening of celebration, food and fellowship. We'd love to have you join us at one of the banquets near you this fall. Our Lexington, KY, banquet will be a fun evening of family entertainment featuring special musical guests JD Miller and Kenny Speakes. Kenny entertains audiences of all ages with his songs, humor and unique style. JD is a multi-talented singer/songwriter/producer who plays piano with the very popular Southern gospel group, the Messengers.

As summer gives way to fall, GREAT things are continuing to happen here at TM, USA, such as:

• The "Ken Henderson Presents" part of TM, USA, continues to go well as Ken's fall calendar is full with preaching and speaking engagements.


• Thousands of students around the world are hearing about Jesus for the first time through Global Bible School.


• We hope to make Christmas a little merrier for folks in Beattyville & Booneville, KY, through our 4th Annual Appalachian Christmas Project, December 12-14, 2008. We'll hold Christmas parties, giving presents to children and food baskets to families in need. There's room for you; contact us if you'd like to take part in this great program!


• Also, work on the 2009 Mission Journeys is already underway. Our 2009 trip list is posted on our web site: www.missionjourneys.org. It will be updated as new trips are added. The 2009 Mission Journey newsletter is hot of the presses and will be mailed to over 7,000 churches and individuals in mid-October.

In Him,
Greg Herriford
Associate Director/Teen Mission, USA
Email = gregh@teenmission.org
Web http://www.teenmission.org/

Football Begins, Softball Continues

The arrival of Labor Day not only signifies the end of summer, but the much-awaited beginning of football season as well. I, for one, am very excited.

College football had its season kickoff this past weekend. We're happy here in central KY as our UK Wildcats got the 2008 season off to a good start with a 27-2 whipping of their arch-rival Louisville Cardinals.
The Governor's Cup, which goes to winner of the annual UK/UL game, will stay in Lexington for another year after the Wildcats shut down the Cards at Papa John's Stadium on Sunday afternoon (August 31st).
This is UK's first back-to-back victories in the series' recent history since 1997-98 (the Tim Couch era). My forecast for UK's season is 6-6 and a return to a minor postseason bowl. I'm calling for victories over all four non-conference games (Louisville, Norfolk St, Middle TN and Western KY) and two SEC wins over Arkansas and Vanderbilt. The Big Blue will have realistic shots at South Carolina (at home) and Mississippi State (away).
Games versus Alabama, Florida, Georgia and Tennessee seem to be likely losses.
I see the Cats making it three straight bowl trips and traveling to Birmingham, AL, for a spot in the Papajohns.com Bowl in late December. In Birmingham, a SEC team is slated to face a team from the Big East conference. My guess on the Big East team would be Connecticut, Cincinnati or Rutgers.

The NFL kicked off its new season last night in New York with the defending Super Bowl champion Giants defeating the Washington Redskins.
Maybe more importantly, though, the start of the NFL season marks the start of fantasy football leagues all across the country.
I played in one for the first time last year and I'm now hooked.
Never before did I care how the backup Tight End of the Arizona Cardinals was doing in the 4:15 game on a given Sunday. But once you get interested in fantasy football and such a player is on your team's roster, suddenly these little things matter.
For the 2nd year in a row, we have a league here with guys from the church. The Gardenside Football League (GFL) held its 2008 player draft on August 21st.
It went well. We had 12 teams draft 14 players each (168 total players) in just over 2 hours.
Last year's incredible performance of Patriot QB Tom Brady had a big effect on this year's draft. In past years, the first 8-9 picks would normally be running backs. This year, however, 4 QBs jumped off the board in the first round!
Last year's champion (Barron Rulon) drew the number one pick and had a very nice draft. Overall, it looks like the teams are pretty well balanced.
My team, the Creelsboro Catfish (logo pictured to the left), is named after the small town in the Lake Cumberland (Jamestown, KY) area where much of my family is originally from. Many years ago, Creelsboro was the busiest river port on the Cumberland River between Nashville, TN, and Burnside, KY. Many a big channel cat has been pulled out of the Cumberland River.

After a great finish to our spring/summer softball season, the church decided to play in a fall league.
Gardenside Christian is playing on Thursday nights at Woodland Park.
After 2 games, we're wondering if this would such a good idea.
GCC has been thumped in consecutive weeks by Eastland Church of God (13-6) and Calvary Baptist Red (19-1). While none of the teams in the fall league were in our spring league, we did face Eastland and Calvary Red in the post-season tournament. I might add that both of the games were much closer than our fall results as we defeated Eastland and lost in extra innings to Calvary (the eventual city champion).
As Calvary pounded out hit after hit last night, I couldn't help but think I'd rather be home watching the NFL opener, the South Carolina-Vandy game and the John McCain speech.
Hopefully, things will get better for the G-siders.
Next week's game against 1st & 2nd Presbyterian is Thursday, September 11th at 9:30 pm. Why we have to face two churches and not one, is beyond me. I'm thinking of asking league officials if we can bring Gardenside Baptist along to help our cause.

We'll keep you posted. Hope and pray you have a great weekend!

God bless,
Greg H

Teen Mission Notes (August, 2008)

The pools are closing, the kids are back in school and football season is just around the corner. Ah, yes, Summer is winding down as we head toward Labor Day weekend.

After a busy summer, August provides me a good time for me to slow down a little and catch my breath.
It's been so relaxing that I looked up and noticed August was almost gone and I hadn't put a single new post on my blog for the entire month!

So here goes...

Earlier this month, Kelly, the girls and I were able to get away for a few days before everyone went back to school. We went up to Cincinnati. While there, we took in an afternoon Reds game (August 6th) and went to Coney Island on Thursday, August 7th. It was a great time.
I enjoyed Coney Island because it was not very crowded, very affordable and brought back memories of the classic amusement parks of yesteryear. In fact, Ken Henderson once did a concert there in the early 1960s, opening up for some of the bigger acts of the day (Frankie Avalon, Bobby Darin, etc). I could not, however, find anyone at Coney Island who remembered that concert. Seriously, I highly recommend Coney Island for a day of good family fun.

