The Events of Day One

(The group from St. Phillips acting out the second skit of the day.)

(Pastor Laurent of St. Phillips who will be acknowledged next week in Houston.)

Before hitting the streets of LA, each person received a pedometer to see how many steps they took throughout the day. Tune in tomorrow to see the winning total of day one. : )  Each group headed out to their assigned churches and either started canvassing or preparing for the actual VBS sessions. St. Phillips started their sessions today, because the former pastor is being acknowledged for being the oldest living African-American pastor in the United States next week in Houston, Texas. St. Phillips is a church in the Compton/ Watts area. The church is next to a nursing home with tall fences surrounding the property. Once through the gate, everyone on the team (Paul Nahnsen, Katie Petzenhauser, Angela Jolly, Kodi Hawthorne, Andrew Reeve, and Ellie Menz) sensed the love of God in the people they met. It is a unique situation because there is such an age range, age one literally to the dear lady Ernestine who is 91.


The theme of Camp VBS is Truth Train. The lesson for the first day is Creation which emphasizes the truth of the Bible versus the theories of the big bang and evolution.

The following are reactions of Iowans on their first mission trip on the events of today:

• Kodi Hawthorne at St. Phillips Lutheran Church:

“My church is awesome! I could really feel the love of the people at the church even though it is in a really tough neighborhood.”

• Colleen Petzenhauser at Hope Lutheran Church:

“I was surprised on how few supplies these churches have but yet these churches do the best they can with a joyful spirit. On another note, the dogs scared me too while canvassing.”

• Payton Kalambokidis at Christ Lutheran Church:

“At first, I was a little nervous but then I got used to the environment and things got easier. My church is pretty small but the people and the building are really nice.”

• Baker Cambridge at Christ Lutheran Church:

“I was kind of nervous because I didn’t know what to expect or really know the people in my group, but after meeting them, I became much more comfortable.”

After working at their churches, the teams returned to the hotel for some relaxing and swimming, followed by the famous Ralph’s shopping trip and evening devotion.