Thursday, June 28th
10:32 p.m.
What a great day! Today, although we were very tired, was probably our most productive day. In the sanctuary, we finished most of our major projects and moved all the furniture back in for worship on Sunday. It’s amazing to see the transformation that has taken place in there this week.
At Ms. Jones’ house, Sean Bracken (the designated foreman) said he was amazed at how kids who didn’t know how to do mudding and sanding on Monday were working like pros today. He said today was the day everyone “got it,” and he was so impressed with the hard work and positive attitudes. We’ll have one more day there tomorrow to get everything we can accomplished. We’ll also let everyone who hasn’t seen the house take a trip over there.
The murals are continuing to look amazing and have made a significant difference in the kitchen. In addition to our normal work, we also helped fold 5000 flyers to be distributed in local neighborhoods to help the church get new members (they currently have 12). Some of us will help pass those out tomorrow.
Each night at the end of dinner, Brother Vance asks the group, “Where did you see God today?” Tonight, several of our girls answered by demonstrating a dance they learned from Destiny (the 7-year-old grandaughter of Dee Jones). IIt was a highlight of the trip! t’s been so amazing to listen to everyone share where they saw God. Lives are being changed in our group, and it’s awesome to watch God at work.
For our sharing time tonight, we planned our worship for Sunday, shared our highs and lows, and then did one of my favorite mission trip things. We each put our name on a sheet of paper, and then everyone wrote something about the trip on everyone else’s paper. So when we finished, we each had 25 affirmations about us written by other mission trippers. It’s so much fun to watch the youth and adults read the great things that have been written about them.
The realization that we only have one more day here is starting to hit everyone. The relationships that we made with the other group will end tomorrow, we’ll put away the tools and leave behind what we’ve done, and we’ll trust that those who follow will pick up the nail gun and the drywall sander and the circular saw. More importantly, we hope they carry on the spirit of enthusiasm, cooperation, and hard work that we have tried our best to live out this week.
Be sure to check out the pictures to follow our progress. We’ll see you all soon!