School started on Wednesday, August 13th. Autumn and Meredith are now at the same school. Autumn started the 4th grade and Meredith started Kindergarten.
Meredith is still adjusting. She's having a hard time going all day long and she is not too crazy about lunch time being before 11 am and only lasting 20 minutes. She also thinks that some of the teachers are too bossy. Imagine that: teachers telling the kids what to do!

Around the office, I've been wrapping up this year's Mission Journeys while planning for the fall and beyond (2009). Also during the month, we mailed out our 2nd "Twice Annual" letter for the year. The $35 Twice Campaign asks those who can help us to send $35 (or any amount) twice a year to help finance the expanding ministry of TM, USA, Inc. We request the help during our lowest supporting months (early spring and late summer). The timing of this particular call letter is very critical, having just gone through our lowest income months of the year.

The biggest and best news of the month, though, was baptizing my 8-year-old daughter Autumn into Christ on Sunday, August 17th (see picture above). Autumn has been thinking and praying about this since early June. It's rare that I can't put into words how I feel. However, I can't explain how great it feels to see one of your children accept Christ. I THANK God for her decision and pray she will continue to love and serve Him all of her days!

TEEN MISSION, USA, BOARD MEETING (09.08.08)
The Teen Mission, USA, quarterly board meeting will be on Monday, September 8, 11:30 am @ Gardenside Christian Church (940 Holly Springs Dr; Lexington KY 40504).

In Him,
Greg Herriford
Associate Director/Teen Mission, USA
Email = gregh@teenmission.org
Web http://www.teenmission.org/

Teen Mission Notes (July, 2008)

It's good to catch a quick breather from a very busy summer.
Today (July 31st), our final mission team for the summer left on their trip.
Our last summer team will return home on August 12th.
With the summer mission trips now nearly over, it's a really good feeling to wrap up what has been a very successful year of mission trips.
At summer’s end, we will have had 35 trips involving nearly 550 participants.
From Africa to Asia to right here in the United States, there have been a lot of great stories to share on how God moved in the lives of many people.
We hope to share several of them with you in the days and weeks to come.

As summer starts winding down, many conventions, camps and Vacation Bible Schools are still going on.
Ken and Chuck are currently in Nashville, TN, at the 17th World Convention of Churches. This is a unique gathering of all three streams of the Stone-Campbell movement (Christian-Church of Christ-Disciples of Christ).
The convention, held once every four years, started yesterday (July 30th) and will last until Sunday, August 3rd.

Ken will leave Nashville for New York. Next week (August 2-9), he will be at the Catskill Christian Assembly (Prattsville, NY) where Teen Mission is the mission for the Senior High week of camp.

Leonard is representing Teen Mission/Global Bible School and the Hillsboro (OH) Family Camp this week.

We've had Vacation Bible School this week (July 27-31) at Gardenside Christian Church. GCC has had Teen Mission be the mission for the week. Myself along with Ken and Carol have shared with the boys and girls this week about our ministry.
The offering goal is $1,000. The kids are about half way there coming into today (VBS wraps up tonight).
They've been told them can "slime" me and Janie Truesdell (GCC Children's Director) if they reach their offering goal. We shall see.

Just as we wrap up the 2008 edition of the Mission Journeys, work on the 2009 Mission Journeys will soon be underway. Keep watching the Mission Journeys web site at www.missionjourneys.org and we’ll have a tentative 2009 list posted soon. The 2008 Mission Journeys are currently posted. That will give you an idea of some our communities/locations we’re working in. A 2009 Mission Journey newsletter will be in the mail sometime in October.

May God continue to bless.

In Him,
Greg Herriford
Associate Director/Teen Mission, USA
Email = gregh@teenmission.org
Web http://www.teenmission.org/

Taiwan: Final Thoughts

I'm back home after my mission trip to Taiwan.

I returned home safely to Kentucky on Thursday, July 24th.

My other team members made it home safely, flying into Indianapolis on Wednesday night (July 23rd).

The recovery from the long hours of travel and adjustment to the big time difference wasn't too bad.

I've had some time to get my "feet back on the ground" and reflect on the just-completed Taiwan Mission Journey.

Here's some final thoughts and reasons I love being a part of the ministry in Taiwan:

(1) It's Unique.
Our project is Taiwan is different from any of our other Mission Journeys.
The team we bring seldom functions alone once we arrive. Instead, they are absorbed into a bigger team with the primary responsibility of doing the Sports & English camp.
While this creates some challenges with team dynamics, overall , I like the setup.
The Taiwan trip definitely involves a lot less pressure for the person in charge of the short-term team. This is, in large part, because the "on-location" project is pretty much all planned out for you. The team leader's biggest role is getting the team there. After the on-island arrival, the team leader then primarily serves as one the faculty and works with the kids in attendance. That's a welcomed change for me. Also, using sports and teaching English as a way to convey the gospel message is emerging as an effective means of evangelism. I look for such opportunities in "specialized" ways to increase.

(2) It's Strategic.
The ministry in Taiwan allows us to be involved with a work inside the "10/40 Window."
What is the "10/40 Window?" According to the Joshua Project (http://www.joshuaproject.net/): The 10/40 Window is the rectangular area of North Africa, the Middle East and Asia between 10 degrees north and 40 degrees north latitude. The 10/40 Window is often called "The Resistant Belt" and includes the majority of the world's Muslims, Hindus, and Buddhists. The 10/40 Window is home to the majority of the world's unevangelized countries. The "unevangelized" are people who have a minimal knowledge of the gospel, but have no valid opportunity to respond to it.
Southeast Asia is the most densely populated area on earth having over 45% of the world's population living there. Almost one out of every two people lives in Southeast Asia. However, only about 3% of these people are Christian.
In recent years, Southeast Asia has had a prominent role in world headlines. Communist China's growing military and economy has greatly increased their influence around the globe. North Korea has emerged as potentially dangerous "rogue" nation with nuclear aspirations.
With such threats to peace, is there a better area for the Gospel to be planted and growing?
Ministering in Taiwan puts us just 90 miles off the coast of China and in this important area of Southeast Asia.

