This is getting later and later each night and for that I am sorry. We are having a blast and the kids are doing awesome. I am so proud of our group for the way they are leaders among their peers (I’ll speak into this a bit more late in this post) the way they love and support each other and the ways that they are serving the Lord here in Cleveland.
Ceiling Project
Today was full of ups and downs. One up was when we arrived at the house the owners lovingly greeted us and offered their garage for our services. One down was when Connor was trying to help someone else on the team and he accidentally dinged his hand (Don’t worry, he is totally fine!). However we bounced back from this minor inconvenience and finished the drywall ceiling and spackled it. Another up was when Evan (a student from another church), who had been disconnected for a little bit, took over and was a main part in finishing the ceiling. God was gracious enough to let us have this amazing opportunity and privilege of helping those in need.
(written by James)
Clearly their group was working hard as evidenced by their exhaustion.
Garden Crew
The garden crew had a bit of a slower day but they are absolutely loving Miss Mitty (the woman who runs the community garden) and all the things they are learning about her, the community and even the Underground Railroad. Today they painted fence posts with paintings from the Underground Railroad and they hope to put those up soon.
Roof Crew
We had a slightly slow start to our day today as it was raining this morning, and you can’t really roof in the rain so well.
We stopped and caffeined up at a Sheets (gas station) and then hit the job site where we did a devotional while we were waiting out the rain. The rain stopped about 10:30am and we were able to get up there and made some great progress. We finished the whole section that we had started the day before and began tearing off the next section but the rain cut us a bit short of finishing what we had hoped today. We quickly tarped the roof and made it out just before the down-pour.
Another section of our team worked hard the whole time in the garden with Becky, the home owner. They have really grown to love this woman and she really seems to have taken to them as well. She blessed us with treats at lunch today (and yesterday) which was so kind. Our girls had the idea to stop and get her a potted plant for the garden they have been helping with and we plan to gift her that tomorrow.
Again, we got cut a tiny bit short so the other church group rode back to the Nehemiah Mission with us, which was tons of fun.
Worship
Today’s coolest moment for me was during worship. Yesterday 3 of our girls (Eva, Allie and Julie) had asked if they could help lead worship. Korinne had said an emphatic yes but no one knew that today she would come down with a really sore throat which would prevent her from leading us in worship. So, she asked our girls if they would be willing to lead. And they said Yes! We have been talking about listening for God’s voice and answering with a YES, and they did it! They did so great, everyone there was arm-in-arm with others (started by two girls from another church coming and wrapping their arms around some of our girls. Such an awesome God Moment!!
We are all so grateful for this experience. Thank you God!!
Okay, goodnight
Written by Rodney @ 11pm