Jon Baggett’s Weblog

ok, so here it is, the infamous mission trip blog where everyone is on their supposed spiritual ”high”. But, something clicked on friday night to where I am not going to settle for that at all, and hope to continue and in the words of Tett, “take it home” and bring it with me everywhere. First off, my goals. In some way, shape or fashion they were all met! My first goal which involved worship and getting people closer to God through worship was met to the fullest. I have never felt a more powerful worship service ever than the one we had friday night. As I was drumming I looked down into the pews and saw so many emotions, from sadness to joy, to passion, it was all there. Nothing satisfied me more than looking at during worship and seeing everyone so involved. people who at the beginning of the week had no interest in the songs or messages were singing their hearts out and crying!! What a experience i will never forget, ever. I hope that someday I can take part or be a part of a worship like that again. 

the second goal, which was not complaining on the worksite, was met as well. While I did gripe a little that the ticks were crazy and how I have picked 3 off of me so far, my work was done without complaining, in fact something quite the opposite happened. Often Greg would ask me to do something and I really doubted my self and didnt want to even try but he pushed to try these new things and it all worked out! Instead of complaining I got passed that and began to want to try new things on the worksite and it made me feel so good about myself! By not complaining it opened me up to new ideas and skills I aquired both physically and mentally. It broke down that mental barrier I had that I couldn’t do this certain thing or that, instead I just did it! its that simple! I learned how to take risks and not be afraid to mess up because my team was behind me the whole time no matter what I did right or wrong! what a feeling!

Lastly, my last goal was to get to know my team on a deeper level. and of course it happened. This team was the best team I have ever had at a mission trip, as well as Greg’s favorite team, and he has been on ALOT of them. We bonded so well together and worked so well. Not to hard, not to slow. We all got to know each other on as a individual and all got to hang one on one for a little I think. First there was greg, who kept us all going with his energy and his hard work, and sense of humor of course. Then Tre was there as a very good mother figure always encouraging. Cole seemed to always been there to help us students with anything we needed anytime in spite of his illness and sore throat. And Scott is one of the hardest workers I have ever seen! working more than anyone and always doing something, along with his quiet sense of humor. Steph is overall one of the most awesome people I have met. She was a gentle spirit and a willing hear to work wherever needed be. Lastly, Ellie I think was an inspiration to our whole team in handling all she went through and once again just is so joyful in everything she does and is always a happy person and makes others feel good doing that. The last night we all went out and prayed together as a group and sat in silence thinking of what ”greatness” we achieved that week. It was a very powerful experience as peoples deepest  troubles were lifted infront of what were just simple strangers a week earlier but now was our family!

Overall, This is the best mission trip I have been on by far, from worship, to work, to friends, to new friends, to everyone being one big family! While some might say smaller isn’t better I would disagree with that statement after this week. With our size we became a true community of God bonded by unity and and similar goals to achieve greatness. what an experience I will not forget anytime!

alright, so i decided (with matt’s help) to write a pre-mission trip post and a after-mission trip post. What I hope to do in this one is to get down some thoughts and expections of what I hope will happen on mission trip and see if it all comes true! or atleast some of it will!

First of all, I feel that too often I have looked at getting to play the drums as a privilege and getting to ”rock out” and such. And while some of this is in good fun, I think I am often missing the point. Its not about me getting the chance to be cool and get to play the drums for worship. Its about God. It seems like a basic idea but I promise almost every praise band struggles with this idea, and I am guilty of it as well! I need to realize I am doing this to make others worship experience better, and so maybe they can feel God during worship! How much more joy would that bring to me than being the ”cool” guy! So goal number 1 is…. to experince God through worship and help others do the same however I need to do that. I would say that is a good goal eh?

Second goal involves the working part of mission trip. Alot of times I go to mission trip and its hot, and humid, and too long of a work day.( Just to name a few of the normal complaints). So, this a very hefty goal, but my goal is to not complain on the worksite. Now this may seem a little impossible, especially for me being a little bit of a complainer, but what good is a goal if it doesnt stretch you a little! There are some obvious reasons as to why one would want to this, but deeper I think it will bring me that much closer to God over the course of the week. If I could go from the beginning of the day when I wake up until I fall asleep at night and not have any negative thoughts throughout the day, i.e. complaining and such, my relationship with God will have more time to grow infinitely! 

Lastly, I want to know my team on a deeper level than usual. It seems every year again, your work team seems to get so close and its all good and fun, but I want to make it a goal to get to know my members of the team a little deeper. What do they struggle with back at home? What is their faith journey like? We all have something in common being at this trip all week, so why not learn more about their relationship with God and see what you have in common with them? 

Overall, these goals seem like they could be reached, with some struggle and will power! Will it be difficult to reach all 3? I would say so! So, What do you think about these goals? or do you have any other similar goals?? Tell me about it! 

Proverbs 3:5-6,

Jonathan B.

Hey guys, I have joined the blogging world again and hope to put down some of my thoughts and spiritual journeys and struggles on here and hope to get some advice and feedback from others so that I can continue to grow in my faith journey! 

My first entry will mainly be about my first trip of the summer for the CTC SLT retreat and good ol’ annual conference! Early Saturday morning I was off on an adventure  and was honestly a little worried about it coming in. I was not sure how this whole retreat was going to work out and didn’t want to feel out of place in a student leadership team where it seemed like everyone knew someone else, except me. But, it turned out to be a enlightening experience and was jammed pack with God’s good work from beginning to end. Once we started planning events it really came out to me what an awesome group of kids were there. What group of kids are willing to spend their weekends sitting in a room planning for events. Thats what makes this group already so special and close to me! How awesome is it that 30 high school students came together and totally decided to start fresh with new ideas for events this year instead of just staying with the same old things that might have worked ok and fine. We all decided that its time to change, for better or worse we need change! It is a hard thing to grasp but can turn out to be better than imagined. All in all, we got rid of Ignite and 68 degrees and have decided for one day ”rallies” in waco. One for Jr. high and one for high school. Also we decided for an extended midwinter where we were hope to change the spiritual lives of these campers in just a simple weekend. 

     After the retreat I headed off to Annual Conference along with about 10 other SLT kids. Over the next 3 days I really got to know these kids well, as well as Joy, Ward, and Amanda, the adults. Once again these people amazed me from beginning to end, spending their first week of summer at a conference where we were literally the only youth out of thousands of people there. In my personal experience I saw many of my dad’s old pastor buddies which was neat for me! Also, Me, Mel, And Turk had to sit in the very front row, right in the center infront of the bishop. But, we luckily made through it through with the many pounds of candy we consumed and the many liters of soda we drank! Truly, it was a neat experience to see how the church works at a much larger level than the local church, how we decide our very beliefs, and the amount of people filled with God’s joy all there for the same reason. Lastly, the most memorable moment happened in a very unlikely place for me. As I stood in line to buy a book called “Blue Like Jazz” I started a conversation with a man who I did not know, as he talked how much he enjoyed the book and how excited he was to see a youth there at conference so interested in the church he did a simple thing, bought my book for me! While it seems like such a small deed, it will make a life time impact on me! Little does he know, I will always remember him for his kind heart and how he was the highlight of my first Annual Conference. Its people like that that I strive to be like everyday! 

I know this was a long one but I needed to get alot out! please feel free to give advice, comments, or anything! thanks!