(3) It Yields Eternal Results!
In over 15 years of being involved with short-term mission trips, I've never been involved with one that has yielded as much spiritual fruit as the one in Taiwan has.
In 2006, the first year of doing the Sports & English camp, we had 35 decisions for Christ with 15 of those being baptized before we left camp.
This year, those numbers were down a little (13 decisions; 7 baptisms), but still impressive.
This harvest has much to do with the fine missionaries that work in Taiwan on a full-time basis. We have been honored to meet many of them over the past two trips. Ted & Bev Skiles has been on the island for nearly 40 years and have great ministry providing a Christian home for Taiwanese children, the Home of God's Love. Team Expansion has several missionaries on the island. They are doing a fantastic job with several church plants.

It’s been a pleasure to serve with David & Brenda Atkin (our host missionaries) and all the other on-island missionaries as well as the other short-termers. Let’s do it again real soon!

Teen Mission, USA, is very much looking forward to working in Taiwan again in the near future. Most likely, we will return in 2010 to help with the Sports & English camp again.

Until then, I pray that God will continue to bless!

-- Greg H

Taiwan: Heading Home

We're just about ready to head home from Taiwan.
Today, Tuesday, July 22nd, we're heading up to Taipei for the day.
We plan on spending the night and heading to the airport tomorrow afternoon. Our flight leaves tomorrow at 3:45 pm for Los Angeles.
We're scheduled to arrive in LA around noon (PST) on Wednesday, July 23rd. It's a 12-hour flight, but there's also a 9-hour time difference from Taiwan to Los Angeles.

Vacation Bible School with the Come Christian Church in Taichung began yesterday. We had a nice turnout with over 40 children.

We will leave Taichung for Taipei shortly after VBS this afternoon.

Please pray for safety in travel. This will probably be my last post during the trip as we'll be in transit over the next few days.

It's been a great trip, but I'm looking forward to being back home.
I'm on target to be in Lexington around 9 am on Thursday, July 24th.

God bless,
Greg H

Taiwan: Sports & English Camp ends

The Sports & English camp ended yesterday (Saturday, July 19th) on a high note.
There were 13 decisions for Christ with 7 of those being baptized yesterday morning before we left Morrison Christian Academy.
The Lord held the storms off just long enough for us to get all the baptisms in without rain.
We had a few less decisions than our last trip (2006), but still a good number and we praise the Lord for each of them.
In two years that Teen Mission has been involved with this project, we've seen nearly 50 decisions for Christ and 22 baptisms!
I can't think of any other short-term project that has yielded as much "fruit."

After camp, we cleaned up and left for the Atkin's home here in Taichung.
They took us to a pretty cool restaurant last night. You had a grill in front of you to cook your own meats. It was a neat concept.
It was nice to have a little down time after several straight busy days.

This morning (Sunday, July 20th) we worshiped here at Come Christian Church. The church meets in ground floor of the Atkin's home.
David and Brenda moved here a few years ago to plant this church.
We had lunch with several of the church people after services.
They were really nice folks. One of them was a young lady (named Jamie) who is entered in Miss Taiwan beauty pageant. If she wins that, she'll go to the Miss World contest.
Another couple of people (Chuck and Hope) thought I looked like a movie star (Matthew Perry; Chandler from Friends). I told them I was flattered, but thought they needed to get new glasses.

This afternoon, we're going to the All-Star game of the Chinese Professional Baseball League played here in Taichung at their fairly new baseball stadium.
We're pretty excited about it.

Vacation Bible School with the Come Christian Church will begin tomorrow (Monday, July 21st).
We'll be leaving on Wednesday, July 23rd.

God bless,
Greg H

Taiwan: Typhoon hits Taichung

We awoke early on Friday morning to the sounds of wind and rain.
A typhoon had come ashore and was hitting the city of Taichung with lots of rain.
The city received a foot of water between midnight and 8 am on Friday morning.
I went out in a car with David Atkin looking to buy some rain ponchos.
Several city streets were flooded with water several feet deep.
Back at the camp, the girls sleeping in the lower gym here at Morrison Christian Academy had to be moved to one side of the gym as the water began coming in and flooding the floor.
We had a difficult time, but were able to transport the campers between buildings this morning by using vans.
The area between buildings looked like a lake as water began to back up.
All of the outdoor activities (sports classes) were cancelled and most of the day's programing moved to the auditorium.
I was disappointed as I was looking forward to one more day with the baseball group.

We're praying the distraction of the rain will not take away from the real focus of the week: introducing the kids to Jesus Christ.

Ted Skiles (a missionary here in Taiwan since 1969) will be bringing the evening message and offering an invitation.

Camp will end tomorrow morning.

God bless,
Greg H

Taiwan: Facing Fear

It's Thursday, July 17th, here in Taiwan.
The phone lines have been down for a few days here at Morrison Christian Academy. Therefore, I haven't been able to access the Internet.
The week is going great.

Yesterday's lesson was on Elijah and overcoming fear.
The prophet Elijah was scared for his life and felt alone after the contest on Mt Carmel.
For the evening message, a few Taiwanese Christians shared about overcoming their traditional beliefs in spirits and idol worship.
The folk religions here seem to keep many people in fear all the time.
People are trying to appease the spirits because many think that evil spirits will do bad things to them unless they are pleased.
It is not until they met Jesus Christ that they experienced true freedom from fear.
I'm convinced that fear is one of Satan's strongest tools in discouraging Christians. Fear will hold us back from being the people Christ wants us to be.

