"Mission Indy was such an incredible experience for me and my youth group as a whole. I got the amazing opportunity to work with the 4 and 5 year olds at a VBS; and putting on puppet shows with 4 other kids from our youth group. We also painted a house and worked a little bit on a building. Between power-up in the morning and those awesome chances to serve, and our worship and group time each night we had a blast! God worked in a lot of different ways and so much happened that it was very difficult for me to decide what to tell you all aboutÉbut I remember one thing that God showed me that stuck out in my mind. After half of our group led the VBS, we went to paint at a house in the city that some missionaries had bought and were living in so they could serve in the neighborhood. On the outside the house didn't look too bad, other than the fact that it definitely needed a paint job. But it wasn't until a few days into the painting at the house that I saw the inside. I needed to use the restroom so I went up to the second floor to the bathroom. I was shocked. This house was a piece of junk. The floors were horrible and the stairs were falling apart. There were holes in the walls and piles of junk everywhere. The bathroom was pretty much demolished and I couldn't help but worry that while I was using it, I might fall through the floor. I just couldn't understand why anyone would buy such a house, with all the work, time and money they would have to put into it for the house to be remotely livable. And then it hit me! I am like this house. I am a sinner whose heart is battered and torn, and filled with junk. I am so undeserving of grace, and I often wonder how anyone would want to put time or effort into my life. But God wanted me anyways and He was willing to give up so much Ð even His only Son's life to pay for me. He longs to love me, clean me, heal me, and fix me up. He longs for me Ð even when I mess up over and over again. I can't understand why He would love meÉand He is taking my heart of junk and making it into something beautiful. And what is even more encouraging is that He will never give up Ð no matter how long it takes. He promises that "He who began a good work in [me] will be faithful to complete it" Realizing all this at Mission Indy gave me such a hope that every time I stumble and feel undeserving of God's mercy and grace Ð I can be sure that He still loves me unconditionally and longs to give forgiveness to me."

Debbie Hartsough - Age 16
Princeton Bible Church
Princeton, Illinois

Ron, Marsha & Niccole were privileged to take a trip to Princeton Bible Church on October 2nd to share with the entire congregation the ministry of Mission Indy. Princeton is northwest of Bloomington, IL so we had about a 3 hour drive, but it was well worth it. The people at the church received us warmly and in addition to the words Niccole & I shared, two of the students from this past summer's team to Mission Indy shared their experiences. That was so good for us to hear and be a part of, and we heard from some parents that they were glad we came because that is the most the teens had talked about their trip! In fact, the story above was what Debbie shared that morning, and we asked her if we could have a copy to share with you.

Ron & Niccole have begun traveling to various colleges and universities to recruit for Mission Indy Summer Staff. Ron spent the week of October 4th-7th traveling to visit Johnson Bible College, Milligan College, Emmanuel School of Religion and Kentucky Christian University. He was able to speak in several classes and had good interaction with students. Please pray that God will lead several of those students to apply to work with Mission Indy! Thursday October 20th, Ron will be speaking in chapel at Crossroads Bible College here in Indy. That same evening Ron & Niccole will head to the Campus House at Purdue. Summer Staff member, Charlotte Swartzentruber will help us present the opportunity of working with MI to the 100 or so gathered students. We will also travel to Anderson College on October 24th, Marian College on November 7th, Lincoln CC on November 14-15th, and Cincinnati Christian University on November 22nd.

September 18th was our regular "3rd Saturday or Mission Indy Day" as they have been called. Groups from Mt. Gilead, Ben Davis and Tri-County CC came to participate. The groups were working at three different sites; with three different churches or ministries. Ben Davis CC worked with Pastor Rick Hall of City Light Ministries at a house on North Parker that they are totally renovating. There was a lot of clean-up worked done that day. Tri County CC from near Middletown IN is a group new to Mission Indy. They brought a group of about 12 and worked on Brookway Avenue at a house being renovated by Englewood CC. One hard job was removing an old chain link fence and the posts. The 3rd group went to work with a project we call "Common Ground School". A man & wife from Common Ground CC bought an old school building and are living in it. The church wanted to start a church planting school and train some of their young people; some of whom needed housing. Mission Indy was privileged to help renovate the old boiler room during the summer, and some of that work continued with the group from The Church at Mt. Gilead. In addition to some drywall work, the group was involved in some other clean-up work and they began installing some of the framework for a suspended ceiling.

Chapel Rock hosted Week # 3 with groups from Clermont CC, Pine Village CC and Princeton Bible Church (IL).

In a continuing effort to evaluate how well Mission Indy is meeting our goals and fulfilling our mission, we asked summer participants to write a short note about their experiences at Mission Indy. Each week some of the MI Board members read through the notes turned into our collection box, and selected a couple of "winners", who were presented with gift cards. You read some of those testimonies in the last newsletter. Here is an example:

"I have learned so much this week, I don't even know where to begin. Serving at DAMAR, I acquired a whole new perspective on kids with special needs, and I have discovered that everyone needs God's love and how to share that love just by talking to people."
-Student, Age 16,
Noblesville, IN

Those weekly "winners" were then put into the pot for the summer "Grand Prize". One person's testimony was selected that we felt best represented the goals and purposes of Mission Indy. This year a young lady from Pine Village CC near West Lafayette wrote a short, but very moving essay that was selected as the "Grand Prize" winner. Here is what Lyndi Hollis wrote:

Be the hands & feet of Jesus; teach others about Christ. I've known that stuff for a long time, but until this week, I'd never really understood how to put those things into action. Mission Indy has taught me a lot. With all of the different speakers & testimonies, I never stopped learning. I can honestly say that I will go home a changed person.

Pine Village was awarded one free registration for 2006 for Lyndi's efforts & thoughts.

Mission Indy was asked to set up a display at the first expo of the Girl's Conference held at The Church at Mt. Gilead in Mooresville on Saturday, August 26th. About 400 girls from around the area took part in the conference, and several leaders stopped by and picked up information on Mission Indy. We hope that some new groups will come to participate in our programs because of this type of exposure.

On Saturday November 19th (Mission Indy Work Day) we will have an unusually large number of participants (65), all of whom are new to MI. In order to do a good job of leading them we really need a few people willing to serve as site leaders. Please call Ron at 538-9565 if you can commit to that day!