Mission Trip to Clifton Colorado
with Prince Avenue Baptist Church

We left the church in our new-to-us used church bus on July 9. None of would know what would happen that day. Our final destination was Clifton, CO the following night but today we were heading to Hays, KS. By the end of the day we would have had a blown tire, the AC would have gone out and then the serpentine belt snapped off while causing damage to the bus. The tire blew right near an off ramp that had a fast food stop at their gas statin. God thing #1. The AC just made us open the windows and gain a new appreciation of cooler temperatures. The final bus problem of the day happened right near a rest area that had lots of grassy areas and shade for the kids to run around in. God thing #2. We ended beind at the stop for over 3 hours but the Kansas State patrolman that helped us get a tow and secure hotel rooms was a complete blessing. God thing #3. We did get transported to our hotel in a paddy wagon and a patrol car. Very exciting!

The next day revealed the rest of the bad news. The bus wouldn't be fixed until Thursday, we needed to be in Clifton the next night. We ended up being chauffered by a local church to a nice park where the kids could run and play. The next day we rented 2 vehicles to help us get to our destination. We also met up with the second crew from church and had a nice caravan.

The mountains were a trip to go over but we made it. Even though we were a day late, the VBS went very well. We had as much or more fun than the kids. Some of them really left an impression on us.

I painted at the end of everyday. It was always geared towards the theme of the day. What a joy it was to present the pictable to the kids each day. In fact, many of them came to the church asking if I would paint day.

Our pastor's daughter asked one morning "Is it tomorrow?" When he asked her what she meant, she replied, "You said that Mr. Todd would paint again tommorow."

Every day I would have the younger kids who were sitting on the front pew just a few feet away from me talking throughout the time I was painting about what they thought I was going to do. It was very cute and helped me understand what they were thinking.

The whole week was lots of fun. I got the opportunity to give unique visuals for Vacation Bible School, much to the enjoyment of the kids. We were tested and with the help of God, we overcame everything and have great memories to hold onto during the next test.