The sports have continue to go well, too.
Yesterday, the students defeated the faculty in a softball game, 5-3.
The outcome was somewhat contested, though, as many of the calls went the way of the kids.
Today, however, the teachers evened things by winning big in basketball.
The game was close early, but the play of Justin Livingston, Chad Edwards and Scott Pagel proved to be too much for the young campers.
Tomorrow's match will be on the soccer field and the campers appear to have the edge.

Tomorrow (Friday) will be the last full day of camp. We're hoping and praying for many decisions for Christ.

God bless,
Greg H

Taiwan: Camp in Full Swing

Things have gone fairly smooth after our first full day of Sports & English camp here in Taiwan.
We have 12 young people (10 boys, 2 girls) in my baseball class. I'm helping David Atkin (host missionary) with that.
I also have 6 students in my advanced English class. We're looking at the lives of Bible characters each day. Yesterday, we studied Joseph. Today, we're looking at Daniel and his friends.

It's pretty hot here. They tell me it could be hotter.
I know I haven't sweat this much since Junior High school.
If my voice starts changing and I break out with acne, I'm going home.

We ended the day (yesterday) with a game of competitive dodge ball.
A few girls got hit in the face and two boys knocked heads going for a ball. Besides that, I think we made it through without any serious casualties.
Keep praying for those here who do not yet know Christ as the Lord and Savior.

God bless,
Greg H

Taiwan: Sport & English Camp Begins

The Sports & English Camp began yesterday (Sunday, July 13th).
This year's theme is "It's Gonna Be Alright."
We have well over 100 Middle & High School students here this week.
The students and faculty were divided up into family groups.
My group has 10 young people.
Our classes will begin today (Monday, July 14th).
I'm doing baseball for my sport and teaching an advanced English class (me teaching advanced English to kids in Taiwan; yes, God has a sense of humor).
I'll keep you posted on how the weeks goes.

God bless,
Greg H

Taiwan: Adjusting & Gearing Up

We're starting Day 3 here in Taiwan (Sunday, July 13th).
We will worship here on the campus of Morrison Christian Academy this morning with the Community Church of Taichung.
Later today, the 3rd annual Sports & English Camp will begin here at Morrison.
There are more students expected this year than either of the first two years.
Please keep the camp in your prayers. There will be many young people attending who do not yet know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.
Yesterday (July 12th), the Taiwan Missionary Fellowship wrapped up and we took some time to look around Taichung.
We went to a wood-carving village outside of town as well as the Tiger City mall here in Taichung.
I'll keep you posted as the Sports & English progresses through the upcoming week.

God bless,
Greg H

Taiwan: We've Arrived Safely

After nearly 50 hours and 10,000 miles, we have arrived safely in Taiwan.
With a long layover in Los Angeles on Wednesday, July 9th, our team was able to take a tour of the city of Angels.
We were able to see some famous sights such as Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Rodeo Drive and Venice Beach.
Our flight left LA at 2 am (PST), arriving in Taiwan early on Friday morning (July 11th).
It was already over 80 degrees at 6 am this morning.
The Atkins were busy with the Taiwan Missionary Fellowship conference this week, so we had to get ourselves from Taipei to Taichung.
No problem, though, for us experienced travelers (3 of our 4 team members came to Taiwan in 2006).
Everything worked fine and we arrived in Taichung around 9 am local time.
Brenda Atkin came and picked us up from the bus stop and took us straight to the Morrison Christian Academy.
Morrison is the site of this week's missionary conference and next week's Sports & English camp.
We've enjoyed the fellowship of many missionaries and some of the finest Kingdom workers.
We even witnessed a baptism this afternoon.
Dr David Roadcup of Cincinnati Christian University has spoken a couple of times today about discipleship. It's been really good stuff!
Please continue to pray for our team and next week's Sports & English camp (starts Sunday, July 13th).

God bless,
Greg H

Taiwan Mission Journey (July 9-23)

I’m leaving early tomorrow (Wednesday, July 9th) for a 2-week mission trip to Taiwan.
I helped with a mission project there in 2006 and have been looking forward to returning ever since.

Here's a little more about the ministry going on in Taiwan:

Taiwan is a mountainous island located just off the coast of mainland China. It is a non-Christian society with only about 5% of Taiwan's 25 million population claiming to be Christian. The majority follow a unique Chinese blend of Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism.

The Good News Christian Church in Kaohsiung (pronounced Gow Shung) began nearly 20 years ago.
However, the church struggled for its first 10 years of existence with only 15-20 members. One missionary couple (the Foremans) worked with the church, but was on the brink of coming home to the United States in frustration.
That all changed in 1996. Two families from the United States and Team Expansion (the Atkins and the Dunns) came to help the Foremans with the church.
The church began to flourish shortly after their arrival and is now very healthy with nearly 150 in attendance.
In 2003, David & Brenda Atkin moved to the city of Taichung to begin a new church work there.

Our team's main project will be helping David & Brenda Atkin (our host missionaries) conduct a Sports & English camp for over 100 Taiwanese teenagers.
The Sports & English camp has its own web site: http://www.sportsandenglish.com/.

Young people from all over the island will come to learn more about different sports and the English language. We will teach a lot about Jesus, too, as most of the campers (75-80%) will not know Jesus as their Lord and Savior.

The first-ever Sports & English camp, held in 2006, was a great success!
We had 35 young people come forward at decision time on Friday night, with 15 of them being baptized into Christ on Saturday morning before we left the camp.

This year, I will have 3 others traveling with me to help with the camp. They are: Justin Livingston (Iowa) and Rick & Emily Kemple (Indiana).
Please pray for safety for our team in travels and effectiveness of sharing the gospel.
I'll try to post updates throughout the trip.

God bless,
Greg H

Teen Mission Notes (June, 2008)

All is well here at TM headquarters. I realize the June notes are being written in July, but it's been a very hectic last few weeks.
The "summer" Mission Journeys are in full swing.
Most all of the June groups have come and gone. We’re now working on getting all the July teams ready.
In fact, we have a group of 16 leaving today (July 3rd) for Barbados, West Indies.

Our staff is currently scattered all around the globe doing different mission projects.

Our director, Ken Henderson and his wife, Carol, have been in Tanzania, East Africa, since June 17th.
Ken reports that things are going great:
"Our trip to Tanzania is going just great. Not least among the blessings is that the temperature has been no worse than 85 to 90, and nights have been warm but pleasant. The electricity has been consistent, water in adequate supply, and stuff like that.
The team and the people at Haven of Peace Chr Ch are hitting it off wonderfully. We have a shy girl on the team who is coming out of her shell big time, and folks from her church are so excited for her. Another girl who comes from a difficult home situation is blossoming in her witness—taught at VBS yesterday. She has already talked to Carol at length about becoming a missionary.
The worship Sunday was incredible—they now have a sound system and fancy keyboard. Adding that to the swing and African style singing, it was wonderful."

Chuck Perry emailed from Ethiopia where he has been working with CMF missionary Shelly Hilvety for the past 2 weeks. Chuck writes, "Ethiopia departure approaches. God’s blessings abound. New stories to relate, Great opportunities: Feeding-Teaching 200 - HIV adults, 3 home visits with food and encouragement, Church leaders’ Bible Study & Devotionals, an Ethiopian Wedding; Wonderful 2 weeks."

Leonard Stone helped lead a group to New Orleans (June 16-20) and will help with another team going to the Yakama Indian Nation in Washington (July 10-19).

Sam Bowles left on June 26th with a group of 13 going to work with a mission in Honduras. You can follow their adventures on Sam's blog: http://sambowles.blogspot.com/

Our summer intern Cameron Andry was busy this month representing Teen Mission at a couple weeks of camp in IN & KY. Cameron has done a great job and has been a big help to our office operations here at Teen Mission. We could not have done all of the mission work without his help.

Next week (July 9th), I will leave for Taiwan where I'll be helping with a Sports & English camp there.

The North American Christian Convention is going on this week (July 1-4) in Cincinnati, OH. Cameron, Leonard and I have taken turns manning the Teen Mission booth there.
On Tuesday morning, my daughter (Autumn, age 8) and I went up for the day and set up the booth in our exhibit space.
In the midst of a busy summer schedule, we had some good "father-daughter" time. Autumn picked up many free pens, note pads, Frisbees, cups, mugs, letter openers, travel bags, bibles, etc, on her many tours of the exhibit hall. She also did the rock climbing at the Nebraska Christian College booth at least 30 times and played the Wii at the Cincinnati Christian University booth.
The exhibit hall is sure a lot more "kid" friendly than I remember from my childhood.
The NACC was in Cincinnati 20 years ago in 1988. I was 16 years old and came with a group from Gardenside Christian Church. My main reason for going was not the NACC, but to see a Reds game that night.
I could not have imagined then (1988) that I would be in ministry with an exhibit at the NACC 20 years later.
God sees things that man cannot.

One last thing: Autumn is getting very close to be baptized. The Holy Spirit has been working on her heart big time the last few weeks.
She has met with our minister at Gardenside and is working through a workbook.
It may be this week. I don’t know for sure, but it will be rather soon.
Please keep her in your prayers.

In Him,
Greg Herriford
Associate Director/Teen Mission, USA
Email = gregh@teenmission.org
Web http://www.teenmission.org/

GCC Softball Season Ends

The 2008 softball came to a close this week for the Gardenside Christian Church men's team after a couple of fantastic games in the city-wide Church league tournament.
On Monday night (June 30th), GCC defeated a very good squad from NorthEast Christian Church, 13-12.
The G-men rallied from an early deficit and scored all 13 of their runs in the 4th inning. They then held off NorthEast's late rally for a big victory (their 2nd tournament win in 2008).
GCC senior minister, Joe Cooper, was one of the many Gardenside fans in attendance.
Brother Cooper had to like what he saw as the win moved GCC to Tuesday night's Elite Eight showdown with Calvary Baptist.
On Tuesday night (July 1st), with a Final Four birth on the line, GCC would, once again, find themselves down early. However, they would rally and take a 13-7 lead late in the game.
Calvary Baptist tied the game at 13 after 6 innings, so the game went "extra" innings.
Neither team scored in the 7th. Gardenside scored one in the 8th and Calvary answered with two in the bottom of the 8th for a dramatic, 15-14 win.
GCC finished the regular season with a 5-4 record and 7-5 overall (after the post-season tournament).
This was no doubt the best softball Gardenside has seen since the late 1990s (the days known as the "ringer" era).
A big THANKS to all who played on the team this year: Billy Reynolds, Brian Hale, Nick Bruins, Russ Bruins, Greg Herriford, Brandon Messinger, Keith Messinger, Bobby Cairell, Ryan Smith, Steve Smith, Eric Padgett, Bradley Dennis and a host of others who filled in a game or two (you know who you are, but the NSA might not).
Give us a few months and we'll be ready for next year!

Softball & Baseball seasons continue

Church league softball will go on for at least one more week for Gardenside Christian Church.
This past Monday night (June 23rd), the GCC men's team won their opener in the 2008 city-wide Church league tournament.
The G-men rallied from an early deficit to defeat Eastland Church of God "B," 18-14.
The offensive explosion was punctuated by a 3-run homer by Billy Reynolds.
Billy had previously received much grief from teammates because his previous homers have been of the solo variety.
The game also marked the softball debut of Teen Mission/WKYT intern Cameron Andry.
The Paoli, IN, native and Ball State student went 2-2 with 2 walks and 3 RBI.
You can read much more about Cameron's exploits at his blog: http://cameronandry.blogspot.com/2008/06/andry-reaches-base-in-every-plate.html.

With the win, GCC moves their season record to 6-4, assuring them of a winning season for the 1st time since 1999. Gardenside will play their next tournament game on Monday, June 30th at 6:30 pm at field B in Athens.

In addition, Autumn's baseball season will continue on for a few more weeks.
Following the regular season and tournament, Autumn was selected to be on an All-Star team of 7 & 8-year-olds from Western Little League.
The Western All-Stars will play in a tournament over the 4th of July weekend at Shilito Park here in Lexington, KY. They'll get to see how they stack up against some of the best teams in the city and Bluegrass region.

Mr Edinger

Last Saturday (June 14th), I learned that my good friend, Larry Edinger, Sr, (age 69) had passed away in Erie, PA.
It wasn't a total surprise because an aneurysm had left Mr Edinger in a comma for about a week.
It was, however, sad, parting (for a time) with a dear friend.

Mr Edinger was not just a great friend, but an even-greater man.
He was a dedicated Christian, a devoted husband, father and family man.

He and his wife (Angela) and son (Larry Jr) had moved to Lexington, KY, from Erie in the 1970s.
Larry worked as Executive Sales Manager for the Blood-Horse Publications here in town.

I got to know them as they were faithful members at Gardenside Christian Church (Lexington, KY).
Larry Jr and I were good friends, too, in the church youth group.

And while I would come over to Larry Jr's house to hang out with him, I usually found myself talking with Larry Sr most of the time.
We shared a lot in common: a love of the Lord and a passion for sports (especially baseball).

I loved stopping by the Edinger's house. We would sit on the front porch and talk for hours about everything.

Even as I got older, I still stopped in to talk. Over a period of 15 years (1986-2001), we shared a lot of life experience together. These times saw me graduate high school, decide on a college, graduate college, choose a career, leave that career, answer a call to full-time ministry, get married and become a father.

A lot of the preparation for life came from the time spent on the Edinger's front porch.

I THANK God he always had the time to listen and visit. It blessed me beyond measure.

Mr Edinger retired from the Blood-Horse in 1991.
He continued to stay active at Gardenside Christian Church, teaching bible school classes as well as helping with missions and evangelism and outreach.

I know specifically of people who got back into the church and renewed their walk with the Lord simply because Larry and Angela made a call on their home and invited them to church.

In 1995, Angela was diagnosed with dementia in 1995. As Angela declined, Larry Sr and Angela decided to move back to Erie, PA, in 2001, to be closer to family.

Over the next few years, we would call each other on the phone once every 2-3 months. We'd catch up on the University of KY athletics. He would have his time to talk about his team (the Cleveland Indians) and then I'd talk about mine (the Cincinnati Reds).
If he wanted to kid me, he would refer to them as the "Little Red Wagon" and not the "Big Red Machine."

My family were on vacation last August (2007) and stopped into see he and Angela at their home Erie.
I had not seen them since they moved away from Lexington in 2001.
I was not shocked to see that Angela's health had gotten worse. She had outlived most all of the doctor's predictions. I was, however, surprised by Mr Edinger's health.
It was obvious his health had slipped a little from being the caregiver.
Angela lived for 12 years with the disease. Larry Sr was a devoted caregiver and stayed right there with his lovely wife until her death this past October (2007).
There was never a hint of remorse or frustration with Mr Edinger. He loved taking care of Angela and wanted nothing more than to do that very thing as long as he could.
I think it is what it means when the scriptures say, "husbands love your wives as Christ loved the church."

Mr Edinger leaves behind a great family who will miss him tremendously.
I know you guys know it, but you had a great father, grandfather, uncle, etc.
I was proud to call him friend and was blessed because of his life.

I do not know exactly what Heaven will be like.
The more I think about it, though, I think some of the times spent with Mr Edinger were like a little slice of it.
If there is a front porch somewhere in Heaven with chairs, a nice breeze and a baseball game in the background, Mr Edinger will be there.
And I can't wait to sit right down, join him and catch up on things.

Let me say THANKS & God bless you one more time, Mr Edinger.
I hope to encourage and mentor a younger man some day like you encouraged and mentored me.

-- Greg H

West VA Mission Project

Over the past few days, I’ve been in St Albans, WV, helping with our first-ever mission trip there.
Teen Mission is partnering with the Gateway Church of Christ (http://www.gatewaychurch.net/) in St Albans, WV, to reach out to nearby communities. Many of them have several families in great spiritual and physical need.

West Virginia has one of the highest poverty rates (15.6%) in America.
In the St Albans/Charleston area, several major chemical companies used to employ thousands of people.
However, after years of out-sourcing jobs, those now number in the hundreds.
This is one of the reasons that West Virginia's unemployment rate continues to grow at nearly twice that of the national average.

Gateway is one of the largest churches in the state and with an average attendance of 600 it is the largest independent Christian Church/Church of Christ in the state of West Virginia.

The mission trip is going really well and Gateway is doing a great job as host.

We have a team of 27 from the Mt Olivet Christian Church in Williamstown, KY, there serving this week (June 15-21).

The folks from Gateway are leading this team in learning songs, skits, stories and games for an outreach VBS. There are several service projects in the area going on as well. Gateway has identified several projects in the community that need volunteer help.

On Monday, we had groups working in four different areas: (1) a public park near the river, (2) the Hansford Seniors Center, (3) a local Braille Mission and (4) a home of a family in need.

Our team helped clean the riverside park, getting ready for an upcoming "Riverfest." The local parks & rec crew hate this job and were thrilled that volunteers from KY would undertake this task.
We later learned that the crew's foremen is a Christian who has been witnessing for several years to his mostly non-Christian crew.
Our prayer is this will give him some open doors in further sharing Christ with his co-workers.

We painted and visited with some of the elderly folks at the Hansford Center. The director of the center is a member of Gateway Church of Christ.

Several of the guys helped rebuild some things at the a couple's house who run a braille ministry in South Charleston as well as repairing a bathroom for another family in need in St Albans.

Starting today (June 17th), a team will begin an afternoon VBS/Kids Camp from 3-5 pm in the afternoon at a local park.
There will be games, crafts, music, Bibles stories and lots of fun.

The most interesting story is that of a fellow named Charles.

I'm told that Charles attended church for the first time this past Sunday, June 15th.
At the invitation time, Charles came forward was baptized into Christ for the forgiveness of sins and gift of the Holy Spirit.

He then wanted to know what was happening next.
A staff member at Gateway said, "Well, we have a mission team coming here starting tomorrow (Monday). They'll be doing work/service projects around the city. Why don't you come and join them?"

Charles showed up at church at 7 am on Monday morning ready to go.

He went with the team helping at the Hansford Center. He painted and worked there all day.

The team dropped him off at the end of the day and he said he would see them today.

When I left the church this morning, sure enough, Charles was back and ready to work again today with the mission team.

All that Charles knows about being a Christian is that a Christian goes out everyday and serves the community with the love of Jesus Christ.

Isn't this a beautiful picture?

Charles has never heard of a church split or music wars or doctrinal disputes.
He has never gotten mad over the color of the new carpet in the sanctuary.

He simply doesn't know any better.

While Charles may be child-like in a lot of ways in his faith, that's not all bad.

Remember that Christ asks all of us to be like little ones if we are to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven one day.

We'd love to have you join us in West Virginia on a mission trip sometime in the near future.

God bless,
Greg H

The Miracle Mariners

After nearly 3 months of practices and games, a very successful baseball season came to an end to today.

I was honored to help coach the Rookie League (7 & 8 year olds) Mariners of the Western Little League (formerly know as Gardenside Little League).

My daughter (Autumn) and nine other incredible young people make up this very special team.

The team played well together all year and finished the regular season with an impressive 15-3 record. This was good enough for a 1st-place finish in the 8-team Rookie League.

After looking at our team for the first few times back in March, I must admit I thought a .500 record and middle-of-the-pack finish might be the ceiling for this unit.

They overachieved, however, all year long and never quit.

Their efforts paid off in a big way today.

The post-season tournament has been going on nearly all week long this past week, wrapping up with today's finals at Cardinal Run Park.

After winning their first tournament game over the Orioles, the Mariners lost to the 3-seed Athletics on Monday night (June 9th), 13-8.

It would be a long road back for the Mariners, having to win their way out of the loser's bracket.

Wednesday night (June 11th) saw a rematch against the Orioles. This would be the third time facing the O's in a five-day span.

It did not look good early for the Mariners.

The Orioles led 11-3 and the M's looked like they were out of miracles.

Just like they've done nearly all year, the Mariners rallied. They scored 10 unanswered runs, winning 13-11 and living to see another day.

On Thursday night (June 12th), the Mariners took control early and defeated the Marlins, 12-1.

Storm clouds moved in, raining out Friday night's (June 13th) contest versus the number 2 seeded Nationals.

After the rain moved out of central KY and the fields had the morning to dry out, the tournament schedule got back on track on Saturday (June 14th).

The league's picnic and award ceremony was held at 1 pm with the Mariners receiving trophies for their 1st-place regular season finish.

But to win another trophy, the Mariners would have to win three straight against the league's best teams in the warm June sun.

It seemed to be a near impossible task.

The Mariners traveled over to Wolf Run Park (the old home to Gardenside Little League) at 3 pm and knocked off the pesky Nationals, 8-2.

Then it was back over the new park at Cardinal Run for a 5 pm showdown against the A's.

The Mariners would have to beat the A's twice to win the championship.

In Game 1, the Mariners broke open a close game with some big hits late in the game and won, 20-13.

Game 2 was a close contest the entire way.

The Mariners led, 13-8, going into the bottom of the 6th and final inning.

The A's needed five to tie and six to win.

After a quick out, the A's rallied and put 4 runs on the board, setting up a dramatic finish.

A big hit sent the tying run racing towards home.

Despite a throw home, the runner did not slide and was called a out.

While it was a really tough call to make in the championship game, it was a correct one.

The next batter was out at first and the Mariners hung on for a 13-12 win and the tournament championship.

Let me take a moment to say how impressed I was with the A's on how they handled being dealt a really tough hand. It was a terrible way for a season to end.
We know several of the coaches, parents and players from Autumn's t-ball days.
They are all super people and winners, too.

Looking back at the just-finished season, I am really amazed with our group of young men and women on the Mariners.

They never gave up and always played their best to the very end all year long.



If they continue to do this throughout their lives, it will serve them very well.



More important than the trophies that were won today is the life lessons learned: do you very best at all times and you will be a winner (in life).



I must admit I can become somewhat pessimistic about the younger generations. You know: they don't work as hard, they don't try as hard and they aren't as grateful as they should be.



However, I left the ball park tonight feeling a little bit better our future as a country.



With the sun setting in the background, I looked out at both teams on a beautiful grass infield and outfield and saw our future.



I didn't just see ball players, but I saw teachers, doctors, police men/women, ministers, etc.



People who, if they will work hard, work together as a a team and do their best, can and will reach a common goal.



In October, 1924, the famous sportswriter Grantland Rice penned the most famous passage in sports journalism history in describing the the Army-Notre Dame football game. It went like this, "Outlined against a blue, gray October sky the Four Horsemen rode again.
"In dramatic lore they are known as famine, pestilence, destruction and death. These are only aliases. Their real names are: Stuhldreher, Miller, Crowley and Layden. They formed the crest of the South Bend cyclone before which another fighting Army team was swept over the precipice at the Polo Grounds this afternoon as 55,000 spectators peered down upon the bewildering panorama spread out upon the green plain below."



While I've been a minister for over 10 years now, I began my working life as a sports writer.

Pardon me, but just for old-time sake, I can't pass this opportunity up.



My version of Grantland Rice's masterpiece would go like this:

"Outlined against a hazy June sky the Four Horsemen rode again. In dramatic lore they are known as famine, pestilence, destruction and death. These are only aliases. Their real names are: Carlton, Beard, Herriford and Hayek."

THANKS for a great season: Sophia, Skylar, Autumn, JJ, John, Brian, TJ, Philip, Drew and Ryan.

THANKS, too, Coach Brian, Coach Richard and Coach Bruce.

It has been a true joy. May God bless you all and hope to see you next season!

Summer is here (ready or not)

Although the calendar may not yet say so, summer time has officially begun for me.

Friday is here, but it seems like it took forever.
It's been a crazy week!
With the arrival of summer, the pace of my schedule at Teen Mission picks up considerably.
Our first "summer" Mission Journey will leave tomorrow for Pascagoula, MS. It will be one of 20+ during the summer months (June-August).

Teen Mission, USA, had its quarterly board meeting on Monday (June 2nd).

This week has also included trips to two Vacation Bible School kickoffs. One was a Corinth Christian Church in Lawrenceburg, KY. The other was at Glencoe (KY) Church of Christ.
We had a beautiful evening on Sunday (June 1st) for the kickoff at Corinth. It is the home church for Teen Mission friends, E Paul, Lucille and Chuck Perry.
Matt Sawyer (Associate Minister) is a great guy. I enjoyed talking with him for an hour or so after the meeting.

On Wednesday evening (June 4th), I drove up I-75 to kickoff a VBS at Glencoe, KY.
I missed my exit off I-75 (at Dry Ridge) due to some daydreaming.
That forced me to travel about 6 more miles north to the next exit.
Not only did I loose some time, but I also ran into a terrible thunderstorm causing me to pull over for a few minutes (visibility was tough).
Once there, I had a great time. The folks were very excited about Teen Mission and getting involved in a mission trip sometime in the near future. Their VBS runs during the day next week.
This was my first-ever visit to Gallatin County. It turns out that the small community of Glencoe is a just a few minutes away from the KY Speedway in Sparta, KY.

Last night (Thursday, June 5th), I spoke at the Willing Workers class meal here at Gardenside. They are a great group of "senior" saints. I spoke on the subject of Heaven. I'm currently teaching on the subject with my adult Sunday School class here at GCC.
Tonight, I'm heading to Louisville to help setup some things for a mission trip there in a few weeks (June 22-28). Our team will be working with the College of Scriptures and a Spanish-speaking church (Nueva Vida).
We'll help College of the Scriptures (a preacher-training school for African-Americans) in their move to a new campus.

We've had an interesting week with the family.
My sister-in-law had surgery on Tuesday. She's doing fine and should come home from the hospital today.
Kelly and I helped with watch their 4 kids some this week.
It was a little extra burden, but their are really sweet kids and always a joy to be with.

On a sad note, Kelly's uncle (Wayne Sparks) passed away early on Wednesday morning (June 4th). His visitation will be tonight and funeral on Saturday at 2 pm.
Mr Sparks was a Methodist minister for many years and great man of God.
I'll miss visiting with him at family get-togethers.
We had a lot in common and I loved talking with him about the ministry, basketball and many other subjects.

God bless,
Greg Herriford

Teen Mission Notes (May, 2008)

I hope and pray all is going well and you had a great Memorial Day weekend.

Summer has arrived and there are many great things happening with Teen Mission, USA, such as...

MISSION JOURNEYS

The 2008 Mission Journeys are moving into "high gear."

The final details for the summer trips are currently being made with some trips leaving in just over 2 weeks.

2008 will be another big year for the Mission Journeys outreach. Overall, we’re anticipating 30-35 trips with somewhere around 500-550 participants.

Several trips have already taken place. The “spring” Mission Journey locations have included Haiti, Ghana (West Africa), Alabama, Kentucky, Louisiana and Mississippi.

VBS/CAMP MISSION PROJECT

Year number eight of our VBS/Camp mission project is underway.

We will be the mission for several Vacation Bible Schools and weeks of Christian Camp this summer.

If you are involved with a Vacation Bible School or Christian Camp this summer and are still in need of a mission project, you should consider using Teen Mission, USA.

We have the following FREE resources available:

Helpers at Your Service!
Teen Mission staff members and/or interns can come and speak for your mission time, help with classes or recreation, etc. Kids love the interns. They do a great job of winning hearts and minds for Jesus and for missions in VBSs and in camps.

Trading Cards!
FULL-COLOR Mission TRADING Cards are given to each child every day just for attending! Each card has a Scripture and a brief mission story about Teen Mission, USA’s, ministry to children around the world. Also earn BONUS Cards for perfect attendance, bringing a friend, memory work, etc.

DVD/Video Available!
If you prefer a timed Video presentation, we have 7-minute DVD/Videos telling the mission story each day for a 5-day VBS. Each segment is fun and informative.

Offering Ideas!
ALSO, we include fun ideas for getting children excited about their project and their offerings each day. In addition to their offering, the children can pick a helpful project! Your kids can gather cold medicines, vitamins, toys, etc. for our teams to take to children on mission trips.

*SPECIAL PROJECT: We also need new school supplies plus any new or lightly worn children's clothes for children in areas of Eastern KY!

There is no charge for the VBS/Camp mission packets. All we ask is that you consider having our ministry as your VBS or Camp mission.

THANKS in advance for considering this request and God bless.

TEEN MISSION, USA, BOARD MEETING (06.02.08)

The Teen Mission, USA, quarterly board meeting will be on Monday, June 2nd, 11:30 am @ Gardenside Christian Church (940 Holly Springs Dr; Lexington KY 40504).

In Him,
Greg Herriford
Associate Director/Teen Mission, USA
Email = gregh@teenmission.org
Web http://www.teenmission.org/